TheMaster99

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony relaxed a bit into Constance's touch as she rubbed his back. Her defending him and turning the suspicion back on Sam was reassuring; it confirmed to him that he wasn't overreacting. He smiled briefly when she said that she trusted him with her life. It may be almost a necessity given the current situation, but it was nice to hear all the same.

As Sam tried to defend his accusations, acting as if he hadn't tried to paint him as the primary suspect, Tony rolled his eyes. "My answer wasn't cagey, it was factual. I couldn't tell you her injuries could only mean she was attacked, because they didn't. I'm not going to lie about what the evidence means just to support my own opinion," Tony answered. But I guess I shouldn't expect a 'ghost hunter' to understand that, he thought, but was not callous enough to say aloud. He didn't care if Sam liked him but he did need him - and everyone else - to be willing to work together on fixing this mess.

After Constance agreed with wanting to wrap this up, Sam produced two tape recorders for them to use to record anything useful they might hear. Tony nodded; this was a good idea. As he went on about defending himself and mentioning how he had freely shown his text, Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. "Yes, you did show us your text. Just remember that I did, too; if I was hiding something I 'knew,' that would have been pretty foolish," he replied. Of course, Tony did have plenty to hide. Just not anything about the situation they'd all found themselves in together.

With that, this awkward meeting was done. "Alright, let's go eat," Tony agreed. Offering Constance his arm as per usual, he led the way out of the room.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony had only just arrived at her door when Constance stepped out of her room, nodding to him and asking if he was ready. She had changed clothes as well, and... he glanced down at his own outfit, then back at hers, amused. They matched. Had she predicted his change, or was this sheer coincidence? He had no doubt that the others would think they'd planned this, and draw whatever conclusions they wanted from that. Whatever, he doesn't care what any of these people think as long as they help resolve this mess they'd all found themselves in together.

"Ready," he agreed. Time to see whatever it was that Sam wanted to talk to them privately about. Tony led the way to his door, knocked, then went in after hearing an acknowledgment inside.

Sam was sitting on his bed, holding a device which looked similar to something he'd seen business associates using in the past. An EMF scanner? Nearby sat a suitcase full of similar equipment. Of course! He should've known that with two paranormal investigators - or whatever it was they called themselves - in the house, at least one of them would have insisted on bringing all their gadgets. The alleged "paranormal activity" these people claimed to investigate was invariably nonsense, but some of the equipment he'd seen them use on TV or online was perfectly legitimate. He should've thought of this sooner; being able to scan for recording devices, or any electronic devices for that matter, could be extremely useful. "Good thinking, I should've thought to ask if you had one," Tony said, echoing his thoughts.

Tony stayed standing rather than sitting on the bed, or finding another chair, but he did come close enough to talk quietly. As Sam began talking, explaining what it was he'd wanted to talk about, Tony became annoyed. That was what this is about? That stupid text? That annoyance grew to bordering on anger as Sam called him the most suspicious person here. What the hell?

"What do I know?" Tony fired back, not too loud but not hiding the venom in his tone. "I know the blackmail we all received was put there by someone before we arrived, not by one of us. I know that two people were killed last night, and that she can attest to the fact that I had nothing to do with it," he continued, gesturing towards Constance as he mentioned her. "And I know that I didn't know a single person here until yesterday, so I couldn't have colluded with anyone beforehand," he finished. Although, with his eyes briefly widening a bit in surprise, Tony realized that wasn't quite true. So uninteresting to him that he hadn't even thought of it until now, fleeting gossip he'd heard somewhat recently about a YouTuber named Sam flashed through his mind. Glancing at Constance, another piece of gossip occurred to him, one from further back regarding a ballet dancer with the same name, 'Monroe'. Normally this kind of gossip was utterly uninteresting to him and went in one ear and out the other, so how had he somehow retained this information? And what were the odds that these were the same people he'd heard about, anyway? In any case, he would unpack that later, not right now.

