"Not Clara's deliveries, the other deliveries. You know which ones. I was wonderin' how it was that so much booze was makin' it into town. It make sense in hindsight. It was the Mafia, you, floodin' town wit da hooch. You filled my vices, but now yo' tryin' for my life with Hamish da Butchah." Thadius spits at Dan's feet, "I ain't gon' stand for it, and the ways I sees it then you and Hamish ain't gon' be standin' for much longer either."
Getika looks at the coin then murmurs something and looks back at Dan. She wonders what it is that has made him so active about everything now except that maybe knowing the end was near, or it seeming to be so, he was more interested in either keeping his own life or the lives of the innocent.
Then accusations turn to Dan and she looks at the man in complete confusion, "Mafia boss?" She'd been getting to like the man and he'd been just as choked up about the deaths as she and Tina were. Either that or he was one good actor. She gulps and looks about at the others wondering who was right and who was just spitting accusations to cover up their steps.
"Confused I am as to who is whom." The native says softly gulping in air as she realizes the end to someone's life would soon ensue. She breathes deeply to try and stay calm and wipes her eyes with the handkerchief Dan had given her a while ago.
Dan looks at the spittle upon his shoes; "Sir you are no gentleman. I have not supplied you with alcohol. And I have no carter but Clara, your senses must be addled from the booze."
Getika's eyes snap open and she stands quickly looking at Thadius and Hamish, "Hey! Framing Getika what this is? How ... what ... why?" The woman is clearly confused about what had been said but it took her quite a bit for the words to stew in her head while she was shocked. Now she is shocked but in another manner.
"His face, he covered in cuttin' scars. Fact o' the matter is, not many round here got knives, and you lef' yours out on the table. They was settin' you up from the start, mon cheri." Thadius shakes his head, "You next, you know. They gon' use that as an excuse to get you lynched."
"Hammish has made himself a target of the mafioso and if he is wrong he will be in double jepardy with the townsfolk, whose justice will be swift. So he is either acting in good faith or he is clearly insane."
"Then why he assure everyone I was trustworthy now he tryin' to stab me in da back, huh? You defendin' him make less sense." Thadius shakes his head, "Ceptin' maybe you Mafia too."
Thadius stops, "*OR*," he snaps his fingers, "Hamish tryin' to find out who gon' jump the bandwagon on me. Dems would be the mafia, tryin' to make they power play. That'd make you one of dem too!" Thadius eyes go wide at the Duke, "Lordy! You is the third ain' you?! Now maybe I be vindicated in death." Thadius sighs, a wave of relaxation and defeat falling over him, "Ya'll tryin' so hard to get us by the throat."
"Thadius does have that spyglass and looks at stars at night. Mebbe he seed things he warn't s'posed ta, so they want him gone. Then they point the knife Getika's way. Them two might be purely innocent. I kin unnerstan' Thadius agin' Hamish and the Duke. They was for not lynchin' 'til Hamish said his piece."
Clara stands and paces, ending up next to Getika. "I'm sorry I said bad things about ya', Miz Getika. Everbody tryin' so hard to make it look like you that I don' think it is." She turns to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the native woman, eyes flicking between Hamish, the Duke, and Dan. "Ain't sure who ta vote fer no more."
"Then why he assure everyone I was trustworthy now he tryin' to stab me in da back, huh? You defendin' him make less sense." Thadius shakes his head, "Ceptin' maybe you Mafia too."
"You must be loosing your hearing old man, I already answered this same question twice now."
"I will admit you do look good for 60 years old."
"Just bears repeatin' cuz you ain't makin' a lick o sense, Butchah." Thadius says as he turns his gaze back on Hamish, "And I clearly ain't sixty. Hard to tell your age under all that self-inflicted wounding."
"Oh." Getika says about the knife bit snorts condescendingly towards whoever had wanted to blame her for the death with her own weapon, "Framed with weapons was not surprised. Easy to see weapons I have." She points to her bow and then looks down to her skirt which reached just below her knees at the point and came up past the knees at the sides. The straps to keep her weapons in place were seen with no need to try to find them, "Open I am to framing as see weapons all can. One knife hidden was and on table went it. People saw it put there and me well away from them to show and remind that innocent I am. Framing was expected. Getika is Arapaho, native suspected always are."
