She's Finding Day

Even though She's finding day... er... birthday, was on the 20th, I still feel obligated to publish this post. I know it's days late, but honestly, did you expect me to be punctual? I guess if you're new to the blog, my advice is to not expect anything, unless it is the unexpected.

***

By default, winter is my most favorite time of year, but when October rolled around, fall became a close second, if it wasn't already. I was reminded of how many good things were going on in the humans' house all at once. Baking pies, lighting fires, and bringing in bouquets of marigolds and fallen leaves to accessorize the dinner table. But those were just the little things. In October there were two birthdays to celebrate, both She and her sister's.
Being dolls, we'd never heard much of how the birthdays went in the past, since the parties were always out of the house and rather hush-hush as not to spoil any surprises. But this year, She's party was spoken loudly and frequently, and when word reached the Room She Lives In, it was hard not to talk about it, too.
"A murder mystery dinner!" Nessa swooned, falling back dramatically into my arms. Anna, Elphaba, Nessa and I were trying to be subtle spys by pressing our ears against a crack in the door to better hear what the humans were saying about the party downstairs. "Do you think She will be taking a purse with her to the party? 'Cause if so, I can sneak inside and go along, too."
"If you're going, I'm going," Elphie said. "And then we'll give ourselves away for sure. Two ornaments do not weigh the same as a tube of lipstick or a handkerchief."
Secretly I was just as torn as the smaller sisters. A murder mystery dinner was an unknown genre of party to us, but could you imagine how fun it would be? A funny character for everyone to be, while they browsed their scripts and dined on five courses of excellent food, catered to all the tastes of the guests, set in a historic tea shop in the coziest part of town. It sounded like a dream... or a nightmare. "Murder" was the only word that I wasn't so fond of.
"We might as well stop acting like we're invited. This party is for humans only, and like it or not, we're staying here for She's birthday." Elphie turned away from the door.
"That doesn't mean we can't do something fun," Nessa pulled back on Elphie's cape, trying to reason with her all-too-reasonable sister. "Why don't we have a murder mystery dinner here? I can get the decorations, Dorothy and Idina would be happy to cook, and Elsa can write a script for each of us," Nessa's aqua-green eyes looked up at me, begging. "Right, Elsa?"

"I'd love to. But I don't think having a 'murder' party is such a great idea."
"Nobody has to get murdered! It's not like dolls can really die anyway. One of us can just get injured, or something. I don't know. But it would be fun!"
Anna laughed lightly, and locked eyes with me. She looked doubtful that such a thing would be fun.
"Let's... change the subject." I decided.
"Yes," Anna said thankfully. "We love our humans, and it's great that we've having some birthdays, but I think we have other things to worry about. We have a ton of finding days right here coming up in the next two months."
Nessa had given up spying and we followed her away from the door and back to the dresser. "I still think we should do something."
"I think not doing anything is something enough." Loki was there on the dresser reading, and I could tell by his tone of voice that his politics were about to come into the light.
"We should get her a present at the very least."
Loki shook his head from what I could see behind the dust jacket-less book. "Birthdays are human things, it's not like we can celebrate them. Besides, we can't violate the Code of Dolls."
"Stupid Code." Nessa grumbled, rolling onto her stomach and kicking her boots in the air.
"Like or or not, Nessa, the Code exists for a purpose. Not only does it protect humans, it protects us. Have you seen them react to horror movies? They couldn't handle a doll coming to life in reality. They'd salt and burn us for possession."
Anna blinked in surprise. Yeah, that sounded a like a fate worse than death to us.
"She wouldn't." Nessa insisted.
"Well, maybe She wouldn't. But other humans that find out might. So we have to keep our 'Happy Birthdays' to a minimum, okay? That's all I'm saying."
Elphie sighed and began to pick at the ends of her braid. That conversation had gone nowhere.
"Party pooper," said Nessa, sticking her tongue out at Loki when his face was safely buried in the book. But then she scrambled over to us and motioned for Anna and I to bring our ears to her level. "He said 'keep it to a minimum', right? That doesn't mean 'not at all'."

