//------------------------------// // Turnabout at the Mansion (2-3) // Story: Investigations: The Chess Master's Turnabouts // by Rosestory //------------------------------// Mikado Mansion- Main Hall June 28- 6:19 p.m. Sebastian has never felt more like an outsider ever in his whole life. Once he and Cozy returned to the office, he went to the computer to research more about this "Mikado Mansion" and the family that owned it. They found that the Mikado family is a very rich family who runs Mikado Marvelous Moonstones , a multi-billion jewelry company , and their mansion , worth over one million dollars, is located on a piece of land that they also brought and own with their vast wealth. They also learn that the party that Sebastian was invited to was an annual anniversary party to celebrate the companies founding, with those invited to be high class and had a major contribution in the companies success. Which is why Sebastian felt off when he of all people was invited to a party celebrating the founding of a company he never even heard of before, still, there has to be a good reason why he was given an invite, so he decided to go there anyways. Having clocked out from the office earlier than usual, and dressed as formal for a fancy party as much as he could, he decided to go to the Mansion to see if the invite was legit, as well as what the reason is for him to be invited to a part like this should the invite be legitimate . Cozy tagged along with him as well. Once he reached the Mansion, which looked as expensive and fancy in person as in the online photos, he gave his ticket to the security guards , who confirmed the invite as legitimate, and soon he found himself inside the main hall , surrounded by a few people who was giving Sebastian a weird look. "As if it didn't feel awkward enough already..." Sebastian thought. Looking around, he came to the logical conclusion that the other people here were acquaintances of Mikado, there were servants, which included Paul Light, the one who gave him the invite, all of whom wore the same butler or maid uniform, which mean the other guest, wearing fancy clothing, must be they're probably all super-rich and important. "Golly," Cozy whispered into Sebastian, the other guest didn't hear " just looking at this hall already tells you that you don't really fit in ..." "Thanks for adding onto the nervousness, Cozy... " Sebastian took a deep breath, "It's ok, I think I know how to act first class enough to not say or do anything embarrassing..." "Are you Ok Sebby?" Cozy glow asked him, "You look like you're about to cry..." "I-I'm fine, Cozy, Ok..." Sebastian told his concerned friend, the pegasu- I mean doll flying in a hidden space near him... "I'm going to try and blend with these people a bit..." "Um... while they have similar meaning, the word Mingle would be a more suitable word than blend..." "Right, sorry, ok here goes nothing..." Sebastian looked around the room and decided to talk with the most casual looking person in the room first. He still wore a fancy suit and tie, but his look was lay back and chill. *Sigh* " Guess I do deserve a little break from all the trouble at Core Cavern Co..." The man plays around with his glass of what appears to be liquor ... "Um... Good Afternoon , Sir... Nice to meet you here..." "Huh?" The man turns his attention to Sebastian "Oh, good morning, haven't seen you around here before... nice to meet you too, Mr..." "Debeste, Sebastian Debeste ..." "The best , huh?" "Ah! D-don't get the wrong idea, I'm not calling myself the best or something like that, it's literally my sir name..." "Ah! Well that is one interesting surname, Name's Richard , Richard Core. " He extends his hand forward, and Sebastian politely returns the gestured with his own hand shake... > About Richard "So...May I ask what is your connection with Mikado..." "Well," He took a quick drink from his glass " The Core and The Mikado family have been very close, while Core Cavern Co is but a humble mining company, it is because of us that the Mikado family became so rich in the first place , as such our families are close . " "Oh, okay , that makes sense..." " Well, what about you?" He asked "I never seen you before , is this the first time you've been invited to this ?" "Ah.. Um, yeah. I'm new here... " Sebastian was a bit nervous. "Heh, it's alright, everyone has their first time doing something, so what you get invited for?" His lay back attitude stood in extreme contras to the fancy atmosphere . "Um... Well, not sure, really... I was just doing my work when Paul Light came to me and gave me an invite..." Sebastian told him, he realise how ridiculous it sounded, but it's the truth... Richard didn't believed it though "Really ? You don't even know what you did to get an invite? " Sebastian shook his head in honesty , to which Richard chuckles " I think your lying here, you see," He explains " to get an invite personally delivered to you by one of Emiko Mikado servants is a special honor which means you are a very important person , and Paul Light is Emiko Mikado personal and most loyal assistant, meaning you must be extra special..." Sebastian now felt even more suspicious and nervous Why did This Emiko went out of her way to send Paul Light just to make sure I got an invite, I'm not really that important , right ? > Trouble? "Sorry it I'm coming out as rude for asking," Sebastian really hope he wouldn't cause trouble by saying this " But I overheard you mentioning trouble with your