She looks about but watches as Clara stands shoulder to shoulder with her to make sure the woman was not trying anything tricky. It wasn't anything specific to do with Clara but at this point she trusted very few and even had her fears about her heart's feelings, "Clara I thank for bad things said. Understood it is that friends safe you would wish and stranger not trusted."
"I'll speak slower this time so that you might understand better."
"I suspected you of being Mafia right from the very start so I looked into it."
"I had found evidence you were a Blood Brother. I defended you."
"Both Blood Brothers died. This meant you couldn't be a Blood Brother."
"I looked into it further and found evidence you were Mafia."
"I petted my ego for being correct the whole time and then I made my findings public"
"And if you must know, I'm 35."
"Welp, I don't b'leeve Hamish, I think the Duke done bin fooled, an' I ain't sure Dan is a Crime Boss. But there's two 'ginst Thadius and one vote fer Dan. I'm gon' tie it up. Do what the Duke said in the firs' place, not kill nobody."
"I'm not wrong about this. I cant afford to be wrong about this or else we'll all die. I like life, it leaves so many possibilities."
Jin laughs a bit in the corner...
"So, Mr. Cunningham are you trying to cinvince everyone that you are the last remaining detective? There's a problem there...." Jin sighs. This will probably be my death. "... I was Mr. Rastley's other trustworthy apprentice."
Jin pauses to let it sink in.
"Now, everyone, don't get me wrong. Mr. Cunningham was trained as a detective and his story about being around when our Sherrif was killed is also true... see, Ex-Detective Hamish, you were my first suspect... and all my evidence points to you as the BUTCHER! I wished I had been there that night -- I had to work an extra hour in the print room fixing a busted roller... " Jin grows quiet... "Mr. Rastley was like a father to me when I came back from The War, and you took him."
"Town folk gon' die if they trust you, butchah. They gon' die even more if they trust in Dan." Thadius nods eyes flared with conviction, a smile beginning to cross his face. "You workin' your case real hard, but that always happen for a detective... 'specially one turned butchah!"
"Clara....really?" Dan says sadly.... "So you think Thadius is a detective? And that Hamish or Jin isn't?"
Dan shakes his head. "Tis true, I don't want any bloodshed... too much has been spilt."
"A bold statement Jin."
"The only thing is that it's still my word against yours. You have no evidence. You haven't tried to help anybody. Anyone here could have come up with that same fabrication. If it were the truth you would have let the cat out of the bag before this whole thing even started. If it were the truth then you'd be admitting to letting a whole lot of people die just to save your sorry ass."
"You workin' your case real hard, but that always happen for a detective... 'specially one turned butchah!"
"My story has no holes in it Thadius, unlike the rest of yours"
"Goldurn it, I jes' voted! Now Mister Jin, yer throwin' rocks at the hornet's nest. I think ya might be right, but... oh, shoot. Lemme think 'bout it."
"He gon' save a lot more if you dead, butchah!"
"Very true Hamish. Neither of us can offer proof... but I couldn't sit here and let you mislead everyone with your lies. I cannot prove my alliangce to Rastley. The others will believe me or not. But my soul is clear either way."
"Jin did you, wrongly, tell Thadius I was a crime boss? Or are you lying and Thadius is the real detective?" Dan asks trying to find why he's being accused. Attempting to work out why the alcoholic thinks he's a Mafia boss.
"This desperate attempt to turn the tides right at the endgame is pitiful. It is sad, desperate attempt on the mafia's end to make such a play."
"He ain't said nothin' to me. I figured it out by the way you actin'. The way you huff and puff, the air about you." Thadius turns his nose up at Dan, "And it stank."
"This desperate attempt to turn the tides right at the endgame is pitiful. It is sad, desperate attempt on the mafia's end to make such a play."
"Glad you could admit you're pathetic." Thadius grins at Hamish.
Getika moves away from the others and walks back and forth but makes sure she is nowhere near where any weapons had been. She seems to be trying to decide something and is worried but making sure she is also not close to anyone for the moment.
Tina looks up at Clara when she comes stand near Getika and the young shoemaker "I don't know what to do... who is right or wrong, but I know early deliveries don't make you a crime boss... I get Clara to delivery early too, I need to get everything set up before the shop opens. I don't think Dan is a bad person."
