After a good night of sleep and a few explanations from Hatter on her side, I was ready to start my first day of recording with the Conductor. He asked me to join him on his train but I could already see it moving from the spaceship. I sighed and a black umbrella with light grey lines appeared in my hand. It was one similar to Hatter's in use but more proper to mine. I jumped out the window and dived towards the train. My umbrella opened automatically and helped me land at the back of the train, making a playful bow to the Conductor as he leaned against the railing. He gave a chuckle at my entrance.

"Welcome back, lassy! I haven't written the script for me next movie yet, so we're not recording!" He explained

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I could hear a lie in his voice.

"I'll call for yer when the script is ready." He assured

I nodded and decided to explore the train. I entered and immediately saw a few owls, as expected, but also crows in inspector outfits.

'I knew it, he was trying to get real reactions out of me.' I smirked

'Time to play the comedy.'

I walked around, looking in genuine awe at the old themed train. A crow approached me.

"Hello, fellow Express Owl. Do you care about security? I care about security a whole lot. You should not be going around telling information to strangers. It could be a security risk!"

I shed a small sweat at his behaviour. He sounded like a teacher.

"I can help your daily life become more secure. What is your favourite combination of letters and numbers?"

He waited patiently for an answer, I suppose. I looked up thoughtfully before answering a random answer.

"1234owl."

"I see, I see. 1234owl is also my favourite combination of letters and numbers." He satisfactorily said

I tilted my head at how strange he was and turned around to see another one walking up to me.

"Why, hello there, fellow owl. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting? As you can tell, I am also an Express Owl. I do much hooting. From one owl to another, we can share details, yes? What is your uncle's sister's maiden name?"

What...?

"Let's go with Bob." I answered

He nodded.

"Oh, it is Bob? I see, I see. This is the kind of uncle's sister's maiden name I would expect from a fellow Express Owl."

He left me alone and I continued my walk down this wagon. At the door to the next area, a third crow waited for me.

"Did you know that having a pet helps improve self-confidence and relieves stress? Did you also know that pets can have pets? It is true! Unfortunately, us Express Owls are not allowed to have pets. It is a sacrifice we must make in the name of hooting. But if you had a pet, what do you think the name of your pet's childhood pet would be?"

I scratched the back of my neck. Those questions are oddly specific.

"Rex."

"Rex is certainly an interesting name for a pet. Even for a pet's pet." He agreed

I passed the door to see another owl on the side as well as two others and a crow looking at a board with one of those security checks. I approached the owl off to the side.

"Have you noticed all these crows around the place?" He asked

I nodded.

"They keep asking for personal details, and I never know what to answer!" He whimpered

I pat the top of his hat and walked over to the board. I first looked behind it to see some scribbles supposedly being terms and conditions seeing the way things were going. The black bird remarked me and spoke up.

"Hello, fellow Express Owl. I am stuck on an advanced mathematical and scientific issue. Do you see this advanced formula on the blackboard? I cannot decipher it. Can you decipher the scientific formula for me? What does it say?"

"Dcb4ilose." I decoded

"I see! The solution is dcb4ilose! It was obvious! Thank you, fellow Express Owl. And thank you for agreeing to the terms and conditions on the back side of the blackboard."

I rolled my eyes and walked away, continuing to head towards the front of the train. I saw those green diamonds in green spheres that Hatter used as currency. I grabbed one and it flew in my chest, a counter of how many I had appearing on my right wristband. I continued to walk, seeing platforms above my head. A door leading to the cafeteria stood in front of me and another leading to a rec room stood on my right, a crow in front of it.

"Fellow Express Owl, do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a superhero? The most important feature of a superhero is the name. Every superhero needs an intricate name to their fame. If you were a superhero, what would your name be, if entered in a online form with standardized account identification requirements?"

I felt annoyance claw at my face.

"Black Cape."

"That name is great! I can already imagine it: the mighty Black Cape, saviour of justice! I'll just write your answer down here, real quick..."

He continued to block the door to the rec room so I decided to head in the cafeteria. I ignored the chatter from those sitting at the tables and I saw yet another crow waiting for me at the top of stairs. I went up and he spoke up.

"Us Express Owls all have a part of our body we're ashamed of. This is why some owls choose to pluck their feathers. Which body part of yours are you the most ashamed of, fellow Express Owl?"

"None."

"Oh, poor Express Owl,  you shouldn't be ashamed of your none! But you'd better get your nine checked out by a doctor. I read online it could be a sign of bird flu."

I muffled my laughter with my hoodie sleeves, I was not expecting that answer to be taken so literally. I looked around to see a floating ball of yarn. Hatter had mentioned them. I jumped over to it and grabbed it, having it disappear in my chest. The counter changed to show how many I had collected. I nodded to myself and looked around the room from my higher spot. There was a door leading to the VIP room. I got in to see a key on the ground in front of me and an owl blocking the way to another room. I grabbed the key and walked towards the owl.

"Wait, don't come in here. I lost my contact lens somewhere...please don't step on it! I can't move out of the way, I might step on it myself!" He panicked

I shrugged and walked out of the room. I walked towards a door with a lock on it and inserted the key. The latter disappeared with the lock and I could enter to find the control room of the train. A gift box was sitting on the ground in front of me and I walked over to it before opening it to find a new hat for me, a detective hat.

