text: [Themes: profanity, mystery, Australian, thriller, house setting]
  
  > Look around
  Studio (on the chair)
  Marissa's studio. The concrete-floored room gives the impression of spaciousness simply because of how empty it is: an artist's easel sits right in the centre of the space, with an expensive-looking chair facing it. A floor-length window on the east wall adds to the discomforting sense of open space. The north wall, bare-bricked, looks strangely out of character with the painted walls of the rest of the house. The door is set into the west wall.
  
  I can see a brick here.
  
  > adjust the chair
  Marissa has obviously adjusted this chair to suit her own proportions; I have no reason to meddle with it.
  
  > go west
  (first leaving the chair)
  Hallway (south end)
  The carpeted hallway extends away to the north. A door in the west wall leads to the bathroom and a door in the east wall leads to Marissa's studio. The living room is to the south.
  
  > West
  There's nowhere to go in that direction. The only obvious exit is east (to hallway (south end)).
  
  > North
  The carpeted hallway extends away to the north and south. In the west wall is a door leading to the guest bedroom, and in the east wall is the door to Marissa's bedroom.
  
  > West
  This is my room, at least for now. It is remarkably clean, the walls a warm off-white. The bed rests against the west wall, reflected in a portrait-sized mirror facing the foot of the bed. Right of the mirror, in the east wall, is an open door, and right of that is an imposing oak cupboard. A window in the north wall overlooks the bed.
  
  I can see a blanket here.
  
  > open the blinds
  I open the blinds, revealing the window.
  
  > look at the window
  The window mostly looks out onto the fence between Marissa's property and her neighbour's. The fence itself is plain chain-link, but some privacy is offered by the climbing rose vine.
  
  The sky outside is overcast and uninviting.
  
  Cream-coloured venetian blinds are in their compressed position above the window.
  
  > examine the drawer
  The drawer is at the base of the cupboard, with two squarish knobs protruding from it. I can see some paintings stacked up inside the open drawer.
  
  > look at the paintings
  A stack of old paintings. They can't have been touched for years - even inside the drawer, they've somehow managed to accumulate a thin layer of dust. Their subjects all seem to be women relaxing together in various settings - under parasols in a scenic park, by a fireplace in a cosy living room, lazing on a drifting canal boat.
  
  Here is another painting that I'm certain wasn't here before. A mattress lies in the centre of a bare wooden floor, covered in a mass of bloodstained bedsheets. Nested in the middle of the sheets is the body of a woman - she is asleep, or perhaps dead. Her skin is so pale and the brushstrokes so clumsy that it is difficult to tell limb from sheet.
  
  > think about the painting
  Where are these paintings coming from? Is Marissa trying to communicate something?
  
  > look at the woman
  (the woman in bedsheets)
  I think she is smiling. It is a disturbing image.
  
  > examine the bedsheets
  Various neutral-coloured linens - blankets, duvets, sheets, pillowcases. They all look freshly-laundered.
  
  > examine the bed
  It's a single-sized bed, with a panelled bedhead and deep blue duvet. There is a minimal bedside table next to the bed.
  
  > examine the blanket
  It's smeared with blood. I can't remember touching it last night.
  
  > look at the table
  It's completely bare. Not even a clock or a lamp to break up the surface.
  
  > examine the cupboard
  An oak linen cupboard, imposingly tall and square-edged. Bevelled double-doors hang above a large drawer at the base.
  
  The double-doors hang open, revealing several shelves covered in bed linens. My overcoat is in here, too.
  
  > take the overcoat
  It might be prudent to keep my arms covered.
  
  Taken.
  
  > wear the overcoat
  I put on the beige overcoat.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  Feeling in my skirt pockets, my fingers brush against a tube of superglue, a medicine cabinet key, my bedroom door key and the cold, unnerving steel of a kitchen knife. I'm wearing my beige overcoat and my blouse and skirt.
  
  > put the blouse in the washer
  (Marissa's blouse in the washing machine)
  (first trying to take Marissa's blouse)
  Carrying around the blanket is cumbersome enough. I'd prefer to put that down, first.
  
  > put the blanket in the washer
  (first taking Marissa's blouse)
  (first opening the washing machine)
  I heap the blanket into the machine and run it through a wash cycle, my gaze wandering idly over the room. The washing machine rumbles to a stop. I extract the blanket and hang it over the clothesline.
  
  > put the blouse in the washer
  (Marissa's blouse in the washing machine)
  I'll let Marissa take care of it.
  
  > look at the blanket
  Damp, but clean.
  
  > look in the washer
  The washing machine is empty.
  
  > examine the hangers
  The clothes are uniformly simple and practical.
  
  > Go east
  No point in dragging Marissa's blouse around. I'll leave it here.
  
  Hallway (north end)
  The carpeted hallway extends away to the south. In the west wall is a door leading to the laundry. A striking painting hangs on the north wall.
  
  > Go south
  The carpeted hallway extends away to the north and south. In the west wall is a door leading to the guest bedroom, and in the east wall is the door to Marissa's bedroom.
  