company just now ..." "Oh? I guess I did , huh..." "So, what are these troubles that you were talking about?" "I guess there's no harm in telling you ... the news has already hit the papers anyways..." Newspaper Article received by Sebastian from Richard " Miner's Minerals Mysteriously and Maliciously Moved directly to Black Market " Sebastian read out. "Golly," Cozy Whispered " now that's a sensationalist title if I ever heard one..." "Core Cavern Co is one of the biggest mining companies in the world..." He explained " ... And as such we produced the most minerals out of any company there is..." He then looked dejected as he explained " Minerals that were discovered to be illegally sold to the Black Market." "Wha-WHAT!?" "Many people pay good money for these gems stones, and those on the Black Market are cheaper than the one commercially sold, and that's because those on the black market were stolen from the company." "Someone was stealing your gemstones and selling them cheaper than normal price illegally!?" "Not just anyone was stealing these gems, evidence was found that whoever was doing this was someone on the inside, giving these people exactly what they want, and that's why it's causing quite a stir in the company..." "Golly, someone stealing a companies produces and selling them cheap for a quick bit ... that sure would cause a lot of trouble..." Cozy said, Sebastian nodded in response " Yeah, it's honestly a bit shocking to say the least ..." "We don't know who's behind it, but as the CEO of my family's company, I'm gonna give them hell when I find out..." "No kidding, Whoever's behind this is making a mockery of your company." ... "Anyways, sorry about bring the mood down like that, party hasn't even start yet, pretty sure you can walk around and explore the place until it's time to gather here in the hall, the only rule is guest are only allowed on the 1st floor, the only stair up the 2nd floor is blocked by the servants, so go grab some food at the dining room or something" "Golly, he really is laid back and chill, even when angry about his company ..." "Yeah, anyways, we should explore the place until the party starts... we still have about 30 minutes..." Sebastian took out the map of the mansion that came with the letter he was given, and took a look... Mansion Map added into pocket "Ok, let's see here... Were in the main hall right now, and there is several places we can explore here ... Hey Cozy, where should we look first?" "Judging from the floor plan, this place is pretty big. " Cozy then gave her suggestion "Maybe we should look around for the other guests and talk to them..." "I guess it would be a good idea to socialize a bit before the party starts" Sebastian said. ------------------------------------------------------------- Mikado Mansion- Library June 28- 6:27 p.m. "Golly, this library is pretty fancy, " Cozy said "though not as great as the one back at the Friendship School..." "Still can't believe your world has an entire school dedicated to friendship ... " Sebastian remember Cozy bringing up Twilight's School of Friendship before " And yeah, this library is pretty impressive..." "Look like no one's here, let's explore the place... " > Examine Bookshelf "Seems like just a regular bookshelf , full of different books to read..." "Golly, look at all of these book" "You really have an interest in Book, huh Cozy" "It's something I picked up back at the school of friendship... Twilight , before she became headmare and princess, was a librarian , she loved books, and during the friendship lessons encourage us to read books, I spend most my time in the school library" Cozy Glow flew over to grab a book from the shelf, she grabbed onto a book and pulled it out quickly... ... along with one of the shelfs, which flew out the bookshelf and smack right onto Sebastian... "OW!" "Dear Celestia ! Are you okay!?" "I'm Fine !" "Golly..." She turned back to the bookshelf "What happened..." "Let me take a closer look myself..." ... ... "Ah! I see the problem," Sebastian explained "This bookshelf is pretty old, it's already breaking apart, some shelfs have already broken off and are being supported by the other books..." He turned to Cozy " This Shelf was supported by the books beneath it, so when you pulled the book out quickly, the shelf came with it..." " Golly, this place must be really old, huh?" "I mean, the website did say this mansion was owned by the Mikado family for 3 generations..." Sebastian turned to place the shelf back into the bookshelf when he noticed "Huh?" "What is it?" "Look over here..." Cozy looked at where Sebastian was looking at ... and she saw it, there on the back of the bookshelf was a hole. The hole itself wasn't much of a surprise, the bookshelf was pretty old and broken so a hole at the back would make sense, what caught their interest was the blackness behind the hole where there should be a whiteness of the walls of the room. Curiously, Sebastian reached out to the blackness, expecting the blackness to be the wall dirtied , he expected his fingers to be stopped, for his hands to press onto the wall, he didn't expect what had actually happened. His fingers went through the hole and just kept going, his fingers passed through the hole , as if it was empty space there. Soon Sebastian found his whole hand inside the hole... and felt something touch his hand. He pulls it out and sees it's a yellow wire. "So, there's space hidden behind the bookshelf and a yellow wire..." "Golly, this is