[ic]

[dormancy]

[In the interest of time and mystery, Vincent and Naoto have met at the overgrown flowers an hour after sunset as promised in a not at all suspicious manner. Luckily, or not, Vincent has found a few becoming flowers for his lady of the evening, and without further ado, they are off to a wonderful evening soiree . . .

The entrance hall is tasteful and elegant with carved wood panels, marble-topped tables, vases with white orchids spilling over. There are four doors in each direction. The door to the right is an open double door with music spilling softly out from it.]

Comments

[dormancy]

And being penniless and unable to keep your beloved in a proper home . . . Of course.

[genderbinary]

[looks down at the letter again]

... and just how is the relationship between Grace-san and her father?

[dormancy]

I would assume that they aren't on the best of terms, since she has defied his will. But Pleasant has been given control of the business, so he must have given into her desires. It's rather ambiguous, isn't it . . . ?

[genderbinary]

To say the least.

[dormancy]

[picking up a ledger, flipping through the pages which slowly but steadily become covered in more red ink]

I wonder if he hasn't regretted allowing Pleasant to save face at the cost of his business, though.

[genderbinary]

[looks frustrated, starting to pace]

I'm missing something. There has to be something else I haven't yet--

[pauses, and goes over to examine the light at the end of the attic]

[dormancy]

[The boards seem to have gaps in them, rather wide though not enough for anyone to fall through. There seems to be rope in a coil and looped around one of the boards before threading down . . . Do you look?]

[genderbinary]

[of course]

[dormancy]

[You can see the top of Grace's head . . . And if you turn just so, you can see her feet aren't touching the floor. Goodness, someone was determined.]

Oh, that didn't end well at all.

[genderbinary]

[gasps in shock]

[dormancy]

[It's a doll/puppet . . . ]

[genderbinary]

[SHUT UP I WAS SURPRISED]

[dormancy]

[You are very sweet, dear.]

[genderbinary]

[lets out a deep sigh and lifts herself up]

I suppose I should have expected something like that to occur.

[dormancy]

Ah, too dramatic? But it had such a nice effect. Your gasp was truly wrenching.

[genderbinary]

[ignore!!]

If Owen-san and Chastity-san haven't left the parlor, then the culprit must be Pleasant-san--that is, if this was not a suicide, which I highly doubt; or if Owen-san and Chastity-san don't corroborate each others' stories.

[dormancy]

That's true. We haven't kept to one place, so we can't assume anyone else has either.

Mm, but would you like a last piece of information?

[genderbinary]

Please.

[dormancy]

You should remember that as much as I would hope that the person who this mystery was crafted for and you who is seeing it through would enjoy themselves, I would never disregard myself so completely.

[genderbinary]

Disregard myself? I haven't done anything of the sort, I--

[genderbinary]

...

[dormancy]

Would you care for a dance . . . ?

[genderbinary]

[just. stares at him for a few moments, stunned]

... this was a logic puzzle, not a mystery.

[dormancy]

Haha, it could have been if you weren't clever enough.

[genderbinary]

Within set circumstances and a finite number of individuals each capable of being the culprit, you have a number of potential threads that could point towards who did it--but none of them concrete. Each thread is exactly the same, in that it casts suspicion but cannot be considered decisive evidence.

But there is one element to this case that is unquestionable.