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fivedayslater · 1 year ago

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Part 14: Kitchen

Dinner and a Murder: A Mr. Prince Mystery Masterpost

“How about the kitchen?” Sanji says as he follows after Luffy, “It’s as good a place to start as any.”

“Alright,” Zoro follows dutifully after him, but sends him a knowing look, “I bet you just want to ask Nami why she sent Luffy to the library.”

Sanji laughs, his gaze warm as it lands on Zoro, “Maybe. You’ve got the makings of a pretty good detective if you keep this up.”

Zoro chuckles too, “I learned from the best.”

That warm feeling spreads through him, and he gets the urge to reach out and grab Zoro’s hand.

Before he can act on it, a scream echoes across the house, stopping them in their tracks.

Luffy comes racing around the corner, his face pale and his eyes darting everywhere before landing on them.

“Sanji, quick, I need you,” Luffy grabs his wrist and pulls him away, then almost immediately stops short and glances over his shoulder, “But I didn’t do it.”

Sanji frowns, the unease in his stomach spreading, “Do what?”

Luffy bites his lip, then takes off running again, dragging Sanji along with him, Zoro not far behind.

They arrive at the kitchen only to find Nami’s lifeless body on the floor.

Sanji stares in shock, hardly able to believe it. He had thought they were safe, that the killer wouldn’t dare strike again while they were all on high alert, but he’d been wrong, and it cost Nami her life.

He glances over at Zoro, who is looking just as distraught as Sanji feels, his face pale and his fists shaking as he clenches them at his sides.

Sanji steps forward and kneels next to her, his fingers on her neck to try and find a pulse, but comes up with nothing. A check of her mouth and nose for breathing produces the same results.

By this time Usopp, Law, and some of the household staff arrive at the scene, no doubt drawn out by the screaming.

Sanji shakes his head as he looks back at them, “She’s dead.”

“I knew it!” Usopp is the first to shout, pointing a shaking finger at Luffy as he backs up until he hits the wall, “You’re the killer!”

“What? No!” Luffy shouts, “I didn’t kill her!”

“We split into pairs specifically to prevent this from happening!” Usopp shrieks, “Sanji was with Zoro the whole time, I was with Law, and you were with Nami! Therefore you were the only one who could have killed her!”

“No, I wasn’t,” Luffy growls as he takes a threatening step forward, “Take that back!”

Sanji steps in to intervene before the situation gets worse, but before he can Zoro wraps an arm around his waist to hold him back.

“Calm down,” he says in a soft but demanding tone, “We don’t know what happened yet, and fighting each other is only going to make things worse.”

Sanji lights a cigarette as he surveys the scene. What Usopp said is true, since Zoro was with him, Sanji knows he didn’t kill Nami, and if Usopp and Law were together, that would rule them out too, which means the only one who had the opportunity was Luffy.

“What do you mean,” Law frowns as his gaze turns to Usopp, “we split into pairs?”

Usopp freezes, then lets out a nervous chuckle, “Haha, you’re such a kidder, Law.” He throws an arm over his shoulder, “Remember? That’s why I found you in the study? Sanji said we should split into pairs to keep an eye on each other?”

Law’s face darkens, “You didn’t find me in the study. I haven’t seen you – or anyone – since we parted after finding Ace’s body.”

The room goes silent. Sanji feels a headache coming on as he turns to Usopp.

“I’m going to ask you a question,” he says carefully, “And I need an honest answer. When we all split up after finding Ace’s body, did you go to the study with Law like you said you would?”

Usopp laughs again, flinching a little as Law shakes off his touch, “I…well, of course I…” He gulps, his eyes darting between all the angry glares pointing his way, “I…”

He sighs, and finally admits, “I went to hide in the lounge.”

Sanji growls as he rubs his temples, “So. You don’t have an alibi for Nami’s murder?”

“Wait, what?” Usopp gasps and waves his hands in front of him, “No no. No, I’m not a suspect, remember? I was with you during Ace’s murder! I’m the only one who couldn’t have done it!”

“That’s for Ace’s murder,” Sanji gestures towards Nami, “This is a whole new murder. There’s no indication that these murders were committed by the same person, and I haven't seen you since I last saw Nami.”

“And you’re the one who failed to pair up,” Law states as he crosses his arms, “Highly suspicious.”

“You weren’t paired up either,” Zoro points out, releasing Luffy now that he’s calmed down.

“I didn’t know we were pairing up,” he shrugs, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have left my partner.”

“The household staff was all together too,” Bon-Chan chimes in, “Not a single one of us was out of sight of someone else while we completed the search of the house.”

Sanji takes a deep breath, inhaling as much smoke as his lungs can hold before releasing it slowly.

“Since we all saw Nami alive when we found Ace, it’s obvious she died after we split up.” He reasons, then points at Usopp, Law, and Luffy, “Since Zoro and I were together the whole time, I need to know what you three have been up to since then.”

“Well, I was searching the kitchen like I told you,” Luffy says, looking up as he recalls his movements, “Then Nami came and said you said you wanted to get into the library, so I left to look for Bon-Chan to get the key.”

Sanji turns to Bon-Chan, “Is this true?”

“Yes,” Bon-Chan nods, “Luffy found me upstairs…I suppose about twenty minutes after we all split up, and asked for the library key.”

“I was searching with them,” Iva nods, “So I can confirm.”

