Horror groaned as he was awoken to the sound of his alarm clock. While he would rather continue on sleeping, the detective knew that the report for the autopsy would be coming in today. "What time is it anyway?" Horror opened his eyes and stared sleepily at the clock. "Oh... it's 7:30..." he mumbled to himself before pausing, "Wait... 7:30?"

Wasn't that the time the report was supposed to arrive? "Oh shit!" Horror practically scrambled out of bed, the sleep that blanketed him gone. The detective hurried down the stairs so fast, he was sure he missed a few steps along the way. Horror made it to the front door to find a sealed envelope that had been slipped under the door. He picked it up to find it was indeed the report. Horror carefully opened the letter, despite his eagerness to tear it open. Unfolding the report, he began to read what Dust had found out.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

According to the autopsy report provided by the Society, the time of death was around 5 pm. The body's injuries from the fall were post-mortem and not the cause of death. The real cause of death was poison. Further investigation is still required, but it was discovered that the toxin was a mixture of plant extracts.

"Poison..." Horror whispered to himself. He hoped whatever poison was used didn't make Lust suffer too much. It was a grim thing to think about, but he really did hope that Lust didn't suffer. Just as Horror was about to store the letter, he noticed another piece of paper inside the envelope. "Huh? This is..." When he saw the writing he instantly knew who wrote this.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Dear Detective,

The further investigation into Lust's death that you wished to conduct was otherwise straightforward. Though as I expected I ran into some difficulties when investigating the gentleman initially. I had to resort to some... peculiar tactics to get his cooperation. (Don't ask me how I did it.) To prove his innocence, that gentleman removed the restrictions against Lust's investigation and introduced us to the Medical Society for an autopsy on Lust's body. Guess what fucking happened. He was proved innocent. According to the Society's report, Lust was dead before the performance began. And our gentleman was in the council all afternoon, which all of the city's dignitaries could testify in his favor. He wouldn't have the time to commit the crime.

I know this sounds outrageous, which is why I hope you'll point me to the truth.

P.S. The other suspects are waiting for you at the theatre.

Your friend (who is very close to strangling someone),

Sheriff Dust.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror couldn't help but chuckle at the last part. That definitely sounded like Dust. "I'm kinda relieved..." Knowing that Gaster wasn't the one who killed Lust lifted a weight he didn't know was there, off his chest. Horror placed the envelope onto the dining room table and checked the time. The detective winces slightly. "If I hurry, I might just be able to eat some toast." He rushed up the stairs to get dressed.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Knowing that the Society's conclusion was final, Horror returned to the theatre to start the investigation all over again. Now that he had more clues, Horror was certain that he would be able to catch the culprit this time. He asked the members of the theatre to go to the lobby so that he could piece together what had happened that afternoon. To his surprise, Killer was the first to arrive. "Killer, I know I've already asked you this question, but I'll ask again. What did X say to you?"

Killer shook his head, "It's fine... I know you have to do this." According to Killer, it was the director who relayed the message that Lust refused to attend the last rehearsal . "While I was a bit ticked off, I wasn't surprised." He told Horror. "And why is that?" The detective asked his friend, who shrugged. "Cause by that time, Nightmare could take on Lust's role convincingly, so I didn't really care who I was going to perform with." Horror scribbled Killer's words down on his notepad.

"The last rehearsal went smoothly and ended at around 4 pm. I went with Sci to check out Alphy's stage preparations in the theatre ." Killer hummed as he thought back at what happened next, "At 6 pm, the "Commander" called us to dinner, and the others went to prepare for the evening's performance."

The actor told Horror that Error was the next to arrive. Killer said because of Error's background, he's always been into doll making. He would always make a couple of dolls, before each opening performance, which he also did on that day . Since Lust's death brought back memories of Chara's mystery, this place has recently been labeled the cursed theatre, which made Error paranoid about ghosts-"

"ShUt Up, KIlLeR! YoU dOn'T kNoW aNyThInG!" Error screeched as he interrupted Killer. Horror nearly jumped at the sudden voice. "ChArA dIeD wItH a GrUdGe. ThAt'S wHy ShE cOuLdN't Go To ThE aFtErLiFe! ShE sTiLl LiNgErS hErE."

Error glanced around the lobby nervously before focusing on the closed doors of the theatre. Almost like they were afraid that Chara's ghost might come out.

"Grudge? What did Chara have a grudge about?" Horror asked.

Error didn't respond and drifted mysteriously towards the corner away from the crowd.

"It was rumored that Chara had to leave the theatre back then because the theatre was about to become insolvent." Horror turned around to find Shears walking towards him, "Yet after Chara died, the director received a substantial settlement as the beneficiary of a huge insurance policy and the theatre survived ." Horror frowned at Shears's words, "If these were all true, what do you think Chara would have a grudge about?"

If "ghosts" really did exist, Horror was sure Chara would have some sort of grudge against, the director and theatre. "I see... anyways... would you mind telling me where you were that day?"

Shears then proceeded to hand a piece of newspaper to Horror. He told the detective what he always does in the afternoon every day -- he would read the newspapers in the lobby to look for fashion inspirations, and that he did the same when the incident happened. Both Error, who was making dolls in the lobby, and Dream, who was preparing dinner, could testify for him. Another suspect checked off his list it seems.

"Bookending? Isn't it writers' favorite technique?" Just when Horror was about to read the newspaper Shears had given him, Dream joined in their conversation. "What?" Before Horror could say anything more, Dream began to talk about Chara.

"You know... I suppose Chara could be considered a mix between Nightmare and Lust. While Lust was kind, caring, they were also a bit of a... slut... But falling off the stage during the opening performance? Such a thing might have happened to Lust, who had been slacking off lately. But for it to have happened to Chara, who had never missed a rehearsal and never made a single mistake, a genius who's deadly serious to the point of pathological? That's not very credible."

Horror blinked owlishly at what Dream said. He almost didn't catch half of what they said. But Horror was able to tell that they had no idea what Lust's actual cause of death was.