---

---

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

---

---

It was working, people were reacting. Brendan was amazed with Millicent. She really knew what she was doing. There was a comment about how anyone who wanted to could leave, a sentiment almost as ridiculous as having this much money but still only buying one boat.

Millicent commented on this too. Brendan nodded, "Yeah, didn't these guys only have one boat? And someone took it to the mainland and hasn't come back yet? Where would we go?"

Millicent continued, ending with pointing out how someone had just lost a child. Brendan knew who she was aiming that at, though he was afraid to make a big deal by turning to look and see if there was a reaction. He hoped Millicent would be able to see, and tell him later. Her delivery was incredible, he wondered if he'd ever be able to talk her into doing drag. She would be incredible at those 'read down the opponent' challenges. Or improv. Or theatre.

Though it wasn't acting when Brendan responded. "It is really sad. I wish I could call someone. It's awful, what happened." He ended the sentance there, trying not to think about it too much.

---

---

---

“We don’t know who did any of the nominations; we only know who we voted for. Only Elenore knows who voted for everyone. She holds this whole thing in her fist,” Elizabeth said, exasperated. She stood up and looked at Beatrice. “I will see you later. I’m tired of these people. I can certainly say that any additional input from me on the situation regarding these nominees will only be of the negative sort.”

Beatrice, who had been halfway through a bite, slowly chewed on the food, covering her mouth, trying not to be noticed. Elizabeth left the room, her plate of half-eaten food left behind, her glass of wine taken with her.

George met eyes with Tony and mouthed, “Talk later.” There was concern etched into his face.

Whatever Richard was feeling, he had clamped down enough on his emotions that he was hard to read. His shoulders were stiff, and he ate his food slowly. He was looking at Millicent. If his expression was one of concern or sadness, it was impossible for her to discern which. He swallowed his bite of food and said, “From her information packet, this is not the first tragedy in her life.”

---

Jeanne made a slightly disgusted face when Sam mentioned that he might be playing a duet with someone on the violin. “If that is Gabrielle you plan on playing with, you’ll want to reconsider. She hadn’t touched her violin in months.” She huffed, seemingly irritated at the very mention of her cousin.

“I would love to meet up with you later. I don’t care if it is boring. There are a few spots. There is the basement, attic, and some old wine storage that might be interesting. The stairs might be a hot spot. My great-grandfather died there, too. Kind of eerie, actually. He fell down the stairs just like Renee. That was years ago.”

---

---

---

---

“I’m sorry. I didn’t notice anyone else. I was very busy.” She shifted, looking a little uncomfortable.

“It is alright, we know this is not the job you thought you were being hired for. We will keep your secret,” Felix said, patting her shoulder lightly. “You have borne up well under the pressure.”

“Do you have the original sitting chart?” Ralph asked. If they could figure out what all changes were made, maybe that’d give them an idea of who might have done the changing.

“Ah, I do still have that.” Juliane smiled and reached into her pocket, from within she pulled out a small folder. On one side was a notepad with writing, in what Ralph assumed was Juliane’s hand, in French. The other side was a pocket with a few folded documents. He recognized one as Juliane flipped through them as the itinerary, and there was also a map. She removed a document in a slightly fancier hand that might be Elenore’s. This paper had a diagram of the table. She handed it over to Rhi and Ralph.

---

---

---

---

Juliane seemed uncomfortable with the questioning, which made Rhiannon frown. But Felix jumped in and reassured her. Rhiannon crossed their arms, still frowning until Juliane produced the original seating chart. They leaned over to read it with Ralph. Renee was the only one who had been in a different position, switched with Lawrence of all people. Rhi leaned back and looked at Juliane.

”And you and Eleanor are the only ones who had access to that chart? Was it stored on a computer?” Rhi asked curiously.

---

---

---

---

Constance could tell that the bait had been taken, as she caught out of the corner of her eyes that George was mouthing something to Tony. She took a long sip of her tea at that point, and then picked at her salad a bit more. As hungry as she was, the tension in the room was mounting more at that point and she could tell that things were getting close to snapping, especially when Elizabeth left the room.

She did have to wonder if Samuel was getting anything good out of Jeanne, but she would have to ask about that later, when they could be alone. For the moment, she kept her ears out, trying to see if there was anything else she could pick up on. It seemed the pressure on Richard wasn't resulting in anything more than him being either sad or concerned, which wasn't proof of him knowing the truth either way.

