A Harlequinade of Shadows

by Beware of Starlight

Yugi Mutos life had never been anything other than ordinary. But when he meets the mysterious Yami, eveything changes. Over the course of the next year, his and Yamis paths keep crossing. Each meeting is tangled up in a web of murder, suicide and tragedy. Soon Yugi finds him self caught in the biggest Puzzle ever. Who is Yami? Based on "The mysterious Mr. Quin" by Agatha Christie.

2. The Face in the Window

The Face in the Window

With a sigh, Miho let herself fall back onto the grass, hiding her face behind the newspaper she had just read. "Mai was right." Her voice under the newspaper sounded muffled. "This is a catastrophe in the making."

Sitting next to her, Yugi had to hide a smile. A couple of month had passed since that strange Sylvester night, the cold winter had given way to a warm spring, and Mai and Valon had long since returned to America for another tournament. Originally Yugi had been interested in that too, but work in his grandfather's game shop and on his own project had stolen his time. Even though he seemed to be stuck on that last one. So when Mai had asked him to visit a party held by Miho's parents in her place, he was relieved to have a break. Looking down onto the newspaper hiding Miho's face, he couldn't help but think back to Mai's argument when she had asked him. Miho had just repeated her words.

Mr and Mrs. Nosaka are entertaining a party at Greenways House, the paper read. Among the guests are Mr. and Mrs. Arkana, Pegasus Crawford, Cecelia Drage, Bandit Keith and Yugi Muto. An innocent list that still managed to trouble so many people.

From beneath the paper Miho glanced up towards him. "That's not funny." Her dry tone clearly belied her words. "I love Mother, but she is a bit oblivious to those things."

Yugi just shrugged. "Possibly, but I'm still not sure what exactly is such a catastrophe." Mai hadn't been really clear; she just told him she wanted to have someone there for her sister, Cecelia. "Not that she would need any help." He could still hear her voice. "But that thing is going to be very awkward, and you are a neutral party. And the nicest person I know, which could be of use." He still wasn't sure if that last sentence was a compliment or not.

Miho looked at him searchingly, and, finding him really clueless, she sat up with another sigh. "I'm talking about Arkana. You have heard of him, of course."

Yugi nodded. "Fleetingly. Isn't he that magician?"

Miho agreed. "Illusionist mostly, but yes. He has been the talk of London for a while, so of course my mother was overjoyed to have him here. And his new bride of course. It was quite the talk when he married his assistant. She is very charming but still…" Her eyes clouded over a little, as she collected her thoughts. "She seems so young compared to him. Still a child."

Yugi nodded slowly. He had met Catherine Arkana shortly. "She seems to be quite charming."

Miho looked ahead into the distance. "Yes…poor child." Then, before Yugi could ask what she meant, she continued on. "Pegasus is…well you know him."

Now Yugi had to snort. Oh yes, the creator of Duel Monster truly was what one would call unique. Full of childish humour and enthusiasm, which, while true, hid a mind like a razor blade. He still had his joyful "Yugi-boy!" with which the man had greeted him.

Miho answered his grimace with a laugh; obviously she was thinking about the same event. Then she continued. "They all grew up together, him and Arkana… and Cecelia." On that last name her voice took on a strange tone. "There were rumours, you know, about Arkana and Cecelia." She shrugged. "There was never anything proven, and well, Mai's trial happened shortly afterwards but if the talking tongues are right she and Arkana spent a lot of time together when he started with his shows in Vegas. Alone." She shook her head. "And now he is married and Mother invited them all at the same time… She just knew that he came from Vegas and since Cecelia does too, she thought they would have something in common. Nice thought but" – again she sighed – "I tried to talk to her about it, but she wouldn't really listen. She still doesn't know that Cecelia and Arkana were once…" she trailed off, but her silence spoke volumes.

Yugi watched her carefully. "Were they really? I mean, if it's just rumours."

His friend just shrugged. "Nobody really knows, but it seems very likely. Like I said, they spent a lot of time together. She even assisted in one of his shows; it was quite a scandal. And now she accepted the invitation."

Her voice was dark and Yugi slowly began to understand why Mai wanted someone to be here. He just couldn't grasp why that someone had to be him. He had never met her sister before, and he really didn't know what good he could do in the midst of a love chaos. It wasn't like he had a lot of practice in that field after all. Games were his metier; human emotions…eh, he could use a bit of work.

Carefully he lowered his voice. "And Catherine? Ah, does…does she know about that?"

Because that whole thing sounded more awkward by the minute. Miho glanced towards him, and her lips twitched into a dark smile. "What do you think? Arkana doesn't seem like the type who would talk about such things in length. But some well-meaning friend will surely enlighten her soon." She looked up, and her face grew even darker. "Oh god, and here is Bandit Keith. I met him last winter in Egypt. Quite unpleasant experience really." Her voice dropped and she started to murmur. "Please don't come over please don't come over…damn." That last word was barely audible, and her face sprang into a forced smile when Keith did let himself fall into the grass beside her. On the way he threw Yugi an angry look, and he was roughly reminded of Keith's rivalry with Joey. His best friend had served the American Champion a harsh defeat on the duel field, and Keith had never forgiven either of them for that.

Bandit Keith was a big man, full of a brutal vitality and seemingly endless anger. When he smiled now it looked like a wolf baring its teeth. "Finally somebody to talk to. The Arkanas are stuck in their turtle dove game, only requiring two, not three players; Pegasus is off into wherever his mind wanders to; and your mother nearly wanted to talk to me."

There was no sympathy for either the people he mentioned in his voice, and Miho, who found herself the sole target of his attention since he seemed determined to ignore Yugi, forced out another smile. "I'm so sorry for you. That sounds dreadful." She couldn't have sounded more insincere without being impolite, but that flew right over Keith's head. He didn't want to hear it, so he ignored it. But Yugi knew too well that he remembered every slight for years and years. He was still angry at Pegasus after all, for a defeat the businessman had served him two years ago. Yugi had found the story charming and funny, how Pegasus had given a young boy the instructions he needed to beat Keith, but the duelist himself had found that humiliating, and since then he had sworn revenge towards Pegasus.

Not wanting Miho to face Keith's wrath he nudged her gently. She just turned to him and, hidden from Keith sight, rolled her eyes, but when she turned back to listen to him again, her smile seemed to be a little bit sincerer.

Keith laughed loudly. "Oh yes, it was. I nearly had to hear some suspicious nonsense about a family ghost."

Miho's smile dimmed a bit again. "It's not really a family ghost."

Keith looked at her. "No? And you don't believe in that nonsense do you? I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Miho's left eye twitched, and before her patience unraveled Yugi jumped to her rescue. "The ghost is tied to the house. My grandfather told me about that."

Even hidden behind his sunglasses the anger in Keith's eyes was clearly visible. "Really? Your grandfather?" It was astonishing how much contempt could fit into a word. "And what does this ghost do, according to that old bore? Clank its chains and howl in the middle of the night?"

Yugi took a deep breath and tried to swallow his anger. "No." His voice was icy. "It's the window…" But he interrupted himself as he saw three figures approaching.