interesting to say the least..." >Examine Painting "Golly, this seems like a really beautiful painting, whoever painted this must be a professional" "Yes, it is a pretty painting of a pretty rose indeed... Huh?" "Yes Sebastian ?" "The painting is slightly askew , here let me just..." Sebastian went over to readjust the painting so it was displayed properly, the painting was soon perfectly lined and angled... ... before the painting fell down and landed onto the floor ... ... "Well, that just happened..." "Hey! Look" Sebastian looked to where Cozy was pointing and saw.. ... That behind the painting was a hidden switch. "Golly, a hidden switch huh? That's not something you see everyday." "Wait! Cozy , don't you see! " "See what?" "The wire the switch is attached to..." Cozy looked , and sure enough, she can see the wire attached to the switch was yellow, the same yellow wire she saw earlier from the bookshelf... Sebastian and Cozy looked at each other and nodded in mutual understanding before he flipped the switch... *Click* The bookcase proceeded to sink into the floor, revealing a hidden passage . " A secret passage..." "Golly, a hidden passage in an old mansion is , like, so cliché ... " "I wonder where it goes..." " ... Well, only one way to find out. You'll stay here in case someone comes in here or the door automatically shuts, I'll just go see where it leads and tell me..." "Um... Ok, don't let anyone see you, Cozy..." "Ok!" Cozy soon walked into the passageway, Sebastian simply waited there for a few minutes . Soon , he saw Cozy flying towards him from the darkness. Suddenly, the door closed on them. It appears as though the door close automatically after a few minutes... Cozy suddenly screamed for help and Sebastian immediately tried to flipped the door open again, but there was some problems... The door didn't open until another minute or so... and when it did open, Sebastian saw Cozy , curl up on the floor , crying her eyes out... Sebastian immediately went over and hug her, trying to reassure her. She eventually calmed down. ... "Cozy glow... is everything alright?" Concern was clear in his voice "I-I'm Fine..." No you're not Cozy, I know for a fact there is something wrong here, this isn't the first time you acted like this... You sometimes curl up in fear before... why are you afraid, is something wrong? Cozy Glow's Nyctophobia noted "So... what did you find there?" "Oh, well, there was a set of stairs that looped back around itself, it seems to be a secret passage to the 2nd floor of this place, with the other side being a door hidden behind a painting that leads to some random room that had a window and a box on a stand. The box was incased in glass... " "I... See" Okay, not sure what that means , but I'll just go with it for now... Secret Passageway noted -------------------------------------------------- Mikado Mansion- Media Room June 28- 6:35 p.m. Sebastian walked into the media room first, he figure that if anyone was going to be there it would make sense for them to be enjoying whatever entertainment they have... Sebastian and Cozy expected the people here to be mature professionals, and for them to be having casual conversation while drinking and playing a simple game, so they were surprise when they saw two children singing karaoke in front of the TV . The two kids singing appears to be a yellow haired young man with a simple black shirt with a Hufflepuff scarf and simple shorts , and he's singing the Minecraft parody song "Fallen Kingdom" with a orange haired girl wearing a white jacket and long orange skirt. "Golly, those two sure know how to sing a song, huh... " "Yeah, and it's a really popular and great song too, I'm honestly tempted to join them..." Soon, a 3rd person comes out of another door, which according to the map would be where the closet is, a girl with long black hair and wearing a simple maid outfit. The maid soon noticed Sebastian and immediately stepped back in shock before walking forward with a simple smile and politely greeting him. "OH! Hello there, my name is Mari, I am one of the maid here, at your service. How may I help Mr... " "Sebastian, My name is Sebastian" " How may I be of service , Sebastian?" > The party "Well, I would like to talk about the party... " "Oh? What about it?" "Well, you see, I'm new here... This is the first time I'm invited to this party , I would like to ask what I should know about it?" "Oh!" She said "There's nothing you should really know about... just be polite and don't do anything bad and you'll be fine..." " WOOAH!!" The purple haired guy scream as the girl sang in the background "I GAZE ON INTO THE BOUNDLESS SKYLINE!!!" As she sang she accidentally took a step back and tripped on something, landing onto the guy behind him. They both went silent for a moment before they laugh together , stand up and continue singing. "Are they allowed to do that?" "This is the Media room, it was a room made for this... anywhere else no, but here, yeah." "Golly, they really are having a lot of fun, huh..." > About Yourself "So," He asked "What can you tell me about yourself?" "Oh, well, there nothing much to talk about me... I 'm just a simple maid cleaning this mansion up for my master and serving all guest as they please..." " And why did you choose to become a maid here..." "There's no real reason in particular why I choose to be here, I'm just a loyal maid working here for what it's worth, honestly..." *BANG* *Raddle* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* " Three