THE SECOND INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND INVESTIGATION

[It's Friday once more. As the third week begins to near it's end, the tensions-and nightmares-among everyone is on the rise. It doesn't help that this is Friday-and Friday is shaping up to be a bad day of the week.

The question is whether this Friday will be any different from the last. Perhaps this Friday will be different. After all, the morning is over, and nothing happened yet!

But then, isn't that strange too? Maybe it would be better to look around. Just in case.]

Comments

[strangerpeople]

[Yes, there are quill pens around. Do what you need to! And use protection as you go--ok shutting up now]

[notadinosnack]

[Okay, so he'll grab one and poke it in the hole. Please let this not be something one of the stewards uses for fapping. What does he find?]

[strangerpeople]

[Hey, no need to harp on someone's outlets for stress. If Thanatos listens closely, he'll hear a very soft click noise. Some kind of switch...?

But nothing happens yet.

Maybe he should try another hole. :) ]

[notadinosnack]

[Okay, so let's stick a strange object in some more holes. He'll just keep on trying holes until something happens.]

[strangerpeople]

[That's the spirit!!

After trying more holes than he probably ever wanted to, there is a sound of stone moving against stone. A musty smell begins emanating from one of the walls, the one with the tapestry.

It looks like some kind of tunnel opened up there...!]

[notadinosnack]

[Now this is more his sort of thing. So let's head towards that tunnel. Is it actually lit or is he finally going to actually have to make use of his power?]

[strangerpeople]

[It's dark as fuck. Congratulations, Neon, it's your time to shine!]

[notadinosnack]

[He still thinks his power is lame, but hey at least it can be of use for once. So yeah, he'll go ahead and use it and walk on in.]

[strangerpeople]

[The entrance shuts behind him. Fortunately, there is an easier switch on the inside of the door that makes it easier to get out. But before he can get too far, he'll find a pretty big obstacle - a smashed piano. There weren't any of these in the regular music room. What the hell?

However, it's at least easy enough to figure how it might have been smashed. There's a staircase in the tunnel, one that seems to wind a very long way up.]

[notadinosnack]

[Well, probably for the best that the girls didn't come with him since who knows what is in here. He's definitely going to be keeping a hand close to that whip he grabbed the other day as he goes up the staircase. He'll head on up towards the top unless there is anything of note on the way up.]

[strangerpeople]

[It goes up and up, winding around in wide circles - he'll pass a window that allows one to spy in on the dining room, but it's tiny, and nothing major was in the dining room anyway.

As he keeps going, though, the passage starts to stink. Gonna use your rainbow jazzhands to see what that might be?]

[notadinosnack]

[Sure, let's try and get some more light in here by moving his hands. Also, he's going to pull off that bandana around his neck and hold it up to his nose even if he has a sinking feeling what he's going to find here.]

EVIDENCE (the piano was also evidence)

[strangerpeople]

[There are bloodstains on the staircase, now. It will only get worse from here, as you probably guessed.]

[notadinosnack]

[Yeah, it's becoming quite evident that this is where the murder happened and he's going to find something he would have preferred not to find, but likely better him than someone like Zelda finding it. He just would have preferred never to have to see random parts of people again.

He'll keep on going up. Do the bloodstains continue or lead him in a trail towards what he is dreading to find?]

EVIDENCE

[strangerpeople]

[Both. There's a splash of it on the walls, but more of it on the stairs themselves. While he's looking closely at it, he'll find the missing harp wires flung off to the side.

Be careful when walking. There's a lot of blood here, enough to slip on.]

[notadinosnack]

[He'll go ahead and grab the missing harp wires so they can be returned after the trial. And he's probably quite glad for the fact that he always wears thick leather gloves right about now. He'll keep on going, of course moving carefully. He's definitely used to exploring dangerous and slippery areas and shouldn't have trouble making this climb.]

EVIDENCE

[strangerpeople]

[Well, although the stairs go on for much further past this, he won't have to walk too much more to follow the bloody path.

The head, at last, is found there, just lying on one of the steps.

It's definitely the head of Franciscus Erkens.]

[notadinosnack]

[That's exactly what he was dreading seeing. And there's really nothing he can do about this insult, but if the eyes are open, he will bend down and shut them.]

Rest in peace, friend. We'll figure out who did this.

[From there he'll look around some more. Has he reached the top or is there anything else of note here?]

[strangerpeople]

[He has not yet reached the top of the stairs. There's still a blood trail going up them, too. Awesome.]

[notadinosnack]

[Okay, let's follow the trail. Why can't this be a festive trail of glitter? He'll tread carefully and continue to keep an eye out for any possible clues along the way.]

[strangerpeople]

[only you can make the blood trails sparkle, Thanatos!

Further along the trail, he'll see a strange black bundle.]

[notadinosnack]

[So he'll go ahead and bend down look closer at this bundle. Can he open it up and see what is wrapped up in there, or will he need a knife or something?]

EVIDENCE

[strangerpeople]

[It's not that complicated. Once he picks it up, it will actually be clear what this crumpled up black fabric is - a robe from the sanctum. And an incredibly bloody one, at that!]

[notadinosnack]

[He's really glad for the gloves right about now. So he's going to try and hold it up and see if there would be anything that may tell him about who wore it. Does it give a clue about height? Or are there any rips?]

EVIDENCE

[strangerpeople]

[Not really. But....

There's a few blonde hairs inside of it.]