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In the dining room, a buffet table had been set up, and the main dining table had had the chairs removed from one side and pushed against the wall. Already, as people entered, there were a couple of members of the family. Jeanne, Gabrielle, George, and Lawrence, these four were serving themselves, or being served, depending on general disposition. Each time the door opened, Jeanne looked at those coming in; she looked disappointed every time. Though when she saw Sam, there was a bit of excitement there. Lawrence, as soon as he was finished being served, left the room.

The lunch on offer was Salade Nicoise, Jambon-beurre, and some pastries for dessert. There was tea, coffee, and juices available as well.

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“Ah, that’ll be lunch then. Mind escorting this old man there?” Richard stood up; his joints popped as he did. He placed the book he was reading back on the small table next to his chair. “As for business ventures, I’d say we should go into something new, but with lasting power. There’s a lot going on in the tech sector these days. Gabby talks about it all the time. She’s very into computers. Beatrice’s youngest. Never gets off her computer ever.” He shakes his head and starts walking out.

Ralph glanced at Rhi and shrugged. If the man wanted to join them all at lunch, that would give them all a chance to talk to him. It ended up being more that Ralph and Rhi followed after Richard. Richard joined the queue for food, and allowed himself to be served by the staff helping.

At least Richard's joining seemed to make more sense to Ralph. All of the family was filtering in. He did notice that Elenore didn’t join them. But slowly, everyone but the one man who had left on his boat for the authorities, and the mysterious Agatha, who had been missing from dinner the night prior, showed up. That was seven family members. Even Leda had left her corner with her laptop in the bar. Ralph wondered if maybe the meal was set up this way to force the family members to leave their little quiet sanctuaries instead of having food brought to them. He would have expected the latter.

He got his food and looked around, trying to figure out where he could sit. He noticed Jeanne head back out into the solarium and considered following her.

"There isn’t a lot of sitting in here. Would you like to go somewhere else?” He asked Rhi quietly. It could be an opportunity to get one of the La Lune family by following them if they wanted to talk to someone else, rather than trying to hunt them down.

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Constance took the tape recorder and then held it in her hand. It was probably a good idea to record any conversations they had with any of the La Lunes, and maybe any others, and she did have to mentally applaud Sam for that. She was still a bit miffed that he might have been implying some things, but it did seem that the air had been cleared a bit, and that he understood the text more. Of course not all the secrets were shared, as there was no way in hell Constance was going to spill her secret, and it seemed that no one else was going to do the same.

"I'm only suspicious because it seemed you knew about Miguel before the rest of us knew a thing. That was all. Thank you for the tape recorder." Constance tucked her recorder into her purse and then picked it up, hoping it wasn't obvious she had the little device on her.

"Mmmm lunch sounds really good." Constance cuddled in close to Tony as they headed to the dining hall. Once there she looked over the food, and then to see that Jeanne perked up when Sam came in after them. Maybe it was a good idea to have him with them when they went to talk to her. She looked over the lunch offerings, deciding on the salad Nicoise and some tea. She really hoped that they made a good cuppa, she could really use that after the day they were having.

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As she entered, she noticed a glance from one of the family members. The disappointment was obvious; Millicent didn't need to gauge that. She began to serve herself some of the food and get some coffee. She wasn't particularly thrilled to be seated with some of the family. She wasn't sure of any of them yet. For all she knew, everything going on was a family affair.

Millicent also noticed Lawrence left as soon as he was served, which suited her just fine. Millicent took a seat as far from the other members as possible, waiting for Brendan and the others, though it seemed Ralph had one foot out the door. As much as she wanted to, Millicent figured she might as well stick around. Perhaps some of the family will let something slip over pastries and juice.

She wasn't going to hold her breath though. It seemed the La Lune family, for the most part, played things close to their chests. Some more than others, obviously. Millicent wondered if she should speak to the hot-head about things. But she opted to stick to her decision to talk to Eleanor. The matriarch had to be aware of more goings on than most.

