TheMaster99

Château de La Lune

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Location: Château de La Lune: Lounge -> Lavender Room
Skills: N/A

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After pouring his second cup of coffee, Tony looked around the room. He saw that besides Constance and himself, the other people still in the room were Sam, the pilot, and the other dancer. He was about to go tell them about the noon meeting they were planning, but as he was considering what to say he saw Constance head over to them, speak for a moment, then leave to her room. Well, I guess she beat me to it, then, he thought. Well, now what? Millicent and Ivanna had gone off somewhere, they would be the only ones left that didn't know about the meeting. They'd need to be told at some point, but Tony seriously doubted that Millicent would welcome him trying to track them down right after they left, considering she seemed to barely tolerate his presence when he talked to them earlier. They'll have to find out later, then.

But then Tony finally remembered that he was forgetting someone. There was another man at dinner last night, wasn't there? ...Yes, the guy that broke Lawrence's nose the first time, then disappeared for the rest of the night. Now that Tony thought of it, he realized he hadn't seen him ever since he left halfway through dinner. Strange. Surely he's not... no, that's crazy. Maybe he's just sick. For a brief moment he considered going to check on the man, before ruling it out. I'm a surgeon, not a general practitioner. If he's sick there's little I could tell him that he wouldn't already know. Besides, this was supposed to be a vacation. A vacation where a woman was killed, everyone is being blackmailed, and the hosts are probably spying on us...

In the short term, there was nothing Tony could do about those first two items, and currently there was no one he could inform about their planned meeting. So he decided to try to tackle the last item instead, picking up his coffee and heading to his room. If he could find any cameras or microphones or anything of the sort in his room, that would be significant. Not only would it prove he was right to be worried about it, but it would help him gain everyone else's trust, too; if he found anything in his room, surely they'd be able to find similar devices in the same places in their rooms. Furthermore, it would mean he could make at least his own room safe for discussing their plans... assuming he found everything, anyway.

Walking through the door to his room, he closed and locked the door behind him, set his coffee on the desk, and got to work. He looked around for a good while, and at least in his own opinion he was pretty thorough. He'd seen people searching for wires before, and although he'd never done it himself he did have some idea as to what he was doing. However, those people had used an RF detector to help with the search, and Tony had nothing of the sort. If there was something hidden in his room - which Tony still suspected was likely - they were probably laughing at him as they watched his fruitless search unfold. Eventually he gave up, having found nothing. It wasn't proof that there wasn't something there, necessarily, but if there was they were probably very well hidden.

Tony could only hope that their investigation into who was blackmailing everyone - and why - would have more success.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony’s conversation with Millicent and Ivanna had gone about as well as could be expected. Millicent still seemed very cagey with him, but Ivanna had provided all the information he needed. Ivanna was also being blackmailed, and if she and Constance both were in the same boat then surely everyone else must be, too. Millicent wouldn’t admit it, but she didn’t deny it when he suggested that they all were in the same position, either. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to tell him about it. He sure as hell didn’t want to tell anyone either, but the situation was quickly becoming too dangerous to value full privacy over securing allies. Besides, in the grand scheme of things, the fact that he has a secret is not too threatening to reveal. He sure as hell won’t tell anyone more than that, but they have no reason to need to know more, either.

Perhaps almost more significantly, there was no going back now. Tony told them his suspicions about Renee’s death, and there is no way to put that cat back in the bag. He’d defied the warning he was given, and if he was not extremely careful, that could have grave consequences. Now he had to pray that Millicent and Ivanna would take his warning about caution seriously. If either of them had loose lips, it could be his undoing even if he doesn’t step one foot out of line himself. …But, he realized, they don’t know that. Would they be as cautious as they need to be, not knowing he’d been contacted? That should probably be rectified… but it would have to be somewhere he’s certain no one else can possibly overhear.

Tony was jolted out of his thoughts by Constance sitting down next to him. He returned her smile. ”Of course I don’t mind,” he replied, then took a sip of his coffee, which was now starting to cool. ”We’re not alone,” he added, with a pointed look. It was both a straight-to-the-point report of what he’d learned, and a reminder that they shouldn’t speak openly; but to anyone else listening it might seem like no more than a statement of fact.

Constance nodded as Tony said they were not alone. She knew that the staff were probably not on their side, even if they were innocent in all this in the grand scheme of things. She sat up in her chair, not giving up the illusion for a moment. ”Mhm… but well, it seems that Sam also got a very informative welcome packet as well. Quite possibly all of us did.” Constance hoped that he would get the meaning, and that to any onlookers that weren’t in the know it would sound innocent.

Tony nodded at that. It confirmed their theory even more. He, Constance, Sam, and Ivanna had all definitely been blackmailed, and Millicent hadn’t denied it either. That left only a few people they weren’t sure of, but at this point it was a near certainty. The news that all of their peers could be trusted now, at least to a certain extent, was most welcome. But now what? They hadn’t planned this far yet. Somehow he - with their allies’ help - needed to confirm who exactly knew the details of the blackmail, and where those details might be secured. They’d probably need to figure out who killed Renee, too - assuming someone had - if for no other reason than to ensure they avoided a similar fate. Tony was confident that everyone would be on board with the latter goal, and they probably would be for the former as well, especially once they’re all convinced that the two issues are related. Of course, his end goal would have to be kept to himself, but he can figure that part out when the time comes.