A girl, barely a woman, walking between two men. Both of the men were tall and slim, with a penchant for a quite flamboyant style, but that was where their similarities ended. Pegasus' long silver hair, remarkable since he was barely older than twenty-five, couldn't really be mistaken, just like his open smile and the dangerous glint in his eyes. Arkana, on the other hand, had a small, subdued smile; short black hair combed back; and while also charming was much less overstating in his approach. The most noticeable thing about him was the mask, which covered the upper half of his face. Blue and black striped, it was hard to miss, but what could have been written off as a stage performer's eccentricities hid a much darker story. A few months ago, shortly after his wedding, one of Arkana's stage tricks had turned towards tragedy. Nobody knew what exactly had caused the accident, and Yugi had never heard any details, but when Arkana had woken up in the hospital he had to live with the fact that his face would be forever scarred. After the accident he had taken some time away from the stage, and his quiet time now led him and his new bride to England and Greenway House. He couldn't be ignored, and just like with Pegasus there was glint in his eye that spoke about things hidden behind his polished façade.

And between those two walked Catherine Arkana, who until three months ago had been Catherine O'Connell and Arkanas Assistant. She was a slender figure with doleful brown eyes and golden hair that seemed to glow in the afternoon sun like a saint's halo around her small face. An excited smile, with a slightly wistful touch, lay on her lips, and Yugi started to understand what Miho had meant when she had called her a child. She looked so young. On the other hand, who was he to talk; he still got taken for a school boy sometimes, as annoying as that was.

When Miho jumped up and waved towards the newcomers excitedly, she couldn't quite keep the relief out of her smile. "Come and sit down. But please don't interrupt." She grinned mischievously at her friend. "Yugi was just going to tell us a ghost story."

Yugi was sure she mainly insisted on the story to annoy Keith, whose eye roll was visible even behind his shades, but he still was blind sighted by that. With a bashful smile he shook his head. "It's not…I'm not good at stories." But his hopes of getting out of this trap vanished, when Catherine gave him a small smile.

"Oh please. I love ghost stories." She dropped down on the grass next to him, and looked up expectantly. Her husband followed her, but his look was more thoughtful. "The ghost of Greenways house, right?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes. You know the story?" He tried not to sound too hopeful. If Arkana knew the story, maybe he could tell it, and relieve Yugi of this duty.

The magician nodded. "I stayed here once before." With a slight turn of the head he turned towards Miho. "That was before the Elliots had to sell, and your parents bought it. They called the ghost the Watching Cavalier, didn't they?"

Catherine tilted her head. "The Watching Cavalier…" She repeated the name softly. "I like the sound of that. Very interesting. Oh please go on." She turned her smile towards Yugi, and he was suddenly reminded of the other reason, beside his own less than perfect talent for storytelling, that made this a bad idea.

He shook his head. "Oh no, no it isn't that interesting."

But again his hopes of being done with it were crushed when Arkana smiled at him sardonically. "Ok, now you have to tell it. That hint or reluctance just made it more fascinating."

Behind his back Yugi could hear Keith's laughter. "Oh yes, please tell us the story. You seemed so sure about it before. Are you nervous because of the audience, or is your grandfather's story really that boring?"

Ok, that was it. Keith could talk all he wanted, but he wouldn't drag Yugi's grandfather into this. With a sharp sigh and eyes drawn in anger, Yugi started his tale. "The story isn't boring. There just isn't that much to tell." He stopped to collect his thoughts, and when he continued he was calmer. "My grandfather claims that it centres around a cavalier ancestor of the Elliot family, the ones who build that house. His wife had a roundhead lover, who killed the husband in an upstairs room. The guilty pair fled, but when the wife turned back to look if anybody was following them, she saw her dead husband's face in the window, staring after her. That is the legend behind the story, but the ghost itself is only concerned with the pane of glass in the room the husband was murdered in. An irregular stain, nearly invisible from a near distance. If you look at that glass from afar it gives the effect of a man looking out." He smiled. "The owners switched out the glass pane many times, but I have heard the stain always returns."

For a moment he was glad that Joey wasn't there to hear this story. He missed his friend, but Joey would have been scared out of his mind at the thought of staying in a house haunted by a ghost, even though that ghost stuck to one window pane and one room only, and never made any notice or tried to scare people. It was a very polite ghost, really. But for Joey a ghost was a ghost. The events on New Year's Eve had been taxing enough for his nerves…

New Year 's Eve…

Yugi's thoughts grinded to an abrupt stop. For the last two months or so he had avoided thinking about that evening, and the strange visitor who had turned the party into a strange game of life and death. Despite his talk about possibly meeting again soon, Yami had never shown up again… Maybe it was better that way. Yugi had enough to do without worrying over someone he had barely even known…

"Oh that story is really creepy." Pegasus shuddered playfully, his brown eyes sparkling. "So which window is it, Yugi-boy? You can't start such a story and leave out the most important detail?" In mock anger the Creator of Duel Monsters wagged his finger against Yugi, and torn out of his ponderings of lost chances, Yugi had to smile. He was starting to realise that answering that question completely could possibly be a bad idea.

"It's not visible from here, I'm afraid. It is round the other side of the house, but grandfather said it was boarded up from the inside ages ago…forty years, if I remember correctly.

Pegasus let out a disappointed sight. "What a pity. Why would they ever do such a thing? I thought the ghost couldn't walk. Or is there something you are not telling us Yugi?" He smiled but there was a knowing glint in his eye. Yugi was again reminded that Pegasus was harder to fool than most people would expect from him. Still he shook his head.

"Well, no, the ghost doesn't walk."

Next to him Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. I was almost worried for a moment." She smiled kindly at Yugi, who had to stifle an uncomfortable laugh.

"Yeah, right…there was probably a superstitious feeling about it, or so…"

He was a bit relieved when Bandit Keith, getting bored with all this 'talk about ghosts, is this a scout meeting or what' turned the conversation around to other suspicious nonsense, especially Egyptian sand diviners and their claim to be able to read the future.

"I met a lot of them in Egypt, and I can tell you they were frauds, all of them. Always telling you vague things about the past, but won't ever dare to talk about the future." He laughed. "They didn't even want to tell me some sucking up nonsense about me winning that tournament there, and I actually did that later."

Pegasus shook his head with a smile, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Strange." He spoke the word like he would taste one of his wines. "I should have thought making claims about the future would be easier than talking about the past. But trick and magic are your metier, aren't they?" With a big smile he turned towards Arkana whose answering smile was very restrained.

"In a way. But I never claimed to be able to see the future. I'm not one of those charlatans." He turned towards his wife, and the anger seemed to leave his posture a bit. "Also I think it's actually illegal to tell the future in this country. Catherine persuaded a gypsy into telling her fortune, but the woman gave the shilling back and said there was nothing to be done, or some similar nonsense."

Catherine's smile was strangely melancholic. "Maybe she saw something so terrible she was afraid of telling me about it."

