[SS] Cold Wool

All of her previous energy faded at the mere sight of the pen and the man brandishing a shotgun in open view of the public. Immediately the reason for her being in this village came back to haunt her, and so the prospect of adventure had to be put on hold for business. The sun even seemed to dim the closer she came to the pair of men, perfectly mirroring her declining outlook on the day.

"Erm...excuse me? I'm here as a representative for the Lighthearts. I'd like to register for the sheep competition in their name, please."

Erin liked sheep, she really did. However, what was the point of showing them off like a beauty pageant? Sure, some were cute, but ultimately sheep were raised for the products they produce, not their beauty. The idea of transporting all of the Lightheart sheep just to put them on display would only place undue stress on them with no dividends for anyone, right?

Of course, she was lost in her own head again at this point, and appeared to be staring off into space as she awaited a reply...or had they already given one and she didn't notice?

"Erm...excuse me? I'm here as a representative for the Lighthearts. I'd like to register for the sheep competition in their name, please."

"Eh?  Ye wan inner? Taes fouier quid la.  Wersa form?"  The man with the shotgun seemed to just utter...complete nonsense.  Was it because she wasn't paying attention?  He would put his cards down and rummage through a bin, handing her a piece of paper which seemed to be an entrance form.

"You need fourty quid for the entrance fee."  Once Erin's focus returned, the other man spoke.  Did he notice she was spacing out?  "Lighthearts eh?  Haven't heard the name." "Eh, bunha craherds."  No, it wasn't her imagination, he was literally inaudible.  The audible one seemed to give his brother a slight evil eye, but quickly faded.

"Just fill the form out and pay, then bring them when the festival starts, to the pen over there."  He would point his thumb in the direction of the pens, which seemed like they would explode if the wind didn't agree in the slightest.

Her mind was yanked back into reality through the mighty grip of the man's unusual grasp of the English language. There were times when a brilliant oddity possessed the inescapable pull of a black hole. Try as she might to have her mind venture off to greener pastures, an automatic translation feature was enabled and could not be switched off.

"Uh...thank you. I'll go ahead and do that."

She was even still trying to come up with a cipher for the man's speech, just in case the other one's translations weren't accurate, or even actively covering for something more sinister. With a form in one hand and a silver pen in the other, she filled out the registration form while dreading hearing another word from the unintelligible villager. Her hands even began to shake nervously as she finished filling the final line.

"H-here you go, gentlemen. What is the fee? I should be able to cover it..."

Her eyes darted suspiciously between the two, as if daring the gibberish-spewing one to answer first.

The two men would resume their game of cards as she filled the form out.  "Toair."  The man with the shotgun would put his cards down on the table.  "Flush."  And it was then that the other man would start to handle his gun a bit, seemingly irritated.  "Aucouon, busht..."  With that, he would scoot the cards to the center of the table, crossing his arms.  "Alright, aces wild."

"H-here you go, gentlemen. What is the fee? I should be able to cover it..."

The two men would glance up to Erin, halfway through dealing the next game, then to each other.  "Wauabou fouier quid deeya noggit?"  The man who had been rambling gave her the evil eye with that.  While he was distracted, the other man would seemingly do something with the cards as some very amateurish sleight of hand.  "Its fourty quid, just clip it to the board."  He then clarified and finished dealing the cards.  "Lus!"  The man would put his cards down.  "Royal flu-" and with that the other man would just knock the table over.  "Fudat..."  With that, the other man would sigh.

"Sorry about that, he's kind of irritable.  Carwyn Reese, by the way, and this is Caerwyn."  It wasn't just their names, they also looked fairly identical, save that... "Ian inrodumself Carwyn."  Well, that.

The money was paid without another word given to what it was for. However, it would be rude to simply wander off without a word after the men introduced themselves, right? Her lips trembled awkwardly until they formed the best false smile of reassurance she could produce.

"Pleased to meet you, Sirs Carwyn and Caerwyn. Erin Lightheart is the name. I hope the competition will go nicely, and may the best sheep win."