This surprising realization only made him pause for mere moments, but it was enough to take the heat out of his voice. "I'm not sure what it is they thought I 'knew.' I think it must have been the fact that Renee's fall was no accident, but if that's the case then they're an idiot because I really wasn't certain until that text effectively confirmed it. Maybe they thought that the blackmail was enough of a threat to make me compliant, so they didn't mind confirming my suspicion. Maybe whatever happened last night had gone horribly wrong, and they're panicking trying to salvage their original plans for this weekend. I truthfully have no idea. But I do know that any of us being suspicious of each other is a waste of time. It was not one of us that planted the blackmail, and unless I'm mistaken, none of us were unaccounted for last night so none of us were involved. I guess maybe they could've planted one of us as a fake, but if so they've planned this so deeply and are toying with us so much that we're probably all fucked regardless, so there's no point trying to plan against it. If we can't trust each other enough to do what we have to do, then it's already too late to do anything about it," he finished, shrugging.

Tony took a breath, letting the silence linger for a moment. He sure has been ranting a lot, recently. He very much looked forward to being rid of this hell of an island. Unfortunately, he very much doubted that their ordeal was anywhere near being over.

"So. Are you going to tell us your theories, or are you going to keep digging for something that isn't there?"

Château de La Lune

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

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Following everyone else's lead, Tony picked up his muddy shoes to bring back to his room. He nodded as Constance and Sam agreed with changing first before meeting back up. "Sure, that works," he agreed. Apparently they still had another half hour before lunch even started, which seemed pretty late to Tony, but oh well. French people are weird, he supposed. Or maybe dinner was going to be later than usual, in which case it might make sense. It was possible; he wasn't sure how late into the night the ball was expected to run.

Taking Constance's offered arm, Tony led the way upstairs. He nodded as Sam left them to enter his room, noting which door it was. Stopping at Constance's Evergreen Room, he turned to face her. "I should only be a few minutes. Meet back out here, or in your room?" he asked. After receiving her answer, he nods and retreats to his still-hideous Lavender Room. He was certain that whoever was responsible for the room assignments had found it hilarious when they gave him this one. Grumbling to himself, Tony found a towel to set his muddy shoes on, rather than setting them on the floor directly. He wasn't sure the mud would make the room any worse, but it would've been pretty pointless to avoid tracking mud all over the place just to do it now in his own room.

Fortunately, he had indeed packed his brown pair of oxfords, so he would not need to walk around the house barefoot. Of course, this meant he also had to swap belts; they had to match, after all. The rest of his clothes were probably still wearable - he hadn't gotten too wet, thanks to the umbrella - but he might as well change anyway. His outfit ends up being entirely shades of brown, with taupe pants and a walnut long-sleeve polo. Looking in the mirror to make sure he looks presentable, Tony nods to himself and gets ready to head back out and see what Sam wants.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony left the graveyard the same way that he arrived; staying close to Constance, holding their umbrella they were sharing. Tony believed the rest of their competitors-turned-allies were equally victims in this disaster of a vacation, and was willing to trust them to a certain extent out of necessity, but he would not trust them more than he had to. The stakes were too high. For him, at least. Tony found it hard to believe that the stakes of everyone else's blackmail could be as high as his own, but he supposed that the possibility shouldn't be ruled out. But still, no more trust than necessary.

He did trust Constance, though. Maybe it was that he did not believe she was capable of doing something bad enough to break his trust. Maybe it was just the fact that, as she pointed out, they both knew for a fact where each other was last night, and knew neither of them was involved in whatever had happened. And maybe it was just a subconscious hope that she might be someone that could look past the decisions he'd made in his life. Not that he saw anything wrong with them, but... well, enough of that.

Tony nodded as Constance explained her hesitant trust of the others, more or less echoing his own thoughts. He hadn't expected any other answer, in truth, but it was always good to get a second opinion.

As they entered the foyer, Tony noted the fact that there were towels waiting for them, and a maid witnessing their arrival. He suppressed a groan; the conspicuous absence of every single nominee had undoubtedly been noticed. He had known that would most likely be the case, though, and it had been a necessary sacrifice. At least this once. Constance sighed over the state of boots, then suggested getting lunch. Before he could answer, Sam clapped his hands onto their shoulders, almost hugging them from behind as if they were close friends. Tony instinctively cringed away, belatedly trying to suppress his reaction. In truth, while lost in thought he'd barely registered the fact that Sam was in fact following them. He tried to play his reaction off as stepping away to close their umbrella, then return it to the closet, but he probably was not entirely successful. He did not bother with grabbing a towel for himself; most of his time had been spent under their umbrella, and beyond that he'd dressed accordingly. His hair was a little wet, but as far as he was concerned that just made it easier to keep it just how he liked it.

