Elias Vane steps into the narrow service passage, keeping his eyes on the lock plates and scuffed stone. Kyoko follows, while the body and planted revolver remain behind in the dining room.
The Bankrupted Businessman
My firearms knowledge is useless unless I inspect every place that revolver could have been carried. If it came through here, the route matters.
The elderly host reaches the passage first and plants himself before a door marked STAFF ONLY. His velvet sleeve brushes the old brass handle, but he does not open it.
Marcellus Trent
No guest searches restricted parts of my estate. You will return to the dining room, Mr. Vane.
The Bankrupted Businessman
Then explain why this door is sealed, why the servants' stair is locked, and why you refuse to discuss the route behind the kitchen.
The host's composure tightens. Behind him, a second door shows newer scratches around its latch, while dust lies unbroken before the servants' stair. He keeps both routes covered.
Marcellus Trent
The kitchen passage is sealed for repairs. The stair is private. Those are estate matters, not evidence.
Rain ticks against the distant windows. Vane stops inches from the host, and the narrow corridor leaves Kyoko no clear way past either man without choosing whom to confront first.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine who had access to the sealed service route
“To my understanding you care much for your privacy and security of your own home right Mr… I respect it of course and I will continue to, but your home has already became compromised the second the killer arrived here. He has been moving through these doors freely without your knowledge, but you don’t seem too concerned about that. Unless you know they wander your halls…. Is there something you are not telling me?”
SUCCESS (Good Interrogation, rolled +1)
Kyoko
I respect your privacy and security, Mr. Trent. But your home was compromised when the killer arrived. They moved through these doors freely, and you do not seem concerned. Unless you know they wander your halls, what are you withholding?
The host's hand leaves the brass handle. His eyes flick to the newer scratches, then to the locked stair, and the practiced irritation drains from his face.
Marcellus Trent
My name is Marcellus Trent. And yes, I know more than I said. The kitchen passage is not being repaired. I sealed it after Silas Crowe began using it.
The confession changes the corridor. Trent unlocks the STAFF ONLY door with a key from his inner pocket, revealing a narrow service route descending behind the kitchen walls.
Marcellus Trent
Crowe was once my security contractor. I dismissed him after discovering duplicate keys. Tonight, I heard the kitchen door open, but I told myself it was a servant.
Inside the passage, fresh mud interrupts the dust near a concealed rear exit. A brass shaving beside the threshold matches the service lock, giving Kyoko a direct route and a named suspect.
Marcellus Trent
He had access, motive to punish me, and enough knowledge to stage the scene. I concealed that because admitting Crowe's keys existed would make the deaths my responsibility.
Quest Complete
Determine who had access to the sealed service route