Ten of Them

[Chaos Greyblood]

The what now?!? O_O

Err..... Well, try to keep things calm with the group and don't enter into a frenzied panic. That's when things will start to go sour if you do. Also, try to see if there was a passing sign concerning whoever killed Fiona.

[Tobias]

all right, relax mate, take a few breaths. I know this is bad, and what I am about to ask is going to be hard, but we actually have a chance to learn a lot about our Black shuck.

Go to the wall and examine the blood, he hit her again and again so it shouldnt be hard to see some impact spots, obviously there is going to be smearing from repeated impacts, thats ok, its actually what we are looking for.

look at the way the impact forms, there should be large spots where her face impacted, and then sort of smaller tails as the blood was thrown around, examine the tails and the direction of that blood smears, in other words, the way she was moving when she hit the door. if the smear moves down and to the left, you can get an idea her attacker was both larger and right handed, in other words as he swung down from the shoulder her face would have left an impact streak, odds are directional streaks like that are repeated over the impact spots. if the impact just streaks left or right without having much direction up or down, our black shuck was at about her height, and his dominant arm follows the direction of the streak as he pushed from it. take several samples in case he shifted his weight a few times or his shoulder got tired, would be unfortunate to get one going like right to left and then call it done because that was a later one where he transferred weight to his weaker arm. in the unlikely event the streaks really go back and forward, its possible you are dealing with someone ambidextrous, but I doubt it.

dont hesitate to note anything else unusual either. for example, about how high is the topmost impact point, and are there any defensive wounds on her hands?

[Verg Avesta]

As nauseating as it is, I need to keep a cool head in the face of this whole macabre situation. I put my hands on my chest and try to press, as if it would help calm down my raging heart. It sickens me, but seeing Fiona like this has a lessened impact after what I have already seen. No more does it feel like I want to throw up. It simply makes my stomach curl up and seething anger boil in my veins. This monstrous murderer is still on the loose, and just took yet another innocent life!

I can’t let this continue.

While the others still try to cope with the situation, I decide to press on. Taking the spirits advice to heart, I walk over to the door where the blood smears are the thickest. This has to be the spot that was used to kill Fiona. And true enough, I see that the door has been slightly dented, despite it being thick metal, like a door of a bomb-shelter. However, it seems that there is a slight problem.

The blood smears and the dent are mostly focused on the part near the right corner of the door, where it meets the floor. The elevated section under the arch of the doorway, on the floor, has been greatly dented, and it starts to dawn upon me what just happened here. The blood that has sprayed across the floor, away from the door, reaffirms my suspicions.

“… What sort of sick bastard would do that…?” I mutter and grind my teeth together.

It’s rather clear that Fiona’s head was lodged between the door and the sill, and that the murderer most likely used the door from the outside, delivering crushing blows to the head one after another. In that spot between the metals, it’s easy to imagine that Fiona’s head stood no chance. It was reduced to the pulpy mess that it is now. But, seeing that she is now away from the door, she must have been dragged there by the murderer.

It is sick. Truly and utterly sick.

What makes me even angrier is that I can see the others. Ebha, the girl whom I just yesterday confessed my love to, is clinging to Justyna, looking like she’s about to cry. Alice is squeezing Wilhelmina’s arm with her knuckles white, tears streaming down her face. The blue-haired girl, on the other hand, seems a bit calmer, but her face is smeared with disbelief. Laura, whom I thought would be unfazed, has a sickened expression on her face, holding her hand in front of her mouth.

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Ian is there, showing a similar expression of anger that I must have right now. He nods and squats down, looking at the hands of Fiona’s body.

“… Her hands are almost clean. No sign of blood or damaged nails, Bedwyr,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s as if she didn’t fight back at all…”

“I know,” I answer. “And then we have that…”

I point at the jacket on the floor. It is a doctor’s jacket, and the only person I have seen wearing one on this island is Ms. Wolfe. Letting my eyes follow the blood around the jacket, I can see that it was used to clearly draw the message on the wall, the message I don’t want to look again. But that’s not all. Some of the blood is more dried up than the other parts. And following the trail of similarly colored blood, I can see that it leads up to…

“… The Iron Lady…”

I utter those words as if an afterthought. All this that has happened now… my emotions are raging so fast that I feel nearly brain-dead. So much misery and cruelty during one day… just how am I even staying sane right now?

