As she waited for the butler to answer the door, Audrey felt like kicking herself. Really? I see Agent Cooper for the first time in four years and spend half the time talking about my dumb romance problems? I could have talked about anything else that happened since he left, and I picked that? Way to go, Audrey, now he probably thinks you're still a flirty teenager with emotional issues. So classy. She stopped silently chiding herself long enough to look back after him, though her view was blocked by the gate. She smiled. Finally, after all these years, he's back in my life. What a wonderful…

The door opened suddenly, breaking her train of thought. She snapped to attention as the butler addressed her, "Ah yes, good day, Miss Horne. Right this way."

She followed him inside and the door shut behind her. It was her third day working at Northwest Manor, but she was still figuring out the layout of the massive mansion. Basically everything inside could fall into at least one, if not all, of three categories: extravagant, exotic, and expensive. Audrey had lived a pretty privileged lifestyle at the Great Northern, regardless of her family's many issues, but the décor at her father's hotel, while sometimes a bit much, was never this level of showy. It seemed clear that most of what was visible was only there to give an impression of how rich and successful the Northwests were, not because it was tasteful or even logical. Of course, since Mr. Northwest was her boss for the rest of the summer, she decided it was not her place to critique his interior decorating skills and pretended not to notice the three stuffed bears, two gold busts of Nathaniel Northwest, and diamond chandelier she saw on her way into Mr. Northwest's office.

"Mr. Northwest," she said as she walked into the room, the butler stepping aside to perform his duties elsewhere in the mansion, "I have the files you gave me. They're all organized now." Her heels clicked on the smooth, polished floor as she stepped toward his desk, where she set down the two binders.

Preston Northwest scooted his velvet-cushioned chair closer. "Ah, there you are, Audrey," he said. He glanced at the clock on the wall and remarked, "Two minutes late. Tut tut tut. You'll have to do better than that from now on."

She cringed. "Right. Sorry about that. I just…"

"Just what? You do have a good reason, I hope?"

Audrey felt like she heard a hint of condescension in his voice. "Well, actually, yes," she explained, her posture and tone remaining professional. "I ran into an old friend of mine by accident. I knew him a long time ago, back home, and we hadn't seen each other in years, so naturally we were surprised to see each other here. I suppose we talked a bit too long, but I did try to get here as quickly as possible. He drove me over, actually."

"Hmph," Mr. Northwest grunted. "Well, I certainly hope it will not happen again."

"No," Audrey shook her head, "it will not."

"Good." Preston opened the binders and began flipping through the pages, giving barely a cursory glance to their actual contents. "Hm…looks fine…yes, all in order. That'll do quite nicely." He set both binders aside, thought for a moment, then asked, "Audrey, do you remember what I told you yesterday about my family's legacy?"

Audrey was a little surprised by the question. "Um…yes, I think so. You said that the Northwests have been the richest, most successful, and most powerful family in Gravity Falls since it was founded. Why?"

Mr. Northwest stood up from his chair and walked around his desk until he was closer to Audrey, though he refused to look down to her level and continued to speak to the air around his much taller head. "Why? I'll tell you why. The Northwests have always been the best. Better than anyone else in Gravity Falls. Ever. In this town, there are very few people of significance, and none with as much significance as us. Because of this, we must always provide an example to the masses of what a truly great family looks like, a shining city on a hill, so to speak."

"I'm not sure that's what that's supposed to mean…"

He ignored her interruption. "Recently, something rather…troubling occurred, Audrey. I won't burden you with the details, but I fear it has tarnished our legacy. Only a bit, of course. Still, it is difficult to run a business while taking care of damage control of one's family legacy. I know I've mostly been giving you measly, low level work since you arrived, but now I'd like to give you a project to help me out."

Audrey straightened up, prepared to take orders from her new boss. "Anything, sir. Well, short of the impossible, of course. I won't be conjuring up any gnome armies for you or anything," she added with a playful laugh.

Preston apparently didn't get the joke. He gave her a strange look, then continued, "Your father comes from the same cloth of greatness as I do, so I believe I can trust you to come up with a plan that will effectively save the Northwest family's reputation. It could be an event, a campaign, a strategy, anything. Just make sure it shows that we are the absolute best."

Audrey nodded slowly, her brain already storming. "I won't let you down, Mr. Northwest. Anything specific you'd like me to use, or take into consideration?"

Mr. Northwest pondered for a moment, then answered, "Well, we have plenty of money and luxury items. We can probably afford whatever you come up with, but if you'd like to see exactly how much is available, there's a book of all our finances in the bookcase behind the stairs. I know it's a bit old fashioned, but my great-great-great-great-grandfather used it, so why shouldn't I?"

"Fair enough. I'll get right to work on that." She turned to leave.

Just before she reached the door, Audrey was stopped in her tracks by one last command from Mr. Northwest. "Oh, and Audrey? Whatever you do, try to avoid anything that involves…poor people."

Audrey did a double take. "I'm sorry, what?"

"That'll be all!" he said, shooing her out of the room before she could ask for any clarification.

Audrey found herself alone in the glamorous hallway, confused. "Poor people?" she repeated. She wasn't entirely sure what Mr. Northwest meant. Did he mean the homeless? Or just people poorer than the Northwests? Or something in the middle? Whatever he meant, what was the problem with involving "poor people"? Of the ideas she had begun to brainstorm in the past few seconds, several of them were charitable ones. It seemed like the natural answer to the problem of saving a wealthy family's reputation. She thought about knocking on the study door to get some answers, but stopped herself. This was her first job outside of the family business, and she had only just received her first actual responsibility as an employee. Maybe it would be best if she just started following instructions. After all, she could always ask questions later.

