Suddenly, the young detective woke up! Slumped over a reception desk he didn't recognise, in an empty black room he didn't recognise and watching over him, on the opposite side of the counter, was a short haired, angelic looking young woman that you can reasonably assume he also didn't recognise.

He rose to his feet in shock and awe at the glowing, supernatural entity gleefully standing before him. "What!? Who!? Where am I!?" He cried, rubbing the back of his head.

Like an excited teenager meeting her celebrity idol for the first time, the angel could hardly contain her excitement. "You're finally here! I finally get to meet you! I'm, like, you're biggest fan! You've been my favourite human to observe!"

"Hey, I'm asking the questions here!"

She squeed again. "You said the thing! How can one human be so cool!?"

"I... don't... What... are you, exactly...?"

"My name's Tanya!"

"No, I said WHAT are you!?"

"Oh, right! Detectives are so fussy when it comes to their wording, aren't they? I'm was your Guardian Angel!"

"You're my... Guardian Angel? I have a Guardian Angel?"

"Yeah! Everyone has one! Well, except for the really big sinners! We can only tolerate so much evil before we call it quits, but you were super fun to watch! Easily one of my favourites!"

"Why do you keep referring to me in the past tense?"

"Well, doi! It's because you're dead, silly!"

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere... WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M DEAD!?"

"I mean your soul ascended from the mortal realm and has arrived in the afterlife."

"I'm... I'm in the... afterlife...?"

"Well, where did you think you were, the post office?"

"This place does look a little too... abyssal to be a post office."

Looking around, the room was nothing but a pitch black void, with white furniture glowing on what did not appear to be solid ground. There were even white doors attached to non-existent walls that led to god-knows where.

"So, this is it... I'm really dead?"

"Well, I could check your pulse for you." The angelic girl, reached out her petit, snow white hand as she delicately lifted the detective's wrist up, causing the detective to completely lose what little composure he had at the sight of his grey palm.

With a high pitched and very unmanly scream, he immediately pulled his hand away. "What the hell is this!?"

Tanya screamed in response. "What!? Is it a spider!?"

"Wha-!? How could there be spiders in the afterlife!?"

"I don't know! Maybe it died with you! It happens sometimes!"

"Why is my skin grey!?"

"Wh-what!? Isn't that obvious? Come on, Detective Hartmut! Surely you can use your flawless deductive reasoning to figure this one out."

"It's... because I'm dead, right...?"

"Yeah...! Huh... that's odd. You usually look way more confident when you figure out the truth of the case."

"I do? Interesting..."

The detective rubbed the back of his head, deep in thought, which made Tanya geek out once again. "Are you deep in thought!? Is there something else you're trying to deduce!?"

"Yeah... You called me 'Detective Hartmut', right? Is that my name?"

"Yep! Harold Hartmut! Even your name sounded cool!"

"I see... so, I'm the detective, Harold Hartmut?"

"Yeah..." Tanya replied, looking slightly concerned now. "I didn't think that was something you needed to deduce. You said it like it was news to you."

"It is. I don't remember anything prior to waking up here."

"WHAT!?" Tanya screamed, disturbing the other souls sitting around the lobby. "What do you mean you don't remember anything!? That's impossible! Y-you're just in shock! Yeah! It happens all the time when humans suddenly die! You just need a moment to calm down and think about what happened and the details of your death will all come back to you in no time! Just calm down and think for a minute or ten... I SAID CALM DOWN!"

"You're the one who's freaking out! I already thought about it, but I'm still drawing blanks here!"

"Please tell me you're joking..."

"No. I don't remember anything from before I woke up here."

Tanya looked visibly upset, practically on the verge of tears.

"What's the big deal? You're my Guardian Angel. You said you've been observing me, so why don't you tell me who I am?"

"I... I can't... I can't remember all those details off the top of my head."

"Well, my memories must be archived somewhere, right? You guys are angels, so you must have someway of keeping track of this info."

"I... kinda... sorta... maybe... delivered your file to an... unknown location... that I may, or may not recall..."

"YOU LOST MY FILES!?"

