[img align=center]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/1000014.png[/img]Hanna numbly accepts the chair from Detective Fields. It feels like she's in shock. She's never encountered anything like this before, living a rather sheltered life with all the privileges her family name affords her. Miranda's party, a crime scene? It was almost too grisly to bear.

"Honestly, the mood has been a bit awkward but nothing to suggest something would lead to this. As guests, we had been instructed to introduce ourselves to Miranda's new man, and Miranda hadn't been outside to ensure everything was going smoothly." Hanna bit her lip, taking time to choose her next words carefully. "Wolf has been civil enough, but there's naturally a lot of curiosity about him as an outsider. This might not be important but his forearm is bandaged, not really something you see among the men of this set... Miranda's family doesn't seem to approve of Wolf."

She sat quietly, waiting for the detective to finish taking notes. What if someone was critically, or even fatally hurt? What if something had happened to Miranda? Hanna was riddled with anxiety.

Private Outfit

"I uh.,, the mood? I mean, I don't usually go to these types of rich people shindigs, so I wouldn't know the difference. Everyone wanted to meet Miranda's fiance Wolf, but I think the fact that it was such a whirlwind engagement threw off some people. Even made them distrust him. Personally, I've always trusted Miranda to make her own decisions on this type of thing. She's not the type of person to jump in to something without thinking it through. My theory is they must have been dating for some time before this but had to keep it secret.

Speaking of Miranda, um... where is she? Is she okay? I haven't seen her in a while... Why are you guys here, anyway?"

Zoe was fiddlng with the lace on her gloves nervously. The sudden scream had really frazzled her. What had happened?

chapter 2.1 - scanning for clues

While interviews were being conducted all guests were asked to refrain from posting on social media, at least until they're released. The last thing anyone wants is gawkers swarming the estate and muddling things up more then they already were.

However partway through the interview process one of the guests recalls that they have a police scanner app on their phone and decides to tune into the Veta PD frequency.

The beginning is cut off and the estate has poor reception resulting in some disconnect but the following can be heard;

"---lfram Banks. Age, 24. Time of death, 1:35pm. Cause of--------wounds to----------and lowe--rm. Laceration to arm is directly through h---- tattoo---"

Wolfram Banks. For those snoopy enough to look not a whole lot can be found. He has seemingly no social media presence at all. In fact the only mentions of him on the entire internet seem to be an online highschool yearbook profile (it has a picture of what looks to be the one week fiance himself, albeit much younger, as well as the title 'Bird Watching Club President' beneath it) and a mostly unfinished profile on a job networking site, with little more then a name and date of birth that matches the mentioned age.

(( This is part of chapter two and does not have an extra raffle slot. this is to add to the story as well as give people an excuse to talk to one another within the narrative if they so choose. ))

P.I. was weighing her options. She knew nothing about the crime that had been committed except for the word "blood" being screamed. There were three options: a violent attack, a suicide or ...murder. This thought of froze the blood in her veins. She did not know these people very well but to be capable of murder either comes from a place of deep desperation or psychosis. Either one of which she did not catch the vibe of when it came to the attendees of the party. Although the encounter with Wolf could have certainly been described as "suspicious". Additionally, she knew of rumours which revolved around the general displeasure about Miri's recent liaison. But she would not accuse anyone of anything indecent without cold, hard facts. "Detective Fields, I am terribly sorry to inform you of the fact that I am solely acquainted to the host of this party: Miriam. If you have already talked to her about me she will most definitely have told you the same thing." When she uttered Miriam's name the detective's jaw slightly hardened. For the untrained eye, that meant nothing, but Miriam knew something was not kosher. "Where is she? What happened to her?" P.I. wasn't trying to hide her worries. "Tell me she is alright, please!" Field's face became a disconnected mask when she recited the words "I am sorry, but I am not at liberty to disclose any information about the ongoing investigation. We will inform the public via an official press release soon" This was bad. That could again only mean one of two things. Miri was either a suspect or worse, a victim. Who could hurt a pure soul like her? P.I. discarded the though as well as she could. She needed to find out what happened one way or another, but she could not be efficient and judging rationally if her emotions got the best of her. When she forced herself to calm down she opened her mouth: "I was outside when it happened. I was sipping a cup of oolong tea when the scream made me drop it. The broken cup should probably still lie outside near the magnolia tree. I will gladly submit a DNA sample so that you can match it with the cup" As for suspicious people, I cannot give any conclusive clues. However, I have special set of skills when it comes to reading people. If you let me attend the interrogations, I might turn out to be a valuable asset in this investigation. I have worked with Detective Morgan and Detective Patel from the Centropolice in the past. If you reach out to them, they will confirm that I used to be an advisor" Lisa Fields' eyebrows narrowed. "Thank you, but I think we have it under control." Even though both of them knew this was not true P.I. knew when to stop. Lisa Field had more important matters to attend to and Pearl was the last person to keep her from it.