'Sherlock Holmes style!' I mentally cheered

I made my beanie disappear and I replaced it with the detective hat. As soon as I put it on, my outfit changed to match the style without my doing. I looked down at myself in awe before the phone in the cabin started ringing, startling me in the process. I walked over to it and answered.

"Is this the kid with the hoodie? I hope you like my present...Go to the back of the train. Your uncle's sister Bob has come to visit you. You better show your fam' some love, or I'll be talking to a corpse next time." A deformed voice chuckled

There was a click as he hung up and I was left with only the humming of the train for a moment.

"What in the actual...that's so morbid." I muttered

I walked out and headed to the back of the train as instructed. I soon reached the first room I entered earlier. There on the ground and surrounded by ketchup, was an owl with a probably fake knife sticking out of his back. And a cardboard cut out of an old woman stood behind it. Conductor chose this moment to come in through the door leading to the outside of the wagon.

"A-a MURDER? On MY Owl Express!?" He stuttered

The room soon filled with other owls.

"I can't believe someone would murder one of the Express Owls!" Conductor said

"And I can't believe even more that it's yer uncle's sister Bob!" He exclaimed, turning to me

I narrowed my eyes at the cardboard cut out. He turned back to it.

"What do yer have to say for yerself, Bob?!" He asked

There was a small pause.

"Yer givin' me the quiet treatment, eh?! That's what a murderer would do!"

It took all I have to stop my serious face from breaking because of his accent on the word murderer.

"Leave this case to us."

I glanced behind me to see all the crows lined up.

"We're CAW, the Crow Agent Watch. We've been monitoring everyone on this train since the last station. We'll be searching the entire train for evidence. No one is allowed to go outside of this wagon."

I fully turned to them with suspicion as Conductor joined my side.

"WHAT!? I can't even walk around in me own train!? How dare yer!" He yelled

"Once the clock hits midnight, we'll get off at the next station with the murderer in cuffs. Stay here while we investigate further."

They all piled out of the room and I glanced at the clock that appeared on my left wristband. There was one hour left. Conductor looked up at me.

"Those C.A.W. peck necks can't tell me what to do! I bet they committed the murder, and are destroying all the evidence!" He growled

"I'll put your mind at ease and do it myself, I don't trust them either." I assured

He nodded and gave me a smile before I headed out the door. As soon as I did, sort of sunglasses fell from under my hat and allowed me to see sort of lavender zones. Seeing that they begun at the crow's eyes, I guessed that I was seeing their arc of view. I passed behind the blackboard and crawled up a shelf to avoid the crow blocking the path. The rec room door was unattended so I could slip inside easily. A folder marked 'confidential' in big red letters laid on the ground. I grabbed it and saw that it was written that Conductor was a suspect.

"Strange." I mumbled

I pocketed the folder in an inner pocket of my cloak and looked up to see another passage. I decided to follow this path and I was annoyed to see that I needed a key to open the next room. I entered the room labelled 'night cabin' to see two crows walking around the key I needed. Their area of sight was short enough for me to sneak behind one of them to get the key to the luggage room. I grabbed the object and quickly rushed out to go unlock the lock. I got in and the phone right in front of me rung again with that same melody. I sighed and answered.

"So you think you can just sneak around the train like this? Just drop the detective act. You'll never catch the real murderer."

He chuckled

"You can't point your finger at someone without clues. The clock is ticking. Will you be able to find enough clues to point your finger at the murderer?"

He hung up and I growled under my breath before continuing my search.

In one hour, I found six files with the same confidential red mark. Six suspects and it looked like I was one of them. There were the crows, Bob, the Conductor, the Express Owls, me, and the victim herself. I managed to sneak back in the last wagon of the train in time to arrive with the crows.

"So, who dun it?!" Conductor asked

"We don't know. We couldn't find any conclusive evidence. We have no idea who murdered this owl." The crow explained

"What! So you've done peck all to solve the case?! Who's the murderer? Which one of you did it?!" The yellow bird yelled

I tilted my head and approached the downed owl with a fake thinking expression.

"Conductor. This owl was not murdered, he is alive. But remains the question on who asked him to do this?" I spoke up

His face seemed to light up at my acting.

"I can also tell, it's a rubber knife he was supposedly stabbed with." I added

"Wuzzah what? RUBBER knife?!" Conductor questioned

"Yeah, can I go now? I'm kinda sore from playing dead for so long. This rubber knife is also a bit uncomfortable." The victim asked

I smirked at him and turned back to the Conductor.

"Well, thanks for solving the murder, lassy. Not only did you reveal that the victim was never harmed, you also gave the opportunity for a sequel to be added! And you gave us intense footage for the movie!"

I chuckled and playfully bowed.

"It was my pleasure to play along. I'll be happy to help the side I chose win!"

He cackled.

"You think DJ peck neck will make a movie that's even remotely as good? I think not!"

He handed me two of the time pieces Hatter wanted, while looking away from me, with what I suppose to be embarrassment.

"Here, take those thingamajigs and get outta here!" He demanded

I chuckled and grabbed them, both of them disappearing in my hoodie pocket. I waved at Conductor and exited the train at the stop of the studio. There I met up with Hatter and she teleported us both back on her ship. Her grin was almost as big as mine and the stars in her eyes almost as bright as real ones.