Keith snorted. "Nonsense. That just shows how much of a swindle that is. Don't be afraid. I'm sure there is no bad faith hanging over you." He laughed, and when Catherine joined him it seemed to disperse the dark shadows that had suddenly loomed over the group with her words. But still, Yugi couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. He knew a bit about fortune teller's tricks from his grandmother's side, and anyone refusing to tell somebody's fortune was really, really strange. But the thought disappeared, for when he looked up he saw two women approaching from the house.

Both were blond, but nobody could have ever mistaken them for each other, not even from the distance. One of them had short hair, and wore a terribly bright green dress; while the other one, with her long golden locks, was Mai's splitting image. Only her dress, creamy and long, was very different from something his old friend would wear. The first woman was his hostess, Mrs. Nosaka, Miho's mother. The second one, of whom he had heard but whom he had never met, was Mai's sister, Cecelia Drage.

"Here is Miss Drage." Mrs. Nosaka's voice, loud and cheerfully satisfied, was not one you could ever mishear. "All friends of yours I think." Hidden from her mother's eyes by here inattention and Keith's massive figure, Miho buried her head in her hands. Yugi was sure he saw her mouthing something like "typical," but in truth he wasn't paying attention. He was watching Cecelia.

After all that talk about a possible lingering love and long lingering scandal, he had expected the worst. Instead there was a natural smile, happy enough to let her face shine like the sun. "Arkana, nice to meet you. It has been ages. I'm so sorry I couldn't come to the wedding. And you must be his wife." With a friendly smile she shook Catherine's hand. "You must be tired after meeting all of your husband's old friends."

Catherine's answer was a laugh, and the reassurance that she would never tire of meeting new people.

Then Cecelia turned towards Pegasus. To Yugi's surprise, the normally so cheerful man had shut up completely. Instead of riling his friend up even more, or saying anything really, he was looking down and his fingers played nervously with the grass next to him. "Pegasus, hello." Cecelia's tone was almost the same, but there was a subtle difference now, a warming quality that had been absent before. Her smile dimmed a little, turned more hopeful than sparkling, but when Pegasus finally looked up to return her greeting, it lighted up her face again. Pegasus also smiled, but again, it was not really one of his usual variants of sly grins or teasing glees. Yugi had never seen the game designer that way. Slowly Cecelia sat down, and within seconds she became the centre of the group, naturally and inevitably, as if it couldn't be any other way. Catherine and Arkana soon drew her into a talk about stage magic.

With a last glance and a shake of his head Pegasus stood up.

"Sitting like that is always so tiring. Yugi-boy, are you up to a stroll? I really need to move." Yugi was fairly sure he only got asked because he just happened to be in Pegasus line of sight at the moment, but since the man was obviously looking for any kind of escape or distraction at the moment, he really didn't have it in him to disagree. Together the two of the walk off across the lawn. For a moment Yugi was sure that Cecelia's eyes followed them.

"That was a very interesting tale, that ghost story of yours." Pegasus was talking but his eyes were focused on something else, something existing only in his thoughts.

Yugi nodded. "I can show you the window." He led the way around the west side of the house with the growing feeling that at the moment he could have led Pegasus anywhere he wanted and the man wouldn't have noticed. It was concerning to see the normally so sharp minded business man so distracted.

On the west side of the house was a small formal garden, the Privy Garden. Miho had called i that when she had given him the tour, and Yugi had to admit the name fitted, for it was surrounded by high holly hedges and even the entrance to it ran zigzag between some prickly hedges. Yugi had loved the charming secret those walls hid, a kind of old world charm of flower beds, flagged paths and a low, exquisitely carved stone seat. Yugi recognised this from his grandfather's descriptions, and turned to point up towards the house. With Greenways house running from north to south, the west side was small and showed only one window on the first floor, almost overgrown with ivy, and clearly boarded up from the inside.

Pegasus squinted his eyes. "Hmm, I can only see a slight discolouration on the panes, nothing more. Disappointing."

Yugi smiled. "That just means we are still too close. I think there is a clearing up in the woods with a better view."

The way led out of the Privy Garden and turned sharply to the left into the woods. A certain enthusiasm of showmanship claimed hold over Yugi, the joy of showing the ghost of his grandfather's story to someone else, even though he clearly noticed that Pegasus was absent and inattentive.

"Grandfather told me they made another window when they boarded this one up. The new one faces south, towards the lawn we were sitting on just now." He interrupted himself for a moment and bit his lip worriedly. "If I'm honest, I think the Arkanas have the room now. That's…that's why I really didn't want to talk about it. Catherine could have been nervous if she realized that she's practically sleeping in a haunted room." Joey would have flipped that much, Yugi was willing to bet.

Pegasus just nodded absentmindedly. "I see."

Yugi looked at him sharply more convinced than ever that the other man had not heard a word of what he had said. "Very interesting"

Pegasus frowned and kicked with his foot at some foxgloves growing near the path. "She ought not to have come. She ought never to have come." Yugi was practically air for him at that moment, not really different from the trees surrounding them. "No." Pegasus still repeated himself. "She ought never to have come."

Yugi would have bet his whole deck and possibly his grandfather's shop on the fact that Pegasus was not speaking about Catherine Arkana now. "You think not?" he asked. If he was honest with himself he was actually growing a bit curious about the whole thing.

Pegasus shook his head, a foreboding look on his face. "I was there, back then when she assisted Arkana with his shows. The three of us worked on this together. Arkana and I and Cecelia. He used real pistols for the act you know? She is a wonderful woman and a fine shot." A half hidden smile lay on his lips brought on by memories, but even that could not quell the dark look on his face. He interrupted himself abruptly.

"What made them ask her?" he sounded almost angry, and Yugi blinked surprised, before he shrugged.

"Ah…ignorance, I think?" It was the best guess he could come up with. Miho's mother hadn't meant any harm; she had honestly thought it would be a nice surprise for everyone, a meeting between old friends. But she never met any harm…Pegasus was still talking to himself.

"There is going to be trouble. There has to be something that could be done…" Trouble…that was what everybody seemed to think, and what Yugi had believed to be true too. But then he had met Cecelia and…well it didn't seem like she was all that concerned with the wedding…or likely to cause trouble about it.

"But surely Cecelia…?" He couldn't even finish the sentence before Pegasus shook his head aggressively.

"I'm talking about Arkana." He spoke fast, almost harshly, and as if realising that he paused. "You see there's Catherine to consider."

Yugi nodded even though it was clear that Pegasus had all but forgotten she existed until this very minute. "She was his assistant, was she not? They married quickly after the accident?" He was guessing now, but Pegasus nodded.

"Yes, last winter in Cairo. Catherine was always a fan of the Luxor Casino and she wanted to see the real Pyramids." There was hint of distaste in his features during the last sentence, and Yugi hid a grimace. His grandmother was from Egypt; he had spent some time in his youth there and comparing the Pyramids to the Las Vegas Casino was grating on his nerves. Pegasus continued without noticing. "It was a very quick business; they had barely been engaged for six weeks."

