Rosa was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Certain that Gohda had been pacified, at least for the moment, Nanjo made his way over to her.

'What are you doing?' he said.

Rosa didn't answer, or rather, chose not to answer. She continued her scribbling with barely a pause. Feeling awkward, Nanjo did one last check of the room around him. Since Battler's outburst, there had been no more words from him, and everyone had slowly milled into different corners of the room.

The bottle was still to Battler's mouth, although the alcohol had long been sucked dry. Instead, Battler was chewing away at the rim, sitting on the table and staring in the distance. Kinzo, Genji and Krauss had moved to another corner, sitting together, but not talking to each other, keeping their eyes fixed on objects unknown. Nanjo looked back at Rosa, and tried again. 'Rosa, what are you writing down?'

Rosa finally bothered to look up, and her eyes were unlike anything Nanjo had seen of her before. 'I'm solving this damn mystery,' she said. 'And, if you don't mind, I don't want anyone to see what I'm doing.'

But Nanjo had already put two and two together. 'Are you trying to solve the riddle?'

Rosa flushed with red, and it took a while for Nanjo to realise it was bare frustration. 'Yeah, I guess I am. But you'd better not tell anyone.'

'Do you think the riddle is some sort of clue?'

'It's the only thing that we have. Everything revolves around that Blue Witch, even this. The riddle was put there for a reason. And I'm going to solve it.'

'Why don't you just ask Kinzo...'

'Are you mad?' Rosa growled. 'I don't trust Father one bit.'

'Why?'

'Isn't it obvious?'

'It is,' Nanjo admitted. 'Kinzo does seem...a little off.'

'Listen, you'd better not tell anyone I'm working on the riddle. Not Kinzo or anyone else.'

'Why?'

'Because,' Rosa looked back down at her scribblings, and began to write again. 'If one of the people in here is the culprit, I'll be next.'

'You...you believe that the culprit is among us?'

'My brother was an ass, but he was right. I can't believe it took me this long to realise it.'

'Rosa...' Nanjo searched for the words that would help soothe the tension. The words failed to arrive like they always did.

'Well, I know you're working on the riddle,' he said. 'And I may be the culprit.'

'Yeah. That means I'll be watching you from now on.'

'Oh,' Nanjo said. 'That's...unsettling.'

'It is,' Rosa said, and spoke no more. Their conversation was already over.

All his life, Nanjo had prided himself on his ability as a middleman, his skill at downplaying serious situations and defusing tensions at the point when people were willing to come to blows. Today however, all these skills had failed him. Everyone was as moody as they could possibly be, trapped in this office like a boiling pot of water. Even Nanjo himself had lost all optimism. They were going to die here, all of them. It went beyond rational thinking, but they were going to die, despite the sturdy door with only one key. They were going to die here.

'Genji?' Kinzo said. 'Genji, what's the matter with you?'

Genji was still in his chair, but he was bent double, his face on his lap. His eyes were closed. He was unresponsive to Kinzo's call.

Krauss gave another of his short wails and backed away.

'Genji,' Kinzo said again. 'Genji, are you dead or something?'

He shook Genji's shoulder roughly. No response. Kinzo reached under Genji's body, and, after some fiddling, came out with a bloody stake grasped in his hand. 'Oh dear.'

Genji's body toppled sideways, and crashed onto the floor on its back, exposing the bloody hole in his heart for all to see. Time seemed to freeze.

'The Blue Witch!' Kinzo howled, jumping up and running towards the portrait. 'The Blue Witch!'

'Now, wait,' Nanjo protested as everyone prepared to run. 'Just-just calm down. The door's locked, remember? So - '

'The culprit's one of us,' Battler said, throwing the bottle to the floor.

'The Blue Witch!' Krauss garbled.

'It's not a witch,' Battler shouted at him. 'It's one of us, maybe it's that old man - ' he stopped. 'Where's Kinzo?'

Everyone whirled to face to the portrait. Kinzo, who had been pounding on the portrait a few seconds earlier, was nowhere to be found.

Battler blinked. 'Wha - what - '

'Everyone...' Nanjo stammered. 'Just...calm..down...'

Gohda darted over to the door, threw it open, and was gone. Krauss followed not soon after, and the rest, driven mad by the double murders, were hot on their heels. They stumbled out in a confused mass, their thoughts a whirling storm of panic and terror. Each person ran in the first direction they saw, any direction, so long as it wasn't leading back into the cursed study. The hallway was emptied in seconds.

'So how about it, Wright?' Bernkastel laughed. 'Another two more riddles for you to solve!'

Will remained silent, staring at the bare table. Bernkastel did not seem to mind his silence, on the contrary, she jumped at the opportunity. 'Come on, don't act so glum. Here, I'll start for you.'