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”Technology. Ya, I suppose that would pay a lot. Have you ever thought about doing something with the schools, though?” He wanted to move away from the wine and into the tech sector. Something that was booming, but Rhiannon imagined it wasn’t that easy to get into. Granted, they did have a boatload of money to blow. Renee was gone, but maybe Rhi could finish the work she couldn’t.

Rhiannon followed Richard, standing just to the right and slightly behind him. They watched the old man as he made his way to the buffet-style lunch, selecting items from the display before finding a seat. As they watched him go about this seemingly simple task, grabbing food and a bottle of sauce no one else touched, something from the night before flashed in Rhiannon’s mind.

”They both like HP sauce…” Elenore had thrown a fit about it, but Renee had spoken to a server to bring the bottle back. She took some, and then Richard had. Rhiannon’s eyes widened, and they turned to Ralph quickly. ”Did Elenore say who made the seating chart for dinner last night?”

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Sam couldn't prove it, but he felt as if there was this undertone with Tony. The way in which he spoke making it seem as if his opinion or words mattered more because he was a doctor. Or simply because Sam wasn't of a notable profession. He didn't care for him, but he also didn't have to. All they had to do was survive the weekend, escape the manor, and make it back alive. Something Sam was considering if he even wanted to do. Each death a new notch in his belt. Each death a reminder of what he'd done. He didn't bother responding to either of them, gesturing towards the door as soon as the bell was rung for food and ensuring he was the last one out of his room. Before he left however, he set down a device, older than most of the items he carried, it was functionally a recording device. The main difference being that it erased any negative space, removing silence and only playing back sounds. It was said to capture the sounds of spirits, and there had been times it had before.

Sam closed the door behind him, making his way to grab some food behind Constance and Tony. Jeanne seemed happy when he arrived, why he had no idea. Then again, perhaps she was the unknown number who told him to head for Miguel's body. Was she friend or foe? Sam wanted to find out. He loaded up his plate, mostly pastries with a bit of the actual food there, before he followed Jeanne out into the Solarium away from the others. ”Mind if I join you? We haven't had much time to talk given all of the activities going on around here.”

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Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan followed Millicent into the room with the food. There were some others in already, including Lawrence. He didn't seem to notice Brendan, or at least, he didn't realize that he was the same person as Ivanna. Lawrence left quickly anyway.

Brendan looked at the food, trying to get his mind off his anxieties. There was some kind of salad, which almost looked okay, except for an unfortunate green bean contamination, a sandwich that was maybe just a normal sandwhich, pastries, and stuff to drink. Brendan took a bit of whatever was green bean free. He hesitated by the food. Even with the green beans, it felt like a safe spot. Something his mind could get busy on that wasn't completly awful.

When he finally did turn around, he was startled by the empty space. He'd taken so long that Millicent had already sat down. He made his way over to her. She was sitting far from anyone else, which was probably smart. He took his seat across from her, making light conversation about whatever she wanted to talk about, in the back of his mind, trying to figure out what he was going to say to Elenore.

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Leaving Sam's room, Tony walked with Constance down to the dining room, remaining quiet and just thinking about the mess of a conversation they'd just had with Sam. He also thought about how to approach their planned conversation with Jeanne. It was possible that she was a potential ally, but it was also possible that her concern for Miguel was an act. Or maybe she was concerned, but wouldn't be willing to go against her family. Knowing very little about her, it was impossible for Tony to judge which way she might lean. They would probably have to just play the conversation by ear, and be very careful about what they say, and even more careful about what they leave out. Unless she proved herself to be an ally, Tony wanted to avoid raising too much suspicion.

Arriving at the dining room, Tony saw that most of the family was in attendance. Jeanne was there, keeping a close eye on the door, and even Lawrence showed up; however, he only stayed long enough to gather some food, then left. So Elenore still had him in time out, then. Looking over the food options, Tony took a couple pastries, a jambon-beurre - which, as far as he could tell, was a fancy French name for a ham sandwich - and poured himself a cup of coffee. Glancing at Jeanne, he noticed that she seemed to perk up as Sam walked in, having trailed a bit behind them. He wondered what that was about; maybe she thought Sam was the most likely to have seen Miguel? Or maybe there was some other reason.. who knows.

