Poe Party (Rewritten) - Heliot

Chapter 4: A Descent Into the Maelström

"Wait, wait, wait," Oscar said. "Split up?"

"Yes. Pair off," Ernest looked directly at Annabel who smiled slightly. Mary Ann almost reached out a hand to take his arm but thought better of it.

"That's a terrible idea. Whoever is paired with the murderer will be in grave danger," Edgar said.

Ernest looked at him. "Are you really suggesting one of us is the murderer?"

"Yes! Who else could it be?" Edgar said, his voice rising in frustration.

"You," everyone said.

"If I had wanted to kill Eddie, I wouldn't have done it in a crowded room full of potential witnesses that I invited. I would have been far more inconspicuous, perhaps learning a foreign language to throw off anyone within earshot - Mandarin, probably. Then I would have followed him home from work at the bank on a Tuesday because he uses the back entrance off of Pratt Street." Lenore held the bridge of her nose and HG was desperately taking notes.

"Then, to further confound authorities, I would have planted something inscrutable like the feather of a Brazilian peacock," he held up a feather from a peacock, "or the rind of a fruit, only grown in Papua New Guinea, at which point I- I would-" He looked at the fruit in one of his hands and the feather in the other. Everyone stared at him.

"I mean, that was just one idea I had," he mumbled. "Oh, that's incriminating. I hear that now."

"This is tiresome," Charlotte said. "Let's just split into pairs and be done with it."

"Killer talk!" Lenore said.

"Watch it!"

"I'd be so threatened if I wasn't already dead."

"Uh, perhaps it would make the most sense to start at- at the top and then work our way down," HG suggested.

"I could take you to the attic!" Lenore said excitedly, pointing at him. "It's my jam."

"Well, I'm not walking around this place with someone who would actually murder me! Ha!" Oscar said. He looked around. "Mr. Eliot?"

Mary Ann lit up. "Oh, yes. Do not be afraid. I have brought along the Duke of Coventry," she held up her left hand, "and Humphrey Cadwallader-" her right "-for your protection."

"Yes... yes, that is what I meant," Oscar said. Mary Ann winked at him.

"I just don't see why we can't hold tight until Miss Christie arrives," Annabel said.

"Sweetie, I'm not waiting around for Agatha while the rest of us keep dying off," Charlotte said. "This is just like that time last year at our summer estate when everyone thought my sister Emily had been maliciously poisoned but it turned out she had just caught the influenza!" Her face fell. "Which killed her."

"Edgar, what can I do to help?" Annabel asked. He looked at her for a moment. "Annabel and I will explore upstairs. Perhaps the murderer left a hair-"

"Or perhaps he lives here," Ernest said, turning around accusatorily. "She's not going alone, Poe. I'm coming along." Mary Ann looked at the floor.

"Besides," Ernest said. "There's an odd number of us so there has to be at least one group of three."

"Actually, there's an even number-"

"I suppose that leaves me with the most murder-y looking person here," Charlotte sighed, gesturing to Fyodor.

He held up a shot glass. "A toast. To ending this horrible night. Certainly the worst of any of our lives." Ernest raised his flask to the Russian.