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Marlin looked thoughtfully between Joseph Hall and Edward Chapman - it seemed that the two had history of some sort, maybe more than Joseph had let on if Edward's outburst was anything to go by.

He looked over at those that had been identified as Lillie's family, directing his next question towards Alice, William and Minerva "Were any of you aware of Miss Lillie's depression prior to her death?"

He had just managed to finish asking his question when Annie Noonan, who had been sipping wine throughout the questions asked so far, stood up and fell down unmoving not long after.

He gave a startled glance in her direction. Was she dead? His glance turned to the eight, well make that seven now, that had been identified prior to the start of the meal as he tried to guage their reaction.

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The call for them to go down to dinner had come before Arian could really talk to the other occupant of the room that he'd been assigned to and Arian had made a note to mayhaps try to get to know the other a bit better after the meal.

He hadn't been the first down, but nor had he been the last as he slipped into one of the empty seats at the table.

Listening as some of the others posed questions, Arian had figured that he would try posing a question to Elsie Brockschmidt once he heard the response back to the question that guy with the strawberry blonde hair had posed to Lillie's relatives, but at that moment, Annie Noonan had stood up and fallen down not long after.

He'd stared at her unmoving figure startled, before slipping from his seat to have a better look at her - mayhaps she wasn't really dead - just sick, although it seemed he wasn't the only person who thought to check closer as a blond had left his seat too, reaching the prone Annie before he did.

Up close it didn't take long for Arian to come to the conclusion that Annie Noonan was dead - the blue on her lips and finger tips being a helpful clue - after all people generally didn't tend to have blue lips and finger tips.

He bit his lips as he stared at her for a few moments before standing and addressing the three who he knew to be Lillie's family - Alice, William and Minerva.

"If I may ask," he said quietly, before trying to raise his voice so as to be better heard as he continued. "Do you know if there was any sort of friendship between Miss Lillie and Madam Noonan?"

It was Alice who answered, a bitter smile on her face. "Friendship? No, no, quite the opposite." She walked over to the body and knelt down. "Horrifying, to see her go, but Miss Noonan was not well-liked...she was a talker, you see. A gossip. And between her and Hall, my dear sister's reputation was in shambles before her death."

Elsie and Caroline both looked a little surprised to be addressed.

"Lillie and I weren't friends, I barely knew her, except that she was trying to steal my Joseph from me," Elsie replied, her tone utterly dismissive. "She was a little tramp, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Annie was just an old gossip. I liked talking to her. She always seemed to know everything there was to know! I can't believe she's gone like that!"

Caroline frowned. "She was not," she said, "and you shouldn't speak of the dead such, Elsie." She returned her attention to the young man querying her. "Lillie was my best friend -- Miss Noonan an acquaintance by reputation."

Darren for one, was trying to find a pattern in the murders. Lillie, he would assume - had been a murder and not a suicide. Odd that poison seemed to be the chosen murder weapon now. The historical weapon of women and the craven and cowardly. Of the assembled that remained alive, only three were women. Joesph Hall didn't seem the poisoning type. Edward Chapman was cowardly enough, or at least twitchy enough to do it in Darren's opinion, and if the old gossip had ruined his "friend's" reputation with the help of Hall...

The scream distracted him from his thoughts, and he went to investigate, kneeling down he inspected the cup, sniffing its contents and investigating the rim for any signs of a ring or residue.

He also took the time to examine Caroline's "body" for any obvious signs of struggle or injury.

Seeking out Edward Chapman, he had a few questions and the man might be the only one able to answer aside from Lillie's family.

"Mr. Chapman, how well did you know Caroline? Did you know if she often drank in the morning or before she went to bed?"

Darren frowned and bowed his head slightly to Edward. "I am deeply sorry for your loss, sir." Clearing his throat he lifted his head and tried his best to look somber as the situation warranted. "However, it is vital for you to tell me as much as you can about Caroline's habits. Also, did she have any enemies, she didn't seem to be too fond of Elise, I assume there was bad blood?"

Turning his attention to Alice, he cleared his throat again. "Also, I was wondering. It was said Lillie's reputation was ruined by Mr. Hall - how exactly? What are the full details of the events that brought her such shame?"

Hopefully it would give him some more solid clues to work with.

Saturday Afternoon: Freedom to Explore

Lunch is a quiet, somber affair – two among the houseguests have died. The afternoon is left open to whatever one might want to pursue.

This whole weekend had taken a turn for the unexpected and weird. Uncomfortable with the apparent murders taking place in the house, the contemporary-pop-culture-oblivious brunette - unfamiliar with the tropes of horror and slasher films - ventured off to the grounds by herself. She pulled a carefully hidden joint from the waistband of her pants and lit up, dying for a release from the torturous sobriety. As she smoked, she wandered around the area, examining its details. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but was keeping her eyes open.





"It's the old lady with the knife in the kitchen," Ricky repeated, convinced. He was never very good at the game of Clue, largely because he never read the rules. When his family played, they ignored the entire board game aspect, finding it to be a very confusing process, and simply tried to guess what cards were in the envelope. Suspicious of the events unfolding around him through the weekend, he was certain he was in some kind of reenactment of the game and ventured off to the kitchen to look for any clues.

Once inside the kitchen, however, he quickly became distracted by the sight of food and instantly started to pick at anything and everything he found, tasting everything. Smart boy.