That was fast. Too fast for Yugi's taste, but then he wasn't the one who had to settle for such haste. If it had fit the Arkanas… "She seems to be very charming." That was really all he could say about Catherine after the short meeting, and Pegasus' snort came as a surprise.

"Oh she is, make no mistake. And Arkana adores her…but neither of that will make a difference." Pegasus shook his head and again repeated to himself, with the pronoun that to him meant one person only: "Hang it all, she shouldn't have come..."

Just then they stopped upon a high grassy knoll at some little distance from the house. Yugi was almost relieved to be able to change the topic back towards the ghost, since he was growing uncomfortable with the revelations he had just received. Really, that was not something he should actually know about it. Pegasus would tear his head off, figuratively speaking, if he ever figured out just what he had shared. For all his flamboyance the man really was a private person, and he protected that privacy. He lived on a private island, for god's sake. And he had managed to become a business tycoon before he was twenty-five, without his father's money as back up. The fall-out over the son's childish interests had been legendary, and part of Pegasus' nimbus. Even if most of the rumours about what happened to his enemies were exaggerated, Yugi really didn't want to get on Pegasus bad side. Also, he really had no idea what to say about all that. He had very little experience in love, his first crush having turned into a deep friendship and nothing more. What could he say that would be helpful in this situation?

In a sweeping gesture full of relief and the returning pride of the showman Yugi stretched out his arm. "There!"

They couldn't have arrived at a better time. Dusk was growing fast, and the windows were lit up in an orange glow. But inside this glow a man's face was clearly visible, apparently pressed against one of the panes, with a plumed Cavaliers hat on his head.

Pegasus blinked, and for the first time since Cecelia's arrival he seemed to return from the land of his own worries and thoughts. "How curious. Really very curious. And you said it always returns when the glass is changed?"

Yugi nodded. "Oh yes, that was one of the more interesting parts of the story. If my grandfather is to be believed" – and that wasn't always certain with the old man and his habit of embellishing his tales – "the pane has been replaced eleven times already, perhaps even twelve. He said that the last time was twelve years ago, when the owner of the house tried to destroy the myth. But always the same thing happens. The stain returns, gradually, not all at once; the discolouration takes time to spread. Normally it should take a month or two."

Now Pegasus was definitely showing signs of real interest. He leaned forward and shivered slightly. "How odd. And there is no accounting for those kind of things, isn't there?" He turned around and looked at Yugi sharply. "So what is the real reason for boarding up the window from inside? And don't try a half-baked story again, Yugi-boy, I want the truth." His teeth gleamed excitingly and Yugi shrugged his shoulder. He was happy that Pegasus seemed to be normal again, whatever that meant for the man, but the uncomfortable feeling from before had suddenly returned.

"Well, there are rumours…my Grandfather said that the room was considered…unlucky. The Evershams had it just before they got divorced. And Stanley and his wife were staying there, when he ran off with a chorus girl." He had barely an idea who these people were supposed to be. Actually, he probably shouldn't know about this part of the curse at all. His grandfather never directly told him about that, he had just overheard when the old man had talked about it with Yugi's grandmother. But that was the other reason why he didn't want to tell Catherine Arkana about which room she now was living in.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Danger to morals, not to life then. Dear god, this ghost is truly unique…" He shook his head. "You would think the ghost of a horned husband would be interested in keeping people from committing adultery, not encouraging them. Resentful fella." He grinned, but Yugi wasn't quite ready to share his humour yet. He couldn't stop thinking about the Arkanas and the fact that it was their room now…Hopefully nothing would happen.

Silence accompanied them on their way back to the house. With the soft turf absorbing their footsteps, and each lost in his own thoughts, they became unwilling eavesdroppers. They were rounding the corner of the holly hedge, when they heard the words, spoken with a deadly intensity coming from the privy garden. "You are going to regret this." It was a woman's voice, sweet but deadly serious, and Yugi only recognised it when he realised that Pegasus suddenly stood there rooted to the spot. Arkana's voice answered, low and uncertain so that his words could not be distinguished, but Cecelia was clearly understandable and her words would be remembered later. "Jealousy…it can drive on to the devil…it is the devil. It can even drive one to black murder. Be careful, Arkana, for God's sake, please be careful."

Those words were the last Yugi could hear, before Cecelia dashed out of the Privy Garden in front of them and went round the corner of the house without ever seeing them. She was walking swiftly, almost running, like a woman pursued. The feeling of dread that had haunted him the whole afternoon returned now in full force and Yugi couldn't help but feel as if some tragedy, coming swift and inexorable, stood before them all.

But later that evening, when he met everyone again, those fears seemed ridiculous, like a bad dream. Everything seemed normal and pleasing. Cecelia, charming and happy, didn't show the faintest sign of strain, and Catherine couldn't have looked more at ease. In fact the two women seemed to get along perfectly, and even Arkana seemed to be in high spirits. The only person who was looking worried was Mrs. Nosaka, Miho's Mother. Since Yugi just happened to be the one who was in her line of sights at this moment, he had the pleasure of listening to her worries at length.

"It sounds silly, I know, but there is something about this day or this house that's giving me the creeps. And frankly, I've sent for the glazier, without telling Ned."

Yugi blinked confusedly. "The glazier?"

His hostess nodded. "To put a new pane of glass into that cursed window. Ned is so proud of it, claims that it gives the house tone and atmosphere. That's nice of course, but I don't like it. No, we will have a nice modern pane of glass, without any nasty stories attached to it." She sounded so sure of herself, so determined that Yugi could barely find it in himself to correct her.

"But ah, I thought the stain always comes back? Or so I hear," he added hastily, when his hostess shot him a quick glance.

She just shrugged. "Oh yes, I heard that too. And if it's so, that's against nature, isn't it?"

Yugi politely declined to answer that.

Mrs. Nosaka continued undaunted. "But be as it may, we are not so bankrupt, Ned and I, that we can't afford a new pane of glass every month…or every week if it has to be that way."

Yugi shook his head after he watched his hostess turn unto another talking partner. That was an interesting method of fighting that ghost. He wasn't sure who would win this test of stubbornness, the cavalier ghost or Miho's very determined mother. But it was interesting that she was also feeling uneasy. The tension in the atmosphere was getting to her too, even if she attributed it to an attenuated ghost and not the clash among her guests.

With a last shake of the head he turned around to go to bed and hopefully have some rest from the drama taking place now, but it seemed that he was fated to receive yet another piece of the puzzle that was laid out during this visit.

He was going up the wider staircase towards his bedroom, when he spotted Pegasus and Cecelia sitting together in an alcove in the big hall. Neither noticed him, and he couldn't help but overhear parts of their conversation. When Cecelia spoke there was only the faintest hint of irritation in her golden voice.

"Not, I didn't have the least idea that the Arkanas were going to be here. I probably wouldn't have come if I knew." She laughed faintly, but it didn't sound quite that happy. "But I can assure you, my dear Pegasus, now that I'm here, I'm not going to run away."