With a bow and the fee paid, she turned around with the smile collapsing into that of a stoic frown. It was time to finally bid farewell and flee from this so-called sheep stage. Her aunt and uncle would surely handle the matters here in her place now that she fulfilled her end of the bargain.

The formerly shining sky had given way to a miserable gray cover typical of the Isles. She smirked, knowing the sky had unintentionally mirrored her heart, and silently thanked it for its sympathy.

The two men would give Erin a raised eyebrow at the usage of 'sirs', clearly not used to that sort of phrasing.  "Sure, sure." With that, Carwyn would set the table back up, essentially playing 52 card pickup to get the cards back.  They were certainly not all that approachable.

As Erin turned her eyes back to the town square, she had noticed that not as many workers were there, most of the temporary buildings seemingly in place, though about as structurally sound as the sheep fence.  There was one person still working though, putting together what seemed to be a stall with some...questionable design choices.  Gold with brown and green, shapes of some type that would make anyone wonder if it was put together by a toddler, but...instead, it was a young girl seemingly finishing up, standing back up after working on the ground for some time, checking her watching and walking away from it, into Erin's general direction.

"Oh?"  The girl would notice her.  "A visitor?  Awesome, welcome!"  Though her monstrosity was in the distance, the girl herself was rather approachable it seemed.  She would take Erin's hand and shake it without letting her have the chance to accept or deny the proposal.  "Been in town long?"

Erin was certain that once she had left the company of those two...gentlemen, she was in the clear. Passing by the other seemingly empty attractions, she was certain she could avoid further social interaction until she had the time to unwind first.

Until that happened.

"Oh? A Visitor?   Awesome, welcome! Been in town long?"

Before she knew it, the person had already grasped her hands without any sense of personal space, throwing the detective off guard. The only thing that could still be discerned was her obvious lack of comfort at a stranger being so close and touching her, to boot. What was it with this creepy town and its overly friendly people?

"Uh, since this morning, really. Just here for business, not staying for long..."

She began to nervously tremble where she stood. After the reception she's already been shown from the townsfolk, this was all she needed. Nothing was worse than a person who gave her the creeps. Especially such a person who clearly ignored her discomfort and put on an incredibly obvious air of excitement and faux happiness.

She glanced halfheartedly at the woman's stall of questionable quality. Was this sort of behaviour something she should expect from the other attendants of the festival? She would do well to avoid the town square from now on.

The girl, obviously clueless, would look to Erin and the stall. "Oh, you noticed my stall? Wicked awesome, right?" Wicked is...a good choice of words, but not in the way the girl implied. "Took me a few days to put that together. Oh, but my actual work isn't here yet, I want to surprise everyone with it. So you're out of town? Where you from?"

With that, the girl would walk away a little bit, seemingly trying to move Erin in her direction. It was kind of obvious, though that fact was, of course, oblivious to the girl. She seemed to be in her own little world, seemingly excited at the chance to talk to Erin for...some reason. Was it because she was an outsider?

"Cmon, I'll show you around town!" The town Erin probably felt more than accustomed to at this point. In the distance, the sound of wood hitting the ground could be heard. It seemed Caerwyn flipped the table again...

Being dragged along by such an excitable and amicable stranger was not in Erin's plans for the day, or really any day. Her mother, who might as well have been a stranger herself, pretty much dragged her along wherever she went before each abandonment. Perhaps that's why she didn't immediately try to physically resist the girl's pushy attitude.

Moving her brain over into autopilot mode, she made sure to answer the questions the girl posed at her as simply and clearly as possible, allowing for no further queries, at least not about her.

"From Caernarfon. How about you? Lived here your whole life?"

However, instead of what she expected, the girl dragged her around even faster, stating her intent to show her around town. All she could do was silently grumble and pray for the adventure to end soon...

