As Dr. Penguin’s hand touched the large iron door, it immediately swung open. Sconces lit up the walls as the five guests stepped inside, revealing a hedge maze made of thorns and brambles. Standing in front of it was a man in a sandy brown suit, his arms crossed as he stared blankly at the group.

“Welcome to the puzzle room!” the man said, opening his arms wide. “Hmm. This is odd. I could have sworn there were more of you. Five will do for now. Either way, I’m surprised you all managed to make it here at the same time regardless of how many of you there are.”

“Hold on,” Mr. Cardinal said. His gaze narrowed, and he approached the strange man. “Just who are you?”

“Ah, how rude of me. I didn’t think to introduce myself!” The man bowed, and when he stood up straight again, his eyes glimmered with excitement. “I am Wren, the head butler of The Aviary. I’m glad I finally get to meet you all.”

“Wren,” Dr. Penguin repeated. “Are you aware of your master’s death?”

“Well aware,” Wren replied. “I watched it happen. One of you, or perhaps one of the other guests scurrying around murdered him. Someone with… a handkerchief. And glasses. They pulled their mask aside as they stabbed the poor professor.”

Mrs. Ostrich and Dr. Penguin pulled out their handkerchiefs simultaneously and moved their masks aside. The woman in brown had a set of thick cat-eye frames over her nose, compared to the man in black’s wiry, round black frames Ms. Parrot saw before.

“My, this is unprecedented! Two suspects at once,” Wren said.

“‘Oui,’ this is a predicament,” Monsieur Jay said. “How do you two plead?”

“I didn’t kill them!” Mrs. Ostrich blurted almost immediately. “I didn’t! The handkerchief — I brought it with me here because it was the only one I had. But I hate it! I despise it! And it’s covered in blood… because I had a nosebleed before the party.” She hid her face in embarrassment.

“She’s telling the truth,” Dr. Penguin said calmly. “She and I were the first to arrive, and I assisted her and helped the blood stop.”

“What about you then, Doctor?” Ms. Parrot asked. “Why was your glasses lens in the tunnel?” 

She showed the lens to Dr. Penguin.

The man chuckled and held the broken lens up to his glasses. A perfect fit.

“So… it was you?” Ms. Parrot asked softly.

Dr. Penguin shook his head. “No. Well. Sort of.” He sighed and popped the lens back into his glasses, and he smiled sadly before continuing. “I was merely an accomplice. The killer and I planned everything out beforehand.”

“…You’re kidding,” Mr. Cardinal said, shaking his head. “No, you… you’re not… you can’t be.”

“He isn’t kidding, red bird,” Wren said. A thin smile curled across his lips. “Dr. Alabaster du Noir, also known as Dr. Penguin. A skilled forensic scientist and a dear friend of Dr. Alouette and myself.”

Wren slipped a hand into his coat pocket, and it was over in a flash. A bullet wound appeared in Dr. Penguin’s head, and he fell backward to the floor, the life draining from his eyes. The other guests hadn’t even had a chance to properly react before Wren spoke again.

“Now then! You still have a real murderer to find, yes? I suggest searching this maze. Dr. Alouette hides many things about their friends and potential conspirators in this lovely little hedge maze of theirs.”

Edited by Bri Davis | bdavis@themaneater.com