It had been a long time since Bowser had stopped attacking the Mushroom Kingdom after a great failure and his army had left. Now, Bowser and his now grown up kids lived regular lives.

Casino Goomba resided in a room with one bathroom that he was renting. The rest of the house belonged to Wendy. He had become a psychiatrist for reasons only known to him. The casino-obsessed Goomba had his ability to walk taken away by age. He now was in a wheelchair, which also served as his arms.

That day, Wendy was sitting at her table, drinking some coffee, when Susan walked out of Casino Goomba’s room. “Goodbye, Goomba, take care,” Susan said to the Goomba back in the room as she closed the door. It turned out that when Susan had been in her 40’s, she'd had an eye-infection, and glasses became necessary.

“Where are your glasses, Susan?” asked Wendy.

“Ah, I forgot them at home, Wendy,” muttered Susan. “Anyway, Goomba seems a bit troubled today.”

“Well, you would be too, Susan, if you lived in that dumpy old room,” commented Wendy, taking another sip of coffee.

“Oh, the room is nice, with direct southern sunlight. Oh, granted Goomba’s got his problems, I wouldn’t blame it on the room,” opposed Susan. By problems, Susan meant Casino Goomba’s constant gambling which left him broke all the time, even if he had a job.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you next week, I guess,” said Wendy.

Susan sniffed a haughty goodbye as she walked through the hallway and through the front door. Wendy had remained in the house doing household jobs, and, according to her testimony, she heard Casino Goomba’s TV turn on 40 minutes after Susan left. A minute later, Iggy, now a businessman but still wearing glasses, walked into the house.

“Hello, Iggy, you here to talk about your problems with Roy again?” questioned Wendy.

“It’s shocking that even after growing up, he’d still do these things,” chuckled Iggy as he knocked on Casino Goomba’s door.

After knocking several times Iggy tried the doorknob, only to find it locked. “That Goomba goes and changes my appointment and now he’s not even here,” grumbled Iggy.

“Oh, he must be there. There’s no other way out of the room. I’d surely have seen him if he walked out,” Wendy said.

After five more minutes of knocking, Iggy finally asked Wendy to open the door. Wendy removed the keys from a peg and opened the door.

The two stared at Casino Goomba’s body, not budging in its wheelchair. Everything in the room appeared normal; there was a nice cup of hot coffee on the short table. The TV was still on, and everything was as normal as it should be.

Wendy looked at the cup of coffee. “It must have been poison,” commented Wendy. “He must have done himself in. He’s been depressed all week, and that’s a fact.

The police confirmed poison in the coffee. More of the poison was found in an envelope, Casino Goomba’s fingerprints on it.

A Koopa police officer in training found an open cabinet next to the wheelchair that Casino Goomba’s body sat on. The top drawer stood completely open and totally empty. “What would he be using this for?” wondered the trainee.

The Chief of the police investigated Casino Goomba’s bathroom. He came up with an intriguing solution to the empty drawer. “He was destroying files in the sink. He was using acid to do so.”

The Chief sniffed the area. He came upon perfume that covered the area around the sink. “He must have used the perfume to hide the smell of the acid,” commented the Chief.

From a couple of pieces of file paper that managed not to get destroyed, the Chief was able to get an idea of what the files were. “Blackmail! These are blackmail files!”

Wendy was nervous when the police approached her, but she decided to answer. “Well, I thought that he’d have at least one other income source. He’s lost so much to his gambling habits. He may be a drop-dead phony, but people tell him so many things.”

The Chief glanced over his notes as he came to a conclusion. “This must be a clear case of suicide. Even though he was using blackmail to obtain money, he is a handicapped and depressed Goomba. It’s very simple. He locks the doors, clears out his files, destroys the files, uses perfume to cover the smell, and then drinks the poison.

“Actually Chief, I’m going to have to disagree with you there,” objected the Koopa police trainee. “I think this was murder, and we should investigate further.

Suspect Statements and Examinations:

When Iggy was questioned by the police about the crime, Iggy told them that he had an appointment with Casino Goomba every Friday at 3:00 to 5:00 PM. However, he stated, that day he got a call from a woman who claimed to be Casino Goomba’s assistant and stated that his appointment was rescheduled from 3:00 to 3:45. Iggy was also carrying 2,000 golden coins with him, which he claimed was simple petty money from his business.

When Wendy was interviewed, she stated that she knew that nobody left or entered the room after Susan had left. The only time that she didn’t see the door was when she had to go to the bathroom, according to her testimony. Other than that, nobody had left or entered the room. However, she also said that the keys were with her always and she put them back on the peg after she was done using them in the rest of the house. When asked about where she kept her perfume, she said she always had it in her bathroom. She also stated that she had plenty of bottles of perfume. She stated she couldn’t count them all.

Susan also was interviewed. Her car was spotted in front of Wendy’s house and it remained there between five and ten after her appointment. Susan stated that her car didn’t have enough gas to get home so she stopped by the gas station. The clerk at the gas station stated that he was helping out a customer, so he didn’t see Susan getting gas, but he did remember her coming inside. She gave him the money and left. Ten minutes later, the gas station was robbed by a masked robber who appeared to be male. The stolen item was unconfirmed. Nobody saw the license plate on the car in front of Wendy’s house, and Susan claimed it was not hers.

Scene of Crime examination:

Casino Goomba’s room has a TV, a short table, a cabinet, a bed in the corner, a clock radio, a refrigerator, and no other battery or electric run appliance. The bathroom has a sink perfectly reachable by a handicapped Goomba. A bottle of perfume was knocked over next to the sink.

Casino Goomba’s back had a giant burn. Tests showed that the burn had appeared after death. The window in the room could not be opened from the inside or out. The window was intact and there were no signs of anyone prying it open.

Backyard examination:

The only way to get into the backyard is over the fence facing Soda Lake, the kitchen door, or the gate to the side of the house. An ornament hanged from the tree. Wendy stated that a crystal for the ornament had been there but had disappeared the Friday before. The ornament itself was made by Susan. Grinded pieces of something shiny lay scattered in front of the window.

Also discovered were pieces of something that appeared to once be a battery-run device. Wendy took a look at it in her interview and said that the neighbors had a tendency to litter strange things in her backyard.

Suspect Jobs:

Wendy: Perfume Maker
Iggy: Businessman
Susan: Crystal Miner

Suspect’s Belongings:

Susan had with her a purse that contained perfume, two AA batteries, her cell phone, a mirror, a diamond ring, and a jewel necklace.

Wendy also had a purse with her, this one containing the keys that she had removed from the peg, perfume, her cell phone, a mirror, and makeup.

Iggy had no purse, but he had a briefcase filled with files and other things that he said were for work. His wallet contained the 2,000 gold coins he claimed was petty cash from business.

Sightings:

Wendy claimed that she saw someone scurry off in the backyard through the window. Wendy also remembered seeing Susan take a detour at the bathroom before her appointment.

Susan claimed that she saw something hiding in the bushes. It was hard to figure out what size it was, according to her testimony, but she figured it was probably a wild Koopa or something like that so she just went into her car and left for the gas station.

Iggy remembered seeing a car similar to Susan’s parked in front of Wendy’s house when he arrived.

These were all the data collected from the second examination of the crime. Whodunit?