"Ah...hm?" He would roll over in his bed, looking outside.  5:36 PM, certainly early but he had prepared for that the night before.  The night had passed with little to no event, Albrekka spending most of his time reading a book he had brought with him.  In a way, it was a benefit that he had picked his sleeping schedule the way he did, as the man downstairs had long woken up by the time he decided to sleep.  Pulling the covers off of him, he would wash up, changing clothes and checking his purse and belongings.  They were all there.

"Yo Al."  Albrekka, deciding to go out, couldn't help but run into the man running the inn, Celyn.  "Al...?"  He would give the man a fairly displeased look.  "What, you think I think your name is real?  I can't think of any girl names that start with 'Al'."  "Brekk is fine."  "Whatever, Al."  This...conversation obviously wasn't going to go anywhere.

Stepping out, the sun had begun to set.  Willard, who had invited him, was probably in town, but where?  Though his letter was a nice invitation, it wasn't like he knew where they would meet.

"Yo, Brekk."  Or maybe he did.  Willard was sitting on a park bench nearby, relaxing.  He had obviously been waiting.  "O-oh, Will!  You surprised me." He would look flustered; certainly, he had not expected him.  With that, Will would hop off the bench and walk over.

"Hope you're in for a ride here because...well its a pretty mundane ride, to be honest."  He would pat Albrekka on the shoulder, proceeding to walk with him.  "My cameraman and I were doing a lot of work this morning.  Place is odd but there's not much to do."  It seemed bringing the book was a good idea.  "Oh, and if people call you by name, don't worry about it; someone thought it was a good idea to creep us out this morning."  With that, Albrekka would give Will an odd look, certainly out of the loop on what he was even referring to.  "Well, the innkeeper called me Al, I'm sure I get to enjoy that some more, then..."  "A-ah, I'm sure that's..." He would rub the back of his neck, not sure what to say.

"Well, since you're out and about, there's at least something going on right now we can look into.  Some art gallery, some kid set it up and asked the locals to submit artwork of their own."  That certainly sounded like a relaxing night.  "Mm, that's fine.  Might not stay too long, lunch and all."  Will would nod.  "Well, this way, then."

The trip through the town was uneventful, most of the townspeople had already gone home and stayed there, with only a few here and there that were fairly familiar as they were in Roderick's pub the night before, walking in that direction.  "Evening, Al!"  And so it began, his brow furrowing at having to hear that shorthand.

Eventually, Willard would point ahead at a building in view.  It was a one story building, rather wide, seemingly for indoor events.  It was strangely well-kept for a town that seemingly had nothing going on in it.  Though, as they got closer, the reason became clearer: it seemed to house local bingo games, a few signs were still hanging up advertising this fact.  Will would open the door for the both of them, motioning Albrekka to go in first.  "Thank you."

The inside of the building was...hastily put together, to be sure and...dreadful.  Any other magician would think that this was some sort of Temple but no, no magic could be felt and no concepts could be seen.  Other than that, a few people were around, sitting at several of the tables, but not that many; whatever draw Will implied did not pay off.  "Oh uh...well, oh, hey, Erin!"  Will would hail one of the patrons.  "Albrekka, let me introduce you to her, met her earlier."  He would walk over to her, Albrekka tagging along.  If anything, this place was a decent enough meeting place for tourists, those being seemingly trapped in the place.

The young detective turned around slowly, revealing her obvious displeasure of being there for Albrekka and his companions to see. What had been a simple tour around the village ended up being a day-long misadventure which carried her here. To describe her state as merely being fatigued or drained was not sufficient; her eyes themselves appeared to be crying out for help.

"Oh...hello there Albrekka. Long time no see. At least it feels that way to me. And...is that you Willard? Why, it feels like it's been ages since we parted."

She was being obviously melodramatic, but the desperation to find an excuse to leave this art display show was all too obvious.

"There's a case that needs solving, somewhere, anywhere in the village, isn't there? Someone with my skills is needed, surely? I'm unfortunately stuck here until the end of the event. I've been here since the early afternoon, playing Bingo with the...lovely locals while they prepared the room for the main event. I lost every round and was banished here, but forbidden to leave until the whole show was finished."