Before he passed on up the staircase out of earshot Yugi caught a glance at Pegasus' worried face. He couldn't help but wonder if the man was asking himself the same question as he did now. Was it true? Did Cecelia really not know that the Arkanas would be here? And what would come out of this meeting?

On the next day, in the clear light of the morning all the worries of last night seemed to be little more than a bad dream. Yugi was sure that he had just been too melodramatic, that yes of course there had been a little strain, under the circumstances that was understandable, inevitable really, but nothing more. People were able to adjust to new situations after all, and all his thoughts and feelings about an impending catastrophe…no that had been just nerves, his own confusion about what exactly was going on, and what part he was supposed to play in it.

When the day went on without even the faintest trace of what he had thought to fear the day before, his conviction that it all had just been nerves grew. So when evening turned around again it was him who proposed a little stroll in the growing dusk, to shake of the last vestiges of those haunting thoughts. He told Pegasus that he wanted to see for himself whether or not Mrs. Nosaka had made good on her threat to replace the glass pane. Originally he wanted to ask Miho to accompany him, but his friend was kept busy by her mother, who required all her attention that evening. So when Pegasus decided to accompany him he was glad that he didn't have to be alone with his thoughts, and also about the exercises. He really needed to do more sports than he did, and this little walk would probably clear his head. It was exactly what he needed.

The two of the walked slowly through the woods. Pegasus was again silent, lost in his own thoughts, which while unusual for him, was becoming a far too common sight during his stay here.

Yugi cleared his throat and shot Pegasus a nervous glance. "Well, maybe, maybe we were a little bit hasty in our imaginings yesterday. When we ah, expected trouble. People do have to behave themselves after all…swallow their feelings and all that…" He broke off and looked at Pegasus, hoping both to distract him from his troubled mind and to put his own nerves finally at ease. If Pegasus, who knew the people in question better than anyone, apart from Mai who wasn't here, agreed with him then maybe he could finally lay these worries to rest.

Pegasus just nodded absentmindedly. "Perhaps." He could have sounded more convinced, and after a minute or two he shook his head. "At least civilised people do."

Yugi looked at him confusedly. "Sorry?"

Pegasus breathed out a long sigh. "People who are used to power, to standing outside of society's rules, or think themselves above them…they sometimes don't feel like they are obligated to play by those rules anymore."

Yugi wasn't really sure what to say, or even about whom exactly Pegasus was thinking now, so when they emerged on the grassy knoll he was relieved. Even more when he spotted the window. The face was still there more lifelike than ever. He laughed slightly. "Miho's mother changed her mind." Somehow he was glad that the ghost wasn't gone. Joey would heavily disagree, but he did think that this story had charm in his own way. Even if he would never want to sleep in this room himself.

Pegasus barely spared the window a glance. "Her husband must have thrown the glazier out." He spoke quite indifferently. "He is the type to be proud of another family's ghost, and he wouldn't risk it getting lost after he payed in cash for it." He grew silent after that, his gaze wandering off from the house towards the grass beneath his feet. Still it didn't seem as if he could see it. "Has it ever struck you that this whole being civilised, acting like a sensible adult thing, is dangerous?"

Yugi's head snapped back towards Pegasus and he couldn't help but stare. "Dangerous?" What…what exactly was Pegasus getting at with this shocking remark? Why would that be dangerous.

Pegasus just nodded. "Yes. There are no safety valves, nothing to let off steam. Just masks hiding more and more…"

He turned abruptly and began to descend the path they had come from. Yugi had to run to catch up with him. "I'm – I'm not sure I understand what you mean." But even as Yugi said that, he had the dark feeling that his grandparents would have probably agreed with Pegasus. He could see his grandfather saying something similar, and that was maybe what worried him the most. "Being reasonable…"

Pegasus laughed. It was short and disconcerting. "Reasonable? I have met precious few people who could be called that." Then he turned towards Yugi and smiled at him. "You think I'm getting mad now, don't you? But there are people who can tell you when a storm is coming. They can feel it beforehand in the air. And other people can feel trouble. I've always had a talent for the latter, maybe because I actively enjoy watching trouble. There is trouble coming now, Yugi-boy, big trouble. It may come at any minute. It may…" He stopped abruptly, clutching Yugi's arm.

And as if he had summoned it with this gesture or his words, in that very moment of silent the sounds of two shots rang out, followed by a cry.

A woman's cry.

"My god." Pegasus threw himself around. "That's it!" And before Yugi had time to react Pegasus raced down the path. Yugi followed shortly after him and in a minute they came out on the lawn close by the hedge of the Privy Garden. At the same time Arkana appeared, coming round the opposite corner of the house, together with Mr. Nosaka. They all halted, facing each other left and right of the entrance to the Privy Garden.

Mr. Nosaka was the first to speak. "It…it came from in there." With a shaking hand he pointed into the entrance of the garden.

Pegasus nodded. "We must see." He led the way into the enclosure, but as he rounded the last bend of the holly hedge he stopped dead in his tracks. Yugi peered into it from his side and a loud cry from Arkana made a fitting background for the scene before them.

Three people were in the privy Garden. Two of the lay on the grass near the stone seat, a man and a woman. The third, Cecelia, was standing quite close to them by the holly hedge, gazing at them with horror stricken eyes and holding something in her right hand.

"Cecelia!" Pegasus voice rang out, as he carefully; almost hesitatingly took a step towards her. "What…what's that you've got in your hand?" He sounded almost fearful, as if he knew exactly what it was and just couldn't believe it.

She looked down; eyes still wide, with a kind of wonder and unbelievable indifference. "It's…it's a pistol." It sounded almost like she was just throwing out a guess. And then, after what seemed like an eternity but really was only a few seconds she continued. "I…picked it up."

Yugi left the two of them gracefully to themselves and walked over to where Mr. Nosaka and Arkana were kneeling on the turf next to the two on the ground. "A doctor…" The latter was murmuring as if in delirium, his eyes unfocused. "We need a doctor." But even Yugi could see that it was too late for a doctor. Bandit Keith, who had complained about sand diviners talking about his past and not his future, and Catherine Arkana to whom a gypsy had returned a shilling rather than tell her future, lay there in the last great stillness.

It was Arkana, who finally completed a brief examination. The strong nerves of the man who had to keep a clear head even through dangerous stage tricks showed; his eyes behind the mask were misty. He was himself again, after that first loud cry of agony. The tremble in his voice was barely audible. In a gentle gesture he laid his wife down again. "She was shot from behind. The bullet passed right through her." His voice was calm, but still Yugi couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. Then he turned towards Bandit Keith. Here the wound was in the breast and the bullet lodged into the body. With a frown Pegasus passed over towards them. "You shouldn't have done that. The police will want to see it exactly as it was."

Arkana laughed, dark and hollow. "The police." With a sudden jerking motion he stood up, his eyes aligned with a dark flame as he looked at the woman still standing at the holly hedge. He made a step into her direction, anger visible in his every movement, but Pegasus moved at the same time, right into his way. For a moment a silent duel seemed to happen between the two friends.

Pegasus shook his head. "No," he spoke imploringly. "Arkana, I know it looks like it…but you are wrong."