Still, they needed a plan. Ideally everyone would be able to discuss it, but it would be incredibly difficult to find anywhere that many people could meet without the risk of them being caught by some recording device - a risk Tony was very hesitant to take. ”I don’t know about you, but I think some fresh air would be very refreshing for all of us, if the weather isn’t too bad. This place may be huge, but too much time cooped up inside can still be a bad thing,” he suggested. If everyone happened to go for a stroll of the grounds, and just ‘coincidentally’ stumbled into each other, they all might have a chance to talk without any eavesdroppers.

”Mmm I do hope that there will be enough umbrellas, but we could also try to see if they might be open to opening the museum up. I doubt they want the guests going too stir crazy, not in this situation.” Constance remembered on the map that the museum was marked as being closed, so maybe that meant that no one had done or left anything in there. She understood why Tony was suggesting outside, even in the weather. There was no way anyone could leave any kind of recording device outside, and with the weather the way it was, it would pick up mostly the rain and wind. However, she wasn’t sure that any of them wanted to risk their health. ”Though maybe also the patio might be a nice place to go.”

”Hmm…” he trailed off, considering it. If they really wanted to, there was no reason they couldn’t bug the museum, or the patio, or even the garden for that matter. But did he need to be that paranoid? I guess the better question is, are they that paranoid, he mused to himself. Maybe Tony was overthinking it too much, even if he’s had plenty of reasons to do so in the past. ”That will probably be good enough, if the weather won’t suit a walk,” he eventually agreed. ”At noon, maybe?”

Constance understood why he was being so hesitant. Everyone had a secret they didn’t want to get out, something worth being blackmailed over. Someone had already died because of that, or so was Constance’s theory. Maybe they were over thinking the idea of the whole house being bugged, but given the circumstances, who could blame them. ”Noon sounds perfect. A bit of time to let breakfast digest and maybe I can finally get my work out in. I will just have to find somewhere to do so.”

Tony nodded, and ate the last bite of his crepes. ”Noon it is, then. And if you insist, just… be careful,” he replied. He didn’t love the idea of her going off somewhere alone, after what happened to Renee, but hopefully he was just being overly paranoid.

Constance’s expression softened at that and she reached over and put her hand over his and squeezed softly. ”I’ll probably do something in my room, or somewhere where others are. Unless you want to join me.” She spoke softly, so that only he could hear her.

Tony smiled softly at her reassuring touch. ”As tempting as that is, I thought I would be no help for that kind of workout?” he teased. ”But no, I should probably spread the word about the benefits of fresh air. Doctor’s orders,” he added with exaggerated professionalism.

Constance blushed and giggled at that. ”Touche… I do need an actual work out. I’ll do my work out in my room then, and meet you outside at noon. Doctor’s orders after all.” She offered him a small smile as she pulled her hand back and then took another sip to finish off her coffee.

Tony returned her smile, then finished his own coffee. ”I’ll let you get on with your workout, then,” he said, standing up. But as he picked up his now-empty plate and cup, he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. ”Don’t tire yourself out too much, we have a long night of dancing and working out ahead of us.” Without lingering further, he went to the serving table for a refill of his coffee then began scanning the room, deciding who to tell about the meeting plans first.

Château de La Lune

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

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Finally exiting from his room into the lounge, Tony scanned the room. At one table he saw Constance talking to Sam, and at another he saw the interrogative magician - probably a consequence of his drinking last night, he did not recall her name; M-something? - talking to a man that didn't look familiar. He didn't seem to be family or staff, though. The drag queen, maybe. Besides those two pairings, the only other people that seemed to be present were the couple staff that attended to their breakfast. Where are the rest of the nominees? he wondered. There had certainly been more than this. Maybe they're all still getting ready after the unexpected start to the morning they'd all had?

Heading first to where the staff had laid out their breakfast, Tony poured himself a cup of coffee then requested some crepes from the chef. While he worked, Tony sipped some coffee and considered his next steps. He felt like he was back in school, navigating the politics of which table to sit at in the cafeteria. If he had no agenda, he certainly would have preferred to eat with Constance, for multiple reasons. Besides the obvious, there was the fact that his previous conversation with the magician had been more of a cagey standoff, and he didn't think he'd really spoken to the drag queen at all, yet. But he did have an agenda, so all of those reasons to choose one table were in fact reasons to choose the other. He already had Constance as an ally, and hopefully she was working on finding out if Sam was in the same predicament as them, and could be trusted. Joining their conversation would at best be unproductive, at worst could be counterproductive make him less likely to talk. It would be better to put out feelers with the other pair, and hopefully clear some of the tension between him and the magician. Furthermore, everyone else probably expected him to continue his pattern of focusing his attention on Constance, and that, too, was reason to do the opposite. There are people in this château that know far too much about him already; better to do the unexpected and keep them guessing, whenever possible.

With that decision made, once the chef was done Tony thanked him for the crepes, then approached the pair of nominees. "Hopefully I'm not intruding on your conversation?" he asked as he sat down with his breakfast.

