Marius von Hagen,
Vyn Richter, and the
main character arrive at the
Manning Palace Hotel to begin their investigation into
Estelle Marino's murder the night prior. The MC decides to question Marius first to compare his word against that of
Jen Mendoza, Estelle's secretary, whom she wants to question afterward. Marius reveals that the evidence against him seems overwhelming: the gift of liquor chocolates he already admitted to giving Estelle were poisoned, and Estelle's dying act was to write "Hagen" on a note that was found near her body. The MC agrees that these things, combined with recent rumors of both business and personal scandal between Marius and Estelle, paint a bleak picture.
During questioning, Marius insists that he purchased the chocolates on a whim on the way to the banquet, never unwrapped or tampered with them, and left the banquet after only 45 minutes, at which time Estelle was alive and well despite already having eaten one of the chocolates and handed the box to Jen. He also explains that many of the rumors of scandal are overblown and can be debunked with Pax internal documents if not entirely false, and there were only minor personal grudges.
Darius Morgan then leads Marius away to the police station before the media arrives, while
Vincent Kim, Marius' assistant, arrives with the aforementioned internal documents and a gift for the MC.
AP x10 (First-Time Cost)
S-Chip x40
