Nick instinctively pursued the figure down the hall. She felt like Humphrey Bogart pursuing some villain down a dark alley. It was a wonderful rush, she felt her blood coursing through her and the adrenaline was making her cold disappear. She rounded the corner and saw the figure spot her and start to flee again. Nick hurried after the figure around corners and through empty rooms. She lost him twice only to find him again. Finally she saw him disappear down a flight of stairs.
Nick's bare feet slapped against the steps as she hurried down the steps. She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked about. The entire hallway was empty, a feeling of profound disappointment for losing her mysterious figure. She had felt the thrill of the chase, it was like she was really living one of her mystery novels she read in the safety of her bed, she was disappointed it had to end so soon. Nick was about to head back up the stairs when she heard a long heavy creak of a floorboard down the hall. Nick spun around saw the chase was still on.
Nick hurried around the corner and saw the figure now almost sprinting. Down another flight of the stairs they went, Nick stumbled on the fourth step and had to grab the railing to keep from falling face first to the marble floor below. She regained her balance and reached the bottom of the stairs as the figure disappeared down another hallway. Nick ran as fast as she could but the figure suddenly darted through a doorway. Nick followed but found herself in the study but she saw nobody else. Nick looked around the study, she wasn't sure how the figure could have escaped her. Unless the guy could walk through walls he had to be here. She knew what Charity would say, it was a ghost. Normally Nick would laugh it off, but in this house she was almost ready to believe it was possible.
It was then Nick realized she was completely lost and had absolutely no idea how to get back. She realized she should have been leaving bread crumbs as she tried to retrace her steps back to her room. As she walked thoughts of her mother came floating into her mind, she would not be happy with Nick acting so rashly. She didn't like how Nick and Charity would go see horror movies at the local theatre at midnight on Friday nights and then walk the four blocks home. She would really disapprove of her chasing a mysterious figure through a spooky mansion. The more Nick thought about it, the more she agreed with her mother. It may have been a burglar that would have killed her, or done worse to her. Nick felt very foolish for thinking she could have stopped him.
Nick looked around and found herself still totally lost. She had hoped to find her way to the billiard room, she had a pretty fair idea of how to get back to her room from there but she was now in a completely different hallway. She turned around to make her way back when she heard the floorboard creak. She ducked into a doorway, convinced it was the mysterious figure.
Maria the maid was coming down the hall clad in a completely see-through pink baby doll nightie. She was slowly creeping, she probably didn't want to get caught wearing only that tiny baby doll. Nick would never be seen wandering around in something that sheer. Nick also wondered why put it on at all if it was sheer.
Nick felt a sneeze building up in her nose, it felt like a huge one too. Nick grabbed a hold of her nose and prayed it would go away. Maria had passed Nick's little hiding spot when the sneeze escaped.

Maria spun around, her curvy body jiggling in her tiny nightgown. She scanned the hallway listening for any more noise. Mr and Mrs Witherspoon never allowed the employees to sleep together, the last maid was fired for that exact reason. Maria liked the pay, most maids got half what she was paid, the last thing she wanted was to let the bosses know what she was up to. Maria waited for several moments, convinced it was just her imagination, the house did that to her a lot, she continued to Graham's bedroom to surprise him.

Nick waited until she heard the door click way down the hall before exiting from her hiding place. She left silly but at least she wasn't caught. She turned around and started back, she was about to give up and sleep in the study for the night when she finally stumbled across the stairs. She happily hurried up both flights and then quickly found her bedroom.

Jinx was still in bed, her head poking out of the sheet which Nick must have thrown over her when she leapt out of bed. " Hey Jinxie" said Nick, closing the door.
She started over to the bed but stopped half way. She turned on her heels and went back to the door. She turned the lock on the knob and made sure it was safe. She returned to the hard bed. Jinx made her way onto Nick's chest and looked at her. " Yah I know coming here was probably a bad idea" said Nick, " but it is kinda fun though."
Jinx meowed in response and Nick gently stroked her ears until both fell fast asleep.