  > Go west
  This is my room, at least for now. It is remarkably clean, the walls a warm off-white. The bed rests against the west wall, reflected in a portrait-sized mirror facing the foot of the bed. Right of the mirror, in the east wall, is an open door, and right of that is an imposing oak cupboard. A window in the north wall overlooks the bed.
  
  > wear the perfume
  (first trying to take the perfume bottle)
  I have no reason to take that.
  
  > examine the dye
  It's a bottle of hair dye. Auburn #602.
  
  > think about the dye
  That sort of vanity has never really made much sense to me. Who is it for, anyway?
  
  > think about the perfume
  Does she just wear this around the house?
  
  > examine table
  It's white plastic, with a subtle abstract pattern painted on it - that much looks home-made.
  
  Neatly arranged on the table are a bottle of hair dye, some toiletries, a perfume bottle, a packet of plasters and a vase.
  
  > look at pattern
  It's deceptively intricate; I imagine such a pattern would have taken some hours to paint.
  
  > examine the vase
  A traditional tall vase in green glazed ceramic. An attractive arrangement of red roses fills the vase.
  
  > Smell the roses
  They're fresh and heady.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  Feeling in my skirt pockets, my fingers brush against a tube of superglue, a medicine cabinet key, my bedroom door key and the cold, unnerving steel of a kitchen knife. I'm wearing my beige overcoat and my blouse and skirt.
  
  > examine the bench
  Grey marble laminate. A note is on the bench.
  
  > read the note
  Helena,
  I hope you slept well. Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk much last night - it's just that I'm not used to company. I'll be back this evening. Please make yourself at home.
  -M
  
  > examine the sink
  Steel, and stainless indeed. Marissa certainly keeps her space clean.
  
  > examine the fridge
  A tall white fridge. It seems well-maintained, but age is beginning to show: there are flecks of corrosion along the edges.
  
  > look at the stove
  The kitchen appliances are of little interest to me.
  
  > look at the phone
  A telephone base is attached to the wall, next to the door. A basic-looking handset sits on the cradle.
  
  > examine the handset
  (first taking the handset)
  The handset has very little functionality; it must be a relatively old model. On the LCD, there is a remarkably brief list of what appears to be contacts stored in the phone's memory:
  
  1. Estelle: 01395847839
  2. CAB: 01395137503
  3. PHC: 01395042356
  
  > Dial 1
  (on the telephone handset)
  I don't even know who "Estelle" is!
  
  > think about the calendar
  What's the significance of Tuesdays, I wonder?
  
  The calendar seems to be hanging oddly; it isn't flat against the wall.
  
  > look behind the calendar
  I lift the calendar, and find a key hanging on the pin behind it.
  
  > take the key
  (the mortice key)
  I remove the key from behind the calendar and pocket it.
  
  > go east
  I replace the telephone handset on the base.
  
  It's a beige little living room; the offering of pale light filtering from the entry hall to the south somehow doesn't help to shake the sleepy, lifeless feeling here. An undersized dining table forms the centrepiece of the room, with two chairs pushed beneath it. Wedged into the northwest corner of the room is a television, an old-fashioned armchair tucked up next to it. Against the north wall to the east is an open display cabinet with a single shelf of ornaments visible inside.
  
  A door to the north leads to the hallway, a door in the west wall leads to the kitchen and a door in the east wall leads to another room. The entry hall is to the south.
  
  > go east
  (first trying to open the east door)
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > check your inventory
  Feeling in my skirt pockets, my fingers brush against a mortice key, a tube of superglue, a medicine cabinet key, my bedroom door key and the cold, unnerving steel of a kitchen knife. I'm wearing my beige overcoat and my blouse and skirt.
  
  > open the east door with the mortice key
  I unlock the east door.
  
  > Go east
  (first opening the east door)
  Study
  The modest study has a cold, neglected feel to it; the air is still and oppressive, the silence broken by the stern, relentless ticking of a wall clock. A flimsy desk against the far wall provides support for a primitive-looking computer. An overflowing bookcase sits against the south wall, while the door leads back west to the living room.
  
  > Smell
  The house has a faint traces of perfume everywhere.
  
  > listen
  The ticking sets me on edge if I concentrate on it.
  
  > look at the clock
  It's a plain, unattractive, ticking timepiece. The hands point to 7:03.
  
  > examine the bookcase
  The bookcase is tall and expansive; despite this, it is crammed beyond its intended capacity with books.
  
  > Examine books
  The books mostly seem to fall into three genres: art theory, fantasy and romance. There is also a sprinkling of non-fiction books with titles like "Training the Black Dog" and "The Light at the End of Depression".
  
  > look at training the black Dog
  There are quite a number of self help books in the bookcase. I can see terms like "cognitive therapy" and "self-esteem" repeating through several of the titles.
  
  > look at the desk
  The white desk is of the kind designed to fold up for easier storage. An old computer is on the desk.
  
  > examine computer
  The computer is a bulky beige model - it certainly doesn't look recently-bought. The CRT monitor is currently blank.
  
  > turn on the computer
  The computer hums and grumbles its way to life.
  
  A dialog box is on screen, requesting the user password for "Marissa". Damn.