Verrier was rendered speechless by everything that had just happened. He had nothing to add, and could only watch and listen with great interest.

Edelfäule looks down at Edna, "As the new author of this story, I could let you escape, but it doesn't make sense to do that until you denounce the foul name of the man that led you to this hell. The one who you clung to even as he was revealed to be more and more despicable. And that shall be our trade," the demon smirks with fake graciousness.

"I-I..." Edna looked down. "Giddy... I don't know what happened to him. Why all of this had to happen. B-but... that demon you took care of just now... that wasn't the Gideon I loved. That man may not exist anymore... but I cannot deny that somewhere inside my heart, I still yearn for him. A-all of what I've done up till today was for his sake... I couldn't give him up so easily."

It seemed that despite everything, Edna still refused to give in to Edel's demand. Some small part of her was still trying to stay loyal to her husband, or at least the Gideon she had known.

---

"Wait, so who wrote you? Like, was it God or something since you're a demon? Would that mean Gideon Stole credit from God then? I'm from the east, I don't really know very much about all this superstitious dribble." Lynde said to Edel with a hand on his hip trying to figure this entire thing out.

Edelfäule motions gagging, disgusted at Edna's words. "Sycophant. So this is that filthy, wretched, shitstained love which caused this tragedy. You don't even know anything about Gideon. He lied to you, and kept you out of his world. He broke you and then left his world before consequences could ever find him. If you love him so much, just die already."

"Then finish me." Edna spoke with no hesitation. She glared at Edel after realising her intentions. "Take the axe that demon left behind and end me for good. That's what you want, don't you, demon?"

---

"Mother! No..!" Agnes called out and ran towards Edna frantically, before standing in between her and Edelfäule and spreading her arms out. "Don't hurt her!"

"Your quarrel was with the demon version of Gideon, was it not? I'm sure the real version had some redeeming features," Verrier said to Edelfäule, trying to dissuade her. "The one who wrote Gideon's stories is the one who created and wrote Grimsley, yes? Not Gideon himself."

"I hate the real Gideon because he's a wannabe hack who would use and abuse those around him to build up his brand and his legacy. If Edna wants to choke herself on the memories of Gideon's dick after finding out he was fucking Angelo on the side, I can think of no worse punishment for her," a cheap shot, but it's clear that Edelfäule takes a lot of satisfaction from it.

"Naturally, for someone as disgusting as Gideon, who I felt I had to compromise with in order to realize my true self, and who used that to his advantage, I will never have any mercy."

The demon jots down her final truth into Ghost Fable, and closes the thick tome.

FINAL CHAPTER ~ END

The situation hadn't really changed, but there was a generally more positive temperament in the room now that 'Gideon' was gone and they could see that their living selves got to be rescued, even if it was only some of them.

[This is the end. You can make any final posts or reflections needed here, or ask about any questions]

"...Okay, look, I know these are the 'final pages' with all the cathartic character payoffs and all that, but I have to know: what happened to Cici?" Verrier asked. Apparently all that mystery-novel-studying he'd done for Albrecht's sake to try and solve the headship-ring-riddle had made him into a real fan of the genre. He couldn't let this go. "And also, what even was Gideon's 'final riddle'? Juna seemed to simply find the ring by accident, despite all that setup."

Edelfäule smirks, cracking open another can of Red Bull, "Well, Cici was murdered in the obvious manner by Meta, my creator. After she died, there were two locked doors and one door which was unlocked. Meta decided to seal the room using a refrigerator in front of the door, but in order to knock it over in front of the door, she would need a tool. So, this is where that C4 comes in. Not all of it was disposed of. She placed a charge in a location inside the fridge which would knock it over, exited the room, and detonated the charge. The fridge then fell in front of the door, sealing the room."

"Meta was trying to prove she could design her own closed rooms, but it was her original idea at least. So for that, even if it was a sad attempt to attract the closed room fans, it still has some of my respect," the demon shrugs.

"I'm not sure where Gideon hid his ring. Maybe he or Juna or someone can answer that."