“You can sit,” Said the man, gesturing, both his voice and his mannerisms very Ivanna.

Millicent stared at the new arrival. The good doctor had decided to join them. She wanted to speak to him anyway, but she didn’t necessarily want to do so with Brendan here. She still didn’t trust him. So she nodded her agreement and returned to her breakfast. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could talk to Felix.

Tony ate a bite of his crepes before speaking again. ”So, this morning certainly hasn’t gone how any of us expected. How are you two holding up?”

“It’s a lot to think about,” Ivanna said after a moment, looking sad. “I didn’t really know her but…it’s awful.”

”You don’t expect to wake up to someone dead. Or rather, most people don’t.” She looked at Tony now, uncertainty in her gaze. What did he want?

Tony nodded in agreement. ”Most people indeed. Come to think of it, there have been quite a few things now that most people wouldn’t expect. It makes you wonder,” he added as he took another bite, hoping he had managed the casual nonchalance he intended. How the hell do I bring this up without making it obvious?

Ivanna looked lightly confused. “You mean…this chatitino place itself or…” Ivanna looked like he knew something was being implied, just not what, glancing over to Millicent uncertainly.

Millicent glared at Tony now. He was scurrying around whatever point he was trying to make here. ”I don’t know about that so much. The family is odd, to be sure. Full of homophobes and one-percenters who likely don’t know a day’s work, but otherwise a fairly peaceful vacation. Apart from Renee, of course. Hey, you looked at her body, right? Poor thing probably fell.”

Tony sighed. Ivanna seemed confused - he had no idea what a ‘chatitino’ was - and Millicent’s glare said she was getting annoyed. Subtlety was not working well. They warned me not to talk about it at all. Do I dare to be direct with these people? He glanced around and decided no one else would hear, as long as he wasn’t too loud. He resisted the temptation to shoot a pointed look towards Ivanna, hoping this wouldn’t cause a scene. ”Maybe she did, all of her injuries would fit. But the wound on her head… it could be an accident, but I’m not convinced.”

“You--” Ivanna lowered his voice, “You mean you think like…someone pushed her?” Ivanna said, barely audible, “What wound on her head?”

”A wound to the head suggests foul play, doctor. Is that the route you’re leaning towards?” Millicent figured there was more to it, but she hadn’t expected Tony to share that information. If he was telling the truth, of course. ”That’s interesting. Who would want to hurt a preschool teacher?”

Tony nodded, continuing quietly. ”To be clear, it could be that she just hit her head on the way down. It’s possible. But… whatever it was that hit her head, it did quite a bit of damage. As for who, I don’t know, but like I said there have been a few weird things going on. People saying terrible things to guests, people acting strangely, things that don’t belong at an award ceremony. It can’t all be coincidences,” he finished before taking a sip of coffee, eyeing them warily. We’ll see if they have any idea what I mean.

Ivanna nodded slowly. “Some of the family are…not acting…good…ly, but some people are just like that, I think. What do you mean by things that don’t belong at an award ceremony? Do you mean like…” Ivanna shifted uncomfortably, looking very uncertain, “Things like…actual things, like objects? Did someone leave something in your room?” Ivanna looked hesitant.

Millicent bit her tongue. She wanted to see Tony’s reaction to what Ivanna said. She didn’t know if he was looking for information or seeing if they knew more about what’s going on. Millicent figured there had to be someone here with ill intent. She trusted Sam, Ralph, and Ivanna, but that was about as far as she wanted to put her trust.

So, Ivanna is being blackmailed, too. It must be everyone then, like we thought. Millicent was suddenly being quiet, though. Interesting. ”Something like that,” Tony agreed. ”I suspect we all probably have that in common. And what happened to Renee is probably related, so be careful who you talk to. We should all talk more later, somewhere we’re less likely to be overheard.” Tony had already said more than he would’ve liked, he would need to find somewhere safe before he would talk in more detail. Somewhere he could be sure no staff - and no recording devices - could listen. Outside, maybe, if the weather improves.

Ivanna nodded, still looking uncertain. He looked like he wanted to ask more, but stayed quiet.

Millicent still didn’t trust him, but she nodded her understanding. It seemed they all did have something in common. ”Let’s talk later then.” She left it there, clear she wanted Tony to go elsewhere for now.

Tony nodded. ”Later, then,” he echoed, then he picked up his breakfast and moved to another table by himself. Continuing his meal, he reflects on the conversation he just had.

Château de La Lune

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

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Walking out of the bathroom, Tony walks over to his luggage to decide what he'd be wearing for the day. He settles on a blue polo shirt which he matches with navy dress pants; much more casual than a suit, but still well-dressed. The pants don't seem too wrinkled, so he doesn't bother steaming them - although in truth, after the morning he's had he probably wouldn't have cared enough to do it anyways. Besides, he wanted to get started on finding allies.

Now dressed, he grabs his discarded pants from last night and takes his wallet and phone out of the pockets. Glancing at his phone, he notices that he has one unread message. Who the hell is texting me? he wonders. If he was being called into work they would have, well, called - and besides, they know he's taking a few days off, just not why. But it's not work; he has no idea who sent it. Curious, he opens it.

