14 October 2026
Wednesday. The hotel has been decorated. Not with bunting. With honours.
At the Immersive Experience Awards of 2026 it was named the winner for escape rooms and puzzle experiences, and highly commended for its production design and craft, which is to say for the lamps, the velvet, the panelling and Madame the lift, who has been insufferable ever since. I have been with the gendarmerie for many years and have received one commendation, for finding a lost umbrella. It was my own umbrella.
I have also read the hotel’s guest book, which is the sort of thing I do when the suspects are upstairs. They write about the decoration, which they say belongs to its decade. They write about the detective work, and how it is mixed in with the puzzles. They do not write about me, but I am used to that.
Croissant has a medal now too. I made it for him out of a biscuit tin lid. He has not taken it off, except to eat near it.
— Insp. A. Brochard, Gendarmerie
