Old Habits Die Hard (January 3rd around 2am)

[James Winchester]

"That is interesting." James agreed. "Had you already professed an intention to go after this beast when you had the visitation?" He enquired. "Or had the beast at least been sighted?" Could someone have decided that Adam was the man for the job? "May I assume that you are a proficient hunter, at least? Perhaps someone wanted you to kill the wolf. I would say that it was a rather subtle hint, however." James shrugged.

"If the dagger is truly of that vintage and origin, it is probably quite valuable as an antigue." He commented. "I wonder if it would have been more or less deadly to the wolf than a steel one." James mused, smiling wryly. "If the pelt was white I trust you had it cured. I'm certain some lady would be delighted by it." He had no idea if Adam had a lady in his life or not.

When the panel moved it became clear that the access was a simple is rather dissused servant's entry. "Someone might have come this way, but it looks disused." James commented, looking at the cobwebs with distaste. Crouching down, he knelt to examine the floor of the passage, looking for footprints in the dust.

[Adam James MacGregor]

James' question caused Adam to pause and think, the events of the past few days mixing up in his mind, and forcing him to untangle the weave with some effort. "Not many people knew I planned to go after the beast, though I did not keep it quiet. It was a few days after the beast was sighted by His Majesty, and it took me a few days to prepare. Funny really that you should mention me wanting to kill the wolf. There were several other attempts before we cornered them." He paused and pondered anew, though he found it hard to find any reason why someone would pick him to slay the wolf and how the silver dagger helped that cause. "Captain Stanton lost several of the King's hounds a few days earlier, and Lord Mountjoy had to turn back the first day. It was only because we left early and planned ahead that we succeeded. And even then we nearly both died."

Having already taken the dagger to the antiques dealer, Adam knew that the dagger was valuable, but not as much as one might assume. "I fear I can not judge how deadly the thing is, and sadly the white pelt was given to the King. I am sure he will have it cured and fashioned into something. I myself took the great gray's pelt and plan to have him stuffed and turned into a trophy for my study in Alyth." Then the door swung open and the Scotsman knelt down beside the doctor, doing much like he had done. Instead of looking for footprints that could be concealed all too easily he looked for the traces of torn cobwebs, looking to determine whether the last person passing through had been entering or leaving the passage by observing the angle at which the torn threads clung to the wall.

[Fluff]

There were footsteps but only coming towards them not away from them. Likewise there were torn cobwebs. There was a cold draft in here.

[James Winchester]

James nodded as Adam described the exact sequence of events surrounding his receipt of the dagger and the death of the white wolf. "Well, unless you can find Good Queen Bess and ask her, we will never know whether the two are connected and the exact motive for the gift of the dagger, but I would be surprised if they were not." James shrugged. What more was there to say?

Regarding the footprints thoughtfully, James said "If she came to you this way, she didn't leave the same way. Either she went for a prolongued haunt, there is another exit, or she was able to divest herself of her disguise and leave unnoticed." The latter of which would suggest a servant or some such.

Looking from the passage to the big Scot and back again, James raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "So, Lord Alyth. How curious are you?" He asked, wondering if they really would chance the passage.

[Adam James MacGregor]

In the end it did not matter if there was connection between the dagger and the wolf, and Adam simply could not spare the matter any more thought, the problems he was facing constantly giving him no time to ponder and solve amusing mysteries. He needed to survive and fun had no place in it. Even as James voiced his thoughts on how the mysterious lady slipped out of the library, Adam was already trying to recall in which direction she left his side as that would be a perfect spot to search the walls for another passage. But, before that was tackled, he grinned at James mischievously, and drew a fresh candle from his pocket lighting it upon the one in doctor's hand. "I would not call myself curious. Just a sworn enemy of secrets and mysteries. What about you?" Without waiting for a reply, he stepped into the passage, shielding the candle, and letting its glow filter through his fingers, stepping softly through the passage, pondering if he would be able to detect peep-holes in the wall if he snuffed the candle out.

[James Winchester]

James met Adam's gaze squarely. "I am a man of science. Few mysteries remain so when you look at them carefully." He said.

Still, it wouldn't have been his first impulse to head down the dark tunnel, but Adam wan't going to wait for him to decide, and the presence of the big Scotsman was rather reasuring really. So James caught up his candle in it's stick and followed, pulled the panel almost closed behind them, lest someone see it.

[Fluff]

As Adam dimmed the candlelight somewhat he could indeed detect two peepholes, spaced out a little. Perhaps in ancient times this is where selected servants would take notes for the King, or where spies would do their business for the crown. It was likely that not just Windsor was equipped with these servant hallways and peepholes. It must be in fact standard practice.

After he walked the length of the library he ended up at a small stairwell, spiralling down to what must be the kitchens.

[James Winchester]

"It looks like a servant's passage, or a spy's." James observed as they looked at the eye-holes in the wall. "Not so mysterious then." He added.

They came to a stairwell and James peered down it in the light of the candles. "It probably let out somewhere below stairs, the kitchen or a store-room or something." He said dissmissively, not certain how far he wanted to go clambering in the dark.

[Adam James MacGregor]

Having had wandered down a similar hallway in London, Adam was loathe do descend the steps, but still curiosity at times like this always got the better of him. "You are probably right, but I would like to find out. I understand if you do not wish to join me." Thought it may have sounded like a dare it was anything but. "If you keep watch at this side I will gladly tell you what I discovered when I return." He gave James a chance to decide before descending the steps, keeping the candle shielded with his hand, not wishing to betray his presence too easily.

[James Winchester]

At Adam's words had sounded like a dare, but James was not so proud. He weighed staying at the top of the stairs versus descending into the unknown. If he stayed up here someone might come, but if he descended they had no idea what they might find. Then again, Adam's reassuring bulk would be there.