Anna winced. "I'm not sure. We can celebrate our own finding days, remember? We should probably play it safe."
Nessa thought I was her last chance. "Elsa? You think so, too?"
I nodded wordlessly. Not like I haven't risked the Code of Dolls before, but if Anna and Loki agreed, then it was no use to protest.
"You guys are boring." She sounded disgusted.
"Let's go do something else. Thinking about this makes it worse," Anna stood and pulled me to my feet, and we jumped from the dresser hand-in-hand. "Why don't we see what Day of the Dead decorations She has? I hear there's a sugar skull ice cube tray, Elsa."
Anna knew exactly what to say to get my mind off of saltings and burnings and mystery parties. I'm the only doll I know who gets excited about ice cube trays.
The decorations were all in a shoebox in the corner of She's room, and we played with that for a while. There was a giant glittery calavera (sugar skull), a couple of non-live ornaments, and the ice cube tray, among others. Elphie joined us there, finding enjoyment in sorting and organizing each object, and we figured Nessa needed some time to pout, so we didn't bother forcing her to come.
When the humans left the house an hour later, we felt it safe to move around freely. Steve came by to visit and I found an advantage of being somebody's girlfriend: making your partner do favors for you when you're lazy. I requested he take the ice cube tray downstairs to freeze the water we had gathered from the bathroom sink.
"What, are your powers not working today?" He teased.
"No. It's just more fun to wait sometimes."
"It's water. Freezing. In a silicone mold. That's fun?"
"Yep. Thanks."
Steve smiled and rolled his eyes, but I knew he cared when he took the ice cube tray in his arms, careful not to spill the water, and pushed away She's bedroom door with his shoulder to head on down to the freezer. I felt warm inside knowing that I was his girlfriend.
But it didn't take long for disaster to strike.
Because somebody else was not feeling so warm.

First I heard the pleated plastic sound of Steve's combat boots, leaping two stairs at a time, and realizing that he wouldn't be running so quickly without a reason. Then there was the door being shoved open, the words "I need everyone downstairs. Now." And before you knew it, the stairs took on a blur of shuffling skirts and thumping feet, racing mindlessly for who knew what- but Steve.
He directed us to the kitchen, where the first thing I saw was the ice cube tray, tipped over on the opposite side with a puddle of water leaking out. What a shame.
Olaf was the first to scream, but not over the ice cube tray.
Nessa lay a little off to the side of puddle, her body stiff and blue.
Idina took action. A plush hand on Nessa's face, on an arm plastered to her side, on her encrusted frosty hair. "She's ice cold."
Elphaba was devastated. She pushed her way past the much larger dolls and fell at her sister's side. "How did this happen?" She asked, more emotion coming into her voice then I thought possible. Her eyes, big and blue, fell onto Steve.
His hands rubbed his face from the mask down. "I don't know. I come downstairs to put something in the freezer, and she just... falls out. Stiff as a board and not responding."
"Why?"
"Her face is frozen. She can't respond."
Steve was right. Nessa's eyes had molded into a state of shock, almost pain, and her mouth only a thin line of two lips stuck together.
"No," Elphie snapped. "I know why that is. But why would such a thing happen to Nessa?"
Steve was lost. He looked tired, despite it only being close to noon.
"Somebody must have done something to her." Olaf whispered.
"We need to conduct an investigation," Loki decided. "Steve, you were the one who first found Nessa here. I think it would be best if we worked as a team."
"Make it a team of three!" Moana stepped forward. One hand was on Olaf's shoulder, the other held her necklace for strength or luck. "I'll help you solve the mystery."
"Fine. Team of three. But first thing's first. Elphie, I need you to get Nessa thawed as soon as possible. The greatest evidence would come directly from her. I suggest keeping her away from water and things that could melt her plastic."
Elphie nodded solemnly. Idina helped her lift Nessa's body, and the crowd watched silently as she was carried away to the living room and placed on a pile of blankets.