She whipped out a red needle, resting it between her finger and thumb. 'Kinzo is not hiding the room.So his sudden disappearance out of thin air is a mystery, isn't it? Like poor, poor Kumasawa. Hey, hey, are you listening?'

She flicked the needle towards Will. It morphed into a gigantic sword in mid-air and speared Will through the heart, propelling him out of his chair. When his vision cleared, Will found Bernkastel's face leaning in, her grin distorted beyond natural proportions.

'What's wrong, Wriiiigghhhtt? Have you given up so easily? Looks like I'll have to dump you back into Oblivion, you knooooow?'

She had snapped, somehow, during their last confrontation, and now he could discern nothing from her face but the guise of a complete monster. He closed his eyes, and tried to formulate a response. 'Re - repeat this. Kinzo is currently dead.'

'I refuse,' he heard her say. He was getting a headache thinking about all this. He struggled to think, to say something, but nothing came out.

'I'll take it from here, Master,' he heard a new voice say. He opened his eyes.

'But I was having so much fun!' Bernkastel giggled.

'I can give him a harder riddle,' the Blue Witch said. Her voice betrayed none of the cheerful demeanor Will so desperately craved at this moment. Her smile was gone too.

'Oh, very well - but you'd better make it a hard one. I want him to tear his brains out.'

'It will,' The Blue Witch said, and finally made eye contact with Will. They gazed at each other for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to speak.

'Listen to me carefully, Mr. Wright. I won't repeat it.'

'I'm listening,' Will found himself saying.

'Right now, Genji has been stabbed at close range in the closed room of the study.'

'Yeah, he was.'

'The door is impenetrable by any means once it is locked. It was locked the entire time, from when Battler's group entered until they fled.'

'Okay.'

'There were seven people in the room: Kinzo, Genji, Battler, Rosa, Nanjo, Krauss and Gohda.'

'Kinzo didn't kill Genji'

'Battler didn't kill Genji.'

'Rosa didn't kill Genji.'

'Nanjo didn't kill Genji'

'Krauss didn't kill Genji.'

'Gohda didn't kill Genji.'

'Of course, Genji didn't kill himself. Nor did he die of an accident of any sort.'

'Apart from these seven people, no other humans existed in the room.'

'So you see, Mr Wright. No human could have killed Genji.'

'It's a souped-up version of Nanjo's murder in the third game, Wright!' Bernkastel cackled. 'Genji is dead, and no human on the island could have killed him!'

'Not...true,' Will murmured. 'Some of the earlier victims could have been playing dead. And Hideyoshi and Rudolf were still running around.'

'But no one could have passed through that door!'

'Then - ' Will swallowed.

'You can't, can you? You can't come up with anything!'

The Blue Witch turned away from him, and perhaps that was the worst of all. He could only lie bleeding on the floor, with the red stake sticking out of his heart, watching her sink further and further away.

Battler finally stopped running. He staggered against the wall for support, heaving his lungs out. As his brain finally returned to reality, he realised he had no clue where he was. Or where the others had scurried off to. Fear had driven each and every one of them into separate corners of the mansion.

Just according to the fucking plan.

Both ends of the hallway was shrouded in darkness. Battler tried to stop his panting to listen. He could hear the rain pattering against the window somewhere. He thought he could hear something moving several floors above him, although he couldn't be sure. What he dreaded most was hearing a footstep. The sound of feet on carpet in the darkness beyond would signal the arrival of the culprit, and Battler, alone and pumped with alcohol, a stick figure, wouldn't stand a chance.

Battler kept close to the wall, breathing hard, taking slow, deliberate steps. If the culprit was coming, Battler would make sure he would hear him. He needed to get out of his exposed hallway. He needed to survive. Carefully, with one last step, he melted into the darkness.

By the time Rosa's senses reasserted themselves, she found herself back downstairs, where Kumasawa had disappeared. The portrait of the Blue Witch was the same as they had left it, her smile undisturbed. Rosa shivered.

She realised she was grasping someone's hand. She looked down, and saw Krauss crumpled into a ball, his eyes staring at the portrait. Rosa hadn't even remembered grabbing hold of her brother as they all had run out.

In her other hand, she still held the rifle.

'Krauss,' she said softly tugging his arm. 'Krauss.'

'She - she did it.'

'Krauss,' she said.

'He looked up at her, with the eyes of a baby. 'She did it.'

'No she didn't. Get up. We have to move.'

The terror of a few minutes ago was already returning to her, and she tried her best to shut it out. They needed to move. She still had the rifle. they still had a chance.

She raised it, checked it was loaded, and test-fired a shot. She pulled the trigger and it the bullet slammed into the face of the Blue Witch, smashing it beyond proportion. Krauss jumped at the gunshot, and that, at least, brought him to a standing position.