Arkana looked at his friend, and shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was harsh. "Then why does she have that in her hand?" It wasn't quite a shout but his voice did echo about the Garden.

Cecelia was the only one who dared to speak afterwards, in that same lifeless tone as before. "I picked it up."

Mr. Nosaka turned his head from one person to the other, then he raised from his position. "The police. We must send for them at once. Arkana, you will telephone, yes? Someone…someone should probably stay here in the meantime."

Knowing that he could do nothing else to help anyone here, Yugi offered to do so. His host accepted that with an audible sigh of relief.

"Good, then I'll go and break the news to my wife and daughter…"

After everybody left, Yugi stayed in the garden looking down on the two bodies. He had never really like Bandit Keith, but he didn't deserve such an end. And Catherine…again, he barely knew her but she was really innocent in the mess that had led to that moment.

Cecelia…she would probably be blamed for this, and even thinking about it made his stomach turn. That…she may have done it but he couldn't believe that it was planned...or that she deserved death as a punishment. If so, didn't Arkana bear part of the blame too? There had been something between them, and he didn't exactly come up smelling like roses from the whole thing…and his innocent wife had paid the price.

With deep pity he looked down on her. There was half a smile still on her face, small and wistful. A delicate ear was visible behind her ruffled golden hair, with a spot of blood on the lobe of it. Probably an ear-ring that got torn away in the fall. Yugi couldn't help but feel that he was playing detective when the thought came to him, but still he looked about. Yes there was a small pearl drop in her other ear…Poor poor girl…His eyes were burning when he looked up again.

Yugi had been nervous when the library doors swung open. This was where the inspector had begun to question all the guests, and coming in late he had had enough time to build up nerve about how this questioning would go. But then he saw the inspector and all nervousness just disappeared.

"Tristan!" He had never been so glad to see an old friend as in that moment. Of course, Tristan had joined the police force after high school, something Joey had teased him immensely for, and Yugi knew he had been doing well, but he still hadn't expect him to show up here. His friend looked up, and smiled. "Yugi. I was wondering when you would turn up." He was gesturing towards an empty chair in front of him. Pegasus and Mr. Nosaka were already seated.

"As I understand it, you" – Tristan gestured towards Pegasus and Yugi – "had been for a walk. You were returning to the house by a path that winds round the left side of what is called the Privy Garden. Is that correct?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes, that's true."

Tristan continued: "And then you heard two shots and a woman's scream?"

Again Yugi nodded.

"And you ran as fast as you could, emerged from the woods and made your way to the entrance of the Privy Garden…" Tristan turned through his notes. "If anybody had left the garden, it could only be through this one entrance. It's not possible to get through the holly bushes, and if anybody had run out and turned to the right they would have encountered Mr. Nosaka and Arkana, on the left they would have met you two." He gestured at Pegasus and Yugi. "Again, is that right?"

Pegasus let out a slow breath. "Yes, that is so." His face was very white.

Tristan shot him a sharp look, and shrugged. "Well, that seems to settle it. Mr. and Mrs. Nosaka and their daughter were sitting on the lawn, Arkana was in the billiard room which opens on to that lawn. Ten minutes past six Miss Drage left the house, spoke a word with those sitting on the lawn and went round the corner towards the Privy Garden. Two minutes later the shots were heard. Arkana rushed out of the house, and together with Mr. Nosaka he ran to the Privy Garden. At the same time, you and Yugi arrived from the other direction. Miss Drage was in the Privy Garden, holding a pistol from which two shots had been fired." He signed. "Well, we can assume that she possibly shot the lady first from behind as she was sitting on the bench. Then Bandit Keith sprang up and went for her only to get shot in the chest. I understand ah.." He looked around uncomfortably. "That there had been a, ah, previous attachment between her and Arkana…" He got interrupted even as his sentence trailed of.

"That's a lie. Pegasus was not looking at Tristan directly; his voice was hoarse and defiant. His fingers clawed themselves into the arms rests of his chair. Tristan shot him a look, before he shook his head. There was a trace of pity in his eyes.

Yugi looked up curiously. "What is her own story?"

Tristan shrugged. "She says she went into the Privy Garden to be quiet for a minute. Just before she rounded the last hedge, she heard the shots. Then she came around the corner, saw the pistol lying at her feet and picked it up. No one passed her and she saw no one there but the two victims." Tristan's pause spoke volumes. "That's at least what she claims. And she insisted on making the statement even as I cautioned her against it."

Pegasus looked up. His face was still deadly white, but his eyes gleamed with a burning conviction. "If she said that, she was speaking the truth. I know her."

Tristan looked at him, opened his mouth, rethought his sentence and in the end nodded placatingly. "Yes, well, we will have plenty of time to get into all that. At the moment." He sighed. "At the moment I've got my duty to do."

He really sounded sorry, but Pegasus didn't seem to hear him. His hand tore deeper into the armrest and he shook his head. "Damn it, there must be something… You!" Abruptly he tore around and fixated Yugi with a determined stare. "Yugi-boy, you are so good at puzzles, are you not? Can't you figure something out?"

Caught off guard as he was, Yugi couldn't help but feel a little bit flattered that Pegasus would think to appeal to him, out of anyone present. Maybe the business man remembered what he and Yugi had talked about, and hoped that he would be sympathetic. And he was, he really was, he just didn't see how he could help. As Tristan had made clear, there weren't really any options apart from Cecelia having committed the murder. He was about to offer a sincerely regretful reply, when the butler of the Nosaka's entered, carrying a silver salver with a card on it, which he took to his master with an apologetic cough. Mr. Nosaka was still sitting in his chair, sunken into himself, without taking part in the proceedings.

"I told the gentleman you would probably not be able to see him." The butler's voice was a muster of polite discretion. "But he insisted that he had an urgent appointment."

Mr. Nosaka took the card and read it. "Mr. Atem Sennen." He frowned. "I remember he was to see me about a picture. Yes, we did agree about an appointment but as things are…"

Yugi's throat suddenly felt dry. He coughed, but even while he tried to speak one thought sprang into his mind. Of course. Of course Yami was here. It seemed to be the most natural thing in the world, as if he had just been waiting for the strange man to walk through the door any minute now. Was that what Yami had meant, when he had hoped they would meet again? Another murder, another tragedy? But still, even while Yugi's heart was beating confusingly fast, making him wonder why exactly he was suddenly so excited by the mere mention of a name, he still realised one thing. This could be the help Pegasus had wanted. He hadn't forgotten how Yami had solved the old suicide at New Year, how he had arranged the puzzle till everything seemed clear. This may be exactly what was needed.

"Maybe." His voice was soft, unsure, but he finally managed to speak and interrupted Mr. Nosaka in the middle of his sentence. "Maybe you should invite him in." As everybody turned in confusion towards him, Yugi tried to smile and continued on, while nodding at Pegasus. "I… I'm not sure how I can help, but Ya…Sennen is a friend of mine." The words came so easy over his lips he barely had time to wonder. "Or an acquaintance really. And he…he is quite remarkable in that regard."