"I'M SORRY! I just assumed someone would find them eventually! I mean, you're a super smart detective! I figured you'd remember everything anyway! Most people do! How was I supposed to know you'd get amnesia!? What am I going to do!? I don't want to get demoted again! I can't stand working in Mormon Purgatory!"

"This is ridiculous! You're my Guardian Angel! Please tell me you at least know HOW I died!?"

Tanya nervously played with her pure white hair, mumbling to herself.

"PLEASE!?"

She looked back at the aggravated man with a skittish smile, sweating bullets. "Y-you know... we're not... obligated... to watch our humans 24/7. We've got things to do, places to be and only so much power to infringe on the free will of others that sometimes we... just... kinda... stop for a little bit... I mean... what are the odds our chosen human would die, while we were.... doing... other things...."

"What the hell could you possibly have been doing that's more important than me dying!?"

"I was... playing... air hockey..."

"You're... kidding, right?"

"Um... it was a really intense game of air hockey? Lily's super good at it! She's like my rival!"

"I don't give a damn about Lily! That's the reason you weren't watching over me!? I died because you were playing air hockey!?"

"Well, that's not HOW you died, but it may loosely play a, very slight, contributing factor into your untimely demise."

"This is unbelievable! So what are we supposed to do now!?"

"Oh well, you're going to love this." She responded with absolutely zero confidence. "See, one of the biggest contributing factors as to whether you go to Heaven or Hell is your cause of death. But, since the information on that is... nebulous... you may be stuck waiting in Purgatory for... a few centuries..."

"WHAT!?"

"D-don't be mad! I'll wait with you! We'll be waiting together forever, in this endless abyss. Th-that sounds okay... Better than Hell, right? I'll tell you stories about your past, you'll listen... I guess... and the eons will just fly by."

"You said: Centuries."

"I say a lot of things."

"I don't want to aimlessly wander the endless void for all eternity! There's got to be another way to figure out how I died!"

In a panic, Tanya grabbed a bunch of loose papers from under the counter, shuffling through them in a flustered frenzy. "Okay, okay! J-just calm down! There's gotta be a way to salvage this! Oh! OH! Here! Look! Look!"

She shoved a paper in Hartmut's face. Swatting it away before grabbing it, he read through the document only to deduce that he couldn't understand a word of it. "What the hell kind of language is this?"

"What? You can't read Enochian?"

"No."

"Fine, I'll just give you the jist. See, three other people actually died at the same time and location as you did. You were the last one of the four to come in. So, all we've got to do is find the other victims of whatever this was and they'll tell us how you died."

Hartmut breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I'm glad someone around here was doing their job."

"I know, that was some super quick thinking on my part. You're genius must be rubbing off on me."

"Don't push it."

"A-anyway, if we talk to these guys, this whole debacle should be over in a jiffy. A nice simple, easy and straight-forward solution."

Hartmut let out a long, agonised groan. Despite being dead, his ghostly form still remembered all the sensations of being alive, including all the stress and anxiety of being thrust into such a bizarre situation, along with an ever present migraine. Now rubbing his entire head in frustration, ruffling his already messy bed-hair, he sighed deeply before he finally recomposed himself.

"Okay... so, where are these three chuckleheads anyway?"

"They definitely haven't moved on yet, so they should be somewhere beyond those doors." Tanya pointed to the floating, ethereal white doors scattered about the abyss.

"Tanya... there's, like, twenty of these things. Could you give me a hint?"

"Oh, right. You'll need an angel to help guide you around." She then suddenly gasped in excitement. "That means I get to follow you around while you question the suspects! So awesome!"

"Great... the first partner I can remember is some overly excited receptionist from the afterlife."

Tanya grabbed Hartmut by the hand, dragging him toward a door. "Just follow me, Detective. Now, let's solve the mystery of you're own death, so I don't lose my job!"

Heading through the door, they entered into another abyss, only now with more doors lined up against non-existent walls, like a hallway. Tanya re-read the document. "Now then, the first Departed Soul listed here is called: Bernard Boomhauer."

"Does it have any other info on the guy, like how he died?"

"Nope. Just basic profile stuff like: Age, Gender, Species, etc. Personal information about their life is kept in their Personal File. Looks like you'll have to get the details from him the old fashioned way. And I get to see you do it all in person!"