Rosa realised she had just broadcasted her position to everyone in the mansion, and cursed herself. But what was done was done. She needed to take Krauss, and hide, somewhere where they could wait the storm out.

But where?

The parlor wasn't safe. The study wasn't safe. Where else could she hide?

Even as she pondered, she heard a footstep.

She pivoted on one foot, swung her rifle round, and jumped it to her face. It was Battler.

'A-aunt Rosa!' Battler yelped, backing away from the barrel that was aimed at his head. 'Aunt Rosa, it's me!'

'Get away,' Rosa whispered, her finger freezing on the trigger.

'W-what?'

'Get away,' Rosa snarled.

'A-aunt Rosa!' Battler smiled nervously. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

'Someone in that office killed Genji,' Rosa spoke fast. 'The door was locked. One of us killed him, and all I know is that it wasn't me. It could be you.'

'But...I - '

'You said it yourself,' Rosa snapped. 'The culprit is one of us. So go away before I blow your head off.'

'Aunt Rosa...I just...' Battler's features twisted in frustration. 'This is just what he wants! He's separating us!'

'Do I look like I care? Last warning.'

The barrel had never strayed from his forehead one inch. Battler dropped his hands. 'I...I just...want us to live,' he stared pleadingly at her. 'Is there nothing I can do?'

'You can solve the epitaph.'

'What?'

Rosa loathed to let go of her brother's hand, but she needed one hand free. She withdrew her grip from Krauss, reached into her pocket, and brought out the piece of paper she had written all her theories on. She rolled it up into a ball and tossed it to him.

'I think the riddle's a clue. I couldn't solve it, but maybe you can. Maybe you can find out who the culprit is. Now go.'

'Aunt Rosa - '

'I swear I'll shoot! Now go!'

Battler clutched the piece of paper tightly to his chest. 'Stay safe, Aunt Rosa.'

'You too.'

After one last glance at the two of them, Battler turned around and disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two of them alone.

Rosa didn't dare loosen her grip until a full minute had passed. it was only then when she finally allowed herself to sag, hanging the gun down by her side. Krauss was still standing beside her, quiet.

'We'll get through this, Krauss,' she said. 'We'll get through this.'

Krauss gave no sign that he had heard. Rosa was struck by an inspiration.

'I know where we can hide,' she said.

Krauss murmured something indiscernible.

'Come on, Krauss,' she tugged gently on his arm, and he followed.

The boiler room was almost exactly as she had remembered it. She found the switch and flicked it on. The light spluttered briefly, illuminating the massive boiler for a brief moment, before dying out.

'This place was always scary,' she said to Krauss.

'Mmm.'

'Remember when we were young? There was one day when we were playing hide and seek,' she giggled a little, and wondered if she was going mad. 'You said you were too old to play, but you played anyway. You were the seeker. Eva hid behind the curtains in the parlor upstairs. And Rudolf sneaked into Father's study - remember how angry Father got?'

The words sailed over him. Rosa gripped him tighter and led him over to a small door in the corner. 'The key should still be here...there is is,' she fished a rusty key off the shelf. 'Remember this room, Krauss? I hid in here, in that day.'

She went to the battered door and twisted the key in the keyhole. 'Not many people know about this. I was so proud to have found this place.'

After jiggling the key several times, she finally got the ancient door to open. Inside was a bare space - no bigger than a bathroom, and completely empty.

'I think we'll be safe here,' Rosa said, her face hardening. She gave the room one brief sweep with her rifle, even though there was nothing to search for. 'No one's going to be hiding in here.'

She held up her rusty key, waving it in front of Krauss's face. 'This room is so old, this is the only key to the place. And it's coming in with us.'

She studied the room one more time, and spotted a fatal flaw - the small rectangular window at the top, so small it could barely fit a cat. But it was still an opening, an entrance.

'I suppose it'll have to do,' Rosa said, covering the opening with her rifle. 'If anyone tries to shoot us or something, I'll shoot them first. Could you shut the door, Krauss?'

After a moment, Krauss went over to the door and started to creak it closed. The dim ribbon of light slowly diminished until the door banged shut, trapping them in near complete darkness. Rosa put the key in the slot, and after many difficult jerks she finally managed to click it closed.

'It's kinda scary here,' Rosa said after a while. 'But we'll be safe. No one can touch us here.'

She sat down, pointing the rifle at the window. No matter what, she would keep the rifle on the window. She would see that Krauss and her would live to see another day.

'Remember when I was hiding down here for hide and seek?' she said. 'And I closed the door behind me, but it got stuck or something, I can't remember exactly what happened, my memory's so foggy on that day. So I was trapped in this small dark room, and I was scared. But then I remembered you found me and let me out.'

Krauss didn't reply. He stared into the inky blackness, thinking about the Blue Witch.