outer_divide | [Video] | Wednesday afternoon

[A smug-looking Rumplestiltskin is back on the network. After being gone, to anyone who might have noticed (read: Belle, and possibly Loki), since Friday.]

Well, that was a bit of an adventure. It's good to be back. Even better, though, to have discovered something of import.

[He turns the crystal's viewer away from himself, to show where he is: the home of the murdered woman from the week before. Some people might recognize it, but most people probably won't. Thankfully, they have narration.]

This is the home of Nadia, that lovely young woman who died last week. In her own home, no less. In this very room. I have discovered the identity of her murderer. Behold.

[He's enjoying this, can you tell? There's a pause, and then the room swirls with purple smoke. When it clears, said young woman is there. She's sitting in her living room with another familiar face, the librarian page who turned up dead Thursday with two others. They're drinking tea. Nadia picks up the dishes and moves off to the kitchen with them. The visual follows her, as does her killer. They're chatting, though the vision has no sound, so no one can tell what about. As Nadia finishes the dishes, her back to her friend, he walks up behind her and slits her throat neatly. Thankfully for the potential children watching, their backs are to the video feed, so all anyone sees is the woman crumpling to the ground. Rumple even politely turns the feed away before there's more than a little blood.]

Very interesting, wouldn't you say? They were apparently friends, and he is acting in quite an un-librarian fashion. Even more interesting, given he turned up dead, not two days later. Food for thought, is it not?

[And with that, he turns off the feed-- and gets the hell out of that house before someone shows up to arrest him for trespassing on a crime scene, no matter how old. He'll be responding to things in a minute... once he's someplace a bit safer than here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Which one, the mind-control option or the he's-just-a-murderer option?

The first one. The he's-just-a-murderer one is always an option. Are there people here who can do that kind of thing? Besides those of us from the ship, that is.

I know there was someone who did to a couple of the Ship people. I talked to one who told me that when we were displaced through time, someone mind-controlled a couple of them. That's why I feel it could be possible now too.

Is that so.

[He sounds a little bit more smug, that his own guess is likely to be right, plus intrigued by the whole situation.]

Can you tell me anything about when this happened? And if it was ever discovered who was behind it?

This was a couple of months ago. And I'm pretty sure no one ever found out. At least word's never reached me.

Interesting. It would have had to have been one of those actually in that time and place, which does narrow down the possibilities quite a bit, doesn't it.

[He's definitely thoughtful, now. He'll have to look into this.]

Or whoever was in that time and place with them, yeah.

I don't suppose you know who all that was, do you?

[He can ask around, but he can also start that asking here.]

Afraid not.

[Which isn't the whole truth, but she's not going to just give up names to him like this.]

Ah, well. I'll ask around. Surely someone knows. I appreciate the tip, regardless.

Yeah, of course. I'll let you get back to your investigation.