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Remus’s eyes were glued to the spot on the wall.He saw from his peripheral vision that Sirius had cringed at the sight of blood, but it was a reaction that Remus had become all too familiar with through the years. There was something significant about this blood though, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.Sirius coughed. “Re, shouldn’t we be looking at the other evidence too?”Remus blinked, reluctant to move his eyes away from the blood on the wall. “Why is it on this wall?“Not sure, but I’d like to move away now.”There was something, something that caught in his voice. Remus finally looked towards him and softened. “Of course.”They moved to the next room, which appeared to be a living room. The couches seemed to be pushed a bit out of place—they weren’t ruined by any means, but the angles seemed off for the shape the room was. Looking around, there was only one picture frame from the mantle that had been knocked down.This was also the room with the writing on the wall.
secrets hidden like yours used to be
It was grotesque, out of place. The body hadn’t been moved from where the death occurred, in the dining room. Albeit an appetite killer, it didn’t seem to be too secretive of a place when it was in plain sight of the entrance of the home.When they first arrived at the house, Remus took initiative. His brain instantly shot into analysis mode and he couldn’t focus on just one clue for too long. The body. The mess in the dining room, but the relative order in the living room. The writing on the wall. The footprints in the kitchen. The locked closet next to the bathroom. It was easy enough for him to find the other clues too. Some big, others minor, but overall he pieced together the majority of the clues that they had now. Sirius had been helping but had been rather quiet the whole time.Now, after walking through the house twice, Remus was close to begging for a hint. His only hope was if Sirius had any ideas and—oh. Oh . He was getting that look on his face.Sirius was squinting at the wall writing. “Do’ya think it’s literal?”Remus was intrigued, but he noticed the flush to Sirius’s cheeks. The room wasn’t hot. He wasn’t embarrassed. So what was it?“It just doesn’t feel right. This isn’t a proper crime scene.”“Well, yeah, Pads, this is a—”“No, no,” Sirius stopped him, “beyond the scope of this being fake. There’s something with the crime scene. Like you said with the papers in the kitchen. And the blood. It’s not…it can’t be…” Remus turned in a slow circle, running through the previous clues. Which piece didn’t fit? “It’s a mistake on their part, or we’re missing something?”Sirius bit his bottom lip and made his concentration face. Remus was now thoroughly distracted, a common occurrence, especially when Sirius got like this. He was even hotter when he let people know just how smart he was.“How are secrets hidden?” Remus didn’t hear his question well enough to answer. “Typically, it’s just deep down in someone. But what if it’s a different type of secret? What about the secrets we used to hide, where were we considered?”“Um, I’m not sure I follow.” Sirius turned to face Remus, both eyes bright at the thought of a possible breakthrough. “Wow, I’m gay,” Re whispered.Sirius broke out into his special smile that he saved only for Remus and James. “Of course babe, that’s exactly the point. We’ve just cracked the case!”“We have?”Sirius started walking back through the house and Remus ran through the statement from the wall one more time. Secrets hidden like yours used to be. Secrets like Remus and Sirius had, apparently. Secrets that deal with…“Aha!” Sirius exclaimed as he gestured to the locked closet next to the bathroom. The closet . Too cramped of a place for him to ever truly belong, but the source of their missing clue. Remus pulled out the keychain they had been given for the house and tried the second key.
Click.
There was another body! Everything suddenly made sense. The out of place blood, papers from the kitchen, two sets of footprints had all been because of this third person not added to the equation.Two victims, connected by the closet.Remus and Sirius took all the evidence they could from the closet and rushed back to the papers in the kitchen. The names matched up and there was only person it could have been. The neighbour .Of course. It seems more obvious in light of the new evidence. It doesn’t matter small pieces were missed because now they’ve done it. They found the killer. Remus quickly scribbled their answer on a scrap of paper and sent a picture to the owners of the mystery house.His phone pinged a message.
Well done! You’ve figured out the mystery. It was indeed the neighbour. Your time has been recorded—you’ve beaten the alternate group’s time!
“Yes!” Remus cheered as he lept into Sirius’s arms.Sirius spun him around before setting him on the counter and kissing him. “I knew we’d be able to beat James and Lily. James is too fidgety to stay on a task like a murder mystery house for too long.”“True. And they’re missing the best component.”“My brain?”Remus grinned. “Yes. Your brain, and my good looks. That’s the key.” Sirius nodded.“Exactly. We complete each other. Nothing’s going to get in the way of that, not even the Mystère Manoir.”