I stand up and walk over to the Iron Lady, the large washing-machine of the room. It looms there like its namesake, ruling over all other apparel in the basement. And the blood trail leads straight to it, and its slightly open hatch. With a horrible feeling on my gut, I raise myself on my toes and wrench open the hatch, peering down in the depths of the gigantic industrial washing machine, already feeling the smell of iron in my nose.

And though what I see should shock me beyond belief, I find myself simply shedding tears and grinding my teeth in anger. I’m too exhausted to do anything else.

“………….. We found Ms. Wolfe.”

There, in the washing machine, is a mangled-up corpse soaking in its own blood. The body parts are sticking in ways no human body is capable of, probably having been cruelly rearranged by the machine. Here, in the sound-proof basement, even if the thing was on, it could run as long as it wanted, without any of us hearing. And thus, the earthly remains of Ms. Wolfe, the aloof yet kind doctor of our school, had been completely ruined.

“… Just what the hell is going on…?” I whisper this, punching the Iron Lady repeatedly, yet lacking in force. “How could someone do something like this…?”

[Bloble]

Not gonna lie kid. This is some fucked up stuff.

As horrible as it is, though, this isn't as unbelievable as the previous... incidents. There's little trace of a closed room, meaning there are tons of ways to have accomplished this.

For starters, the door was locked, but that's merely a misdirection. The teachers all have Master Keys, right? It's perfectly possible that someone lured Ms. Wolfe in here earlier, killed her, then took her key and used it to lock the door. I'd suggest checking her body to see if she has it on her. If she doesn't, it means anyone could have it. If she does... well, that narrows down your suspects.

Don't do it yourself though. Get Ian to check. You need to think and stay calm; groping a dead woman won't help much in that regard.

As for the Fiona, the only thing mysterious about her death is her lack of resistance as she died, which can easily be explained in many ways. An obvious explanation is that the culprit is someone among us, someone around which she would have let her guard down. The culprit would've invited her to the basement, knocked her out with some sort of object, then killed her while she was unconscious with the door.

Alternatively, she could've been drugged. Both Ebha and Fiona were sleepy earlier, right? It seems highly unlikely that someone would be able to relax while possibly in the presence of a murderer, yet those two nodded off pretty quickly, even after that tense stand off earlier. If someone gave them tea with some kind of drug to induce sleep in it, that would explain their actions. While they were sleeping, someone could've removed Fiona without waking up Ebha. Plus, when you woke up your girlfriend, she said she had a headache, right? That could've been a side effect of being drugged. It's highly unlikely, sure, but nonetheless a possibility.

Ask Ebha if someone gave her and Fiona something to drink earlier. Remember, your girlfriend is likely last person to see Fiona alive other than the murderer, so it's vital that we get her testimony now, before she forgets.

[Brynhilde]

You know... in these circumstances, how do we actually know these deceased are actually who we think they are? They are almost all meshed up beyond recognition, and we could only identify them via their clothing. Who's there to say that one or more of them was a corpse that the killer used - no, prepared - for her own 'death'?

Yes, namely, I suspect Hanna.

She is the only one who can make her "crime scene", that of her room, a true sealed room. She has potential motives, but then so do the rest of your entourage. She would have her own room key, and although the school is on an island, it's entirely possible that she had found the opportunity beforehand to make copies of the key. It's just that, for now, if we want all our assumptions and logics are to remain sound (a sealed room, Hanna leaving the party when you and Ebha entered, no one was in the room when Hanna's friends went to check, etc), "Hanna faked her own death during the night" is the mostly likely possibility.

And I like what the other spirit said earlier. Drugs may well have had something to do with the deaths. Without a doctor on the island as of now, and with the bodies in such terrible conditions, it's impossible to tell if these people's deaths are caused by poison or not. They may well have been dead before their bodies were mutilated.

[Verg Avesta]

"Ian. Could you... could you check Ms. Wolfe's body and the jacket?" I ask, giving one last glance towards the mangled mess in the Iron Lady. "Try to see if her master key is still with her. If it's gone... we're in trouble."