It was bugging her that it seemed there was truly no way to leave the island for any of them, and no way to communicate off the island. No doctors able to come, no police officers, nothing. She already knew that, but it was bugging her more and more. Blackmail, murder, family secrets? Was there anything else going on that they didn't know about? Maybe Agatha wasn't sick, maybe someone had poisoned her.

She picked up her tea again and took another long sip. "Would you like my help later?" She looked at Tony, hoping he would understand what she was offering to help him with.

---

---

---

---

Milicent waved Elizabeth off. It wasn't like she wanted to be here still. The money wasn't worth it anymore. So to have the family that brought them here, intentionally or not, continue to complain drove her nearly insane. "Maybe whine about it more. That solves everything," she said to the disappearing Elizabeth.

Millicent still kept her attention on Richard. The man was clearly hiding something, but it was hard to tell if it was sadness, anger, fear, or a combination of the three. And to have him tell it, he knew of Renee's history. "What do you mean this isn't her first tragedy?" Millicent knew they had dossiers on the nominees; it only made sense. But how in-depth did they go? It stood to reason that it may very well have led to whoever left them the notes having access to this information also.

She so badly wanted to call him out on it, but she figured she could get some information first.

---

---

---

---

---

Sam raised an eyebrow at the comment about Jeanne’s cousin and her aptitude for playing the violin. He could tell that there was no good feelings between the two of them, given the way she was acting at the mere thought of him playing a duet with her. Either that or she just really hated hearing her cousin play the violin. ”Kinda already offered to play with her, it’d be a bit rude to pull that back now. Beside’s, I haven’t touched a piano in a bit myself, so maybe I wont sound so bad next to an out of practice violinist.” He tried to joke, but whether or not it landed that way he had no idea. After all Sam was almost useless at these social gathering type events. ”Though I am curious, you say she hasn’t played in months…why? From the markings on her chin I would’ve thought she played every day if not more. Did something happen to make her stop?” Did the death of a member cause her to lose the music within? Or perhaps she was just too busy to play anymore. Sam had no idea how the wealthy lived their lives or what they did within their spare time. But something had to give for her to quit what had appeared to be a passion of hers.

Sam sat back in his chair, thinking about which of the locations he would want to meet Jeanne at. Which ones they could get away with as well. It was definitely strange to hear another member of the family died the exact same way as Renee had. ”We can start on the stairs then maybe, assuming there isn’t some sort of roving patrol that checks the house at night. Would hate for us to get busted before we even began. Though I have to wonder, do you know who all was present in the house the night your great-grandfather died? See if they might know something of the incident, perhaps there was a scent or sound something that could help to trigger an event as we investigate. The more information on a spot, the higher the chances are that we can actually catch something. It takes a lot of research to help find spirits, even more so to attempt to trigger any events and findings. So any information on what could’ve been the first in a line of stair related accidents would be real helpful in our investigation tonight. From there we can move towards the attic, then maybe wine storage given the places history, and then finally the basement. Those area’s could have remote camera’s too, easier to video a room no one should access at night than a staircase others may use.”

---

---

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

---

---

Brendan was surprised. Negative sort? There had been a murder! Of course people felt bad. How were they so casual? Was people dying at their event normal for them?

Richard was looking towards them. He said something about not her first tragedy? What did that mean? Was this a normal occurance for someone else?

Millicent asked about it, and Brendan didn't want to interrupt whatever was going to be said, so he stayed quiet, but looked to Millicent. They should probably go soon to go help with they'd agreed to, but maybe this had something to do with what had happened with Renee. It could be important. Anything could. Brendan was afraid he'd go about things wrong and miss information. Millicent seemed focused though. He was glad he was with her. Maybe he could learn something from her, or at least help figure things out. And sooner or later, the boat would return, right? They could leave, and get to safety before whatever happened to the others happened to them?

---

---

---

---

Tony nodded in response as George made eye contact and mouthed something that he thought was "Talk later." He wasn't great at reading lips, but that interpretation made far more sense than "Tow Mater," "Mark Hater," or "Darth Vader." In any case, he seemed to be taking the bait, which was a promising development. Maybe Tony would be able to get a look behind the locked door that likely hid some of the family's secrets. Perhaps more importantly, it would be a great chance to take a peek at the code being entered on the keypad. If he could get the code, that would open a lot of doors for their investigation - literally and figuratively.

Letting that lead rest for the time being, Tony started paying more attention to the other ongoing conversation in the room, regarding Renee. That one seemed pretty tense, with Elizabeth getting fed up and leaving the room altogether. He hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, but he hoped that Millicent was getting something useful from it. Getting some valuable information would be worth having more angry La Lunes than they already had, but if it was for nothing then it certainly wouldn't be ideal.