"I'll come with you, if there are any problems it might be safer with two of us." James said after a moment. He first impulse had been to stay and watch, but he disliked the prospect of meeting an angry spy who's passage had been discovered, all on his own. He was not a violent man. But he was a logical one. Also if one of them became stuck somewhere the other could possibly assist, or at least get help. If one became stuck on their own, no one would ever know.

[Fluff]

True enough the stairs ended up in the kitchen, like any servants passage might. Just one push of the door would reveal with a creaking sound that there was no personnel left in the large castle kitchen, some stew left on the fire to a soft boil.

[Adam James MacGregor]

Shifting aside to enable James to take a look of the kitchen, Adam did not enter the room, remembering the last time he had wandered down a secret passage and what happened when he got to the kitchen. "I think we won't find anything interesting in here." The Scotsman's voice was barely a whisper, his hand ready to douse the candle and push the doctor back into the passage if anyone appeared. "Yet, I doubt it was one of the cooks that played a prank on me. Either the lady passed through here and was seen, or she used another passage. So, what do we do? Go back and seek another secret door, or wait for the cooks to come back and question them?"

[James Winchester]

"At two in the morning we may have a long wait until the cooks come in." James observed. He was also a fairly non-confrontational individual most of the time, and didn't really fancy challenging the cook in his own domain.

"After your... visitation, do you happen to remember which direction the 'spectre' went? We may be better served by seeking her exit. That may lead us to the woman herself." James suggested. "One could always question the kitchen staff later." He added. But one couldn't really go snooping for secret passages during the day.

[Fluff]

There were sounds of people approaching at the other end of the kitchen. Soft laughter. Feet on stone.

[Adam James MacGregor]

Adam was just ready to point towards the simmering pot and explain how that was the sign that a cook was not far away, when voices reached the pair of them and with a quick turn, the Scotsman pressed his forefinger to lips urging James to keep quiet, before snuffing the candle and moving back into the passage. The good doctor was just about to get a first lesson in stealth and he would have to learn fast.

Pulling James lower, the Highlander leaned and whispered softly into his ear. "Relax and don't try to be still. Let your body show what is comfortable. And never look out directly. Lower your eyelids, and look through the lashes. Your eyes wont glow. Now shush and listen. This might be interesting." The last thing James would see before Adam melted into shadows was the flash of a grin, and then the Scotsman stalked off to the other side of the passage and rested there, waiting for the servants to come in. It would likely be nothing more than a routine checking of the stew, or a little illicit affair, but still the Scotsman rested his hand against the handle of a dagger at the small of his back.

[James Winchester]

James was just peering into the kitchen, trying to see what had caught Adam's attention, having completely missed the pot, when the big Scot spun suddenly and have the international hand signal for 'be quiet' before snuffing the candle out. Now in complete darkness, James was shooed back down the passage. He could hear the sounds of movement approaching, which must have been what prompted Adam's actions, but James couldn't see where he was going in the dark.

Dragged down into a crouch with the big Scot, James listened to Adam's whispered instructions. He wasn't sure that eavesdropping was a very moral thing to do but evidently it was what Adam intended. James had to admit to himself that if the cook was checking the stew he was unlikely to say anything interesting, but following Adam's instructions to make himself comfortable, he lowered himself quietly from a conspiritorial crouch to a seat on the floor at the side of the passage. Adam had said not to look out so that his eyes didn't glow; James wasn't sure what he meant, but he couldn't see much in this gloom anyway. So instead he closed he eyes, and focused on listening. James actually had very good hearing.

[Fluff]

"Steer the pot, Mary," a somewhat shrill voice demanded "Can't have it go wrong." With some muttering under a young girls breath there could be heard the sound of occasionally knocking an iron pot, suggesting steering went on.

"It is quiet tonight, is it not?" the older voice sighed with some contentment "thank god there are no last minute orders from the rooms up there. It has been busy enough these nights past." The creaking of a rocking chair. Soon after there was snoring.

For all intents and purposes it was just merely two kitchen servants having returned. If the gentlemen were waiting for treason, perhaps it would be a long night. Then again, perhaps they had learned just precisely what they needed to know.

[Adam James MacGregor]

Like a whiff of air Adam moved back to James' side and slowly moved away from the kitchen, dragging the doctor after him, and stopping only once they were well out of the hearing range. He lit the candle, shielding it from the sight of the cooks and grinned at doctor. "Now, that was fun. I always enjoy sneaking around." Then with a chuckle he added in a more serious tone. "Seems like you were right. Nothing secretive about a kitchen. And it had so much potential. Come let us go back up before someone decides to investigate and we need to explain what we are doing so close to the kitchens. I can only imagine how edgy the Life Guard is after the Queen's death."

[James Winchester]

James allowed Adam to move him away from the kitchens after it became obvious that nothing exciting was going to happen, but he said nothing and was careful to be quiet until Adam lit the candle and spoke.

He lit the candle, shielding it from the sight of the cooks and grinned at doctor. "Now, that was fun. I always enjoy sneaking around."

"Do you do it often?" James asked with a raised eyebrow, but a touch of mischief in his look. Adam MacGregor was proving to be an intriguing fellow.

Adam came to the obvious conclusion, and was about to hasten them both back up the stairs, when James held up a hand in a 'wait a moment' gesture. "They said that the rooms 'up there' had been busy these last few nights." He pointed out. "Do you suppose that there have been late night meetings in the library or other places?" He said.

Still, Adam was right, it was sensible that they get out of the stairwell and back into somewhere less suspicious.

[Fluff]

As they moved away again, the voices died away and could no longer be heard. Was James on to something?

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