"Murder in the Rue Morgue" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Morella

Arthur Pym arrived at the condemned lab after the emergency crews and crime scene analysts, and despite that, he was allowed to go in first. Told not to touch anything at the crime scene, his status allowed him ten minutes on his own. What he found when he opened the door to the club was grotesque. In most cases, the bodies there were nothing more than bones and melted flesh, but panning his flashlight around the room he would find Prospero in its center, still covered by the mask left on his face. Nabbing Perry's phone, he continued on...until Morella, still somehow alive, grabbed his leg.

Roderick lets Dupin know the truth, specifically that the tanks on the roof weren't designed to hold water. In fact, they were placed there to hide unfortunate material away to avoid EPA fines. They planned to dump it when the EPA wasn't looking and, yes, it was in violation of environmental regulation, but they had to keep it for the time being since it was so corrosive. Prospero would have known if he paid attention to the business.

Dupin notes that there's only one thing that doesn't make sense. Why did the wait staff all leave the building?

Answer: Arthur

Arthur confided in Madeline that he didn't quite know what to make of the odd consequences of Prospero's party. After all, the working staff all left the building at the same time just before. They had to know. With seventy-eight dead, Roderick ordered that Camille be kept away from working on the story. Pym would go to the papers instead, hide Perry's involvement, and pin it on a felon to downplay the issue. Hopefully their stock prices would survive. Pym also obtained the camera footage and he would investigate it himself. Answers would be only a matter of time.

Frederick, meanwhile, rushed to the hospital to locate his wife and found his family already there. Arthur took him aside to speak to him-- there was stuff he could not say as the news broke-- while Roderick and Madeline planned to wake the others.

In the boardroom, Camille contemplated the severity of the event and its effect on the family's image while the other kids mourned their half-brother's death. Leo was the one to ask how Camille didn't know about the party. After all, knowing things is her specialty and it happened in a condemned Fortunato building. Camille instead focuses on the spin since she can take Perry's death and use it to garner sympathy for the Ushers up against their court case. The case she makes compels Madeline enough to let her go for it. Seconds count when the public's sympathy is such a finite resource.

Answer: Smuggling body parts out of the lab

Lenore came across her father and grandfather arguing at the hospital with the latter blaming his son for the recent events since it was his responsibility to have the condemned lab torn down in the first place. When Lenore arrived, however, the argument ended. With Morella in another surgery, they could only wait and talk about what happened.

As the news cycle started for the day, Camille watched as Dupin was grilled, live on TV, about the case in light of Prospero's death. The mitigation of the events going well, she instead turned her attention to digging up dirt on Victorine as, in her mind, finding the informant was still key to saving the family. Toby and Tina revealed to her that the key was in the test animals. Simply, there were animals missing. Rumours had it that Victorine was letting monkeys die on the table and swapping them out with new ones before anyone noticed, all in the effort to make it look like her trials were succeeding. Camille tried to poke holes in this though-- there would be cameras and personnel in the office. The rumour was, however, that she chopped up the bodies and carried them out in the night in pieces.

Before leaving to keep the investigation going, Toby and Tina gave their condolences for her loss. Perhaps not too oddly, Camille wasn't quite sure what they were actually saying...or how to feel about it.

Answer: A medical patient

Victorine reunited with Al through a throng of reporters outside her girlfriend's office and tried to keep it together. Though Al wanted to have Victorine leave the city to hunker down while everything blowed over, it seemed a bit unrealistic. While Al went back to work, Victorine grabbed her coffee and started to take a walk through the building when she accidentally bumped into a woman, dropping her belongings. Though Victorine had never met the woman before, it was the same one who met Prospero at his party, albeit she looked a fair bit different.

When the woman gathered her things she let Victorine know that she didn't know what to do. With the receptionist missing from the front desk, she wasn't comfortable leaving all her paperwork, not because no one needed to know about her heart condition, but because her social security number was amongst the details. When she elaborated on her irregular heartbeat and trouble breathing, Victorine offered to bring the paperwork to Al's office herself, placing it at the top of the pile. Of course, when she brought it back, she investigated, taking photos of the contents and discovering that this woman-- Pamela Clemm-- was just perfect for what she was looking for.