So... Sam wanted them to join him in his room. Tony's gut instinct was a firm no. For more than one reason, one of which being that it would look strange if anyone noticed them joining him in his room. Undoubtedly, someone would; in his experience, waitstaff always noticed more than one would like. But he was hesitant to actually say so. If Constance was fine with it and he immediately shut it down, then he'd look like an asshole. Normally he wouldn't care too much, but as much as he was forced to trust these people, he also needed them to trust him. Tony turned towards Constance.

"I'm not sure how much longer they'll be serving lunch, but I can wait," Tony answered, glancing towards Constance. He hoped that this struck a good balance between giving Constance a reasonable out if she did not want to do this, while hopefully not making obvious the fact that he would rather not. After they had both commented on their muddy shoes, Tony considered his own, and groaned. His oxfords were most definitely not made for trekking through the mud, and they were in a sorry state. They certainly needed to be cleaned before the ball tonight, and what would he wear until then? Had he even brought his other pair of oxfords - brown, for variety - for this trip? He couldn't remember. Frowning slightly, he took them off and left them near the door, as Sam had. If one of the maids didn't take care of it in the afternoon, he'd have to make sure to clean them himself before the evening's events.

"Either way, I think I'd like to change first," he added. Tony didn't fancy walking around the chateau in his socks. This award ceremony may have quickly turned into an utter disaster, but he did still have appearances to upkeep.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony nodded as everyone agreed that splitting up made sense, and Ralph suggested the pairings that they had more or less already settled into. This plan did leave Sam as the odd man out, and Tony wasn't sure how to feel about that. He wasn't sure how much he could trust Sam, so maybe it was good that he wouldn't be focusing on investigating. But then, being the messenger was important too; what if he made it too obvious what he was doing, or screwed up this high-stakes game of telephone? Well, it seemed less risky than the alternative, he supposed.

Tony nodded again when Rhiannon suggested searching the family's rooms. "We'll need to figure out how to get past their locks, and it will probably be a big problem if any of us are caught in their side of the building. But if it can be done, searching through their rooms could be a huge help," he responded.

Everyone was also starting to point out that the weather was getting worse, and they should probably head back inside. Checking his watch, Tony agreed; they'd been out here much too long already, and surely their prolonged absence had their enemies suspicious. Besides, his shoes were already much too muddy for his liking. He should've thought to bring sneakers on this trip... oh well.

"Yeah, we should get back before they start looking for us," Tony said. "If Constance agrees, I want to go find Jeanne, to start - one of the younger La Lunes," he added in case anyone didn't recognize the name. "I'm not convinced yet, but she seemed genuinely concerned about Miguel. I want to figure out if she knows anything, without giving anything away to her of course."

Apparently Sam wanted to start with them, and wanted to talk to him. Great. With only the slightest hesitation, he nodded, then started to follow as Constance turned to start heading inside. Looking back, he added, "Oh, also, we should head back in groups, not all at once. Less obvious," then continued letting Constance lead him back inside.

Being the first group to leave afforded them a moment alone. Tony leaned in a little closer to Constance. "Not that we have much choice, but how much do you trust them?" he asked, in a whisper barely audible over the raindrops hitting their umbrella. He did think they didn't have much choice, but it never hurt to get a second opinion.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony listened as the conversation continued. He frowned slightly when Ralph asked the group about comparing the handwriting of the notes people had received. He suspected that this was not going to be the last time someone tried to learn more about everyone's secrets. Oh, maybe he did just want to compare handwriting, but those notes would also at least hint at what secrets were being hidden. Fortunately, at least this time the answer was harmless.

"Mine didn't have anything written on it," Tony answered. "As for Elenore... that proves nothing. We're talking about blackmail and murder, but you guys think a little bit of acting and lying is somehow out of the question? And you said yourself that she seemed angry. Would you expect anger to be the natural reaction to someone, as I told her, 'falling down the stairs?'" he asked, making air quotes. "Is she angry that someone died... or angry that the killer left the body sitting in her foyer for us all to see?"

Tony let that theory sink in for a moment before continuing. "But I do believe there's multiple people involved, and everyone in the family needs to be scrutinized. I also agree that we should continue acting as we were before; I was going to mention it myself. My suggestion would be for us to work in small groups, there is a lot of ground to cover and not really that much time to do it. Looking into all of the family, looking for any evidence... I'm not sure how exactly but I think we should split it all up somehow, divide and conquer."