Rose follows the officer away from the crowd and is then left alone, surrounded by a library of books. She decides to peruse the collection while her mind wanders to the strange events that have unfolded. It seems that someone has died and through hearsay, it seems to be Wolf.

[I]What could have happened? Is he the one who has perished or perhaps he is just injured? Someone has a tattoo that has a laceration, but who? And is that the person who is now deceased?[/I]

As Rose thought, only more questions arose. She heard the door creak behind her and turned around to see a detective enter. The detective introduces herself and asks the standard police questions.

Rose thought about what to tell the detective. She really didn't have anything to offer.

"I honestly don't have any suspicions at the moment, detective," Rose began. "I've honestly been a bit preoccupied with the pastries that Richard made. I'm simply famished, and I'm sure those pastries he made are to die for."

Rose sees the detective give her a sideways glance and quickly realizes her poor choice of words.

"Oh no... I don't mean to imply that someone would kill another person over some pastries. That would be absurd. Honestly, everyone seemed a little off. It's just that this whole engagement has been so sudden. Not knowing what has happened, it's difficult to think of anything that may be helpful to you, as nothing truly seems suspect at the moment."

Rose patiently waits to hear the detective's thoughts.

Almost right as Rey finished asking the detective how Miranda was killed, she heard the static of a radio outside the door to the study. "---lfram Banks. Age, 24. Time of death, 1:35pm. Cause of--------wounds to----------and lowe--rm. Laceration to arm is directly through h---- tattoo---"

The realization washed over her. “Ohh.. oh my god? Is Miranda still alive?!”

Outfit Not Found

Detective Fields had been very polite, but Arianwen's request to see Miranda had largely been left unaddressed.

Ari would never have posted to social media about something like this, but she did hear a small ping in the earpiece carefully hidden in her elaborate updo. "I'm getting a headache," she said, "because I've left my glasses off too long."

She slipped them out of her bag and onto her face. Ziaran technology was amazing. Her notifications were discreetly displayed on the interior surface of her lenses, but it only appeared that they had adjusted to the level of light in the room.

Most of the notifications were from other residents and useful only to those on shift at the time, but that police scanner app her housemate had insisted she install before going down to Subeta was pinging, and...

Wolfram Banks?

Bird-watching club?

Tattoo? (She hadn't noticed one, but then he'd been wearing long sleeves...)

No friends?

How did you even get a job without leaving some record of your presence online? The answer, of course, was: you don't. There was no information about this person available on the public web, which didn't mean there wasn't anything on the deep web, of course. She suspected this identity might well have been constructed. By someone who hadn't enough talent to lay down enough false information to make it look normal.

Discreetly, she blinked the notifications away, and tried not to look too relieved that it wasn't Miranda who had died. It was horrific that anyone had been killed, but at least she could stop speculating about Miranda's earlier malaise and whether or not she had failed to notice a poisoning.

Miranda would be devastated. Even if it turned out, in the end, that she'd dodged a bullet.

Someone desperate enough to pay for a new identity this sloppily constructed undoubtedly had enemies. But it didn't seem likely that any of those individuals would have been on Miranda's guest list.

Chapter 2

Beryl looked at Detective Fields, taking a moment to calm her nerves.

