Riddle 015: Even More Puzzling...

[questionauthority]

[First, a public call, filtered from drones/Grady/Mayor/Postman/etc.]

Riddle me this. When you have it, you'll want to share it, but if you share it, you'll no longer have it.

It's a secret, ladies and gentlemen, and it seems as though the Mailman's incapable of keeping one. I know others have said it before, but come now. Surely we're all smart enough not to victimize one another. Many have their reasons for wanting to return home, but I'm sure others have their reasons for wanting to stay here as well. Strange as that may be.

...though that is rather curious. Why would one decide to stay in a place like Mayfield?

[Then, a private call, filtered to Officer Grady.]

This is Edward Nigma. Are you in, Boss?

[Then, an action, for his housemates and whoever else happens to visit. It looks like Edward's been fortunate enough to get back one of his old outfits in the mail, along with his good ol' cane. Believe it or not, it's actually surprisingly comfy and warm. Almost like long-johns. Feel free to walk in on him and comment on his god-awful fashion sense.]

Comments

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[He freezes a bit as soon as he sees Johan. Once he's regained what little composure he's had...]

Look, would it be too much to ask that you knock before entering my house?

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

I did.

No one answered, so I let myself in.

[Ahaha...totally nonchalant about this.]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

Is that how you were planning to explain things to my housemates, should they have run into you before I did? Or were you planning to just put a bullet through their heads, too?

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

The first.

After all, death doesn't last here, does it?

Is your daughter doing well?

[Right. Try to phase him again.]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

...she's as chipper as ever, I suppose. Drones are like that.

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

Yes.

Some of the drone children I teach can be quite annoying at times.

[Though that might also be because he can't manipulate them.]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[The thought of Johan teaching ANYONE is a scary thought indeed, but then he reconsiders. After all, this place made Death a history teacher. And Susan. And Edward was, himself, a teacher of literature and mathematics at one point in Mayfield. So he'll just nod.]

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

I teach elementary school here.

Did they assign you a job here?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

I was a high-school teacher, briefly.

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

Briefly?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

Only when I first arrived, though there was a time when I wasn't in Mayfield any longer. I'm not quite sure how I'd managed it, but for whatever reason, I woke up one morning, in a new house. Back again.

[hungry-monster.livejournal.com]

I'd heard that happens to people now and then.