Northwest Manor was a very large place with many rooms and corridors. There were few places in the mansion that Audrey could find with complete certainty, but the staircase was one of them. It was large, grand, and very visible. She found her way to the staircase, then clicked her heels across the shiny, polished floor until she was behind it. There was the bookcase. The staircase it sat behind cast a large shadow over it, making it less illuminated than the rest of the brightly lit mansion. It was full of very large, official-looking books and records. Audrey looked the books over until she found an old green one containing the family's financial records. She pulled it off the shelf and started walking away from the bookcase.

As she did so, she noticed a very strange portrait on a nearby wall. It looked like a painting of a king, but the head was a skull. It seemed a little out of place in a mansion full of family portraits, but even more out of place was the faint light flashing behind it. Curious, Audrey walked towards it for a closer look.

She walked down the hallway until she was only a few feet away from the painting. Suddenly, the light stopped flashing, as if it had heard her coming. Now Audrey knew something was going on. She continued toward the strange picture, then looked it up and down, eyeing every detail. Finally, close the bottom, she found something. The canvas of the painting was torn, though the paint concealed it from a distance, so that a flap was loose. This must be where the light was coming from, Audrey realized. She looked back to make sure no one could see her, then gently pushed open the flap.

She found herself staring into a small, dark, seemingly empty room. "Hello?" she said, looking around for the source of the light. "Who's in here?"

She received no verbal answer, but heard a shuffling noise, as if someone was trying to hide from her sight. Her investigative senses now on high alert, Audrey dug into her purse and brought out her flashlight, which she shined into the darkness. Its circular beam scanned the room, apparently filled with even more old paintings, until it landed on a head of blonde hair. As she moved the light downward, it became clear to Audrey that the blonde head sat atop a small, twelve-year-old body in a cute purple skirt and blouse combination. Audrey recognized her immediately. "Pacifica?" she whispered. "What are you doing in here?"

Pacifica scrambled to her feet, dropping her own incriminating flashlight in the process. "Go away!" she whispered back. "It's none of your business!"

"Well, I work for your father and I'm staying in your house," Audrey replied, "so I think it might be a little of my business." She stuck her head a little further into the hole and looked around. "What is this place?"

"Nothing," Pacifica insisted, crossing her arms. "Now get out of here! If my parents see…"

Before the girl could finish her sentence, Audrey heard someone walking toward her. She straightened up and stepped in front of the canvas hole just in time for Mrs. Northwest, her face practically glued into a permanent and very fake smile, to walk in from around the corner.

"Oh, hello, Audrey," she greeted, her face muscles barely moving as she spoke. "What are you doing here?"

Audrey thought quickly. "Well…I was just admiring this very interesting painting, Mrs. Northwest. A skeleton wearing a king's robe seems a bit unusual, but it is exquisitely done."

Mrs. Northwest glanced over the painting with little interest. "Indeed," she said. "I forget where Preston found it. He has a taste for the macabre when it comes to some things. Certainly more than I do." She looked around her surroundings, then asked Audrey, "Have you seen Pacifica by any chance? She was told to stay in her room this afternoon, but she appears to have left it. That girl used to be so obedient, but now it's like she doesn't even hear instructions anymore."

"Hm…" Audrey stepped forward so that the hole in the painting was even more hidden than before. "Let me see…no, I don't think I've seen her. Have you checked outside? She could be playing with the peacocks."

Mrs. Northwest's brow would have furrowed if it could. "Outside? No, but I shall check there next. Honestly, I don't know what I'll ever do with her." She hurried away to continue her search.

Once Pacifica's mother was safely outside, Audrey gently lifted the flap of the canvas again and called softly into the darkness, "Pacifica? She's gone now if you want to come out."

Pacifica turned out her flashlight so that the two of them could see each other. Her expression was grateful, but also a little puzzled. "You lied to my mom for me?" she said, almost in disbelief. "But you barely even know me."

"I know a kid in trouble when I see one," Audrey replied. "Look, I know I'm just your dad's assistant, but if you want to tell me what's wrong, I'm all ears."

Pacifica stood up and walked a little closer to the opening. "Did my dad tell you what happened last weekend?" she asked.

"Not exactly. He said your family reputation was damaged and told me to come up with a project to restore it. He told me the details don't really matter."

"Hmph!" Pacifica crossed her arms again and looked away angrily. "He would say that! It's like he doesn't even care."

The young girl's words echoed in Audrey's mind. Years ago, they could very easily have been hers. She remembered her father before he started trying to be good, and everything that had gone wrong in their relationship. "Pacifica," she said understandingly, "I know what it's like to have problems with your parents. Do you want to talk about it?"

Pacifica seemed to consider the offer for a moment, but finally refused. "If you're so enthusiastic about fixing my family's 'reputation,' try asking the man putting you in charge of it. It's his fault anyway."

Audrey was somewhat surprised by the hostility she received, but not entirely. She tried again, "Pacifica, are you sure—"

"Just leave me alone!"

The girl turned off her flashlight, plunging the tiny, hidden room into complete darkness again. Audrey pulled her head out of the hole and shook her head. Whatever was going on, Pacifica needed some time to herself. Audrey could relate to that. Then again, she was also very concerned about her. It had taken just about everything going wrong in the Horne family before Audrey and her father could reconcile and do some good together. As ridiculous as it seemed to make assumptions from a single interaction, Audrey feared that Pacifica was perhaps heading down the same, difficult path. In the end, she decided to give the young blonde girl her space—for now—and left the painting.

However, there was one lingering question in Audrey's mind that she could not dismiss so easily. None of the Northwests had told her the events of the past weekend. Pacifica seemed to have a lot of feelings about what had happened, while her father appeared intent on burying it as deep underground as possible. The Northwests definitely had a secret, and Audrey knew that somehow, someway, she was going to find out what it was.