After all the hardships lord Vangel had to go through to gather a considerable amount of fortune, he could finally live in peace.
...Actually, he couldn't. He had but one last dream in his life, which was to acquire an item the whole world longed for: The SS Spear, a weapon coated with some of the rarest and most expensive minerals on earth. It is rumored it used to belong to a god called SS, who used said spear to punish those who opposed him.
Backstory aside, one thing led to another and the weapon ended up on an auction. Naturally, the individuals who had the money put as much as they could to get their hands on the precious spear, but the winner of the auction ended up being Vangel. Of course, it was a lot of cash he had put on something he would probably just dump in his storage, but it was worth it. So he thought.
When he received the spear, he was the happiest man on earth. He decided to invite two dungeons and dragons friends, Ransu and Lacey, who said they wanted to check out the spear. He even hired four guards in order to protect it. His butler George would probably appreciate the extra people, as he would always work alone.
It was October 4th, exactly 5 PM, when the guests arrived. They had some trouble coming because a blizzard had appeared out of nowhere around the mansion's location, but probably due to their desire to see the spear they did not give up and got to the mansion anyway.
The two guests were led into a massive white-painted room, illuminated by some LED lights coming from above. This room had a glass case, which contained the SS spear. They stared at it for a long time, and one even tried to open the glass case's only door, but found that a padlock prevented them from doing so.
Vangel informed the guests that the glass was bullet-proof and the only key to the padlock was with him at all times, so there was no need to worry about someone trying to steal it.
After some time, Vangel headed to the stairs in the corner and went upstairs along with his two guests. They were in his office for around half an hour when one of the invitees, Lacey, excused herself to the bathroom. Luckily, there was a bathroom incorporated to the office, so she just went there. Vangel and Ransu talked to each other for a bit, and when the conversation was over, Vangel decided to check how the food was going. George usually took his time to cook, and with the new guards he may be talking instead of cooking. Food needed to be made in time for the guests. so he couldn't slack off! Like Lacey, he excused himself out, leaving Ransu alone in the office.
As the man walked down his mansion's stairs, his cellphone rang. Just who could it be? He looked at the screen but the caller was calling from a private number. Deciding there was nothing to lose, Vangel accepted the call and put the phone against his ear.
: "Yes, hello? Vangel speaking."
???
: "...Consider that spear of yours gone by 11."
And this mysterious caller, whose voice he didn't hear very clearly, hung up. Vangel stood there for a few seconds, confused about that strange event, before checking the time. It was 6 PM.
He had a bad feeling about this.
---
It was 10:55, and everyone was now in position.
"Position for what?", you may be asking yourself. The answer to that is that Vangel had a really bad feeling about the call, and while everyone explored the mansion, he thought of a plan. In the end, he decided to position everyone so it would be impossible for anyone to even try stealing the spear.
The two guests Lacey and Ransu agreed to participate, as they claimed they did not want the spear to be stolen. Those two and lord Vangel himself would stand around the glass case with the spear so they would be able to see anyone entering the room.
The guards would be put in different rooms around the white room to make sure no one got past them. As the four had rather particular names, Vangel decided to use those names to decide where to put them:
- The guard Northy was sent to the Music Room, to make sure no one burst through the windows.
- The guard Easty was sent to the Storage, to make sure that if someone hid there, they wouldn't get past him.
- The guard Southy was sent to the Entrance, to make sure no one forced their way in.
- The guard Westy was sent to the Lounge, for the same reason as stated above.
As for the butler George... he hadn't even started cooking, so he was now being punished by cooking twice what he was going to cook. In the kitchen, obviously.
...Back to the mystery. As the three stood around the glass case in the gigantic white room, the alarm on Vangel's cellphone went off. It was now 11:00. Seconds passed, with him anxiously waiting for something to happen. He even made sure the key to the padlock was still with him just in case. And to make sure he wouldn't confuse it, left his own room key in his room.
11:01, and no signs of anyone else.
He thought of it being a prank and was about to say so when all the lights on the mansion suddenly went off. The white room did not even have a light switch, so... A power outage, perhaps?
Although he could not see a thing, he focused all his senses to catch
something
. And that's when he started hearing footsteps heading towards him from somewhere. Someone running towards him equals to someone running towards the case. Uh-oh.