Loki was already equipped with a notebook and pen from the kitchen counter. "Since we're conducting an investigation and this is serious business, nobody is to leave this room until you are assumed suspect or proven guilty, alright?" He flipped a page. "First clue: she was found in the freezer. Steve, why were you going down to the freezer in the first place?"
"This ice cube tray Elsa gave me needed to be frozen," Steve pointed at the mess on the floor, which seemed less important now that Nessa was in danger. "I was taking it down here to do that."
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? An since when did Elsa, the Snow Queen, need an appliance to freeze water?"
Everyone's icy gaze traded Steve for me. I rubbed my hands together nervously. Were they glowing blue?
"I didn't want to use my powers." I told them, my voice barely above a whisper.
"And why is that? Because they were already spent on freezing an entire doll?"
Anna was outraged. "How dare you assume something like that? Elsa would never... she loves Nessa! Nessa was her own sister before Elphaba and me, and besides, her switch hasn't been on the whole day."
"Can you prove that?"
"Well... no." Anna went quiet, her rage simmering down.
"Because you can just turn your switch on and off at will."
"Yes."
Loki stared down at the notepad, seemingly torn. "I'm sorry Elsa, but you're in the suspects column for now. That can change, if we find someone more fitting of this crime."
Anna grabbed my arm. "Elsa didn't do it."
"And I'll need more than just your word as proof, Anna. This is serious," he locks eyes with everyone in the room, one at a time. "Until the investigation is complete, we must forget that we are friends. We must overlook bias to come to the most logical conclusion. Everybody understand?"
Nobody answers. Loki takes this as a yes.
He passes another miniature notepad and pen to Steve. "You know how to write, correct?"

"I taught myself in the attic, yes."
"Good. We'll split the group in two, and we each take a half. I want you to find out as much information as you can, then put them in a column of 'innocent' or 'potentially guilty'."
"Are you forgetting something?" It's Moana again. She's the only one who doesn't seem affected by all of this. Her smile was an unusual light in such darkness, and her narrowed eyes challenged Loki. Could she have been the one who shut Nessa in the freezer? "I thought we were a team of three. You said so."
Loki wishes she would have forgotten. "Right. You deserve a notepad too, but don't think you're exempt from an interrogation. No one is."
"No one is. Right. Including you?"
"Yes, me, too."
And just like that, the group was split into three parts instead. Unlucky for me, Steve went to go ask Elphaba and Idina his questions, but I suppose if we're no longer friends, then what did it matter if I got him or not? Moana was set on snatching up Loki for an interview right away, so that left the rest of us to talk amongst ourselves and makes not-so subtle accusations that involved frowns and whispers.
Anna pressed her lips into a very fine line, straight across. Her eyes just kept blinking and looking around, but never at me. She talked in repititive phrases muttered to herself, "Oh, Elsa, what has happened to our family?"

***

I am unfamiliar with the pen.
My information for Loki are little more than chicken scratches from HeiHei. And the notepad is difficult to hold, but for Nessa, I have to do it.
I'd already gotten Loki's alibi. Apparently he had spent the morning reading on the dresser and wouldn't have any chance to harm Nessa. After a quick search through She's room, I found that Loki had been right, but I also found that the dust jacket to the book was missing, leaving it without a title or an author.
I doubted She had any books on "how to freeze an ornament" lying around, because this wasn't an ordinary accident. Still, I thought that was suspicious.

So I made it my mission to hunt down the dust jacket. And Loki wasn't allowed to leave my side for a second- that was my rule. If he did hurt Nessa, then he was a danger to the other dolls. I wasn't risking that. He was only a little bothered that he was missing out on his detective job with the others.
"Maybe it fell back behind the dresser. Steve called us to action so quickly that things could have moved around."
"Hm. You're right. You should go check. You're smaller."
He eyes me skeptically. "Don't try anything shifty behind my back."
"Why would I? I'm not a suspect like you."
"The only reason you put me down as suspect is because you know Nessa has a crush on me and I don't return it. That's no reason to freeze a girl," Loki snapped. "And you, Moana, haven't been interrogated yet."
"So you think I'm a suspect?" I rocked back and forth on my heels as Loki pressed against the wall and snuck behind the dresser. "Go ahead, then, and ask me some questions."
"I don't have my notepad."
"Use mine."
He sighed. "Where were you this morning before the incident?"
"Climbing with Magneto in the basement."
Loki almost laughs. "Magneto climbs?"
"I do the climbing. He's my belayer."
"You were in the basement, and not in your position, when humans were in the house?"
"Yeah."
"And when Nessa disappeared, did you see if she was alone?"
"I didn't see her at all. She never came down into the basement, and I couldn't hear anything, either."
"So whoever did it was really quiet... okay..." He's thinking. Then he drags a large dust jacket out into the light. "This is the book jacket to the one I was reading. Happy?"
"Very!"

