Mystery Manor - Chapter Two

[Shadows]

You have already tried this key in the cabinet in the dining room, do you really want to go back and try it again?

Oh, I misread it as a new key. Still, the idea stands. In the future, can we travel back and forth to test things without the rest of the group as needed?

And, for the sake of doing something as we're all just standing around, I'd like to trip Max as he waltzes, but discretely.

[Erdbeereis]

Could I inspect the records found in the drawer? I also think we should try the key in the top drawer.

I'd also like to dance the tango with Mr. Sinclair, so

Mr. Crawford can trip him.

[WhiteFang]

I will like to examine and inspect the armor below the stairs. The design is unusual and it's defintely something which we have not encountered previously. I must examine the shield and sword. Someone, please help me to check whether is there anything hiding beneath or inside the armor/breastplate and headgear.

[WesternOutlaw]

(Anthony enters the room dusting off some snow from his shoulders)

Sorry Chaps, I had to find a bathroom and seem to have gotten lost. I was able to pick the lock of the front door. Would you believe it's snowing outside. There's some people gathering along the side of the hill. Looks like they intend to race. Unfortunately, when I was making a yellow snow angel on the hill, I dropped my Acme Pick-A-Lock Kit. After re-entering the house, the door slammed shut behind me locking once more. I've never heard of doors that lock from the outside, but what the hay.

(starts sweating as he continues to add to the unbelievable story)

Well, let's just say I've been watching from the "sidelines". Damn these mysteries are hard to keep up with after you've missed a few pages!

Did anyone solve that last cryptogram? or) Hinck, are you still examining the shaft?

[Dragonator]

The chef looks at the records. They are a selection of old classical dance music, jazz and and more modern works including Elvis and the Beatles. You cannot see anything odd about them.

John places his key in the keyhole of the small cabinet and... success, it fits! Unlocking the draw, you open it and find... nothing?

"Well that was a bit of an anti-climax" somebody grumbled.

Meanwhile, things are heating up on the dance floor, with Max and the Chef now performing a wild tango. Peter, being a cunning, devious lawyer type, attempts to trip Max, who goes the wrong way and ends up landing all three of them in a big heap.

Unconcerned with the goings on, Dr. Phil continues his inspection, now looking at the armour. It is in the same style as that seen in the Hallway and Entrance Foyer. The shield looks like it was once painted, but has long since faded or flaked off. Unlike the armour elsewhere in the house, this is in slightly worse shape with some dents in it. It looks like it was probably used in combat. The sword is very plain, more likely to have belonged to a normal soldier than an officer.

Ah, nice to see you back Anthony. We are still missing Bernard though. He's probably pilfering the antiques in one of the other rooms.

[Shadows]

Unfortunately, when I was making a yellow snow angel on the hill, I dropped my Acme Pick-A-Lock Kit.

Piss poor excuse if I've ever heard one...

Did anyone solve that last cryptogram?

That one's a real stumper. I gave it a shot and came up with nothing but a headache.

or) Hinck, are you still examining the shaft?

Max: Don't do it, Peter! Hmmm... Peter is a euphemism for ...

Me: Shut up.

John places his key in the keyhole of the small cabinet and... success, it fits! Unlocking the draw, you open it and find... nothing?

I'd like to remove the drawer from the cabinet and look under it and along all of it's normally unseen sides, as well as to double check for a false bottom or a hidden compartment in either it or the cabinet itself. No one locks an empty drawer.

Meanwhile, things are heating up on the dance floor, with Max and the Chef now performing a wild tango. Peter, being a cunning, devious lawyer type, attempts to trip Max, who goes the wrong way and ends up landing all three of them in a big heap.

Mind if I cut in, ladies?

[Sandy]

First a gun, now a rope... This is starting to remind me of this boardgame I've played. Creepy.

I'll take a whiff of the wine glass sitting next to the dancefloor to take a "bouquet" of what it might have contained.

I'd also like to see the time on the clock on the wall, comparing it to the grandfather clock on the dining room.

And after that, I want to investigate the safe located at the bottom of the steps to see if there's any way to open it.

[Hinckley]

Surely they are not

trying to get rid of me?

Must be vigilant.

Red Dragon watches,

guarding against everyone.

He will not stop me!

Perhaps I need to be more wary...

The first two stanzas are haiku

I will look at this cryptogram but feel free to do so as well, Mr. BlackWater or whoever THeBrickster is playing

Wait wait, is it even a cryptogram? Can I just try typing this code on the keyboard?