Charity carried the tray down the hallway, on it was a large silver tea pot, two cups, sugar, cream, two cups, six Danishes made fresh by Gaston this morning, and most importantly her copy of the Case of Raven Hill. On the cover was a yellow post-it note with the name Hikari Mumuro written on it. She was very proud of herself, she was never so sure of who did it as this. She was going to show Nick up this time for sure. Charity walked to the door and delicately balanced the tray on her knee to grab the knob. She found it was locked, not that big of a surprise. Charity kept the tray on her knee and gently fished her pass key out of her pajama pants pocket. She unlocked the door and walked inside. " Wakie, wakie!" she said.
Jinx lifted her head off Nick's chest, " You survive the night?" asked Charity.
" No" groaned Nick, her sinus congestion sounded worse.
Charity set the tray down, " I brought medication" she said.
Nick slowly sat up, " Thanks" she said.
Charity handed Nick a cup of tea which she started to nurse. " I chased somebody through the house last night" said Nick.
" Huh?" asked Charity, her mouth half full of Danish.
" I saw somebody last night sneaking around, I went after them but I lost them" she said.
" Really" said Charity, " I should probably tell my father just in case somebody broke in. You know doing that was incredibly stupid, what if he had a gun or attacked you."
" Didn't occur to me at the time" said Nick, " I don't think he took anything because he didn't have anything in his hands. You don't have a crazy brother you keep chained up in the basement, do you?"
" Nope" said Charity, " maybe Grandma Edith has her spies out again, paranoid old bat. Enough of that, I know who did it, and this time I am positive."
Charity showed the post-it with the name on it, Nick reached over and picked up her notepad and showed hers. " I know I'm right, you have a cold, you aren't thinking straight" she said.
" Let's find out" she replied.
They picked up their manga and started to read the last chapter. Nick kept her eyes half on the pages, half on Charity for that expression when she found out who did it. Nick slowly turned the page and read on as the identity was revealed. She smirked when she read Koji Seito was revealed as the murderer. Nick looked up as Charity turned the page, her look of triumph melted into a look of defeat. It was the exact same look she'd had for each of the six previous manga. She looked up at Nick who was now smiling broadly. " How do you do it?" she asked, " are you channeling Sherlock Holmes or something?"
" You just have to look at the events, one by one, and then ask who benefits from these murderers" said Nick, " the first murder had me stumped but with each successive murder you narrow your field of view. I just have a feeling when I know I've found the murderer."
" You are really amazing" said Charity, pouring another cup of tea for Nick, " you really should become a detective or something."
" It would be exciting but I don't think I could do it as a full time job" said Nick, now starting to devour a Danish, " reading about murder is one thing, but I'm not sure if I'd be so calm if I saw it for real."
The pair ate the delicious Danish, and had their tea. After finishing up most of their breakfast Nick cleared her throat and asked, " So what is going on today?"
Charity smirked, " You get to meet my two siblings" she said, " and let me be the first to apologize."
" Oh they can't be that bad" said Nick.
" You haven't seen them yet" she said, rather ominously.
Nick had heard the stories about Charity's family before, but always believed it was hyperbole, Charity could be a little dramatic at times but now was starting to believe it wasn't exaggerated.
The pair spent the rest of morning talking about the manga, mainly Charity interrogating Nick on how she can figure these out and how she can learn how to do it. Finally after the last of tea was drank Nick took a long shower and met up with Charity to explore the house some more.

Charity took Nick to the opposite end of the house, which was a walk by itself. " This is our less used wing" said Charity.
Nick giggled and then sneezed, " You could always gut the thing and turn it into an airplane hangar" she said.
" But then we would have to tear this up" said Charity pushing open a large door.
Nick looked at the giant ballroom before her. She stared in shock, it was simply awesome. The ceiling had a huge painting of a scene of heaven and earth; people, animals, angels, the sea, the mountains, and in the very center of it all was a giant spectacular sun. This was unlike anything else in the house or anything Nick was prepared for. " Wow" she finally said after staring up at the ceiling for several minutes.
" I thought you'd like it" said Charity, " my great-grand mother had this built, thankfully my mother hasn't gotten around to screwing it up yet."
" You ever dance in here?" asked Nick.
" No, I don't think it was ever used" said Charity, " this entire wing basically is there to make the house look big from the outside."
" Wow" she said again.
" Come on, we have a few more 'wow' rooms to look at" said Charity.
The pair exited the ballroom and bumped into two teenagers. " Hey sis" said the girl.
" Hey" said Charity, " guys this is my best friend Nick Fairfax. Nick this is my sister and my brother, Leigh and Doug."
" Douglas actually" the guy said, shaking Nick's hand.
He shook a little too hard, like he was trying to show off how big and burly he was to Nick. He looked a lot like his father but he was much more muscular, he's life was definitely consumed by sports. " Nick? That is a funny name" said Leigh.
" It is short for Nicole" said Nick, " I got it from my grand father. I like it a lot better than Nikki, makes me sound like a ditz or something."
" I like it" she said.
Leigh looked nothing like Charity or her mother, her eyes were deep brown, her hair was blonde but that was from a bottle. She tried to hard to be attractive like a model on a magazine cover and came off looking artificial. " We were going to shoot some hoops" said Douglas, " you two want to come?"
" No thanks" said Charity, " I still need to show Nick here the rest of the house."
" Your loss" he said.
The pair walked down the long hallway and disappeared into the last doorway. " My dad built him a gym down here" said Charity, " sports, that is it for my brother. You won't like them, they are way too competitive."
" Hm" said Nick, " guess they stole all yours."
" Probably" said Charity.