"Even in death I still have to interrogate people. Fine, just take me to the room he's waiting around in."

Tanya picked a door and escorted her favourite detective through it. They came into another reception desk area, although this one was unattended. "Look! There he is!" She pointed to the furniture in the corner where a bright ball of white light was floating above the chair.

"What, the orb?" Hartmut commented. "How did he get turned into an orb?"

"Let's go and ask him!"

Hartmut and Tanya approached the floating orb and introduced themselves, but the orb seemed displeased. "Wh-what are you doing here!?" It whined.

"I'm asking the questions here." Hartmut replied. "You're Bernard Boomhauer, right? Apparently we both died at the same time. Can you tell me what happened?"

The ball appeared agitated as it fluttered around on the spot. "YOU! Th-this was all your fault! E-everything was going fine until you showed up!"

"What!? What did I do!?"

"Y-you know what you did!"

"No, I really don't. I don't remember anything."

"Well, I-I don't wanna talk about it! Just thinking about what happened makes me want to crawl into a hole and die!"

"But, we're already dead..."

"Yeah, because of you! And what the hell!? Why do you get to keep your body, when we both died from the same explosion!?"

"EXPLOSION!?"

Boomhauer shrivelled as he yelped to himself.

"Oh snap!" Tanya yelled. "He slipped up, Hartmut! Now drill into him!"

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"Gladly! There was an explosion!? What happened!? Is that what killed me!?"

"What!?" Boomhauer angrily screamed. "I don't have to tell you anything! I'm dead already, so none of this even matters! I mean, what are you gonna do, threaten me!?"

"If I had a tennis racket I would!"

"Do your worst, but you ain't getting any more info outta me!"

"Why!? We're already dead, what do you have to gain from being so spiteful!?"

"Um..... self-satisfaction?"

"What!? Just tell me how I died!"

"Absolutely not. Goodbye now."

The little floating ball disappeared through the doors of the abyss.

"Hey, he's getting away! Tanya, help me find him!"

Tanya just sighed. "I don't think he'd say anymore even if we did catch up to him. It's like you said, he has nothing to lose or gain from speaking with you."

"But, why? He died from an explosion and now he's too embarrassed and angry to talk about it with me? What does that mean?"

"Oh, that must be why he doesn't have a body!"

"Come again?"

"When you arrive in Purgatory, your soul takes on the appearance of your body at the moment of death. That includes any injuries you may have suffered from as a result of said death."

"So, if Boomhauer doesn't have a body, then does that mean it was completely obliterated in whatever that explosion was?"

"Sounds about right. If your body is destroyed that badly, your soul just appears as a little floating orb. Oh and just to clarify, this only lasts while you're in Purgatory. Once your Guardian Angel clears up all the paperwork for you and you're granted access into Heaven, then you get a shiny new body to enjoy."

"And if you don't get into Heaven?"

"Then you're dropped into Hell, where the Devil will have his way with you."

"Th-that could be interpreted in a... number of ways..."

"As a detective it's your job to consider every possibility. So, have fun thinking all about that!"

"Maybe, we should just forget about the Tennis Ball and talk to the next guy on the list."

"Lemme see.... the next guy is: Ainsley Atomizer."

"Lead the way, Tanya."

"Assistant Detective Tanya, at your service!"

Tanya grabbed Hartmut's hand and dragged him off through another door and into another hallway.

"So, which one is Ainsley hiding behind?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter." Tanya answered. "These doors take you to wherever they feel like. Unless you're an angel, then they behave themselves."

She opened the door into another unattended reception area. Sitting at the back of the room at a table was a tough looking elderly man in a long jacket. "That's the guy, Detective. Now go smother his face with evidence until you wring the truth out of him!"

"I don't really have any evidence..."

"Oh... well, this is gonna be awkward."

The elderly man looked up at Hartmut as the two approached him and grimaced. "And just when I thought I'd seen the last of your sorry face. I must be in Hell already..."

"I-is there really something wrong with my face?"

Tanya giggled. "You could try brushing your hair every once in a while."

"But that has nothing to do with my face, though."

"What do you want from me?" Ainsley sneered. "You already got us all killed, what more could you possibly want?"

