The decadent tearoom was heavy with the sighs coming from the witch of certainty. She flipped the pages and papers lying on the table absentmindedly; bored of the repetition.

"... These games just take forever now! Just look at this," she says talking to herself. A sheet in front of her appears. On it shows the records of some long forgotten game. "The game consisted of two dreams and then was put on hold for two years; before they even found a murder no less!"

The girl twisted on the chair to position herself so that her feet hung over the arm rest. Kicking them back and forth she added, "Then there are the other ones that are just completely discarded before they are even played." She glared over at the box under the table of presumably untouched gameboards.

"Lets see what we have here" One after another little gameboards were lifted and sorted. Random games made by witch hunters and other individuals. Even after the Rokkenjima fragment essentially came to a close there was still interested parties it seemed. Then, like a crash of thunder she stood up. With a Cheshire grin on her face her form disappeared from the room while grasping one of the discarded boards.

"So... why exactly am I here?" Erika mumbled to the now frantically spinning Lambda. The witch of certainty burst out into a childish laughter, fitting for her image. As the cyclone of her figure came to a stop she now donned a deerstalker on her head and wielded a magnifying glass in her hand.

"It's elementary my dear Watson! I've already shown how super duper awesome my gamemaster skills are, but I haven't been the Detective yet in this fragment!" she exclaims as jabbing a finger at Erika, who promptly grimaces at the word 'Watson'.

"W-while I understand your desire to be the detective surely someone like I should-" Erika starts before Lambda interrupts her.

"Nope, you are Watson. You can use all those skills to check the bodies and find the obvious clues for the super detective over here. That's totally a Watson character."

"..." Erika stays silent, not daring to push any further. "Alright, I'll be the w- w- watson..." she manages to force out. "May I make a guess and ask if that was the reason you asked me to bring this?" she says gesturing to the pirate hat that sits upon her head.

"Exactly! You need a hat to show you are the Watson. You pirate hat is stupid and out of place so it fits you perfectly. Now speaking of which where is Watson #2?"

Erika stumbles a bit with the clear look on her face of "I'm not only the Watson but also sharing the spot?" As this happens a blue haired bunny girl materializes on front of the two.

"Nyeh, you called for an escort?" Chiester 410 poses as she finalizes her entrance. On top of her head sits a bowler hat. With a quick note of Erika, "What's up the pirate hat?"

"Forget about that," Lambda stated as the clearly peeved Erika was ignored. The pink witch threw the compact board onto the ground and it disappeared in a poof of smoke. Underneath the tiles the island expanded out and fitted the room.

"No need for formalities, there is no acting game master so lets get it going," with a quick shove she pushes the other two in. With a quick jump she laughs out, "The game is a foot!"

"Mhmm, yes. Soon... the roulette has started to spin."

Kinzo stood gazing out of the window from his study as the wind shook the trees outside. His ever faithful servant Genji stood motionlessly in the back of the study waiting for any command. The room was littered with different drawings of magic circles and formulas. All of which seems to pertain to the upcoming date: October 4th and 5th.

"This will be the final test. The final miracle I preform. The roulette will spin in the night, nobody can stop that. However..." he motions for the servant to make his usual. "There are always other games at the casino. I merely need to take part in a different gamble..."

He drank heavily from the cup filled with the prepared liquid. "You can hear me, can't you Beatrice? Knowing won't help you in this matter, I have made up my mind. I WILL LET IT ALL HAPPEN," he yelled as smashing his glass.

The stormy night closed with the scream of the witch's name held low in the eyes of the island.

In the kitchen Gohda, Shannon, and Kumasawa were preparing the feast for tonight. Gohda hands masterfully place individual pieces of the dishes around the kitchen. It was clear he was giving one hundred and ten percent.

"Shannon get those scallops ready!" he called out while flicking his hands around.

The kitchen was full of orders back and forth, working together under his orders to create the art he would present in a few hours. This was his moment to make a good impression, he was still new so not all of the family members had yet to witness his skill. With his named course - Crimson Joy - he will entrap their hearts and senses!

Peaking through the steam-covered windows Lambda and the Watson's gazed inside.
"Ah yes very interesting..." Lambda stated mysteriously.

410 cupped her hand and carefully whispered, "What exactly is she talking about?" Which resulted in another shrug from Erika.

"I imagine she just wants to play the part of the detective, noticing something that nobody can explain."

"Alright let's move out!" Lamdba suddenly said as she ran away, making the other two catch up.

Bookshelves covered the room the cousins had been spending their time in. Maybe due to the storm coming early they had not been able to head to the beach. None the less they we making the most of it; looking through old novels and other strange wonders in the archives.

"Uu-uu, George I want that book!" cried Maria trying to jump up high beside the shelve.

"Alright Maria, I can get it for you," he said with a smile on his face. This was quickly shot down as Maria wished to be lifted up and take it off the shelve herself. While George and Maria were doing this Battler and Jessica were off in the other corner of the room talking.

"I can't imagine living here, having to take a boat everyday for school? You must have it rough." Battler says placing "She Died A Lady" back onto the shelve.

"Well you get used to it, Kawabata is always on time. It is just like taking a bus really," she says with a smirk as she puts an atlas into a pile next to the shelve.

"Well whatever happened to walking to school huh? With your good old two feet rather than those death machines," He puts back another book from the pile, not noticing that it isn't getting any smaller.

"What are you, 6? Maria handles it better than you," The pile becomes higher.

"Age has nothing to with it! ... Oi what the hell I already put this back!" Battler yells now aware of the trickery.

Jessica laughs as she slowly puts down a large hard cover titled, "William Blake Collection" "Finally caught on huh?"

Outside of the happy room the storm continued to roar on as the rest of the family members were not as joyful.

"Dear..." Eva calmed rested her head on her husband's chest.

"..." he silently moved away. "This ordeal will soon be over. I'm sure once Krauss cracks it will... Just one final push."
Eva stood back holding herself upright, "And if it doesn't?"

A dry laugh. "It has to."

-

"The final piece has fallen into place, huh?" Rudolf incredulously asked.

Kyrie gave a coy grin, "Surely you understand what it was right?"

Putting down his glass, he slowly circled his fingers around the rim. He gives a grim look up.

"I've trusted you this far, I don't see any reason I need to know."
He downed the glass.

-

"They are presistant bunch, are they not?" Krauss wiped his brow. Natsuhi was behind him. He continued, "Just one more day and everything will be fine."

Natsuhi stayed silent. Yet again feeling powerless to help. All she could do is stay by his side.

-

Rosa was walking back from the guesthouse. Checking on Maria, or checking her nerves. Maybe both. With Eva and Rudolf leading the assult she tended to provide support, and take ridicule. He feet were heavy with fatigue.
"...for Maria," she whispered under her breath.

The storm was pelting the once clean rose garden with its water bullets. Small branches had swept up onto the pathways and littered the stones. Among this chaos the lone figure of Maria stood. No doubt looking for the ever-elusive rose.

Suddenly from the direction of the mansion, another figure appeared. In its hands a white umbrella and wearing a dress just like the one in the portrait. As they came together something was said, however the torrent of water prevented sound from reaching the listening ears.

However none the less some words became known, "Come, try and remember... what form did you used to have o sick rose. Remember before thy life was destroyed." A small light appeared in between them and Maria jumped for joy.
In the distance three hats poked out of the bushes in the garden.

"I can't hear anything, " Erika complained. The footing was muddy and hard to crouch in. One would wonder who thought this was a good idea in the first place.

"Shh, if you talk then of course we won't!" Lambda retaliated.

"Nyeh, if that's the culprit, and you are the detective... shouldn't you go jump out there and catch them?"
A small silence.

Erika turned to look at Lambda, who's face was hidden.

"O-of course, that was the plan!" she suddenly jumped up, "Stop there criminal scum!"

As they scrambled to chase after her their movement was halted as it became clear that nobody was in the garden any longer. Lambda's hat slid a bit off her head as she stood there motionless looking at the empty garden.
"W-well. Dinner should be soon, that is where my skills will really be needed!" she said while struggling to keep a prideful look on her face. With an unconvinced glance the other two followed her there.

"Just what is Dad thinking? Would it kill him to come down for a couple of seconds and greet us?" inquired Rudolf of his older brother.

With a smirk, Krauss replied nonchalantly: "He'll come. When he's ready."

"He had a whole year to get ready. Are we to wait for eternity?" Eva joined the assault.

"Yes." Rosa pitched in, not wanting to be left out. "I hope--"

"That's a stupid story and you know it, Jessica!"

"Be quiet, you dumbass! It's important to Maria and--!"

"Jessica! Watch your tongue!" Natsuhi was not amused by her daughter's shameful display. She taught her better than that!

Jessica bit her lip and gave Battler a fierce look.

Meanwhile Gohda was not amused either. By all possible standards, as far as he was concerned, this dinner was turning out to be a disaster.

"Take away their soup plates." he muttered through his teeth next to Shannon.

"Y-Yes, of course." she replied sheepishly and hurried to transport the plates from the table to the dining cart. Kumasawa lent her a helping hand.

Genji just stood there.

"Uu! Stupid Battler, Beatrice is real! You'll see for yourself!"

"Will I now? She better live up to her portrait then! I want the whole package!"

"It's alright, Maria, I believe you." said George with a smile.

Maria didn't look very pleased at first, possibly because she already took for granted that George believed her, since he always did. However, she soon simmered down and her face lit up with a smile of her own. If you could label that creepy expression as such.

"You know, Brother, it truly is a stupid story." Eva continued softly. "You're not really planning to fool us like you did last year. right? You can't be that naive, right?"

With a humble downward stare, Krauss replied: "Paranoia will get you nowhere, dear Sister." Giving her a cunning glance, he added: "Let us simply enjoy our meal peacefully. You wouldn't want to make a scene in front of the children, would you?"

Eva curled her lip, but said nothing in response.

The second course was eaten in relative silence. This really, -really- annoyed Gohda, who would kill for any bit of feedback or praise, although the two were synonymous in his dictionary. When the time came for dessert, he decided to go all in. Victory or death!

"And now may I present to you, la creme de la creme... Maple Angel Food Cake! With Earl Grey tea, of course." He clapped his hand on Shannon's back motioning her to begin the service. He probably wanted to give her a good kick too, but image was everything.

"What a great looking cake." observed Kyrie.

The chef was delighted. "Thank you, Kyrie-sama!"

He proceeded to describe the baking process.

"So when is the witch coming?" Battler was apparently determined to rub it in.

"Uu, eat your cake, Battler. Beatrice will come."

"Wahaha, so how's life treating you nowadays, Dr. Nanjo?" Hideyoshi decided to make an attempt at conversation.

"Oh, you know. Nothing to complain about. No patients have died recently."

"Waaaahaha, good one!"

"I was being serious."

Maria ate her cake quickly, then began fidgeting while darting subtle glances around the table. When it looked like everyone finished their dessert, she took out a peculiar envelope from her bag.

"Uu! Maria has a letter!" she announced cheerfully.

"A letter, Maria-chan? Who's it from?" Natsuhi feigned interest.

"Uu! From Beatrice!"

A brief silence descended upon the room.

"Hoh? From Beatrice?" Krauss chuckled. "Something you want to tell us, Rosa?"