"Well, when I got here Miranda looked a bit unwell. She went inside to take a nap, if I remember correctly." Looking down Beryl tries to recall all of the other guests.

"Of the people I interacted with only a couple really stood out." Beryl grimaces at the memory of Aunt Belladonna's tantrum "From what I've observed the Aunt has been really irritable, and even Miranda's fiance found her behavior to be more grumpier than usual."

The detective looks at Beryl, "Go on, what about the other guests?"

Beryl sits back and looks at her shoes, "Regardless of what anyone says, Nicolette seems to be more nervous about the party because of all the people, definitely not the jealous type. She loves her little sister and would only want her to be happy." Beryl scrunches her face when the detective asks her about the gardener and chef.

"The gardener seemed far too chill and was trimming roses last I saw. The chef was more concerned with his masterpiece confections and swatting some of the guest's hands away from the 'works of art", or so he says..."

"What about the fiance, I've been getting plenty of mixed responses about him... a week long engagement is pretty suspicious after all." The detectives eyes sharpened as Beryl began to fidget. "What's wrong with you, you've been really jumpy since we sat down?"

Beryl sighed, "Sorry, after the screams and everyone scrambling around I've been on edge. Does anyone know what happened? Is Miranda alright?"

"We don't know at the moment, so tell me about the fiance... er wolf-wolfie was it?"

"Wolf has been withdrawn in the back since I got here, seemed more concerned with the game on his phone than people. But so far... well... um. He was a bit nicer than the Aunt. He tried to cheer me up after the Aunt unleashed her rage on me and the daisies I had for Miranda. He did say the aunt was extra angry since he showed up..." The detective leaned forward at that last bit.

"The aunt... destroyed your bouquet, wha- why? And you're sure Wolf said this?" Startled, Beryl began stuttering "I do- He... H He said that, yes... but... I mean the aunt wouldn't go that far right, families disagree all the time over who their loved ones marry, but not enough to harm anyone... err...?"

"Hmmm... she is definitely a suspect at the moment, but we haven't managed to get her to calm down to ask further questions. Why did she destroy the flowers?" The detective's frustration becoming more evident in her posture and tensed facial expressions. Beryl took note of the detective's overall appearance before mumbling softly, "She said it was a bad gift for a 'divine garden party', not a clue why she's been so turbulent but, well she's always been this way. At least from the stories Miranda told me."

"And the other guests? What about them?" The detective sat back with a sigh, frustrated with the lack of leads to go on. "I don't really know the others all that well. Most people here are friends of Miranda's in one way or another. I'm sorry I'm not much help."

With that the detective allowed Beryl to leave.

Tears and sniffles could be heard outside the door in the halls. Beryl started to bite her lip out of a nervous habit, boy I hope Miranda is alright...

Outfit Not Found

As Beryl leaves the room, she hears the echo of the police scanner's scratchy reception. Tattoo? Wolfram... Wolf is.. is dead?

Beryl slid into a nearby room. After closing the door gently she slid down the side of the wall of the guest bedroom... "Poor Miranda..." Staring off at the wall for a moment she notices a shadow move quickly past one of the windows. But she couldn't see who it was... "I wonder... why wolf?"

Beryl only managed to catch a glimpse of wolf's info from one snoopy person's phone. Not phased by wolf's lack of digital presence, Beryl began to question where Miranda met Wolf and the many unanswered questions she really wish she should of asked...

Sitting in the quiet room Beryl pondered the information and the people around her.

"Who... who would have killed Wolf? Why? And where are they now...?" Beryl trembled not knowing who to trust. "I need to find Miranda!"

Private Outfit

Chapter 2 entry.

"The mood, Detective Fields? Its a tea party, ma'am, it had the mood of a tea party," Lypsyl shrugged. "People were milling about. Some were eating, some drinking, some chatting. It seemed normal...at least until the scream, and no one seems to know what that was about! What happened, are we in danger?"

