Tom and Alfred were the usual couple, a detective and his partner. Their boss told them to solve a mystery. Tom’s wife murdered his sons and burned down the house. Tom didn’t expect that so he went a little crazy. His partner Alfred tried to calm him down, but it seemed hopeless.

Finally, when Tom relaxed, the chief inspector told them that the woman had escaped, but that they knew where she was. The woman escaped to an island, the only problem was that the island was full of crazy people. Tom accepted the mission instantly, Alfred was scared, but he couldn’t let his mate alone so he decided to go there.

They took a plane to where the island was supposed to be, somewhere near the Cape of Good Hope on the southern coast of Africa. A wasteland where life was a rarity and water a treasure. But that island was different: it had tall green palm trees and a huge waterfall.

The plane landed on a field because there was nobody there to build an airport - not even a single human being except, of course, for Tom and his scared partner, Alfred. Or, at least, that was what they thought.

They put their bags with the food supplies on their backs and went to explore the tropical forest that covered the place.

It was very unusual to see so many plants on an island that was near the hottest continent on Earth, but the two men were detectives, so the unusual was for them a common thing.

While they were walking through the forest, a man dressed in dark clothes, like the clerics from the sixteenth century, stepped in their way. He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a pointed nose.

'Hello, guys!' the man said with a deep voice. 'I know who you are and why you came here. I'm your friend, or better said, your guide.'

'Guide?!' Alfred asked puzzled, 'what do you mean by guide?'

The weird man laughed.

'I'm sorry,' he apologized, 'let me introduce myself. I'm Antonyus Winter and I work for Mr. Ronald Lannister. Actually, he is the reason for your presence here, on this enchanting island. You were invited by him, so here you are! It will be a great pleasure to meet you.'

The couple of detectives felt uncomfortable, but managed to force a strained smile. After all, they agreed that it was better for everyone if they would follow the man. The stranger led them to a big wooden house right in the heart of the forest. When the detectives entered the house a lot of weird people blocked their way. Tom counted twenty women and men, all of them bald and shaved, dressed in second-hand clothes that were too large for them.

Alfred screamed loudly and the people were overwhelmed by panic. Tom tried to protect his partner, raising his fists against anyone that would get too close, but who in the world could defeat twenty guys, not even a pro-wrestler.

Fortunately, everything chilled out when the man dressed in black came inside. Suddenly, the chaos vanished and so did the people. Everyone hid somewhere: in dark corners, behind the curtains - that weren't actually curtains, but more like blankets hanging over some metal bars. Tom spotted three men trying to hide under the same armchair. He didn't mean to hurt anyone as he didn't go there to fight, so he stepped aside and gave the dark man free way.

But, while the guide attempted to restore order, Tom caught sight of something he was holding in his right hand. It was a square light gray object with a small red button and a short antenna. It looked very much like a remote control. The only question was 'To control what?', but Tom was a detective, a pretty much insane one lately, but still a detective. And he wouldn't give up his case for anything in the whole world. Plus, he wouldn't let Alfred alone, would he?

Twenty minutes later, Tom and Alfred were handling the situation quite easily. They even talked to several bald people that were, by Antonyus Winter's explanation, 'poor souls in need of help from good people such as Mr. Lannister', but none told the detectives something useful, only stupid information about the plants and the weather on

the island. On the other hand, none of them said something about the absence of animals. Instead, their guide told them something that blurred Tom's mind for a second.

'We made sure there were no animals on the island for the sake of our patients. They are a bit unstable and animals might hurt them if they adventured too far from the house (in other words, the mental hospital).'

Tom didn't quite get this information, mostly because being a detective, he developed an ability to trust nobody, but also because he took some Biology classes in high school. ' There are more than 82 dangerous plants that can poison some of these people. Getting rid of animals wouldn't help that much,' he said to himself and, later

on, to Alfred as well. His companion was still shocked by the latest events and decided to stay behind for a while.