"I don't-- M-Maria, explain yourself!"

"Uu! Maria didn't read it yet. Can Maria read it out loud?"

"I see no harm in it." Eva voiced her support. "Let Maria-chan read it."

"Uu! It says..."

"Dear Ushiromiya Family, I am Beatrice the Golden. Alchemist advisor to Kinzo-sama. Tonight, I will make all of you acknowledge my power. The devil's roulette has been set in motion. One of you won't leave this room alive."

"Uu! Done."

"Rosa, that's not funny." stated Rudolf coldly.

"Why are you blaming me?! I had nothing to do with this!" Rosa protested.

"Let's stay calm, everyone." Krauss interjected. "Maria-chan, who gave you that letter?"

"Uu! Who do you think? It was Beatrice!"

Krauss gave a sigh.

"Maria-chan..." Eva said with a smile. "Can you describe to us what that 'Beatrice' person looked like?"

"Uu! She wore a pretty dress and had a white umbrella."

"What, you mean like the dress from that portrait?" Battler snorted.

"Uu! Exactly like that! Told you Beatrice exists!"

"Haaaiiiiiiii!" Kumasawa gave a shout that startled everybody. "Th-There! Outside!" she pointed a shaking hand towards the window.

"What is it? It's too dark out there to see." Natsuhi said nervously.

"It looks like there is someone outside by the bushes." said George with a bit of tension in his voice.

"Wait, I think I see something too. It does look like someone is out there..." confirmed Battler.

"Genji!" Natsuhi spun towards her trusty servant.

"At once, Madam." He replied as if only now coming to life. "Kanon, come with me." He told the boy who was standing not too far from him.

"Yes." Kanon gave a nod and the two dashed out of the dining room.

"I... I can't---" suddenly Kumasawa collapsed on the floor.

"Kumasawa-san! Dr. Nanjo, quickly!"

The doctor hurriedly left his seat and rushed to the old maid's side.

"It's going to be alright. Her nerves gave in, she just needs some water." he announced to reassure everyone.

"Shannon, get Kumasawa a glass of... Where is that girl?! Gohda! Get Kumasawa some water!"

"Right away, Madam!" Said the chef and ran out to the kitchen.

Just then a very loud bang came from outside the window. Most rushed towards it to see what was happening.

"What the hell was that?!" roared Krauss.

"I hope the servants are ok." said Eva.

"Should we go out after them?" asked Rudolf.

"Look, there they are. It looks like they are fine, they're coming back." said George.

Eva and Krauss returned to their seats while Rudolf, Rosa, Kyrie and Hideyoshi lingered a bit by the window as if to ascertain George's words for themselves. The kids meanwhile also resumed their seats. Gohda came back with a glass of water and along with Nanjo helped Kumasawa to her feet, then led her out of the room to let her lie down somewhere.

At last, Genji and Kanon walked back inside. Their clothes were moist from the rain and in his hands Genji held... a white umbrella.
The family and the two servants just stood there staring at each other for a few moments, then Genji stepped forward and began his report.

"Madam, this is all that we've found."

"What? What do you mean all you've found?! Where did that person go and what was that loud bang out there?!" Natsuhi fumed.

"I cannot myself quite comprehend what we have witnessed, Madam. At first there seemed to be someone there, someone wearing a dress. But as we were closing in on them... They...." Genji shifted uncomfortably.

"They exploded." finished Kanon.

Eva burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Eva! Get a grip!" Hideyoshi didn't seem to find this very amusing.

"Ihihi, so did you find anything else besides the umbrella? Like, you know, guts or bones?" Battler inquired curiosly.

"We did not." stated Genji.

"So that's it then. This was all just a huge prank. Mystery solved, gang." concluded Rudolf.

Eva's laughing fit turned into a coughing fit. She began gasping for air, and then, after one particularly sharp breath, she fell down to the floor and remained motionless.

"HOLD EVERYTHING!" a detective burst on the scene freezing everyone in surprise.

"Alright, first I want to check all the food for poisons!" the detective energetically extended her index finger outwards.

"Get on it!" Nothing happened.

"What am I doing wrong here?" the detective was perplexed.

"You didn't say who you wanted to take on the job." said the girl in a pirate hat.

"Oh, of course! How silly of me, hey you, get on it!"

"I don't do that kind of work, nyeh." replied the escort.

"I thought you did just about anything." retorted the detective.

"Only the things I'm good at. This is not one of them."

"I'll do it. What do you want me to check?" said the pirate hat girl.

"Um... How about, Eva's cake plate? It looks like she didn't finish it."

"Sure, give me a second." The pirate hat girl materialized an expensive looking portable device out of thin air.

"It's clean."

"In that case, how about her tea cup?"

"It's also clean."

"What? That makes no sense. If I were to poison someone, I would definitely do it with the tea."

"You're not everybody."

"Anyway, if it's not the cake or tea, then it must have been something Eva ate previously. Like the soup. Or whatever they ate for the second course."

"The soup plates have already been removed from the scene and it would be difficult to find the one Eva drank from, nyeh."

"I thought you weren't good at this."

"Nihi, just trying to contribute on the side."

The pirate girl sighed: "It doesn't really matter which plate Eva drank from. If we examine all of them and at least one of them has traces of poison, then it would prove she was poisoned from it. Maybe. Actually, do we even know she was poisoned? I should probably confirm this."

"Yeah, you probably should."

"Alright, she was definitely poisoned."

"That was fast, I like meta forensics!" exclaimed the detective. Then added: "So why don't you go to the kitchen and check all those soup plates for me?"

"Yeah, whatever. Be right back." the pirate girl walked out of the crime scene.

"That leaves what else? Oh yeah, the second course. What did they eat for it anyway?"

"Nihi, why are you asking me? I wasn't paying attention. You're the detective here."

"I'm only the meta detective! I didn't pay attention either."

"Then who is the real detective?" the escort was genuinely curious.

"Well let's see, seeing as how this magic scene is happening here right now, none of the people present are probably the detective. Which means it has to be someone currently absent?"

"Who's not here, then?"

"Gohda, Nanjo, Kumasawa, Kinzo and Shannon, I think."

"Technically Shannon is here."

"what do you mean?"

"Nihi, nevermind."

"I'm back." said the pirate hat girl. "None of the soup plates had traces of poison in them."

"Whaaat? Then that only leaves the second course."

"Unlikely, I think it falls under 'clues that were not presented' categorie since it was not sufficiently described."

"Then how did Eva get poisoned at all? I'm kinda stumped. What should I do?"

"If you don't know how to proceed, you can always just resume the game and think about it later, this is only the first murder after all."

"Hmmm..."

Upon the scene displayed to them a suddenly realization came to them.

They all needed guns right now!

Instead of continuing to bicker over the inheritance, the death of Eva set the family and others into survival mode. They convinced Genji to give them his study key and set out to tell Kinzo about this matter so they could get a hold of the weapons despite Krauss and Natsuhi's protests. As they entered the study one thing became very clear however; Kinzo was no where to be seen. In his place an envelope just like the one Maria had was placed on the study. It read: I have taken Kinzo's corpse for a moment. You can expect it back soon. After collecting the guns the family members left. With a crash Lambda jumps through the window into the room. "What was with that half-assed scene?" she questions the others.

Erika was flipping through some pages, "It appears that someone was pestering the game master at the time and they made the scene like this as some sort of passive aggressive response."

"Nyeh, looks like they left some red too! Kinzo was in the room at the moment Eva died. The only entrances/exits are the windows and door, which were both locked right before the group used the key to unlock the door. There is no auto-lock in this room. The entrances/exits cannot be locked from the outside without a key.

"You can't fool me whoever you were! Clearly Kinzo just left himself, then locked it with his own key," Lambda stated while puffing out her chest.

"Yeah, that would work just fine. Should we follow the group then?"

"Of course Watson!" With a grimace from Erika they left the study.

The family members had made it down the staircase where a smell filled the hall, they quickly found the source to be coming from the boiler room and entered to investigate. The witch wasn't lying about 'soon', for they found inside the furnace a charred corpse black as the night. Genji calmly pointed out the six toes on the feet, and explained to everyone Kinzo's condition. Next to the furnace they found the other key to the study, which had not been used once during this game!

"Ahhhhhhhh!" screamed Lambda as she kicked through the backdoor of the boiler room (after the group had went back up of course).

She ran over and started to tug at the toe, "You can sew these things on I tell you!" With a crisp pop the toe came off and she held it up as if saying "See I told you!"

"You know pulling off the toe of a corpse burnt that much isn't hard right?" Erika said as she appeared on the scene. "If anything you are just ruining the crime scene."

"O-of course I knew that. Just, go do your meta forensics or something."

Erika did so and concluded that the toe was indeed not sewn on. With a puzzled expression Lambda silently walked back upstairs. Erika looked at Siesta 410 who gave a shrug, and then they followed along.

The group silently exited the boiler room, entering the main area. Nobody led with a particular direction, just walking behind the person in front of them.

“Wait a second...” George was the first to snap the group to its senses. “What are we doing? My mother...Grandfather...we have no idea what's going on. Why are we wandering around and holding weapons that we could just hurt each other with?”

“Calm down,” Rudolf said. “We know what we're doing with these. Believe it or not, Dad used to take us shooting. And I'm sure your father can hold his own. We need to get Kumasawa, Shannon, Nanjo, and Gohda. Still, you have a point. These halls aren't safe for you kids.”

“What choice do we have in the matter?” asked Krauss. “It's unlikely that anywhere is safe, given the circumstances.”
“We can lock the children in the parlor,” offered Kyrie. “Keys may be a problem, but they can use the furniture as barricades.”
“Hold on!” said Rosa. “I won't leave Maria with those...”

She gestured towards Kanon and Genji, who stood silently.

“The servants will be with us,” said Kyrie. “We'll split into two groups. That's our best way of saving time while keeping strength in numbers.”

Battler lashed his arm out. “Like hell! You're telling is to do nothing while there's some fucking sicko killing people? We can help! Tell them, Jessica.”

“Battler...Let's just do what they say, okay?”

“What? But...”

“This isn't a game, all right? If we're not all on the same page, someone could get hurt. And we're wasting time as it is.”

“She's right, Battler.” Hideyoshi put on a stern face. “Just let us handle everything. This person'll pay for what they did to my Eva, I promise you that.”

Reluctantly, Battler gave in. His only comfort was that, when the seagulls cried and the storm lifted, he would know the horrible truth of that dinner.

The adults led the kids to the parlor, instructing them to barricade the doors and windows. As they did, the adults stuck around to make sure everything was okay. Then they split up. Kyrie, Rudolf and Kanon went one way while Krauss, Natsuhi, Hideyoshi, Rosa, and Genji went another. The groups were uneven, but the couples were together and the servants were seperated. A wolves and sheep puzzle.

As the adults left, the detective group scuttled in. “They're splitting up!”

The witch of certainty looked both ways. “What do we do?”

“I'm glad you asked,” said Erika. “Such a conundrum is simple for someone like me. Normally, we'd be locked into the cousin's viewpoint at a time like this, so we can count them out. But why follow the larger group? Statistically, five people is safer than three. It would be pointless. That leads us to our only viable conclusion!”