Locks, of course, but what secret are they hiding?" Sebastian mumbled "Excuse me, Sir, what about Locks?" Mari asked "Ah! Nothing... It's nothing..." "You alright there, Sebby?" Cozy Glow whispered "Ye-yeah, I'm fine...." Suddenly, the door suddenly burst opens, a butler wearing a simple red suit immediately looked at Mari and called her... "Mari!" "Ah! Connor! " "We need some help here, can you spare us a minute?" "Ah! Of course! I'll help..." Mari and Connor immediately left the room, Sebastian suddenly felt a tug on his coat. He looked over and saw the children from earlier tugging at his coat. "Hi there!" The girl cheerfully says with a childish grin "Um... Hello?" "HAHAHA " The boy laughed "You look funny..." "Golly, what are their deal here?" Cozy whispered "May I ask who you are..." " My name's Simon Mikado" The boy response "And I'm Lucy Mikado" The girl follows up on "And we're the Mikado twins" They both greeted at the same time with a cute face on. "Golly, they really think that's gonna work?" "What do you mean , Cozy?" "I know a manipulator when I see one, those two look like cute , harmless and naïve children, but I know for a fact they are using their cuteness to manipulate you, under that mask is a smart and devious mind..." Sebastian would like to ask Cozy why she thought that, but suddenly the girl perked up again "Hey Funny looking man" She said in a childish tone, "Can you help? We wanna play with something in the closet, it the microphone on the top shelf, we can't reach it and we wanna sing using that," She then made the cutes face as she said "Please~" Sebastian was very wary of what she said... Cozy Glow said they were manipulators but Sebastian wanted to be sure Cozy wasn't mistaken... He decided to comply with what they asked. He walked into the closet, but heard footsteps running towards him, he turned around and since he hasn't entered the closet, instead just standing by the doorway... he saw the two children just standing there silently , smiling at them. He takes Cozy's warning into account , suspects that they might try to lock him inside the closet, and looks for the nearest thing to block the door. "You know as much as I do what their trying to do..." Cozy whispered "Yeah, lets just use something to block the door first" He whispered back. He looked over to a box nearby, checking the contents in such a way as to still block the door from closing with his legs. Simon and Lucy looked at each other and whispered... "Is this guy for real!?" " I know right, just walk into the closet already so we can lock you inside, god !" Meanwhile, Sebastian and Cozy was discussing the contents of the box he was holding ... " Sebastian this box is full of magnets, what could be so interesting about them?" "Nothing," Sebastian explained "I'm pretending like I think the microphone might be here so they don't suspect I'm looking for something to block the door ." Box of Magnets noted "... Golly, that's actually smart..." "The microphone isn't there! It's further inside!" He heard one of the kids scream. " And they brought the bait, time to pick up another random box..." Sebastian knelled down to pick up another, but then due to the positioning and angle, he notices that Cozy Glow's makeshift jacket hood had something on it... "Hey Cozy, why is the jacket dirty?" "What in Celestia could you be talking about?" "There some gold dust on the normally completely red jacket and I sure know it wasn't there before..." Gold dust noted "AH! Well..." Cozy panicked and looked around the room hoping for something to throw Sebastian off the topic, "H-Hey look, " She completely ignored Sebastian's remark about the gold dust "There are a couple of step-ladder there... maybe you can use one to block the door" "Cozy," Sebastian said "That's a ladder, not a step-ladder..." Cozy pretended to go along just to get Sebastian to forget about the topic " Golly! There's a difference?" "Yes there's a difference... A step-ladder has an A-frame that help it be place anywhere, while a regular ladder is longer but has to lean against a wall..." "I still don't see why it matters though, I mean, their basically the exact same thing, you still use them to clime up to places you wouldn't normally be able to reach..." "Well, it's like apples and pears , their fruits that you eat, but their also different in their taste , texture and all that. Ladders and Step-ladders are similar in some aspects but different in others." "If apple Bloom heard that she knock your teeth out," Cozy offhand comment at Sebastian's use of apples and pears before returning to the topic at hand " But still, They do the same thing, right? I think you should stick with the basic facts of the matter." "As a prosecutor I was trained to be thorough in my investigations, any detail that seems minor might actually completely flip a case on it's head. " "Huh, guess you're right, Sorry it's just..." Cozy explained "As a Pegasus any time there is an out of reach area I can just fly up there, I don't need to use a ladder or step-ladder, so I guess I never bother with the differences... Heh..." "Understandable," He told her "Still, you do have a good point about using this to block the door..." Thanks to where the ladder was relative to Sebastian and the door, he was able to pretend he was looking for the mic when he was setting up the ladder in such a way that neither Simon or Lucy realize what he was actually doing. He could now walk deeper into the closet without fear of