Fables 5

"The Famous Parlor Room Scene (Sans Parlor)" is the fifth story in Fables, with a cover date of November, 2002. It was published on September 11, 2002.

Overview
"The Famous Parlor Room Scene (Sans Parlor)" is Chapter Five of the first story arc of Fables (collected in the trade paperback Fables: Legends in Exile), which involves the mystery around Rose Red's apparent murder. In this chapter, Bigby reveals the results of his investigation and we see the aftermath.

Plot
The issue opens immediately after the last scene of "Remembrance Day", where Bigby had revealed that Rose Red was still alive and was present at the party. Bigby goes on to explain the course of his investigation, which demonstrates he was more aware of what he was doing than the other characters had realized.

Bigby had known immediately that Jack was lying and the crime scene had been staged by Jack and Rose. But he also had learned that the amount of blood that was present was more than Rose could have survived losing so he considered the possibility she had actually been killed. The last part of the puzzle he solved was the realization that Jack and Rose had been collecting and freezing her blood over the course of several months in order to create a realistic crime scene.

Bigby also knew there must be a reason why Rose and Jack faked her death and was investigating that. He found out that they had swindled Bluebeard out of money through Rose's promise to marry him in a year. Jack used the money to start an online business and they expected to be able to pay Bluebeard back. But when the business failed, they decided to fake Rose's death so she could get out of the marriage.

The next day, Snow begins handling the aftermath of the investigation. She gives Prince Charming his share of the lottery money, which is far less than he expected because he hadn't read the fine print of their agreement. He ends up using the money he gets to buy back his title from Jack. Snow uses part of the remaining money to reimburse Bluebeard, who is also forced to give up his other plans in exchange for having the charges against him dropped. Jack and Rose are placed on probation, sentenced to community service, and fined the money they got from Prince Charming.

In the final scene, Snow asks Bigby why he told her she had to go to the Remembrance Day gala with him when it appeared to serve no purpose in the investigation. Bigby admits that he just used it as an excuse because he wanted her to accompany him. She tells him that she is not interested and not to do it again.

Featured Characters

 * Bigby Wolf (Flashback and main story)
 * Snow White
 * Jack Horner (Flashback and main story)

Supporting Characters

 * Flycatcher
 * Boy Blue
 * Prince Charming
 * Rose Red (Flashback and main story)
 * Colin (Cameo)
 * Bluebeard (Flashback and main story)
 * King Cole

Locations

 * New York City
 * Manhattan
 * Greenwich Village (Flashback only)


 * Rose Red's Apartment (Flashback only)
 * Fabletown
 * The Woodlands
 * Fabletown Business Office
 * King Cole's penthouse
 * Woodland garden
 * Snow's apartment
 * I Am the Eggman Diner
 * Jack's apartment

Continuity

 * Bigby says he has been the Sheriff for "more than two hundred years -- ever since the first days of the Fables in Exile Compact and General Amnesty." He says he has never been in a gunfight or car chase in that time. Or fired a gun or driven a car.
 * When Bigby recounts his investigation of the crime scene, we see the panels from "Old Tales Revisited" except they are now tinted red and we are told what Bigby was thinking as he looked around.
 * Snow says Bigby let her think for "weeks" that Rose was dead. This is incorrect. It's only been seven days since the crime was reported.