She moved over to allow Albrekka and Willard a place to sit. The show was about to begin, and they weren't going to be going anywhere for some time.

Albrekka was rather surprised to see her, though she seemed worse for wear.

"Oh...hello there Albrekka. Long time no see. At least it feels that way to me. And...is that you Willard? Why, it feels like it's been ages since we parted."

Willard would look to Albrekka as he would with Carl, but Albrekka wouldn't look back to him, looking to Erin the whole time. Surprised that he didn't reciprocate, Willard would look back to Erin with a light smile, trying to ease the tension.

"There's a case that needs solving, somewhere, anywhere in the village, isn't there? Someone with my skills is needed, surely? I'm unfortunately stuck here until the end of the event. I've been here since the early afternoon, playing Bingo with the...lovely locals while they prepared the room for the main event. I lost every round and was banished here, but forbidden to leave until the whole show was finished."

"Well, the people here knowing our names is...curious, even if someone told them. Who does that..." And why refer to him as Al? He would notice Erin offering a seat; he would take it. Willard would look around with, for a moment, a dreary look, then sitting down himself. "Well, this place is...rather colorful, isn't it?"

"You said the locals submitted their work to this?" He would look around at the pictures themselves. You could tell that a similar technique was used for each, though technique was probably too strong of a word.

"Well, I've been reading this book lately, 'Tales of the Nomads'. Any of you heard of it?" He would smile for a moment, trying to ease the tension in the room despite what was probably a tiring day. If anything, they could have a light chat before whatever hell began.

Erin's eyes couldn't become any more glazed over than they were. The entire day from the outset had been annoyingly dull and devoid of excitement and it had taken its toll on her quite visibly. Therefore when Albrekka brought up what sounded like quite possibly one of the most boring books in the world, her heart managed to sink even further.

"Oh...no, I haven't. It doesn't really sound like something that would capture my interest, honestly. I've been proven wrong before about such things, however. Perhaps you can help me discover if this is to be another case of that."

After having spent the last hour or so memorizing all of the art on display, or at least what was visible from where she was searted, Erin's spirits were at one of their lowest points to date. That's why when the lights began to be adjusted around the displays, she sunk further into her seat with a barely audible groan. It was time for the event to begin, despite the meager crowd it attracted.

"Here we go...you can tell me about it later. Hopefully this doesn't last long."

It was rather clear Erin's eyes had glazed over.  She would look to Erin a little offended.

"Oh...no, I haven't. It doesn't really sound like something that would capture my interest, honestly. I've been proven wrong before about such things, however. Perhaps you can help me discover if this is to be another case of that."

"No.  No...don't worry about it, then."  She couldn't hold it against her.  After all, apparently she had been doing something the entire day against her will.  Though...the reaction was less than pleasant.

"Ah er...well, I haven't heard of it either?  Is it a historical story or something?"  Willard would try to lighten the mood, chuckling and trying to keep Albrekka engaged.  It didn't work.  Albrekka wasn't sure what was going to happen, but whatever the situation that happened to Erin it was already dragging her down.  It certainly dragged Willard along with it, him sighing after the fact.

With that, the lights would turn to the pictures, highlighting them akin to a troll holding a flashlight under their face.

"Here we go...you can tell me about it later. Hopefully this doesn't last long."  Was she actually willing?  Well, it was a dead topic anyway, and she only brought it up to try to break Erin out of her mood.

"Ladiiies and gentlemen!"  With that, some young girl dressed in a rather...colorful outfit, would step out from behind a curtain in an attempt to seeem dramatic, holding a microphone to push her voice through the entire room.  The entire empty, echoy room as it hardly had much in it.  "Welcome to the first annual art exhibit!  Several local artists have submitted their works of art, all for your viewing pleasure!"  There were obviously two things wrong with that statement.  Albrekka would look to Willard and Erin, then to the girl on-stage.  Hopefully this would not be very long.


"And that concludes the exhibit!  Please stick around and enjoy these works of art yourselves!"  She would finally put the mic down, taking a bow, making her exit.  Of course, Albrekka clapped out of being nice but...