Not long afterwards, Jeanne left the room. Sam left too, after filling up his plate. Was he following her? Tony had mentioned his intention of talking to her with Constance, and had assumed that Sam would probably end up joining them, but maybe after their conversation Sam decided to just take matters into his own hands? Tony didn't particularly trust Sam, but if he didn't want to follow them around, that was fine by him. As long as him going off on his own didn't end up sabotaging his own plans. If Jeanne was an ally, Sam talking to her couldn't cause much harm. But if she was an enemy trying to play innocent...

Tony turned to Constance. "It looks like both Jeanne and Sam have left already. Do you want to go find her, or would you rather sit and eat first?"

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The tea that Constance got was perfect, delicious. Other family members started to filter out, carrying their food and drink with them, heading to other parts of the house. If anyone wanted to know where they spent their time, this would be a good way to figure that out.

Jeanne looked surprised when Sam joined her, but excited. She had just taken a bite of food and covered her mouth to finish chewing and swallowing it. Once she had she said, “Oh, hi, I’m Jeanne. Yeah, you can join me.” She gestured to one of the other wooden deck chairs near her. She took a sip of her drink. Jeanne looked like she wanted to say something, but held it back.

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“That’s a good idea,” Ralph said in regards to Rhi’s suggestion about using technology in schools. Richard nodded at the idea and seemed to take it as a real possibility.

Ralph frowned, trying to remember if Elenore had said anything about the seating. He remembered going in and trying to find his seat. “Maybe Felix would know, or one of the maids. If Elenore keeps stonewalling everyone who asks her questions, he might be a better source of information,” Ralph suggested.

“What is HP sauce anyway? I remember that fight; it was awkward.” Ralph rubbed the back of his head, thinking. “If Renee knew...” Ralph started to say, but caught himself looking around. This probably wasn’t the best place to have a conversation like this.

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Same laughed. ”You don't need to worry about all that polite stuff and covering your mouth. It's just us two in here and that feels a bit too formal.” He grabbed a pastry taking a bite out of it. She looked like she wanted to say something. Ask something. ”You know, investigators get a bit of a sixth sense. Mines telling me that you're wanting to say something. Spill.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I knew who you were before. You and... Miguel,” she said, pausing slightly. Nervous.

”Oh. Is…that why you looked happy to see me when I walked in? Actually…where is Miguel? Don't think I've seen him since the whole fiasco with, actually I don't even remember the guys name. Is that bad? The one with the broken nose.”

“Yeah, it was. Lawrence. And I don’t know... we... were supposed to meet up and he never came.” She looks hurt. Like someone who got stood up.

”Wait, do you two like…actually know each other or something?”

Jeanne freezes. She bites at her lip a little, sighs and her shoulders drop a little. “He emailed me before coming here. We talked before he got here.”

”Wait. We could do that? Man I feel so out of the loop on everything here.” Sam sighed. ”You mentioned you two were supposed to meet up, what for?”

“We were going to go ghost hunting,” she explained.

”You still can if you'd like. I bet you know all the good spots around the house, or rooms I couldn't enter normally. I've got equipment if youre uh interested. If not that's cool, you know Miguel was your go to so.”

Her eyes lit up. “I'd love to.” Then her shoulders dropped again a little. “But what about Miguel? Is he okay? I knocked on his door and he didn't answer.”

Sam frowned. Did she not know then? When she mentioned knowing Miguel he had assumed that it was her who tipped him off. But if she was asking him. ”Honestly I don't know him very well to say. Well met for the first time here and he seemed…to hate me I think. At the very least was very competitive about the whole hunting thing. I don't get it.”

“Oh... I thought you knew each other.”

Sam shook his head no. ”People keep asking us to collab but we never got around to it. Never really reached out to be honest.”