I say all this with quiet voice, so that the others are not able to hear. I don't want to suspect any of my comrades-in-arms, but right now, I can't be truly careful. The only ones I can trust are Ebha and Ian. And maybe Justyna. As a faculty member, she is most trustworthy of the acquaintances that surround me now.

While Ian pulls a pair of rubber gloves from the shelf, puts them on and starts going through the sickening task of checking the washing machine, I approach Ebha who is still clinging to Justyna. As she sees me coming towards her, she breaks away from the teacher and clutches on to me instead. I can only imagine her current pain: she woke up from a nightmare, only to find out that she had entered just another one. However, despite her tear-filled eyes, I know that the spirit was right. I need to question her, as she was the one who was with Fiona the last.

"Ebha... Ebha, I'm sorry you had to see this," I whisper to her, stroking her hair. "But, I need you to be strong. And I need you to remember: did you eat or drink anything before falling asleep in the dining room? This is important."

This seems to activate the "Professor-mode" on her head, as the shine returns to her eyes. After all, someone with her intellect must realize what I'm referring to. She wipes the corners of her eyes quickly, to make sure she is somewhat presentable, and looks up at me.

"I... the only thing I drank was tap-water. And the only thing I ate was some chips during the morning, ones that I had bought myself," she says. "I don't think there's... a chance that someone slipped me any drugs."

This is both troubling and a relief. If someone had​ drugged her, it would bring into question the perpetrator. After all, the most likeliest chance was that it would be one of the people in our group. That was a thought I did not want to dwell on too much.

"I know I said I saw a nightmare, but... that's it," Ebha murmurs. "I felt so sluggish and exhausted after everything that had happened, so I could not keep my eyes open. I know that Fiona had fallen asleep before me, though. And when I woke up... she was gone, and you all had returned."

Not much of a testimony, since it does not differ from what we had seen.

However, the other spirit brought up a thought that troubled me greatly. Namely, the fact that one of the murders had not been anything but a stage-act. If Hanna Svartlik was not dead, then... then it would mean there was one corpse on the island that did not belong there.

It also mean that Hanna Svartlik was able to move about as she pleased; if she was alive, that is.

"Here." I suddenly hear Ian's voice behind me. His rubber gloves are smeared in blood, but there's something else in there, too. "I found this in her jacket."

It is a shiny, large key that resembles ones often used in large mansions; just like that of the Tudor Island, the place we are in now. It is one of the few master keys that only the faculty members and Clara have. Thus, this would mean that the key never left this room, and nobody has access to a place where they should not have. Technically. The possibility of a copy or two floating around is unnerving to say the least.

"Good job," I whisper to Ian, quickly pocketing the key while others are distracted. "Best keep this between us two for now."

Afterwards, there is not much to do in this place. The stench of blood is sickening in the room, as is the sight. When it mixes with the smell of detergent that floats around, it becomes even worse. Therefore, we agree quickly to getting away from the premises, and locking the place down so that no one should be able to access it till the police come after the storm. We gather around and head out, careful not to disturb the remains of poor Fiona. As I'm the last one to exit the room, I flip the lock on the door and start pushing it shut.

The last sight I see of the room is the red blood, the corpse, and the judge-like Iron Lady, a machine that bore witness to two gruesome murders. I suddenly feel very cold, as if a chilly wind caressed my bones, and hurry to shut the door. The quicker I get out of there, the better.

...

As we make our way back to the dining hall, I stop at the entrance hall, near the staircase. It has been mentioned a few times before by the spirits, and I think this is the perfect moment to see if there is any truth to the claims. The others look at me with confused gazes, but I point the upper floors with my thumb, and take a grim expression.

"I need to let the others know. They might have chosen to alienate themselves from us, but they have the right to know about Fiona's, and Ms. Wolfe's, deaths," I say. "Better that than to leave them hanging in the dark. Ian, can you take the others to the dining hall and barricade it till I arrive?""

This starts a small murmur among the people. I know that my suggestion might sound suspicious, but it is also sound. In order for all of us to make it out of this nightmare alive, we needed to stay as informed as possible. Miscalculations could spell out the doom for us all.

"... Not alone, you won't," Alice suddenly grunts, and glares at me. "You've been playing a detective for a while here, but going alone is either suicidal or suspicious. Therefore, I'm coming with you. Wilhelmina? You watch this part of the group, while I watch our 'leader' here."