She would look to Willard and Erin once again.  If they weren't dead before, they were dead now.  The exhibit lasted an hour, if only because the girl decided to explain every piece of art to those who were there.  Which is strange, as they were all rather similar, but each description was more different than the next.  They might as well be an orthogonal sequence whose span would be every possible explanation for anything ever described...

"Well, that was...certainly something, Willard."  Was she blaming him?  "Well...it certainly was..."  he would rub the back of his head, unsure what to say.  It was clear he had something else in mind.  "Well, there's always dinner.  Would be best to do something outside of this place."  Before the girl would come back, of course.

"Sounds good, I haven't had breakfast yet."  She would stand up, looking down to Erin, then Willard.  "Say...are there any places to eat...other than the pub in town?  You've been here for a while now, yes?"  Willard would sigh to that.  "No...for outsiders that's pretty much it."  "I suppose it'll do."  With that, she would turn to Erin.  "Would you like to come with us?  I can understand if you don't want to, today has certainly been rough on you, I can tell."  She would try to be a little understanding to Erin; after all, she was certainly given a bad hand for most of the day.

"Well, the choice is between going back to bed, or going back to bed after food. Regardless of the quality of meal, i'd rather go to bed full than hungry. Let's...let's just go."

With a yawn and stretch, the detective barely managed to summon the willpower to leave her seat, as uncomfortable as it had become. If she didn't know any better, this 'art' exhibit was a deliberate ploy to induce boredom and sleepiness in an audience. Her aching muscles and joints begged to be left alone, but her rumbling stomach all but shouted them down without so much as a single shot being fired.

"I hope to never have the displeasure of being dragged through town all day like this ever again."

- - -

A puff of smoke vanished quietly into the dark night behind the building. It was a toast of sorts to a job well done. Gwendolen Jones had pulled it off; not only was she able to convince some people from outside of town to visit her exhibit, but she was even able to pass off her own artwork as though they were done by the other townspeople.

A victory cigarette for a job well done was more than deserved, and it wasn't as though there were any others around to remind her of the dangers. She could almost hear the voice of her overbearing parents now in the wind...wait, there actually were voices coming from nearby! But where were they coming from, exactly?

Peering around the corner with curiousity, the source of the conversation became quite clear. The town's bank manager, Heilyn Griffith, had quite the distinctive voice, you see. On the other hand, the person who he was conversing with in the dark was not so recognizable.

Boring business conversation wasn't out of the ordinary for Heilyn, but why was he talking about making big sales at nighttime in the dark? Once the subject of counting billions of pounds came up, she quickly put out her cigarette in an attempt to remain discreet.

When she took a breath of fresh air however, a gloved hand reached out from behind and covered her mouth, silencing her scream. She turned her head slightly, and through the corner of her vision, she could make out a black cloaked figure handling a shiny, metallic object. Her heart sank deep inside as she realized what was about to happen next.

A familiar voice whispered, "Well. At least it won't be the smoke that did you in."

END OF PART 1

Night had fallen, the town growing as dead as it was the previous night.  What, perhaps, could happen at night in a town like this?

"That was certainly a lot better than last time, though..." Albrekka would look back at the pub they had just left.  They had gone back and, similar to Erin's experiences, Roderick was less aggressive about the whole affair, though it was obvious he was holding back.  What or who made him change his mind?

It was during that time that Willard slipped away, his cell phone going off and leaving in a hurry.  It was strange, considering the kind of town they were in.  What would be so interesting?

"Feeling a little bit better, Erin?"  Albrekka's concern seemed almost motherly.  "Well, I'm sure some sleep will help."  She would nod to herself.  "I'll leave you to that.  Well, I'd like to clear my head, so take care."  With that, Albrekka would leave Erin to her devices, walking the night streets for some time.  She was right, the lack of light pollution in the town was far better than in Haslemere, the night sky littered with stars.  Despite how...strange and uncomfortable the town was in the day, at least there was the night to look forward to.


