[QUEEN] The Den of Deception

[Enthalpy]

Paloma moves closer towards the painting, seemingly lost in thought. "Oh, so these are part of a set. I couldn't tell if they were or not. Do you know more about the paintings? I can't quite place what unifies them, and it bothers me."

[Toatali]

The Colonel listens intently to the conversation about the painting, while moving towards the shelf and the safe. Passing by, he glances at the device attached to the computer, and makes a note of what it is.

[Nicky Boy]

"The Black Paintings, huh. They do give a dark aura...", Erik said, and proceeded to check the types of books there are. "I'd also like to hear more about them. Don't worry, I'm good at listening when doing other things."

[Bad Player]

"The Black Paintings, one of the last sets of paintings by Francisco Goya. Not the originals, obviously," Christian adds, "But Master Daniel had a set of recreations commissioned. They're as close to the originals as possible. With the obvious exception of the two in the foyer."

The device on the desk looks like an audio recording device.

[Enthalpy]

Paloma nods. "Are those two similar to Goya's, or unrelated? I was in the foyer briefly, when the fire alarm was going off, so I didn't even see there were paintings there."

[Nicky Boy]

Erik, realizing he wasn't listening "when doing other things," actually looked at the books and the folders on the shelf while listening to the conversation.

Guess I contradict myself, sometimes...

[Bad Player]

"They are... quite similar. If you look at them yourself, I think you'll understand," Christian answers with a slight smirk.

The books are non-fiction books on all sorts of topics, some appearing quite old and rare. It's hard to look at the folders without appearing too nosy, but they seem to contain documents related to the various affairs of the Levine family.

[Nicky Boy]

Erik checked for any interesting or strange topics the books are about.

Turning to Christian briefly in his search, he said "Tell me... was Daniel fond of Greek Mythology? I noticed that many statues are based on that."

[Bad Player]

"Interesting" and "strange" are in the eye of the beholder... There are some books on what look like pseudoscience or the occult, but they all appear relatively old.

Christian gives his head a nod. "Master Daniel had a penchant for the bizarre and esoteric. That included mythology, and especially the classical strain."

[Nicky Boy]

Erik, surprised by what he found, moved closer to Christian. "This may sound strange, but... I wanted to ask about the Cerberus statue in the Breakfast Area. I noticed that it faces north. Now, while it is facing somewhere, I personally know that you want a statue to be visible from as big an area of the room as possible. Do you happen to know why is that not the case?"

[Toatali]

Mustard, his age and attitude having long removed his social inhibitions, starting plucking folders and books from the shelves. In particular, he grabbed some of the books relating to the occult, and some of the folders relating to the Levine family. He also started to size up the safe; noticing what size and shape it was, and what kind of lock was on it.

[Bad Player]

Christian shakes his head. "Master Daniel commissioned those statues, and determined the placement of each of them himself. As to why he chose a particular location or orientation for a particular statue, I cannot say."

As Colonel Mustard begins taking books, Christian merely gives him a dirty look, but once he starts taking folders Christian speaks up. "I'm sorry, but I would prefer if you left those documents alone."

The safe is a decent size, rectangular, and has a dial-type lock.

[Enthalpy]

Paloma cringes at the sight of what the Colonel is doing but says nothing. Apparently, Christian's chastisement is enough, at the moment, and she resumes talking to him.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to see the paintings in the foyer later. Now, I'd like to hear about your movements today. I understand it's a sore object, but I think it would be best if we look into today's incident."

Spoiler : GM and Spectators Only :

Hopefully, after this, the Colonel will understand exactly why I have such a problem with him doing this sort of thing!

Spoiler : Spectators Only :

Paloma reaches into her pocket and activates her recorder.

[Nicky Boy]

"I see... It was a silly question, anyways; I just wanted to see if there was a reason for that..."

Lost in thought, Erik went to the windows. Hmm... His back turned at the others, he turned to look at nowhere in particular.

Spoiler : GM, Spectators :

I'm sure there is a reason for that. There must be. There are some possibilities. The first one could be that, if we connect where some statues face, the places that are in common might hide something. Another could be anagrams; like, "Medusa West" could become something... "swum seated"? Erik grinned, finding that funny. However, in both cases, I need to know where all statues are facing... something I don't at the moment. I need to ask them when we leave this room.

[Bad Player]

Christian nodded his head in acquiescence. "Let me see... We knew Master Daniel could... pass at any time, so we had already made arrangements with the local funeral home in order to be ready when his time came. I notified the funeral home in the early morning of Master Daniel's passing, and a few hours later they sent over two employees with Master Daniel's coffin. I assisted them in preparing Master Daniel's body and placing it in the coffin, while Miss Koyama prepared the living room for the wake. Once Master Daniel's body had been prepared, the funeral home employees left, and I assisted Miss Koyama in completing preparations for the living room.

"At this point it was shortly before noon, and Gabriel arrived. I helped him settle in while Miss Koyama prepared lunch. The wake was to begin later that afternoon. Before the wake began, I wheeled the coffin to the living room, and Miss Koyama prepared refreshments in the breakfast area. The first part of the wake began with most of us in the living room. Not everyone was there all the time, however. People would leave the room for various... personal reasons. I cannot tell you who left when, but we were all there for most of the time.

"After that, we each paid our individual respects to Master Daniel. During this time, we were each alone in the room. I paid my respects first, and Rachel went in after me. I did not witness it personally, but I believe after that the order was Gabriel, Seth, Miss Koyama, and then even Dr. Namad briefly paid her respects. After I had finished, I came up here in order to deal with Master Daniel's estate, due to his passing. The only time I left was when the explosion happened."

Erik awkwardly maneuvers himself around the desk to look out a window. He sees the sea.