Private Outfit

The party seemed to be going off the rails, but TJ couldn't care less. Let all the rich people work themselves into fits over the minute details of social etiquette; TJ was happy to hang out by themselves and stuff their face. Wolf seemed fed up with it too, but what TJ wasn't expecting was a stony silence from Richard as they helped themselves (and Sarge) to another finger sandwich.

When the scream shattered the air, though, they almost choked on a cucumber slice, and Sarge bolted. In the chaos that followed, TJ had two main priorities: find their dog, and make themselves scarce. TJ had been a witness to plenty of his employers' scandals before; someone would bring home their new fling while their spouse was away at work, or someone's kids would get caught selling or buying illicit substances. In all cases, the best course of action was to remain neutral.

Unfortunately, fate wasn't on their side today. They crawled under the table, looking for Sarge. By the time they found him happily gobbling up someone's dropped plate of hors d'oeuvres, the police were on the scene and rounding everyone up for questioning. When the guests were invited inside the house, TJ blanched. This was a crime scene, wasn't it? Even if being in the house didn't implicate them, they felt completely out of place, and kicked off their muddy boots at the door out of habit and respect.

When the detective came in to question them, TJ was sitting in an overstuffed armchair that dwarfed their size, holding Sarge in their lap so he wouldn't run off and get into something he shouldn't. He growled at the sight of the detective, and TJ frowned too. They weren't fond of the brass, but decided to stick to their usual strategy. "Haven't really seen anythin', Officer. Seems like just a normal party to me. Honestly, I was just finishing up work for the day an' about to head home, I don't even know anyone except my Boss an' the lady of the house."

They hesitated, realizing with a sinking feeling that no one had told them anything. And they hadn't seen Miranda for a while… "She's alright, isn't she? Miss Miranda? Come to think of it, her fiance seemed kinda on edge, maybe he—" but as soon as they started talking about Wolf, as if on cue, the sound of a police scanner crackled to life in the next room over. TJ listened, and upon hearing the fragments of a report, they swallowed hard. Seemed like this would be an even bigger mess than they had thought, but their answer didn't change. "Sorry, Officer, I didn't notice nothin'."

: ???

Chapter 2 Check In

got finals sorry!!

Outfit Not Found

Taking a seat Skylar was trying to recall if she saw anything out of the ordinary. “To be honest, I barely had a chance to partake in any of the festivities.” Skylar explained. Wow, this dress sure was itchy she thought. Fidgeting with the helm of it. “Are you alright? You seem a bit nervous.” Detective Fields says. “Nervous, no I wasn’t at the party for a very long time. I saw Miranda and talked to her. She seemed fine but, was leaving to go freshen up.” Skylar said. “She did mentioned that it would be nice if I can go greet her fiancé, Wolf. I made my way to see him but, he was too busy playing with a flowery phone. I don’t think he even heard me. There was a crowd trying to meet him, maybe that’s why.” Skylar shrugs.

Wringing her hands, May settled uncomfortably into the chair.

"The... Mood?" She shifted nervously. "Um... Fine, I guess? I wasn't paying much attention, I'm very much a wall flower." She tried to think back, a nervous giggle escaping her mouth. Quickly, May pressed her fist against her lips, worried any odd behavior could be taken as a sign of guilt by a bored or inexperienced detective. Then again, if she was trying too hard to seem innocent, that could be suspicious too. Oh, why did I even come here, she thought desperately trying not to hyperventilate.

The detective seemed calm, perhaps expecting a party of rich folks to be a rather unstable, flimsy group. Or at least not one that would be quick to question. Burying her face in her hands, May focused on her breathing, and her thoughts.

"Well, people seem very suspicious of Miranda's fiance." She informed her palms, before lowering her hands. She kept her head down, as not making eye contact helped her nerves a little. "Wolf, she said his name was. No wonder he didn't seem very interested in the party. If that's how Miranda's friends were treating him, I can't imagine how her aunt was." Biting her lip, she sighed. There she went again, spouting opinions of people at inappropriate times. This is why she didn't talk to people much.

Seeing uniformed police always sends a shill down her spine since the day two cops rang at her door, telling her her little sister had died in a car crash. Automatically, Liliana hid behind a big shrub, peeping above and observing the scene.