“Nyeh, hold on. Couldn't we miss valuable clues if we don't follow the other group?”

“What kind of argument is that? We could miss clues if we don't follow the smaller group, too! And I already demonstrated that my plan is the best.”

“Eh, I guess you're the expert. Let's go.”

“As is expected. I'll lead the way.”

“Are you sure you're feeling well, Kumasawa?” Dr. Nanjo sat next to the old maid, a concerned expression filling his face.

“Yes, I think I'll be fine. I'm not finished quite yet.”

“Are you sure?” Shannon asked. “You should continue to rest. I can take over your duties.”

Kumasawa smiled weakly. “Oh, child. Always trying to take care of me. I'm afraid I don't deserve your kindness.”

“What do you mean? You've done so much. I owe you everything...”

“And yet, I haven't done nearly enough. If I were fooling myself, I'd blame time, but I was actually just scared. I think that Nanjo felt the same way.”

Nanjo doesn't speak, but his discomfort spoke volumes. Before Nanjo could speak, there was a knock at the door.

“Yes?” Shannon called out. The person at the other end did not answer. When nobody else moved to open the door, she did.

As soon as the pulled the handle, Gohda stumbled in. “....help.......me......”

His voice was only a hoarse whisper. Something sharp protruded from his chest. As he crumpled to the ground, Shannon noticed that it was a knife. The weapon had an ornate, wooden handle. At another time, she might have called such a thing elegant. But now, with it carving a hole in her coworker...

“What in the world?” Nanjo stood alert. “Shannon, get a first aid kit!”

Before she had time to comply with that request, another being entered the room.

“Hello, all!” A strange figure dressed in white approached them. None of them had ever seen this person before. “I might be late, but let me wlecome to Collaboration of the Golden Witch! I hope nobody else wanted to pick the name. I'm the Great Equalizer, the last image you see in your iris before you fade away. Ozaki took a long time preparing, so I'm ready to go. I know what the witches really want-- they need drama, they crave blood. I'm more than happy to oblige!”

Shannon stared at this newcomer, not sure what to make of them. “Who...are you?”

“Come on dude, do I really need to repeat all of that again?”

From the wall he backed himself into, Dr. Nanjo called out. “She's going to kill us!”

“Thank you! Someone was listening! Although you're only half right.”

Shannon held her arm out. “Don't take another step. I'm not going to let you hurt these people.”

“It's not your call. This isn't your board. You're just a side character this time around, and barely one at that. You have no power here.”

Shannon tried to summon her shield, but minor blue sparks fizzled into nothing. Was this witch somehow blocking her magic?
“You done? Cool. As I was saying, I'm not going to kill anyone. It wouldn't feel appropriate. But I do know the perfect man for the job.”

On cue, Kinzo Ushiromiya appeared in the room, surrounded by a ring of ashes as if to say that he had risen once more. This was not the frail Kinzo everyone knew, however. This Kinzo had all of his strength and youth. He was truly unstoppable.

“Bwahahaha! What is killed will rise once more, strengthened by the vitality of youth!” Even though he didn't look himself, nobody questioned who he was. His demeanor told them everything.

“Who do we have her? A couple of servants and a doctor? Easy. This isn't even a roulette. Pachinko, maybe.”

“K-Kinzo!” Dr. Nanjo scrambled to the remnants of his friend. “I urge you to reconsider. We're friends, are we not? You always told me to let me know when you aren't acting like yourself. This is one of those times! Get a hold of yourself before you do something regrettable.”

Kinzo smirked. “It's true. We are good friends. But this world isn't ours anymore.”

He charged at Nanjo. Somehow, the knife that was in Gohda's chest appeared in his hand. Nanjo had no time to react before Kinzo buried it inside his forhead.

“Now, then! That wasn't so bad. He hardly felt a thing.”

The newcomer in white grinned. “Bravo! The witches will be sure to like and subscribe at this rate!”

“No, please!” Kumasawa couldn't open the window. No matter how hard she tried, the latch wouldn't move.

Shannon stood in front of her mentor. “Please stand behind me.”

“Incredible,” said Kinzo. “You're actually protecting that woman?”

“This is the woman who bore responsibility for your sins. She may not be perfect, but she did more than you ever did. All your gold is ash compared to her.”

“Interesting. Maybe there is room for you in the new world. I call upon the power of Gaap! Lend me your gifts!”

Kinzo raised his hand and, as he did so, a black hole appeared under Gohda's corpse and the body fell into nothingness.

“Where did you bring him?”

“Don't you worry about that. In fact, he should be honored. I had to give up part of myself in order to make that happen. I'd be more concerned with where you're going.”

Just as her shield started humming to life, a black hole appeared under Shannon and whisked her way. Kinzo turned his attention to Kumasawa.

“Now, madame. Where were we?”

“Kyrie,” Rudolf turned to his wife. “I want you to know, when this is all over, I have to tell you something. Battler too.”
“Don't think I'm uninterested, but is this the best time to discuss this?”

“I don't think there's ever going to be a good time. But after this...when everyone is dealing with loss...I don't want to keep secrets anymore. If that makes me selfish, fine.”

“...For now, let's focus on finding the servants. Our best chance is the servant's quarters. You said it was this way, right Kanon?”

“Yes,” Kanon said.

“Before we go, let me ask you something. That person you saw—when you went outside with Genji, I mean—were you being completely honest?”

“I'm not sure I understand.”

“I just mean, if that was some joke that got out of hand, you can tell us. We'll understand.”

“...I saw what I saw. If you have difficulty accepting that, I apologize.”

His tone made Kyrie sigh. The group made their way to the servant's quarters. Kyrie tried the door handle, but it didn't open.

“Strange, it's locked.”

Rudolf tried as well, pushing the door as he tried to twist the handle, but it didn't budge.

“Is anybody in there?” His yelling inspired no response.

“That door...” Kanon said. “It's never supposed to be locked. It should always be kept open for on duty staff...”

Rudolf looked at Kyrie, who nodded. “Step back.”

Rudolf kicked the door a few times. It was pretty sturdy, but it eventually gave way.

“What in the hell...? Kumasawa, Doctor Nanjo!”

The elderly pair were sprawled across the floor, soaked in some kind of paint...no, that's a lie. No person could mistake that for anything other than blood.

“Check their pulses,” said Kyrie. “I'm going to check around the room.”

Rudolf crouched to the floor and examined their wrists. There wasn't any sign of a beat. Who could have done something as horrible as this? Who would be insane enough?

“There's nobody in the room,” said Kyrie. “And the window is latched up.”

“What about Gohda and Shannon?”

“We have to assume that they're either dead or working with the culprit. We can't afford to waste resources trying to find them.”
“There is...a letter,” said Kanon, pointing to an envelope next to Kyrie's feet. She spent no time unwrapping its contents.

“Ushiromiya family...I have taken your servant's lives as interest...blah blah witch, blah blah elegant night...I don't understand this at all.”

Footsteps and voices emerged from the hall. The larger group had heard the commotion and scrambled to investigate.

These are the facts, as the humans on the board understand them. Sometime between the time Eva was killed and Kyrie's group found them, somebody killed Nanjo and Kumasawa. They either died in, or their bodies were brought to, the servant's room. Doctor Nanjo was stabbed through the forehead, Kumasawa the stomach. After killing them, the culprit left and locked the door from the outside.

As for Gohda and Shannon, they became MIA. The adults didn't risk continuing to look for them while their children could be in danger. Their investigation was over.

But the investigation for those who are not human had just began.

“A classic closed room,” announced Lambda. “That's more like it. Autopsy, please.”

“Well,” said Erika. “They're definitely dead. Now, that's interesting. Kumasawa was killed via her stomach wound, but Nanjo didn't die because of his blow to the head. That was done after his death.”

“So? What killed him?”

“It was poison.”

“Whaaaat? We have to go back and check the food again! It must have been poisoned!”

“Impossible. I don't make amateur mistakes.”

“Nyeh, my nose picked up a clue. The culprit didn't lock the door from the outside. Additionally, the culprit was inside the room when the victims were killed.”

“Okaaay, what about Gohda and Shannon?”

“Uhm, nothing to report.”

“What? Oh, come oooon! This is practically a guessing game. How am I supposed to know what happened here?”

“Hey, Wascally Wabbit,” said Erika. “Check the blood puddle by the door.”

The Siesta sister did so, and raised her head in astonishment. “This blood doesn't belong to either of the victims!”

“Of course not. It's too far away, and there are no signs of a body being dragged inwards. Even with this little information, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika. What do you think, everyone?”

“Great!” said Lambda. “So whose blood is it? Gohda's? Shannon's? The culprit's?”

“I....am not sure.”

Lamda's face turned sour. Having no other leads, they decided to follow the adults back to the parlor.

Within the parlor, Battler used a hat rack he had found to brace the makeshift pile of items they’d placed in front of the parlor door. He’d broken the pegs on it, so that if someone did manage to get in, he’d be able to use it like a morningstar mace. With that, he got a chance to look around at the rest of the room. Just as the adults had requested, they had firmly barricaded the doors and windows of the parlor. The grandfather clock that was now against one of the windows chimed 10 P.M. It was dark outside, and thunder rumbled. He was fairly certain that it would take an army to break through to them at this point, and that made him fume.

“Why did you agree with them, Jessica?!” he demanded, for what seemed like at least the tenth time since they’d entered this room. “Yes, it’s dangerous out there, but that means it’s dangerous for them too! They’re our parents and friends! We should be out there, hunting this sicko down like the dog he is!”

Up until then, Jessica had staunchly maintained her statement that it was best for everyone that they just do what they were told and to let the adults handle it. This time, however, she didn’t respond right away. Instead, she was walking around the room, eyeing every single nook and cranny again, apparently making sure once more that they were alone and safe. Her lack of response made both George and Battler look at her. Maria, meanwhile, was absorbed in looking out the one window that they hadn’t fully closed the curtains on, out to where the garden was.
Finally, apparently satisfied, Jessica looked at Battler with a smile from a corner of the room. “Because we’re going to be the trump card, Battler.” She rocked back and forth on her feet, the hardwood floor underneath where a rug had been laying previously squeaking under her weight as she fell silent.

Battler looked at her expectantly, and she rolled her eyes and continued to rock, the soft squeaking echoing in the quiet of the parlor. George’s eyes widened in surprise, but Battler continued to blankly stare at her. Finally she sighed and gestured at him to come join her, where George was already headed. “Get over here, you ninny,” she said, taking a couple steps back and getting down on her hands and knees. “Help us get these boards up.”

He blinked for a couple seconds, gaping in surprise, before running over to help. The boards were actually very loose and easy to pry up with fingernails. Maria, turning back to what her cousins were doing, ran over as well. “Uuu! Uuu! Is it buried treasure? Is it? Uuu!”

