Clue: Heathermire Hall [DT]

It's not at all an issue, @Sacredlege! I can literally just have him leave out the beef while still eating the mushrooms and pasta.

@Wolfical, my second post has been submitted! I'm still waiting for @ty7lucky to respond to my request (I asked if Vermillion is Blanche's alibi), but I'll ask my second question anyway: @Falconer, are you my character's alibi? (Remember, answers need to be provided by PM. XD)

EDIT: The vegetarian's preferences have been accommodated.

Popping in to say how weird the above post looked out of context in my feed. "I can literally just have him leave out the beef while still eating the mushrooms and pasta."

Have fun whoever plans to post next--whatever lays in the chamber is up to you.

Also, I'll ask my question later, if you don't mind.

Wolfie. Since everybody's in agreement that they don't mind Krome dying, I feel as if there aren't any stakes in trying to solve the mystery here--all of these people can come out of this mess without knowing who saved their a**es, and nobody would be the wiser. Also, I don't know how cooperative the Butler will be at this point. Is the Butler going to force them to help him solve the mystery? Or will there be other stakes at hand to force everybody to start taking initiative? I'm sorry if the reason is obvious to you, but if I were in that position I'd scream "congratulations guys, we did it!" and spend the rest of the storm drinking tequila or something.

Unless Professor Pecan is the killer. In that case we're all doomed. Bow, mortals.

@Falconer, I think I'm going to follow @Sacredlege's example and leave my question for later, so please disregard my question. The one for @ty7lucky still stands, though.

Sacredlege, picking up on what I said in my post, maybe the butler bluffs that if they don't help him solve the murder, he won't delete the backups of the folders that Mr Krome created. He'd say that if he was killed as well before the murderer is apprehended, then the files will be sent to the authorities, since Mr Krome created a failsafe in the event of his death and set a timer on the files. Basically, if the butler is killed, he can't enter the code that resets the timer, so then the files will be sent to the police. If they help him solve the crime, however, he'll delete the files completely and everyone but the murderer can go free.

Thoughts? @Wolfical, what do you think?

EDIT: And while I was writing this, I received ty's PM. That timing. XD

Also I talked to Elizabeth, it's confirmed--my character and Zinnia will probably be trying to kill each other. Rip @ one of us, #probablyme

@AstralHunter that's a great idea, Astral. I like the idea of him bluffing, but I think at least one of the characters will ask for proof (even if he can't be threatened with death, I'm sure one of us is willing to break a couple of bones, maybe chop off a finger [I'm looking at you Elizabeth]). So maybe that's actually what's happening, and the hidden chamber is filled with computers or some other high-tech gear that tells everybody that there are backups, and the butler is bluffing that it's going to be sent even if they destroy it, and only he knows how to stop it (I mean, that seems pretty creative and on-the-spot enough, and even if they do torture him he won't be able to tell anything because he doesn't know).

EDIT: Let's also make it that most of them are off because of the outage, but there's a laptop that has long enough battery power for them to see that there is a backup.

Okay--so I mulled over it a bit, and this is just my suggestion, but taking everything into consideration:

Inside the hidden chamber there are computers, but only one can be turned on in the outage, because it has an extra battery that lasts for a while. There's a file in there that shows a video of Mr. Krome, in his seat, saying something along the lines of:

If you are watching this, chances are I'm already dead. And chances are, if you're not Francisco and if you're clever enough, you killed me, or are planning to kill me. Eitherway, it doesn't matter, because my death won't save your reputation.

If you have killed Francisco, your fate is sealed. I already have a completely separate backup file being sent to the police. The only way to stop it is to update it, which I do, every seven days or so--but there are only two people in the world who know how, and where the file is. If I'm gone, Francis is (or was) your best bet.

If you are Francisco--well, old chap, it seems you've found yourself in a pickle haven't you? Listen. You might not think you do, but you know how to do this. I've told you once, I've told you twice, I've told you multiple times. You know where I go in my leisurely hours. You're a clever chap. You'll figure it out.

To everybody; if Francisco allows you into my file quarters, you still have the matter of entering. Entering, of course, doesn't require any fancy passwords, but there's a catch. You all must be willing to send one file to the police. You can do this by vote, or by pleasure of how serious the damages are, or yada yada yada--but you know what would be the best? You know what would not require the others reading into your file? Figuring out who my killer is, of course. I mean, it's so simple. Only one person did it after all. And if all of you did it? Well, you'll still have to scapegoat someone. Why not the person who put you through this mess?

Have a good game.

This is the best I could offer, but I think I'll mull over it again. How about it, @Wolfical?

@AstralHunter and @Sacredlege YOU TWO ARE AMAZING

(sorry for taking a while to reply. WiFi crashed)

While waiting for my own power to come back on, I was contemplating why on earth the butler wouldn't be killed. I settled on some unsatisfactory explanations. But then I read this. The backup files are a brilliant idea!

Excellent, excellent posts as well. Hunter, I found your reincorporation of the colored files was a nice touch. You both did well with completing the challenges. The character interactions, especially the amusing "romantic" ones, were great.

Oh, and if an of your alibi question isn't answered in a satisfactory time, let me know in a PM and I can answer it for you. Hunter, I'll send you @ty7lucky's appropriate answer in a jiffy.

Thanks, @Wolfical! Ty did send me his PM shortly after my first DT post today, though. (He thought he had sent it before but forgot. XD) I appreciate the quick response, though, and having been able to post for this today saves my life.

Howdy everyone! I'll be posting next, asap ^^

Awesome post, @Persistence! The ending scene made me laugh. Great job completing all five challenges!

So before I write this scene too far along, I'm assuming pics are going to be matched up for the search like portion? Don't really know how to explain my question but you know the part of Clue I'm talking about. I was thinking of using the basement for a secret passage way, alliance between Mauve and Zinnia, if that's okay with everyone?

To the next poster--if your character is planning to investigate the crime, a good idea would be to check if any of the guns from Krome's weapon arsenal are missing. If they aren't, then that means only two or three known people could be the killer (if I remember correctly: Crow (though his pistol was taken away), Zinnia, and Moss (because her luggage wasn't searched)) and any other killer would require some extra searching. However, if there is a gun missing from Krome's arsenal, that means anybody could've stolen and used it.

Correct. So in order to include everyone, there should be a gun missing from the cabinet in the billiard room.

Yes, @ElizabethLovelace, I know what you're talking about. d: If we have a reason for the Hall to be searched at any time (for instance, searching for the body of a missing NPC later on), the PICs will be paired by the butler.

The construction of the Hall is up to all of you! So yes, a secret passageway in the basement is fine.