"I don't want to go in there!" Hallas whined at De Tanga glancing off to the new discovered secret passage.
"Fine then Hallas you stay here and keep an eye on things while Death and I investigate." De Tanga said dryly to the cowardly officer otherwise known as Hallas Beige.
"Fine!" Hallas huffed taking a seat in one of the chairs.
De Tanga shook his head. He handed his gun to Hallas and then motioned for Death to follow as they ventured into the passageway.
The tunnel was very similar to the other passage from the laboratory to the ballroom. It was both made of stone and dirt but the difference with this one is that it was more stone then it was dirt. And the stone was crumbling in every angle of the tunnel indicating that it was quite old. The walls were also littered with many small holes everywhere, more so then the other passage.
Probably that's how so many rats got in here. De Tanga thought as he nudged one of the rodents out of his path with the tip of his shoe. That was another thing that differed between the two passages. This one had much more rats scurrying about. But why would so many rats be here anyway? Why would they stay in this dark tunnel for? There isn't anything here that could be considered food to them. De Tanga frowned flashing his flashlight across the tunnel ground. It was very dark, the stone and dirt almost looked black under the faint light from the flashlight. But even as dirty as the ground was, there wasn't any sort of vegetation or anything that could be considered food.
De Tanga looked over to Death so see how he was and noticed the slightly panic-stricken expression on Death's face. Death was noticeably trying to stay as far away from the rats as he possibly could. It wasn't that Death was about to go run around screaming like Hallas had done, but it was obvious that he wasn't enjoying his rodent infested venture.
Not even two minutes after Death and De Tanga had gone into the passage, the passage entrance from the kitchen suddenly shut with a loud creek.
Everyone in the kitchen jumped, Hallas included, at the sudden noise.
De Tanga and Death heard the passageway closing echoing throughout the tunnel.
The first thought De Tanga had was, Oh no am I going to get stuck in this one too? But it did seem that the passages had a time lock that shit them after a while. And the only reason why he had gotten stuck in the other one was because someone blocked the passage opening.
Now there was always the risk of someone in the kitchen blocking the entrance, but since Hallas was still in the kitchen he would make sure that wouldn't happen. And that's why De Tanga gave Hallas his gun, to ensure that no one would dare to do anything to the passage while De Tanga and Death were still in there.
So if Death and De Tanga couldn't get out the other side of the passage, assuming that is that there was another end, then they could always go back and get out through the kitchen.
Though it was possible that the tunnel wouldn't have an exit, but it seemed a little strange to have a secret passage that led to nowhere. De Tanga wondered who had made these tunnels, and for what purpose did they have? Of it was a more direct route from some rooms to others, but was it just for convenience? Or was there some other reason? The Boddy Manor did seem to hold its fair share of mysteries.
After a little over six minutes of walking slowly through the passage De Tanga and Death reached the end of the tunnel. What was there to great them at the end of the tunnel was what seemed to be a solid wall of stone.
"It's a dead-end?!" Death cried out in surprise. "Why? Why build a secret passage that leads to nowhere?"
"We don't really know what purpose of this tunnel is but we don't know if it leads to nothing." De Tanga commented looking closely at the wall.
"What are you talking about Detective Tealson?! Of course it leads to nothing! Just look at it, it's solid rock!" Death went to knock on it to prove his point when suddenly the seemingly solid wall opened forward like a door. "What the?!"
"What's the point of a secret passage if it's not secret?" De Tanga winked at the younger officer before stepping through the passage door.
Death followed De Tanga and they were surprised to see that they were in Mr. Boddy's study. The passage door closed behind them revealing that passage doorway was one of the study's bookshelves. It seemed the whole shelf was built into the wall to hide the fact that behind it was a secret passage that led to the manor kitchen.
"It's the study!" Death exclaimed.
"Yes it would assume so."
"Pretty handy if you are working and you get hungry. Just take the passage to the kitchen, get a quick snack and then come right back and get back to work."
"That might have been the purpose of the passage when it was built."
"Do you think that the secret passages were in the original building plans for the manor or do you think they were added on later after it had been built?"
"I don't know... But I would wager that they were in the original plans. Of course if we could get our hands on the blueprints to the manor then we could find out for sure. And unless there's a copy of the manor blueprints in this place somewhere then I don't think we'll find out." De Tanga sighed. It was very frustrating to be stuck in the manor like they were. It was almost like being in a prison. And what was the point of their captors keeping them there for anyway? What were they going to achieve by holding everyone in the manor for? They couldn't stay there forever that's for sure, they would eventually run out of food sooner or later. So why? The questions gnawed at him. "So we should head back to the others. I don't like the idea of leaving my gun with Hallas for too long. Knowing him he'd probably lose it."
"Yeah and since both mine and his guns are gone we don't want him loosing the only one left." Death said in a sadden tone.
"Death we'll get your gun back. And even if we don't we could always get you a new one."
"I don't want another one! That was my special gun..."
De Tanga just shook his head. "C'mon Death let's get back to the others."
After nearly fifteen minutes Death and De Tanga made it back to the kitchen. They decided to not go back through the passage since Death had already made it clear that he didn't want to go near those rats again. So they went the long route back to the kitchen.
When they came back into the manor kitchen everyone was staring at the secret passage expecting to see De Tanga and Death come back through there. So needless to say they surprised everyone coming in the kitchen through the hall.
"Detective Tealson! You're back!" Hallas exclaimed.
"So it does lead somewhere. So where did you two end up?" Lina asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The passage leads to Mr. Boddy's study."
