"Aaaaand...Jeff, Darling," Delia said, grinning just slightly at Neal before she turned back to Jeff and Mr. QED. "Since you are an officer of the law, I think it might be best if you inform Mrs. Baxter about this ill news. I'm sure that Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint would be willing to accompany you and provide moral support for the widow."

She had dodged into a smaller room, hiding behind the door as she composed herself. She remained that way, trembling and breathing heavily, until her legs gave out.

That's right. These legs aren't as strong. Reminded of her form, however, she thought to close the door as quietly as she could (Not very quietly at all - stealth was never my strong suit). She thought there was a lock, but she didn't much like walls (despite their occasional usefulness), and she didn't want to risk locking herself in.

Strange moonlight streamed in through a large window, illumining the room with an eerie glow. She noticed a pile of blankets and cushions which might be a large sofa or small bed. She took a large, thick blanket (Why do they have to catch cold so easily?), and wrapping it around herself, peered through the window.

She stiffened. I knew there was something off about this place! Everything's dead here.

Jeff knelt next to the former Daniel Baxter and closed his eyelids, then he removed his sport jacket and covered the poor fella's face with it.

"Go to Niflhel, Delia."

"I raised him," Delia sniffed. "Niflhel is my son, and a better one than you'd ever be. Although I'm beginning to doubt your ability to have compassion, you're still the cop and thus the official coroner. It is the responsibility of the coroner to inform the next of kin. Go tell Angie. Now."

Jeff took one last final look at Baxter when he noticed the electrical burns that covered Daniel's hand, upon closer examination he discovered the symbols F13 branded into the man's skin. He stood and with a meaningful glare in Neal's direction he spoke these words. "The deceased had something in his grasp just prior to the time of death. I expect whatever it was to be produced as evidence when I return."

With being said, he went off in search of Mrs. Baxter. "Ma'am, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Angie had just finished chatting with another guest when Jeff asked to speak to her. She turned to him, recognizing him as the Ditto Town police officer.

Perhaps it was something in his face, or the way he said it, but Angie knew immediately something must be wrong. Her husband had been gone too long.

She gulped and answered his question. "Yes, of course. Is something wrong?"

Anna had retreated back to the room the rest of the guests were in. She stared at the light of a candle, trying to fight back the urge to hyperventilate.

"Everything here is dead. Now one of us is dead. Sense a theme?"

"Hush. It was an accident. Nothing wants to hurt us."

"You know death follows us, dear sister. Everywhere we go, the bodies pile up. Starting with our mother."

"That was not our fault!" Anna said, realizing too late that she had spoken the last sentence aloud. She glanced around nervously, hoping no one had heard.

(OOC Sorry I've taken so long to make my next post, my e-mail wasn't letting me know about everyone else's posts)

Mango spent a lot of time lighting the candles, but unfortunately for him no one paid any attention to his unique method. Then the cop showed up. It had to be a cop. Bad for business, he couldn't compete with someone who provided their services for free (other than taxes). With a sigh of frustration, he decided to lay low for a bit, he never could get customers while the police were doing their jobs. Well, he could always hope this guy turned out incompetent so he could step in and fix his mess. So following instructions, he sat in a chair and waited. While waiting, he heard some of the others whispering about the mansion being transported someplace dead.

Transported? Like to another dimension? Oh please not again, I was just getting used to this place, he thought. While he was tempted to check it out for himself, if they had been warped somewhere else than it would be best to stay within sight of others, and as far away from the outside as possible.

Eventually, the cop came back from a trip downstairs. Something was up, he could tell by his expression. He stood up and listened.

This wasn't Jeff first rodeo, a regular duty of his was to inform the family of a deceased citizen that their loved one had perished. It wasn't a task he particularly relished, in fact he hated it. Mostly because it never got easier.

"Ma'am, there is no easy way to tell you this. But your husband is dead."

On hearing the cop's pronouncement, it only took a second for Mango to decide on a course of action. He extended his claws.

"Where's the killer?" he asked.

Your husband is dead.

Angie had suspected something was wrong, but never this. She stumbled back onto a nearby chair and was silent a moment, trying in vain to wrap her mind around this news. Dan was…dead? How? How was that even possible? This was certainly not what they’d expected tonight. It should have been a fun – and perfectly safe – night out together.

She fought back sobs. She could grieve later, but right now she had to be strong. Grace would need comfort in getting through the loss of her father. She knew in her heart that Dan’s final thoughts would have been for the two of them, and she would honor his memory the best she could.

But right now she had to find out more. She looked up at the officer. “How did it happen? And I would like to see him please.”

"Electrocution seems to have been the cause of death, exactly how it happened, well I have no idea. If you want to see him, he's downstairs."

"Oh," Mango said, sitting down. If it was just an accident, nothing he could do. Maybe he should have waited for more than a second to take a course of action.

Neal watched the young cop leave without much of a reaction. Once he was gone, the Darkling turned to his sort-of companion in all this madness while simultaneously stepping slightly between Delia and the others.

"Speaking of evidence, you might want to take a look at this before Cowboy gets his hands on it." Decker said as he produced the small cylinder from his duster. "It's another map, as far as I can tell."

------------

Malcolm and Selena looked around at the sudden outburst coming from across the room. One of the guests, a younger woman, was looking around sheepishly which left little doubt that she was the cause of the outburst.

"...the guests are going off crazier than usual and we haven't even had the pleasure of spiked punch."

"That we know of." Selena countered, eyeing her glass suspiciously.

"Similar style to the first one--just...different. It still has the Mansion and the well, though," Delia replied, looking over his shoulder. "I wonder...well...we probably should limit any further exploring until tomorrow. Getting another person knocked off won't help matters any."