Rowan was close to despair, teetering over the edge of panic. Seven cats had died, and only seventeen were still breathing, but for how long, Rowan didn't know. There'd been so many breathless interviews, screaming wails of chaos and the heavy onslaught of grief hung over everyone. A few hours ago some panicked cats had tried to use chairs and knives that they'd raided from the kitchen to knock down the door, but all good that came from it was several injured paws and an unyielding door.

Rowan and Ebony sat together on a table, comparing notes. "I'm fairly certain the venom isn't in the food, she's killing one person every hour from my estimates- we've been in here around six hours, and the kitchen staff have stopped preparing food and the food that's left has mostly been left uneaten. And if it was in the food, and one of the staff was the murderer, surely we'd all be dead, wouldn't we?" Ebony mused, her black tail-tip twitching in concentration. Rowan nodded his agreement soundlessly, mind drifting to the eighteen cats left in the area. He was going to fail them, and he would perish with them. "And one of the chefs was killed - Basalt, I think it was - and it wasn't like Basalt was a head chef someone would bump off for promotion, she seemed well liked.." Ebony suddenly trailed off, and her eyes fixed on him.

"Are you even paying attention to me? There are eighteen cats in this facility, us included, and I will not let another one die!" The sudden vehemence in her tone surprised him, and he looked back up at her. She was right, he knew. Yet still, he felt helpless and useless. He let out a ragged sigh, realising he would have to put his doubts away. He was a good detective, and he would track down the Viper.

All was not lost. "What about the waiters? Why don't we re-check everyone's profiles, and try and draw up a suspect list." An unreadable expression, tinged with irritation, passed across Ebony's face.

"I already have a suspect list, but sure, we can go through it again." She smoothed out her paw with her paw. "At 6:42, the first murder occurred. There were 24 people in the building. Three kitchen staff, Two Waiters and two cleaning staff. Us, two detectives. 15 Citizens not employed by the restaurant. The first victim was an elderly tom, his mate dead, had two kits at the restaurant. Named Wyvern. Had a daughter named Lavender and son named Tiger."

"Do you think one of them killed him? Wyvern was reasonably rich, maybe one killed him for the inheritance?" Ebony twitched her ears, shaking her head.

"We discussed this before, Tiger or Lavender may have killed their father, but had no motive for killing any of the others, and I was talking with Lavender at the time of the third murder, so it couldn't have been her, and I know Boomslang venom is slow acting, but I talked with her for quite some time."

"What about Tiger?" Rowan interrupted. "Lavender seems to be .. disgusted when she talked about him."

"Lavender told me that she hates her brother due to the fact that he bullied one of her best friends when they were at school, and it drove her to commit suicide. She never forgave him for it, and hates him because of it. In return, she stole his girlfriend. They're mates now." Ebony let out a smile.

"But if he -" Ebony shook her head again.

"He may have been a bully, but Lavender also told me that he has a phobia of death as a whole - making him rather unlikely at murdering someone."

"Oh." Rowan replied, momentarily stumped. Ebony sped on. "The second murder occurred at 7:42PM, and a young she-cat named Zinnia was killed. She had one relative, her mother, Fern. Fern seems unlikely to kill her own daughter, but it could have been a way to draw away blame - though I doubt that. The third murder happened at 8:42, the victim was a female known as Mango, who was here with her mate, Vinegar. The fourth murder occurred at 9:42, a tom kit called Raven was killed, his mother, Basalt, one of the chefs, was killed at 10:42, becoming the fifth victim. The sixth victim was also female, Basalt's twin, a waitress named Mamba, who was killed at 11:42. The seventh victim was male, Rain, an ordinary citizen, killed at 12:42. He was Zinnia's father and Fern's mate. Finch and Bat, two sisters, currently alive, came here with their school friend Nut. Grass, the head chef, is their aunt. Lavender and Tiger are also still breathing, as is Vinegar and Fern. One waiter, a tom named Raccoon, is still alive. Both of the cleaning staff, Moth and Grey, are still alive, as well as one other chef, the most recent addition, Hawk. Ebony and Rowan, detectives, also still alive. Cougar, Valek and Thorn, two tons and their adopted she-kit here for a family outing." Ebony snapped her notes shut, and fixed him with a stare.