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony nodded as, one by one, most of the group agreed that they had to rebury Miguel. It was obviously the only real option, as far as Tony was concerned, but since everyone already agreed he saw no need to say anything. Millicent's new information, on the other hand, was more interesting.

Renee possibly being an unexpected daughter of Richard La Lune would certainly provide multiple possible motives for her death. It would hardly be the first time that a potential beneficiary of a substantial inheritance was conveniently taken out of the picture, or perhaps the evidence of some old infidelity. There could very well be multiple people in that house with potential motives, if they were willing to take extreme measures, and without more clues it would be hard to narrow it down. But in any case, puzzling that out was not Tony's most pressing concern; getting to the bottom of the blackmail was paramount. So if the group thinks the blackmail is their best lead for figuring out who the killer is, then that suited him just fine.

"I agree, figuring out who is involved in blackmailing us is the best way to find who did this," Tony said as he walked away from the open grave, back to Constance's side. "I also agree with Millicent about suspecting Elenore, I've suspected her most of all from the start. I doubt there's much of anything that happens in this place without her knowing about it, so either she's responsible for all of this or she knows and is fine with it. Either way, she's one of them. But who knows who else is involved. It could be only one or two, or it could be the whole damn family. So the question is, how do we narrow it down?"

Château de La Lune

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

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So Sam was questioning why the message Tony received said he knew what happened; Tony figured someone would. He also confirmed that the numbers didn't match, and seemed to think that proved him right. In Tony's mind, it was obvious that it proved no such thing - it could be the same person using different numbers to cover their tracks, or even if it was different people it was still much more likely that both were metaphorically playing with their food, not trying to help. Tony opened his mouth to start addressing all of those points, when... thud.

Looking over at where they were digging, Tony saw what they'd found. An arm which, after clearing a bit more dirt away, proved to be Miguel. Tony did not freak out at the discovery - he had seen enough lifeless bodies to not be driven to panic, and he'd been half expecting this to happen ever since Miguel's absence was pointed out to him - but Tony certainly wasn't glad the prediction he'd made just moments ago was right. Renee's death could have been an accident, even if Tony had highly doubted that, but this eliminated all doubt. Renee and Miguel had both been murdered. If they aren't careful, everyone still standing here could meet the same fate.

With some effort, Tony managed to avoid glaring at Sam's back as he immediately went to start inspecting the body. It's not like there's a medical professional nearby or anything, he thought grumpily. In the meantime, Millicent talked about not freaking out, and about how this was clearly murder. Not going out without a fight, is she? Maybe someone here truly understood what needed to be done, then. If they could learn to trust each other.

Tony nodded when Millicent finished. "This makes two murders, now. I don't know about all of you, but I won't sit back and let whatever sick game they're playing at continue to unfold. We need to figure out who exactly is involved, in all of this - the blackmail too, not just the killing - and... deal with it. But until we know for sure, we have to be discreet. If they catch on too soon, they will make us regret it."

When Sam was done looking over Miguel, Tony walked over and crouched down to take a look himself. There was major bruising around his neck, which implied that he was strangled to death. Looking more closely, he could just make out that the bruising wasn't quite evenly distributed; there were lines of more severe bruising, with slightly less bruising in between. Almost like... he hovered his hand over it to compare, then nodded to himself. It looked liked it was done by hands, not by rope. Looking over the rest of the body, at first he didn't see anything else of note, no visible wounds, although he wasn't going to look under Miguel's clothes for any more bruising there might have been. But just before he finished, he thought of one more thing. He'd never seen it himself - being a surgeon after all, not a coroner - but he'd heard of it. Tony picked up one of Miguel's hands, and looked closely at his nails. They were covered in dirt, obviously, but under them... he found some dried blood. Miguel had fought for his life.

As Constance spoke, he set the hand down gently and stood up. Part of him wanted to immediately go and comfort her, but the matter at hand was too important to ignore. "If I was forced to guess... he would probably be mine. It looks like Miguel was strangled, and as far as I can tell, he was fighting back. It certainly wasn't an old lady that overpowered him. But we can't be certain yet, and he's definitely not the only person involved. He should be suspected, but we can't afford to miss anything important because we were too focused on what seemed 'obvious', either. Hell, for that matter it could be the guy that took the boat, for all we know. For now, we have to be suspicious of them all."