"Whoa, wait a second! I got us killed!? Care to elaborate on that?"

Ainsley was surprisingly hesitant for a man who seemed apathetic toward his circumstances. "I was advised not to discuss anything about the incident with anybody until it was time for my Final Judgement."

"You've got to be kidding me... Who could possibly get you to stay silent at this point!? We're dead already!"

Ainsley simply turned his head away, visibly annoyed. Hartmut, in response, turned to his Guardian Angel for assistance.

"Tanya... can't you do something about this?"

"Looks like his Guardian Angel is keeping him quiet." She explained.

"Why's that?"

"For his Final Judgement, where he and his Guardian Angel will be brought before an Arch Angel where they'll debate over whether the Departed Soul deserves to go to Heaven or Hell. Considering the shady circumstances surrounding the deaths of all four of you, he must have been advised to not speak with anyone so his actions up here don't influence the Arch Angel's judgement."

"God... even in the afterlife you can't get away from obnoxious lawyers blocking your investigation." He turned back to Ainsley, as he tried one more question. "Could you at least tell me how I died?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell you anything." He answered. "Ask your Guardian Angel, she should know."

"Alright then. Tanya, how did I die?"

"WH-WHAT!?" Tanya squealed. "I already told you, I don't know! Please don't embarrass me in front of the other Departed Souls, I feel bad enough as is!"

"Oh my..." Ainsley suddenly smirked. "Does your Guardian Angel not know how you died? Isn't that quite the pickle you've found yourself in. It'd be a real shame if someone took advantage of your pitiful situation and pinned all of their crimes on you while you were incapable of defending yourself against their damning accusations. I'm certain that would make your own Final Judgement much more difficult to pass. Yes... I believe you may even be sent to Hell. Wouldn't that be unfortunate?"

Hartmut suddenly had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I don't like any of the words that just came out of your mouth. Can you not do any of the stuff you just said?"

"It's not my fault you have an incompetent Guardian Angel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll give you two some space. I'm sure you'll need all the time you can get to solve this little predicament you've found yourselves in." Ainsley got up from his chair, turned his back and smugly sauntered over to the closest door.

"What a jerk..." Tanya complained, folding her arms in huff.

"Yeah, but what happened to his back?" Hartmut pointed out just before the ghostly old man disappeared.

"Oh my... The back of his clothes and skin look like they've been burned off."

"Those must be the injuries he suffered before he died. I wonder... do I have any injuries like those?"

"Not that I can tell, but I'm no doctor."

Hartmut scratched the back of head in thought. "His injuries are different from Boomhauer's, that's for sure... If we all died in the same explosion, then how did Boomhauer get obliterated, while Ainsley was only burned on the back and I somehow came out unscathed?"

"Well, at the very least, we've figured out a potential cause of death."

"But, how do you die in an explosion without so much as a scratch?"

"Do you have any broken bones?"

"Nope."

"Wow, that is weird."

"At least I've got a decent idea of what kind of people we're dealing with here."

"Wait, really?"

"Ainsley kindly mentioned he was going to pin his crimes on me. If I really was a detective then it's safe to assume that these other three guys might have been criminals I was investigating. That would also explain their hostility toward me."

"That does make sense... wait! Explosions!? Were these guys terrorists!? I don't remember you investigating terrorists!"

"Let's hurry and interrogate the last guy on the list. We're gonna need all the information we can get before this Final Judgement thing."

"The Final Judgement... without your Personal File, we'll have to go through the whole thing using nothing but our memory, which is biased, unreliable and in your case, completely non-existent! This is a total disaster!"

"The clock's ticking, Tanya. If you don't pick up the pace, you might get dragged down to Hell with me."

"No! I don't wanna be a Fallen Angel! They're like the creepy goth kids of the afterlife, I'm more of a perky, party girl type!" Tanya whipped out the file in distress. "Okay, okay! The last guy is Eddie Explosion! Come on, Detective! Let's go!"

She grabbed Hartmut by the arm and dragged him through the nearest door, pulling him along like a ragdoll through the ethereal corridor until they found their last target. Sitting with his head down on the table, was a short man with black hair.

"Hey, Eddie! Is that you!?" Hartmut called.

