Rejoining with the family in the living room, Hannibal decided to try and make small talk with the relatives to try and know them a little better, so he'd have some idea of what was going on around here. In the meantime though he told the others to make themselves scarce and check out the rest of the house. Hand in hand, Annabelle and Face, and Nora and Murdock made their way through the first floor labyrinth of doors. Face opened one up and turned on the lights. "This looks like the sitting room."
"I've never understood what those were for," Murdock told him, "You sit in every room…or do you?"
"And I don't get why they're necessary," Nora added, "There's no TV in the living room so it could be a sitting room as well."
"Maybe they needed two of them when the family was younger and more members were still alive," Annabelle guessed.
"I doubt it," Nora said, "It's to my understanding that Ol' Grandpa lived here for about 40 years, he didn't want his family around near the end of his life, why would he want anymore of them around for the prime of it?"
"That's a good point," Face agreed, "Usually it's only towards the end that you want your family around, when you're old, deaf, senile, could go any minute, and don't have to pay any attention to their bellyaching."
They walked into the room and looked the place over. Once again, very nice, very expensive furniture, this stuff Face noticed looked like it never got sat on. A perfectly clean fireplace, chandeliers cleaned to perfection that they looked brand new.
"It's a nice looking place," Face admitted.
"It's a tomb," Nora said.
"I think she might be right, Faceman," Murdock said as he pulled his jacket tighter, "It's cold in here."
"Old houses are supposed to be hard to heat, but doesn't this place have central heating since it's got electricity?" Face asked.
"Well it still is an old house, it looks like the fireplaces are still the main source of heat for the house," Annabelle pointed out, "But this one looks like it's never been used, so that would explain why this room is so much colder than the others."
Face and Murdock went around the room casually looking everything over but also looking for anything suspicious, behind the couch, under the rugs, behind the curtains, still coming up empty.
"Exactly what is it you're supposed to be looking for?" Nora asked.
"I don't know," Face confessed, "But we'll know it when we find it."
Nora looked at them funnily and said, "You guys are really the A-Team?"
"Well we ain't the Ritz Brothers," Murdock told her.
"No offense," Nora put her hands up, "But you're not exactly what I expected. With all the stories going around the city about you guys, I was expecting something more like a S.W.A.T. Team or something."
"Well," Face was used to hearing these kinds of remarks from people when they first met him but he had to admit it was starting to get old, so he gritted his teeth for now, and forced himself to remain civil with them as he said, "You'd be surprised how often we get that. But I think before the night's over, you'll be convinced."
"Oh I'm convinced," Nora said, "I'm just not sure of what yet."
"Nora, please," Annabelle replied, "They're trying to help us."
"And I'm supposed to be grateful for that, I suppose?" Nora asked her sister, "Nobody has ever helped us before in our lives, now suddenly we got four weirdoes who want to help us, I'm supposed to believe that? I'm supposed to buy that they're here to do good by us? Why would I be stupid enough to believe that?"
"Because you need to trust somebody," Murdock told her, "And you can't trust those vultures you call family."
That was one reason Face admired Murdock; he personally was getting to the point he was tempted to strangle Nora to shut her up, but Murdock was always able to remain calm and get the point across to people like that. However, Nora was still adamant and she turned to Murdock and said venomously, "Meaning you, I suppose?"
"Well let's face it," he smiled at her, "You don't have a choice right now."
They checked the other rooms on the ground floor and encountered an old fashioned study, a well furnished den, a private library, and a billiard room with two full sized but well worn green topped pool tables. Murdock took in every room with a look of amaze and a whistle of approval and he told Face, "It's too bad you can't scam this place for us sometime, Facey, Lynch would never think to look for us here."
Face scratched his ear and asked Annabelle, "That reminds me, who does get the house? Has that been determined?"
"Beats me," she answered, "Mr. Rogers only told us about the money we stand to inherit, he didn't say anything about the house."
"Probably left that to the servants as well," Nora commented as she took a pool cue off the rack.
A thought occurred to Murdock and he asked her, "Incidentally, how did your grandfather die?"
"What?" she asked.
"How did he die?" he repeated, "Was it natural causes, or did he slip in the tub and bash his head open, or was he eaten by a bear, what?"
Nora shrugged, "You got me, all I know is the lawyer said he died. Of course we never saw the body so we can't confirm that, but to go through all this trouble I'd like to think he's telling the truth."
"Hmmm," now an idea occurred to Face.
"What is it?" Murdock asked.
"If a copy of that will is anywhere to be found in this house, it would be the lawyer that has it," Face said, "And you can be sure somebody in the whole bunch is going to be pretty desperate to find out what it says. And if I were one of them, and I was going to kill anybody in this house, it wouldn't be these two," he pointed to the girls, "It would be the lawyer, he's the only one that's got the answers."
"Well if he croaks during the night we'll know you're right," Nora said, "But then what?"
