Since she was the nearest, Cynthia was the first to enter the bedroom. Naturally, upon seeing the bodies her eyes went wide and she looked confused at Joshua who had swapped his outfit for his detective costume.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Hmm, at first glance, I would say these people… are dead,” Joshua replied in a super-serious tone.

“That’s at clear as day. But apart from that?” Cynthia replied, clearly not amused.

Joshua smiled and replied: “Let’s wait for the others. I wouldn’t want to waste such a good opportunity.”

A few moments later and everyone had climbed the stairs and was waiting for Joshua’s explanation.

Joshua was twiddling a pipe in his fingers. He finished examining the scene and turned toward the party.

“My friends,” he began, “I have solved this mystery!”

Looks of anticipation appeared on everyone’s eyes so he continued.

“Based on the photographs we’ve seen in this house, we can safely assume the victims are the owners of the place. They both suffered a stab wound in the neck which led to near-instant death. However, very little blood is present at this scene, which means we can safely conclude they were murdered elsewhere. Based on Luna’s analyses of the bodies, they’ve been killed about three days ago. Considering the situation it’s impossible for them to have killed one another. As for the motive behind the crime, it is undeniably the giant pile of money that has been left beside the corpses. Now, I suppose you’re all wondering why the killer didn’t take the money with them? I cannot say for sure, but I assume they needed to lay low for a while and make sure they weren’t found with the money around them. I do not know much about the victims, but the photographs around the house only showed both of them, so they most likely don’t have children or near family. In other words, the killer left the money here, sure no one would come for a visit.”

“Where’s this money coming from, though?” Eric asked.

“Well, I’m not sure about its origin, but it’s undoubtedly illegal. I think the most likely scenario is that the killer and the victims were accomplices in a crime, maybe a robbery, and the killer decided to get rid of them to keep the whole pot for themselves.”

Everyone slowly nodded. The explanation made sense. Well… except for one detail that Boris remarked:

“Wouldn’t hide the money next to a few corpses give it a terrible smell? ”

That’s when they noticed… There was no odor coming from the corpses.

“Weird... “ Joshua said, “Logically speaking the bodies should have started to decompose.”

He thought about a reason for it, but couldn’t find one for now, neither did anyone else.

“So,... are we just gonna take the money for ourselves?” Lydia asked vaguely.

“Naturally, this whole affair is an unexpected boon for us. We can even use this place as a hideout since the owners are dead.” Joshua replied.

“That’s too risky,” Catherine said, “You’re probably right about the money being of criminal origin, but what if the local law enforcement finds the culprits? They’ll come right here!”

“Right, I didn’t think of that. Good point. Well, we can take the money and leave once we’re done. We got time, though. I mean what are the odds of them coming right now?”

Of course, as soon as Joshua said this, Luna’s radar detected something moving toward them. Joshua rushed through the window and saw one of those vehicles flying toward the house.

‘Oh dear, I should have known better than to trigger some flag…’ he thought.

Catherine didn’t waste time and asked:

“Luna, how long until they’ll be here?”

[At their current speed, about two minutes.]

“It doesn’t look like law enforcement, though,” Joshua said, “It might be the killer coming to pick up the money.”

Hearing this, Boris stepped forward, picked up the corpses and put them back in the closet before closing the door.

“We’ll know soon enough, let’s hide in the basement. If it’s the killer, he’ll head straight upstairs,” he communicated.

“Good idea, let’s do that,” Catherine replied.

Apart from Joshua, The group quickly closed all the doors they had opened while exploring the place and went to hide in the basement. Joshua locked the front door with the entrance key before hiding it under the rug again. He then dismissed his body.

###

The man parked his vehicle near the house but out of sight, using nearby trees to camouflage it. He had a relatively small stature, about 165 cm. He was dressed very formally, wearing a tuxedo and a top hat and even had a walking cane. On one hand, he was carrying a suitcase. He took a look around and made sure no one was nearby. Without delay, he marched toward the front door and picked up the key from underneath the rug. He locked the door behind him and headed straight upstairs. Entering the bedroom, opened the closet and dodged the falling bodies.

“I’ve dug you a grave in the woods nearby, I’ll bury you tonight,” he said out loud, smiling.

He turned his attention toward the bag of money, opened it and began to transfer the notes inside the suitcase he had brought. This process lasted for a few minutes. Once he was done, he locked the suitcase and hid the bodies again. However, upon heading for the exit, he saw that the door was closed and remembered leaving the door of the room open. He supposed it must have been a gust of air that closed it and reached for the handle. Unfortunately, the door didn’t move.

The man frowned. This door had no lock, did it somehow get jammed? He tried to force it open but to no avail. He was starting to feel uneasy and had the impression the room was getting extremely cold. Even more bizarre, he felt a gust of wind blowing inside the place, yet the window was locked. He headed for the window but it wasn’t opening either as the opening mechanism was apparently frozen. He was starting to feel really nervous.

“Thou has sinned!” A deep voice sounded suddenly inside the room.

“Who’s there?” the man shouted, genuinely spooked. He dropped the suitcase he was carrying and unleashed a sword hidden inside his cane.

“Thou has sinned!” The voice repeated.

The man swallowed, turning his head, left and right. Nothing left, nothing right, nothing le--Oh God!

A phantomatic figure had just appeared in the corner of the room. It was wearing a dark long robe, its face hidden by the darkness of its hood. In its right hand, it was holding a scythe. Sparks were emanating all over the creature.

“Thou has sinned!” the figure repeated.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!” The man screamed. And then, darkness.

###

“Oh come on, don’t faint at the first supernatural event!” Joshua yelled out loud. “It’s fine guys, he’s out.”

Boris opened the door. He was holding it closed with his enormous strength. He gave a wry smile seeing Joshua’s current appearance. Catherine entered next and burst out laughing.

“Seriously, what the hell is this outfit?”

“What do you mean, this was just the beginning, look!” he answered, removing the large robe he had materialized. Catherine kept laughing as she saw that underneath, he had altered his appearance to look like a victim of a serial killer from one of those horror movies. He had about 20 knives sticking out of him and was bleeding everywhere. His eyes were also leaking a weird dark liquid.

“This man is really weak, what’s the point of this masquerade?” Eric asked.

“What’s the point? Do I have to remind all of you that I’m a freaking ghost? I have to perform a haunting from time to time!”

Lydia picked the unconscious man up and said: “I’ll tie him up and put him in the basement.”

This man was clearly a murderer, there was no need to show him any sympathy.

Joshua returned to his usual appearance and said: “So, as I was saying. I believe that for now, this place should be safe.”

“Probably, on condition that this guy has no other accomplices,” Catherine replied.

“Well, that dude is probably a blessing in disguise.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simple, I think we just found our tour guide!”