That night, Sherlock's welcome party in the Falstaff is a smashing success, and you succeed in making friends among several of the manor staff. You also gather valuable information about the manor and how alienated the staff is from management, and you take note of budding romances among several servants. But after hours of non-stop drinking, darts, karaoke and boisterous conversation, it ends very badly when you discover your briefcase containing your passport, airline tickets and currencies has been stolen. An all-out search ensues but to no avail. The pub was packed with servants, so it could have been anyone. Doubtless, though, your adversaries were behind this, a hunch you confirm by spying on their late-night conversations. To your surprise they indicate that something went terribly awry and they're not in possession of it either. You do learn that the chef and concierge are having an affair behind Farnsworh's back. Near dawn, you learn of the surprising chain of events that led to Christopher recovering your briefcase intact. His act of valor causes you to fully confide in the boy. You show him your uncle's correspondence, the red-jeweled key, the controller, and tell him about Lord Hanover's magical appearances. In return, he shows you how to revolve your fireplace to slip into nearby rooms, and promises he'll soon take you via a secret passageway to the laboratory where your uncle carried out his research. As you get to know Christopher, you find there's a lot more to this young man than meets the eye. It's not surprising that he's well-traveled and tech savvy, but he also freely discusses matters like Jungian synchronicity and intelligence in plants. His guiding principles seem to be: 1) There's no such thing as coincidence because everything's connected; and 2) Always talk to strangers. Jeez, is this what they teach 14-year-olds in France? Together you make a concerted effort to recover the missing documents. Further surveillance reveals that copies reside on a computer in the butler's office, which is protected by a secure entry device. Farnsworth and Leon plan to edit your name out of the documents but have not yet been able to open the password-protected files; they don't have the originals either. Then you and Christopher start reinterpreting those silly stories in The Village Journal, and connecting "clues" found therein to further surveillance of staff and odd things you find -- like scone recipes embedded with computer passwords; a deliberately mislabeled wine bottle; a telling time on the swimming pool's timer; and a list of manor vehicles with telling plate numbers. By clever interpretation, you and the boy manage to discover and decipher a number of critical puzzles. It becomes evident that Uncle Arthur has set up a real-life, Myst-like scenario-game for you and the boy to play. Even in death, this man has taken eccentric to a new level. It gets stranger. Sometimes the Storytellerst translates the French you occasionally hear Christopher and Chef Leon speak. It even works when you recite a written passage of French. You begin to seriously wonder if you're being drugged or poisoned by the meals the chef regularly sends to your room. Eventually you and the boy figure out all the passwords you'll need. When Farnsworth's away, you break into his office and the protected computer files. All goes well until Christopher risks exploring other intriguing files neither of you expected to find. Thus the inevitable: Farnsworth returns and catches you in the act. An ugly scene erupts -- made more dangerous by the pistol the butler is wildly waving and pointing. Farnsworth orders you confined to your quarters until the constables arrive. He intimates to Christopher that he intends to fire his grandmother and expel them both from the manor. At least it happened well after you'd printed the will and the deed and secured them in your briefcase. Later, ignoring Farnsworth's order, you go upstairs to a party to which you were earlier invited. En route, Uncle Arthur appears in a library woodcarving urging you to get the documents to the law offices down in The Village tomorrow. Arriving at the Whisky bar, another spirited gathering is in full swing as evidenced by heavily-wagered billiards matches, followed by Irish jigs being danced riotously atop the tables themselves as manor romances continue to heat up. Later comes a rousing game of "Dreams & Schemes," apparently a pub favorite, which you win your first time out, thanks to a Storyteller dictating your game-winning oratory. Returning to your quarters, you plan to soak in the tub before retiring. But the moment you settle in, a costumed Savannah Reddy enters your bathroom surreptitiously whereupon she plays Bollywood music on a portable speaker she's brought and performs salacious bellydance routines complete with costumes and incense. But before you can speak, she dashes out of the bathroom and disappears. You seriously wonder if that really happened. And once again your evening ends badly. Shortly after towling off returning to your living room, you discover your video mail has been cut off and your door bolted from the outside. Worse, tonight's revelry distracted you from arranging transportation to the village tomorrow. Your all-night search for that secret passageway in your room that Christopher mentioned proves unsuccessful. But you do make a couple of important discoveries. Behind the bathroom mirror you find a rear-projection system, thus confirming your theory of how your uncle appears. And there's a boxed game entitled "Three Families" that contains materials and instructions for an elaborate simulation game. An accompanying note from your uncle urges you to reverse the roles -- "from game player to game master" -- by staging the game with the manor staff at your earliest opportunity. The next afternoon Christopher arrives and rescues you. Savannah Reddy secretly makes contact, instructing you to slip your documents to the doorman, who will later pass them to her. Reddy says she'll brave the storm on her motorcycle to courier them down to the village. Neither you nor Christopher is entirely sure she can be trusted but you have no other choice. While trying to find McCabe, you are hotly pursued by Farnsworth, Van Scoy and Leon and only barely able to transfer the documents to the doorman before another confrontation. While awaiting developments, another brainstorming session with Christopher results in solving more puzzles that will enable you to open the files you couldn't last time. Throwing caution to the wind, the two of you again burglarize the butler's office. You unlock a protected folder and discover that a complete virtual recreation of Manor House resides on the computer. Once again Farnsworth suddenly appears with pistol in hand. However, this time he's not angry (and it wasn't a pistol after all); in fact, the butler is apologetic, even conciliatory, as he hands over a remote controller (identical to yours except its orb is red) that revolves bookcases enabling one to move quickly and surreptitiously about the manor. It seems as though the struggle to prevent your laying claim is over -- and that you've won. A fax arrives, confirming that the documents were all in order and accepted by the probate court. Savannah returns and hands you a DVD she got from the barristers entitled "The Diary of Arthur Hanover." Later, Uncle appears as a floating face in the pool to offer congratulations. He urges you to befriend your former foes and discover the secret of your relationship to him, and in so doing, uncover "something important, something the world must know." On the way back to your quarters, you encounter a highly inebriated and disconsolate Farnsworth, who accuses you of having "designs on his beloved." With helpful guidance from a Storytellers, Kris is able to deflect the butler's accusations and frustration, and eventually calm him down. Back in his room, an impressaro-sounding Storyteller calls out, "Welcome to Soon! Behold a preview of your forthcomings!" After which Kris views a trailer of key events at the manor about to unfold. But none of the scenes are spoilers. He'll just have to live them fully to see how they turn out. (END of Part One)