<b><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(226, 80, 65)">Abby Daniels</span></b><br/><br/>Abby had entered the powder room calmly enough, certain Karl was watching her all the way in.  And once the door was closed behind her, she bolted for the toilet.  She tried to reason that it was the coffee and not the man that had made her anxious.  She always drank too much coffee.  But knowing what she did about Grace and knowing that Karl was her "muscle", she probably needed to stay among other people to be safe.<br/><br/>Finishing off on the toilet and washing her hands, Abby found herself shaking waaaaay too much.  Maybe that was the coffee as well. Too much caffeine made some people shaky.  But that had never been a problem with her before.  Taking a few deep, slow breaths calmed her down a bit.  Until a loud crack of lightning outside made her jump.  She had wanted to explore the gardens, but it sounded like that was a bad idea.  It was probably best to get the reading of the will over with before the storm became too loud.  Trying to regain her composure once more,  she took a few more deep breaths, then headed out the door and towards the parlor.<br/><br/>Abby noticed Grace escorting an incredibly pregnant Asian woman into a room down the hall.  Was that a good or bad thing with the reading of the will imminent?  She decided it was none of her business.  Upon entering the parlor she went for another cup of coffee.  She just plain couldn't help herself.  Glancing out the French doors that led to the garden, the skies were dark and angry.  Seeing Karl looming in the corner of the room, she decided she needed to start making friends, no matter how tenuous they might be.  She started with the blonde who had just been talking with Karl.  Taller than Abby and elegantly dressed, she looked like someone who was probably a business associate.<br/><br/>"Hello.  My name is Abby Daniels.  I'm not sure why I'm here, but I was Marcus's waitress whenever he ate at Charlie's Diner on Route 4.  I know that's probably not an impressive resume, but I figure as long as we're here, we might as well get to know one another."<br/><br/>She held out her hand, unsure if the woman would acknowledge it.<br/><br/><br/>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<br/><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(226, 80, 65)"><b>Gregory Widcombe</b></span><br/><br/>The weather seemed to fit the book Greg was reading.  "It was a dark and stormy night" seemed like the cliché opening to most horror novels that he'd read.  But not this one.  Still, the noise outside the mansion was disrupting his reading.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(255, 255, 255)">Listening to the storm become more intense, Greg decided to leave the library and head to the parlor to suggest to his sister that she start the reading of the will.  If they waited too long, no one would be able to hear the reading over the thunder and lightning.  But sis wasn't there.  Wandering over to Karl, he asked "OK, where's Grace.  We need to get this over with before the storm drowns out the proceedings."<br/>
<br/>
Another crash of thunder and bolt of lightning caused some in the room to gasp.  And it illustrated Greg's point.  Another crack of lightning took down a large limb on one of the oak trees at the far edge of the garden.</span>