Tristan looked at him curiously. "Is he an amateur detective or what?" A slight disdain in his voice when he mentioned the words amateur couldn't be hidden, and Yugi smiled.

"No, no, I don't think so. But he … I don't know how to describe it, but he can help you see and remember things clearer than they were. I did tell you about last New Year, didn't I?" He looked at his old friend imploringly, and Tristan nodded.

"Oh, that was him. The one who scared Joey so much." An excited and curious smile appeared at his lips, and he turned towards Mr. Nosaka, who had followed the exchange very confusedly. "Ok, invite him in. Maybe he can be of help. And if not, it's not like we can lose anything with it." At Mr. Nosaka's nod the butler disappeared, to usher his tall slim guest into their room mere moments later.

"Mr. Nosaka." With a gentle smile Yami shook the man's hand. "I am very sorry to intrude upon you at such a time. I wouldn't have insisted if I knew. We will leave our picture chat for another day." Then he spotted Yugi who had arisen to greet him, and his face lit up. "Ah, Yugi. I told you we would meet again. Still as fond of puzzles as ever?" A mischievous glint lit up his red eyes as he said the last words, and Yugi couldn't help but laugh.

"You could say that, yes. And we just have one right here. I and my friend Pegasus here" – at this he turned his head slightly back ward to point out the man in question – "would like your option on it."

Slowly Yami sat down. The red-shaded lamp next to him threw a broad band of coloured light over the checked pattern of his overcoat. His face, being left in the dark, looked like it was partially covered by a mask, just like the one Arkana wore. His eyes remained on Yugi, while he recounted the main points of the tragedy. Then he waited, with hold breath, as if Yami was an oracle just about to reveal the future.

The strange man held his gaze for a while, lost in thought, before he shook his head. "A sad story." His deep baritone was soft as velvet, gliding across the room like a protective blanket. "A very sad and shocking tragedy." He frowned. "But the lack of motive is intriguing, isn't it?" He had spoken lightly, and Mr. Nosaka stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Lack of motive? I don't think you understood what Mr. Muto just said. Cecelia Drage was heard threatening Arkana, and she was bitterly jealous of his wife. Jealousy is a motive!"

Yami just laughed, slow and deep. "Oh no, I agree with you here. Jealousy or demonic possession, it's all the same. But you misunderstand me." The last word was spoken with extra emphasis. "I was not speaking about the murder of Catherine Arkana but about that of Bandit Keith."

Pegasus breathed in sharply, and his eyes sparkled. "Of course!" He clapped his hands together. "That's the flaw. If Cecelia had ever thought about shooting Catherine, which she didn't, she would have gotten her alone somewhere. No we are on the wrong track." He laughed with relief, before his face turned completive. "But what could another solution be…since there were only three people in the garden… I don't think Bandit Keith could have first shot Catherine and then himself? He always seemed kinda unstable, took some things strangely seriously. Maybe he flung the pistol away from him?" He looked hopefully over to Tristan, who shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but that won't wash. If he had fired the pistol close to his body, his clothes would have been signed."

Pegasus was not yet ready to give up. "And if he held it at arm's length?"

Tristan just shook his head. "Why should he? And again, there is no motive."

Pegasus shrugged. "He might have gone off his head. Like I said, a little bit unstable." But he didn't really sound convinced either. He fell again silently, till he looked up at Yami again.

"Well, Mr. Sennen?"

It was a clear challenge, but Yami just shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm no magician. I'm not even a criminologist, but I can tell you one thing. I believe in the value of impressions. If you have a crisis, there is always a moment that stands out from the rest, a picture that will stay with you forever. Yugi."

Surprised at being addressed Yugi turned his head towards Yami, who smiled at him encouragingly.

"Yugi is probably the most unprejudiced observer of those present. Would you cast your mind back, and tell us what made the strongest impression on you? The moment you heard the shots? The first time you saw the dead bodies? Seeing the pistol in Miss Drage's hand? What was your piece of the puzzle?"

Yugi fixed his eyes on Yami's face, unsure if what he had in mind, the one thing he really remembered, actually was the right answer. This was a test, he could feel it, Yami was testing him for…something, and he had no idea what. But Yami's gentle smile was encouraging, a sign of faith, of not being worried in the least that Yugi could fail, and so Yugi slowly started to speak.

"No…it's not any of those. It's rather small and silly to be honest, but when I was standing by the bodies afterwards, I was looking down on Catherine and..." He breathed slowly out. "And I will always remember how she laid there on her side, with her hair ruffled. There was even a little spot of blood on her ear."

In the same moment the last words left his mouth he saw how Yami's lips twitched a bit upwards, a triumphant sparkle entered his eyes, and suddenly Yugi felt that what he had said was terrific and significant. Maybe the pride in Yami's eyes helped, the slight tilt of his head in congratulation that let Yugi's cheeks burn a little.

Mr. Nosaka nodded. "Blood on her ear…I think I remember that…"

Hastily Yugi nodded, determined to keep his face from burning any more. "The earring must have torn off as she fell." But his theory from before didn't sound so convincing anymore.

Pegasus frowned. "She was lying on her left side, if I remember correctly. I suppose it was that earring?"

But Yugi shook his head. "No." He repeated himself slowly, starting to see what the problem was. "It was her right ear."

Next to him Tristan coughed. "I have found this in the grass." On the palm of his outstretched hand lay a loop of gold wire.

Pegasus snapped his tongue. "No, no, a mere fall couldn't have torn this thing to pieces. It looks more it has been shot away by a bullet."

Yugi's head snapped upwards. "So it was." He was suddenly a hundred percent sure that this was what happened…but then… "It was a bullet. Nothing else could have happened."

Tristan looked at him. "Yes, but there were only two shots. A shot can't have grazed her ear and host her in the back as well. And if one shot carried away the earring and the second shot killed her, it couldn't have killed Bandit Keith. Unless…" He interrupted himself, his eyes widening. "Unless he was standing very close to her, facing her…unless she…"

"Unless she was in his arms, that's what you were trying to say, weren't you?" Yami spoke with a queer little smile. "Why shouldn't it have been that way?" He was the picture of relaxed calmness, the only thing missing was a cup of tea for him to sip. The rest of the room was also silent, but it was more due to confusion than to relaxedness.

Silently they stared at each other. The idea was strange; it had never occurred to them. Catherine and Bandit Keith? Really?

Mr. Nosaka gave voice to that feeling. "But they hardly knew each other?" It sounded so incredulous, that Yugi was inclined to agree. But there was something else, pieces of memory, of different conversations slowly coming together.

"I…I'm not sure. Maybe they knew each other better than we thought. Miho mentioned that Keith was getting on her nerves last winter in Egypt, he himself talked about the tournament and the fortune tellers there…and you" – he turned towards Pegasus – "told me that the Arkanas got married in Cairo last winter. Maybe they got to know each other well, back then…" He trailed of, trying to fight of the redness that was trying to cover his face at his words.

Yami smiled at him amusedly, which got him an annoying look. He was the one who had brought up this whole line of thought, couldn't he spell it out himself?

