The lights went out.
"AGH! Tsukune!"
"It's okay, I'm right here!"
There was a flash of lightening, Tsukune saw Moka and jumped in front of her making a human shield.
"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"
Tsukune heard someone running around upstairs. After that everything was quiet for about five minutes, then the lights came back on.
"AAAHHH!"
"Someone's in trouble!"
Tsukune and Moka started to make their way for the stairs. Along way Ruby and Yukari hurried up and out of the basement and ran into them.
"Hey! Don't touch me there!" said Tsukune.
"Sorry."
"AAHHH! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
After getting out of their little scramble they ran up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" asked Yukari.
When they reached the second floor they found Mizore, Gin, Izumi, and Emiko already there.
"It's Kurumu!"
"Where is she?"
"She's in Gin's room, the door's locked!"
"So unlock it!"
"It's locked from the inside!"
"Just unlock it!"
"I can't unlock it from out here!"
"Let us in! Let us in!"
"GET ME OUT! GET ME OUT!"
"Wait! I have it!"
Mizore pointed at the door knob and froze it. Then she turned her hands into icy claws and shattered it.
"Come out, the door is open."
"I can't move!"
They went inside and everybody gasped.
"Don't ask me!"
"What are you doing in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes?" asked Izumi.
"I SAID DON'T ASK ME!"
Kurumu was dressed in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes and her limbs were all chained together. Kurumu's own clothes were no where to be found. Mizore froze the chains and Tsukune ripped them apart.
"Well… You do look good in that outfit." said Gin.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY! I COULD HAVE BEEN RAPED! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"
"We're Ogata?" asked Emiko.
"He left me in the attic a few moments before the lights went out."
"We saw him come down and go down to the second floor." said Izumi.
"And we saw him go down stairs as well." said Mizore.
"He must've been going to his room for some of his… stuff."
"Or he was just going to the fuse box to shut off the lights."
They all went down to the ground floor to look for Ogata.
"Where are you, you great big pig?"
"AAHHH!"
"What now?" thought Moka.
"Guys… I… found him."
Ogata was lying on the floor in his room next to an open drawer that contained his hentai collection. The back of his head had been crushed and ripped open in small areas. There was a bloody medieval mace a few feet away from him.
"Is that the same mace from the library?" asked Emiko.
"But it was locked!"
They ran to the library and found the door open and the mace missing from it's display. But there were no signs of forced entry.
"I thought we threw the key away." said Mizore.
"We did. Someone else must've had one." replied Yukari.
"Izumi, Emiko, did either of you have a key that you didn't tell us about?"
"No." they both replied.
"Then who did?"
"Only Ulysses."
They went to Ulysses' room and pulled back the sheets on his bed.
"Sorry to disturb you Ulysses, we mean no disrespect, this is an emergency."
"Just check the dead butler's pockets already." said Kurumu.
"Could you please not say dead butler? It's bad enough I have to put my hands in his pockets."
Tsukune locked in Ulysses' pockets, but found nothing.
"Okay… Moka, search everybody."
"Wait a minute! Why does Moka get to search us?"
"Because she was with me on the first floor when everything happened, so she couldn't have done it… I'll search…. Wait a minute… Where's Gin?"
They found him still in Ogata's room. He was admiring some of the boy's magazines.
"You pervert!" said Kurumu slapping him in the back of the head.
Ruby looked at the open page in the magazine.
"Wow… nobody can get into that position."
Everyone was searched; no one had the key on their person. Apparently the murderer had hidden it somewhere.
"Okay… Kurumu, what exactly happened just now?"
"… Well… Mizore and I were searching the second floor, not finding anything. Suddenly the lights went out. In the dark someone came at me and threw me into Gin's room. I heard them lock the door, and then… and then… Oh my god!"
"He or she chained you up, stripped you, and redressed you in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes."
"… Yes… and when the lights came back on I saw what I was wearing, so I screamed for help."
"And we couldn't get in because the door was locked from the inside… This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"Well it does shed some light on our problem." said Yukari.
"What do you mean?"
"This means that the murderer has to be someone who knew that Ulysses had a key."
"Or someone who deduced that he had one out of reasoning." said Tsukune.
For a few moments they all just stood there looking at each other.
"I think I know." said Kurumu.
"I haven't the least doubt." said Yukari.
"I'm pretty sure." said Mizore.
"I haven't a clue." said Moka.
"Well… We aren't going to know for sure if we just keep standing around here." said Tsukune.
(To be continued)