The suggestion is sudden, but not unexpected. I knew some of the group harbored suspicions towards each other, which, in turn, meant that we needed to watch each other as much as the possibility of an outside murderer. The headstrong Alice was pretty much assured to do something like this. However, it is not unwelcome. Alice has a gun, which is our best chance against a possible criminal from the outside. Plus, her stubborn attitude is not one that would easily mask a murderer. Therefore, if I'm careful, I should be alright with her.

"That works. I'll have you watch my back, then," I agree. "Ian, Wilhelmina? Take others to the dining hall, and seal the place up."

As we go on our separate ways and start climbing the stairs, I can feel Alice's stare at my back. The girl is not trusting me yet, but I can, at least, show that I mean no harm with this stunt. In fact, quite the opposite. Since the beginning, the spirits have nagged to me about a certain possibility, and now I'm going to check it out, for the sake of ruling out one opportunity. While I intend to warn the others, that only comes after. For now, I need to focus on something far more immediate and important.

"Bewdyr? This isn't the way to the common room," Alice says as we enter the second floor corridor. She seems to be confused as I head towards a certain other door.

"No, it isn't. However, there was something I wanted to check. Something is fishy in this whole thing, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it, that's all," I answer and look at Alice with questioning eyes.

Realization dawns upon her.

"... I see. So the thought came to you, too. Let's go then, and be fast."

After a short stride, we are in front of a certain door. A door that leads to the room of Hanna Svartlik.

"Here goes nothing..." I say and take out the master key. I push it to the lock and open it, and the door swings open from the force of my pull. The seal that the teachers placed earlier today is broken, and we finally lay our eyes upon the "closed-room murder" again.

What greets us is the very same scenery that we both saw during the morning. The mangled corpse, the bloodbathed room, and the foreboding letters on the inner side of the door.

"... Let's see if Hanna Svartlik is truly dead," I announce. "But... how should we go about doing it?"

INVESTIGATION
MURDER OF HANNA SVARTLIK

[RacingeR]

Basic idea is: Check under the bed, under the desk, and if there is a way for a would-be assassin to reach the windows and enter from there.

Or for Hanna to escape from the windows.

[Brynhilde]

I agree with the suggestions above. As for my own suggestions, hmmm...

This is going to be gruesome, but it might be a good idea to make sure the corpse is Hanna. Do what you can to examine what's left of the head, make sure the corpse's eye colour and hair colour are genuine and matches Hanna's. If we can ascertain the body is Hanna's, we can pretty much cross out the possibility of a fake death.

Secondly, examine the windows closely. Any signs of them being tempered with? Opened lately? Oiled? If you can open them right now? Any visible ways for someone to reach the ground (such as pipes)? Thinking back to our adventure with Ebha, maybe even the roof?

Lastly, if Hanna really did fake this, she'd have to prepare well and be ready to hide out in the freezing school for days. Check her wardrobe and closets to see if any coats, boots, or winter clothing is missing. Or maybe her daily items, such as her watch or mobile phone? Admittedly, checking for missing clothing from a girl's wardrobe is probably not your forte; maybe you can get Alice to help or even Hanna's friends in the future?

... and err, how far is the chain for the door? I seem to recall you mentioning you couldn't see the corpse or the blood when you opened it earlier in the day, but on this map of yours it seems some body parts and the blood would be visible to the outside through the gap created by the chain?

[Bloble]

Let us remember. Let us recall, and try to see if we can put any of these puzzle pieces together.

I recall that the last time you saw Hanna before 'shit got real' was a glimpse of her running from the Christmas party in tears. After that, well, you know what happened.

There are a few things we'll need to check first. Leaving aside any possible motive for our theory, there is the simply matter of attempting to ascertain how someone could have killed Hanna, then gotten away without unlocking the chain lock before hand. I have a few ideas, most of them quite far fetched. But you must never be afraid to say something stupid. Even if it is, that one stupid guess could lead to a good idea.

Based on the amount of blood covering the walls, I think it's safe to conclude that at the very least, Hanna was dismembered inside her room and not out of it. But she could easily have been killed and then dragged there without a problem.