"That is the twentieth time I've repeated that list Rowan, and it doesn't get any less boring with each time I repeat it. We've been stuck here for ages, and you're acting like you've given up! Snap out of it! Throughout this harrowing nightmare of a first date, it's been you who's been keeping me from exploding. You're the one solid rock I can cling to, and you're sinking into the waters, and I swear Rowan, I will not watch you drown!" Ebony snapped, her pent up frustration lashing out. Rowan looked into her eyes, feeling the pain and anger he felt at himself. He'd been so stupid, and selfish, and this wasn't the time to despair. He had Ebony, and they would get through this together. Side by side, they would see the light of the next day.

Together, they would not be afraid.

"It could have been the waiter, Raccoon, he could have slipped it into their food- but The Viper always scratches her victim's doesn't she? Which means -" he started to ramble, several maps and dots connected together in his mind, and he shot up with sudden vigour.

"The cleaning staff have access to the doors and master keys, and probably to the roof as well- one of them could easily shut this place down and start picking victims off!" Ebony finished, her eyes bright with excitement. Together, they scampered off to find the two cleaners, Moth and Grey. It didn't take long for them to find the latter, the small grey tom clearly ruffled by their sudden appearance. The tom was talking with Finch, whose tail was fluffed up.

"So, who do you think it is? I mean, no one really pays attention to the cleaners, but I bet you see everything, And that's got to be super cool, right -" Finch was saying, her tone bright.

How can someone find happiness in a place like this? He wondered, momentarily puzzled.

"Oh, hi!"' Mewed Finch, a sound echoed by Grey.

"How can we help?" Asked the solid grey tom, eyes brown pools of curiosity. He's either a very good actor, or it's Moth we're looking for.

"Well, we were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us," Ebony cut in smoothly, drawing out her pad. "We've had a new lead and we think you could help us with it. " the grey tom nodded, settling back on his haunches.

"So, what do you want to know?" He asked amiably. "I'm happy to help, I want to get out of this hellhole as much as the next cat. I'm a cleaner, all I do is clean dirty floors and walls, not clean away blood splattered murder restaurants. I like being invisible, the quiet is so peaceful. No one notices the cleaner, but I like that. I live my life, and they life theirs."

"Well, first off, what can you tell us about your keys? You and Moth both had a pair of master keys, I believe?" Rowan asked. This was a question hey had asked before, but it was better to ease the tom into relaxation before getting to more prickly queries.

Grey's eye's rose slightly in surprise, but answered just the same. "I already told you this, but Moth came to me at about midday, worried out of his mind, telling me that he couldn't find his keys and asking if I'd picked them up by accident. I said I hadn't, but checked my supply closet just in case, and my keys were gone too. We searched high and wide for them, but couldn't find them, and were going to ask for a spare pair when the first murder happened."

"So if Moth told the truth, the keys were gone at midday, long before we 24 had arrived. Correct?" Ebony asked in confirmation, and Grey nodded. "Why didn't you go to ask for a spare pair first?"

"We're cleaners, it's our job to be thorough. We looked far and wide, but by the time the first murder happened, all the keys were gone, not just ours." Grey explained.

Ebony nodded, eyes shining with encouragement. "So we can assume someone with access to th4 back stole the keys?" Grey nodded, but is confusion was clearly evident.

"But I thought you'd already realised that."

"We had, but roll with us. Where were you and Moth at the time of the murders?"

"Cleaning, mostly. We'd go all round the place- but I don't see the point in these questions, I don't see why -"Ebony cut him off, her eyes suddenly staring ahead intently, dancing with a passionate fire.

