Poe Party (Rewritten) - Heliot

Chapter 3: The Purloined Letter

Mary quickly leaned down to feel for a pulse, but there was nothing. She straightened up. "Louisa May Alcott, a spinster through and through, has now reached the pinnacle of transcendentalism. May she be at one with the earth, and may she find her peace."

"Well someone had that ready to go," Oscar said.

"I'm just really good at eulogies," Mary said annoyedly.

"Edgar, I'm frightened. We must alert the police!" Annabel said, turning to the host. "Yes, I agree," he nodded.

"Good thing stripes are in because you are going to jail, son!" Lenore said.

"I'm not going to jail. None of us are going to jail!" Edgar said. He looked back down at Louisa May's lifeless body. "Okay, one of you is probably going to jail."

"Wait a second," Edgar flicked open his knife. "What's that?" He bent down and picked up a red handkerchief. Mary took it. "Hm, moist."

"Well, great. You solved it," Oscar said sarcastically with a look to Ernest.

She ignored him and showed an embroidered shape on the corner of the cloth to everyone. "Look."

"Is that a-" Ernest began. "A bell," Fyodor said.

"Or... A bell. Annabel!" Charlotte said, stepping back and pointing to the woman. Everyone stepped away from her quickly. "What? That's not mine!" Annabel said quickly.

"I'd probably say that if it were mine, too," Oscar said.

"I think that we can all agree that the most innocent person is the beautiful and innocent Annabel Lee, and also she's the most beautiful, now can we start taking this seriously?" Edgar said.

"I don't know," Mary Ann walked towards the woman in question. "Seems like that whole 'innocent' thing might be an act!" She added in a whisper, "Love that dress." Hemingway felt his heart twinge, regretting not trying to convince her more that it would be fine to present in a more feminine way at the party.

"How could you?" Annabel said. "Thank you. I came here with a gentleman I care about very much who is now dead and you accuse me? When would Ms. Alcott taken my hanky?"

"Okay, then," Ernest said from where he was leaning on the doorframe. "Procure your handkerchief posthaste."

"I-I don't have one on me," she said softly.

"Aha! Open and shut case," Ernest smirked.

"Mm, guys, Annabel would never accessorize in that colour with her complexion," Lenore said.

"Thank you," Annabel said.

"It's true," Mary Ann added. Everyone looked at her and she stepped back. "I think...  I don't know..."

"Well, who was feeding her drinks? She was having horrible coughing fits," Oscar said.

"Eh, we celebrate with beverage, but we drink same vodka!" Fyodor said.

"Let's get her into the dining room and we'll figure this out," Edgar said.

"Ugh, with the soup?" Lenore sighed.

"Poe, I concur with the spirit, that is super gross," Ernest agreed.

"We'll have to find some other place to move the bodies," Charlotte said.

"I-I may be going out on a limb here, but, uh, perhaps you have a vault space in your cellar that you would be amenable to storing dead bodies in?" HG asked timidly.