A Monday's Production - Murder Over My Muppets

Muppetfan44

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update...please? You've got a great story going so far...
 

WebMistressGina

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update...please? You've got a great story going so far...
I had plans to update tomorrow, so we'll see, as I have started the next chapter, but it may be extra long. Also, I've had two conferences back to back for work plus some home life drama that downed me for a bit.

I also need to update Bogen County, so little late on both!
 

WebMistressGina

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And without further ado, the next chapter!


IV.

The Kit Kat Club was one of the hottest joints in downtown Los Angeles. Usually opened from lunch on, the club gained its notoriety from the musicals act it held on stage, from jazz greats to the local set. One of the big sellers was the house band that performed there – Dr. John and his Hellcats were the main stays at the joint and it was probably one of the only jazz bands that happened to have two pianists.

The club’s clientele would sometimes come for a quick bite during lunch, however it was the dinner and night time entertainment that made the place one of the most popular on a Saturday night. Today wasn’t Saturday, however, and Kermit was a bit surprised at hearing his client was sitting in a nightclub during the day, especially when she appeared to be in line for a large inheritance.

Even more surprising was the fact that this afternoon seemed particularly busy, despite it being in the middle of the week. Kermit walked into the lobby area, greeted by the hat check girls who took his coat and pointed him in the direction of the heiress when asked. It seemed that the table in question was already occupied, by a large group of males who were swarmed around it.

“Pretty busy for this time of day,” he remarked to one of the checkers.

“It’s cause the Hellcats have got their lady singing tonight,” replied one brunette. “All the boys come in when Janice is on the main stage.”

“And when she’s not,” chuckled the girl next to her. “They’re here to see the pig!”

That was an interesting tidbit that Hollywood couldn’t afford to pass up. “The pig’s a regular then?” he asked.

“At least twice, maybe three times a week,” said the girl. “She’s even got her own table. Rowlfie made sure of that.”

“Rowlfie?”

“The Hellcats piano player.”

“Second piano player,” corrected her friend. “Everyone knows Dr. J runs that joint. No wonder they…”

“Hey!” came a shout. All three turned, seeing a short blue Muppet peaking from around the front desk. “The two of you gonna yak all day or you actually gonna do what I pay you to do?”

“See ya later, slick.”

Kermit nodded to the girls before continuing on his way. His target was the popular table that was surrounded by the large group of men, but the frog wouldn’t have been worth his salt in detecting if he didn’t pay attention to what was going on around him. Several other tables hosted patrons, couples and other bigger parties; the stage was in the back and it looked as though the house band was about to start up again.

Even if he hadn’t seen the band starting to get ready, Kermit could tell that several people shifted in their chairs in order to see the group’s next performance. The crowd was alredy applauding before a tall and stunning blonde walked out and up to the mic. She was dressed in a red sequined dress and was all smiles for those that had waited patiently and who had come out specifically to see her. The bassist, a groovy cat with a trimmed moustache and bushy red hair, began playing, followed by the strange, but mellow, looking drummer next to him.

Soon, the pianist – whom Kermit assumed was either Rowlfie or Dr. John – began pounding out a rhythm.

Sing, sing, sing, sing
Everybody start to sing
La-di-da, whoa ho ho!
Now you’re singing with a swing

Sing, sing, sing, sing
Everybody’s got a thing
La-di-da, oh oh oh!
Now you’re singing with a swing

And when the music goes around
Everyone can go to town
But here’s something you should know,
Whoa ho, baby, here we go!

Sing, sing, sing, sing
Now we’re gonna do our thing
La-di-da, whoa ho ho!
Here’s how Lips goes to swing!

Here, the trumpet player – the aptly named Lips – began an easy going solo before getting more involved with it. Kermit nodded his head to the music, enjoying the group and making a vow to come back when he wasn’t on a case. Instead, he made his way to the male groupie table, managing to push his way through until he actually made it to the table.

He wasn’t surprised to see Piggy Vane sitting there happily, enjoying the attention the majority of the men in the club were giving her. She smiled at him, acknowledging his trek through the swarm and his safe arrival to her very presence. Ordinarily, the frog wouldn’t have cared about the sort of attention a client of his got, unless it was the negative kind; for some, a small amount of irkish annoyance stayed at the back of his mind.

For someone who was supposedly mourning the death of her father, she sure seemed quick on the trigger.

“Thank heavens I finally found you,” he said, sighing in relief. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You know you aren’t allowed out in public; doctor’s orders.”

Piggy raised a slim eyebrow. What was the frog playing at? Well then, if he wanted to play…hitting her fist on the table, she replied, “I needed to be out! I can’t stay cooped up all day, I need adventure! I need society! I need laughter! And I don’t care who catches it!”