Mr. Nosaka still shook his head. "They weren't spending a lot of time together…" But he didn't sound as doubting as before, and Pegasus nodded slowly.

"Yes. They really avoided each other. Almost unnaturally so, if I may say that."

They all looked back towards Yami, who still sat there smiling, as if he had nothing to do with the startling conclusions they arrived at so unexpectedly. With a small nod of his head, he rose to his feet. "Do you see what Yugi's little impression has done to us?" He turned towards Mr. Nosaka. "Perhaps now it's your turn to surprise us."

With an aura of confusion Miho's father looked up towards his guest. "Ah, what? I beg your pardon?"

Yami just smiled. "You were very thoughtful when I entered this room. I think I would like very much to know what occupied your thoughts. Never mind if it hasn't anything to do with the tragedy. Never mind if it might seem…superstitious." Again there was a certain emphasis on his last word and Mr. Nosaka startled ever so slightly. "Tell us." This was not the challenge that he had issued towards Yugi, an invitation to play. This was a clear order, telling Mr. Nosaka exactly what he wanted from him.

Mr. Nosaka looked at his guest confusedly, before he shrugged. "It's not like it's a secret, but you are right, it has nothing to do with this terrible business, and I'm sure you'll laugh at me afterwards. I was wishing my wife had left well enough alone and not replaced that pane of glass in the haunted window." He laughed. "It's superstitious, of course, but I really felt as if her doing this had brought a curse upon us all. An angry ghost, if you so wish." He looked up to find himself the centre of the astonished stares of the two men opposite him.

Yugi opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again before he could form a sentence. "But…But she hasn't replaced it."

Mr. Nosaka looked at him, and shook his head. "Oh yes, she did. The two men came first thing in the morning."

Next to Yugi Pegasus sat up suddenly, his wide. "I think I understand. My God…" He looked at Mr. Nosaka. "The room is panelled, right, not papered?"

Their poor host was growing more and more confused every minute, while Yami just overlooked the proceedings with a small smile in his face. "Ah, yes, that is so, but I don't understand…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Pegasus was already bolting out of the room. After a second the others followed him, straight to the Arkanas bedroom, the supposedly haunted room. For a room inhabited by a ghost it was quite charming, panelled in cream with two windows facing south towards the lawn. Pegasus' hands glided over the panels on the western wall. "If I'm right there must be a spring somewhere…ha!" His mutterings changed to a triumphant shout. A click could be heard and with this a small section of the panelling rolled back. Behind it the rim panes of the haunted window were clearly visible. Not even the slightest hint of a stain was visible, one pane was clearly new. But Pegasus spotted something, and bent to pick it up. When he rose again, he held a fragment of an ostrich feather in his hands. He looked at it and then at Yami, who just nodded.

In the next moment Yami turned around, and went to the hat cupboard in the bedroom. There were several hats in there, all belonging to Catherine. With a sweeping gesture he took out one with a large brim and curling feathers, an elaborate Ascot hat, and presented it to his audience. The he began to speak, in a gentle, reflective voice. "Let us suppose there is a man, who is by nature inclined to be intensely jealous, a man who had, by his own admission, stayed here in bygone years and who possibly knows the secret of the spring in the panelling. He is a stage magician after all, these tricks are part of his work and out of curiosity and to amuse himself, and he opens it one day, and looks out of the window into the Privy Garden. There he finds, secure as they believe themselves from being overlooked, his wife with another man. There is no way he can doubt what kind of relationship is between them. Of course he gets mad, mad with jealousy and rage. But what shall he do? An idea comes to him. He goes to the cupboard and puts on the hat with the brim and feathers. It is growing dusk, and he remembers the story of the stain quite well, given that it had just been retold the day before. Anyone looking up towards the window will only see the Watching Cavalier. Secured in that way he watches his wife and her lover, and when they are finally clasped in each other's arms, he shoots. He is a good shot, a wonderful shot, since shooting was part of his stage repertoire. When they fall he shoots a second time. This is the shot that carries away the earring. Afterwards he throws the pistol out of the window, rushes down and out through the billiard room." He looked down at the hat in his hand, and smiled a melancholy smile. "It's so simple, if you think about it."

Pegasus shook his head, an angry look in his eyes. "But he let her be accused. He just stood by and let her be accused for his murder! Why?"

Yami turned towards him. "I can only guess about that of course, I'm not a mind reader and I never met Arkana, but…I think he actually was in love with Cecelia Drage once. Madly, like his love always was, so that even meeting her again years later stirred up a jealousy long buried. I think Cecelia once fancied herself in love with him too, and so she did join him on his stage show – interesting that his wife was once his assistant too, isn't it? – and then afterwards she figured out that she was actually in love with the better man. A terrible strike for a tender ego…"

Pegasus looked at him as if he couldn't quite understand the words. "The better man…?" His voice sounded dazed. "You mean?"

Yami smiled faintly. "Yes, I mean you." A minute passed during which nothing happened, before he gestured vaguely towards the door. "You know, if I were you…there is some good news to share…"

Pegasus shook his head as if to wake up, and nodded fast. "Oh yes, yes I will go now." With this he turned around, and left the room, followed by a still very confused looking Mr. Nosaka, and Tristan, who just shook his head.

Yami watched them go with a smile.

When Yugi stepped forward, Yami turned towards him with a smile. "You know." Yugi's voice was flat. "Your talk about the crime right now…it almost sounded like you had witnessed it."

Yami blinked at him innocently, while his smile grew. "Really? Thank you, that's quite a compliment for my storytelling skills."

Yugi crossed his arms, even if he couldn't fight a smile on his own lips. "So that all really was just a theory, just guesswork?" Because if that was true he would eat his whole deck.

Yami's smile was unchanged, with an irritating serenity that would have driven a sphinx mad. "If you say so. By the way, did you have time to look up the harlequinade in the meantime?"

The abrupt change of topic threw Yugi of balance for a second, and it took a few seconds before he nodded. "Ah yes…but to be honest it was very confusing." He wasn't really sure what a comic theatrical genre, especially one that lived from improvisation, had to do with anything. Yes, love played a big theme, and there was something familiar about one figure, but with the plot always changing around a very reduced structure he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to see. "But I think I've seen the costume of the harlequin somewhere before…" He looked challenging to Yami, remembering the strange light effects that seemed to surround his arrival, and his strange friend shrugged, again with that infernal smile.

"I see. Well, I do suppose it has become a bit muddled after all this time." His eyes sparkled mischievously, as he bowed. "I have to go now, but I'm sure it won't be for long."

Yugi just snorted. "Didn't you say that last time? It's been months!" He didn't know where that outburst came from; surprised, he clasped his hand on his mouth.

Yami just looked at him, before he bowed his head. "I know… But I'm not sure you really want a sooner meeting, given the circumstances…" Before Yugi could ask what he meant, he smiled again. "But I know it won't be long this time." Yugi opened his mouth to answer, but there wasn't anybody still there to talk to. Just empty air and dust dancing where there had stood a man.