Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update! My semester got really busy. What do you all think of the story now? Does everything make sense? And, most importantly, am I keeping LeFou in character? Reviews are so helpful and greatly appreciated :) Thanks!

After re-reading my journal entries I decided that the next step would be to ask around about what might have happened. My first thought was to ask the men in the village, but I knew my inquisitive mind would be frowned upon by the majority of them. Most knew of my hobby but thought nothing of it. Men in the village had a similar mind-set to Gaston, actually. They all agreed that women really shouldn't read, perhaps besides the Bible, or think. Heaven knows what they would think if they found out I wrote as a hobby. The mystery solving was already pushing it for them. My chances of finding a husband were ultimately very slim.

This is why I decided that I would ask questions to the wives of the men who stormed the castle in attempt to kill the beast. There was a chance that I might catch something that had happened on that very night, as most of the women were gossips anyway.

I entered the marketplace around mid-day, when it was most crowded. I approached Madame LeFleur, wife to Jacques LeFleur, the florist. She smiled warmly at me and I spoke to her.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something," I said.

"Oh, of course, Adelaide! What is it?" asked Madame LeFleur.

"Do you know what happened when the men went into the castle to kill the beast?" I asked, sort of bluntly. Madame LeFleur looked taken aback and looked around worriedly. "Oh please don't take me the wrong way, I was just wondering," I said hurriedly.

"Oh, child, it's alright," she whispered, "it's just I've heard a lot of rumors about the castle, and my husband almost definitely confirmed them."

I realized she was very eager to confide in me what she had heard, which means she had most likely been keeping it secret. A secret is something very hard for a gossip to keep. But why? What happened that night? It was surprising how few whispers I've heard about the castle. With the huge gossip mill in this town it was almost shocking, really, how little I heard about the castle.

"Well, what are they?" I asked, careful to lower my voice.

"There's witchcraft at that castle," she replied, then quickly looked around, before continuing, "The men were all attacked by black magic."

"Are you sure!?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't been expecting something that bizarre as a response and I tried to think of a logical explanation as to why they might have thought that.

"Positive. Jacques said nothing of witchcraft, but he said the furniture at the castle had attacked him. Normal furniture doesn't just attack; it had to have been witchcraft!" she insisted.

"Is it possible the beast could have been throwing furniture, or perhaps they were confused?" I again pried.

"The only explanation is witchcraft. Just like that mirror Belle showed us."

I had forgotten about the mirror. It was true I couldn't find a logical explanation for that, and had accepted it to be enchanted.

"The mirror came from that castle?" I asked her.

"Good heavens, it must have," said the florist's wife, "I haven't thought about that."

"If that was enchanted, then it's possible that other objects in the castle could have been enchanted as well," I inferred.

"Yes, that must be it!" she said, raising her voice slightly.

"I think that should be alright for now, then," I said to her, "thank you so much for your help!"

Madame LeFleur smiled momentarily, but then looked curiously at me.

"Are you conducting an investigation?" she asked me.

"Yes," I replied after a brief hesitation. I tried my best to be honest.

"I'm glad I could help. Don't listen to what those men say, you've been a lot of help to this town. Just yesterday Marie was telling me how thankful she was that you found her gloves," she said kindly.

"Oh, it was no trouble. Thanks so much," I said, very flattered by her approval.

I turned to leave, feeling very cheerful, but forgot to look where I was going. I found myself on the ground after running into someone.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed before looking up.

I was shocked to see that it was LeFou, looking quite alarmed.

"Adelaide, are you okay?" he asked me.

"Oh, I'm fine! That was completely my fault!" I told him, not wanting him to get angry.

He held out his hand and pulled me up, very politely. I dusted myself off, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing. I felt so humiliated having run into him.

"Actually, I was hoping I would run into you. Er, not quite so literally, but…" LeFou trailed off, clearly searching for better words.

"What is it you wanted?" I asked.

"Adelaide, I heard that you're good at solving mysteries. You investigate, and help people."

"Well, yes," I said.

My mind started racing. What if LeFou knew what I had been up to? Would he be angry that I was investigating the disappearance of his best friend? How did he ever find out?

"Gosh, Adelaide, I need your help," he said.

Oh. I hadn't been expecting that.

"Of course I'll help you," I said immediately.

LeFou's mouth twitched upwards as I met his eyes.

"I want to know what happened to Gaston," said LeFou firmly.

There seemed to be a lot of emotions running through LeFou's eyes. He was still smiling, yet his eyes revealed that something deeper was going on. It was almost as if he looked worried, sad, guilty, and relieved all at the same time. I probably stared at him for too long, because he started frowning when I didn't respond to him.

"Oh, I do too," I said quickly.

"Would you investigate for me? I'll pay you!" asked LeFou hopefully.

"How much?" I asked. I was going to help LeFou no matter what, but I had honestly wanted to buy my mother something for her birthday and wasn't sure where I would get the finances in order to do so. LeFou's money might be perfect.

"However much you want," said LeFou, "I'd be so grateful if you could find out what happened to him."

"I'll take the job," I said eagerly.

"Gee, thanks Adelaide!" exclaimed the little man.

He started to walk off, only to realize I was following him.

"If I'm going to start my investigation, the first person I need to interview is you. What happened that night?" I asked LeFou.

He was silent for a moment, before leading me out by the mud puddle near Belle's house. Pierre the pig snored, completely covered in mud. LeFou sat down a few feet away from it, and I sat next to him. I assumed that, like Madame LeFleur, he didn't want the other villagers to hear what he had to say.

"Alright. Adelaide, I promise, I'm not crazy when I say this; all of this happened. The other men saw it too," LeFou started.

"That you were attacked by enchanted objects?"

Oops. I hadn't meant to bring up that I knew that already.

"How'd you know that?" asked LeFou.

"Well, that's been the rumor that's been going around," I quickly covered. I hated lying to him, but I had promised Madame LeFleur that I wouldn't tell anyone about talking to her.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Anyway, yeah all us men were attacked by enchanted objects."

"Even Gaston?" I asked.

"No. Gosh, I mean he was there when they first attacked, but he set off on his own to find the beast in the castle. That's the last I ever saw him," said LeFou darkly.

"And nobody's seen him since you were attacked by those objects?" I inquired.

"Not that I know of. He didn't escape with us, and he never showed up again. The other villagers say he died fighting the beast, but I can't believe it. Gaston has never been bested by any animal. Adelaide, I think that Gaston is still alive," LeFou told me.

I could really tell how much LeFou missed his best friend. It was hidden beneath everything he said, and I felt sorry for him. But could he be right? Was it possible that Gaston was still alive?

I knew that I had to do some more chores for the day, and was also eager to write down all I had learned, so I wished LeFou a good day and told him to meet me again at my house tomorrow. I tried to wrap my head around the enchanted castle, but couldn't quite think of an explanation. It made me extremely curious. Could I really find out what happened without visiting the last place Gaston had been seen? It seemed doubtful, but what other choice did I have? The castle was obviously extremely dangerous, so visiting it was out of the question.

Hopefully, the more I speak with LeFou tomorrow will shed some more light on what happened. I need to know about the events leading up to the night of the mob. Perhaps I could even ask LeFou to tell everything he knew about Gaston, from the moment they met. The more I thought of this, the more I realized this idea would be the best. If LeFou explained everything about Gaston, it would explain why he had been so adamant about hunting the beast, and maybe even provide some clues as to why he never came back.