They arrived at the center of all the hustle and bustle and slipped into the party seamlessly, albeit with a little help from the psychic paper. The Master was pulled away to meet and mingle with the other guests after his credentials were shown, much to the protest of the Doctor. He eventually let him go as he vowed to keep a close watch on him, and was only partially listening to all the conversations being had with him in order to pay attention to the Master. Donna had to answer for him in most instances.

They met the host, Lady Eddison, in addition to her husband and son, Hugh and Roger Curbishley. Robina Redmond, Reverend Golightly, the maid, Miss Chandrakala, the footman, Davenport, and all the butlers whizzed by and came to greet and welcome them. The Doctor had his eyes fixated on the Master, so Donna had to field the questions directed toward them. She had been well-versed in what to say in situations where the psychic paper was used to get access somewhere, but she still wasn't confident that anyone truly believed her. After many awkward conversations avoided, she pulled the Doctor off to the side, momentarily breaking his focus on the Master.

"Doctor, honestly, why do you need to keep such a close watch on him? Just let him enjoy himself, for once." She noticed his eyes were still permanently glued to the other time lord. "This is getting ridiculous; I'm bringing him back over here." She walked away in a huff. The Doctor, staring at the Master intently, was shocked to see this figure dragging him away from the spot he was in and was about to spring into action until he realized it was only Donna, and they were walking toward him.

"There. Happy now?" She let go of his arm and graciously accepted her cocktail from the footman with a smile.

"Ooh, did you miss me that much? Although, you could have been a little gentler." The Master held his arm and sported a pout on his face. He turned back to the Doctor. "Kiss it and make it better?"

"Master, we're in 1920's Earth at the moment if you haven't noticed. We don't need to be drawing any more attention to ourselves. Now stay beside me from now on. I don't need you creating drama in these people's lives." He took a drink of his cocktail.

"You expect me to kill someone? Or control them into killing each other?" The Master challenged him. The Doctor was about to speak but the Master continued. "You were supposed to be helping me. What does that say about you if you can't even trust me after I've been imprisoned with you for so long? How much help are you? I thought it would be worth it; you manipulated me into thinking it would be worth it, but you don't care about me. You just don't want to be alone." The silence around them was deafening. He could see the other guests speaking, but heard nothing. There were no birdsongs or leaves blowing in the wind, nor a record player softly playing music in the background. The Master spoke up again, in a whisper. "I'm better man now, but it's certainly not because of you." The Master turned his face forward in an effort to ignore the Doctor. He could still feel the Doctor's eyes burning into him, stabbing him with the feelings of guilt and regret he knew the Doctor so often felt, and thought about getting away until he heard Donna's voice.
"Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus."

"Or Time Lords." He felt a twinge in his hearts as a hand ghosted around his back when he heard the Doctor respond. It was twice now in the span of a few minutes that he has had to hide his blush from him. What was he turning into?

He could see Donna smirking from the corner of his eye, and the pink in his cheeks deepened. They had kept many things private from her. She knew they had been friends once before, long ago, but that was the extent of her knowledge, so he thought. But Donna was a clever girl, and she understood without having to bring it up. It was one of the things he liked most about her, he had to admit. Humans in general were still a bit much for him, but he had grown quite fond of her. The hostess' voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Our special guest was supposed to be here tonight but, as you can see, she is nowhere to be seen and no one has heard from her recently. And, well, there's no reason to waste such perfectly good company in the rest of us, is there? Oh, Greeves, can you make sure all the guests who have arrived are down here? I thought I saw Professor Peach, but I don't see him now…" She craned her neck to look around while the reverend spoke up. "I think he said he was going to the library." He gave a smile that made the Master uncomfortable, but religious figures always tend to make him feel that way. He decided to let the feeling go once he saw no one else seemed bothered by it.

He watched as the hostess told the maid to go and fetch this professor, oh, that brought back memories, and was interrupted in his thoughts by a breath in his ear.

"I'm sorry."

There was no point in carrying this negative feeling around with him and ruining this party, so the Master accepted his apology by warmly enveloping his mind. That seemed to ease the tension a bit, as he felt the Doctor loosen up and try to reciprocate, failing because he was never as skilled in telepathy as he was, when a scream cried out. "Murder! There's been a murder!" The maid came running out toward the party, while the Doctor ran into the mansion. The Master grabbed ahold of Donna and they soon followed, a bit ahead of the rest of the guests.

When they got to the library, the Doctor was already on the floor examining the victim. He stopped the others from following them into the library, explaining that they're from Scotland Yard so there's no need to call the police, go wait in the sitting room, and they obeyed. He entered through the door and closed it shut behind him.

"Hit with a lead pipe, watch broke as he fell, time of death, half past four." Donna went to crouch down beside him and whispered as soft as she could without anyone, except the Master, hearing her.

"…that's it?" Donna asked.

"What d'you mean that's it? Do you want it to be more? The man is dead, Donna." The Doctor tried to return her whisper while checking the body for any other clues.

"Well, I mean, usually when we find trouble it's to do with…aliens." Her voice volume significantly lowered on the final word.

"Nope, no aliens here. Just a human death dealt by human hands." The Doctor stared at nothing for a fraction of a second longer than he should have, indicating to both Donna and the Master that he suspected something. The Master felt the tension return.

"Well, do you think you know who did it?" Donna asked, though didn't seem to notice the slight glance that he gave the Master. Even in that briefest of moments, the Master could see the anger in those eyes.

"Not yet, I'll have to question everyone first."