Text Message

Shocked, Tony reads the message again.

What the fuck?!

He reads it a third time. Swallowing, his eyes dart around the room, suddenly suspicious of being monitored. After a moment, he stares at the text again.

You know what happened. Keep quiet.

Tony had been skeptical of Renee's death being an accident, but he hadn't been certain it was murder, either. It was just a hunch, because of the blackmail and all the other strange events he'd seen. But this text proves it. Someone knows that he knows, and wants him to keep it to himself. The implied threat seems obvious: if they catch him saying the wrong thing, either he'll be dead, or at best maybe they'll reveal his secrets... in which case he might as well be dead anyway. There is no doubt that this text is related to the blackmail; it must have been one of the La Lunes that sent it, although he has no idea who.

He has no idea how they know of his suspicion, either. There are only three possibilities he can think of: Constance is involved, his conversation with Constance was overheard somehow, or they don't truly know, they only suspect he might and are covering their bases. The first option he feels comfortable immediately ruling out; not only does all his previous logic stand regarding why the blackmailer must be one of the La Lunes, but also her reaction to Renee's death seemed far too genuine to be faked. The latter would be very convenient, but of the other two options he had no way of knowing which was true. Microphones or cameras could very easily be hidden pretty much anywhere nowadays, he could look around every inch of the building and still not be guaranteed to find them.

Angry at this whole situation, Tony pulls his arm back to throw the phone at the wall in frustration, but he stops himself. He knows it wouldn't solve anything. Sighing, he sets the phone down on the bed next to him and holds his head in his hands.

What the fuck do I do now?

He considers responding to the text, but he can't come up with anything that might improve his situation. There's no chance they would give away any information, and he's in no position to negotiate. There's no way they would agree to keep his secrets to themselves in exchange for him keeping theirs - there's no way they uncovered his darkest secrets just for him to cover up a murder that hadn't even happened yet. Even if they did make such a promise, how could he ever trust it?

Tony is still determined to eliminate the threat of his blackmail, but this makes what was already an extremely difficult situation damn near impossible. If they catch him snooping around, he could be dead. If they catch him conspiring with anyone, or maybe even just think he might be, he could be dead. Yet if he complies and does nothing, the threat of his secrets being exposed remains. All roads seem to lead to the same outcome. But Tony stubbornly refuses to accept that. His mantra in life, for a long time now, has been that failure just means you haven't tried hard enough. If he tries hard enough, he will find a solution. He has to.

If he defied them, would they dare to confront him publicly? Surely their plan did not involve immediately killing everyone, or unceremoniously revealing everyone's secrets. If that was the case, they would've just done it as soon as they arrived. So maybe they wouldn't immediately stop him from defying them. If he keeps other nominees around him, maybe he would be safe, at least long enough for a better plan to be devised. But was he willing to gamble his life on that assumption?

After a few minutes of reflection, Tony makes his decision. Fuck them. I'll call their bluff. But very, VERY carefully. As soon as he'd discovered the blackmail yesterday he had known he was in grave danger, even if he spent the night trying to put it out of mind. He knew he would have to eliminate the problem, and he knew how risky that would inevitably be. He just hadn't expected the danger to come so soon. But he can handle this. He's used to deception, hiding secrets in plain sight. Playing things off as being normal. I can do this.

Tony gets up, pockets his phone, and heads to the door leading to the lounge, where breakfast awaits.

God, please don't let my poker face fail me now.

Château de La Lune

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

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With his mind still spinning from the conversation he just had with Constance, Tony heads back to his way-too-much-lavender room. His morning up to this point has been utter chaos, but finally he has a moment of peace to try to figure out how the hell he can regain some semblance of control over this situation. Stripping out of the few clothes he was wearing, he heads into the bathroom, locks both doors, and steps into the shower. As the warm water rains down on him, Tony reviews everything he knows about the situation.

When he'd arrived at the château, there was an envelope on his desk containing receipts identifying the source of the funds used to pay for all of his education. Over the course of the evening, it had become rather clear - in Tony's opinion, at least - that all of the nominees had surprisingly little in common, considering they'd all been nominated for the same award. The first evening was, overall, far more chaotic than these sort of events had ever been in Tony's experience. Then, in the morning, one of the nominees was found dead with injuries that could be a result of drunken clumsiness, but... considering everything else that was happening, that really would be too much of a coincidence. And now he knows that Constance is being blackmailed too. For all they know, all the nominees are.

The fact that they know who had invested so much into his future certainly isn't great, but wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world; it's the why that would mean he's truly fucked. But them pointing it out in the first place certainly implies that they do know why. And if so... Tony doesn't really want to think about it much, but the reality of the situation is that there probably isn't much he wouldn't do to keep that information secret. Tony may not see an issue with the why, but most people would vehemently disagree - so every single person that knows the truth is a major liability. There's no getting around the fact that he needs to figure out who is in on this, what they know, how they found out if possible, then the problem needs to be fully - and permanently - solved. It's not a comfortable thought.