If it's a crytpogram it's exceedingly odd. Mostly three letter words, none repeating ending with a single letter word...

[Sandy]

If it's a crytpogram it's exceedingly odd. Mostly three letter words, none repeating ending with a single letter word...

I'm taking a look at this code too. I'm thinking that the three letter words are a hoax, and that the true words are revealed as the letters are solved, by switching the places of the spaces. In my opinion there are sentences hidden inside the code, since there are two dots, and there are letters leftover from the groups of three.

But now I'm talking way over my own head, too, so let's just try to solve this bugger, shall we?

(Edit) And it's cracked! It was a tough nut because the second sentence had a few different letter correspondences, but here's what I got:

Too pen the saf eyo

uwi lln eed toe nte

raf our let ter wor

d.

Fiv efa ile dat tem

pts wil lre sul tin

alo cko ut.

And when matching the words, this is the result: "To open the safe you will need to enter a four letter word. Five failed attempts will result in a lock out."

In the first sentence, "g" was "s", but in the second sentence, it was "v", while "j" was the new "s". If you understood me at all.

[Shadows]

The first two stanzas are haiku

Good catch! Of course, that isn't real haiku, just silly westernized simplified haiku, but that was definitely the intent nonetheless. I wonder why they chose that. Perhaps it points at an Asian influence.

And when matching the words, this is the result: "To open the safe you will need to enter a four letter word. Five failed attempts will result in a lock out."

Very nice! A four letter word... Well, I'm sure we can all come up with a few of those, but I suspect we'd be better off waiting for one we discover written somewhere, or decipher from other means.

So now we're looking for a chimney and a four letter word. Hmmm... does anyone else find it odd that none of these rooms have fireplaces? Quite unusual for a house of this era.

First a gun, now a rope... This is starting to remind me of this boardgame I've played. Creepy.

There was a very heavy candlestick as well...

[Dragonator]

(Sorry for my lateness with this response. I've written it in cronological order however, so that Max looks very silly at the end. )

Peter pulls out the top draw of the cabinet and searches all the surfaces thoroughly. While searching you find that a panel of wood on the back gives of a hollow sound. Sliding it back you find a small hollowed out space taken up by a chunky black key.

Miss Sandy sniffs at the wine glass. As the chef saw earlier, the glass contained red wine mostly due to the faint traces of it in the bottom. You can smell wine as well, confirming the visual evidence.

The clock on the wall shows the current time of 25 minutes past 11 at night.

She then walks over to the safe. It is very solid, the only way to open it would be to type the password on the keyboard. Perhaps the cryptogram will be able to help?

Meanwhile, Max tries entering the note into the keyboard. He hits enter, and a loud beep is heard. A single red light pops up above the display panel.

Not long after this, Miss Sandy says she has cracked the code! Well done! Looks like Max should have waited...

[Shadows]

Peter pulls out the top draw of the cabinet and searches all the surfaces thoroughly. While searching you find that a panel of wood on the back gives of a hollow sound. Sliding it back you find a small hollowed out space taken up by a chunky black key.

Yay, I've finally got a key to try everywhere!

Meanwhile, Max tries entering the note into the keyboard. He hits enter, and a loud beep is heard. A single red light pops up above the display panel.

Not long after this, Miss Sandy says she has cracked the code! Well done! Looks like Max should have waited...

There goes one of our five attempts.

[Erdbeereis]

Well done Miss Sandy!

We must think carefully about the 4 letter word, so we don't get locked out... Let's try ****! Just kidding.

[Hinckley]

I'm taking a look at this code too. I'm thinking that the three letter words are a hoax, and that the true words are revealed as the letters are solved, by switching the places of the spaces. In my opinion there are sentences hidden inside the code, since there are two dots, and there are letters leftover from the groups of three.

But now I'm talking way over my own head, too, so let's just try to solve this bugger, shall we?

(Edit) And it's cracked! It was a tough nut because the second sentence had a few different letter correspondences, but here's what I got:

Too pen the saf eyo

uwi lln eed toe nte

raf our let ter wor

d.

Fiv efa ile dat tem

pts wil lre sul tin

alo cko ut.

And when matching the words, this is the result: "To open the safe you will need to enter a four letter word. Five failed attempts will result in a lock out."

In the first sentence, "g" was "s", but in the second sentence, it was "v", while "j" was the new "s". If you understood me at all.

How did you do that??

[Sandy]

How did you do that??

