Strangers: Consequences

Clue Gauging

"Okay, Drake like it or not, this is it......... You're alone now, get your ACT together!!" Drake pressured himself in his own mind. "Ok, investigate, explain and then solve it" He chanted the phrase several times. It was his personal mantra for when in deep shiz, like an emergency kit but without the necessity of expertise.

Just like any skilled detective, a preliminary inspection of the crime scene is always necessary. His eyes wandered around the room, looking at every bit of detail; The room was properly maintained, slightly faded wallpaper but its understandable seeing as though the building had aged considerably.

No traces of blood, meaning they weren't knocked unconscious or murdered. Neither window nor door could be seen that had access to this room from the outside except for the one main door which was being violated- security speaking. Whoever took them either had another passage linking to the room or perhaps they themselves stumbled onto it by chance.

The phone call came around 12.27pm and I went in here approximately, three minutes later giving the perpetrator a few minutes gap. Either he's extremely fast, really organized or just plain invisible to the naked eye. The room, as Drake entered was shut tightly and was perfectly soundproof. No way of knowing if there was a third person or not involved. The furniture didn't seem out of place; if anything, was perfectly arranged, symmetrical even from the bookshelves that was on each side of the room.

"Where do I go now?? Ok calm down, take another closer look........." Drake reassured himself, taking a deep breath. The air was unscented, no signs of any chemical agents being released. Dust particles swept clean, so whoever was living here regularly kept a tight shift and Mysophobic too from the looks of it. The humidity was unbelievable too, judging from the fact that there were no drafts at all to be felt; yet there were two air vents installed in here. Drake found it too stressful and not to mention distracting that the assailant keeps on banging the door to no end.

"Please stay away!" Drake pleaded, knowing his chances of surviving a confrontation were slim. He thought that the man had given up as the noises had settled down, but a louder sound presented itself instead- this time from the wall. It was a much stronger force, perhaps a weapon? He thought, just as fragments of the wall came crashing down. He took another look at the weapon, the second time it swung at the fracture. It was a sledgehammer, its head penetrating through the wall in the form of a hole. The man peeked through the opening and sneered, before resuming his demolition.

Drake then began to make his way around the room, knocking onto the walls and stamping his feet on the floor, making out a hollowness. "A secret passage,....... It's GOTTA be!!" he exclaimed, snapping my fingers. Drake dragged aside the carpet and rolled it to one part of the room.

The wooden floorboards were just as beat up; scratches from panther-like claw marks lined the floor. Well either that or furniture being pulled constantly to cover something up. This was the start of the mystery. A lost gnome in an orchard. The investigation begins...........