the twins trying to lock him inside. They fell right for the bait, not even a few minutes after walking further into the closet the twins tried to trap Sebastian and Cozy inside, only to be stopped by the ladder. "Close the door and lock in inside already!" "Somethings blocking the door!" "AHEM!" Sebastian made himself known to the two kids. ... ... ... In the awkward silence, the sound of another door openingcould be heard, Mari walked back into the Media room with Connor , who saw Sebastian inside the closet and Simon by the door... "What is happening here?" Connor asked "O-Oh! H-Hey there Conny" Lucy says in the most innocent tone she could muster, " My brother and I were, um... well..." "Sebastian , what did they do?" Mari asked "They asked me to help bring out a microphone from the closet and tried to lock me in..." "H-Hey! That's a dirty lie!" Simon accuses "And that is a dirty handprint your leaving on the closet door, Simon " Connor points out. "I'm telling your mother..." "NO!" Connor left the room , the twins ran after him..." "I-I'm really sorry about that, they can be quite troublesome sometimes..." "It's ok. " Sebastian said, before he and Cozy left the room. "Well, that just happened" Cozy commented "Yeah, no kidding, thanks for pointing out their fake cuteness façade, how did you manage to find out about them?" Sebastian asked "Let's just say the same tricks don't work twice..." "Um... Okay?" "Anyways, let's go see where else we can explore..." ------------------------------------- Mikado Mansion- Dining Room June 28- 6:48 p.m. Walking into the dining room, Sebastian was meet with fancy people in high class suits chatting and minding their own business, eating and drinking casually with each other. Anyone who saw Sebastian just ignored him as another guest, as he himself took some food from the main table , secretly giving some to Cozy. He remembered the conversation they had about eating meat, and how ponies were exclusively vegetarian , thou she understood some creatures ate meat, namely the dragons and griffins , so it wasn't as horrific or terrifying as one would expect... The main table all served those small mini foods on toothpicks you see at a fancy party. He made sure the ones he gave to Cozy were the ones with no meat at all. "Hey there, nice to see you again." Sebastian turned to see Richard looking at him , with the same glass , though a different drink was inside it. "Hey there , Richard... You doing good there?" "Yep, I sure am..." "Cool..." "Who is that ?" He hears someone say "And why is he talking to Richard?" "To you think they might be a new elite member or something?" "If they are , hope they end up better than Aubrey..." Sebastian decided to walk over and have a word with them. "Excuse me? I don't believe we meet before ... " "No, no we haven't ... name's Sunny Sakurai, this is my best friend Kelsey Hazel " "Hello there!" "Sakurai ? Are you of any relation to Sakurai inc?" "Ah, so you heard of my family's company I see... yes , you're talking to the future heir of the compony, already part time CEO helping my father with the business there..." Sunny then takes a closer look at Sebastian "Wait a minute, You're that prosecutor, aren't you? The one that dealt with the murder at one of my parks?" "Ah! Yes, that would be me," Sebastian extends his hand to him "Prosecutor Sebastian Debeste, nice to formally meet you..." Sunny shakes his hand "And it's nice to meet you too..." "So you were the one helping uncover the truth behind that statue thief , weren't you?" Kelsey chimes in... Sebastian nods "Well, it's nice to meet you in person, " He says, "Trust me, after my mother attended the trial, she wouldn't stop talking about it, I was curious for some of the minor details myself " "Ah! Sure, I'll be happy to fill you in on them, but first, I would like to ask about some things myself" "Sure, what you wanna talk about?" > Company relation? "What is the connection between Sakurai inc and Mikado Marvelous Moonstone... " "Connection?" "You know, anything between you and Mikado, your family helping each other, buisness companies partnership?" "OH! Yeah about that, " He explains "There is no connection" "What?" "I'm best friends with Kelsey over here, and it's his family, the Hazel family of Hazel art emporium, that has ties with the Mikado s " "And since you're best friends with hi as well since Sakurai and Hazel has an equally strong connection..." "Yeah, I'm just sort of his +1 ." "Oh, ok..." "Hey" Kelsey butts in "Before you get the wrong idea like so many other people have, he repays me by letting me be his +1 during the Deiji parties " "Um, ok ... Noted" " "Before you get the wrong idea like so many others " Golly he must not want people thinking he's a freeloader or something..." > Better than Aubrey? "While I was talking with Richard, you mentioned... "To you think they might be a new elite member or something?" "If they are , hope they end up better than Aubrey..." ... What do you mean by "Better than Aubrey" ?" "Oh, you don't know? Aubrey is one of the company elites , and there have been rumors floating around about her background..." "What rumors?" "There were rumors that Aubrey, despite working at a great Company, has a less than great living situation." " They say she lives in poverty thanks to what her family is doing, and she was making sure all the money she earned was going to support her family..." "Golly, now that sound like something we don't wanna hear more about" Aubrey's situation