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Constance noticed that Sam and Jeanne went off to sit together and sighed to herself at that point. She had seen how she had reacted and figured it might be best to let them talk. "I feel like we should let Sam talk to Jeanne... it seemed that she lit up when he entered the room. I think we'd be intruding. Let's sit and eat first and then talk to her." She gently rubbed his arm softly, knowing he probably was a bit disappointed to not get to talk to Jeanne but well, maybe Same might get something out of her that they could not.

She went to sit down, and set her salad and tea down in front of her, and relaxed a bit as she took her seat. Sure, there was a lot going on, and they probably should talk to some of the other La Lunes, but she was feeling really hungry. She doubted she'd be subtle when talking to any of them at this point, given how she knew she was when she was hangry as the children called it.

She sipped her tea and looked at Tony and offered him a small smile. They would have time to figure it out. They had to. Their very lives could depend on it.

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”It’s a sauce typically used on steak. Honestly, it’s common in most households for people who want a little extra flavour to their meal. Kind of like ketchup,” Rhiannon said, scanning the room for Felix.

Elenore was a lost cause to Rhi. And maybe shouting, ‘Renee was your daughter!’ in the middle of the dining hall wasn’t the best course of action. Rhi spotted Felix behind the buffet table, helping to serve food. They moved that way and glanced at Ralph.

”If Renee knew what? The seating arrangement beforehand? That’s what I’m wondering. Let’s go talk to Felix.”

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As she ate, her thoughts spiraled in different directions. There were other myseries forming here apart from Renee and Miguel's deaths. Her mind was still stuck on why they were called here and who knew their secrets. The main reason she wanted to speak to Eleanor was because she had wanted to see which of the other family members had a hand in picking who came. Eleanor may have had final decision, but if one of the choices was agreed upon, it led to that person knowing something about their nominee.

She looked over to Brendan, wondering his thoughts on this assortment. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, glancing over to the others in the room. A way of showing they should keep it calm and light, not speaking of anything they didn't want listening ears to hear. "Bit of a downer, with Renee gone. And it seems our benefactors would prefer to continue on despite it. I get there's money on the line, but someone is dead." She said it loud enough for people to hear, but her eyes spoke differently. "Let's see if anyone takes the bait."

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Tony nodded and agreed without argument to let Sam talk to Jeanne first, although internally he had plenty. He tried not to stew over them much as they sat down to eat. They needed to focus on figuring out the secrets of this family, not fighting each other.

Unfortunately, so far there wasn't much progress on that front. More and more, Tony was becoming sure that if they were going to figure this mess out, they'd have to find a way to search through the family's private wing. Elenore's office in particular, but any of their rooms could hold the secrets they needed. Finding a way to actually do it would not be easy, though. Not only is their whole wing locked behind a keypad that none of them knew the code for, but even if they got past that, getting caught in there by anyone - family or staff - would be disastrous. Maybe if they could come up with a legitimate reason for one of them to go in with one of the family members, they'd be able to find out enough to plan the real search. Figuring out the code and getting a peek at what lay behind would be a lot better than trying to go in blind. But how?

Of course, that wasn't the only mystery to be unraveled. When he'd talked to Jeanne earlier, she'd mentioned something about how Vorace - the namesake for the award that was now the least of their priorities - had also died by falling down the stairs. Of course, he did not believe that Renee had actually fallen on accident. Was it possible that Vorace hadn't, either? It was a stretch, but it would definitely be worth asking her about it a bit more.

And perhaps it was the least important of the mysteries, but where the hell was Agatha? Plenty of the La Lunes were showing up for the weekend's events even if many of them clearly would've preferred not to. So why was she the exception? It probably didn't matter, but it was weird. Elenore didn't seem like the type to tolerate people refusing to do as she wanted, so why had Agatha not been dragged out of wherever she was hiding? Tony supposed that the answer was probably something simple and uninteresting. Maybe she was just sick and recovering in bed, or something. That seemed far more likely than some grand conspiracy.