Quite simple, Mr. Sinclair. I guessed that the cryptogram had something to do with opening the safe, so I tried to match the sentence "To open the safe..." to it - and voilá, it worked! The second sentence was trickier, as I said, but you mustn't underestimate the wits of a damsel in distress.

And we must be extra careful with the safe now, having only four attempts to go.

[SirNadroj]

The record on the record player is labelled Pomp and Circumstance. Dermot starts it, and the sound of classical music fills the room. The grand music is certainly fit for a ball.

Hmmm... let's shut this off. I haven't graduated yet!

[Hinckley]

Quite simple, Mr. Sinclair. I guessed that the cryptogram had something to do with opening the safe, so I tried to match the sentence "To open the safe..." to it - and voilá, it worked! The second sentence was trickier, as I said, but you mustn't underestimate the wits of a damsel in distress.

And we must be extra careful with the safe now, having only four attempts to go.

You're awesome... Excellent work. That makes you one of my new favorite people.

...now back to the game.

[Dragonator]

The detectives have almost finished celebrating their brilliance when a phone rings.

Opps, sorry that's mine. I need to take this, it'll be from the people building my Snow Box. I think they need me for a photo shoot or something. Back soon.

Dragonator walks out of the room, leaving the detectives alone together. It is agreed that they will take a short break from investigations while he is gone, and instead use the time to talk with each other and maybe learn a bit more about the people in the rest of the group. For nobody can forget that one among them is the killer... This would also be an excellent time to analyse the clues you have found so far, and perhaps start piecing something together. Or perhaps it is to soon? Or perhaps, the detectives do not even trust each other enough to confide everything they know...

The detectives remember that they have four questions to answer, but it is also thought that it would be good if they could attempt to piece together exactly what happened the previous night.

**********

New Objective: Find out what happened last night in the manor.

I have decided that there are now going to be two objectives; the first main one, and a harder optional second one, for those of you feeling adventurous. From the clues you gather, you are to try and attempt to piece together the events of last night inside the manor. This will require some logical thinking and perceptive analysis of the clues, so I hope you've all been paying attention. When you feel you have pieced together all (or most) of the events of the previous night, simply send them to me in a PM just like the other objective. Good luck, and have fun!

I will be away from now until Tuesday night. Therefore no investigation questions will be answered in this time period. You may spend this time talking with each other, interrogating each other, analysing clues, and generally doing what you do best. Don't have to much fun without me!

[Scouty]

Why don't we all get to know each other a little better now that we have some time?

[Shadows]

Why don't we all get to know each other a little better now that we have some time?

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Problem is, ever since we were locked in this house, I'd had a hard time remembering much from before a few days ago.

Oh, I know something! Earlier, when we were in the dining room, I kept fiddling with that dvd player because I was hoping that Chester was a fan of the old adventure movies like I am. You know, Captain Blood, Robin Hood, Zorro, Debbie Does Dratos, uh, Zorro. What? I said that one already? Did I say Robin Hood? Right... how about The Seahawk? No? Oh good. That's enough about me, I think.

So... that peculiar host of ours said something about trying to figure out what happened last night. Seemed kind of odd, didn't it? It's like he thinks this whole situation is a game. And who is he, a relative of Chester or maybe connected to that 'Guardian' that Chester was so scared of?

Either way, last night... What do we know for sure?

[SirNadroj]

So... that peculiar host of ours said something about trying to figure out what happened last night. Seemed kind of odd, didn't it? It's like he thinks this whole situation is a game. And who is he, a relative of Chester or maybe connected to that 'Guardian' that Chester was so scared of?

I don't trust the dude. I'm keeping my distance.

[Sir Dillon]

I don't trust the dude. I'm keeping my distance.

I have the feeling there's lots he isn't telling us. Maybe when he gets back we should jump him, and then force him to talk.

[Scouty]

Nah, we shouldn't jump on him.

After all, he is helping us through this whole mystery.

[Shadows]

I have the feeling there's lots he isn't telling us. Maybe when he gets back we should jump him, and then force him to talk.

I bet it's all Majisto's fault. Wait... who?

You know, that silly wizard Draggy hangs out with.

Don't do that Bluervo, he doesn't remember you here.

How could anyone forget me?

AAAAAAH! This place has talking birds!

See?

[Scouty]

(Pointing at Mr. Crawford indiscreetly whispering to a nearby person) He's mad, you know?

Let's all ask each other questions, then, to get to know each other better.