Jessica laughed. “It’s better than treasure, Maria!” she exclaimed as a large metal chest that was about the same size as Maria came into view. “It’s more stuff we can use to take this murderer down. You see, back when Father was getting the guesthouse built,” she said, explaining for George and Battler, “he also had a thought about what would happen if someone were to try to rob the mansion or kidnap one of us. We’re a rich family after all, and hostage-taking can be somewhat commonplace. He tried to get Grandfather to agree to a panic room, but Grandfather refused. Eventually they compromised, and had this little nook dug under the floor of the parlor. That way if we couldn’t get to the more obvious weapons, we’d have a backup plan to at least defend ourselves. They’re semi-automatic handguns, and a lot simpler to fire than those rifles your dad is so fond of. Now I’m thinking we can get these out, leave the room, and catch this murderer unawares.”

“At this point, I’ll take a simple gun,” smirked Battler, revenge in his eyes. “As long as we can put this psycho down when we find him.” They removed the last board and looked down on the closed metal case. They took a moment to breathe, Maria grasping her handbag to her chest as she looked in. Then George and Battler leaned in to undo the latches that held the lid closed before pulling up on either side.

George grunted. “Heavier than it looks. Is it stuck?” Just then the lid lifted off, revealing the contents. Lightning flashed outside, and when the blinding white that filtered through the one window went away, the parlor was bathed in an eerie purple color.

“Nyan?” asked the form in the box. All of the cousins just stared stupidly down at the female figure that lay curled tightly within. She seemed to be dressed in some strange variation of a maid outfit, with a red top and blonde hair done back in long straight pigtails. She also was wearing costume cat ears, and a fake cat tail. By her figure she seemed to be at least as old as Jessica, but she seemed too small to be a normal person. “Get it?” she asked the cousins. “I’m a cat in the box! It’s a catbox! Like the island!” They continued to blink down at her, and she sighed. Suddenly she seemed to dissolve into a mist, and then her body reformed up in the parlor beside them, now full-size. “Everyone’s a critic,” she muttered.

George was the first to react, leaping to his feet and adopting a guarded martial arts pose. “Who are you?” he demanded, as Battler staggered back and Jessica and Maria stayed crouched by the hole.

“Me? I’m Asmodeus, the Stake of Lust, of course! Daedon’s favorite piece ever! Well, alright, out of the two he’s used, but still! It was enough to get me a cameo in here when he needed a fantasy creature to cause some mayhem at Beatrice’s direction.”

“Uuu…Who’s Dead-on?” asked Maria, confused. “And where’s Beatrice?”

Asmodeus slapped her hand to her own forehead. “No. Not Dead-on. Daedon. Like the ‘–on’ used for Shannon and Kanon, but stuck on the end of… You know what, why am I explaining this? I’m here to kill you all for breaking the rules, so it’s not like you need to know.”

“W-what rules?” asked Jessica, still too stunned to properly act.

Asmodeus reached into her inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small, worn book. “No one ever knows the rules…” she muttered, flipping through the pages for a couple moments before stopping. Then she held the book open for Jessica, though Jessica couldn’t make out the strange language the words were written in. “See? Right there. ‘There shall be no more firearms than the four rifles included in the gameboard.’ No going action-hero all over a murder mystery gameboard. There are other games for that.” She snapped the book shut and tucked it into her jacket as she walked over to Maria. Smiling down at her, she knelt and ruffled the young girl’s hair lightly. “It’s past your bedtime, little Maria. How about you just go to sleep now like a good girl? I’ll get you last.”

Maria looked at her, confused, but then her eyes slowly slid shut and she slouched forward, falling into the shallow hole and the metal case they had opened. “I don’t care who you are. You killed my mom and Grandfather. I will show you no mercy, demon.” George took aim at the back of her neck and lashed out with a kick too fast for the eyes to follow, his glasses reflecting another flash of lightning.

“Demon! Exactly!” clapped Asmodeus, who was now standing behind George. She used his moment of confusion to gently encircle her arms around his shoulders. “I get why Gaap likes you, you know…” she whispered into his ear. Then, with one hand under his chin and the other on the back of his head, she twisted. There was a sickening snap and she shoved him away. He was dead long before his body hit the armchair, his head propped up against a leg at an angle that made it clear to Battler and Jessica that he would not be able to protect them, nor anyone else ever again. “That’s more like it,” she said, dramatically acting like she was brushing dust off her hands. “Demons don’t have problems with humans unless we’re playing with you.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!” shouted Battler, his cry of grief becoming one of rage as he charged the demon girl. However, he was far less skilled than George, so she dodged easily, giggling as he stumbled past her, over towards where George’s corpse now lay. She was so amused that the punch that came from behind her nearly got her.

“Hey now, none of that!” she said, backing up towards a sofa. “Two on one isn’t fair, you know!”

“Screw fairness! You’re going down!” declared Jessica, bouncing lightly on her toes with her fists up in a high guard, just like her father had taught her. Battler had recovered as well and was advancing cautiously, holding a light chair he had removed from the barricade by that window.

“So you’re fine with two on one, eh? Well, let’s see how you like it when the odds are reversed…” Asmodeus dramatically pointed a finger at Battler. “I am a great magician…your clothes are purple!”

Lightning flashed, and suddenly Battler was dressed in a purple suit, with a red tie and black shirt. He staggered, and dropped the chair near where he had picked it up. “Wh-what did you do to me? I feel…”

“Murderous?” asked Asmodeus, grinning.”

“Yeah,” chuckled Battler, his gaze turning to Jessica, who took a step back.
“B-Battler, what’s going on…?” she asked, frightened.

Asmodeus picked up a couch pillow and tossed it to Battler, who snatched it out of the air without looking. “He’s just realizing what might have been,” she answered Jessica, before adding “Make it snappy, eh?” to Battler.

“Oh I will,” he replied, lunging at Jessica. She lurched to the side, trying to get away, but she was still in shock and wasn’t quite fast enough. She stumbled and fell, and before she could escape he was on her and the pillow was on her face. She lashed and struck, but he had the strength of the damned running through his veins and she had her asthma acting against her. It wasn’t long before her struggles ceased, and a couple minutes after that he lessened the pressure on the pillow, letting out a low chuckle.

“Your clothes are white!”

Battler looked down in horror at the motionless form of his cousin beneath him.

“U-uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” he screamed again, staggering to his feet. He was unable to tear his eyes away from Jessica’s body, and so he didn’t see Asmodeus slide up beside him.

“Thanks for the assist, buddy,” she said, and shoved him. He stumbled, teetered on his heel for an agonizing moment, and then fell backward. A broken peg of the hat stand pierced through his back and into his heart.
“Useless…it was all useless…” he gurgled, gazing up at the ceiling of the parlor. It was the last thing he said before he died.

Asmodeus smiled and straightened up. “Alright, that just leaves you, Maria. Maria…?” she asked, peering down into the hole. Maria didn’t move. “Oh. Well nevermind then. Good initiative. You get a gold star.” She held her hands on her hips and looked around at the room. “You know what, you kids did a really good job of fortifying this place. I think I’ll help honor that.” She disappeared from the room, and reappeared in the air outside. “From one minute past Maria’s death until the end of the game, no one will enter or leave the parlor.” With that, she turned to the audience, flashed a victory sign, and disappeared.

Krauss, Natsuhi, Rosa, Hideyoshi, and Genji came upon Rudolf, Kyrie, and Kanon in the servants’ quarters. After dealing with the deaths of Kumasawa and Doctor Nanjo, they all went back towards the parlor as one group, while Kyrie relayed the note they had found.

Once they reached the door, Kyrie knocked on the door. “We’re back, can you let us in?” Only silence met her call, however. There wasn’t a response nor the sound of a moving barricade.

Rudolf stepped up and pounded on the door. “Hey! Battler! It’s all of us. It’s ok to open the door.” His call didn’t fare any better. He turned the handle and pressed hard against the door, but it barely budged a fraction of an inch. However they’d barricaded it, they’d done well.

Natsuhi and Krauss passed a look between each other, and Krauss gave a nearly imperceptible nod. “Maybe they think we’re being threatened by the killer. After all, this isn’t the most defensible room without something to block the doors and windows, so if they remove it it’d be difficult to replace quickly,” he said.
“We can find somewhere else to hide,” agreed Natsuhi. “What about the guesthouse?”

Hideyoshi hesitated. “I don’t disagree, but I wish they would answer. We should check to see if we can see inside through one of the windows, at least.”

Everyone agreed to that, and they went outside into the storm. Together they walked around the outside of the building to where the parlor was. They quickly tried all the windows, and found them solidly locked. At one, a sliver of light peeked through, and Krauss went up to it. Peering through for a couple seconds, he shook his head. “I’m not seeing them, but aside from the fact that the furniture has all been moved, it looks alright. They have to be in there, though. We’ve tried the door and the windows, and they’re all shut tight. I think it’s best that we leave them their fort, and go make our own.”

Hideyoshi shook his head. “I wish he would answer,” he muttered, but followed Genji, Kanon, Rudolf, Kyrie, Natsuhi, and Krauss towards the guesthouse.

The witch detective and her two compatriots looked out from the bushes that they had been watching the group from. They had been following them the whole way, and had watched them as they investigated the door and windows. Now they stood before the windows themselves, and Lambda stood on her tiptoes, looking in.
“Hmph, I can’t see a thing, but everything I know about these games says that they aren’t hiding. They’re either gone or dead. I’m tired of this rain anyways, let’s head inside!” So saying, Lambdadelta jumped at the window, ready to pass through it.

Instead, with a comical ‘boing,’ she bounced off a red energy field that suddenly appeared and landed on her butt in a puddle. “Hey hey! What’s going on!? A wall of red?”

Erika managed to stifle her giggle, but the bunny-girl couldn’t hold hers in. “Looks like someone’s made it so no one can get in, nyeh. Guess that even applies to us! Ihihihihi!”

Lambda stood up, and with a bit of magic she was dry again, although the ever-present rain quickly changed that. “Well that’s not fair! How are we supposed to figure out what’s going on in there? Erika? You’ve dealt with red barriers before.”

The detective-turned-watson shrugged helplessly. “A red is a red. I was more about making them then breaking them, generally. Ah, I miss my duct tape,” she finished, wistfully. Lambda rolled her eyes.

“I guess this time it’s up to me then, nyeh!” exclaimed Chiester 410 with a triumphant smirk. Taking off her bowler hat, she walked up to the window. “Nyeh!” she said loudly, then fell silent. Her ears twitched slightly.

The other two girls blinked. “What are you doing?” asked Lambdadelta, finally.

“Nyeh!” said 410 again. She waited a moment, then turned towards the witch. “I’m using my ears, silly. Chiester 45 may be the best at target acquisition, but I’m no slouch!” She paused, then shouted once more, “Nyeh!”

Erika winced. “And why on Earth are you shouting that infernal ‘nyeh, nyeh’ of yours?”

“My ears work like sonar! I use nyeh to bounce off of objects and get me data on them. Why else would I say ‘nyeh’? To be some kind of annoying and endearing defining character trait?”

“Maybe,” mumbled Erika, ashamed that she’d been wrong about it.

Lambdadelta shook her head. “Well, whatever. What can you tell me?”