Although... that gave him an idea. It probably wouldn't work, but it wouldn't be risking anything either. If he was wrong, it would just seem like an innocent comment. But if he was right, maybe it would be the in they needed.

Tony took a sip of his coffee, then turned towards Constance. He spoke in a casual tone, but loud enough for others to hear. "You know, I don't think I've met Agatha, yet. Did you see her come in? ...I don't think she was at dinner, either. I hope she's feeling well."

Maybe it was a swing and a miss. But if he happened to be right, maybe he could convince someone to let him pay her a visit.

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Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan sat with Millicent for awhile as they ate, and Brendan tried to think about everything and stay calm.

Millicent seemed lost in her thoughts as well, Brendan tried to figure out what to say. Finally Millicent spoke. She asked Brendan what he thought about all this, and wondering why things were going as normal even after the deaths. She spoke a bit loudly, but her eye contact had an alertness to it that showed Brendan what she really was doing. She wanted to see if anyone would react.

Brendan gave the same look back, just for a moment, before going along with it. "Oh my god, right? It's weird. Not that I'm judging our hosts....they've been lovely...but..."

Brendan resisted to urge to see if anyone was looking at them. He tried to stay in the moment. Millicent was smart, and he really respected that. Finding away to keep searching for information, even as they ate, instead of just taking it as a break like Brendan had been. He was glad he was with her. They were gonna figure this out, he just knew it.

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Jeanne seemed sad about something. Sam couldn’t be sure if it was that she still didn’t know where Miguel was, that Sam and Miguel didn’t know each other, or that the pair of them had never gotten around to collabing.

“Well, just let me know when and where to meet you for the ghost hunt, though. It’ll probably have to be after the dance tonight. Or during it if you’re willing to annoy my grandmother. She’d be so pissed if someone wasn’t where they were supposed to be.” She sighed and went back to eating her food.

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The room seemed to get quieter at Millicent’s comment. A few people shifted to look at the pair of them. Elenore wasn’t in the room, but the tension did seem to ramp up. Elizabeth made a strange noise.

“Well, if you don’t like it, you could just leave. Forfeit your chance to win the money and get out of here. Most of us don’t care about this song and dance. We have lives to get back to. This weekend is not the most important thing in the world.”

Millicent, as she is looking around the room, would catch that Richard, for a moment, looks devastated, but he quickly covers it up with a bite of food. Does he know who Renee is to him?

At the same time this conversation was going on, George looked at Tony. He looked nervous, almost upset about something. Was he worried about his wife’s health? Or something else?

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“I’ll tell you later,” Ralph said as they closed the distance to Felix.

Felix smiled at the pair of them as they approached. “Would you like seconds?”

“Oh, no. We just had a question about the sitting arrangement last night.”

“Yes?”

“Who decided on it?”

“Elenore, of course.”

“Of course.” Ralph sighed. He was about to say something else when Juliane leaned over.

“Sorry, but I was the one who did the setting last night. But the names were moved around later.”

Ralph looked at Juliane in surprise. Someone had come by after the official setting had been placed and moved people around. That seemed strange. Who could have or would have done that?

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It seemed her idea had worked. She knew her comment would ruffle feathers, but only those who had a care. "Isn't it funny how the people who proclaim to not care always seem to be the most vocal?" she asked Brendan, moreso for Elizabeth to still hear it. "Real easy to suggest to leave when doing so is near impossible."

"Also it's real interesting that we were all summoned here by random family members. Who wanted Renee here? Seems weird she would come only to wind up dead at the bottom of the stairs." She glanced at Richard. She desperately wanted him to speak up, to say something, or to give himself away. He looked upset, albeit brefly, but he regained his composure.

"So pardon me if I have a bit of compassion for someone who lost their life while everyone else acts like it's a minor inconvennce to your weekend plans. If anything, this whole thing makes me want to call my parents. Someone just lost a child, after all." This was definitely more pointed to Richard. She needed him to crack.