Camille, meanwhile, visited Leo at his apartment, getting let in by his boyfriend when his edible kicked in. Though Camille was initially mad that the face of her campaign was too busy getting high, his offer for her to join him was an easy one to give into. What resulted was an honest conversation about the fact that none of the Ushers really made anything-- all of them just threw money around and slapped their names and faces on it. When the doorbell rang and Leo could start to grieve amongst friends, she made her exit, promising to move the interviews to the afternoon. It was the least she could do.

Answer: Monty

Roderick tells Dupin that the Usher children had never really had to deal with death before they lost Prospero, but like with all other things, they adapted quickly. One thing he tried to teach them was the art of the pivot. When life hands you lemons, he says, you roll out a multimedia campaign and on and on, selling them at the highest price, marketing it to the extreme on every level. Eventually, when you've sold your lem-pire for a few billion dollars, you can finally make some lemonade.

Dupin informs Roderick that Perry's toxicology report came in and it was determined he had a drug called 'Monty' in his system. Though Roderick doesn't know what it is, technically it still comes back around to him; it's a street-engineered version of Ligodone. The info was withheld from the coroner's report for more than a week and Roderick didn't know either. It seems that Pym got to it first.

The conversation is interrupted when Roderick feels a pair of tense hands grip his shoulders. The spectre of Camille looms behind his chair.

After he pours another drink Roderick claims there are days he wishes he never stumbled on Ligodone. He was naive. He assumed it wasn't addictive and he assumed Fortunato would act ethically. He finishes the pour and turns to see his youngest daughter standing beside him and, in his shock, he throws his drink into the fireplace.

Once Roderick is calm again, he pours another and resumes his story. Ligodone was never his drug. He was just a middleman.

Answer: Give him a raise

As soon as Roderick heard that Fortunato purchased Landor Pharma he pushed his way into Griswold's office and demanded an explanation. The CEO was forthcoming about the plan; Ligodone was a goldmine, but the creator, Metzer, was never entitled to sell it. With the purchase, Fortunato got it all. Roderick was never going to be part of the equation. An idea, Griswold said, was worth nothing. Patenting an idea could be an asset though. The one thing Griswold said Roderick had was his gratitude, and that's why he wrote him a cheque for $500. Maybe he'd even promote him, but not yet. At the very least they'd start talking about his future.

That night, at home, Roderick told Madeline and Annabel what happened. In addition to the $500, he received a 15% pay raise and a bump up out of the second subbasement to the fourth floor. Madeline reminded him of their first foster family and how they took advantage of the kids they took in for their support cheques. While Roderick rebelled and was put down for it, Madeline likened herself to their guardians and made her their favourite. Social services eventually came in, but only when Madeline decided. Roderick, she said, would always charge at the problem. This time he'd need to take a page from Madeline's book.

That night, Annabel thanked Roderick for taking the money, again, because it would allow them to buy Tamerlane her medicine and to fix the air conditioner. She agreed that Roderick and Madeline had it hard as kids, but with Madeline's mindset, she couldn't really find a way to like her.

Answer: Pluto's

In the board room, Pym informed Roderick and Madeline that he was able to identify every person in the party surveillance footage save for one mystery woman in a skull mask, the same mask left on Prospero's body. The wait staff, when asked, said they never saw her face. It might be that she tipped them off. The one thing in common is that they all felt a need to get out. Madeline suggested it could all be a freak accident. They'd know more when Morella woke up.

Leo woke up on the floor in his apartment after his night-long, grief-driven bender, and wiping his face, he didn't immediately realize that he'd left behind a streak of fresh blood. Looking down at his blood-stained shirt he quickly determined that he wasn't harmed-- neither was Julius, upon looking in the bedroom-- but the blood had to come from somewhere. Following a trail of droplets through the apartment, he finally found the source-- their newly adopted cat, Pluto, cut open with a knife. Putting the cat into a garbage bag, he quickly got to his hands and knees to scrub away the evidence, unsure if he killed the poor animal.