“Nyeh. There are four humans in the room. Nyeh. The humans in the room are all dead. Nyeh. Three of them are adult-sized or close to it. One is child-sized, at least close to Maria’s height. Nyeh. Two of them are male, two are female. The child-sized one is female. Nyeh. There’s a human male by the parlor door, who died due to being stabbed through the heart. Nyeh. There’s a human male near a window that isn’t this one that died from a broken neck. Nyeh. The larger human female is near the center of the room, and died due to asphyxiation. Nyeh. The smaller human female is in the far corner, near the parlor door.” She paused, looking confused. “Hold on. That’s weird. Nyehnyehnyehnyehnyehnyehnyeh,” she said in quick succession, then shrugged. “The smaller human female is also about two feet below the rest of the floor of this room. She died by drowning.”

Lambdadelta had been smiling as she had started receiving the report, a smile that only got wider as it went on. Then, at the end, her smile was replaced by a look of complete confusion. “Drowning?”

“That’s what I said, nyeh,” replied 410, putting her hat back on.

As Lambdadelta pondered the facts in silence, Erika turned to the bunny. “So why did you say ‘nyeh’ that time?”

“Rabbit habit.”

“That makes no-“

The witch interrupted them. “Ah yes, of course!” She smiled broadly, though it looked a lot like a façade of confidence. “Come on, we need to get back on their trail. I don’t want another red barrier popping up and keeping us out of the guesthouse!” She ran off after the group. 410 jogged off after her. Erika sighed and trudged along at their heels.

Inside the guesthouse, Krauss, Natsuhi, Rudolf, Kyrie, Hideyoshi, Rosa, Genji, and Kanon were all gathered in the main room. Since entering they had gone around as a group and made sure that all entrances and windows to the guesthouse were locked tight. They’d also done their best to make sure that they were alone, checking in all the rooms and in any closets that would be big enough to conceal an adult. Satisfied that they were alone and safe, they now considered their situation as the clock read 11.

“Who could be doing this?” wondered Natsuhi aloud, holding her head in pain. “And why?”

“I don’t know the who,” replied Kyrie. “I’m not even sure of the exact reason why. But I’ve been thinking. Remember how Doctor Nanjo was killed with the hole in his head?”

Krauss shuddered. “I don’t think I will ever forget it.”

Kyrie continued. “And Kumasawa. She was killed by a slash to the stomach. ‘Gouge the head and kill,’ and ‘gouge the stomach and kill.’”

Rosa looked horrified. “You think someone is attempting to follow the Epitaph as a blueprint for these insane murders?”

Kyrie held up the note, which was now somewhat crumpled. “I wouldn’t put it past someone who would write this and leave it at the scene. It says that the witch is due everything belonging to the Ushiromiya family as interest. I don’t see why our lives would be excluded from that.”

“But the rest of it?” interjected Hideyoshi. “Wasn’t there something about a group chosen by a key? And I think there was a chest in between the head and stomach?”

Rudolf sat back in the armchair he was in, his head down in thought. “There was Eva. And Father. We also haven’t been able to find Shannon or Gohda. Who knows how long this murderer has been on a rampage? Maybe they killed a couple of the other servants, and everyone just assumed they weren’t around because they had the day off.”

Krauss stood up and walked over to the small ice chest by the liquor cabinet where an ice block was kept for drinks. Pulling it out as well as the small icepick, he began chipping at it.

“Please, sir, allow me to do that,” said Genji, walking over towards him.

He was rebuffed, however, as Krauss shook his head. “No, Genji. There are times when a man enjoys being assisted by a servant as loyal as you. However, there are also times when a man just needs to make himself a drink.” He let out a soft chuckle, and resumed striking the ice with the pick.

“Besides, this is somewhat soothing.” He called over his shoulder. “Would anyone else like a drink?”
Natsuhi frowned a little, but Rudolf chuckled. “What else is there to do when hiding from a killer than get drunk, eh, bro? Yeah, I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks.”

Krauss put ice in a couple glasses and got out some whiskey and vodka, pouring them and putting the bottles back in the cabinet. He brought over the whiskey for his brother, then sat down on the opposite side of the room. “I’d kill for a twist of lemon right now,” he muttered without thinking. Everyone looked at him, horrified, and when he realized what he said he just murmured, “Sorry,” and took a sip of his drink.

Kyrie shook her head, looking over the note again. “I wonder if they were serious. How if we find Kinzo’s hidden gold they would stop.”

“Even if they were,” replied Rosa, “I think we’ve all taken at least one crack at it since it showed up. You’d think that if we could have found it, we would have, by now.”

“True, but we haven’t all worked on it together. Maybe if we put our heads together, we could reach a breakthrough…” Kyrie said.

“Maybe, but I barely remember it! It’s back in the mansion. Unless you’re proposing we leave here during the middle of the night to go read it?” Hideyoshi asked, his frustration showing.

The room fell silent for a moment. Then that silence was broken by a voice. It was Kanon’s, and he calmly recited the entirety of the Witch’s Epitaph without any hesitation. The adults looked at him in shock, and he shrugged. “I polished the plaque. A lot.”

Quickly they got him to write it out on a piece of paper, and everyone began to work on it vigorously.

Upstairs, the witch and her compatriots sat in the vacated cousins’ room, taking some time to think over their position as well.

“Alright!” declared Lambda. “So, the fourth Twilight is easily Nanjo. Sixth was Kumasawa. What about the fifth? Was that one of the kids in the parlor, the one that got impaled?”

“It could be,” replied Erika. “But don’t forget the extra blood at the door that I pointed out. Gohda is still missing. He could have been the fifth as well. Or Shannon.”

“But Shannon’s here, nyeh,” muttered Chiester 410.

“What was that?” asked Lambda.

“Nothing! Ihihihihi…”

Lambdadelta went back to thinking. “But where are the two that are supposed to be torn apart? The kids, along with Eva and Kinzo, could round out the first, but then the order is messed up. Or is it? Grr,” she said, digging her knuckle against the side of her head like it would make everything make sense. “What do you think, Erika?” she asked in desperation.

“I don’t know. I’m just the Watson after all,” replied the girl that was usually the detective, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Lambda grimaced and stood up. “Fine. If you’re going to be like that, I’ll show you that I can solve it. I’m a great Witch of the Senate, the Witch of Certainty, Lambdadelta! I can do anything!” With that declaration, the game continued.

It was 11:40. Although the group had attacked the epitaph with gusto at the beginning, that enthusiasm had quickly waned. It started as people getting up and pacing around in frustration but soon they began to give up. Rudolf had gone upstairs to sleep, complaining that he didn’t feel well. Not long after, Krauss and Natsuhi had retired as well, promising to work on it again in the morning. Hideyoshi had fallen asleep in an armchair, his gun held loosely in his lap. Finally, Genji had sent Kanon to rest in the servants’ room of the guesthouse, saying that he would continue to serve. Rosa was ‘just letting her eyes rest’ on a sofa, as Kyrie gazed down at the epitaph written on the piece of paper. She sipped from the glass of whiskey, neat, that she had requested Genji to get her a couple minutes ago, rationalizing that the burn down her throat helped her stay awake.

“It can’t be that simple…” she said to herself.

Rosa’s eyelids fluttered. “Hmm…what…” she said.

“It’s alright, Rosa. Keep resting. I just had an idea, but it’s probably silly.”

“Mmm…alright…” replied the half-awake Rosa before falling back into a doze.

Kyrie got up and walked over to Genji, as Hideyoshi snored softly. “Genji, there’s a library in this building, correct? Does it have an atlas?”

“I believe so, madam,” the servant replied. “Shall I fetch it?”

“Please. I think I may be on to something,” replied Kyrie, turning back to her chair and the puzzle as Genji went to the library.

Genji reached to the top shelf and pulled down a large and old atlas, grunting slightly with the effort.

“You’re getting too old for this, Genji,” a young female voice suddenly said behind him.
He froze for an instant, and then his posture relaxed. “Perhaps. I do not think I will be getting any older, however. Am I correct, Lady Beatrice?”

He heard a giggle. “Well, you’re right that you’re not going to get any older. You’re wrong about the Beatrice thing, though. I’m Asmodeus! I work for Beatrice, though, so you were close.”

Genji carefully put the book back, so that everything would be tidy. “Forgive me, but I wish to request something.”

He heard her considering his request. “Hmm. Alright, I’ll hear you out. You want your death to be quick, right?”

Genji shook his head. “No. I wish my death to be the last one.”

Silence reigned in the library in the library for a short period, aside from the sound of breathing. Finally, the girl spoke. “A noble request. Truly.” Then there was a laugh. “Too bad I won’t agree to it!”

There was the sound of something metal bouncing around the room. Genji felt a sharp pain in his knee. Then he felt a sharp pain at the base of his skull. Then he felt nothing.

Rudolf shifted in the bed he was resting in as he felt someone lay down beside him. Leaving his eyes closed, he reached out and drew the feminine form close. “Mmm, Kyrie…did you solve it…?”

The woman didn’t respond, instead choosing to press herself against Rudolf and give him a deep and soulful kiss.

Rudolf returned the kiss in kind, his body responding despite the horrors of the day. However, after a couple moments, he woke up a bit more and realized that the person he was holding didn’t feel quite like his wife. His eyes flew open, and he found himself face to face with a young blonde girl.

“Mmm, do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?” she asked. “Daedon said it was my reward after putting me through hell in that other game in the name of humor. Thanks boss,” she said, speaking to no one, “that made up for it.”

“Who…what…who…” Rudolf stammered.

She held a finger to his lips. “Shh. Don’t spoil the moment, Rudy. Just enjoy it. Clearly this is a dream.”

Rudolf, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, still managed to resist. “No. I am married to Kyrie. I’m not that kind of man any more.”

Asmodeus pouted. “Oh, darn. Then I guess we won’t be having pleasure before business,” she said, sitting up and stretching. “Either way though, I’m going to enjoy that body of yours.”

In a flash, Asmodeus returned to her stake form and bounced off the ceiling. Rudolf instinctively turned onto his stomach and curled up to protect himself, but his calf was wide open. The stake plunged in, gouging his leg deeply. Before he could scream, the stake drove itself into his back again and again with supernatural speed, silencing his cries by puncturing his lungs and diaphragm, then ensuring his silence with his death.

Spinning around, the stake once more took on her demon girl form and casually sashayed over to the window. Unlocking it, she flew out into the night, whistling a tune she had been learning to play with her sisters happily, as the window shut and locked itself behind her.

Only a few minutes had passed since Kyrie had asked Genji to get the book. The more that Kyrie looked at the epitaph, the more certain she became that she was right. So she went over and woke up the in-laws that were sleeping in the room with her, first Rosa and then Hideyoshi. She quickly explained her theory, and while Hideyoshi didn’t seem to immediately grasp it, Rosa did and began to get excited.

“We need an atlas!” she exclaimed.

“I sent Genji for one a couple minutes ago,” replied Kyrie.

“Well let’s help him look. Then maybe I’ll understand what you mean,” said Hideyoshi, yawning.

Together they went to the library, but rather than finding an atlas, they found the corpse of Genji. Blood was still oozing from his knee, as well as the point where his spine met his skull. Rosa let out a scream. They heard a commotion upstairs, and then Krauss and Natsuhi appeared.

“What is it? What happened?!” demanded Natsuhi, terrified, as Kanon exited the servants’ room, doing his best to not appear bleary-eyed.

“G-Genji…” said Hideyoshi, by way of answer. Krauss and Natsuhi hurried down the stairs. Kyrie looked at them, then looked back up the staircase.