The man raised his head, revealing his gloomy expression. With a deep, bitter groan the man simply replied: "Please go away."

Immediately ignoring his request, Hartmut and Tanya approached him. "Hey, do you remember me?"

"Yes, that's why I'm telling you to go away."

"Wow..." Tanya solemnly sighed. "I've never seen a Departed Soul this depressed before. Did you get amnesia too?"

"I wish... What a mess I made... I should have never gotten involved with those guys... I'm totally going to Hell for this..."

"Could you tell us what happened?" Hartmut asked.

"Why? You were there, too."

"Yeah, but I kinda lost my memories when I woke up here and my incompetent Guardian Angel can't find my file. So, it'd be really nice if you could tell us what happened."

"I-I don't wanna talk about it. Everything happened so fast and I couldn't bare to watch any of it. I remember diving for cover and before I knew it I woke up here..."

"I heard it was an explosion that killed us. So you must have gotten scared by whatever was going to cause that explosion, right?"

"It was my fault..."

"Wait, what?"

"It was me... I created the bomb that got us all killed.... I'm so screwed..."

"So it was a bomb... You made a bomb!? A bomb powerful enough to completely destroy someone's body!? Are you insane!?"

"It was never meant to be used like that!!"

"Then what were you planning on using it for!?"

"We needed a powerful explosive to break open the giant safe at the bank! It was just a bank heist! I never intended to use my explosives to kill anyone!"

"Oh... I see... so it was a bank robbery... but how the hell did a bank robbery go that horribly wrong?"

"Because you showed up out of nowhere... and thanks to your interruption that idiot Boomhauer panicked and everything descended into chaos. I knew that moron couldn't be trusted to get the job done right, all he had to do was place the bomb in front of the safe, set the timer and get out of there."

"So the bomb was on a timer? How much time did you have? What exactly was the plan here?"

"It was set to explode in thirty seconds. Plenty of time to get out of the room before it blows. The police were already distracted, the getaway cars were on standby and Boomhauer worked at the bank so he knew how to get the money out quickly and efficiently. Everything was going perfectly, until you showed up."

"Why did I show up?"

"To ruin our day."

"Well, I was a detective. I guess it makes sense that I would try to ruin a bank robbers day."

"Does it?" Tanya pondered. "I don't remember you investigating any bank robberies or heists. In fact, last I checked you didn't have any jobs lined up."

"Really? Then how the hell did I get involved...?"

Eddie sighed again. "Look... I don't really care. I don't wanna talk about this anymore... Just leave me alone."

"But, just to clarify. You didn't see how I died?"

"No, I was cowering on the floor."

"Oh, awesome. The one detail I absolutely needed to know and yet again, I get nothing."

"Sorry, man. I'm sure Boomhauer would know."

"Why do you say that?"

"You two got into a fight. Go ask him."

"I can't. He ran away."

"Of course he did... Well, have fun tracking him down, I've got nothing else to say."

Eddie slammed his head back down on the table and refused to get back up. He was completely done with everything.

Tanya looked down at the sulking man, disappointed. "Looks like this is all the information we're getting out of these guys..."

"Yeah, but look closer. It seems Eddie's got the same burn marks on his back as Ainsley does."

"Oh yeah. I guess that means they both died from similar circumstances. What the heck's going on? All three of their deaths line up perfectly with a bomb explosion, but yours doesn't? Then, how the heck did you die?"

"I have a vague idea, but we won't know for sure unless we have another conversation with Boomhauer. Any idea where he could have run off to, Tanya?"

"No... the document only says which waiting room they were staying in, but Boomhauer bolted off on his own. He could be anywhere in this endless abyss."

"Oh... that's... concerning..."

With their investigation now fully impeded, Hartmut and Tanya grew anxious as they left Eddie to wallow in his own misery. They exited the room through another ethereal door, but instead of appearing in the hallway, they were brought to, what looked like, a courtroom. With four desks lined up in front of a tall stand where the Judge would be seated.

The heavy, foreboding atmosphere in the room was not lost on Hartmut. "U-uh... Tanya... did you take a wrong turn somewhere."

"Oh no..." She muttered under her breath.