"I'm glad that all of you have come, citizens and guests alike!"  Roderick started the meeting out rather awkwardly, the silence permeating for quite some time before he broke it.  It was daybreak, rather early.  Or, well, rather late, for a certain person in the room.  It was Albrekka's turn to be seemingly tired, her night's sleep interrupted by a knocking on her door.  Willard, hoping she was not asleep yet, wanted to bring her to some town hall meeting, something related to some break he found the following night and that the meeting was going to reveal something.  Perhaps his enthusiasm got the best of him, dragging Albrekka from her desired sleep.

What was so important?

Willard and Carl were there as well, as well as Erin, Willard writing things down on a small notepad, Carl seemingly as tired as Albrekka, if not more bored.  Seemingly, Willard wanted Erin to come as well, something along the lines of catching her interest?  With that thought, Albrekka would yawn, gathering some of the ire in the room.  "S...sorry."  Albrekka would retreat, letting the group handle their business.  Hopefully this would not take long...

Despite having a schedule that directly opposed that of Albrekka's, Erin too was too tired to be appreciative of the forceful invitation to this meeting. Apparently being a participant in the sheep contest, even if only as a representative of the real participants, meant that she was required to attend some Festival Committee meetings every now and then. Adding to the yawns, her only means of protest was sent out for all to hear. This had better be good.

Upon closer inspection however, there was an awful lot of people here, far more than had been in attendance at the 'art' showcase. The atmosphere was grim and melancholy, and she was in the middle of it all. Just what was this meeting supposed to be about for there to be such negativity hanging in the air? It looked like they were about to continue momentarily, and so Erin shot a confused and concerned glance at Albrekka as if to silently ask for some context.

Her silent pleading was cut short however, when a large man appeared up front to address the crowd. As soon as his presence was noted, all eyes were fixated on him with respect. Erin especially paid attention to this reaction, considering this indicated the man was of some importance or authority. He shuffled some papers laid out in front of him and began to speak.

The man's voice boomed throughout the hall.

"Hello, and welcome to this emergency meeting. I am sorry to have dragged our guests out of bed so unexpectedly, but there is a matter of great importance to discuss which cannot be kept hidden away. For those in our audience who do not know me, I am Arwel Lewis, the head of the Festival Committee. I am saddened to say that one of our own, Miss Gwendolen Jones, has gone missing. Our top officer is currently working around the clock to discover her whereabouts. In the meantime, if anybody in attendance this morning has seen her after she left the art display last night, we would appreciate your efforts. I'm sure you're all in shock over this incident, seeing as this has the potential of turning into the village's first crime in a decade. However, we are not saying for sure that a crime has been committed. We hope to find her soon."

The crowd began to murmur once Arwel had stopped speaking, and Erin's head was racing. Something happened to Gwendolen, and it was right after she walked outside in front of their very eyes? While the detective didn't like being dragged around town all day by her, nobody deserved to be a victim of any sort of crime.

With her conscience overpowering her fear, she rose up and made an announcement of her own.

"I may be an outsider, and barely knew Gwendolen, but...I'll find her. And if someone was responsible for this, I will find them too. You can count on that. I will return her to your community."

Curious, the girl went missing?  If this council was willing to tell even guests, then it was certainly serious.  In some way, Albrekka felt rather bad, considering her sleeping schedule meant she could not put the same effort Erin was enthusiastically putting out there for everyone to see.

"So very willing to help this little town, eh?"  Roderick would chime in, crossing his arms.  "Don't worry, it isn't like this town is huge.  If we don't find her today we'll see if she ran off somewhere."  Certainly, she had spoken of going out of the town to see the world.  Would she simply decide to do so that night, however?

"This is certainly worrying.  I'll keep an eye out for her."  Really, this was the most she could say.  If she wanted to devote her time to it...three or four days at least, knowing so little about her, most of the time just figuring out who she was.  "Eh, leave it to them and us reporters, you're here to enjoy yourselves, alright?"  Willard would pat the both of them on the back.  "...you just want the name recognition, you don't have to hide it."  Was it because she was tired?  Willard stepped back a little aghast.  "H-hey now, I do care about what happened to her, you know!"  "...I know, its just a joke."

