And Then There Was One (2019)

Chapter 23 - Murder #8

Orlando, Florida

July 2, 2019

Roughly 11:00pm EST

Roope and Jonne stare at one another and the piece of paper in their hands, speechlessly. Ville, Brendan, Roope, Jonne, Timo, TT, Colby, Boris, Alex and Ross stand together, still trying to figure out what happened.

Brendan blinks. "Does anyone remember the poem?"

"No," Timo remarks. "We've deduced that no one here read the thing, Gally!"

Roope re-reads the line from the poem: "Thirteen professional hockey players were struggling to survive,

One was shot, while one was tied to the tracks of Seven Heaven and then there were eleven."

"Makes sense that you idiots wouldn't remember the poem. I do, though," Jo's sly voice comes as he walks out of the castle and heads down the pathway toward them. He stops on the angled walkway and puts his hands on his hips.

"Drouin!" Brendan hisses. "Where've you been?"

"Killing Vladdy and Yanni!" Ville snaps. He walks through the middle of Boris and Alex and storms up the incline to Jo. He roughly shoves the Hab player backward. "Am I right or am I right?"

"You're wrong! I wasn't around here! I was on my way to the entrance gate, when I heard screaming and roaring and other noises. I came back to check on you all, cause believe it or not, part of me does have a heart and cares."

"Sure," Ville growls at him. "I think you told us you were, hid out in the castle and waited for the right moment to strike!"

Jo frowns and glares at Ville. "You're so blinded by the facts that I hate Vladdy so much. I have nothing against Gourde, however, why would I kill him?"

Ville narrows his eyes at Jo, not letting up in his conclusion. "Because he is Vladdy's protector tiger! He was in the way."

Colby stalks up the path, free of TT's grasp. "You're in MY way." The little tiger cub flashes his claws at Jo.

"You all want me to PROVE it to you that it wasn't me?!" Jo snaps. "I'll wander into the damn zoo with y'all, since I know that's where y'all were heading AND I'll tell you the next line of the poem that I know!" He begins to walk toward the vine-draped entrance to the zoo area. "Fair enough?"

"Well, I guess so, there's eleven of us remaining right? Doing the math," Ross states, counting the remaining players: Ville, Brendan, Roope, Jonne, Timo, TT, Colby, Boris, Alex, Jo and himself.

Jo ducks under the vines, with the others following after him.

Ville folds his arms and glares in the direction of where Jo had vanished. "I'm not going in there with him!"

"Fine, someone can stay out here with you. Just in case. I'm not saying that we don't trust you and that I think you might be the killer, but I'm not saying that you aren't either. Maybe you and Vladdy had a fight and it led you to killing him...who knows," Brendan says with a shrug of his shoulders. "It'd just make me feel better if someone stayed with you out here, not leaving you alone."

"That's fair enough."

"I'll stay with him," Jonne volunteers. "Finn-to-Finn connection."

"Works for me," Brendan chuckles dryly and then turns and enters the zoo area of the amusement park once more with the others.

Ville and Jonne turn and look at each other. They exchange a short Finnish conversation with one another and watch as he and all the others disappear once more back into the zoo attraction.