His attention turned back to Constance as she spoke, offering her help later. He nodded as he began to respond, speaking considerably more quietly than he had been; he was not trying to be overheard this time. "Your help is always welcome. I don't know if he'll want to talk with anyone besides me, but if nothing else, having someone close enough to make sure I don't... get lost, would be reassuring."

Finishing the last of his food, Tony checked his watch; it was past 4, now. He turned towards Constance again. "Once you're done eating, shall we go talk to our friend?" He hoped that she understood he meant Jeanne, although he supposed that if she understood it to mean Sam, that would be fine too. They may not exactly be on good terms at the moment, but he was supposed to be the messenger between the groups, after all.

---

---

---

The staff started to clean up. Those who had finished eating and had been in the room started to disperse. George stayed. Richard stood up. He looked down at Millicent, his hands shaking slightly.

“Her mother, she was very young. So she grew up in a home,” Richard said, his voice cracked. “She didn’t have anyone.” He turned and started to walk out of the room, but he lost his balance and only caught himself by sitting back down in the chair he had just vacated.

George stood up and went to Richard’s side. “Are you alright?”

---

“That mark on her chin is why she hasn’t played in a while. She’s got a violin hickey. Her body is rejecting it. She’s been playing since she could walk, and her body decided it was time for her to be allergic to it. She literally can’t play anymore.” Jeanne’s voice was flat, hard to read. She shifted as Sam talked about the ghost hunting. Her shoulders went back slightly, even as she leaned forward toward him.

“The stairs are a good place to start. There are a couple of places in the basement that’d be good to look at, too. I know a path to the old church, too. That place is super creepy. Lena is the only one who really watches the cameras. It isn’t like we actually have security. Just Faustus and Armel. But Armel isn’t even on the island right now.”

---

---

---

---

“It wasn’t stored anywhere to my knowledge. She handwrote it.” Felix and the others were cleaning up. She glanced over but Felix waved her off.

Ralph frowned, uncertain of what to ask next. They were sort of in the way now. He glanced over and saw George and Richard. It looked like George was comforting Richard. Ralph tilted his head. He hadn’t caught what had caused that.

“Did you have other questions? I don’t know how much more I can help,” Juliane admitted.

“Do you have any idea why someone would switch people’s seats? It had to have happened before we all got downstairs right? We were let in as a group. So it had to be one of the staff or family.”

“I do not know. I am sorry. I am new here. I don’t know the family’s secrets like some of the older employees might. But I can tell you my thoughts on some of them. Lawrence, the one who was switched with Renee, is Richard and Elenore’s son. He is... rude. I think you already knew that, though. But he...” She trailed off and twisted her hands into the hem of her apron. “The agency I work through, he has hired from there before. He recognized us.”

“Agency?” Ralph looked at her, confused. Her lips went thin.

“You are American, you have uhhh... escorts? Yes?”

Ralph blinked.

---

---

---

---

Handwriting? Did everyone here, except for two people, live in the dark ages? It was looking more and more like they would have to break into Elenore’s office, but well, did Rhi really want to do that? And Lawrence was Richard’s kid. Well, if he found out about who Renee actually was, that would give him excellent motivation, wouldn’t it?

Then Juliane said something that pulled Rhiannon back to the present. They blinked as well before laughing.

”What? Seriously? Oh, this is too good. Did he ever hire any of the staff members here? Or do they work directly for him?” If he hired someone to work for him here, well, who knows what secrets that person had on Lawrence.

---

---

---

---

Constance finished her tea as she waited for Tony to reply, not that there was much left in the cup by that point. The tea had been disappointing so she had sipped it quickly to get rid of it as fast as possible. After this whole weekend was done, she was going to have to visit her mother and have her make her some tea, as it really was still the best cup of tea Constance had ever had.

"Of course. The manor is rather large, wouldn't do to get lost inside of it." Constance was glad he had taken the offer, as they really did need to stick together, just in case, and this way everyone there knew that Constance was with Tony so if he went missing, she would be looking for him. That or would be the most ideal suspect. She didn't like that idea, and rather hoped that people wouldn't think of her as the suspect.

"Mmm I do believe I'm done eating, if we would like to go talk to our friend. Shall we?" She offered him a small smile, not wanting to get up just in case he was still eating. She was hoping that Jeanne was done talking with Sam and that she would be amenable to talking with them. It really would be a bother to find out that she wasn't open to having a discussion with them.

She did look up as Richard seemed to stumble, and raised a brow. Maybe he really was more affected than he was letting on, that or he knew. Maybe even if they didn't have verbal proof, this was something.