"I'm just saying if somebody is going to die, it makes the most sense for him to be the one that's murdered," Face said, "So when we're stuck with that bunch of almond bars again, keep your eyes open."
"You think I'm going to close them with those vipers around?" Annabelle asked, and shook her head, "I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight."
"I know the feeling," Face replied, although not for the same reason.
Murdock was leaned over one of the pool tables trying to figure out how to sink a striped ball and he commented to Face, "Too bad you couldn't get this place for us sometime, Facey, we could really snazzy it up, make this a whole game room and get in an air hockey table, a foosball table, a ping-pong table…"
Nora jabbed Face in the shoulder and asked him, "What is he going on about now?"
Face wasn't in the mood to explain so he tried to get out of it entirely by asking her, "What, you suddenly going to start listening to the ramblings of a crazy person?"
After an hour of listening to the extended Wiest family talk openly and honestly about their lives, their likes and their many dislikes, most of them for their other relatives, and what they planned to do with the $20 million when they got it, Hannibal suddenly felt in dire need of some fresh air and so left the living room, pulled the doors shut on them, and went to smoke in the kitchen. B.A. followed him out of the living room and Hannibal asked, "Well, what do you think of the charming family in there?"
"The whole family's crazier than Murdock, Hannibal," B.A. answered.
"Yah…they definitely seem to have a few screws loosened among them…and if I had to guess, I'd say one brain being split between them all. Howard Hughes' relatives have got nothing on this family," Hannibal said as he lit his cigar, "But do you think any of them would be capable of murder in order to get a larger piece of the inheritance?"
"A few of them I'd say it's likely," B.A. told him, "Especially that sucker, Roland."
"Oh you got that feeling too, eh?" Hannibal asked humorously, "Now you know…Rogers the lawyer said that nobody in the family can leave the house until morning, or they're automatically cut from the will. But there's nothing saying we can't leave the house and come back, so if we need to get anything out of the van," he added casually, "Or see if they have anything out in their cars that's of interest to us…then we can."
B.A. nodded in agreement. Hannibal looked around and noted how quiet the house was and he said, "I wonder how the others are coming along."
The kitchen door opened and the maid came back in, ignored both men and walked past them and headed into the pantry. Hannibal waited by the door and when she reappeared he stopped her and said, "Excuse me, Miss."
"Yes sir," she said in a low, almost congested voice.
"What's your name?" Hannibal asked.
"Dale Merkel, sir," she said.
"Have you worked here long?" Hannibal asked her.
"I've worked here for three years, sir," she answered.
"Then you knew Mr. Wiest well?"
"As well as any employee can know their employer," she said, "My quarters are in the west wing."
"What kind of man was he?" Hannibal asked, "What was he like?"
She looked from him to B.A. and back to Hannibal and said, "He was a man what enjoyed his privacy. That is why he lived in this house so far from anyone else, he had no tolerance for neighbors."
"Was he paranoid?"
"No, just private."
"Did his family ever come to see him?" Hannibal asked.
"Rarely that I recall," Dale told him.
Now Hannibal decided to go in for the kill, "Do you really think he would leave his estate to that family of his?"
The woman turned her nose up a bit and responded, "What Mr. Wiest decided to do with his money was his own business, but I sincerely doubt it."
"Then…to you, and the other servants in this house?" Hannibal asked.
"I wouldn't know about that, sir," she answered, "Mr. Wiest never discussed his financials with us."
"Only with his lawyer," Hannibal said.
"That is correct," she told him, "Mr. Rogers was the only person Mr. Wiest confided in about his estate. Now if you'll excuse me…"
She walked past them and headed back out the door, leaving the Colonel and the Sergeant alone in the kitchen.
"Well what do you think?" Hannibal asked B.A.
He could tell from the look on the other man's face that B.A. wasn't convinced, "Aw man, Hannibal, I never heard of any servants that didn't know everything that was going on in the house."
Hannibal slowly nodded and told him, "Took the words out of my mouth…the question is if she is hiding something…what is it?"
Then he heard something, and he went to the door and listened, he could hear footsteps coming down the corridor heading their way. He nodded to B.A. and they pushed the door open and went out to see who it was; he was relieved to see it was only Murdock leading the way for Face and the Wiest sisters.
"Find anything, Captain?" he asked.
"Negative, Colonel," Murdock answered, "But boy this place sure is huge. You could get lost walking around this place."
"Then why don't you, fool?" B.A. asked.
"Did you find anything out?" Nora asked Hannibal.
"Not much," he answered, "But I think the hired help knows more than they're letting on."
"Don't they always?" Annabelle asked.
Hannibal opened his mouth to speak but instead he caught himself and laughed at her response. "Good point."
The doors to the living room opened and the family started to pile out and join them in the dining room. Murdock felt somebody grab him by the back of his collar and he suddenly couldn't breathe; through the corner of his eye he was able to see it was Annabelle who had his neck in a death grip, he reached around and pried her fingers loose and told her as he moved her arm over to Face, "You're with him, remember?" But now that they were faced with the whole family again, he was starting to understand the sudden temptation to hide behind someone else.