“Yeah,” Luffy nods too, “Then I met you and Zoro just outside the library, and we talked for a bit.” His face falls, his gaze darting to Nami, “Then I went back to the kitchen, and found Nami…”

Sanji frowns as he mulls that over. With the timeline laid out, it would be hard but not impossible for Luffy to have killed Nami. But since Luffy was apparently the last to see Nami alive, there’s no guarantee that he didn’t kill her, then go to find the library key to establish an alibi.

Sanji turns to Usopp, “And you? The truth this time.”

He smiles shakily at Sanji, but it falls quickly under his stern look. Instead he rubs the back of his head, and at least has the decency to look sheepish, “I was going to go to the study…but I started thinking about murder and dying, and I just…” He sighs as he shakes his head, “I got scared. I went to the lounge to hide instead. I had a drink in there, and only came out when I heard the screaming.”

“And did anyone see you? Or did you see anyone?”

His eyes dart away, “No.”

Perfectly believable, but also completely unprovable. Usopp easily could have slipped out of the lounge and to the kitchen to kill Nami.

But Usopp is right; he does have an alibi for Ace’s murder. If he did kill Nami, that means Sanji is no closer to figuring out who killed Ace.

“Okay,” Sanji turns to Law, “And what about you?”

“I was in the study the whole time,” Law states, tapping his foot on the ground, “I didn’t know we were supposed to be partnered up. I haven’t seen anyone since we first found Ace. I only left the study when I heard the screaming over here.”

“Did you find anything in the study?” Zoro asks, and Sanji’s a little impressed with how quickly he’s picking this up.

“No,” Law sighs, his eyes darting away.

Sanji hums as he considers that. The study is on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen, so Law would have had to pass by him and Zoro in the billiard room or Usopp in the lounge, and would most likely have met Luffy fetching the library key sometime in the middle.

“Okay,” Sanji sighs as he lets out a stream of smoke, then turns towards Bon-Chan, “Have you finished searching the house?”

“Not yet,” they shake their head, “We still have a few rooms upstairs and the basement to search, but we’re just about done.”

“Good,” he nods, “Thank you. You keep at it.”

“Right,” they nod, and leave with the rest of the staff.

“As for you three,” he points his cigarette at Luffy, Usopp, and Law, “You need to stay together this time. No running off.” He gestures towards the dining room, “Wait in there while Zoro and I search the kitchen.”

“Aw,” Luffy pouts, “Why does Zoro get to help?”

“Because he’s the only one I know didn’t kill Nami,” Sanji growls, then glances at Zoro and blushes a little, “Also…he’s proven to be a good investigation partner.”

Zoro blushes too at his words, and can’t seem to fight the shy smile on his face.

“Investigation partner, huh?” Usopp shakes his head, but grabs Luffy’s arm and drags him to the dining room, “Okay, we’ll let you lovebirds get investigating.”

“It’s not like that,” Sanji growls, but he’s completely ignored as Law chuckles and follows after them, “It’s not!”

“Sure,” Law shrugs as he closes the door behind him, “you can call it whatever you want.”

Sanji grumbles under his breath as he turns back to Zoro. His face is still red, looking everywhere but Sanji, the small smile still on his face, making Sanji’s heart flutter.

Then his eye lands on Nami, and his face falls.

He looks back to Sanji, “So I’m not a suspect anymore?”

“For Nami’s murder,” he points his cigarette at him, “You’re still not in the clear for Ace’s.”

“Wow,” he shakes his head, “You really don’t trust anyone, huh?”

“Yeah, well,” he shrugs awkwardly as he leans against the counter, “Once you find out your then-fiancee only seduced you to try and hide her multiple murders, you start to lose faith in people.”

“Wait, what?” Zoro’s eye widens, his mouth falling open, “Shit, Curls, what happened?”

Sanji scowls, his gaze firmly on the floor. He really doesn’t want to talk about this, especially with Zoro, it had just slipped out. But now that it had, he couldn’t very well ignore it.

So he sighs and glances back at Zoro’s incredibly concerned expression, “I’d been investigating the Totland Killings, she found out and seduced me to try and throw me off her trail.”

“Wait,” Zoro’s brow furrows, and he gasps when he makes the connection, “You were engaged to the Chocolate Killer?”

“Pudding Charlotte, yeah,” he rubs his temple, “The worst part is, it worked. I was madly in love with her and didn’t suspect her at all. She had me completely wrapped around her finger, and was using me the whole time.”

Zoro’s hand lands on his clenched fist, and he finds comfort in the warm contact.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he says as he rubs his thumb across his knuckles, “No one deserves to go through that. Especially you.”

“Yeah, well,” he’s blushing again, and he looks away, as if he can somehow hide it from Zoro, “I did catch her in the end, but only because she targeted my sister. If she hadn’t we’d probably be married by now.”

“Well,” Zoro leans in just a hair closer, but to Sanji it feels much closer, like his whole world suddenly became Zoro, “Can’t say I hate that outcome.”

Sanji swallows, and Zoro’s eyes dart down to his lips a moment before he slowly, almost reluctantly, pulls away.

“So,” Zoro gestures around the kitchen, “Where are we investigating?”

Sanji glances around the kitchen too. The last time he visited everything was neatly tucked away, but now one of the cabinets, one of the drawers, and the fridge are all slightly ajar, as if someone was rifling through them.

They seem like as good of places as any to start.

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