The Mysterious Death of Mr. Poopybottoms

"A fish is GONE!"

It was Wednesday night, and Curt, Christie, Scott and I were playing a rousing game of Rook in the living room. The fish tank, now situated on the card table, had been moved to the new location around Valentine's Day when Martie's large love bouquet moved in.

Since my card seat was situated next to the tank, I had a clear view of the crime scene. Between card rounds three and four I noticed that only two fish, George and Flo, could be seen happily swimming in the fish tank. It's not unusual for any of the fish to hide out in the hippie water castle, but upon careful inspection the castle was completely empty.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Scott exclaimed as he interrogated potential witnesses. After sharing similar shock, we concluded that the fish disappearance was indeed no-joke and decided to examine the facts to determine suspects and motive.

Scene - Fish Tank with two of three fish swimming, no sign of Mr. Poopybottoms
Suspects - Small children and George (the fish) is looking fatter than usual

Facts:
-Scott, noticing that the water level was low and dirty, had recently cleaned/filled the tank 
-Bree is in town and loves to watch the fish
-The Kartchner boys also love to watch the fish and sometimes try to touch them
-Mr. Poopybottoms was looking a bit down in the dumps, if you know what I mean
-The fish are pretty rambunctious and would be difficult to catch
-Most likely no child would eat the fish (at least we were hoping)
-Martie purchased three large replacement fish THE DAY AFTER the missing fish was located (Suspicious? I think so!)

"We're probably going to find it on the floor somewhere, " I thought aloud. So between rounds of Rook we all looked around our area a little. Of course everyone needed to examine the crime scene themselves to really believe that he was missing. And then... Scott found him!

Fish not in pictured, arrow points to discovery location

Dried stiff, and definitely a goner, Mr. Poppybottoms had been hiding under the heart table runner next to the tank. So the question is, was it fish murder and someone tried to stash the evidence... or fish suicide? This is starting to feel very much like Unsolved Mysteries.

If you or someone you know has any information leading to the truth of the late Mr. Poopybottoms disappearance and subsequent death, please leave us a tip by commenting below.