Cousin Lucien came up to Hannibal and started to say something to him when suddenly the whole room went black and everybody found themselves plunged into darkness. Nobody knew what was happening, Hannibal felt two people brush against him as somebody ran past him, people were screaming and talking over each other, it sounded like somebody was being knocked down, and both B.A. and Face felt something crushing them from above.
"It's dark in here!" they heard Murdock proclaim, and even though the room was black Face looked up as he realized where the voice was coming from.
Hannibal found his metal lighter in his pocket and he flicked it on to offer some light on the subject and B.A. and Face were able to look up and see Murdock was shakily standing on their shoulders and was about to touch the chandelier.
"What're you doing you crazy fool!?" B.A. asked as he shrugged his shoulder to throw Murdock off, "Get down!"
Face reached up and grabbed the side of Murdock that he was stuck with and helped him get down.
"Who turned off the lights, Hannibal?" Murdock asked.
Hannibal shrugged, "You got me." He looked around to the others and asked, "Is everybody alright?"
Somebody had knocked Nora down in the panic and Annabelle was helping her back to her feet, but other than that everybody else was still standing and seemed to be alright, albeit shaken up by the blackout. Hannibal looked around the room and asked, "Where's the fuse box?"
"I will show you, sir," the butler said.
"Wait a minute," Hannibal stopped and turned to Face, "You got a flashlight?"
"Yeah," Face reached into his jacket pocket and found one and passed it to Hannibal, who turned it on and blew out his lighter.
"That's better," he turned to the butler and nodded his head, "Lead on."
"It might not be the breaker," a female voice among them said.
"Who said that?" Face asked.
It was closer to him as it said, "I am Elizabeth Ogden, I'm the upstairs maid."
"They need a maid for every floor?" Murdock asked.
Face elbowed what he thought was Murdock and asked the woman, "Why do you say that?"
"The lights have been going out quite frequently lately, sir," she answered, "Apparently there have been problems at the power company."
"How long's that been going on?" Face asked.
"About two months sir," the maid answered.
From another corner of the room Face heard Nora whispering to Annabelle, "Ever since the old man died."
He felt somebody grab the back of his shirt and he realized it was Murdock when the familiar jacket brushed against him and he felt a hot breath on his ear as the pilot whispered to him, "You know something, Facey, this gives me an idea."
"What's that?" he whispered in return.
"Did you ever play Sardine?" Murdock asked.
Face turned to him, even though he couldn't see Murdock, and asked him, "What?"
"If your boss was so smart, how come he didn't have the main breaker put in a more convenient part of the house?" Hannibal asked the butler as he held his flashlight in one hand and checked the fuse box.
In order to reach the fuse box he'd gone through a labyrinth leading through the kitchen, taking a left down a long, narrow corridor, and down the cellar steps, only to find out the cellar was broken down into three separate rooms, and the fuse box rested in the last room at the end of the path.
Hannibal turned to the man who hadn't said a word since showing him into the room and asked, "Incidentally, what's your name?"
"Giles Forsythe, sir," the butler answered.
"Oh yeah? You been working here long?"
"Five years, sir."
"Then you probably knew your employer better than the maid did."
"I should like to think so, sir."
"Alright," Hannibal said as he looked over the breakers to see if any had been thrown, "Do you think he'd really leave his fortune to those bloodsuckers he was forced to call family?"
"I really don't know, sir," Forsythe answered, "Mr. Wiest did become rather remorseful during his last days that he hadn't gotten to know certain members better."
"Did he specify who?" Hannibal asked as he found the breaker and flipped it back.
"No, sir."
Hannibal looked up, "No lights…did you turn them on when we came down here?"
"Yes, sir."
Hannibal held his flashlight up and looked to the ceiling. "Fluorescent lights," he said as he noted the long tube bulbs, "Have they been replaced recently?"
"No, sir," Forsythe answered.
"Might've burnt out then," Hannibal said as he headed back to the staircase and hollered up, "Hey are there any lights on up there?"
"Yeah Hannibal, they' on now," he heard B.A. call down.
"That's great," Hannibal said as he and Forsythe started climbing up the stairs, "Is everybody okay?"
"Almost," B.A. answered.
"Almost?" Hannibal repeated as they reached the top and he saw the sergeant standing by the door, "What does that mean?"
"That crazy fool Murdock's disappeared and so have Face and the two girls," B.A. told him, "I could hear them jibber-jabbering to themselves while we was in the dark but when the lights came on I couldn't find them anywhere."
Hannibal looked ahead to the next room and commented, "It would be like Murdock to be up for a game of hide and seek in a place like this, though how he'd get the others to go with him is beyond me…did you notice if anybody else is missing?"
"I'm not sure," B.A. answered, "I don't know who all was in the room with us when the lights went out."
"Good point, well, let's go look for them."