The rest of the morning was taken up by touring the rest of the house. Charity had some funny stories to tell about certain places and Nick made some rather sarcastic comments about others. They were heading down the steps from the third floor when they saw another couple coming up from the first. He looked like Daniel tanned three shades darker. The woman walking next to him looked amazing. " Hi Uncle John" said Charity.
" Oh hi Charity" said John Witherspoon, " you have never met my wife Candice."
" Hello" said Charity, " this is my best friend Nick."
They exchanged pleasantries and John pulled Charity aside. " What's up?" he asked.
" I don't know" said Charity, " Aunt Juliette said that everybody was coming."
" Yah, your grandmother, old bat, has something up her sleeve" said John.
While John and Charity talked about the family business Candice stood next to Nick trying not to eavesdrop too much. " So" said Candice, trying desperately to make small talk, " where did you get your implants, they are amazing."
" Mother nature actually" said Nick, hoping this conversation would end, " I'm all natural."
" Wow" said Candice, " you should be proud."
" Oh I am" said Nick, really feeling awkward.
" Got mine done when I was 20" said Candice, " had to go back to the docs last September to have them touched up."
" Interesting" said Nick, trying to get Charity's attention.
" I wasn't like you, born lucky" she said, " so what brought you up here?"
" Charity wanted to show me the house" said Nick, " and meet her family."
" You two aren't?" asked Candice, " because that is cool and all."
" Oh, no, no" said Nick forcing a laugh, " no we are just good friends."
Charity walked over, " Lunch is almost ready" she said, " hungry?"
" A bit" said Nick, blowing her nose.
" You should try take from Vitamin C for that cold" said Candice, suddenly the bimbo turned into a doctor, " almost put a warm wash cloth over your nose to loosen your sinuses up."
" Thanks" said Nick, now more puzzled than before.
The pair hurried down the stairs as John and Candice went for their room, " What the devil is she?" asked Nick halfway down the stairs.
" According to Aunt Juliette she was a porn star and a nurse before marrying Uncle John" said Charity, " I could also add gold digger to her list of occupations but I wouldn't want to spread rumors."
" What kind of family do you have?" asked Nick.
" Now you know why I live in San Francisco" said Charity.

Lunch was excellent, just like dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Nick was at least happy with the food on her little trip, the rest of it needed a lot of help. During Lunch Nick was able to met the last guest in the house, Phillip Augustine III, the family lawyer. Nick never liked lawyers, they were too impressed with themselves, but Phillip seemed more impressed than most. He was talking to a woman in a thousand dollar suit who was trying her best to keep him at arms length. She was Janet Hallenbeck, the family's business manager. She had the look of a board room shark, guess when dealing with this kind of money you had to go for the jugular every time. Gaston shooed them out informing them he had to start dinner. Charity and Nick made their way to the billiard room once again and spent the balance of the afternoon playing pool.
Charity enjoyed the game greatly, she could run circles around Nick. Charity looked at her watch and suddenly realized what time it was. " Come on, we have to get dressed" she said.
Nick looked at Charity, " You mean formally dressed?" she asked.
" Yah" she said, " don't worry I had something sent up for you."
Nick went back to her room wondering what Charity had picked out for her. Nick's fashion sense was not as daring as Charity's and she was three thousand miles away from her closet. Nick poked her head into her bedroom and saw a simple but still elegant black dress laying on the bed with Jinx looking at it from the safety of the pillows at the head of the bed. " Guess this will do" said Nick talking to her cat, " at least it covers everything up."
Nick got dressed but hadn't packed any shoes that went with the dress so she had to wear her black tennis shoes. Hopefully nobody would notice, it would be such a scandal.