The cover shows the silhouette of a man's face in side profile. He's got a funny hat and a pipe sticking out from his mouth, a curl of smoke the same color as his shadow rising into the air.
"Who is that?"
"This is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," when I didn't respond, he added, "It's a collection of mysteries."
"Why were you reading mysteries? Because you wanted to commit a crime yourself?" It did seem awful fishy. Why would Loki be so fast to place himself as a detective? Did he want to avoid suspicion of being the one who pushed Nessa into the freezer?
"I assure you it's a coincidence. But it did come in handy now."
I frowned at him and wrapped the dust jacket in my arms. This was a clue, and he wasn't going to take that away.
He laughed at me. "You've got to be kidding, Moana. If you really think I'm the one who did it..."
I grasped the cover tighter. Why the laughter? Was I next?
"Can't you see the obviousness of this case? Who's the one doll we know that has always had something against Nessa?"
I longed for my oar, just so I could point it at him. "You?"
"No, think about it. Who would have the motivation to do such a thing to Nessa? Who always argues with her, calls her out on things, and whispers comments behind her back?"
From my knowledge, Loki didn't do any of those things, but neither did any other doll I knew.
"It's Magneto."
Now I really wish I had my oar. "Not my lolo."
Loki's done in the Room She Lives In. He went for the door quickly, probably realizing that what he said to me actually makes sense to him. "Yes. Your lolo. Believe it or not, Moana, before you came, he was a pain to deal with, and Nessa was his attitude's favorite target. But you've changed him somehow. I don't know why..." he studied me. I stared daggers back. "But that's a mystery for another day. We need to find Magneto and interview him now."

I wasn't dropping the dust jacket, however. I sprinted to catch up with him, trying to think about when I had last seen Magneto. It hadn't been since this morning's climb. I felt sick. The pieces were starting to add up, and the puzzle it created made my best friend a criminal.

***

Nobody had obeyed Loki's rules not the leave the room until their interview, including Loki himself, surprisingly, so Anna and I felt it was more important to go check on Nessa.
She was still laying on the pile of blankets, thankfully less blue now, but still frozen stiff. Idina was constantly bustling around, fixing every little detail to ensure things were just right for Nessa. Elphaba knelt at her sister's side, continually patting her hand in hopes that it might encourage thawing.
"How is she?" Anna asked.
Idina tutted. "Very slow recovery. But still will recover."
"That's good. Is there anything we can do?"
Elphie looked up, her eyes meeting mine. Instinctively I drew my hands into my chest. I couldn't touch Nessa and make Elphie think I would freeze her.
"It's okay, Elsa, I know it wasn't you." She said.
"Thank you." I lower my hands but still keep my distance.
"When Steve came around I told him that you and Anna were in the Room She Lives In the entire time with me. He believes me and says there's no need to interview you two anymore..." Elphie nods instead to the kitchen, were Anna and I had just come from. But there hadn't been such chaos a few minutes ago.
Steve had roped together the other dolls we haven't seen all day, including Bell, Dorothy, Anelle, Kristoff, and the Nutcracker brothers. Anelle and Kristoff were on the chopping block, the both of them looking nervous and confused.
"Steve... I can't even stand, much less walk, much less put Nessa in a freezer. You really think it's me?"