With that little declaration, the group of fanboys suddenly turned tail to find something else of interest, anywhere that the ‘sickly’ pig was nowhere near. Smirking at the look on her face, Kermit took the seat next to her, looking this way and that at the lack of attention they were now receiving.

“I see you got my message.”

“Yes, I did,” he replied. “However, I think I would’ve found you even if I hadn’t.”

“Is that right?” she asked, quirking another eyebrow at him.

“A group of men surrounding a table in a nightclub opened during the day?” he asked. “There would only one plausible reason for that.”

Piggy blushed. She had been getting the feeling lately that perhaps this frog was a bit more interested in her than this case might allow.

“A woman with money,” he concluded, causing her to turn towards him.

“You’re a real lady killer, Frog.”

“So they tell me.”

“Really?” she asked, chuckling. “That’s what they tell you?”

“All the time.”

“Who are these people, blatantly lying to you like this?”

“Cute,” he deadpanned. “Very cute.”

“I do tend to be that.”

“I can tell,” he muttered. “Say, are you married?”

“No,” she replied, smiling prettily at him. “Why? You asking?”

“No,” he chuckled. “Just making a note of it. Kinda surprising, actually.”

“How’s that?” she asked.

“Well,” he said. “I think you’d really swing. Heaven help the poor soul who’d make you a widow, not that you’d be a widow for long.”

“You bet I wouldn’t!”

“Not with all your money.”

“Keep it up,” she threatened, her hand closing around her drink.

“Say can I have one of those?” Kermit asked, gesturing towards her glass. He held up his hands when she raised it towards him. “Unless I plan on wearing it.”

Piggy couldn’t help but laugh slightly, waving a waiter to their table. Both ordered drinks, plus a small plate of snacks to help pass the time. Once his thirst had been sated, Kermit turned to his client. “Alright baby,” he said. “I’m sure this isn’t a social call, not that I’m not enjoying the company. What’s all the fuss?”

The heiress picked up her drink with the intention of drinking, however she used it to cover the fact that she was both pointing and speaking to a table that was across from them. “See that table over there?” she whispered. “That’s Pepe La Rue, one of the Count’s little minions; and when I say little, I’m not just whistling Dixie.”

Kermit casually glanced around before setting his eyes on the table his companion had pointed out. Across the way, a small red prawn was sitting alone at the table, though he was trying to entice every woman that walked passed into sitting down with him. “Okay…”

“I saw him leaving the Count’s house this afternoon,” she continued. “So I decided to follow him.”

“Why?”

“He led me on a merry chase, I’ll tell you what,” she said, skipping Kermit’s question entirely. “From the Count’s, he headed downtown, towards the deeds office; you know the one that handles the land development and deeds? Spent a good thirty minutes in there before heading towards the docks; spent an hour there. From the docks, he headed towards the business district, more precisely, the R&D section of Vane Industries.”

“Not seeing why that’s odd,” he replied. “You just said he’s one of the Count’s associates; maybe the Count sent him over there for errands.”

“Pepe and Rizzo aren’t used for business errands,” Piggy responded. “Too suspicious, would no doubt draw too much attention to themselves. Besides, that’s what we hired Andrew for.”

Conceding to her logic, Kermit nodded slightly. “I get ya,” he whispered. “Sending the bodyguard to do the job of the lawyer isn’t a smart move.”

“So why the trips?” she asked. “The docks, fine; he is a creature of the sea, but the development office? And more importantly R&D? Melon can go on for days if you don’t interrupt him and half the time, I’m not sure he knows what he’s talking about. Pepe understanding that science mumbo jumbo? I think not.”

“Then it’s probably a good idea if I go over there and give him a good talking to.”

“Allow me,” the pig replied, standing from her chair. “The shrimp might respond better to a little…encouragement.”

“Doesn’t seem fair for you to pay me when you’re doing my job,” he quipped.

“I’m not doing your job,” she said, smiling coyly at him. “Just giving you a hand.”

Kermit watched as she made her way towards the table, mesmerized by the way she moved her hips as she went. He shook his head, shaking any thoughts from his mind. If he wasn’t careful, his mind would be on other things and not the most important one, that being able to find out what really happened to Horace Vane.

Giving the pig five minutes to lull the shrimp into a false sense of security, the detective made his way to the table. True to form, Piggy had the shrimp eating out of her gloved hands, waving over a waiter in order to freshen her drink and trying to do his best to woo her.

“You work fast.”

Pepe La Rue, a red colored king prawn, looked up at the intruder, narrowing his eyes at the non descript frog that was trying to move in on his territory. It only took a moment however for him to remember the interloper as that of the detective that the pig had hired.

“Hey,” he drawled. “Ju can’t come up in here with jour police work, h’okay? Now if jou excuse us, we is busy. I’d ask you to join...”

