[For Steerpike] Till the least of the last is dust...

[77th_emo_earl]

It's been some days since the poster went up in the main room, asking for any information on the whereabouts of Titus Groan, and some might think the trail is going cold. But the only thing going cold is the weather.

At some distance from the house, well into the woods, well past the Stone Table, Steerpike might find something disturbing: a lump with longish brown hair, protruding from the deep snow. There might be a foot sticking from the drift several feet away.

It's as disturbing as it sounds, and it's likely going to take a while to find the rest...

Title taken from the Schoolmasters' verse, aka the lyrics for the main title theme for the BBC miniseries. Primarily for Steerpike, but given the condition that the body is going to be in, it's likely to turn into a limited mingler...

Comments

[in-summer-leaf.livejournal.com]

Hisoka pours and hands the first cup to Neville. "There was Gunji, and before him, something else. Interestingly, it was Gunji who volunteered that. I don't know if you've ever met him. He's like a grown-up feral child, if you've ever heard of the phenomenon. Like a wild animal, sometimes playful, sometimes fierce, sometimes just baffled; however, he has some language. His talk is rather strange, but he can make himself understood, and he's observant. He says she smashed the mirror in her room and ran, that she was already terrified and fleeing from some person or entity when he encountered her in the hallway. He admits he killed her, so he is not trying to get off the hook."

Hisoka sips his own hot coffee. "You did read the letter she left on her desk? I don't think she was hallucinating. I think that what she saw was real in some sense. So, was it a demon, or what? Dr. Muraki thinks so, and he's somewhat knowledgeable on the subject, and he knew Aramat. And as for the connection with Titus, if there is one...of course they had to have known each other at least a little -- from the play production, if nothing else. Aramat liked pretty boys, and he was attractive. I can't imagine she'd have passed him up." He takes another gulp of coffee. "But, Neville, there's more..."

[killedthesnake.livejournal.com]

Neville gratefully accepts the coffee, curling his fingers around the cup and simply soaking up the warmth for several long moments. "I have met Gunji. When we fought the wolves. He seemed to be under the elven lord's command," he reflects, sad to know the creature had lost control. Sad that Aramat is dead. Sad over the whole sordid mess.

He wonders if Aramat was actually in a sexual relationship with Titus or merely flirtation, but he doesn't ask -- at least not yet. "More?"

[in-summer-leaf.livejournal.com]

Hisoka first completes his thoughts regarding Aramat's slayer. "Gunji respected Feanor, who gave him a new set of rules to play by." Literally. A new game. "But he forgot them, or forgot to remember them, since the elf king wasn't around. It's a problem." Hisoka sips his own coffee.

Then he holds his coffee in both hands (as Neville is doing), suddenly feeling his fingers to be chillier than they were a moment ago. "When we were interviewing people who knew Titus, a young woman named Misa Amane told me that she was sure that a man named Rudy Cooper murdered Titus. The reason she was sure was because he murdered her, fourteen months ago. He dumped her in the woods, and about four months later she was resurrected. She tried to warn people, but I don't think anybody believed her story."

[killedthesnake.livejournal.com]

"No one believed her?!" Neville is shocked, incredulous. "This agency couldn't have formed fast enough," he sighs. "I knew self-policing was too idealistic. Too good to be true, rather." He drinks from his coffee. "It's a wonder more crimes aren't commited and going unpunished, unsolved."

[in-summer-leaf.livejournal.com]

[Moved left to avoid post crush.^^>