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Rhiannon nodded, curious as to where Ralph’s mind was going. Of course, the news Felix had to give them was expected. Of course, it was Elenore. She always had her hand in everything. Except, it seemed like she didn’t. Rhiannon turned to look at Juliane with renewed interest.

”Oh, really? Did you notice anyone who went into the room after you?” Rhiannon assumed it could have been any number of staff, but maybe there was someone from the family who had gone in. Or a member of staff who wouldn’t normally.

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Sam shook his head, taking a bite of his food as he tried his best not to talk while his mouth was full. ”I was actually talking to someone about potentially playing during it. She does Violin, I do Piano, we can do a duet to a song I know. It's a mixture of two types of Waltzes though I don't know if any of the nominees even know how to waltz. I'm just hoping that the dancers at least can and the rest can follow.” He grabbed another bite, contemplating with every chew of his food on whether or not to ask about Jeane's change in demeanor. She seemed sad, why he didn't know.

”We could always meet after it though. Late night hunts tend to be more fun in my opinion, though I warn you it's a lot of nothing sometimes. We tend to edit out the boring stuff when there's hours of no activity, so don't expect to have it be back to back excitement. Do you know any good locations here we could hunt at? I wouldn't mind trying the stairs or Renee's room, I…don't know if she'd be active but perhaps she is and can shed some light on what happened…I can only assume that's why you seem so sad right now.” Sam doubted it had anything to do with Renee's death and figured it had more to do with Miguel. Then again, she probably offered the same thing to him before he ‘stood her up’ which Sam knew why they hadn't met. Hard to do when you're dead.

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Constance nibbled on her food as she swore she could feel the tension in the air thicken, especially as the conversations turned towards various topics too close at hand to Renee and Miguel. Yes, the group of them were the only ones to know about him, besides the murderer, but that couldn't last forever. Just because the weather was sour didn't mean the groundskeeper wouldn't eventually notice the twice upturned dirt. Had they really covered him up? What if his finger was poking out? Constance hadn't been watching really, she couldn't. It had made her panic and feel ill.

At that memory, she found herself putting her fork down again, and only half listening to everything in the room, until Tony spoke. "You know, I don't believe I've met Agatha either, or have seen her. She was missing last night, I believe. Wasn't she suppose to be sitting next to you? Maybe it would do well for someone to check on her, maybe you? I know you're a surgeon, but it's not like they could get a doctor out here in this weather."

Constance did hope that she could help get at least Tony in to see Agatha, even if she couldn't. She did look up as Millicent spoke and blinked a bit. It seemed that she was trying to bait him, then and there? Was that such a good idea to do in front of all the other La Lune's? She just hoped Millicent knew what she was doing... or that any of them to be honest.

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While the room reacted to the remarks made by Millicent and himself, Tony sipped his coffee, watching and listening. Millicent had certainly riled up the room a bit, and it would be interesting to see how that situation unfolded, but for now his focus was on his own lead: George. If he remembered correctly that was Agatha's husband, and he looked nervous, or maybe unsettled, by Tony's comment. Tony wasn't sure if he had hit the mark by theorizing that she was ill, or if there was something else going on, but based on his reaction there was clearly something going on there.

Tony turned and listened as Constance responded, and nodded. "Yes, I believe she was. If she is feeling under the weather then that's some really unlucky timing, it would be a real shame if she misses out on the award ceremony and everything. I suppose I might be able to help if that's the case... I mean, you shouldn't work on vacation, but I've already had to do so twice so one more wouldn't hurt.

"I'm sure that if she is sick, someone will ask at some point," he added, before taking another bite of food. As he ate, he kept a close eye on George, or at least as close as he could without staring and being obvious. He briefly considered asking directly, but dismissed the idea, for now. Acting eager would likely do more harm than good. If she was ill, they'd probably planted the idea well enough for George to bring it up, if he had any interest in doing so. Tony was no expert himself, but he'd spent more than enough time around manipulative people to know that making someone think something was their idea often saw better results than trying to convince them to do it. Especially when keeping a low profile is as important as it was now.