He screamed to the other two to not let whoever this was to touch the case, but that did not stop the footsteps from getting closer. The footsteps eventually ceased in front of what Vangel believed was the glass case's door. That thief was at the door!
He tried to run towards them, but a loud sound and a flash of light stopped him right on his tracks.
A gunshot. Someone fired a gun.
Still, the spear was in risk. He tried to look for the case in the dark and was interrumped by the sound of someone running away. Soon, there was complete silence. Minutes passed until he got used to the dark, and he could finally see a bit. The other two were still in their positions, trying to feel their way in the dark.
He then had a brilliant idea and used his phone's flashlight to be able to see. The first thing he did was look into the glass case, of course... but the spear was nowhere to be seen. He confirmed that the door had a padlock in place, however, so it should have been impossible to have taken it out.
Either way, he had no time to waste! He handed his phone flashlight to Lacey and sent her upstairs to check if everything was okay in the power room. Soon, the lights turned on and Vangel confirmed his suspicions: the spear was no longer in the glass case. He looked around the white room, trying to find the spear, but all he saw was, well, white. He yelled in desperation.
---
The eight were now reunited in the white room, standing around the glass case. Right in front the glass case's door some small pieces of metal and stone were found, but they were mostly ignored.
Vangel held the key he has had since he locked the case with a padlock in his closed palm, and threw it to the floor. It was now useless.
: "You all, tell me how the hell that damned rat got in! I thought you were guarding??"
: "Well, there was nothing suspicious on my end.
No one passed through the Music Room's door.
: "Same here,
no one passed through the Storage's door.
"
: "...Nothing on my end,
no one passed through the lounge's door.
"
: "We must be soulmates, everyone! Because
no one passed through the Entrance's door
, either!"
: "
The only way to unlock my padlock was with my key...
Just how...? What about you, George?! Did you see anything?!"
: "Of course not.
I was cooking the whole time. I didn't see anything suspicious.
"
: "............Upstairs. The culprit came from upstairs!!"
Seeing he had forgotten about the second floor, Vangel ran there. The others in the white room followed. He had expected to see a window wide open, indicator of someone having entered, but was surprised to find all windows locked. Confused, he decided to check out the power room.
: "Holy mother of jesus, what happened to the backup generator???"
: "
It was like that when I got here.
The power switch was set to off, so I just turned it on."
: "So this is why the lights did not come back on after the switch was flipped... The backup generator can give us light for four hours, but if it was destroyed it cannot!!"
: "Vangel, if it means anything, do know
I mean, I know it's totally unrelated to the lights, but just saying."
: "It IS related to the lights, you know. We were together when they were turned off. So
, either."
The rich man was not listening, however. He pondered for a bit, and soon came to a conclusion.
: "
All the windows on the second floor are locked
and no one left through the first floor, which means...
That thieving bastard must still be inside the mansion!!
He hid and somehow pulled this cowardly act off!! Go look for him!!!"
In the face of an angry old man, the others couldn't help but comply and scattered off. Vangel decided to take the storage to himself, as that was the most likely place one would hide in his mind.
The storage room was basically a city of boxes, filled with old mannequins, padlocks, clothes, plants, and even a fish tank with dead fish. After several minutes searching, he was sure of it: there was no one hiding here. Dejected, he walked into the white room and was then told something of interest, which made him immediately run to a certain room.
---
Seven people were gathered in the white room around the glass case. Half an hour had passed since the search for a ninth person began, yet no one had been found. They all exchanged information about which rooms they had searched, and they quickly concluded that...
: "So only Vangel's office is left...?"
"...I would rather not go there, Vangel would get angry... He's scary when he's angry..."
: "Agreed, so go check it yourself, Ransu. You're his friend. If I do it he may fire me. He can't fire a friend."
: "That's true."
: "*sigh*, just... Come with me, alright?"
The seven went upstairs to the door. Lacey took hold of the knob, and...
: "Huh...?
?"
: "It is the only place left, the thief likely locked himself in. George, do you have a master key?"
: "Yes, but you unlock it. Here you go."
: "...Alright. ........Uh,
there's a key inserted on the other side of the keyhole.
The key won't fit in."
: "It can't be helped, then. As we haven't seen signs of our lord, I'm getting worried. Easty, give me a hand."
