Yeah, this chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but since I won't be able to update or write on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I'm leaving you with this. A little more was supposed to happen afterwards, but I don't have the time to write that now. However, I might edit this chapter sometime next week with additions at the end. Anyways, thanks for reading. ;)

Outside of room 3 Mario and Pennington stood, ready to open the door to the next interrogation, and (hopefully), discover a major breakthrough within the case they might not have discovered before. And, in Pennington's mind, he could only hope this breakthrough would lead to pointing the one and only Iggy Koopa into guiltiness.

"Oh, hello!" Heff T said as the duo entered his room. He looked almost shocked at their presence, probably stupefied from all the food he'd been eating. Ah well, at least one of the detectives could respect the overweight Toad's eating habits, "You must be the detectives. Yes, I do recognize you two as the ones who interrogated me in the cafeteria..." He said that last sentence almost questioningly, as if the vast quantity of sustenance within him was slowly removing the memory from his brain.

"Yes..." Pennington said unenthusiastically, "And we'd like you to answer some questions, alright? Now, just picture yourself at about...say...three o'clock in the morning last night..."

Even Heff T didn't have to think hard about that one. It was almost embarrassing for Mario to be stuck with a guy whose big, bad, interrogating question was something as obvious as 'what were you doing while you were sleeping'.

"Well..." The Toad said, "I was probably sleeping..." Not entirely sure if this was supposed to be some kind of trick question, he decided to put the subsequent pause to use and consider the question once again. Perhaps he just so happened to be awake for a minute, and that particular minute housed itself at three AM? But how would Pennington know that...?

"Yes, probably. Now for a real question. Ha-,"

"Wait, umm...actually...I'm not really good at thinking or remembering on an empty stomach. I mean, I had to wait for about twenty minutes for you guys to get here, so if I could maybe...get a quick snack, that would really hit the spot,"

Pennington just glared at him. He didn't have the time to listen about Heff T's incessant eating, and he sure as well wasn't going to succumb the chubby Toad's wishes and let him excuse himself to the dinner table, "No, now stop talking. Please. You can go eat soon enough. Right now there is a murderer on board, and it'd be just great if we could figure out who it was..."

The red-capped plumber, who stood silently aside of the now annoyed penguin, rose his eyebrows in surprise. He sure never heard Pennington talk like that before. His outburst, or whatever you'd want to call it, was so unlike him that Mario couldn't help but to be shocked by his sudden change in personality. And beyond that, he sure never heard the penguin talk so earnestly about the condition of the crime. If anything, he usually wasted his time talking about pointless things and getting to the bottom of just about nothing. But now, when Pennington actually wanted to take the case somewhat seriously, Mario was undoubtedly surprised. And he didn't really like it.

"Now..." Pennington began, "We assume the murder took place in the middle of the night, so...aside from the blimp crash, were you awakened at all?"

Heff T had to think about it for a little while. Tilting his head to the side and rubbing his stomach in desperateness of food, he finally replied, "Well, not that I can remember. If I did I sure wasn't awake for long. So, my answer would be 'no',"

"Meaning that you did not commit the murder?"

The expression on Heff T's face suddenly grew both angry and shocked at the same time. Like just about every other passenger on the blimp, being accused of murder is not normally taken lightly. In some cases, (especially in Rawk Hawk's), Mario and Pennington wouldn't have been surprised if the now angry passenger would turn upon the detectives and start yelling in their faces about how innocent they were, "Huh?! I didn't commit any murder! I swear!"

"Yes..well...we'll see," Pennington eyed up the Toad in front of him and weakly smiled, "Heff T, do you have any idea why Zip Toad would be wanted dead?"

The overweight Toad bit his lip and thought, staring up at the ceiling as if he were receiving some righteous information from the block of cement that lined his walls, "Well, I don't think so. He's a celebrity, though. Perhaps someone wanted him dead because he was too famous?"

