It actually feels kind of weird to go back to daily updates. Hm.

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Chapter Seven: Hoenheim's Journal

Once they arrived at the mansion, they split up: Maes went to Hoenheim's study to search for anything they might have missed the first time around, Roy went to the library for the same, Jean, Riza and Kain were looking at the nursery and the Elric brothers' rooms, and finally, Vato and Heymans were snooping around the rocks the Elric brothers had fallen from- not a task Maes envied them. Murder scenes were creepy at the best of times, but when kids were involved... it made everything that much worse.

Maes explored the room carefully; running his fingers along the joints in the wood-panelled walls in search of some secret safe, lifting the expensive rug, checking behind pictures and the large mirror that hung behind the desk- all to no avail. He examined the desk carefully for hidden drawers, and then stomped on each floorboard, listening for a hollow thump-

-There!

It was right in the corner, the hinges carefully disguised to blend into the wall. Maes tried to pry it loose, but further inspection revealed a keyhole hidden in the crack between two floorboards- a problem. They could always bring out the tools and break into it, but he didn't want to risk damaging what was inside or activating a trap of some kind, and the keyhole was awkwardly placed, making picking the lock difficult- it seemed if he wanted to get in, he'd need a key. He frowned.

"If I were the professor, where would I keep my keys?" he wondered aloud. "Somewhere close, but hidden... if he carried them with him, then there's no hope, it'll have to be broken into- but if he hid it somewhere in here..."

He searched the study again, this time searching for nooks and crannies where a set of keys could easily be hidden. There were plenty of hiding places in the carved wood on the walls, but none of them yielded anything but dust, so he moved on to the next most likely hiding place- the desk. He opened each drawer, checked every compartment- but found nothing. Frustrated, he fell back into the professor's chair to think.

Wait a second. The chair!

He stood and quickly patted down the chair- and gave a crow of triumph as he felt a distinctively key-like lump in one of the cushions. He fished in his coat for a moment, and quickly found a small pocketknife; from there it was the work of a moment to slit the fabric open, sending feathers everywhere-

-and there, wrapped in the folds of the ruined pillowcase, was a ring of keys. Maes smirked.

"Gotcha."

The hiding place was well-made: despite years of disuse, it opened easily, with barely a creak, to reveal a shallow compartment, only just large enough to fit its contents- a jewellery box, a few books and a small pile of currency from various different countries. Maes grinned.

One of those books looked awfully similar to the journal...

But first things first. Ignoring the currency, he carefully lifted out the jewellery box, setting it on the floor before him and lifting the lid. With a soft whirring noise, it began to play, a soft melody, a little out of tune from neglect but still recognisable: a lullaby.

It must have sentimental value, he thought as the clockwork ran down. No use to us.

He shut the lid and set it to one side, and with a quiver of anticipation, moved onto the journal, hoping against hope that they had finally found a real clue. He flipped it open and skimmed over a page quickly, and grinned.

Still a little cryptic, but this is much better, he thought. Maybe now we'll finally make some progress.

Maes had gathered everyone in the Elric's parlour.

"Keys," he announced, grinning. "One of them opens a secret compartment in the professor's study, and I'll bet there's a few other locked doors that we'll be able to open now. But that's not the best part," he paused dramatically.

"Just get on with it, Maes." said Roy irritably.

"I found Hoenheim's real journal." he said, triumphantly.

"You did?" asked Fuery, instantly interested. "Anything about the Elric brothers?"

"I haven't had a chance to take a proper look, but I think this one'll be a lot less coded than the first... what did you guys find?"

Heymans grimaced. "It doesn't look good," he said. "Anybody messing about on those rocks would be in serious trouble. They're slippery, steep, and there's nothing but more rocks and the river below them. Maybe if you tried climbing down, slowly, with a lot of equipment, you'd be okay... maybe. Otherwise? Not a chance."

"Anything useful up there at all? A dropped gun or something the police missed? I know it's been seven years, but there could still be something..."

"If there was, we didn't find it," said Vato. "Besides, it wouldn't be any use after so long."

"I suppose not," sighed Roy. "Riza, Kain, Jean, did you guys find anything?"

"Well... there was something weird about the nursery. Half the toys were still in their boxes... it's... it's like somebody had prepared a room for kids, but the kids never actually used it." said Kain. "But other than that, it was pretty normal."

"Although, considering how much these people were hiding, it's possible this is just another cover," said Jean. "But what for, I don't know." he shrugged.

"I don't know what it's hiding," said Riza, thoughtfully, "But I think I know who it was supposed to be hiding from. What about the servants?"

Maes nodded absently. "Possibly..." he flipped through the journal. "This is weird."

"What?" asked Roy.

"Still no mention of the Elric brothers," said Maes, a frown on his face. "I was right, it is a lot less coded- but he's still keeping secrets. He refers to the people who were threatening him as 'The Sins'- I'll ask around and see if I can find anything on that- but... he still won't talk about his kids. There's not a single written record- and yet there's that portrait, hung up for all to see. What do you think of that?"

Riza frowned. "Perhaps he was afraid the Sins would find his journal?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, if they did kill the Elrics, then they're hardly above breaking and entering. There are no written records because he didn't want anybody knowing anything about them. The portrait is only a picture, it tells us nothing about them but what they looked like, and chances are the Sins already knew that. He was scared something would happen to them, and I suppose he thought that if nobody knew anything about them, nobody could use it against them."

Maes nodded, slowly. "Ye-es." he agreed. "That makes sense... nice, Riza." he grinned. "And we know what we're researching next, too- the Sins."

Roy smiled. "It seems like we're finally getting somewhere with this case," he said. "Let's go. We might as well call it a day."

Shortly afterwards, they left the mansion and began the walk back to Rizembul, focusing on the mystery they were only just beginning to unravel.