noted Anyways , is that all you have to ask? Yeah, now what do you want to talk about? Well, I heard that apparently during the trial the witness and defendant was working together to steal the statue, what exactly did they plan? Well you see... And soon, Sebastian, Kelsey and Sunny talked about the trial that for a few minutes before suddenly *DING* *DING* "What was that?" "Golly, sounds like it came from the Main Hall..." "Alright, let's go..." --------------------------------------------------- Mikado Mansion- Main Hall June 28- 7:02 p.m. Sebastian walked out with Cozy Glow nearby, other guest walked into the main hall from other places as well. "Excellent! It's nice to see you all here... " Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Sebastian soon saw her, a beautiful looking white haired girl wearing pink roses on her hair and a floral dress, and of course, everything was completed with beautiful jewelry such as gems, silver and pearls. "Look! It's her... Emiko Mikado!" Sebastian heard some of the guest say. Emiko looked around her, her eyes landing on each and every one of the guest at her Mansion, she had a look of recognizing and smiling at everyone, but once her eyes locked onto Sebastian, she had a brief moment of surprise before it returned to her usual smile... "If I could please have your attention for a moment, everyone..." She said in a beautiful and welcoming tone, " I would first like to thank you all for once again coming to the annual Mikado Party, a special event to celebrate the day my great grandfather founded the Mikado Marvelous Moonstone ..." "That's her... Emiko Mikado herself." Sebastian was silent . No, the whole hall was silent... "I don't know what it is , but she has some sort of powerful aura around her... Like the whole room just went more tense ..." "Now, I can see a few familiar faces here, certainly..." She turned her gaze towards Sebastian... "However, I would like to take a minute to welcome our special guest for tonight's event." She then gestured for Sebastian as if telling him to walk forward, " Sebastian Debeste, Please introduce yourself..." "AH! Um..." Sebastian was caught off guard by this, but he quickly calmed down and regain his composure, not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of important , rich people. "Hello there , Everyone. I-It's nice to meet you all..." Smooth "I'm um... Sebastian, Sebastian Debeste, and it a pleasure to be here with you..." ... ... ... ... Hmph... "That went well..." Sebastian sighed, He didn't know how these things work so he just tried what he thinks might be a good introduction ... "Heh, don't worry bout it, some people can be stuck up sometimes..." Richard tried to reinsure him. "... Anyways, now that that's out of the way , it's now time to get to the main event, " Emiko said "As you all know, today we are to celebrate the day my great grandfather Hibana Mikado founded the Mikado Marvelous Moonstone company... " Everyone clapped their hands . "For those who attended this party before, you know exactly what we will be going here, but for those who are new here or have forgotten, we have a series of events that will take place , starting with the ritual of The Hibana Ruby... " "Um... I'm sorry ,ritual?" He asked... "Well, you see..." Richard explained "It's part of the Mikado family Tradition, the believe that the spirit of the dead will reenter the world of the living to bless their descendants through a medium, The idea is that the spirit of the deceased will enchanted the Hibana Ruby , allowing spiritual magic from the Twilight Realm to help bring fortune to the Mikado family bloodline " He then explained the ritual to him " the Ruby is locked in a box , which will be taken from the vault to the center of the hall where we all stand in a circle around it , the box opens revealing the ruby and we all surround it and remain silent as the spirit enchants the Ruby... " "Oh, " Sebastian remembered , before whispering "Hey Cozy Glow, wasn't this the ruby you had a special interest in? " Sebastian remembered how he was researching about Mikado with Cozy , and how interested she was in the ruby when they got to that part of the website, which makes sense, She was a magic Pegasus from another world , of course she would have an interest in a suppose magical ruby, though it did lead to a more complicated conversation than explaining computers to her since he had told her magic never existed in this world... "Yeah, " She whispered "I thought you said there was no magic so I got curious, I guess it was just a sense of seeing something familiar again, not sure , really." "Hey Richard, how does this ritual work exactly?" "Oh, it's simple, everyone just need to surround the gemstone and knell down for a few minutes, Emiko and her servants does the rest of the ritual..." "Golly, that doesn't sound like a ritual, that sounds like a moment of worship..." "Um... Alright then." Sebastian knelled down on the floor, with Cozy hiding near him, Richard knelled down next, soon, everyone, staff member and guest knelled down, Paul Light soon arrived down the stairs with a chest, which Sebastian assumed to be where the Ruby was kept, "Hey, it's that box!" "Hmm? What box?" "The secret passage in the library, it lead to a room on the 2nd floor, that box was inside... "Really! Oh..." Everyone knelled down as Emiko opened the box, supposedly to start the ritual , when all she did was screamed. "What's wrong !?" A maid had asked "Th-The Ruby... THE HIBANA