"Clara you might be right, like the Duke said before, maybe we should try not to kill anyone."
"He ain't said nothin' to me. I figured it out by the way you actin'. The way you huff and puff, the air about you." Thadius turns his nose up at Dan, "And it stank."
"So why call me out as a Boss?" Dan shakes his head. "Insults are horrid, Sir."
"Tryin' to kill us is more horrid, sir!"
"Tryin' to kill us is more horrid, sir!"
"Sir, which you did first." Dan adds, shaking his head.
"Bullplop, Boss-man. We see you for whachu is." Thadius spits again, "May cos' me my life, but at least somebody in town survive your evil."
Current Tally
Hamish votes for Thadius
Duke Leto votes for Thadius
Dan Haworth votes for Thadius
Thadius votes for Hamish
Clara votes for ABSTAIN
Jin votes for Hamish
Coraline votes for Hamish
15 minutes remain.
Edit: Sorry, Thadius is not voting for Dan Haworth.
"Sir, I'm not evil." Dan's words are shocked at Thadius' vitriol.
"It's a tie. What... what do you think, girls?" Clara asks Tina and Getika.
"Mister Hamish seems awful eager to do the job hisself. I think he be the butcher."
"TRAITOROUS DOGS!"
"I think Dan being the crime boss is just too hard to believe... but I can't trust either Mr. Thadius, or Mr. Hamish. I don't know why Mr. Jin stayed quiet for so long, I'd have thought he'd at least tell someone secretly that Hamish wasn't who he said..." She sighs "I don't want anyone to die"
Round over!
"He admit it! Lynch him!"
Hamish votes for Thadius
Duke Leto votes for Thadius
Dan Haworth votes for Thadius
Thadius votes for Hamish
Clara votes for Hamish
Jin votes for Hamish
Coraline votes for Hamish
After the mob cried for blood, and Tina's voice goes unheard by the crowd, Hamish finds himself cornered, and decides to speak.
"You know, the first person you kill is always the hardest."
"The truth is that I never really planned on walking out of here alive. You can't do all the things I've done and never have to answer for your deeds. It's my fault. I knew eventually the lies upon lies would catch up with me eventually. You people are my undoing." Hamish reaches into his side pocket and pulls out a large concealed butchers cleaver. He holds the cleaver up to his mangled face and gently taps it against the pale-new flesh of one of his larger wounds. "Would you like to know where I got these scars? The truth is, each one is a badge of victory. Each one has the name of a victim, the latest being Sheriff Rastly. But I guess we're missing the final additions aren't we?" Hamish takes the cleaver and makes two slow cuts within a patch of unhampered skin on his cheek. "I hope you all enjoy this small victory, you've earned it. Before I part from this mortal coil I'd like to leave you all with final thought. As I've mentioned, the first kill is always the easiest, but it will get easier. Soon, you'll start to crave the fresh kill. None of you will walk out of here the same person. You'd all be lucky to have the Mafia kill you off before you get the chance to leave this building. Because, if you make it out, you'll all be like me. This is my path in life and I have no regrets for I am the right hand of God!"
Hamish lunges for Thadius, but Duke Leto intervenes at the last moment, taking a strike to his heart from the knife, showing the costume underneath. Hamish laughs, and cuts his own jugular, staring at the people of the town with a blank smile and dead eyes, staying on his feet until he is completely dead. It still takes a few moments for him to slump in a heap.
"NO!" Thadius leaps to the Duke's body, too late. Tears stream down his face.
"My goodness." Coraline stands, thunderstruck, with her hand pressed to her mouth.
Getika backs up as Hamish shows his colours, grabbing Tina and putting herself between herself in between the younger woman and the attack. When she heard the falls and Thadius hollering she looks up, shaking, eyes wet as she'd thought Duke was good and it was proven in a nasty manner. She drops to the ground, still holding Tina and whimpers on the shoe makers shoulder.
Clara ducks back in horror from the spray of blood and the Butcher's horrid visage, hands clapped to her mouth and tears starting in her eyes.
"But... he..." she chokes, after both bodies have fallen to the floor, then takes a deep breath, swallowing hard. "So the Duke was Badgerman?"