Left Door (Author: Psydonis)

It felt as if her body dissolved into a mist of nothingness. It was eerie, hovering in mid-air, mind perfectly clear and all-knowing. She was still trying to make sense of her surroundings when she spotted the exact scene pictured in the image just a few feet away and excitedly levitated over there.

Hovering right above the scene, she suddenly realized that she knew the names of everyone and how they got into this awkward situation.

With bated breath, she watched the story unfold right beneath her.

Despite the grand public image of the Mystery Gang’s escapades, not all of the cases they investigate result in the uncovering of a master plan for riches or socio-political power.

In one of the gang’s more hushed-up encounters, a clowning duo for a declining circus troupe had run low on props, and there was little-to-no remaining budget for replacements. So, the tragic comedians needed to search for more creative solutions…and when our gang peaked in on their show for a little chuckle and a breather, with a member of theirs center-staging an absolutely show-stopping set of “honkers”, well…let’s just say these two jokers found themselves a brand new “big top” that night.

Poor, struggling Daphne somehow managed to scatter various physical clues near the tent for the rest of her team to find, and they were hot on her heels as the bumbling performers rushed her from one hiding space after another. But just as she was about to be uncovered, it was time for the big premiere of the clowns’ new act, and they rushed her out onto the stage, immobilized in a clown “doll” prop disguise.

Her companions broke out onto the stage, just a few minutes into the act, in a loud crash and flurry. But then, no matter how much Daphne tried to subtly shake her form-fitting prison about, it seemed to fool them all. They all stared at her, and the mischievous jackasses brazenly flaunting about with her “props”…and slowly bowed their heads, apologizing loudly to everyone in the tent.

Suddenly, the rest of the gang had a complete mental shutdown. All of their legendary investigative intuition just vanished, as if under brainwashing ****, or a spell. She managed yet again and again to leave fresh clues for them, but these were all either discarded, or studied and then followed in practically the opposite direction as the one she was hidden in. She could only watch in growing despair each time they took a break by watching each of her follow-up performances, on into a full week.

But, at last, her captors’ luck finally ran out. The shoddy, mal-financed state of the circus’s accouterments brought a moment when the lock mechanism tore off her holdings from simple decay. She flopped out of her holding space, and hopped out into the open…right in front of her friends. Her wide, joyful eyes screamed in triumph from behind her gag, greeting their equally wide, shocked, speechless faces. Daphne found it truly flattering, the way they all just couldn’t bring themselves to move an inch, or say a single word for an eternity, so overwhelmed were they to have her back. Finally, Fred croaked out “Duh…D…DAPHNE! Ohhh…MY GOSH! It’s DAPHNE…everyone! We…FOOOUUUND her!”

That was one of Daphne’s proudest moments, even if the case itself wasn’t really that deeply schemed, relatively speaking. She never forgot their collective, open-mouthed awe as they’d driven away from the scene, as she laid out the entire case that NONE of the rest of them had been able to crack!

Suddenly, a gust of wind grabbed Becca and pulled her back through the door.