The villain could have escaped via the windows, so check to see if those can be opened or closed from the inside and outside before anything else. There is also the possibility that the criminal was hiding in the room after the murder, perhaps behind the desk, and then emerged and slipped into the group while you were looking at the crime scene.

For starters, check the room thoroughly. Desk, windows, under the bed, everything. And have our friend stand guard at the entrance to make sure no one tries to interfere.

[Verg Avesta]

"Erm... Alice? Can you check the wardrobe if anything is missing? I'd rather not go through a lady's wardrobe, even in a situation like this..."

I ask this with slightly awkward expression, and I can see that the blonde girl rolls her eyes and snorts as if to ridicule me for showing such etiquette when investigating a room like this. However, what can I say? I have some decency, at least enough to know that a girl's wardrobe is not some place I should be snooping around... not to mention the fact that I have never seen one; unlike Alice, I couldn't tell if something was strange in one unless it was something very clear and obvious. She had a better chance at this than I do.

"Sure, sure," Alice answers and shrugs. "I'll let you know if I find something."

While she begins to rummage through the wardrobe of Hanna Svartlik, I focus on the other stuff suggested by the spirits. Systematically I begin checking the room for any hiding places, while careful not to step on any of the... stuff... lying on the floor. I first head to the bed and peek under it, grimacing a bit as I come face to face with what looks like a toe. However, other than that gruesome bit of a body, I cannot see anything suspicious under the bed. There's only a small teddy bear and our study book for Biology lessons, most likely having been kicked there accidentally ages ago, never to be found again.

The same thing is true with the desk. As it faces the windows, no one could have hid under it without the rest of us noticing. And when I check behind the desk, it becomes very apparent that the space between the wall and the desk is much too small for anyone to hide in. Thus, I move to check if any of the windows have been tampered with. Just like I suspected, as I try them, all of them are firmly locked from the inside. Being an old manor, the Tudor Manor had these very bulky windows with multiple layers, and if they were locked, there was no forcing them.

Flicking open one of the locks, I peered outside into the cold blizzard and immediately cursed my rashness. The cold wind that struck against my face was a reminder why no one save would venture outside at this time of the year... especially at this height! Forget about the pipes or ropes, simply scaling a set of ladders up to this window would have been nigh impossible. However, truth was that there was no direct access to the ground from this window either. No pipes nor no visible place to scale the wall. If anything, one would have had to inch on the window sill from the next room to this one, but in this weather, that was simply asking to get yourself killed.

I close the window and look back at the room. The door stands there defiantly on the other side, the words "BLACK SHUCK" written on it like a curse. The chain that hangs limply from the door seems almost sorrowful that it could not stop whoever it was that entered this room to murder Hanna Svartlik. Like the typical chains of its type, it wasn't that long, just enough to allow peeking room to the room if the door was attempted to be opened... but not enough for us to have seen the gruesome state of the room when we first visited.

Then I began the procedure that I had, quite honestly, wanted to avoid. Due to the suggestion of one of the spirits, I briskly walk over to the bed and take a good look at the mutilated head, no matter how nauseous it makes me. Just like I remembered, it has become a grotesque, almost cubist, attempt at replicating Hanna's head. But I force myself to ignore the bloody pulp, and focus on the parts that I can still recognize. Her long, black hair is definitely the same one as Hanna's real one. Not only that, but what remains of her nose seems to share the shape of Hanna's.

I then carefully open the remaining eye, revealing the white ball under the eyelid. The cold, almost charcoal-like color told me enough.

"Yeah... it's definitely Hanna," I mutter, breathing both in relief and in anxiety.

It is at this point that Alice seems to have finished with her investigation, as she taps me on the shoulder.

"Looks like nothing is amiss regarding her stuff," she tells me. "Her wardrobe holds nothing more than a single set of civilian clothes, and couple school uniforms. Other than that, she seems to have a distaste of accessories or something, as almost all of the rest of her stuff is school-related. Not hard to imagine, though..."

So, that was it. Nothing seemed to be missing from the wardrobe, the hiding places in the room seemed to be both undisturbed and unlikely, and the windows had been locked tightly against any outside intrusion. And, of course, the body, or at least he head on the bed, seemed to belong to Hanna Svartlik. At least it did not feel like it was fake. At least it definitely looked the part.

