Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.

I looked from the butler back down to the body, "Huh."

Geralt leaned over to me, "So you think this is the next challenge then?" He asked me quietly, "Find the murderer?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, probably so."

"Alright, everyone back away from the body." Geralt demanded.

The small crowd complied, taking a few steps back and they chattered amongst themselves as Geralt squatted down next to the corpse.

I eyed the witcher with interest as he quickly examined the body and then looked back up.

"All of you go into that room over there." He pointed at a room to the left of us, "Wait there and we'll be there to ask you some questions in a moment."

The group all looked at one another and then obeyed, with the man in glasses and the butler working together to carry the passed out woman out of the room.

"What do you think?" I asked him after they had gone.

The witcher ripped open the dead man's shirt to reveal a large stab wound on his chest, "Mhmm, doesn't look very clean… the sides of the wound are pushed in, either a dull knife or something else." He told me, Then he flipped the body over to reveal yet another bloody wound.

I frowned, "That one looks different." I remarked.

"Yeah, not a stab wound… looks more like something from an axe." The witcher agreed. "This happened after he was already killed, the blood here isn't enough… his heart had already stopped pumping."

I leaned in to look at the back of the man's head and grimaced, "Damn, look at that." I reached down and parted the man's hair to reveal a huge dent in the skull, "Someone smacked him in the back of the head with something heavy."

"Hmm." The witcher flipped the man back over and then forced the man's jaws open and took a sniff, "Damn, things just got more complicated."

I lifted an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Nightshade, nux vomica, and almonds." He told me.

I frowned, "Okay… so someone poisoned him?"

"Those are key smells of three different poisons." Geralt answered, "Any of which would have killed him."

He stood up and dusted off his gloves as I let out a low whistle, "Damn, someone was thorough."

"Or more than one person tried to murder him." Geralt replied, then he frowned, "Or something…" He murmured.

I sighed, "Damnit… alright, so how do we start?"

"First things first, we check out this room." The witcher pointed to the door on our right, "His fingernails are scuffed, and there's drag marks coming from that room, it's likely that this whole thing started in there."

I lifted an eyebrow, "So that's why you sent everyone away from it?"

"Mhmm… doesn't give anyone the chance to mess with it before we get a look." The witcher confirmed.

We walked up to the door and I pushed it open.

For a moment we stood there, and then I let out a curse, "Holy shit… this is a mess."

Because the room really was a mess, it looked like somebody had tied a bell to a bull's tail, then a red flag to its face, and then shocked it with a cattle prod.

There was a chair that was knocked over, a tea cup lying on its side beside it. The rug that was on the ground next to them had been dragged around, and on it was a nightstand, once again, knocked over; with a large glass mug on the ground next to it.

In the center of the room was a large table with a scattering of silverware, as though someone had swept their arm across it, across from it was the mounted head of a deer, one of its antlers with blood on its tip.

I took a step and frowned as I heard the clatter of metal and I looked down to see an axe, its head bloodied as well.

I stared down at it, then swept my gaze around again, "So uh… where the hell do we even start?" I asked the witcher.

Geralt didn't respond as he squatted down, his glove brushing on the axe, his cat-like eyes examining it for a moment before sweeping the room.

Finally, he nodded, "Alright, I've got it."

I blinked, "You've got what?"

The witcher stood up and turned to me, "I know what happened here; go get everyone."

The witcher was standing in the center of the room with his arms crossed as I led the suspects into the room.

There was a general murmur of shocked horror as they all saw the mess that the room was in, and it turned to hushed speculation as they saw the witcher and they slowly assembled in front of him.

I leaned back against the wall, a slight frown on my face as I waited for Geralt to speak.

I mean seriously; what the hell had the witcher even seen that he could even begin to ascertain what had happened? Despite myself, I found that I was leaning forward slightly in anticipation as the witcher jerked his head towards the disarray and spoke:

"He committed suicide." He said simply, then he began walking over to me, ignoring the gathered spectators as an uproar began.

"You can't be serious!" The bald man in the business suit protested. The man in the glasses seemed about to speak, but then the woman in the fur suit let out a sigh and fainted again, and he caught her right before she collapsed to the floor.

The maid began crying again, and the walrus-mustached man began comforting her.

There were only two people who seemed aloof from the chaos. One was the woman dressed in black, who simply pulled out an old fashioned cigarette stick and lit it up, taking a puff as she simply stared straight ahead. The other was the butler; who simply stood stock still, a small, pleasant smile seemingly glued on his face.