RUBY ISN'T HERE !!" "WHAT!?" She stood up and looked into the box, sure enough, the ruby wasn't where it was suppose to be... "The.. the ruby.. it... it was-" "... STOLEN!!" "It can't be..." Soon everyone who was knelling down suddenly stood up and looked into the box, all of them with shock on their face... "What is the meaning of this!?" "the hell!?" "Dear god, who would do this !?" "Everyone Please !!" Emiko shouted " You all need to remain calm!" "The gemstone... stolen?" Sebastian was thinking hard "This Manor has top notch security, only way in or out of the mansion grounds was a gate, everywhere else is blocked off by a wall..." Sebastian realize the implications "Does that mean... the one who stole it... is here in this Mansion...?" "I know who did it..." Everyone turned to the one who said that, a pink haired woman with a maid dress. Richard spoke towards her "Rosemary, what do you mean?" "I know who stole the Hibana Ruby." She stated "There's only one person it could be..." ... ... ... "You're the thief...!" She pointed, everyone turned to look at who she was pointing and gasped "... Paul Light!" ... "Wha-WHAT!?" HOLD IT! Emiko screamed, "what are you saying Rosemary!? No way that Paul could have stolen the gem!" "Oh? And what is that ?" "Be-Because he's loyal! No way someone as kind and hardworking as him would-" OBJECTION! "I'm sorry Emiko," Rosemary stated her point "But unfortunately for you, fact are facts, and he is the only one who could have stolen the gem..." "Wha-What do you mean!?" "I shall explain" Testimony: It could only be Paul - Me and Henry were making sure all the guest here was following the rules of the annual party, no one allowed on the 2nd floor without expressed permission. Guest are only allowed to wander the 1st floor. - Since you can confirm the gem was there when you checked at around 6:40, that means the gem could have only been stolen between then and 7. - You , Emiko, were the only other person upstairs, everyone else was down here on the 1st floor, since this staircase is the only way up or down the floor.. - You asked Paul to go grab the box from the spirit room , and that's when your "Most loyal servant" stole it, it's the only possibility... HOLD IT! "N-now you listen here! I am not the thief! " "Yeah right, Paul! You were the only one who could have stolen it, no one else had the opportunity" "Just because I carried the box that had the gem doesn't make me a thief!" "So you say, but there is no one else who could be the perpetrator of this crime... I swear on my honor as a maid. Look, if you have a rebuttal, an actual rebuttal with solid evidence to prove your innocents , then go ahead " "..." "Yeah, that what I thought, now if you'll excuse me, I'll need to call the-" OBJECTION! Everyone turned to look at the source of the scream, and saw Sebastian with his baton pointing at Rosemary... "Excuse me, Rosemary... Was it?" "Yes, what is it, Sebastian" "... If you don't mind, I would like to be given a chance..." "... A chance?" "A chance to provide a rebuttal against your case... " "!!!" Rosemary was surprise someone actually had something to say, but she decided to give him the chance, she believed she was 100% correct, and that this will be a waste of time, but if it meant embarrassing a guest, then she was more than happy to oblige " Very well then , humor me..." Rebuttal - Me and Henry were making sure all the guest here was following the rules of the annual party, no one allowed on the 2nd floor without expressed permission. Guest are only allowed to wander the 1st floor. HOLD IT! Sebastian asked her " So you made sure no one went up this set of stairs here?" He pointed to the stairs in the main hall. "That's not all, I pride myself in being very observant, I kept track of where each guest went during the party... For example, you talked with Richard in the main hall before you entered the library at 6:27 , left the library at 6:35 , then you entered the media room until 6:48 , then you entered the dining room until it was time for the ritual... " Wow , you really are observant, huh" "It's part of my job..." Rosemary's Account noted Anyways , let me get back to it... - Since you can confirm the gem was there when you checked at around 6:40, that means the gem could have only been stolen between then and 7. - You , Emiko, were the only other person upstairs, everyone else was down here on the 1st floor, since this staircase is the only way up or down the floor.. Present secret Passage (Note: if present secret passage before you press her for her account, Sebastian will say " The contradiction is right here, but I fell like I need to press her on something first before I make my move " ) OBJECTION! "Tsk, Tsk" Sebastian said " You pride yourself in being observant, but I'm afraid you weren't observant enough." "Wha-What!? Are you saying I'm not observant!?" "If you were, you would have realise that there is actually a second way to reach the 2nd floor..." "And what in god's name was that supposed to mean !?" "You are a maid working here for years now, if you were truly observant, so you should know every single small detail of every single room in this mansion... " Sebastian stated his claim "Including the odd quirk that this mansion has..." "Odd quirk?" Rosemary was confused by what Sebastian was talking about. "I'm talking about the hidden secret passage , of course." Everyone looked at Sebastian with confusion, so he explained further "There is a hidden secret passage in the