We both jumped.
“It was clear you had no idea who I was,” Tremblay said. “I am sure you’re aware of the Distortion effect on the Echo by existing in it, yes?”
“Nothing I touch, hear, or say can be confirmed,” Vic said.
“Exactly,” the wall fixture said. “That’s why you were invited here, Stacey, and not him. Though I will say, a little surprising you’re undead. I mean. I knew something was going on. You never really showed back up after you died, unlike my other dinner guests. Have you found any leads yet, Stacey?”
“The Duke and William Corcoran,” I said. “They hate one another. Their motivation could be pinning the blame for your murder on the other one. The Duke was acting a little cagey about business dealings in China. And I’m pretty sure Corcoran is out of money.”
“Yes, yes,” Tremblay said. “As best as I remember. Duke Arden and I started a shipping and nautical company together. Ar-Trem. We had heavily invested in metal mines in the Congolese jungles. And Corcoran. He was a prestidigitator of some renown, known the world over. His tastes far exceeded his budget, however, and word on the street was one of his previous companions had run away when the money dried up. What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think,” I said. “Except Vic being here means we’re almost assuredly not going to get the correct answer.”
“As long as I avoid my Echo there shouldn’t be a problem,” Vic said. “I hope. What was I here as?”
“A trapper. Last I saw you were playing poker.”
“That does sound like the me from then,” Vic said. “How weird.”
“You are the Fool,” Tremblay said. “You’re a suspect as well.”
Vic blinked.
“Excuse me?” he said.
“I found it suspicious that you, a fur trader, would wander here so far from the usual stops to barter your pelts. Of course, we knew one another—we had gone on hunting trips a time or two, you as my guide. But you were also a gambler, and a hard one, at that. I believe the course of the night’s events proceed into a poker game in which I eventually enter. You were up before me. And then I cleared out the winnings.”
I looked at Vic.
“You wouldn’t murder someone over that, would you?” I asked.
“What did my eyes look like?” Vic asked, voice somber.
“Red,” I said. “Inhuman.”
“It makes sense,” he said. “I mean. If I was turned already during the party, then it would be the perfect cover. I lose my money, confront him in his office, drink him dry, and disguise it as a suicide by blowing his head off. That would also make sure he doesn’t turn into a revenant or something.”
“But what about the locked door?” I asked. “Did you turn into a bat and fly out the flue or something?”
“A bat?” Vic asked. “Isn’t that a little prejudiced of you?”
“Just making suggestions,” I said. “You could have been a mist.”
“That sounds like a possibility, however your vampiric escape,” Tremblay said, and the wall groaned. “However. There is a likelihood those was not the events as they transpired. We still must investigate and ensure what happened, and question why.”
“I could look through the Duke’s guestroom, or your office,” I said. “Look at the paperwork. He seemed to be a little cagey when it came to what you guys were doing at Ar-Trem.”
“Excellent idea,” the wall said.
“I’ll go serve more canapes,” Vic said. “I was really getting somewhere with the ladies.”
“Did you find any leads?”
“Well,” he said, voice uncomfortable.
“There ought be one more person of interest,” Tremblay said. “The Orphan’s Mother. Did you spy, perchance, a young woman working the kitchens?”
“She had us try some of the appetizers,” I said.