"Ah, so simple after all? I had been thinking the same rules as the tomb applied, that there was no way to move the fridge from outside... But it's as you say, this was set up by Meta, who was perhaps not as... strict about these sorts of things, lets say, compared to Gideon or Lynde," Verrier said thoughtfully.

Quietly a miniature ghost, about the size of a water bottle walked into the room holding a golden file about twice his size. He jostled it at Verrier's feet until Verrier picked it up.

"There's still one thing I don't understand!"

Accompanied by a choir of wailing, a new figure appeared in the room and launched from his throat the one sentence no writer ever wants to hear. Despite how it may seem, he bared no resemblance to Fritz. He had a vaguely humanoid form made bulky by a massive exoskeleton. An orange plastic carapace surrounded his head, with bright white rods passing before his chin. His hand was grotesquely enlarged and appeared to be made of a green substance, covered in small pores.

Despite his horrific appearance, this new creature seemed friendlier than Edelfäuld. He clapped his hands together excitedly before introducing himself.

"Bravo! Bravo! I am the Ultimate Spectator. I've been watching this story play out!" He explained, "You all did an awesome job with your roles too! And the special effects! They were so realistic! My only issue is all the weird side characters who didn't do much—but I'll still recommend this to all my friends!"

The Spectator reached below his helmet and scratched his chin.

"Anyway, I've been wondering why Meta even murdered Cici. Or anyone for that matter..." The Spectator explained, "I at least can grasp the other final murders, but it's still a bit strange."

"Oh, and one more thing actually: what was the impossible crime? Was that just a lie?"

---

Verrier read over the file appreciatively, before nearly jumping out of his skin at the sudden appearance of a new abomination.

After listening to the bizarre spectator speak though, he nodded and said, "I don't know who this man is, but he raises some good questions."

In response to the spectator's question, the miniature ghost pulled out another golden file.

The Ultimate Spectator squints at the Secret File, taking an uncomfortably long amount of time to read it.

“Ah, that makes sense!” he shouts, “Quite clever, in my opinion! It would be cool if some of those ‘more suited parties’ would step up, so we could learn more about the story!”

He folds the Secret File into a paper airplane and then chucks it at Verrier for him to read. Then he squats to the floor, grabs the little ghost, and hoists him into the air.

“I actually have one more question, little guy. Who was the shooter? What was that all about?”

---

After nearly losing an eye to the paper plane file, Verrier gave it a quick read. He looked up at the spectator's next question though. "I can answer that one. Albrecht found the gun (which Mia had thrown outside) sometime after Juna used it to kill Raphael's friend. When the group was moving between buildings, he took the chance to try and kill Juna, but between the terrible weather conditions and his recent heart attack, his aim was poor and the attempt was unsuccessful."

Agnes had a smug expression almost as if to say "I called it" when Verrier mentioned the shooter.

She then walked over to the spectator and patted him on his head (yes, she patted the helmet.) "Thanks for the compliments, little guy! I'd also wish to know what happened with Meta... And why she did things that she did. I'd like to say I have the right to know... But I'm not sure if she would ever tell us."

Juna unceremoniously tossed an empty package of popcorn away, wiping her hands together. "Is there any reason for her to hide it anymore? I'm sure you could ask her."

She then looked at her hands. "You bring up a good question, but I'm also curious about what will happen to the dead. Not that I would mind disappearing. It'd be... a fitting end," she commented, rubbing her chin in thought.

Truthfully, nobody was sure. Vaguely they could recall Gideon's words--that those who could leave, would leave.

Perhaps the dead that were still remaining were unable to move on. Maybe they would in the future--but all that lay beyond this world was uncertainty. Whether it be a golden land or nothingness. For now there was more to Limbo than the mansion, so there was plenty of time to wander and ponder.

"Pride, probably," Erik helpfully chimed in. Afterwards, he let out a dejected sigh and shook his head.

"Maybe some of us will move on soon enough. Ascend to heaven, hell, or whatever else there is. Guess we'll have to wait and see, huh..."

A mirthless chuckle escaped him as he rolled his shoulders. The usual spark of energy he tended to have in his eyes was just... gone.