Dinner was another big formal affair, this time the table was full with places. Nick now sat the opposite end of the table, next to Edith, and as far away from Daniel as she could be without eating with the servants. As everyone sat down Edith slowly rose to her feet, it took her a while but eventually she stood. " Now that all of you are here" she said while she may be stooped and withered she still had a commanding presence at the table, " after dinner I will be making an announcement."
The soft murmuring chatter that filled the room became silent, everyone was now curious what was in store. Even Nick was curious, it was a riddle to piece together.
Dinner was quiet once again, everyone was consumed by their own thoughts. Nick made sure to go easy on the soup and salad, she knew more was on the way. The main course was a chicken dish, too heavily spiced. Nick felt it sink into her like lead weights. Nick passed on dessert, a true first for her. Nick wanted dinner to end soon so she could go upstairs and lay down.
The dishes were cleared and Edith once again slowly rose to her feet. " I have decided to rewrite my will" she said.
" What?" asked Emily, visible shaken.
" I have decided to leave my money to charity" said Edith.
For a moment everyone turned to stare at Charity who for the first time since Nick had known her became incredibly embarrassed. " No, I will not leave my money to any of you" Edith said, " you all have sins, sins too great for my money. The money my family worked so hard for, I see what it does to you and I will not allow it to go on."
" This is absurd" said Phillip.
" It will be filed first thing Monday morning" said Pierce.
" We will appeal" said Phillip.
" You have no legal standing" said Pierce, trying to out posturing Phillip.
Pierce and Phillip began to argue throwing legal terms back and forth at each other like school boys threw dodge balls. Nick was quickly lost in the terms. " Mother, you can't be serious" said Juillette above the drone of the lawyers, " what have we done to anger you so."
" You all know your sins" said Edith, " I had my people looking into you. I will not sully myself by airing your dirty laundry."
" Surely there is another way of going about this" said Emily, desperate to calm the situation.
" No" she snapped, " you have been given the news, good night."
Edith slowly hobbled out of the dining room with Pierce on her heels, still arguing with Phillip the entire way. Edith's exit only intensified the conversations. The constant buzz in her ears made Nick's stomach churn more. She got out and made her way out of the dining room.

Charity saw Nick walking out, and decided to join her. She got up and left the chaotic arguments that were filling the table and caught up with Nick as they passed out of the dining room into the hallway. " Interesting night" said Nick.
" Tell me about it" said Charity, " my family has never been this nuts."
" So what about you?" asked Nick.
" I don't need their money" said Charity, " what would I do with it? I would just spend it all on clothes and that horrible anime you have me hooked on."
" I'm probably one of those sins that your grandmother spoke of' said Nick.
" I wouldn't have you any other way" said Charity, slinging her arm around Nick's shoulders.
The pair retired to Nick's room where Nick took a long shower and two antacids in the hopes of quieting the chicken raging in her stomach. She slipped into her silk pajamas and found Charity too was already in her black and white stripped pajamas. " Let's watch a little anime" said Charity.
Nick nodded and put a DVD in the TV which looked out of place in the room on a little table in the corner. The pair sat on the bed both softly petting Jinx who was in seventh heaven from all the attention.
The movie was almost half over when Nick's satchel started to play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Nick lazily rolled over and slipped her hand into the front pouch of her satchel. She rummaged around until she found her cell phone. " Hey mom" said Nick answering her phone.
" How is New England?" asked Christine.
" Rainy, wet, and interesting" said Nick, putting a little extra accent on the last word.
Christine laughed, " That bad?"
" Impossible" said Nick, " but I am keeping Charity sane and I get to eat some very good food."
" Good, you sound like you're still sick."
" I am but I am surviving"
" Well I just called to see if life with the idle rich was as fun as it looks."
Nick giggled, " It is great fun. How is the store?"
" Great, sales are really up. I think we may be able to hire a couple more employees soon."
" Great, that means I get both Saturday and Sunday off."
" I wouldn't get that excited, I get a day off too you know."
" Well, maybe. I'm missing the cool part of the movie. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning."
" Okay, get some rest and don't stay up all night watching those anime movies. Anime is the right word?"
" Exactly, sleep well mom."
Nick flipped her phone closed, " So how is Christine?" asked Charity.
" Good" said Nick, just before she sneezed, " wish I could say the same."
The movie was almost over when an alarm shattered the peaceful hum of the film. The alarm rattled into Nick's brain, sending waves through her clogged sinuses. " What the devil is that?" asked Nick, clamping her hands over her ears as Jinx leap off the bed and hid underneath.
" It is the alarm" said Charity, " come on, something is wrong."
The pair leapt to their feet and rushed out of the bedroom. They raced down the stairs meeting Krystal as they reached the first floor. " Where is the alarm located?" asked Charity clapping her hands over her ears to lessen the noise.
" You're father's study" Krystal shouted.
" Shut the thing off and call the police" said Charity, " it feels like my head is going to explode."
Krystal hurried one way and Charity and Nick hurried towards the study. They found the doors locked, but Charity was ready. She removed Nick's glasses and slipped the ear piece inbetween the locks. She flipped the lock open and handed the glasses back to Nick. " I'd use my bra but I'd make a scene" she joked.
They opened the doors and stared at what lay before them.