"...dunweh godutta shiyatabalout?"  One of the twins slammed the table after saying that, seemingly trying to call the meeting to order.  "Ah uh..."  Roderick would look to the other twin, who would point to the document on the table, seemingly signaling him to what he was talking about.  "Ah yes, other pressing matters...well, this year we are also placing a higher restriction on casseroles, in the interest of increasing variety for this year's banquet".  Some noises within the council and some of those in the seating area made it seem like that was no very well received.  "You put that rule in there, didn't you?"  Someone in the back spoke out.  "N-no, we all decide-"  "We didn't decide on that.  If anything, that restriction should be removed."  The other twin who had just helped him seemed to defend the outspoken person in the audience.

This oddball bickering would go on for a time, which was strange, considering the serious implication given just a few minutes before.

Before anyone realized what had happened, a loud bang shocked the audience into silence. A tall woman in a police uniform had arrived up front and was quick to get their attention. This could only be Meredith Rhydderch, the Chief Inspector and Head of Security for the Festival.

"Everyone, please. There's a time and place for less important matters than these. Now, it's likely the missing girl just went off wandering somewhere and hasn't checked in with friends and family yet. She's still an adult after all, so let's not assign any negativity to her just yet."

Her icy gaze reached over the crowd, before staring intently at the two outsiders who volunteered to help.

"We appreciate the offer, really...but beyond happening to notice her and letting us know, there's really no need to do anything more. We're a crime-free community, so there's no need to be concerned."

To Erin, the last sentence stood out from all the others. No...crime? Usually supposedly crime-free communities were only so due to the fact that the criminals were in charge.

"I see."  She would give a rather generic response to the policewoman's words, if only because she had her own doubts of that claim.  Was she simply too jaded to think that such a place is possible?  The town was certainly strange, to be sure.

"Well, I will take my leave then.  I hope to hear good news soon."  Albrekka would stand, nodding to Willard and Erin, stepping out of the room; clearly the more important parts of the meeting were over and, truthfully, she was having a hard time focusing anyway.  "...must be tired."  Willard would comment under his breath.

If allowed, the meeting would continue, but if only covering more of the mundane happenings in town.  A member of the community was going to have a baby, a squabble over something rather harmless was dealt with, and the community agreed to lower the restriction on casseroles despite Roderick's pleading.  Willard would stick around, if only to seemingly write down on a notepad, perhaps giving his impressions on the daily life of those in the community, leaving Erin to stay or leave at her leisure.


She would let out a sigh, closing the door to her room, staring at her bed longingly. Last night was long but also relatively simple; nothing had happened in her view, but it seemed something major had occurred during the night. In this state, she was of no use to any sort of investigation if she wanted to participate. "Well...hopefully when I wake up I'll hear something..." With that, she would wash up and get ready for bed.

Erin sat at the meeting for some time after Albrekka left, jotting notes down while being deep in thought. A person everyone knew suddenly disappearing from a small community with no warning? If she didn't turn up in the morning, it meant that things were indeed more nefarious than the police officer believed.

Still, the town's collective apathy toward the matter was more than a little concerning. The detective finally rose and looked over the remaining crowd before heading out. It was business as usual for them; the idea that one of their own had unexpectedly wandered off or even disappeared didn't even phase them in the slightest.

Once outside, she made sure to watch her back as she made her way toward the last place Gwendolen had been seen. She was going to get to the bottom of this, regardless of the assurances from the police officer. Little did she know, she was being followed...

"I'll catch you later." Willard would look to Erin and then back to his notepad, continuing the write things down. For him, this was his job and sadly he could not step out as Erin was able to, but that was her advantage.

The sun had finally burst through the buildings; another clear day. The streets, of course, were not as full of life, as many of the citizens were in the meeting; however, there was one person on the streets, out of Erin's view.