The fact that a nominee is dead seriously complicates the situation. If her death was not an accident - and Tony has a gut feeling that it wasn't - then someone here at the château - or maybe multiple people - is willing to kill. But once again, the "why" matters significantly. Was it a fit of rage? The image of Lawrence flashes in his mind. Or was it a cold, calculated decision? If the theory he'd discussed with Constance was true, she may have been blackmailed too; did the blackmail factor into her death? Did she ask too many questions, or uncover the truth of what's going on here? One reason would have a wildly different impact on how the problem could be safely investigated compared to another. For now, Tony concluded that he'd have to assume any and all of those reasons are true. So for now, the killer has an explosive temper, and/or is willing to kill to keep their secrets safe, and/or has vendettas against the people they've invited into their home.

Well, that is completely unhelpful for trying to narrow the list down. Ugh.

In the end, what he'd discussed with Constance was undoubtedly the best course of action to start with. They had to find out if for some reason they were being targeted specifically, or if all of the nominees were being blackmailed. If they were all in the same boat, the possibility of working together would be one of the only advantages he had in confronting this dangerous problem. He definitely couldn't afford to trust them too much, though - they can't find out what his true intentions are. None of them would understand. I mean, how bad of a secret could someone like Constance, a ballerina, possibly have? At the thought, Tony felt a vague sense of déjà vu, a memory somewhere on the periphery of his subconscious... but he couldn't place it.

Dismissing the thought, he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. He was as clean as he was going to get; now it's time to quit stalling and start finding allies. Well... after getting dressed, anyway.

Château de La Lune

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Location: Château de La Lune: Foyer -> Evergreen Room
Skills: N/A

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Tony wasn’t totally sold on Sam’s suggestion of documenting everything he’d observed with the body - he probably shouldn’t be doing this at all, strictly speaking, and his medical license would mean nothing in France, and he wasn’t wearing gloves or even a shirt, for christ’s sake - but everyone else seemed to be in favor, so he did not argue. Sam asked if he truly believed that the teacher’s fate was merely an accident, but Tony was absolutely not willing to give his true opinion in front of Felix, not even in whispered conversation - so for the moment, he stuck to the facts. Once the photo session was done, Tony strode upstairs and past everyone still gathered near the stairs; if anyone tried to question him as he passed, he would look exasperated and answer, ”Look, I just woke up, I’m hungover, I haven’t even had a chance to shower yet. Ask me after breakfast.”

Walking down the hallway past all the bedrooms, the only thing on Tony’s mind is taking a nice, long shower after the terrible start to the day he’s had so far. Or perhaps more accurately, he’s fighting to avoid thinking about anything else until he’s alone. However, those thoughts are interrupted as he passes the Evergreen room - Constance’s room - and hears muffled sounds of… is she crying? For the briefest of moments Tony wonders whether he even has the energy to deal with this, but subconsciously he realizes that not only does he want to comfort her, but he doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts right now, either. Mildly stunned by that realization, Tony stops in front of her door and tentatively knocks. ”Can I come in?”

Constance was holding the pillow against her chest as she sobbed before she heard the knocking on the door. She listened and thought before she got up, almost against her better judgement and opened the door. She looked up at Tony, stunning herself a bit as she answered. ”Please… come in. I… I’m not sure I want to be alone right now.”

With one look at her face, Tony closes the distance and pulls Constance into a hug, kicking the door closed behind him. To think that just minutes ago, his most pressing concern was a hangover, but now… this vacation was quickly becoming a disaster. ”What a shit morning,” he comments dryly.

Constance blinked a bit at surprise at the hug, but she pressed in close to Tony, and hugged him back. She found herself nuzzling in close, trusting him to see her at her worst when usually no one would see her like this. ”To think it started with such promise.” She muttered a bit into his chest.

”To think the only problem yesterday was a drunk asshole, but now…” Tony trails off. But in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn’t true. The blackmail on his desk was a far bigger problem than Lawrence, even if Tony had spent the night trying to avoid thinking about it. First the blackmail, now someone’s dead… could it be a coincidence? Tony was skeptical, but how could he tell anyone? Telling anyone how he was being blackmailed was simply not an option, but the situation has become too dangerous to keep ignoring it. Would anyone believe him if he refused to explain? And anyways, what possible connection is there with his blackmail and the teacher’s death? Tony’s mind raced as he continued holding Constance, trying to figure out what to say, how to explain his suspicions without saying too much.

Constance knew there was more going on… those photos she had burned and discarded were proof of that. However, could she trust Tony with that information? ”I… I thought about my father. I don’t know why. But when I saw her body like that, I thought of him, and how I had been rude to her by keeping her out of the bathroom yesterday and I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

As he listened, Tony began gently rubbing her back. ”Nothing’s wrong with you,” he soothed. ”Death is a terrible thing for anyone to have to see, even moreso when you’re not expecting it. And especially when…” Tony pauses, then sighs. Here goes nothing…

”I don’t think it was an accident,” he whispers, almost inaudibly.

Constance’s eyes went wide and she pulled back a bit to look up at him. ”Are… are you saying someone killed her?”

