[DINE] The Den of Deception

[DWaM]

"Alright." I said to Nao.

"Mr. Engel, please join the others and try to calm down a bit more."

I then made my way to the telephone.

[kwando1313]

After carefully examining the feather one last time, Mizuki also follows to the phone.

[Reverie]

As does Haru.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : Kwando :

It's a feather.

The trio send Christian and Nao back into the lounge, then make their way to the telephone in the foyer. Despite being a rotary phone, it seems to have been updated with a modern speakerphone feature, which makes the conversation much easier.

A gruff, slightly familiar voice greets you on the other end.

"It's me, Detective Groud. We had the, uh... 'pleasure' of meeting yesterday."

He paused.

"I guess I'll just come out with it: due to the storm last night, a landslide has completely blocked the path to the mansion, and it'll take a while before it can be cleared. The shore by the mansion is too rocky to dock a boat, and the air is still too turbulent to send a helicopter. In other words... everyone over there is completely trapped for the time being."

Groud let the weight of that sink in.

"From what the maid has told me, it sounds like it was definitely murder. And considering the remote location of the mansion, and the fact that it has a security system, it seems like it's an inside job. (Based on what I saw yesterday, I can't believe I'm doing this, but...) I can't let a group of people run wild with a crime scene and a murderer amongst them, so I'm going to specially deputize the three of you to investigate the crime. I think we may have accidentally left a forensics kit at the mansion yesterday, so you can use that if it'll help. You all should know your way around a crime scene, so I trust you not to disturb the evidence...

"Obviously you three aren't above suspicion, but you each have independent reputations as detectives, and no connection to the Levine family. Plus even if one of you somehow is the criminal, I'm trusting the other two to catch you.

"Got all that?"

[kwando1313]

"Hmmph... At least I had good reason to be paranoid about the oncoming storm..." she said to herself.

"Understood, Detective Groud. I guess I have one question - how long do you think it'll take before the police force will be able to arrive here? Aside from that, are there any more details that you have for us? Or would it be best for us to just start the investigation now?"

[Bad Player]

"Hnngh... It's hard to tell at this point," Groud said. "The maid told me they have rations, so you shouldn't have to worry about starving. But depending on how it goes, it could be today, or maybe a few days...

"And I haven't seen anything myself. I just have what the maid told me, so... I don't really have any information on the case you don't have. If you have any questions, or think there's anything I can do, don't hesitate to call me, though."

[DWaM]

"Okay, understood. I've got the aforementioned forensics kit on me.

Before I hang up, I have a request, since you're at a better position than any of us are of getting this sort of info. I have a few things I want you to look into for me, if that's okay.

Firstly, the victim said to have been looking into a potential lawsuit a magician duo - Chen and Geller - had filed against Levine for allegedly stealing one of their tricks. Apparently, it's not the first time he's faced off against his rivals. The family has been awfully vague about it, so I was wondering if you could shed some light on it.

I can't guarantee this has anything to do with the murder, but there are a few people here not related to Levine. So, while you're at it - could you do a background check on the people here to make sure they don't have a reason to act against the family's best interest?

Secondly, I was wondering if you could get Daniel Levine and Clover Levine's medical records and see if there's anything out of the ordinary. I'm still suspicious of that bombing from yesterday not ready to rule out any possibilities.

That's all I'm interested in, at the moment, if that's okay."

[Bad Player]

"A lawsuit by Chen and Geller, got it. There was the maid, the butler, and the doctor, right? I'll have my men check into their backgrounds.

"As for the medical records... Well, police can't just go looking into private medical records willy-nilly. I'll see what I can do, but don't get your hopes up."

[kwando1313]

"Hmm... I guess one thing that comes to mind is... If you could, if possible, get the full building permits and blueprints for the mansion? Just so we can confirm that we've thoroughly explored the entire premises..."

[Bad Player]

"Sure."

[DWaM]

"Alright. Thank you, detective. We'll keep you posted.

We won't let you down."

...I hoped.

I hung up the telephone.

"...Right." I said, turning to Yukina and Meme. "Let's get to work.

According to Christian, he was attending to the treasure room, as was part of his duties. He saw nothing out of the ordinary - except for the fact that there was a strong smell coming from the maiden. He opened the casket, screamed, and the rest is history, it seems.

He doesn't recall hearing anything out of the ordinary, and the last time he saw Gabriel was around dinner. So, our current time of death is somewhere between then and when he was found. A pretty long space. I'm hoping it gets more narrow as we go along."

I started to make my way back to the treasure room.

"What did you guys find?" I asked, turning my head to the two of them as I walked.

[kwando1313]

"Hmm... I only really got a cursory glance of the body before we left the room... But let's see..."

Mizuki closes her eyes, visualizing the state of the room before her, as she walked with Edwam and Haru back to the treasure room.

"Gabriel's corpse... It was covered in holes, presumably from the iron maiden. It... Honestly was quite gruesome. He was wearing white pyjamas, so he probably was either going to bed or just woke up when he got murdered... And, considering his facial expression was one of shock and horror... Hmm..."

"But, the most interesting thing was... Well a blood stained feather that I found inside the iron maiden. It probably was originally white. Judging by the position it was found at... It looks like the feather came from the area around his left breast? The feather itself was pretty big. About an inch wide and a few inches long. Though, I'm not exactly sure what else would produce a white feather here... Maybe it was like... a fancy quill pen or something"

"Aside from that, there wasn't really anything noteworthy that I found. Nothing in his pockets. But... Then again, it's not like we really had ample time to look around, so..."

"But yeah, as for the armour? Not really too much there. The pieces seemed to be all consistent with the single suit of armour that fell down. However, one interesting thing to note was that the bow was snapped in half..."

[Bad Player]

As the group enters the hallway, the door to the lounge opens up a foot and Rachel's head pokes out. She somehow seems even more of a wreck than yesterday, with bloodshot eyes and bags. "W-What's going on? Are we really s...stuck here?"

[DWaM]

"Ms. Johnson, please return to the lounge with the others and instruct them to go nowhere - we'll be with you shortly to explain the situation. The important thing is not to panic - the situation is under control.

The short of it, though, is - yes, due to the storm, it'll take some time before the police can arrive here.

As I said, though. The situation is under control."

...I hoped.

[Bad Player]

With a whimper, Rachel's head retracted back into the room.