Easty nodded, and the two men soon started laying on the door, ignoring George's protests. Eventually, the door gave in and the two fell into the room along with the door, the set chain lock breaking off the wall as a result.
The five in the doorway and the two on the floor stared in horror at the body of Vangel, laying face down in the center of the office... in a pool of blood.
Southy quickly ran into the room and checked on the body.
: "This can't be...
He's dead!
A stab to the heart! From behind!
An immediate death!
Tragic!"
: "Tomorrow was pay day..............."
: "
There's this wet knife laying next to the body.
"
: "There's also a piece of paper under him with a duck drawn on it, but it's probably not important."
: "Looks like
Hm..."
: "And from what I can see
there are no footprints outside in the snow
. The blizzard stopped long ago, so it is impossible for more snow to have covered possible footprints."
: "Oh, so
there IS a key on the other side of the keyhole.
You weren't lying."
: "Why would I lie? ...But back to the key, it may not even be the key to the room. Try it."
Lacey, who had flipped the door over, turned the key already inserted in the keyhole. It seemed the lock hadn't been broken upon the door being broken down. With everyone watching, the bolt retracted into the door's lock.
: "So that settles it, huh...?"
: "Like hell it does! Lacey, you stood by the door the whole time. Have you seen anyone walk out?"
: "
No one has walked out the door since we got in.
"
: "That means the culprit is hiding in the room! Look for him!"
And so, they looked, but to no avail. Southy looked into the wardrobe but only found clothes and white sheets for the bed. Ransu looked under the bed and found a few dirty magazines. George even looked inside the bathroom.
: "
There's no one hiding in here nor the bathroom.
"
: "Are there any secret passages or stuff like that in the mansion, George?"
: "Not that I know of. But if I could I would say
no secret passages exist.
"
: "Then... How was this done? The door was locked and chained and the window was locked. The key was in the keyhole inside, even! How mysterious! How arcane! How mystifying!"
: "Not to mention the murder weapon was right by his side, too..."
: "But why would he kill himself...?"
: "Don't you get it? It's pretty hard to stab yourself in the back, and even if he had, the knife would still be stabbed there. Adding to this, the weapon was also cleaned off! This is a murder!"
: "Oh."
---
The seven decided to do the smart thing and stay together in the dining hall to call the police, until George insisted on keep on cooking, Ransu on investigating the locked room more, Lacey on going to the guest room to take a nap, and Southy on playing the piano on the Music Room.
In the end, the police said they couldn't go because the blizzard was still strong where the police were. They would have to wait for the blizzard to move away before even moving out. The seven were advised to stay together and not touch the crime scenes.
Naturally, no one gave a damn. Except for Westy who tried to keep everything in order, but ultimately gave up.
---
As Westy sat on one of the chairs of the game room all alone, he heard the guest room's door be opened behind him. He looked back, and saw someone he couldn't recognize because of the mask, hat and cape they were wearing. That didn't quite matter to him, however. His attention was on what this person was carrying...
: "Lacey!"
Lacey and the figure ran back into the guest room upon being seen. Easty ran out of the Power Room when he heard his friend scream.
: "What happened?!"
: "No time to explain! Someone suspicious is in the Guest Room!"
Seconds after, the two were trying to enter the Guest Room. The door had been locked, however, and the two took their time to break down the door
: "Lacey, are you okay?!"
: "I don't see anyone in here other than her...
There's no one hiding here.
Let me check the bathroom... Nope,
."
: "She's just asleep. Thank god. Easty, check on her just in case. I'll check on something else...... Well,
It's just a matter of jumping out, then..... I was expecti-"
Ransu ran into the room before he could finish.
: "What's going on?!?! Lacey, you okay?!"
: "She's fine. Long short story, I saw someone carrying her leave the guest room and then enter again. He seems to have escaped out the window."
: "No time to waste, then! Let's go after his trail! .....But.......
there are no footprints on the snow outside...
"
: "...Oh. ...There it is. Things can't be simple, can they...?"
Soon, the others got into the Guest Room. For no reason in particular, everyone shared their alibis... and in the end, it turned out no one had an one except for George and Northy, who had stayed together in the kitchen.
: "First an impossible theft, then an impossible murder, and then an impossible disappearance... Just what is going on here?!"