We had already spent a good while here. Should we already head out to inform Miko and the others?

Or...

... Was there still something I was missing?

[Bloble]

Well fuck. I suppose it would've been too simple for the culprit to have escaped through the window or hid in the room. Barring any possible secret compartments, we've eliminated all those options (and thinking about secret compartments would lead straight to baseless paranoia, so it's best to assume they don't exist). So the fact remains, Hanna died or at least was violently dismembered in here, but the chain was set and we have no knowledge of how the culprit could have entered, killed her, and escaped.

Despite the horrible weather, it would definitely be possible for someone determined enough to leave via the window, but unless they're self locking that's another impossibility. Or rather, improbability.

It's time for the wild theories. When the probable has been denied, it's time to look at the improbable, no matter how strange it may be.

Theory 1: The culprit possessed a Master Key. They chased down Hanna, and she ran into her room, locking it and setting the chain. The culprit unlocked the door with the key, opened it wide enough to see inside, and shot Hanna from outside the room with a gun. This explains how she could have died, and if we find a bullet somewhere in the room, the theory could be strengthened. The noise would be unheard if the gun was silenced or if the incident occurred during the noisy party. However, it doesn't explain the dismemberment of the corpse. Perhaps some kind of small bomb? She could have swallowed it and then been blow apart from the inside afterwards, as ridiculous as it sounds. Well, let's not get too crazy here. Further inconsistencies are evidence that some body parts were moved after death, as well as the signs of ripping and tearing on the limbs.

Theory 2: Windows. I know you discounted them earlier, but let's remember that our culprit is one twisted fucker. We should expect them to take advantage of the limits of human durability, and push them as far as they can go. The cuplrit could have entered through the windows, done the deed, set up the room, and then set it up so Hanna or some kind of contraption locked the windows from the inside. For example, after the dismemberment the killer could grab a piece of Hanna's body, attach it to the locking mechanism of the window, exit the room, and throw the body part inside with great force. The string would pull the window closed and lock it from the inside using the force of the body part being thrown, after which it would break and destroy the contraption before anyone could discover it. Still, it's even more unlikely than the first. If there were a way of locking the windows from the outside, it would be too simple. The whole 'shimmy along the ledge from the next room' idea is interesting, though. It might warrant an investigation into the other rooms to possibly confirm or deny the theory. Perhaps the culprit is the person next door.

Theory 3: The culprit took out the door hinges, unlocked the door, then swung it open in reverse. The chain lock would do nothing here, and nothing could stop the culprit if they had the right tools. They'd chase Hanna into her room, she'd barricade herself inside, and the culprit would unhinge the door, enter, and then do the deed, even painting 'BLACK SHUCK' on the inside of the door afterwards. Then the culprit could set up the door and insert the hinges again, locking the door with their Master Key to make it seem like a closed room. The theory would be blown if it turns out the hinges are set inside the room and not outside, but hey, it's a possibility. The noise of the party or blizzard would obscure Hanna's screams, and the weather would keep her from trying to escape through the window. This is the most ridiculous theory by quite a bit, but it does explain everything, including the circumstances of death and the state of the room. It would be difficult to confirm, though. Perhaps check the hinges? If they show signs of having been tampered with, we might have figured it out.

Theory Potato: There's a hidden rotating door in the wardrobe, leading to the next door neighbour's room. Because reasons.

Note that all of these theories are just as viable if we assume Hanna was killed beforehand and placed in the room after her death.

Oh, and as a side note, we don't actually know if Ms. Wolfe found the room key on Hanna's body during her initial investigation, or if she planted it there to serve as a misdirection for us. Well that's still farfetched, let's not think too deeply into it for now unless it's relevant later. For now, it's ridiculous theory time.

[Verg Avesta]

No matter how strange, huh...?

I have to agree with the spirit. The whole deal is getting more and more unrealistic by the minute. A chained and locked door, locked windows, no other way in or out... and still, somebody managed to kill and dismember Hanna Svartlik. Either in this room, or somewhere else, and afterwards she was transported here. All this happened last night, somewhere between Hanna leaving the party and this morning. That wasn't a long time by any means, and it meant that the culprit, whoever it was, had to have moved with quite the fervor in order to get everything done before we woke up.