Steve was also uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, but I have to interview everybody and put their name on this list."
"I thought we were cool, Steve..." said Kristoff. "With the ice hockey games and everything..."
Steve straightened his back. "This is not a time for ice hockey. I rarely address my title, but I think you ought to know that I am a Captain, and my title does hold some power over you, especially in this time of seriousness."
They continue to argue. I pull myself away, hurt. "I'll be happy to see Nessa up and well again. She's not the only one who's suffering."
"True, true," said Idina. "I thought perhaps we shouldn't care about the mystery. To me all that mattered was getting Nessa back on her feet. But now I can see the importance of it."
"Wish it didn't have to involve such a fight." I muttered.
"Things will be better once we catch the criminal."
"And then what? What will happen to the criminal?"
Anna pushed her bangs behind her ear, only for them to fall out again. "I- I don't know."
"We know!" Loki calls, louder than I've heard him shout before. He strides into the room with confidence and judgement in each footstep, and Moana slinks behind him, nearly hiding behind a dust jacket wrapped in her arms.
I gasp. Was Moana the criminal?
Loki addresses us. "Where is Magneto? Have you seen him at all?"
We shake our heads. "Not today."
He suddenly thrusts his scepter into the air like a possessed man. "Aha, see, Moana? Your lolo is guilty."
Despite her case of timidness, Moana still fights back. "You don't know that. We need to find him first."
"Find who?" The infamous grumpy keychain had crawled his way up from the basement stairs with perfect timing. Perfectly bad timing.

Moana found it difficult to bring her jaw from the ground. "Were you down there the whole time?"
"Yeah, I'm small. I can't walk stairs," he wrinkled his nose Moana's way. "'Cause someone left me in the basement alone." Magneto frowned and brushed himself off, lint and carpet dust shedding from his clothing. "Hey, what's with the faces? What's going on?"
Loki's excitement had drained. "Okay, back to the drawing board. It obviously isn't you."
"Nessa was found in the freezer this morning. We're trying to figure out who put her in there, and Loki assumed it was you."
Magneto rolled his eyes. "Well, you know what they say about assuming. Is Nessa able to tell us who did it?"
"No. Her mouth is frozen shut."
"That's unfortunate," said Magneto, but his mouth cracked apart in a sinister grin. "Wish we'd thought of that sooner."
"Maybe she needs a true love's kiss," Moana joked. When we all flashed her strange glances, she responded, "What? That's how the movie went... an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart."
"Zat's an idea," said Idina. "We on worked on getting her entire body warm. We should have focuzed on the mouth."
"Anybody want a kiss?"
"Wait," Elphaba sounded like she was onto something. "Has everyone been interviewed?"
Steve nodded, but then pointed to Magneto. "Not him."
"Any leads?"
"Just Magneto. But now that's been negated."
Elphie stomped over to Nessa, her face more angry than sad now. "She doesn't need true love's kiss. What she needs is a sister's slap." And with that, Elphie raised her hand and smacked Nessa across the face, then pressed down onto her mouth. Then there was a noise. It had come from Nessa.
Her voice squeaked, and she yawned and blinked multiple times. She smiled dreamily at Idina as Elphie prepared another strike in case the need arose.

"I was having the most wonderful dream," she cooed. "Unfortunately I had to wake up to pain."
"Nessa, this is important. If you can recall, you ended up in the freezer this morning. We've been trying to figure out who could have put you in there."
"Oh. It was Sven."
"SVEN?!"
"Yeah. He's my buddy. He's everyone's buddy, really, and if you bribe him with a belly rub, he'll do whatever you ask of him. Even if it means standing on his back to crawl into the freezer," Nessa paused. "Why do you look so mad?"
"Because we thought one of our friends was a criminal the entire morning. We weren't trusting anyone, and now, as it turns out, it was the stupid reindeer that did it."
"Never thought to interview an animal, did we?" Steve whispered to Loki.
"Sven's not stupid. Just gullible. All I wanted to do was have a murder mystery party like She was for her birthday, and when you guys dissed the idea upstairs, I decided to take matters into my own hands. The cold only hurt for a little bit, but when my eyelids froze, I just kind of passed out."
"Well it wasn't a very good idea."
"I'm sorry," Nessa sighed. "That's not what I meant to do. I just wanted us to have some fun."
I was happy to see things were turning out alright again. "Why don't we go up to the Room She Lives In and celebrate with some chocolate instead?"
We all agreed that was a good idea. And it's very difficult to be enemies when there's chocolate to be had. Our relationships mended quickly with the power of forgiveness and chocolate sea salt caramels. And we all agreed that if we were ever going to have a mystery party, or at least something like it in the future, then maybe it shouldn't be a surprise.
Finally, since Moana contributed something to the post, it was the best decision to bring back the team-up sign-out picture of her and I.

Happy Birthday to She,

Queen Elsa and Moana of Motunui