---

---

---

---

Millicent knew she hit the nail on the head and a part of her felt the thrill of connecting the dots. Richard appeared emotional, moreso than she had expected or witnessed from him. The patriarch falling off the throne. Millicent wondered how much of this Eleanor knew. She had to know, surely.

As Richard got up Millicent followed, casting a glance to Brendan seeing if he intended to follow them also. Before she could reach to stop him, Richard stumbled and got back into his seat. Millicent remained standing, staring at the man. His emotional walls were down now and she could see it fully.

Richard was grieving. But it wasn't just for Renee. Bringing up Renee's mother had brought up more feelings. Deep, painful feelings. The emotional wreckage of the memories were laid bare. Richard had loved Renee's mother. No amount of hiding it would do any good. "You loved her, didn't you?" Millicent left the 'who' anonymous, as it could be for Renee or her mother.

"Is that why she was brought here? She was looking for someone. Was that you?" Her words were not accusatory. If anything, Millicent felt bad. She didn't think Richard had any intention of all of this happening. This didn't seem like the grief of a man who killed his potential daughter. This was the grief of a man who missed an opportunity.

---

---

---

---

---

Sam had a time set for later tonight, a plan in motion, and the hopes that something would turn up during the investigation. Either a paranormal encounter or some information from what appeared to be Miguel's friend. He didn't want to press his luck too much, what's more he hoped he wasn't reading her wrong and that she was somehow the killer who was luring him in alone with the promise of an investigation. He'd finished his plate of food, looking at Jeanne and smiling. ”I'll see you later tonight then. First at the party I guess but then after for a bit of a hunt. Can't wait to see all you can show me and hopefully everything we'll capture too.”

Sam stood up from the table, gathering his plate and cup as he made his way back into the room where most everyone was. He saw Ralph and Rihannon talking to Juliane, he hoped he wasn't interrupting as he made his way over to them, dishes in hand. ”Ah if it isn't my favorite maid Julianne La Putain. About the only French word I really know now beyond Bonjour and uh…Baguette I guess. Not really sure what to do with my dishes if I'm honest. Felt rude to just leave them on the table, sorry if I'm interrupting something.”

---

---

---

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you at the party.” She smiled and winked. As Sam left, she settled back into her seat and finished her meal.

---

“I didn’t invite her here. I didn’t. I don’t know who put her name in. She earned it; Elenore wouldn’t have sent the invite if she didn’t believe in the person. But I heard what she was doing.” He had leaned slightly into George. The two looked awkward. They had never embraced in such a way before. “Renee, though... I didn’t know, not until last night. I had lost touch with her mother. I didn’t even know about Renee.” He started to sob.

---

The staff’s attention, especially Felix's, was on Richard. Juliane’s attention flickered, but she focused back on Rhi and Ralph. Felix went over to Richard’s side, kneeling and checking him over slightly. He was by no means a doctor, but he had been around as the family aged over the years and knew enough to keep an eye on.

---

---

---

---

“He never hired Aurélia or me personally. No one else here was hired like us. Everyone else is full-time regular staff, except for maybe Aziza, the sous chef. But Lawrence recognized our photos from our profiles. I think that even though it seems to be an accident that someone knew. I don’t know who, though.”

Juliane smiled as Sam joined them. “Here, I’ll take the dishes.” She held out her hands for the dirty dishes. Ralph had finished his meal too and held it up to see if Juliane wanted it too. She nodded, taking it.

“Do you have any guesses for who might have the website other than Lawrence?” This weird hiring accident sounded... strange. Who would accidentally hire an escort for a maid? That website would have to be very misleading for someone to do that. He frowned as he tried to figure it out. He had met almost everyone of the La Lunes, and he thought he had met all of the staff, but apparently not. Was the staff a danger? Maybe someone was a paid assassin?

Juliane shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t.” She took the dishes, joining them with the others that the other staff had been gathering up. “I should start working again. I suppose good luck. I’m a little freaked out, and Aurélia is very freaked out. She doesn’t even want to leave the kitchen.”

---

---

---

---

Millicent hated to admit it, but a part of her felt bad for Richard. Insofar as she could feel bad for any wealthy person. If Richard was telling the truth, he had no idea Renee had existed until recently. But that meant that whoever sent the text knew about Renee and Richard.

Millicent paused a second and replayed what Richard had said. Something about it was off. He knew what Renee was doing for work, but then he said he only found out about her last night. So either Richard was getting things messed up or he was lying. But...that was a pretty obvious lie.

