The sheriff rubbed the bald spot on his head and frowned.

“Well I—I—well, I don’t rightly know what to say,” he said, looking befuddled and small for a moment. Then he drew himself up and regained a bit of his authority. “No one has keys to those cells but me in this town, ma’am, so I don’t rightly know how this would have happened. Last night was a rather peculiar night, and, given the rest of you all seemed to appear out of thin air, I’ll grant it was a mistake.”

He stepped forward and, with one smooth motion, unlocked the cell and swing the door open.

“Ladies?”

“Thank you, Dr. Milner,” Delia said, sailing out. “You seem to be fitting in your new occupation quite well.”

“Beg pardon, ma’am, but I’m no doctor,” he said, eyes crinkling around the corner. “Must have a mighty fine cousin in your parts, though.”

Delia stopped, studied him for a moment, then nodded crisply.

“Indeed,” she said. She turned and looped her arms around Molly and Faye’s waists. “Girls, you’ve no idea how glad Hannah and I are to see you!”

“What on earth is wrong with Lyman?” she whispered.

"Do you think he's the professor, too?" Molly whispered back. "He doesn't seem to think he is. Maybe he's got amnesia? The rest of us know who we are. I mean--well, yeah--you and Hannah are yourselves, and Faye and I, and the Baxters--we're all--ourselves. Even if we are dressed funny."

“Now, you girls said something about breakfast?” Delia said cheerily, glancing back at the sheriff.

“I don’t think, I know,” she whispered. “He’s got the same soul. And two souls can go into one body, but you can’t put the same soul into two bodies. Not at the same time, any rate. Let’s get outside where whispering isn’t as obvious.”

"I agree, I think outside would be the best option," Hannah said with a nod of agreement. She had felt her spirits lift slightly since yesterday, from what she didn't know.

Two souls in one body? That must be a close space, She thought when hearing Delia and the others speak.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful." Faye said loudly. As they exited, she turned to the young lady she didn't recognize and said, "By the way, I don't think we've met. I'm Faye Brixton, I run the general store back in Ditto Town."

As soon as the group stepped outside and were safely out of the sheriff's earshot, Faye did her best to get the two ladies up to speed: "Dr., or Sheriff, Lyman isn't the only weird thing about this place. You might've overheard us - we were trying to take a walk, get out of town a little. Somehow, Molly and I, and the Baxters, as two separate groups, ended up back where we started. Even with thick fog, that's more than a little strange."

She shook her head. "Besides, we still have no idea how we ended up here. There was a flash of light, and poof! We were all standing here, dressed up like we belonged. Milner either doesn't recognize us or is pretending he doesn't, and everyone else in town seems to know him as the Sheriff. I'd assume this was all a wild dream if I hadn't just woken up an hour ago."

Hannah listened as they spoke outside about the strange occurrence before speaking up, "that is strange, I am new in town so its quite the thing to happen when one is newly arrived. I am Hannah Soleira, it is nice to meet you Faye," she introduced herself with a warm smile.

"I was just looking around some archives when the next thing I know I found myself in a cell with Delia dressed like.." she trailed off looking at her attire again, "this."

Delia groaned.

“I knew I should have followed him. I’d gone down into the basement to catch some quick shut-eye; the rest of you were up in the hall. Lyman was sneaking round the back of the mansion, and I bet he woke something up or let something lose he ought not to.”

"That sounds suspicious," Hannah remarked, "makes me want to investigate now."

She went over events in her mind again wondering if there was anything strange she may have missed.

Faye frowned. She remembered Dr. Lyman disappearing rather abruptly, but she hadn't tracked where he'd gone. "I think Anthony, the violinist, was talking to Dr. Lyman, the last time I saw him. Well, last time before this started. I think Anthony is back at the hostel."

She turned to Delia and asked cautiously, "What's so important about the basement?" She'd never been down, but she'd heard stories floating around town. Granted, some of them she was pretty sure were just that, but she also knew not to take anything for granted in Ditto Town.

"Well, the basement proper is where the archives are kept," Delia replied. "But...if you really go into the basement, you can find a lot of strange things. Some of it is sensible, but some of it, well, there's a reason why it's not open to the public. There's some stuff down there that isn't easily explained. The mansion is built on the ruins of probably dozens of civilizations."

"It is?" Hannah was listening to the two talk and that stood out to her, "the things you learn when you move to a new town," she mused softly.

"Anything else occur that was off or strange?" she asked curiously, this town seemed to get better by the minute.

"Darling, everything is off and strange in Ditto Town," Delia said. "Although, I must admit I wasn't really paying attention during the presentation, except to notice the preponderance of gingers in attendance."