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony listened as the group discussed what to do about the fresh grave. When Sam mentioned that a mysterious phone number had sent him a map claiming that Miguel was in this graveyard, Tony's eyes widened for the briefest of moments before he was able to return to a neutral expression. Someone had contacted Sam too? So Tony wasn't the only one.

Sam's message couldn't have been more different from the one he had received though. Tony's message said to stay quiet about his suspicions, while Sam's was pretty much an open invitation to investigate. He had no idea what to make of that. Were they sent by the same mysterious person, or different people with different goals? Was the person that sent Sam here laying a trap, or did they actually want Miguel to be found? If so, why? Or if it was in fact the same person sending both messages, why were they so different? Did they want to point everyone in different directions so they couldn't effectively work together, or were they being played like fiddles and doing exactly what these people wanted?

Tony's mind was racing, trying to figure out how these puzzle pieces fit together, but there was only one conclusion he was relatively sure of. If Sam had been sent this location right before this meeting, whoever was responsible for everything that was happening might have wanted to steer this meeting - not just Sam - to this graveyard, for any number of reasons. Whatever those reasons were, Tony did not want to act like a marionette on their strings. Whatever sick game the La Lunes were playing at, if the group kept playing by their rules, they would lose.

Realizing he had completely zoned out while all those thoughts ran through his head, Tony blinked and processed what was happening; Rhiannon and Millicent had started digging into the grave, while Constance had turned away, refusing to watch. "Woah woah woah, hold on a minute," he urged. He turned towards Sam before continuing. "We need to talk about this. A random phone number messages you right before this meeting, practically telling you to come here. Did you consider the fact that this could be a trap? That they want you here, maybe even knew you'd lead us all here, and that whatever they want is probably NOT in our best interests? You say maybe someone is trying to help us, and may be giving us clues. Renee is DEAD, and for all we know, Miguel could be too! We can't fucking trust these people!" He was not quite shouting at the end of this rant, but it wasn't far off, either.

Tony took a deep breath, calming his frustration. Now was hardly the time for anger, no matter how much this whole nightmarish situation might warrant it. At a more normal volume that was maybe just a bit forced, he continued, looking around at everyone as he spoke. "The only people we can trust are standing right here, right now. Nobody else, not without evidence that they're not involved in this, like how we've all been blackmailed. As a matter of fact, I have evidence that we should not trust whoever sent you that map. When I got back to my room this morning, I received a message too. It warned me not to talk about my suspicions about Renee's death. Whoever sent it is clearly NOT on our side." He pulled out his phone, opened the text up, and held it out to the group: You know what happened. Keep quiet. He turned back to Sam. "Compare the number to the one that sent yours. If it's the same, then that's proof that us being here, on their terms, is a mistake."

Château de La Lune

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

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The walk through the grounds was uneventful, with everyone staying fairly quiet. Eventually, they arrived at what turned out to be a graveyard. A pretty morbid place for a meeting, but then, he supposed that it may be fitting for what they had to talk about.

Tony was ready to start the conversation, but Ralph beat him to it. He acknowledged that it was Tony's idea to talk as a group, that Millicent was the first to be openly suspicious of the situation, then brought up the blackmail. But before anyone could confirm they were also being blackmailed, Sam interrupted. ...Seriously? Sam didn't even consider that Brendan - Millicent provided his name - was Ivanna? I mean, I wasn't certain, but it seemed pretty obvious.

After Millicent explained it to him - which the other dancer, whose name he still hadn't learned yet, seemed to find hilarious - Constance brought them back on track, confirming that she and Tony were both being blackmailed, then the dancer started speculating about what happened to Renee.

"I'm not sure what happened exactly, and we may never know, but I think it was along those lines, yeah. Her injuries by themselves don't really prove anything, but considering we're all being blackmailed, I can't believe it was an accident. We need to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on here, and end it before the rest of us end up like Renee. Speaking of which, has anyone seen Miguel today? He's apparently been missing all morning, and he's not here now, either." If nobody here knew where he was, Tony suspected that Miguel may have already met the same fate.

Then, the dancer pointed out a freshly dug grave. Not sus at all, indeed.