Door to the left: Living room

Becky takes a deep breath as she ponders where to start. Then she sniffs again, and freezes. "Oh no..."

"What is it?" Roger turns to see Becky following her nose like a dog, leading her over to the room on the left.

"No no no no..." she mumbles. She stops at the door and reaches into her handbag, pulling out a police-issue handgun.

"Whoa, Becky, what-?!" Roger exclaims, before being shushed by his wife's finger to her lips. There was a serious look in her eyes, a look he did not get to see often, but he knew what this change in demeanour meant. He was no longer dealing with his sensitive wife Becky. She was in Detective Rebecca Carmine mode now.

She gestures to him to stay back, then cracks open the door and peeks inside. As soon as the door is open, Roger catches a whiff of what Becky had been picking up on. It is a stench unlike anything he has ever smelled before.

Beyond the door lies a large living room, filled with half a dozen sofas, armchairs and coffee tables. A fire crackles warmly in an enormous hearth, softly illuminating the couple-dozen corpses sprawled out over the seats and floor. A vivid red stains the white fabrics around them, as it does each of their torsos.

"Holy..." Roger whispers, peering over Becky's shoulder. He takes a step back, white as a ghost, and jumps with a shriek when he bumps into someone.

The two of them spin round and see a tall bald man in a black tailcoat looming over them, expressionless even when Becky raises her gun at him.

"Welcome, Roger and Rebecca Carmine," he says monotonously, giving them a low bow. "I see you've noticed the other guests have had rather an accident, but please, do not be alarmed. If you follow my instructions, I assure you, you can avoid meeting the same fate."

Roger tenses to run, but Becky grabs his sleeve and stops him. She pulls him in close and whispers. "Some of the people on the floor look like they were running. It didn't do them much good."

"Wh-what do you want from us?!" Roger yells at the man, tears forming in his eyes as he shakes in fear.