Tony sighs again, meeting her gaze. ”I don’t know. But there’s too much weirdness going on, it can’t all be a coincidence. It really doesn’t make sense that we’d all be nominated for the same award, we’re all so different. Nothing has gone how I would’ve expected so far, yesterday was way more chaotic than any formal gathering I’ve seen before. And…” how do I tell her? Tony wonders. She can be trusted, I think… but that much? After a moment, he continues. ”Yesterday, there was something on my desk, that… didn’t belong.”

Constance could feel her heartbeat slow for a moment before starting to race at Tony’s words. He had noticed it as well, and at the mention of something that didn’t belong she could feel the color drain out of her face. ”Tony… Someone is blackmailing me.”

Tony’s breath hitched. What?

Château de La Lune

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Location: Château de La Lune: Lavender Room -> Foyer
Skills: N/A

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As Tony made it back to his room without incident, he was starting to notice more and more of a commotion in the hallway, but he tried to ignore it. Does nobody value a full night’s sleep around here? he wondered grumpily. He barely managed to get to the bathroom, have a sip of water, and pop a tylenol before he heard more screaming from outside, and… was that ‘doctor’ I heard? For the love of god, not now…

Alas, moments later there was a commotion at his door.

Sam made his way over towards where Rhi had designated as Tony's room. Rapping at the door with his knuckles for the man to wake up and answer him. ”Hey! Mr. Tony sir? We have a situation downstairs or well down the stairs to like the bottom!”

Tony sighed, turning off the faucet. ”I swear, if this fucking guy got his nose broken again I’m not dealing with it this time,” he called out as he headed to the door. As he opened it and saw Sam in nothing but his underwear, Tony blinked and took a step back. ”Where’s your clothes?” he asked, although to be fair he was only wearing the dress pants he’d brought back from Constance’s room himself; he hadn’t bothered putting anything else on yet.

Sam looked down at his body. Both Constance and Tony had made remarks on his lack of clothing. Clearly they deserved each other, but now was neither the time nor place for these kinds of questions. ”Dude, I just woke up to a blood curdling scream and ran out of bed. Be glad I was too lazy to sleep in the nude last night or you might be seeing a whole other picture right now.”

With his headache still lingering, Tony wasn’t in the mood to argue. ”Sure, whatever. So what’s this situation? Please tell me it’s not Lawrence again.”

”Ew no. Hard to say who, but a girl is laying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. She isn't moving…so…anyways a doctor would be greatly appreciated.”

Tony’s expression became grim as Sam explained. When he finished, Tony nodded. ”Let’s go, then.” He followed Sam to the top of the stairs, where a small crowd had started to form. At the bottom of the stairs, Tony saw it: the woman’s lifeless body (the teacher, he thinks?), accompanied by the butler, Felix and, naturally, Elenore. Tony squeezed his way past everyone and swiftly descended the stairs. ”What happened?” he asked them as he knelt down beside her.

“I am unsure. One of the maids found her.” Felix told Tony. “She is the one who screamed, that summoned me.”

“Gordon asked her in the kitchen and she said that the woman was already there when she found her. She did touch mademoiselle Tanner, but the...texture was wrong.” Elenore took up explaining as Felix had only been with the body since it had been found.

As Tony listened, Tony reached down to feel for a pulse, although it seemed pretty redundant. Sure enough, he felt nothing except cold skin. He tentatively attempted to move her limbs, but they were stiff. Maybe he hadn’t paid enough attention during the lectures that covered the topic of death, or maybe he couldn’t think clearly enough due to his headache, but either way he had no hope of determining an approximate time of death. After all, he was no coroner - he only ever worked on patients who were living, or occasionally ones that had very recently passed if they were organ donors.

”She’s been here a while, I couldn’t guess how long exactly but long enough for rigor mortis to be setting in,” Tony observed out loud.

“Gordon is trying to contact the mainland but he has not yet,” Elenore said. “Can we move her?”

Tony nodded. ”I’d like to look her over a bit if you don’t mind, who knows how long it will take to get a coroner here and there can be things that become less… apparent, if too much time has passed. The others don’t need to see this, though,” he responded. He might not have thought anything of this under normal circumstances, but… well, given the documents he had found in his room, he wasn’t prepared to chalk this up as an accident yet. He needed some answers.

“Very well. Examine as you deem necessary. After, Felix will get her moved into the cool storage in the basement.” Elenore and Felix met glances and he nodded in agreement.

Tony nodded, then began examining more closely. He may not be a coroner, but he did know the human body well - almost certainly better than anyone else on this island. Keeping his movements slow and deliberate, he gradually identified various injuries. He couldn’t be sure without x-rays - or more intrusive examinations than he was willing to perform at the moment - but there were some bones he was pretty confident were broken, although none had broken the skin. After carefully rolling the body on its side, he could see a massive traumatic wound on the back of her head. None of these injuries were clear red flags, they could all easily be attributed to the explanation that seemed readily available: a particularly bad fall down the stairs. Yet, the possibility of foul play lingered in his head. Things had been weird here almost since the moment they arrived, but this was easily the worst sign he’d seen so far that this vacation was a mistake.