"... So much for the whole 'I have my whole life ahead of me' thing," he quietly mumbled to himself. "Well, whatever. It's probably better than what I deserve for hitting that guy and running... Ugh, I should've just told Mom no and turned myself in against her wishes..."

Realizing he was just talking to himself, he paused and cleared his throat.

"... Maybe I'll run into that guy in the afterlife. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry for my stupidity costing him his life. Yeah, that sounds great..."

He quietly slumped against the wall, deciding to quiet down for now.

Edelfäule takes the pipe out of her mouth, and swishes around a can of Red Bull like a glass of fine wine.

"Motive? I suppose it's only fitting for a great fucking detective like me to explain that!" she smirks, turning her head high with superiority.

"Meta loved detective fiction and great music from a young age. She enjoyed the dramatic aspect of mysteries and the fantastic interesting characters they would produce. She wrote many, many stories featuring me, but within time that dream had to fade, as her ambitions led her to become a lawyer," the demon folds her arms and begins to pace about the room.

"Within time, she came to work the von Brandauer family, and subsequently Gideon. As she spoke to Gideon about mysteries, she began to realize that maybe she could use Gideon to help make her dreams of writing great detective fiction come true. She could live out both of her dreams. Gideon, with his clever tricks, was the perfect co-writer for Meta. The two completed one another's work perfectly. Meta focused on writing the characters and the dramatic scenes, while Gideon was focused on giving various tricks."

She takes a shallow sip of her drink as she continues, "Meta was not satisfied though. Since the two of them were using Gideon's money and ideas, he had quite a lot of control over the story and credit. Meta was reduced to a ghost-writer on the story, and even worse, she had to directly register the stories under Gideon's name exclusively, and even had to defend his write to do so as his lawyer. Perhaps she could have been satisfied if she truly appreciated Gideon, but while she worked directly with him, writing all of his notes and letters, she realized just how horrible he was. Greedy, cruel to his family members, and manipulative, her regards for him sunk again and again."

"Meta had no plan for cruelty against anyone until Gideon's death showed her just how soulless his family was. Rafael, Heinrich, Fritz all agreed to the plan to hide Gideon's death. As a part of the plan, Meta was tasked with deceiving Edna. As she made calls disguised as Gideon, she was disgusted with how Edna would do anything for Gideon, even as she knew that both Edna had probably tricked Gideon into marrying her, and that Gideon himself often was cruel to Edna in private. Soon, almost everyone in the family was on Meta's bad list. Working with Fritz's family on the hit and run case only led to more feelings of contempt for Erik and Cici. Adopting Lynde for a dishonest, self-obsessed purpose was another of Gideon's plots that made Meta deeply furious."

"With Gideon deliberately turning his death into a spectacle, Meta decided that she would take advantage of the situation. She wanted more than anything to reclaim control of her and Gideon's mysteries before the end of her life, and so she planned to orchestrate the drama which would lead to the deaths of the worst members of the family. She never planned to kill anyone directly, but when she had the chance to kill the money-hungry conspirators, she took the chance."

The demon flips her hair back behind her shoulders, "She wanted to prove in the end that she could write a fantastic mystery, one more worthy than anything Gideon would come up with. It's been her dream for a long time, as evidenced by me."

The detective bows to everyone, and once again places the pipe back in her mouth, "Killing Julia and Harley was just like, oops. You know how it goes. It should have been Verrier, but it's hard to do everything so perfectly. Meta would have agreed with Juna's motive for killing Mia, and she didn't exactly want Juna to die either, but she's really glad Albrecht died because that guy was horrible."

It didn't seem like there was much else to say besides asking Edel a few clarifying questions. But the more answers they got, the more their dissatisfaction grew. While they expected the mystery answers to bring clarity, they only brought a feeling of dissatisfaction and emptiness.

They were alone. And the only thing each of them could do now was work on their own selves. Whether that took an hour or an eternity, perhaps they would be able to then move on.

[Edelfäule's Theme]

"Well everyone, that's all. I think I've had my fill writing mysteries for this 'lifetime'."

One by one, every wandering soul eventually left the room.