Everyone in the room generally seemed surprised but De Tanga of course was skeptical about everyone's sincerity. He was certain that at least someone was lying. How else could a dead body be dragged into the kitchen unnoticed without anyone knowing other then to use a secret passage?
Yes De Tanga figured that the mysterious body that had suddenly appeared in the kitchen freezer had been brought into the room via the secret passage. And that made it even more likely that the body was in fact Mr. Boddy. The study wasn't too far away from the manor living room where the body had been discovered.
The killer could have killed Mr. Boddy and dragged him into the secret passage and just left him there until it was safe to move him to a safer location. And that would explain the rats. Probably the scent of the blood attracted them into the passage. And I couldn't exactly tell if there was any blood trails since my flashlight was so dim. I'm going to need to make sure to go back in there with a stronger later on. But still even if it was Mr. Boddy and he had been dragged into there, then why is there no blood anywhere else in the manor? Was he really killed in the living room? And if not where else could it have been? De Tanga mentally sighed. Of course this is only speculation since I don't really know if it was Mr. Boddy or not. If my phone was working I could just call and ask for the forensics report. But I can't since there isn't any usable phones at the moment... Though if it's not Mr. Boddy then whose body could it be? Who else could have been murdered here?
"Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!" Gourry exclaimed with his stomach grumbling in agreement.
"Ah yes it should be. I'll just go and set the table and we can eat right away!" Amelia said dashing off into the dinging room. With all the commotion she had forgotten to set the table. Normally she would have had the table all set long before the meal was ready.
Hallas being the happy little helper that he was went to help her out but De Tanga pulled him aside before he could do anything.
"Is there something wrong Detective Tealson?"
"Give me my gun back."
"Oh right!" Hallas nervously laughed at his forgetfulness. He pulled out the gun and handed it back to its rightful owner before going off to help Amelia.
De Tanga before going into the dining room to go and join the others, went over to one of the manor phones and picked up the receiver. He had a small bit of hope that when he picked up the phone that it would have a dial tone and be working and he could call out. But he heard no sound from the phone. It was still dead.
Within minutes they were all sitting at the table ready to eat. And like usual everyone sans a few were watching Gourry like a hawk to see if he had any strange reactions to the food. And when he didn't everyone started to eat.
But of course it could be slow acting poison. De Tanga thought sardonically.
The meal was pretty uneventful. They ate in something close to being silent with no one talking at all, and then when the meal was over everyone left to retire to their respective rooms. De Tanga, Hallas and Death went to follow suit and they went up to the one room that the three of them would be sharing.
Once in the room De Tanga whom had already put his luggage in the room went sorting through his stuff in search of clean clothes. Once his clothing was obtained he went off to go take a shower. He had left his gun with Death before leaving.
In the shower De Tanga felt even though the shower pressure was high, there was no way he could wash off all the days grime. He never in his life felt so dirty before. Those damn passages! First I get stuck in one of them for a whole night, and the other one is filled with probably diseased ridden rodents. De Tanga shuddered at the thought. He was just lucky that none of the little furry creatures didn't bite him.
The warm of the shower and high pressure on his aching muscles made De Tanga feel extremely relaxed. His eyelids started to feel heavy and it was very hard to keep them up.
De Tanga sat up with a start when he realized that he was now on the shower floor. And the funny thing was he didn't even remember falling down. Man I must be more tired then I thought if I'm falling asleep here. De Tanga sighed before getting out of the shower. He dried himself and put on fresh clothes and headed back to the room.
In the room Death and Hallas were having another card game at one of the small tables to the right of the bed.
Once in the room De Tanga first locked the door and then pushed a desk in front of it to barricade it from anyone entering. "I'm going to sleep. Keep that door locked at all times, and if you need to leave, put that desk back in front of the door. I don't want anyone getting in here tonight at all. Wake me up in a while and I'll take the next watch." De Tanga got into the bed. "Oh and Hallas you aren't taking any watches tonight since we can't trust you to stay awake long enough."
Hallas was going to protest to De Tanga's comment was De Tanga was already fast asleep.
"Man he really must have been tired. He's already out like a light and it's only eight o'clock!" Death exclaimed. Want to play again?" Death held up the cards.
Hallas eagerly nodded and they started up a new game.
The Chief sighed in exasperation. He was tired and he wasn't getting anywhere. No one knew where he was, not he knew where he was. And it wasn't likely that anyone was going to find him any time soon. So all he was doing was wasting his strength.
What time is now? The Chief wondered. Is it the afternoon? The evening? The morning? How long have I been here for? The Chief's stomach grumbled loudly as if to signal that he had been there for quite a while. He was hungry, but that wasn't what was bothering him the most. His mouth and throat were so dry that it almost felt like it was made of sandpaper. It was the thirst was driving getting to him. Though the dark prison he was in was somewhat chilly, but it wasn't dank. There wasn't any water anywhere.
Just when he thought he couldn't stand it any longer sleep consumed him.
Unknowing eyes observed the many rooms of the Boddy Manor. Checking each one, and keeping tabs on everyone. The one sight of the room being occupied by the three officers somewhat irritated the silent watcher. Damnit I don't think I'll be able to get into their room tonight, unless the goof is going to take watch again tonight. But I've got to see what Detective Tealson has in his case file. Hmm... maybe good ol Mr. Boddy has something stored in his lab that could be of some help... The silent watcher laughed darkly before stalking off to the Boddy laboratory. But unfortunately for the watcher the camera angle didn't show the fact that there was a desk barricading the door to Death, De Tanga and Hallas room.