“No need, Pepe,” Piggy replied, pulling out the chair next to her. “I’ll do it. Chair, Kermit?”

“Thank you,” said Kermit, taking said chair and sitting down.

“I know what this is, huh?” Pepe responded. “Jou think that you can do the questions here in a public place, but jou know what? I knows the rules of law, h’okay?”

“Mr. La Rue,” the detective started. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was in the neighborhood, so to speak, and the lady offered me a chair. So far, she’s being a lot nicer than you are at the moment.”

“Oh, I bet so,” the shrimp murmured. “I should have known you were a, what do they called dem? Female fatals, si? That’s what you is. I has nothing to say, h’okay?”

“You seem rather jumpy for someone who has nothing to hide,” Kermit noticed.

Insulted, Pepe stood from his chair dramatically, however it did nothing to covey his anger or the action as he was so short to begin with. “I do not have to take this,” he huffed. “There are plenty of womens looking for me, so adios!”

With that, the shrimp stormed off, causing shrieks of surprise from a group of ladies that had just walked in when he pinched them as he passed.

“They’d never see him coming,” Piggy remarked, watching the small antennae head off and out the door. Turning towards Hollywood, she said, “My apologies, Kermit. I actually thought you’d learn something from him.”

“No worries, Piggy,” he said, calming her fears. “Sometimes you gotta let the little guy get away.”

A waitress came by and placed a drink in front of the frog, beginning to walk away until Kermit stopped her. “Uh, excuse me?” he asked. “I didn’t order this.”

“Compliments of the house, sir,” she responded, in a flirty manner before taking off in the same direction she had come from.

“Huh.”

Picking up the drink, Kermit realized that the napkin in which it sat had writing underneath. Quickly turning it over, he smiled towards his client. “And sometimes,” he said. “The clues come to you.”

“What is it?”

Sliding the message to her, Piggy read it quickly –

Meet me during the dinner rush, out back. May have some interesting things to tell you about Count G’s crew.
 

WebMistressGina

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And here's some notes!

For those of you who might be following along with the original story of MPP, Kermit and Piggy's conversation is the ad-lib that Scooter placed in the script for them (one of many, of course!). In Hollywood land, it's actually taken from the third Thin Man movie, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.

And for the song the Hellcats are playing, it's the original 'Sing Sing Sing' by Louis Prima


Most of you I'm sure are more familiar with the popular Benny Goodman version (which was heavily featured in the Chips Ahoy commercials from the 1990s) (this is the shorter version)

 

Misskermie

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WOW MYSTERY!


Who is the note from?

WHO!?


You've just had an inside look into Jaz's mind.
More please!
 

The Count

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Okay, I is all caught up.

Gina, please watch out for those "that of's", it does grate on a reader's ears, and I know you can do much better.
Is Link Huntington the same character as Link Keulen? Just found the name change a bit odd.
So Rowlf's part of the Hellcats. Was imagining him as Det. Sam Marlo. Could that have been Clifford instead?
Was :oops: the cabby who brought Kermit to Mr. Vane's two-story cottage?
Imagining Dr. Julius Strangepork as Horace Vane, as he's been murdered once before in a previous Muppet mystery production.
Are the chorines the check-in girls at the KitKat Club?
And who played the flirty waitress?

Sorry, but I likes to know which character's playing what role so I can keep up and see it in my mind's eye as it's happening.

Other than that, it has all the trappings of a good mystery fic. Please, post more soonish.
 

WebMistressGina

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Okay, I is all caught up.
Oh good! :smile:

Gina, please watch out for those "that of's", it does grate on a reader's ears, and I know you can do much better.
Is Link Huntington the same character as Link Keulen? Just found the name change a bit odd.
The last chap was my bad, as I was rushing through. And yes, as I read through it last night, I realized that I had already mentioned Link at the beginning. Keulen is the name I'm going with, as it's the...um...German (?) word for pork, I think. So...you know, darlin, if you could change that for me that would be awesome! :big_grin:

So Rowlf's part of the Hellcats. Was imagining him as Det. Sam Marlo. Could that have been Clifford instead?
Yep. I was thinking Marlow in human terms, but haven't gotten that far yet. Or rather, I did last night and will have to write it down before it leaves in another dream. Clifford won't be anywhere in anything I do; I don't think I'm counting Muppets Tonight as part of my canon at least, though obviously Pepe counts.

Was :oops: the cabby who brought Kermit to Mr. Vane's two-story cottage?
Um...sure?

Imagining Dr. Julius Strangepork as Horace Vane, as he's been murdered once before in a previous Muppet mystery production.
Hadn't thought of it, so...sure.

Are the chorines the check-in girls at the KitKat Club?
Uh...sure.

And who played the flirty waitress?
Um...some girl??
 
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