"Come on," Geralt told me, "Let's go."

"He committed suicide?" I asked him incredulously.

"Yup." The witcher answered glibly, "Now let's get moving."

"What about the poisons?" I asked him, "The multiple wounds?"

Geralt sighed, "He poisoned himself, and then things got really stupid; trust me, he did himself in."

I shook my head, "Alright, I guess I trust you."

"Glad to hear it." He replied and I followed after him to the door to leave the room.

Except when the witcher tried it, it was locked, "Mhmm…"

I felt apprehension run down my spine, "So uh… you're absolutely sure about the suicide thing?" I asked him.

"Yeah." The witcher replied.

I scratched my chin, "Maybe then there's something more to-"

Then behind us, someone cleared their throat and we turned to see the butler, "Excuse me… aren't you forgetting something?"

"Like what?" The witcher growled.

The butler gestured back at the gathered people, who were all staring at us with curious eyes, "How did you figure it out?" He asked.

"Yes, yes." The woman in black clapped her hands together, "Please good sir Inspector… just how did you figure it out?"

Geralt looked around at the group, "Isn't it enough that we solved it?" He groused.

They continued to stare at him and the witcher looked at me and I shrugged helplessly, "I'm guessing this is part of the 'game'."

"Mhmm." He turned back to them and then sighed, "Fine… but I warn you… some absurdity is involved."

He pointed at the table, "It started there." He said, "The victim attempted to poison himself with nux vomica, but he botched it, and the effects were delayed. Believing that he had been entirely unsuccessful, he then made a cup of tea, this time, to make sure that he did a proper job of it, he put in two deadly poisons… cyanide and nightshade."

He then pointed at the table, "Unfortunately for him, that's when the nux vomica kicked in, causing convulsions that sent him across the room and caused him to sweep his arm across the table." He jerked a thumb at the nightstand, "He then blundered into the nightstand, and then slammed into the wall, the deer head then fell down and he fell on top of it, hence the stab wound."

He folded his arms, "The head wound is fairly simple, he tried to get up and began crawling his way to the door when there was a final convulsion and he smacked his head into the door frame."

I frowned and looked to see a spot of blood there that I hadn't noticed before. I let out a low whistle, then I frowned, "But wait, what about the axe?"

Geralt shrugged, "He died of the poison and wounds as he dragged himself into the main room, and then she…" He then pointed directly at the woman in the fur suit, "Put the axe in him."

I lifted an eyebrow at the woman, who let out a fluttering sigh and passed out again as everyone turned to look at her.

"Really Inspector!" The butler protested as the bald man went to her side, "You would accuse her of such a vulgar act? When she possess such an obviously fragile constitution?"

"She's faking it." The witcher stated flatly, "She's falling too slowly, too controlled." He then strode across to the woman, grabbed her hand and then lifted it above her face before letting it drop.

The woman's natural instincts took over and rather than falling right on her face, it fell to the side at the last moment, obviously controlled. She then opened her eyes and hate filled them as she stared at the witcher.

"Yes, you are right… it was simply a shame that he was dead when I did it." She spat acerbically, "After all it was he who-"

But the witcher had already turned around and was walking to the door.

"Wait, don't you wish to hear why I did it?" She asked, her voice bewildered.

"No." He replied and twisted the doorknob.

It opened and I followed him through it, and the last I saw of them was their look of shock and something akin to affront as we closed the door right in their face.

I turned to the witcher, "Damn, that was something… where did you learn all of that?"

"Heightened senses help a lot." He explained, "And trust me… most of my work ends up being a coroner's at some point or another."

I winced, "That's… kinda grim."

"You get used to it." He replied and as we walked down the hall.

"So… one more game… what do you think is next?" I asked him.

"I just hope it's not a board game." He said, "I hate board games."

I frowned as we began to come up on the end of the hall, a door in front of us, "Hey, do you hear that? It kinda sounds like… snakes… like… a lot of snakes."

Geralt put his hand on the doorknob and turned it.

I blinked as I felt a slight jump and looked around to see that we had been transported on top of a large platform and my eyes widened at what was in front of us.

There were a series of platforms, much like we were on now, sticking out of the wall and generally going upward, to where I could faintly see a door similar to the one we had just gone through at the very top.

And connecting all of those platforms were a bunch of two types of things… rather ordinary looking ladders… and gigantic freaking snakes that wound their way between them. As they saw us, their reptile eyes went red and they hissed menacingly, baring sharp fangs.

"Well shit." I muttered.