"Grey, can we have a look in your cleaning closet?" Utterly confused, Grey lead them to a small closet with rusty hinges, that swung open with an ominous creak. Rowan darted forward, sniffing the air. Mothballs littered the floor, dark brown pellets and lumps of dust. The cleaning trolleys were over in the corner, a beige grey and burlap. Ebony let out a disdainful sniff, eyes wide. Then they ploughed through bottles and mixtures, until Rowan caught sight of a bright blue bottle labelled 'bleach' in Grey's trolley. He opened the bottle, and sniffed.

It wasn't as if it smelt strange, or unusual, it was the fact that it didn't smell of anything. Bleach was distinct, but this let off waves of nothingness.

Rowan didn't need a test, for instinctively, he knew that this was Viper venom. Ebony looked at the bottle realisation plain upon her face. She whipped around, looking at the confused Grey. "Only an idiot would put their venom in their own trolley." She whispered, then her voice rose louder, to almost a shout.

"Where is Moth?!" She screeched, eyes wild. Rowan placed his tail tip on her shoulder, letting his calm assurance and strength, his belief, his faith, his trust in her wash over the both of them, she calmed down. That was then a voice dripping with venom and rage came into the room.

Moth was remarkably normal and uninteresting. She blended into the background like a fly on the wall. Her fur was a beige - brown, her eyes a similar hue. She seemed to be unyielding and plain boring, someone who reeked of being unnoticeable and nothing of consequence. If it wasn't for her eyes seething with pure loathing, and the tiny she-kit squirming and writing in her claws, Rowan doubted he'd even have given her a second glance.

"Dad.. please.. help.." cried the she-kit, her eyes wide with terror. In a shaking voice, Rowan stood forward.

"Moth, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder.." he began, but he was drowned out by the scream of the kit as a claw dug into her back.

"If you take another step forward, I will peel this kit's skin off, piece by piece. You will listen to me, detective. My voice deserves to be heard!" Her voice was rising with each word, the anger and fury clearly evident. Rowan wanted to claw her face off, to shield the poor kit from this lunacy, by Ebony's warning gaze kept him back.

"Do you know how painful it was to hollow out my own claws?" The she-cat began. "To hear the sound of them being ripped into by the drill, to feel the pain that wracked my entire body. All for this, this, my final art piece, that you have ruined. Do you know how long this took? I've been planning for years. Buying up venom, testing out my skill- I was meticulous in my planning. It took so much time to get this gathering into place." Moth was pacing, and the kit was wailing in despair and desolation. "I've detested this kind for so long, Rowan. It's despicable, it's unnatural. Everyone here tonight was guilty in some way. This kit has two fathers. Lavender's mate is female. Are you not disgusted? Don't you hate this?"

Rowan tensed, anger seething through him. It blazed like wildfire, burning from within. With fondness, he remembered his old partner, Moth. Moth who had been nothing like this, the moth who had made every day brighter, full of kindness. This she-cat had tarnished that name, and did not deserve to live with it.

"I am going to punish everyone here, but you got in the way. So now I will have one last joy. I will make you watch the kit as she dies. You don't understand yet, do you? I filled my claws with boomslang venom. At 5:42, I pricked Wyvern. Then when he died, the next, and the next. But i've clawed this kit so many times, I promise you this: her pelt will run red with blood, and you will watch her perish. And you can do nothing to stop it." With a heavy sigh, the Viper threw the kit across the room, and Rowan sprang, barrelling into the she-cat, but she did not resist. She just smiled in satisfaction.

When a collar had been placed on the Viper, Rowan lifted his head. The kit, Thorn, he remembered, was bleeding. Blood trickled from the gashes in her sides, blooming like a red flower from her ears and nose. It was a tide, a sea. Her wails sounded like thunder, deafening him. Crimson blood that flowed and flowed and flowed, until the wails stopped, as she was choking on her own blood.

And Rowan could do nothing but watch.

By Olivia, who got carried away. Slightly.