Millicent hasn't had much experience with people struggling with memory. But it seems like Richard isn't aware. Millicent got the sense that when Richard referenced last night he didn't mean actual last night, instead he meant some time ago. Which means that Renee and Richard's connection was known for some time, at least.

She hated to push, but this information was starting to put things together. "Richard, I know it's painful, but if you truly cared about Renee and her mother, I need your help so we can find out what happened. Do you know who nominated Renee to come here? Or who made the final decision to ensure she makes it here? Was it Eleanor?"

---

---

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

---

---

Brendan hesitated, unsure what to do. If Richard didn't even know about Renee, then who did? Renee knew about him, right? He'd gotten a text saying she'd been looking for him But she couldn't nominate herself, could she? Who had those texts been from before? Brendan was confused. Was he recalling things wrong or was this all just not making sense? He looked up again. Richard was crying. Brendan had no idea what to do. He sat down as Millicent spoke, asking what he knew. Brendan nodded as he sat.

His head was in a rush as he thought of all the things he could say. He could tell Richard that Renee had been looking for him...but would that just make him more sad? He could reassure and tell him they would figure it out...was that too sad too? Shit. "Anything you know will help. We'll figure this out, we promise," Brendan said. In truth, he was growing less confident in his ability to even keep track of all of this, much less solve it. But he was a drag queen, he could act confident and brave, regardless of how scared he felt inside.

---

---

---

---

---

Same waved goodbye at Jeanne, his hands going back to his dishes as his thumb rubbed against the edge feeling uneasy about giving Julianne his dirty dishes. He understood that it was her job, for now, but it still felt wrong. There were other locations and fast food restaurants that did a similar thing, after you finished paying you simply left the mess there for them to clean up afterwards and he hated that too. It always felt awkward. But he inevitably gave him, handing his dishes to her after Ralph had as he listened in to the conversation that was at hand.

He raised an eyebrow at the topic. He had no idea exactly what they were referring to, but it was certainly something within his wheelhouse at least. ”Oh. I mean maybe I could help with that a little bit. If they used the Wi-Fi to access the site then it'll be logged within the router. Give me access to the router and I can probably pull the logs, and from there we may be able to snag the singular device used to do it.” Sam looked at the group, gauging to see if it was something they'd want to happen and could help with. He'd still need to find the router and for that He'd need Juliannes help.

---

---

---

---

Rhiannon glanced around the room after Juliane’s revelation. It was definitely too good to be true. Someone here, or maybe a couple someones, was looking to air some of the family’s dirty laundry. Was it perhaps Renee before she passed? Was she working with someone and then they decided to kill her? Or was it something different all together.

Rhi tapped their chin, thinking the whole plot over when they noticed Richard crying. Rhi quirked their head to the side. Did Millicent and Ivanna just tell Richard who Renee was? Rhi looked at Ralph with a slight frown. See? They totally should have said something earlier.

”Ya, that sounds like a good plan,” Rhi said, answering Sam. They looked at him and smiled. ”Let’s do it.”

---

---

---

“Elenore makes all the final decisions. I have no idea who nominated her. I didn’t know until she was here.” Richard sounds a little less coherent the more he talks. George looks down at him with concern on his face.

“Maybe, we should go to your room, Richard,” George suggests.

---

---

---

---

“Oh, hmm. My understanding is that anything with tech in the house basically just goes through Leda at this point. No one else really knows technology. You’ll have to ask her,” Juliane answered Sam’s question, smiling at him.

“Thank you, Juliane. We’ll let you get back to work,” Ralph said. He caught Rhi’s look and glanced over at Richard. He seemed... distraught. He blinked. A little concerned. Had he not known, and Millicent had told him? Was he having a breakdown?

“Uh, I noticed Leda is basically always in that corner seat in the bar. Let’s go talk to her, I suppose.” He didn’t think they needed to get involved in what was going on with Richard. There would be too many cooks if they did. But he wouldn’t stop Rhi or Sam if they wanted to find out what was going on.

---

---

---

---

Rhiannon headed towards the bar, scanning the room until they found Leda. They remembered trying to strike up a conversation with Leda the other night. Rhiannon found solace in computers and became a bit of a hacker. They had been hoping to bond, but Leda hadn’t really taken the hint. Then Renee happened.

Rhiannon shook their head before sitting next to Leda, smiling. ”Leda, my…friends…and I have a favour to ask of you.” Rhiannon wasn’t sure Sam and Ralph could be friends, but there was a level of bonding to be experienced when one was trying to solve a murder.