“Rudolf?!” she called. When she got no response, she shouted, “RUDOLF?!” and raced up the stairs, Hideyoshi and Rosa hot at her heels while Natsuhi and Krauss absorbed the death of Genji.

It took them a moment to find what room Rudolf was in, but when Hideyoshi did, he threw up. Rudolf had been stabbed so many times that his back resembled Swiss cheese. Kyrie stumbled to the side of the bed in a daze and fell to her knees. Her hands reached up, shaking, and caressed the cheek of her now-deceased husband. “I’m…sorry. I’m so sorry… I couldn’t figure it out quickly enough…”

They heard Krauss, Natsuhi, and Kanon coming up the stairs, and Kyrie got a determined look on her face. She took Rudolf’s rifle from where it rested in a chair beside his bed, and she walked back over to Hideyoshi and Rosa. She handed Rudolf’s rifle to Rosa, and cocked hers.

“Kyrie, what…” began Hideyoshi, but fell silent in shock as Kyrie pointed her rifle at the group that was just then reaching the top of the stairs.

“I should have known it was you. I had my suspicions since dinner, but I just couldn’t figure out why you would go so far. But it has to be you. Wolves and sheep puzzle. That’s all this has been. One big wolves and sheep puzzle. But you messed up. Right here at the end, you messed up, because you forgot one thing.”

Hideyoshi and Rosa held up their guns as well, unsure who to point them at.

“The sheep have guns.”

The humans stood there, frozen. Lambdadelta’s head peeked out from a side door, and it was soon joined by Erika’s underneath her and Chiester 410’s above her.

“Eh? Why did they stop?” asked Lambda.

Erika flipped through some more pages she was carrying with her. “Because this is where the game ends, apparently.”

“What? But it’s only 11:50! On the first day! It’s far too early to end the game!” said the witch, stomping her foot petulantly.

“Nyeh, nyeh! But look at it from a narrative perspective, nyeh! It had to end there, to maintain suspense!”

The other two girls looked at 410, surprised.

The Chiester crossed her arms and looked away, embarrassed. “So maybe some people think about being a novelist once they leave the Corps, nyeh…” she muttered.

Lambdadelta frowned and walked out into the hallway, around the frozen pieces. “Well, if this is the end, I guess we better get all the clues we can. Erika, do the thing!”

Erika started with Genji. “Genji was killed from behind with a slender, sharp object. It was jammed into his spinal cord, severing it. He died instantaneously. The jab to the knee was also done by a slender, sharp object, and was done at approximately the same time of his death. I can’t really tell if it was before or after, but either way it was within a few moments of it.”
Lambdadelta nodded, looking thoughtful. “And the final victim?”

Erika had already reached the top of the stairs, but restrained a snarky comment as she walked into the room with Rudolf’s corpse.
“Rudolf has been stabbed repeatedly by a slender, sharp object. It was likely the same object which killed Genji. Nothing in this room nor the library could make such wounds. Due to the repeated stabbing, it’s impossible to tell in what order they occured. There is a stab wound to the back of the calf. There are no defensive wounds.” Erika paused after she said that, then adjusted a dial on her expensive DeusExMachina-brand of analysis equipment. Peering at the readout, she groaned.

Lambda looked at her in confusion. “Wha-…oh. No. No! No, please, no. No. NOOOOOO!”

Erika hung her head. “Yep. Rudolf died due to poison before he was stabbed.”

Lambda let out a cry of frustration and stormed to a window, looking out on the island. She remained there, thinking, for a few minutes. Then a few hours. Erika and 410 were deep in a cutthroat game of Go Fish when Lambda suddenly started to giggle. The giggle turned into a wicked laugh, and both of the watsons knew that the detective thought that she had it.

“Get me a pen!” she demanded. “As the Witch of Certainty, I’ll write down how this tale certainly ended!”

---------

Last edited at 15/11/17(Tue)12:24:55

Alright, these are the sections of howdunits to solve. Once you explain them I will hear theories regarding the overall whodunit. The whydunit doesn't need to be solved.

-The Dining Room
-Boiler/Study
-Servant Room
-Parlor
-Guesthouse

The dining room is up first.

Interesting. When there's only one author, it sometimes gets easier to figure out what they're generally up to after a while. Guess that might not be something to rely on this time.

Well, first one looks straightforward enough. For now, at least.

The person that "exploded" was just a human-shaped balloon. If I've learned anything from Metal Gear Solid, then it's that those can look totally realistic.
...
I guess I'd also have to explain how it was made to explode. There was a small bomb attached to it. Alternatively, the culprit shot at it just at the right moment.
If that's not it either, some kind of tripwire was connected to the balloon, and set up so that it would pull it into the roses' thorns if somebody approached.


Eva's tea or cake was actually poisoned. While everyone was distracted by the decoy outside, someone switched Eva's poisoned food with their own (or any) non-poisoned one. Since only the food presumed to be Eva's was then checked, the poison was never found.

Last edited at 15/11/18(Wed)17:54:44

>>18536
Indeed.

A dummy was rigged outside to explode causing a distraction. Eva's actual dishes were never checked for poison. They were swapped while everyone was distracted.

Onto the Boiler/Study then.

I give the second one a try.
Someone who wasn't in the dining room at the moment of Eva's death switched with Kinzo in the study and locked all entrances/exists from the inside. He/she hid somewhere in the study
There is no red about locking from the inside with a key.

Then an another person not in the group escorted Kinzo to the boiler, took his key, burnt him in the boiler and placed the key on the furnace.

Last edited at 15/11/19(Thu)15:47:48

Second one might get more tricky. Time to test my assumptions.

Kinzo was actually still hidden inside the study when people entered. The corpse in the furnace is someone else with six toes. (there are options, like Gohda) As such, it was possible for the study to be locked by Kinzo from the inside or by someone with Genji's key long in advance.

>>18538
>>18539
A new challenger appears. Let's see if I can deny both at the same time.

If someone was hiding in the study they would have been found when everyone went to get the guns.

Hello, I'd risk this blue:
Eva might be not dead even if she was poisened. So it could be possible for Kinzo to enter his study if the group left it unlocked.
The burnt corpse they found was a substitute body from the outside. Unless Godha has 6 toes....

>>18541
Erika would be offended, doubting her investigative skills.

Eva died of poisoning.

Gohda may have six toes, or maybe it was an outside body after all. Neither would resolve the closed room so I'll leave it for now.

Ok, this helped.
If this blue don't work, I will stop on the study one:
Presuming there are two keys.Kinzo had the two keys for the study. After Eva's death he left the study, locked it and went to an arranged place (near the dining room) Genji know.
Alternative:After leaving, Kinzo slipped the key under the door of the dining room. Genji took it when he was was near the door
If not Kinzo another one did it: Kumasawa, Gohda, Nanjo (or Shannon) did it.

>>18543
Hmm, well I could be particular, but its fine.

Genji's key was placed in an arranged spot after locking the study so that Genji could pick it up unnoticed.

Good work, onto GE's closed room; the servant room.

Servant room:
After the culprit killed Kumasawa and damaged Nanjo's head, he/she left the servant room and the accomplice locked it afterwards.

For the blood puddle near the door:
The culprit/accomplice wounded him-/herself to made it look like she/she had been attacked.

>>18545
Ah, I see what you are saying.

An accomplice did not help in creating this locked room. Of course helping in the murders is another thing.

It's a good closed room. I hoped someone other had an idea.

Because the culprit nor the accomplice did not locked the room, I need a victim. But if the culprit was in the room at the moment the victims were killed, I have no victim to have this job to do. This is difficult....

My blue truths:
The door was not locked and Rudolph and Kyrie lied about it.
Or
The victims were living until Rudolph, Kyrie and Kanon came and killed them. The third victim was thrown out of the window.

But.... locked room =/=closed room?

>>18547
That was the theory I had for this originally, sadly GE had something else in mind. The door was indeed locked.

Furthermore, The victims were not killed after breaking into the room.

The culprit escaped through the window. The window was only closed after breaking into the room, during the inspection.

>>18549
I could probably dance around the issue... but I imagine one of you would catch it next move anyway so I'll take it.

The culprit escaped via the window. The window wasn't locked.
Kyrie merely said that it 'seemed' locked, nobody actually went over to make sure the lock still worked or that it was even properly set.

Almost at the end, time for the parlor.

A small bomb under the parlor did it.

>>18551
That's not much of a theory, care to elaborate? Each person in the room was found to have died in different ways after all.

Hm... Well, time to just try something. (because I don't know if I understand Maria's (?) position correctly)

There's a secret underground tunnel that leads from the outside into the parlor. Due to the rain it was filled up with water. The culprit used it to enter and proceeded to kill everyone in a surprise attack. At the end they forced Maria to drown in the secret passage and left her body to float there, then left the way they came.

Last edited at 15/11/30(Mon)15:18:09

>>18553
There is no other entrance or exit into the room besides the known doors and windows.

But yes, that's about where Maria's body would have been if that were the case.

I can work with that. Maybe.

For some reason, there was some sort of hole/sink filled with water in the parlor. Maybe the culprit created it. Anyway, they got into the room before it was barricaded, then proceeded to kill everyone. The survivors arrived at the door just when the culprit was in the process of drowning Maria. After the survivors observed the door and left the corridor to check the windows, the culprit simply removed the barricade from the door and walked out.

>>18555
I too had a similar theory.

Maria was dead when the survivors checked the doors.

>>18551
>>18552
It's a nod. Well it was my first thought because 3 of the deaths appear random. If you want an explanation I deliver one. I can assume the a a water filled room beneath the parlor and there are several huge furniture and the floor is made of wood.
An explosion (from a small bomb) can
- make a person fly and throm him/her against the wall, breaking the neck
- make furniture fly and slam against a person's chest, causing asphyxiation
- create a hole in the floor where a person can fall in, for this case it's filled with water
- bursting wood can pierce the chest

Maý new theory, but it doesn't matter whether the cousins or the culprit opened the water filled hole:
The culprit killed the 3 older cousins. After that he/she somehow persuade Maria to lock the window and jump into the hole, like: if she locks the window, the culprit will tell a witch/treasure is in the hole.

>>18557
I assuming you mean Maria barricaded the door or window after the culprit left. None of the victims barricaded the room after the culprit left.

As for the bomb, that logic makes sense, but lets see... The asphyxiation wasn't caused by blunt force. If an explosion created a hole large enough for a person to fit it would have shattered the glass in the windows.

Ok I revise it:The cousins let the culprit in before they barricade the door. But you mean "locking" isn't the same as "barricading"?
If I understand correctly, there's 1 minute timer after Maria's death for the culprit to leave.
After killing the cousins the culprit barraicade the parlor. Once the adults left the place to go outside, the culprit moved the barricade away and left the parlor. Krauss only noticed that things were moved, not that the door was actually blocked.
The question is how could the culprit make it in time?

>>18559
It is assumed they both locked and barricaded it, however it was barricaded so well that the survivors weren't able to see inside through the windows or were they able to budge the door. Thus whether it was locked is irrelevant.

When the adults checked the door it was completely blocked and unable to open.