Mario suddenly gulped. Too famous? Could such a thing be true? And, worse yet, is that the kind of thing that gets you killed? For his sake, he sure hoped not...

"Interesting. Now, Heff T, did you talk to Zip Toad at all?" The penguin inquired. He figured there was a slight chance the famous Toad actor had said something to his chubby counterpart throughout the duration of the trip. And if that was true, he sure hoped Zip Toad had said something usefull...

Heff T frowned. Not at all out of disappointment, but for the sole purpose that he just couldn't remember. Besides, thinking back to a time like yesterday required too many brain cells, as he thought, "Well...I did see him quite a few times. He looked fine. I mean, he sure didn't look like a guy who knew he was going to die...but I do-wait! I did talk to him. Something about him filming another movie in Poshley Heights..."

"Did he tell you about it?"

"Well...he did say that there was a lot of controversy over it being filmed. Or, between him and the director. Or the actors. Or someone. But do you really think he'd get killed over a movie?"

Neither Mario or Pennington knew how to respond. They both figured something that morbid and grotesque could surely happen; after all, this was the twenty first century they were talking about. People did crazy things...especially if it involved money. Yes, even kill someone over a movie.

"That's something to think about," Mario spoke this time, leaving Pennnington in silence as he reflected upon the discussion at hand, "It's certainly possible a murder could take place over a movie. But who knows why? If we knew, then we'd probably be accusing someone right now..."

"Which therefore leads to my next question..." Pennington butted back in, almost fighting Mario for the verbal limelight. But when it came to solving a murder, the plumber was just about certain Pennington was not willing to let him do all the talking and the figuring. Besides, the penguin was the true detective here, and in the line of his duty, he didn't want to let an 'amateur' detective like Mario get in the way, "Did you notice anything suspicious going on throughout yesterday? Or even today, perhaps?"

Again Heff T though, "Well, there was one thing that I remember seeing in the middle of the night. After the blimp crashed, I'm pretty sure. It was...the conductors. They were standing outside Zip Toad's room and staring in. After that they made the announcement for everyone to stay in their rooms. But something just seemed off. I mean, they all sounded so horrified. But I guess that's to be expected since we had just crash landed on a giant cloud. Still, though..."

The detective duo raised their eyebrows in surprise. Did the conductors know something before the passengers did? Well, if it was a dead body they had seen, then perhaps it was for the better that they didn't mention anything to the passengers. It wasn't exactly something you'd want to proclaim over the loudspeaker early in the morning as a way to greet everyone...

But still, if they had known of such a crime at as early as three AM, why hadn't they come to Pennington with the news? After all, he was a 'class five' detective, and proven over his many years of solving crimes, he felt as if he'd be very well suited for the situation at hand. Well, at least that's what the crazy penguin thought...

"How intriguing...anything else you'd like to share with us?"

"Well..." Heff T started, not entirely sure what to say, "Nothing really...but I do think there are some shady characters on board. After all, just about all of them were capable of committing the murder..."

Pennington looked at the Toad in confusion while processing exactly what he had just said. Shady characters? Well, the penguin could sure think of one. But still...based on what Heff T had said, it sure looked like he had taken some time to personally think over the case..., "Like who? And why do you think they're so capable of committing murder?"

Heff T just laughed, as if mocking Pennington's stupidity. By the way he had cackled, one would have assumed these 'shady characters' must've been quite easy to pick out amongst the other dozen passengers, "Well take Moustafa for instance. I clearly saw him...sneaking around a bit. And Rawk Hawk...his temper caused an outburst in the cafeteria yesterday afternoon. And the guy with the green hat and the lady with the crown were snooping around yesterday. I'd say these are some shady characters..."

Mario's eyes bulged. His brother a 'shady character'?! And worse yet, princess Peach? The girl who wore pink from head to toe and had spent five hours crying in her bedroom after her gerbil died? Please...only a crazy guy could think princess Peach was capable of murder. Heck, she probably didn't even know how to stab someone...