... So, by that admission, wouldn't the murderer not have gotten any sleep last night? How as he still with enough vigor to commit two... no, three more murders?

I have no doubt that the fire of the teachers' cabin was done by the same culprit as these two murders.

I walk up to the door and touch the surface, wincing a little as I feel the rough, dried up liquid that somebody used to spell out the words "Black Shuck." Blood, from the looks of it. It was now almost black in color, but I can smell the stench... though it might have come just from the body parts that were lying around. Nevertheless, I remove my hand from the writing and momentarily shut my eyes.

It's easier to think this way.

--------- Now, then, about the theories presented by the spirits:

Number 1 was quite easy to dismiss because there was no way, even if somebody managed to kill Hanna through the crack in the door, they could make her body look like how it did at the moment. Even "small bombs" would have not left the distinctive marks of someone brutally dismembering Hanna, leaving behind only parts of the existence known as a "human being." However, this theory presented one alarming fact: the master key. Currently I had one, Justyna Szary had one, but the rest were unaccounted for. After all, we had not remained to check the corpses of the teachers who died in the fire. Where were they? Still in the cabin? Or had someone fished them out during the whole confusion? Considering the fact that the door to the door in the basement was locked, just maybe...

Theory number 2 seemed a slight bit more grounded in reality than the first one, but like it, there were few gaping holes: namely, if the culprit arrived through the windows, how did they lock them afterwards? This wasn't like your average closed room murder, where the victim was still alive for a moment afterwards, and did something that served to confuse the detective. No, nothing would move in this room after culprit had left it... no matter how he did it.

As for the third theory, it was definitely the most comprehensive one out of the three of them... but there was one obstacle to it.

--- The doors in this mansion. They were the type that was "embedded" into the wall, creating a false illusion of grandeur. Therefore, the hinges were hidden inside the rooms, to not disturb the image created out to the corridor. Therefore, accessing them from the outside was impossible.

I heave a sigh.

It seems that for now, no matter what I or the spirits think, a definite solution cannot be founded. At least not without understanding the situation a bit better. We have only a handful of facts about this murder, and even when we compare them, nothing seems to jump out of them. I'm back at square one, no matter how hard I try. For now, perhaps it is best that we leave the room and go inform M--

"Huh?"

I feel that my foot hits something, and after a moment confusion, I pick something up from the floor. It is cool, hard and smooth to touch. No bigger than the nail in my thumb, I bring the thing up to my eye level, expecting to see a new clue that would shake my understanding of this murder...!

"What's this?" I mutter, unable to comprehend what I see.

The half-circular, slightly bent object made out of metal seemed completely out of touch with the rest of the room, that seemed to contain no excessive items whatsoever. I turned it around, trying to see if there was any markings left on it, but to no avail. The surface was the color of polished metal, and it seemed to be made to more eye-pleasing rather than to serve any proper purpose. Now that I think about it, it feels as if I've seen an item like this somewhere before. Something that the girls of the Tudor Boarding School tended to carry with them the whole time, but to which none of us guys paid any attention, and certainly not the ever-strict Hanna Svartlik.

But where...? I smacked my cheek with my hand, scrunching my face as I tried to recollect that memory which was buried as one of the more mundane scenes of life.

"What's that, Bedwyr? Did you find something?" Alice suddenly asks, catching my attention.

I quickly pocket the item, whatever it is, and spin around to meet the suspicious eyes of the blonde girl. I laugh a bit and make a vague gesture with my hand.


"Nah, it's nothing. Just a piece of trash, which I mistook for something important..." I offer an explanation to her.

But why? Why did I suddenly lie to her, instead of telling her the truth? Is it because this item has something to do with Alice Lemonfield, and my subconsciousness reacted to it?

... No good. We need to get a move on. There's still Ms. Akasawa and the others to inform about what transpired earlier today.

"Okay, I think we've looked around," I tell Alice. "Let's lock up and do what we came to do here in the first place."

Inventory - New Items!

1. Map of Tudor Island
2. Tudor Manor master key
3. Key to My Room
4. Unidentified metal object

......

...

Well, there's still one thing I have to do before heading off. I completely forgot about it, and smack my head because of my stupidity. Then, before locking the door, I turn to look at the lower corner of the room, the place which I put something important earlier today.