The culprit is still inside the parlor and is in fact dead. They stabbed one person in the heart, broke another person's neck, then drowned Maria in the hole that supposedly contained weapons. Finally, they hanged themselves in the center of the room.

Due to the way this game is structured, I'll assume I'm not obligated to explain how that'd work for the guesthouse murders for now. (assuming there's only one culprit)

>>18561
None of the bodies in the room belong to the culprit, nor did any of them killed themselves.

And just because the two of you are using already in theories; Maria drowned in the hole that was said to contain weapons.

>>18560
It seems I was vague with my blue.
Someone let the culprit in before they barricade the whole parlor.
I think even if they had gun type weapons, wetness make them unusable.
The 4 dead people were killed by a surprise attack or one of them aided the culprit before he/she was killed by the culprit
I reuse my argument:
The culprit was in the barricaded parlor when the survivors checked the door. After they left the door to go outside, the barricade in front of the door was removed and escaped.

...Because "doors" are plural I throw this in:
The survivors only checked the door which was barricaded. The culprit left through an other open door. Then this door was locked.

>>18563
My bad, I thought the initial red about Maria's death was different.

When the survivors checked the doors it had already been more than a minute since Maria was dead. All parlor doors were in the same state.

There is an underground pipe or some other source of water in the room. After killing everyone (Maria was last) the culprit taped all the doors completely shut and left through one of the windows, closing it as good as possible from outside.
The water kept flooding into the room, filling it up completely. The non-locked window couldn't be opened anymore due to the water pressure.

Seems a little crazy, but it gives a pretty good reason why we're not allowed to see the interior of the parlor, so I'll try it.

>>18565
The room was never flooded.

Somehow confusing since you used door and doors and "survivors" and "adults" separately in your reds.

I think I explain my complicated theory, but it would be the same case like in EP5 when they announced "anybody who looked at XXX could confirm...": Surivors means that there is no culprit in that group.
Devil's proof: Maybe there's the culprit in the group, so I refer them as the "adults", not "survivor":
Because there's no group called "survivors" who checked the door, Maria can be alive at the moment when the group checked the door. It means all 4 people were alive.
Then:
Before Chiester 410 made ther red the culprit stay behind and somehow enter the parlor and killed the cousins. Rosa did not follow the group to the guesthouse so she could do it.

Otherwise:
While blocking the parlor door with his body (and maybe with a tool), the culprit was able to pierce the door or used the door chink to stab Battler's hearts. Afterwards, his body acted like a barricade!

>>18567
There is no wordplay with door/s or adults/survivors. Just a habit due to how the blues were worded.

Everyone in the parlor was already dead when the doors were checked.

Ok. This makes things easier I guess.
I go for an easy one.
The culprit escaped through one of the windows. The group only tried to see through them.
There are several theories why the window looked barricaded but it's not:
It was the window which Krauss looed through. There was enough space to pass. Or the culprit pulled a furniture to the window and closed (but not locked)it. Or a big picture of a furniture was sticked on this window.

>>18569
The group found all the windows locked when they checked however. Which is the truth.

>>18557
Oh man how many tries do I have?
You didn't deny that someone locked the window after the culprit left. Does "moving furnitures" include pulling and pushing?
After killing the 3 older cousins the culprit barricade the window from the outside by pulling. It's the window which Krauss peek through. It's not perfectly blocked with furnitures! Because of this someone could reached the window lock. Maria was the last one to die. She was told to lock the window after the culprit left and tricked to jump into the hole where she drowned.
If this don't work then I don't know.

>>18571
Unlimited tries actually.

The room was barricaded from the inside and was never un-barricaded. The locks could only be set before it was barricaded.

Here is a hint: Check the red I made in response to your explosive theory.

Ok but with this hint I could only interprete it like this:
Krauss noted at one window that the furniture was moved. The glass of this window was broken to unlock and lock the window

There WAS an explosion in the room. The explosion wasn't strong enough to create a hole and therefore didn't shatter the windows. The hole was already there.
Maria passed out and drowned inside the hole.
Battler's heart was pierced by the hat rack he used as a weapon.
George was simply blown away and broke his neck somewhere near the window.
The death by asphyxiation was caused by one of Jessica's asthma attacks in response to the shock.

>>18573
>>18574
Yeah, I never denied a smaller explosion after all. There was a trap set to go off when someone opened the weapon storage. Battler fell on the very tool he created and George broke his neck.

Let it be known however that the asphyxiation and how Maria drowned were a direct result of the nature of the trap. We can move on but I'll leave that there so you can still try to solve it.

For the guesthouse I just want to hear theories regarding how exactly Rudolf died.

Hm, so it was that. My guess is it wasn't quite just an explosion but something involving gas to make them pass out, but that's as far as my guesses go.

Onto Rudolf's death.
The ice in the whiskey was poisoned.
It has to be the ice. After all, Rosa drank the same without ice but was fine. Krauss did have ice with his drink, but the only thing we know is that he took one sip, which could have been before the ice had melted. Alternatively the vodka contained an antidote.

He was then stabbed quite a few times with the ice pick later.

>>18576
Yeah it was a trap that mixed chlorine with bleach as well. The original had Lambda confused about 'saltwater' in Maria's lungs rather then the drowning part. It was to hint at the byproduct of the reaction, but the rest of the authors thought that might mislead too much.

As for Rudolf,
The ice wasn't poisoned.
Deadon wishes you to know he is thrilled you tried his herring.

>>18558
Wow, THIS was the red I thought a trap couldn't happen.

-------

The culprit may be a woman. But Kanon could it be as well.

Rudolph was poisoned when he went to bed. It was dark and a feminine person laid in his bed. Thinking it was Kyrie they kissed and the culprit poisoned him in this act. Then the culprit stabbed him and escaped via window.

>>18578
Gotta keep an eye out for that. Anyway,

Rudolf wasn't poisoned through a kiss.

The glasses were prepared. Krauss knew which glas had poison in it.
But I should not be rash with Krauss.
Someone put poison in one as Krauss got the bottles.

>>18580
Krauss didn't know if the glasses were poisoned or not.

None of the bottles were poisoned beforehand.

>>18581
I think the blue meant one of the glasses was poisoned while Krauss was busy getting the bottles. So the bottles not being poisoned doesn't deny it.

I'll just add this... because whether Krauss knew doesn't really matter much. Poison was put into a random glass beforehand, with no intention of killing Rudolf specifically. He just got unlucky.

>>18582
Ah let's take care of that then. Someone would have noticed if a glass was poisoned while the drinks were being prepared.

And of course, Rudolf was poisoned intentionally.

>>18582
Thank you, that's what I meant.

I hope this murder doesn't require chemical and biological knowledge.
Rudolph consumed a chemical substance that does require alcohol to be deadly. He consumed it with the meal.
This make sense because Rudolph didn't feel so well.
The act of poisoning happened in the main room.
I'd exlude normal sleeping pills but barbiturate will do the job.
I'd add that,too:
The stabbing was done because the culprit wasn't sure about Rudolph's actual state. Krauss put the icepick in his pocket after crushing the ice.

>>18584
Of course, no in depth scientific knowledge is needed.

Rudolf wasn't poisoned with his meal. Nor did a chemical react with alcohol to make a poison.

Rudolph met Genji or Kanon outside of the main room. Because not feeling so well he asked one of them for medicine. Rudolph got poison instead.

>>18586
Rudolf never asked for medicine. Nor did he take any.

The beds had poisonous traps in it. They were prepared when the group checked the rooms and the closets. Natsuhi and Krauss didn't go to bed so they weren't harmed.

>>18588
The beds were not trapped.

Krauss put poison in Rudolph's drink. Because how he asked it seems that his body blocked the view of his doing.

>>18590
That would be denied by this red >>18583

Sorry, I distinguished "glass" and "glass of X".
The poison was the same one that killed Eva. Rudolf killed himself.

>>18592
Rudolf did not commit suicide.

There are many scenes where Rudolf and Kyrie touched objects. The door knobs may be poisoned , but Kyrie seems unaffected unless Lambda write the next scene...
I have an idea. Rudolf had the poison all the time at his hands. There's something, or someone Kyrie didn't touched: Kumasawa's and Najo's corpses.
Kumasawa's or Nanjo's wrists (or necks) were poisoned.
I assume it must be consumed to be deadly.
Through touching the glass Rudolph placed the poison here and the condensate transported it to his mouth or the edge was touched.

There may other variants with Krauss as a "carrier"

But don't say that the
chair was trapped.

>>18594
Rudolf was intentionally poisoned, so something like that wouldn't work in this situation since it implies the poison was indiscriminate. No trap was used to poison Rudolf.

>>18595
Hold it. My theory implies that Kyrie know about the poison on the bodies and she asked Rudolph to check the pulses, making her the culprit or an accomplice.
But if the game was designed as an"adults don't try to kill their partners nor children"-game, then it's ok.

I would like to hear the definition of trap.

New blue with direct and intentional actions
The culprit
- used a syringe with poison
- poisoned the ice pick before attacking him (Genji was killed without toxic before)
- led poison gas in his sleeping and opened the window afterwards
- forced him to swallow poison
- used a poisoned hankerchief

>>18596
Alright, Rudolf wasn't poisoned by someone expecting him to touch something, then indirectly or direct introduce the poison to his body that way.

A trap is a device or mechanism that can be set up before hand to activate when something is triggered.

You can deduce the route of administration and moment of introduction from the provided text.

....I hope you don't mean the beginning, right? It's sounding like they were prepared for something.
It would be the last move I'll use.
While his meal wasn 't posioned maybe his tea was. The deadly effect was delayed.
Of course it was not checked by the detectives.
Using the distraction in the dining room the poison was mixed in the tea.
But somehow the contents of the letter are not making sense if Rudolf died in the dining room,too, I'm right?

>>18598
Since you say its the last thing you'd try I'll just answer it now. It was a different poison ingested before dinner. It was a delayed effect. Specifically when you see him talking with Kyrie. It finally killed him in the guesthouse around 6 hours or so later.

Alright, that is all for the howdunits. Answer who it was and how each mystery happened with them in mind. I'll wait a bit in case Rune or anyone else also wants to post a theory. After that I will post the intended solution, as well as the theories the authors had for each others.

The mastermind is Kyrie. The accomplices are Rudolf, Eva, Rosa and Hideyoshi.

The whole murders were set up to corner Natsuhi and Krauss. The cousins died of an unfortunate death.
Rudolf and Eva used themself as sacrefices.

letter and dummy: Rosa gave Maria the letter and prepared the dummy and stick the umbrella on it.
dining room: Eva and Nanjo's food was poisoned. Kumasawa aided with the prank to lure Nanjo outside. The meal was swapped to make sure nobody but Eva die in the study. Her death is the pretense to go in Kinzo's study.
study: Natsuhi or Krauss ordered Kanon to bring Kinzo to the furnace and hide the key in an arranged place. Genji gave this key to the group.
boiler room: Kinzo was burnt to hide his death.
servant room: Nanjo died of poison. Someone splitted up from the 5 man-group (Hideyoshi or Rosa) and killed Kumasawa and Godha (he was not planned and was thrown out the window). The murderer escaped via window. Kyrie and Rudolf pretended to be "clueless" in front of Kanon and joined the other group.
parlor: It's an accident.
guest house: Kyrie, Rosa aqnd/or Hideyoshi damaged Rudolf's body and killed Genji.