When Julius woke up, Leo played off the event as though nothing had happened, and his decision to clean didn't go unnoticed. He blamed the grief. He also claimed not to remember a bit of the previous night; Julius said he was completely gone, mentally. Julius asked after Pluto, but Leo suggested that maybe they accidentally let her out again. Last time, she was gone for three days.

Answer: Beth

Lenore checked in at the ICU in regards to her mother's status to find that while she was stable, finally, she had not awakened from her coma yet. Nonetheless she still wanted to see her. What she found was a private room closed off from a sitting area, and when she opened the door, she found that her mother was actually up and awake, tearing at the protective bandages around her face and wheezing through an acid-damaged windpipe. Despite urging her mother to stop, she could do nothing until the nurses arrived save for watch her mother tear at her injuries.

Victorine, meanwhile, would call Pam from her home to let her know that she and Al reviewed her file and decided to bring her in for trials for an exciting, new treatment. Amazingly, she would make the perfect candidate.

Toby and Tina returned to Camille's apartment with news, specifically that they'd developed feelings for one another. Although their relationship developed off being Camille's live-in assistants and sexual servants, they declared that this would mark an end to that type of partnership, at least for them; the dynamic had been severely inappropriate. Naturally, Camille was not pleased by this development having already had a rough day. What resulted was a migraine (for Camille) and Venmo'ed severances for her two former servants. As for the dirt on Victorine... she'd have to deal with it herself.

Answer: A British accent

Tamerlane, angry that the new girl she invited had showed up late, argued with Bill that it was unprofessional for her to flake though Bill believed that, considering recent events, it might have been a blessing to have a night off. Of course, that was when the doorbell rang. Unfortunately, the normal girl, Lauren, was allegedly under the weather. That's why the new girl, Candy, showed up, though Tammy never knew that she was actually known by her father as Verna (and by Victorine as Pam).

Tammy was fine with the arrangement though. And with that their dinner started...and 'Candy' played the part perfectly, casually talking about how uncertain she was about everything going on as of recently. She suggested not talking about Perry or the family or anything else, just for the night. They'd push all the rest out and relax.

When 'Candy' asked Bill how his day went instead, it was a noted turn from the usual night with Lauren.

Answer: A chimpanzee

Camille would head to the R.U.E. morgue on her own, letting herself into the building to dig up what dirt she could on her sister. As she strode to the restricted area, she was stopped not only be a locked door, but a security guard-- Verna, again-- letting her know that she shouldn't be there, even if Roderick Usher was her father. Despite Camille's threats, Verna didn't back down; as she said, it was all just a recommendation and a suggestion that she didn't need to be at the R.U.E. morgue despite her insistence.

When Verna finally opened the door, Camille headed in and found pretty much what she hoped to find-- monkeys in cages, all waiting for testing. Some were more threatening than others, especially when she started taking flash-photos of the specimens. She didn't notice as one of the cage doors opened.

Verna crept up on her; Camille didn't even hear her come in. And a conversation ensued with Verna discussing ancient civilizations and their propensity to use animals as test subjects, even back that far. Testing on chimpanzees, she said, was pretty much outlawed in 2015. Exceptions could be made if the research was proven critical to understanding human disease...and sizeable donations were made to support wild chimp conservation.

More importantly, Verna noted, was why exactly Camille would hate Victorine as both shared the distinction of being bastard daughters of Roderick Usher. Camille, of all the Ushers, picked the worst job to hide her true nature. As Verna leapt onto a nearby countertop with the agility of a wild animal and advanced on Camille, she let the young Usher know that Victorine chose better, saving the world one heart at a time, even if on the inside the two were the most alike.

Terrifyingly, Verna started to scream and howl like a monkey, riling up the chimps in their cages. She told Camille that Victorine was also a liar, pumping the monkeys full of adrenaline during their tests to make it look like the heart mesh worked. Camille didn't need to come to the lab though; she could have died peacefully in bed. Instead, Verna apologized. It wasn't personal.

The next morning, when the first lab techs came in for their shift, they found the remains. Searching the testing room, they followed the blood. What was left of Camille's mutilated body was found behind the table, and the chimp that murdered her calmly grinned back at the scientists.