Fair enough, the seal that I put there is broken, but judging from how fresh the glue from the tape feels, it hasn't hung out in the air that long. If it had ripped because of someone else entering before Alice and me, it would have been only moments before we entered the second floor. I don't think anybody would have been able to escape from the room in that time, not to mention hide in the room.

Well, my thoughtlessness aside, we needed to get a word to Ms. Akasawa and the others about what transpired with Ms. Wolfe.

"Ms. Akasawa? It's me, Bedwyr!" I shout while knocking loudly at the door of the parlor in the second floor. "We've got some... bad news. I think you need to hear them, even if you don't want to associate with us."


There is a momentary collection of surprised noises from the inside, most likely coming from the group of girls holed up in there. After a few seconds, a set of footsteps approaches the door, and finally I can hear the voice of the red-haired girl with a scowl scary enough to frighten demons.

"Mr. Sheen? What is it?" I can hear Ms. Akasawa grunt. "If it's about opening this door, don't bother. We've barricaded this entrance, so even if you break down the door, you aren't getting in."

"No, no, it's not that," I say and sigh. "Listen... something bad has happened. We found Ms. Wolfe... and Fiona McNabb."

"What...?" I can hear Akasawa exhale in surprise.

This... this is going to take some time to explain.

.........

......

...


The grandfather clock of the dining hall tolled for 2 o'clock. I can scarcely believe it hasn't been days since the discovery of the locked door of Hanna Svartlik. All this running around, this fear and disgust, this ever-present dread that someone might appear suddenly to claim my life in a horrible, painful way... it was, frankly, starting to take its toll on me. When Alice and I finally made it back to the dining hall, all I could do was to slump against back of a sofa and exhale a deep sigh, one that was repeated by almost everyone in the room.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that the group at the second floor had reacted as expected: they were now even more suspicious of us, especially Miko Akasawa.

To my surprise, something hot and steaming was suddenly placed on the small table in front of me. Ebha, giving me a smile that seemed to say "you can do it!", put a cup of tea in front of me, before rummaging through her bag. Seeing her once more untied a knot in my heart that I didn't even know existed. Whenever she was out of my sight, I felt this sinking feeling deep in my stomach, unsure whether she was safe or not. In just one day, this girl had started to mean more to me than my own life, and that was something I treasured quite a bit.

No, I cannot say it's only because of today. Today was the culmination of small exchanges, discussions, greetings on the hallway and shared glances whenever we passed each other.

You could say that because of Christmas, I was finally able to sort out my feelings which were like a tumbleweed whirling down a prairie.

A flick of a matchstick startled me, before I realized it was simply Ebha lighting her pipe. She takes a drag out of it, allowing the smoke to roam in her mouth and nasal passages, before gently directing it out. She smokes her large, hook-shaped pipe like a person out of a detective novel, and thanks to the dark colors of our school uniform (one which she wore right now) it made her look rather... sophisticated.

Well, as sophisticated as one can be when suddenly burning her fingertip on the still-lit matchstick, giving a slight yelp and tumbling backwards straight onto my lap.

"Awawa!" Ebha exclaims and hurries to fix the position of her round glasses. "I-I'm sorry, Bedwyr! I'll get off right now, just let my get my bearings-"

To stop her from talking, I wrap my arms around her, causing her to blush furiously.

"Wha... what are you doing?" Ebha whispers loudly. "Everyone's looking!"

"To be frank, my dear, I don't give a damn," I chuckle, speaking with equally hushed voice. "The others can think whatever they want about this. But, you know... considering all that has happened today, I'm just glad I can hold you like this, and lean onto you for some support."

This seems to silence Ebha, as she pushes back her glasses awkwardly and takes another, hurried drag from her pipe. After exhaling the smoke, she slumps against me, seemingly accepting this position as a proper one for two people in a relationship.

"Sorry. I was being selfish," she suddenly says. "I had hard time accepting all that has happened today... but you've had it even harder, right? Being a leader for us, and taking responsibility for our actions. I was putting myself first, without even thinking about you..."

Ah, crap. I didn't mean it like that, but now it seems I've gotten Ebha to both feel guilty and somewhat hurt.

D-damn it! What should I say in a situation like this?