^^^^
Edit: Oops I posted it without a name. Nevermind...

Last edited at 15/12/11(Fri)09:49:34

I think you'd find it hard for the large group to split up without anyone saying anything, but none the less here is the ending (also written by Daedon). I'll post the other author's solutions when I find the time.

-

With a final flourish, the great Lambdadelta put the last words on the page. The entire work glowed, signifying that it was complete and contained no errors. With a cackle, the group of three once more disappeared around the corner as the Witch of Certainty called out, “Aaaaaand ACTION!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---

A loud repeated banging cut through the tense silence. Everyone looked at each other, confused, and then the banging came again. It was from the door to the guesthouse. Kyrie’s finger tightened on the trigger, but she didn’t fire. “Kanon, go let them in.” Rosa and Hideyoshi kept their rifles trained on him, until they realized that Kyrie was keeping hers on Krauss and Natsuhi.

Kanon unlocked the door, and before he could open it the door was flung wide. With a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, Kinzo Ushiromiya stood framed in the entranceway. His body was soaked with rain, but his eyes were alight with determination. Everyone present seemed shocked to see him, but none more so than Kanon and Kyrie.

“Y-you’re dead…” whispered Kyrie. Then she shouted. “You are supposed to be dead!”

Kinzo laughed low, but it then built into a great belly laugh. “Wahahahahaha! Am I now? The great Kinzo, head of the Ushiromiya family?” His gleeful look died, and he glared daggers at Kyrie. “No. No I am not dead. I was simply watching.”

Kanon stepped back, and showed an emotion on his face that was quite rare for him: fear. He turned and ran up the stairs. Rosa and Hideyoshi let him pass, as everyone seemed utterly lost for what was going on. Kanon hid behind Kyrie, his mouth working but no sound coming out.

Kinzo continued, addressing everyone present. “There is a disease in this family. Like a slow rot that works on a tree, hollowing it out and making it weak, until eventually it cracks and falls, toppling down in the forest. I noticed it in a moment of clarity a few years ago, and I decided that I would identify its source. To do so I had to be able to be able to witness everything with an untainted eye, learn the true natures of those whom I called my family. What better way to do this than to die?”

The façade broken, Natsuhi spoke, “But…Father…we saw you. Krauss and I…you were dead…”

Kinzo looked to her scornfully. “Ha! What would you know of corpses, girl? You and my dutiful dunce of a son as well? Nanjo told you I was dead, and you believed him! Indeed, Nanjo and Genji were the only ones that I could trust with the truth. They were the only ones truly loyal to me.” He looked back to Kyrie, who was trembling with either fear or rage. “And now they are gone.”

The others in the room noticed his look, and Rosa whispered, “Kyrie…?”

“Don’t listen to him!” shouted Kyrie, her normally calm demeanor cracking. “If he has been going around this whole time unobserved, all these murders make perfect sense! He’s the killer!” She raised her gun and pointed it at Kinzo’s head.

Kinzo glared back at her, and though he spoke quietly, his resonant voice echoed throughout the room. “No, Kyrie. I know it all. I’ve known your plan since before you even enacted it. Every move you’ve made was carefully crafted and precise, but since I knew your endgame it also made your every move completely predictable. I imagine Rudolf is somewhere in here, appearing stabbed? Did anyone hear him cry out?” As he was met with silence, Kinzo nodded. “Then you indeed poisoned him earlier, as I suspected.”

Krauss had finally found his voice. “Please, Father, explain yourself. Kyrie is behind this all?”

Kinzo nodded, keeping his eyes on the woman he was accusing. “She is. She gave Rudolf poison earlier today, before dinner. I imagine it was something simple, like perhaps fixing him a drink as they talked. There are plenty of poisons that take several hours to cause death, though I imagine he wasn’t feeling well before he died.”

“But…Eva, Nanjo, Kumasawa…” Krauss continued before Kinzo cut him off.

“All her, through clever manipulation of everyone else’s plots. Rosa,” Kinzo said, looking briefly at his youngest daughter, “Gohda was going to kill you tonight. He had been muttering about how you were insane, that you had to be sick to reject his advances. Krauss, the idea of using the Golden Witch was Eva’s as a way to scare you and Natsuhi. She also knew that you had hired Gohda not only because of his cooking skills, but also because he had polydactyly just like me. After all, if you couldn’t make me disappear, you would need a corpse, right?” he asked, and Krauss looked down, ashamed. Kinzo kept going, his eyes returning to Kyrie. “With all these plots and counterplots, all she needed was to make sure they crossed to her liking. For that, she needed an accomplice. A poor fool with a weak mind and weaker heart, who only wanted to be loved and who could overhear everything. Yasu, whom you know as Kanon and Shannon. My son, and with everyone else dead, heir to my fortune.” All the listeners’ eyes went wide, except for Kyrie’s and Kanon’s.

Kinzo began to calmly pace. “With the poison acting on Rudolf, she proceeded on to the dinner. She had promised Eva to help with the charade of the Golden Witch by having a figure placed out on the lawn, which could be destroyed by a remote carried by Kanon. Eva was content with this, and agreed to play the part of the Golden Witch in the sense of dressing up and presenting the letter to Maria. After all, she just thought there would be a scare. Then there was the part with Gohda. It turns out he was quite the connoisseur of poetry, especially those of William Blake. There’s one that he was obsessed with lately, ‘The Sick Rose’. He’d been muttering about it over and over. He’d also told the servants that the name he was giving to the maple angel food cake he would serve was Crimson Joy, but to keep it from the guests. He wouldn’t say why, but it was easy to figure out. He had made a way for a single piece to be poisoned, and by making sure the pieces were arranged properly when being served, he could get the poisoned piece to Rosa. Now, I wasn’t there for the dinner, of course, but how did it go, Kyrie? Did you distract Gohda and the others by making him get lost in explaining his dish? Is that how you made sure that Yasu got you the poisoned piece so that you could switch it with Eva’s? Your silence tells me I was right. Of course, with all these poisonings, especially the long slow one of your husband, you couldn’t have a doctor running around, so you likely manually poisoned his plate as well. He was a bigger man, so maybe the two wouldn’t even be linked to being poisoned at the same time. When everyone was distracted by the figure in the garden, you switched the plates back in case anyone tried to quarantine the scene for the police, later. I’m touched that you put that much faith in my family, but it was pointless.”

He glanced at a wall clock and then continued. “I had just left my room, leaving the note I had found there unopened. I imagine it was left by Yasu at some earlier point in the night. Leaving the key in the prearranged spot for Genji to grab on his way up, I heard all of you pounding your way up the stairs. Everyone, that is, except for Kyrie and Yasu, who had slipped out of the group while it was panicking. Think back. Do any of you remember them with you, hmm? Of course not, because they were in the servants’ room. Nanjo had just succumbed to poison, and Gohda was just opening the door on his way to get everyone. Kyrie stabbed Gohda in the chest and slashed Kumasawa’s stomach. Together they carried Gohda to the window and dumped him out, then Yasu went outside as Kyrie arranged Nanjo’s corpse and locked the door. She then clambered out the window, shut it firmly behind her, and together they transported Gohda’s corpse to the furnace and chucked it in, placing the other key to my study beside the furnace. I had been missing it for some time now, and it seems Yasu stole it. When the smell attracted the others, they slipped back into the ranks, and Gohda was passed off as me.”

“Things went quickly now,” he said, smirking as Kyrie trembled under his gaze. “You had to keep the children safe, and she had to kill them. She had discovered the secret weapon stash a long while before, due to the fact that the space underneath the parlor made the floorboards creak. Or perhaps it was Yasu. It doesn’t really matter, does it? A few months ago Genji told me that a large amount of bleach and ammonia had gone missing from the cleaning supplies, so I imagine she had taken the supplies out of the weapon stash and replaced it with the chemicals, separating them in such a way as they would combine when the lid was opened. Was it her who suggested that the kids barricade themselves in the study? Or did you do it yourself, Krauss? Either way, you’d have a vested interest in not interfering with what you believed was your daughter getting weapons to protect themselves, and she had an easy way to kill them all. Maybe they broke their necks while falling unconscious trying to escape. Maybe they simply asphyxiated. Maybe some unlucky one even drowned in the chemical mixture. Either way, they’d be taken care of.”

All the other remaining adults turned to look at Kyrie. “George…” “Jessica…” “Maria….” they muttered, tensing.

Kyrie stepped back so that she could get all of them in view of her rifle. “Enough! I didn’t do it!” She pointed her rifle threateningly. “Drop your guns! You’re all being taken in by his lies!” The others hadn’t been prepared, and so, reluctantly, they dropped their guns.

Kinzo merely smiled and continued. “With the children out of the way, it would be ideal to get everyone to a smaller place, so that she could keep an eye on them. That meant that the corpses in the servant room had to be discovered. Perhaps with another note, one that she carried in with her and simply dropped by her feet? That would certainly aid the process. Well, with that done, you all came here, and I had enough time to look around the mansion and verify everything I’ve said. I also got to set a few things up that I needed to get done.” Kyrie looked at him quizzically, but he went on without pausing. “While you all were here, she just had to wait for the death of her husband and a chance to pick off anyone else she could as people fell asleep and separated. I surmised that her husband was stabbed because it would cover up the fact that he was poisoned. The stabbing of Rudolf might actually have been perpetrated by Yasu, come to think of it. How about it, boy? Did it feel good to shred the body of the husband of this woman who has duped you into thinking she loved you?” When Kanon didn’t respond, Kinzo smiled at Kyrie. “And now here she is, playing the detective and the enraged widow, ready to have Krauss and Natsuhi shot dead out of fear. Then she would have only had to deal with you two. Rosa. Hideyoshi. Her pawns. Only she didn’t account for me still being alive. I am her fly in the ointment, the real detective in this case. Your plan is exposed, Kyrie. I’ve figured it out. It’s over.”

Kyrie looked at him, stunned. Then she laughed. And laughed. Finally, tears in her eyes, she calmed, and pointed her gun directly at Kinzo. “Alright! I admit it! I admit it all! You’re right, you ghost of the past! I killed them all, with the help of my little Yasu here. Even my husband, worthless dunce that he was. You didn’t stop me soon enough though, old man! I still win! You can’t save your family! Yasu and I will get it all!” Her finger tightened on the trigger.

Kinzo only smiled. “There is a rot in the Ushiromiya family tree, Kyrie. When a tree is rotten, it must be allowed to die. This is not a family worth saving. Let it fall. But when this tree falls, I can make sure that the whole world hears a sound.” The clock began to chime midnight.

Something that he said earlier clicked in Kyrie’s head. “You…”

Kinzo laughed once more. “That’s right, Kyrie! If you know Yasu, you know the gold, and if you know the gold, you know the clock that I had to set before I came here! This game ends the same way the game always ends! Stalemate, Beatrice! STALEMATE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-“

The police boats only found a smoldering crater on the island when they came to Rokkenjima. The storm had passed.

---

That is the solution. Congrats, you got the whodunit. This was a bit of a weird game, but thanks for playing.