”I’m no coroner, and I’m sure they will draw their own conclusions. But everything I see would be consistent with a particularly bad fall down these stairs. What caused her to fall, if that is what happened, I couldn’t say.” Bowing his head, he continued, ”Whatever the case may be, she is in a better place now. May she rest in peace,” he finished, making the sign of the cross on himself before standing.

“Qu'elle repose en paix,” Elenore said. “Thank you for looking, Doctor.” She looked at Felix. “Felix,” Elenore nods and heads back up the other set of stairs. For now Felix places the sheet over Renee.

“I’ll get her moved to a secure and cool place,” Felix said.

”Of course. If you need anything else from me, or the coroner whenever they can make it here, I’m sure it won’t be hard to find me,” Tony said, solemnly. He had plenty more to say, but not here and not now.

“You will likely be asked to participate in a conversation with the coroner when they arrive,” Felix said.

Tony nodded. ”No problem. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go freshen up… after answering all the questions I’m sure I’m about to get swarmed with.” Tony looked down at the now-covered body for another moment, before heading back up the stairs to face everyone waiting at the top.

Château de La Lune

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

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Upon waking up, the first thing that Tony became aware of was that his head felt like someone was beating on it like a drum. He didn’t immediately understand why, but it was brutal. He also felt rather tired and weak in general; the little bit of rational thought he could initially gather was enough to deduce that he was almost certainly hung over, but otherwise his headache dominated his senses. The second thing he eventually became aware of was that he was not alone in the room.

Constance was finishing tying up some work out shoes when she realized that Tony was stirring in her bed. ”Oh, good morning.” She finished tying up the knot and then moved to sit on the edge of the bed. ”Sorry if it sounds like I’m kicking you out, but I’m planning on leaving my room and doing some of my usual morning workout routine. I did let you sleep as long as I could.” She offered him a small smile.

Tony groaned, struggling to keep up with the conversation as memories of the previous night started coming back to him. ”What time is it?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to focus on Constance despite his splitting headache.

”It’s about 8 AM. Are you going to be alright?” Constance tilted her head a bit as she looked at Tony, and then stood up and started to stretch a bit.

”Just hungover,” he replied, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. God, why did I drink so much? Tony mentally chastised himself. ”Why so early?” he added, doing a better job of sounding normal. Even without a hangover to deal with, 8am was early by Tony’s standards, not to mention the jetlag. A perk of being a surgeon and not working a normal 9-5, he supposed.

”Oh, I usually wake up earlier at home, but I got up early so I can get in some work out time before the day’s activities. I know there is not much planned, but I do wish to mingle. Can’t work out and mingle at the same time. If you want to stay in bed, I guess you can do that. I am going to leave though.”

”I think we managed to do both,” Tony replied with a smile - slightly forced through the pain in his head - as he reached out to lightly squeeze her thigh. ”I’ll see myself out, I just need a minute. See you later, though?”

”Mmmm we did~ I’ll see you later. Take as long as you need.” Constance leaned over and kissed him softly on the temple before heading out of her room.

Tony watched her leave, and found himself wishing that Constance was not so devoted to her morning routine. Oh well, there would always be later. As soon as the door closed he burrowed himself back into the pillows, in a fruitless attempt to dull his headache. He knew that above all, what he needed right now was water, but unfortunately he had been far too preoccupied with Constance to think about that last night. Stupid, he thought, but he’d deal with that in a minute. For now he tried to distract his brain by replaying the events of the previous night in his mind, trying to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important. Arriving at the chateau, and discovering that someone here seemed to know his darkest secrets. Chatting with Lawrence, who proved himself to be a tactless asshole at dinner. Fixing his nose, only for it to be rebroken not long afterwards because he refused to listen. The strange conversation with the magician, who he still wasn’t sure about. Suspicion towards Elenore as the most likely culprit of his blackmail. His night with Constance. Fortunately, everything seemed to be there; Tony could not find any gaps in his memory. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was what had woken him up so early. Was it Constance untangling herself from his arms and getting ready to start her day? Was it his headache? Or was it something else? He wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem important. Could be worse, then, he concluded.

Gathering his strength, Tony sat up in the bed. As much as he’d love to spend the next 4 hours sleeping off this hangover, it didn’t seem like he had much choice but to get up at this point. Trying his best to ignore his throbbing head, he got out of bed and collected the various articles of clothing that had been strewn across the room the night before. He put on his boxers and pants but didn’t bother with the rest, deciding that was enough modesty for the short walk to his own room. After a moment of internal debate, Tony decided to head back to his room via the lounge, rather than the hallway; he figured it was less likely that anyone would be in the lounge at this early hour, thus less chance of anyone seeing him in this unpresentable state.

Of course, it wouldn’t be long before Tony found out that someone seeing him as a hungover mess should be the least of his concerns on this fateful morning. For now, though, he remained ignorant.

Château de La Lune

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

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As they entered the lounge, Tony slowly looked around the room. Immediately to their left was a lowered section of the room, with a fireplace in the corner and a bookshelf on the opposite side. Past that was an exit to what might be a balcony, then a second fireplace in the far corner with a few chairs gathered around it. The far wall was covered in windows, while the right wall was covered with doors - presumably leading to the bedrooms. In the middle of the room was a table with chairs gathered around it.