ground floor library, which is hidden behind a bookcase and leads to a small staircase, which in turn opens into a room on the 2nd floor , the exit hidden behind a painting on that room..." Everyone gasped, Emiko Exclaimed "A secret passage !? Are you serious ?!" "Dead serious, " Sebastian explained "Wha-There no way! Your bluffing!" Rosemary accuses "I'll show you the passage myself if you don't believe me..." "Wha- You're not joking, are you..." Sebastian shook his head. "With all due respect , Miss Emiko Mikado, but how did you not know about something like that in your own home ?" " I never go inside if I can help it, because it was painful for me to be there after the ... incident" Sadness tainted her voice as she said that... "Still, if what you say is true, then there was indeed another way for the thief to walk upstairs" "Wait a minute!" Another butler said "How do we know that you weren't the one who stole it!?" He pointed at Sebastian "What do you mean?" " I mean how do we know we can trust you to not have stolen the Ruby yourself, and playing this detective role just so we wont suspect you!" "That... Can be proven with this piece of evidence" TAKE THAT! Present Rosemary's account "Rosemary herself is my evidence proving I couldn't stole it" "What!? " Rosemary exclaimed "How could I of all people have proven your innocents." "Let us remember what You told us" "That's not all, I pride myself in being very observant, I kept track of where each guest went during the party... For example, you talked with Richard in the main hall before you entered the library at 6:27 , left the library at 6:35 , then you entered the media room until 6:48 , then you entered the dining room until it was time for the ritual... "You saw me leave the library at 6:35, if I had truly stolen the gem , then why did Emiko confirm the gem was still in the spirit room when she checked at 6:40..." "AH!" She realized "Oh you have got to be kidding me !" "Yes, since the gem was there after I left, this proves I didn't used the passageway to steal the Ruby myself, someone else did!" "ACK!" "Paul Light isn't the only suspect in this thief, we still have to consider other possibilities first!" HOLD IT! "Other possibilities! Who else could have used the passageway!?" "That an easy answer " Sebastian then asked Rosemary " Rosemary, since you took note of what I did, you surely must know the movements of the other guest as well, tell me , between 6:40 and 7:00, who else entered the library and lounge ... " HOLD IT! "The lounge!?" " The library has two doors, one to the lounge and one to the Main hall, anyone could go to the lounge and then the library unseen by Henry and Rosemary" Sebastian pulled his baton out and pointed at Rosemary "Now tell us, who was there in the loundge and library at 6:40 to 7!" "Heh- yeah, about that" Rosemary said. "I don't know ..." "... What?" Sebastian asked "There was a problem at the kitchen, some of the equipment broke and I was there from 6:37 until 6:58 ... it was a serious situation that required all maids and butlers to help fix it... Henry was the only one here watching the stairs and he made 100% sure that no one went up the stairs, but he didn't observe everyone's movements... So..." "Y-You have got to be kidding, Right?" "Unfortunately no, " Connor said "Remember when I went into the Media room to ask Mari for help? We only came back to see what the twins did when we needed to get some tools from the closet..." "So, basically, Henry can confirmed that no one used the main stairs, but we don't know who could have used the library passageway..." "Yeah..." "Wh-Well, there's a contraption there!" Sebastian said "How did you know I left the media room and entered the dining room at 6:48!" "I believe it's contradiction not contraption , and there's a window between the kitchen and dining room, it's hard to miss that unusual outfit you wear, no one else here wears green and red you know..." "Ah, " Sebastian faced palmed " Why did I think this was going to be easy?" "Trust me," Cozy whispered "Nothing is ever just "That easy"" " *Sigh* Fine, we can still work with this. " Sebastian said, "Emiko, I would like permission to check the room where the Ruby was stored, I believe that there might be evidence we can find there." Sebastian and Cozy was expecting Emiko to give some kind of protest like how disrespectful to the spirit it would be to check the room for evidence and was getting ready for a rebuttal to whatever she said, but then Emiko agreed "Very well then, with my permission and under my supervision and that of two of my servants, you may investigate..." "That was..." Sebastian was surprised to say the least "Unexpected" "Golly, "Cozy pointed out "First she sends you an invite when you didn't even know who she was, then she introduces you as the "Special guest " , and now she's more than happy to let you investigate? Something up, and you can fell it too, can you?" Sebastian nodded "We might as well go along with it," Sebastian whispered to her , " A thief is on the loose and It's best we not look a gifted horse in the mouth ..." Sebastian turned to Emiko, "Thank you, Emiko, Please show us the way." "Alright, Paul, Connor, follow me, Everyone else, you are all to remain here until further notice, I have informed the guards to have this place on lock down so don't even think about escaping..." Sebastian immediately went upstairs , guided by Emiko, he went to the spirit vault where the gem was last seen... To be continued...