"Hmm, yes, but where to next..?" The women would grin, looking at Erin from a distance with her binoculars. She was tired during the meeting, would she go back to...oh? "On the move, I see..." She noticed that Erin was walking in a direction away from the inn. Towards...well, she would need to tail Erin for a while to verify.


The trip was rather mundane, as most trips through the town were. Some people greeted Erin by name, as they did the previous day. They were certainly not letting up on that fact. But then the bingo game corner was in view and...seemingly in use, some elderly people walking in and out of the building, though it was not packed; one could imagine it was moreso during the night hours. In front, though, was a woman in business attire and sharp glasses with a purse and a notepad, jotting down something while looking in Erin's direction. "Ah, so you made it, welcome." The woman would greet Erin as she approached; was she expecting her? "I imagine you're not here to play bingo. You...don't seem to be the type." With that, she would put away her notepad into her purse. "Something to do w-" "BINGO! BINGO I GOT IT Ha-HA!" She would quickly look at the building with an annoyed look, one of the players inside yelling that he won. "Something to do with that meeting, I imagine. The leaders of the community here are...well, I usually have to be the one who finds these things out." She would laugh a bit at that. "Name's Llewella Bowen. You heard of me from Willard and Carl." The reporter that Willard and Carl said knew just about all of the movement inside the city, and her wording seemed to imply that fact.

The young detective kept her distance, checking for escape routes in case of a sudden need to flee. Still, she maintained an air of confidence when confronting this new person who had so unexpectedly called her out.

"Greetings, Miss Llewella. What can I help you with today?"

This was certainly no coincidence, yet was it the kind of coincidence that would see to her doom? Or was it the sort of coincidence that would help enlighten her instead?

"No real interest in bingo. Fresh off that committee meeting, I figured i'd get some fresh air and look around. All the people in the hall were so stuffy, it was almost stifling. I didn't see you there, but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. I imagine you wouldn't have wanted to attend such a boring gathering to begin with, even as a local."

Erin was wont to firing off casual questions at people in order to obtain information about them and their motivations, and this mysterious one was not going to be spared.

"Greetings, Miss Llewella. What can I help you with today? No real interest in bingo. Fresh off that committee meeting, I figured i'd get some fresh air and look around. All the people in the hall were so stuffy, it was almost stifling. I didn't see you there, but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. I imagine you wouldn't have wanted to attend such a boring gathering to begin with, even as a local."

"Oh-hoh, that's true." She would laugh a bit at the idea of going to the meeting. "To fight over something like casseroles, I think we have better things to do, wouldn't you agree? Which brings me to your 'interest in bingo' as it were. Its strange, despite what happened the building is in use again. Already troublesome to find any leads..." She would pace around a bit. "Well, if you want fresh air, and that's all, then I doubt this place is the best place to get it, especially if you want peace and quiet. I just wanted to introduce myself, considering the things you've heard already, I imagine?" She would smirk, looking at Erin intensely. "Now, I must get to work; after all, whatever happened should have leads here and the longer I wait, the longer the rabble inside might mess things up." With that, she would head inside. The windows of the building would make it clear she would simply move to the back of the building where Gwendolen made her appearance the night before. Strangely, the pictures and any signs of the previous night had already been cleaned up. Did Gwendolen have the time to do so?

Erin listened to Llwella with clear bemusement. The reporter possessed a level of subtlety suited for a brick through the window. It was a struggle not to break down in laughter in response to this display. Still, the detective's suspicions were heightened, and it was no coincidence that this reporter showed up at the same time as she did.

That was why it was fortunate indeed that she went inside first, maintaining the distance between them. But there was also the possibility that she went inside to get rid of any remaining evidence. Or was she just being paranoid, as usual?

With a defeated sigh, she casually strolled inside, taking note of the view from the window as she stepped into the strangely cleaned place. She wanted to make sure the reporter didn't stray too far from her sight, lest her suspicions were true.

"I suppose it was inevitable that our paths would take us here. After all, with this matter hanging about, getting a breath of fresh air will be impossible."