When their guide informed them that Mr. Lannister was ready to meet them, Tom got even more excited. 'Maybe this guy knows something about my wife,' he thought as Antonyus was leading them upstairs. A pungent odour of rotten fish invaded his nostrils and the cracking noise of the steps under his feet gave him a feeling of insecurity. Still, he kept moving, following the man in dark clothes onto the last floor that was more like a garret with big windows on one side.

'Wow!' Alfred exclaimed. 'I would definitely get lost in this house without a guide.' He gave a wide white-teeth grin to his partner.

Alfred was about to walk in the room Tom had already entered when Antonyus grabbed his shirt gently and pushed him back. 'I'm sorry', he said with a fake smile, 'Mr. Lannister wants to talk with the detective only.'

'Man, that's the biggest stupidity I'd ever heard. I won't let my partner alone!' Alfred replied unnerved.

'I'm sorry, I really am! But, as I said before, I work for Mr. Lannister. I'm just executing orders, and if orders are not to let in anyone else except for your partner, it means he doesn't want to meet you.'

Alfred started to curse and swear at the guide, his boss, the crazy people with whom he had to share the house, even the damn island on which he was, but Tom managed to calm him down.

'It's why we're here, dude: to find my wife! And if this creepy fella knows something about her, then I'll do as he says. Playing by someone else's rules ain't that good, but, after all, nothing good came in my way lately. If we're doing as they say, well, who knows, maybe luck will turn up for us.'

Alfred agreed with the situation and went with Antonyus in another room since, unless he was accepted by the guide's boss, at least he could stay away from the crazy people down there.

In the meanwhile, Tom was racking his brains to find a solution. He didn't mean to look scared, so he tried to relax. And that's what he did for the next half an hour, because, apparently, the owner of the house liked keeping his guests waiting.

Finally, when the bizarre man called, Ronald A. Lannister came in. Tom had a shock - the owner was wearing a long black coat, a scarf of the same colour and a pair of sunglasses with large brightly-coloured mirror like lenses, so Tom couldn't see his eyes.

Eventually, Mr. Lannister sat in a massive black leather armchair behind his bamboo desk.

'Hello, Tom, I'm glad to meet you, after so long!' said the man with a deep voice, even deeper than the guide's.

Tom tried to tell him about his reason on the island, but the owner interrupted the detective as if he would've read his mind as an open book.

'Don't worry about your wife. She's been carefully taken care of.'

Tom opened his mouth again, but Mr. Lannister talked over his voice. 'I know you want to see her, but for your own safety, I can't allow it. She's a bit unstable now, but as soon as possible you'll see her.'

For the third time the detective tried to speak but this time it wasn't Mr. Lannister who interrupted him. A sudden scream came from downstairs and both, the owner and the detective, rose from their seats.

Tom took a last glance at the man in black and ran as fast as he could down the stairs, jumping two or three at once and in not even ten seconds he was again in the living room, in the middle of the crowd of bald people. Everyone was screaming their heads off and running like angry bulls, hitting everything in their way.

At first Tom didn't know what happened, but he understood immediately what was going on when he saw a trail of blood on the floor and six bodies lying down near a table. The detective looked at each one of them and found out that five of the crazy guys were dead.

However, the sixth body wasn't one of the balds, but it was their guide it belonged to. The dark brown haired man who introduced himself as Antonyus Winter was now nothing else but food for any wild animal that could have lived on the island. But there was no animal on the island and Tom had to bury him and the others, or the smell would have killed him, too.

At first Tom didn't know what happened, but he understood immediately what was going on when he saw a blood trace on the floor and six bodies lying down near a table. The detective looked at each one of them and found out that five of the crazy guys were dead.

Tom tried to explain to Alfred what had occurred before he came down from Lannister's office, and even find the owner of the house, but things don't go as one always wants. His companion was a lot more frightened and Tom decided to stand by him.

While Tom was digging the graves for the dead people and Alfred was ruminating his thoughts, the detective's mind suddenly started to work. It was like a natural feeling, an instinct, something he knew to do all his life, that got stuck in the last days, but it came back now. And as suddenly as his mind started to give him ideas, he knew what he had to do.