”So, where would you like to sit?” Tony asked.

Constance looked around the room, taking in where the chairs were before replying. ”How about around the table, so we can set our drinks down?”

Tony nodded. ”Works for me,” he replied as they walked towards the table. He pulled out a chair for her, and after she sat down he took the chair to her left, sitting down a bit more heavily than he’d intended. Their night of drinking was starting to catch up to him. He took another sip of scotch before setting the glass down on the table.

”Oh, thank you.” She sat down in the chair he pulled out for her and then set her drink down on the table. She looked over at Tony and relaxed a bit into her chair and stretched her legs out. Thankfully, no one else was in the lounge, so she figured she could dispense with the pretense a bit. They had been making overt overtures at one another over dinner, and well, the night was still young. ”So, anyone I should be worried about?”

Tony laughs at the sudden tone shift. I guess we’re cutting to the chase now, he thought. ”No, hasn’t been anyone for a year now. You? I’m sure there must be plenty of guys sending flowers to your dressing room after every performance,” he added cheekily.

”Oh plenty of men and women sending flowers, but I’m not pursuing anything serious at the moment. I want to achieve prima ballerina before I start seriously dating. So for now, there’s no one.” Constance had to grin as she heard that there was no one in his life at the moment. That made her next move easier. She got up and out of her chair and then sat herself in his lap and draped her arms around him. ”Hope you don’t mind.~” She practically purred out.

Compared to how the rest of the night had gone, Constance’s sudden forwardness was a surprise… but a welcome one. Tony smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist. ”Not at all. Although if you’re not planning on dating anyone yet, that means we only have just a few short days,” he points out, slowly bringing his face a bit closer to hers as he speaks.

”Well, what’s more thrilling than a little vacation fun?” Constance slowly brought her own face a bit closer and looked him over. She leaned up and bridged that gap, and let her lips meet his, kissing him softly.

Tony leaned into it, pulling her tighter against him. After a few seconds, he pulls back from her lips slightly, taking a breath. ”I’ve been looking forward to that all night,” he said, smiling, before leaning in to kiss her again, more passionately than the first.

Constance blushed deeply as he said that he had been looking forward to that all night and leaned in to meet his kiss. She let her passion meet his as she melted into the kiss. After a bit she broke the kiss with a soft sound and looked up at him. ”My room, or yours?”

”Definitely yours. I hate the theme of my room,” Tony replied without hesitation, briefly glaring at the door that presumably led to his room. Releasing his hold on her so she could escape his lap, he looked at his glass of scotch on the table and saw there wasn’t much left. With a shrug, he grabbed it and drank the rest in one go, before setting the glass back down and fixing his eyes back on Constance, taking a moment to enjoy the view.

”Works for me.” Constance stood up and then escaped his lap, and picked up her own drink and finished it up. She then slipped her arm around him and went to lead him towards her room.

Tony stood up, letting her lead him. He found himself needing to focus on walking to make sure he wouldn’t stumble and make himself look like an idiot at the worst possible moment. Some water would probably be a good idea, but currently he had much higher priorities. Following her into the room, he briefly looked around. ”Yeah, much better than mine,” he mused before turning around and closing the door behind him.

Château de La Lune

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

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While Tony's conversation with Constance continued, they both got distracted for a moment by the commotion happening at the bar. Once he put the pieces together that Lawrence had once again earned himself a broken nose by being a drunken ass, Tony scowled briefly before recomposing himself. Violence interrupting a formal dinner might have been a bit inappropriate in his opinion - even if deserved - but as far as he was concerned, Lawrence should consider himself quite fortunate that a very broken nose is the extent of his consequences this time. If that asshole had actually listened to even a single thing I said, this wouldn't have happened. I'm not fixing it this time, Tony thought to himself as he watched the drama die down.

With silent curses about stupid patients ignoring his medical advice playing through his mind, Tony reached for his glass to take another sip of scotch... then remembered that it was already empty. If it could be heard, the part of his mind that was suspicious about blackmail would probably be screaming cautions against getting drunk, but at least for tonight Tony intended to continue ignoring it; the idea of another drink seemed much more appealing than worrying about the danger that envelope had put him in.

Tony turned back towards Constance, holding up his empty glass. "I think I'm going to have one more, would you like me to get you another glass too while I'm there?" Constance gave her assent, and with a smile and a nod Tony got up and made his way back to the bar. Along the way he noticed the suspicious magician talking to some of the other nominees - Millicent, he thought, although his mind was fuzzy enough to not be quite certain - but he didn't dwell on it. Mostly, he was thinking about his plans for the rest of the night which had him in a good mood, and he intended to keep it that way.

Arriving at the bar, Tony set his empty glass down as Leon looked up from the drink he was mixing. "Another scotch please, Leon, and more champagne for Constance," he requested, gesturing towards their table. Leon nodded his acknowledgement as he finished the drink he was working on. As he waited for their drinks, Tony heard some snippets of conversations throughout the room, but pretty much all of it went in one ear and out the other. Once their drinks had been poured he thanked Leon, treated himself to another sip of the delicious Glenfiddich, then returned to his companion that hopefully he'd be spending plenty more time with tonight.