When Detective Fields beckoned her to sit down on the interrogation chair, she held back at first, the proceedings were hard to take for her. Hopefully, the detective won’t find her behavior suspicious, Liliana thought. She just couldn’t help it.

When the detective who was clearly used to people with strange manners tried to clam her down with a friendly smile, the sudden idea that this was all about Miranda and something could have happened to her dear friend brought tears to Liliana's face. Please, please, please, she thought, please don't take her away from me, too!

An intent look at the officer informed her that there was no way the detective would give something away at this early time of investigation. She looked professional and clear-headed, not at all like the chatty sort.

„I don’t know if I can be of help, detective.“ Liliana told her, cautiously. „There were so many people out and about; I heard a hubbub of voices………. nothing exactly fishy, though“ she emphasised. „The only strange incidence I remembered occured when passing Aunt Belladonna - she seemed to be in a hurry and didn’t react to my attempt addressing her. However, that just seemed characteristic of her“ Liliana allowed.

After Detective Fields dismissed her, Liliana tried to calm down and approached the other people standing in clusters around. Perhaps somebody knew something? There seemed to be some new information about the ongoings, the talking went louder and some voices cracked.

„What's going on?“ Liliana asked the pretty girl standing beside her. It was Lilah, she recognized. She never had met her before yet she remembered her name because it was so similar to hers. She stared at Lilah with wide eyes when the alien girl told her about the police radio message and the internet findings. A wave of relief washed over Liliana, followed by one of shame because she preferred Miranda to Wolf with a passion.

„A wolf who loves birds ….. a heart which hurts……. oh my, Miranda has to be heartbroken!“ Liliana exclaimed, excused herself and run back to the house. Hopefully, she could bring comfort.

In Jasmín's honest opinion, nothing good ever came from dealing with the police, especially in her profession. If the police were talking to you, you screwed up somewhere and needed to get the hell out of dodge and fast. Detective Fields didn't seen to be questioning her for any specific reason, rather was talking to everyone and anyone at the party, so she was calmer than she usually was when dealing with law enforcement officers.

"I haven't noticed anything strange, other than some people acting out of sorts to how they usually would. I spoke to Miranda briefly when I arrived at the party before heading off to greet her new fiance, a Mr. Wolf. He had Miranda's cellphone, which I thought was queer because she never lets go of that foolish contraption."

Jasmín shifts uncomfortably, feeling her knife slip further into her sock, the tip poking into her calf muscle while the guard dug into the bend of her knee. She wished she had brought a better weapon (or worn a longer skirt that would allow her to wear a thigh holster), but hindsight was 20/20. As soon as she was done speaking with this detective, she was going to yank this stupid knife out and tuck it into one of the pockets on her dress. This day was a mess and with this murder, it didn't seen to be getting any better from here.

Chapter 2 Check In, in case I am unable to post before the new chapter arrives. :(

(response based off info before overheard radio) Ashalind noticed the books in the study but was too absentminded to give them more than a glazed glance. She perched on the edge of the chair and tried not to jump when the detective entered. After listening to her introduce herself Ash tried her best to convey her confusion "I'm sorry Detective Fields, but I think I'm just as much in the dark as you are, it seemed like a typical example or Miriam's parties - is she ok though? That scream sounded horrible..." The officer didn't seem like she was going to be forthwith with an immediate answer, so Ash worriedly continued. "She met me when I arrived - Miriam that is - but she said she wasn't feeling too well and excused herself for a little lie-down. I thought I was a little early but I guess her parties are pretty renowned by now so there were some other guests already here as well, plus her sister and aunt, looking as dour as Miriam has always described her to be. Although I don't think I've seen the ladies after this whole commotion started...And Wolf, well, he excused himself shortly after I arrived as well, but it seemed to me he was a little overwhelmed with the crowd. I guess it takes a recluse to recognise another one!" Ash giggled nervously but quickly cleared her throat and did her best to stop herself babbling. Suddenly serious again, obvious concern on her face, she implored the detective one last time "I'm sorry I'm sure you've heard all of this before, I don't know how helpful I'm being...I'm just concerned for my friends, well I've only just met Wolf but he seems to make Miriam happy so that makes him a friend of mine as well. Please tell me if they're okay?"

chapter 3 - clear and foggy days

Belladonna, who made her distaste of Miranda's choice in lover very clear. Nicoletta, secretly holding a grudge against her sister for her luck in love. Roland, the gardener. Chill relaxed. TOO relaxed. Also apparently NOT growing crazy hybrid roses behind the shed but other plants of a not so legal variety. Richard, the chef. An eccentric individual by all accounts but had been especially cagey and irritable all day. Miranda, the hostess herself was not immune from suspicion.

The victim? The one week fiance, Wolf. Or rather, Wolfram Banks. Word travels quickly between police scanners and word of mouth from those who overheard investigators, and a picture was being painted. He'd been fatally stabbed to death, several wounds littered his torso though which one was the death blow was unclear. Notably he didn't seem to possess any defensive wounds so he must have trusted his assailant. The only other notable thing was that he has a post mortem inflicted wound to his forearm. He'd gotten a tattoo there that was still in the process of being healed. A pink rose, a clear dedication to his 'Miri'. Whoever stabbed it after he was already gone was clearly sending a message.

The murder weapon was still missing though it had to be somewhere. Miranda's cellphone was also no where to found.

So many troubling mysteries. So many questions left unanswered...

Though.. with this many people for the police to keep track of it'll probably be easy for you to slip away and do a little investigating on your own...

Your character has sneaked off while the police are busy telling everyone they can go home. They are now exploring a part of the mansion. Assume it's large, somewhat old fashioned, and has a lot of pink and rose motifs. You can investigate anywhere except the upper bedrooms. Those are too closely watched over by the police as they contain the scene of the crime.

You can pick a library, kitchen, guest wing, the outside gardens, or whatever else your heart desires. If you think your character might not be bold enough to wander off in search of trouble, you can say they got lost looking for a restroom.

Your character's goal? Hunt for clues. I will be trying to respond to as many people as possible and tell you what if anything they found in the place they're investigating.

This is important. I am controlling the clues. If your character 'finds' something that I was not consulted on it doesn't count as a canon clue. Make sure you pay attention to what other people discover as well! This is where the real hints will start dropping.

If you would like to collaborate with another participant to explore the mansion together feel free to do so!

If you are unable to do this prompt do to time restraints or no inspiration post 'Chapter 3 Check In' to earn your grand prize raffle ticket for this chapter.

Outfit Not Found

Arianwen Rosier was, to say the least, absolutely flabbergasted (not to mention absolutely enraged) that anyone could think Miranda capable of murder.

She was aware that the significant other was always considered a suspect, but...Miranda?

The first place Arianwen went after putting her dainty gloves back on was the library, mostly because she desperately wanted to think.

She didn't think Miranda had done it.

She didn't think Nico had done it, mostly because that would have actually required Nico to take action.

She didn't think the gardener had done it. If he was a drug dealer, he would have to be a very stupid one to kill somebody in the place where he grew his 'medicinal plants'.

Of the suspects the police had chosen, the two Arianwen considered most likely were Aunt Belladonna and the chef. But there were problems with both of those, too. Belladonna had always seemed to be the sort of person who would hire someone to do her dirty work, and a chef had plenty of opportunities to kill without having to do it at a social event with a crowd of potential eyewitnesses.

Arianwen frankly thought it was probably someone who'd infiltrated the household with ties to Wolf's past, whatever that was. With that in mind, she took a quick look around the library, just in case there was something out of place.

She also sat down in front of one of the computers and did a cursory inspection. The police would no doubt have taken personal electronics, but a smart person wouldn't have used personal electronics for any malfeasance. She wanted to check and see what sites had been visited and what information had been searched for, and if anyone had been foolish enough to save unfamiliar login credentials in a browser.

She wasn't sure how sophisticated Vetans were in this respect, but if the answer was 'not very' that was all to the good, since Arianwen was a doctor, not a hacker from the Lower City.