"BE STILL!" A powerful voice echoed throughout the room as a white light illuminated the abyss. From within that heavenly glow, a set of four wings sprouted forth as an eight foot tall man descended before them in pure white robes. "Harold Hartmut! Your Final Judgement is Nigh! I, as one of the Four Angels of Penance and Minister of Truth, Panuel, shall be thigh Judge!"

"W-wait! We're doing this now!?" Hartmut stuttered in the face of such a divine presence. "B-but, we haven't finished gathering information yet!"

"Indeed! Your circumstances are most rare! Dare I say, unprecedented! Is this but mere incompetence or is foul play afoot? May the Departed Souls of all those involved in this mysterious incident and their Guardian Angels be summoned to this court of Divine Providence so we may discover the truth behind these unorthodox deaths!"

Taking his seat upon the Judge's Stand, Panuel slammed down his ivory gavel and with that single bang summoned the remaining players for this bizarre game.

Eddie Explosion, Ainsley Atomizer and Bernard Boomhauer all appeared behind their own desks, looking confused, sputtering out questions as to where they were or what was happening until Panuel spoke up, once again. "BE STILL!"

The chatter was instantly silenced as Panuel explained the situation to the others. "I am the Minister of Truth, the Arch Angel Panuel and the four of you stand in this Court of Divine Providence for your Final Judgement to determine whether you deserve to ascend to Heaven or fall into Hell. However, as I'm sure you've been made aware. There is a very concerning mystery surrounding your deaths. A truth that's yet to be uncovered. In order to properly Judge your actions, this mystery must be solved.

Therefore, all four of you shall be judged at once. You shall all testify about what happened this day, so we may unravel this mystery. Do you understand?"

"What!?" Ainsley yelled. "Don't we get some kind of lawyer!?"

"Indeed. Your Guardian Angels should be arriving shortly. They will advise you during the proceedings."

Soon three angels entered the room, each holding a file. A tall male angel sat with Bernard.

"Am I screwed, Jerry? Am I going to Hell?" Bernard cried in fear.

The angel simply fixed his glasses. "That's something we'll have to figure out during this trial."

Next, a meek female angel sat with Eddie. "I wanna die, Sera..."

"Y-you're already dead..." She replied, comforting the man. "Come on, you can get through this... I know this wasn't your fault..."

Finally, a dark skinned, blonde angel approached Ainsley, whom Tanya recognised. "H-hi, Lily." She meekly waved to her friend.

Lily looked back at Tanya with a concerned sigh. "I can't believe how much of a mess you've made, Tanya. For someone who's always bragging about how cool their human is, you'd think you'd take better care of their file."

"I-I know, right...? Whoops..."

"You're one to talk." Hartmut intervened. "Your file's covered in stains."

Lily was visibly annoyed. "I spilled a drink on it a few days ago. It happens. It's better than straight up losing it."

Panuel banged his gavel to get everyone's attention. "Now that everyone is here. I'm sure the angels have already been informed of the situation, thus, I will now formally begin the Final Judgement of Ainsley Atomizer, Eddie Explosion, Bernard Boomhauer and Harold Hartmut!"

Jerry immediately stood up. "Your Honour, I would like to make a suggestion."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"In a normal Final Judgement, the Personal Files of the Departed Soul are handed over to the Arch Angel for review, however, as this trial involves multiple souls, I advise that we keep our files to ourselves until the details surrounding Hartmut's death can be properly verified."

"I see... you make an interesting point."

"WHAT!?" Hartmut cried. "No he doesn't! I object!"

"On what grounds?"

"Blatant cheating! He's just trying to hide Boomhauer's actions to make him appear more innocent!"

Despite Hartmut's impassioned retort, Jerry was unshaken. "Your Honour, please remember that the reason Arch Angels judge humans who's lives they know nothing about is to ensure their judgement is as unbiased as possible. If we were to share our files with you, when one of them is missing, it could unfairly influence your decision. Information from one file may change your perception of the information in another.

I and the other angels have already discussed the idea before the trial started and we've all agreed that, in the interest of fairness, keeping our client's Personal Files a secret would be best for ALL involved. At least until the details of Hartmut's death have been cleared up with no room for doubt, or until his file is found."

Panuel pondered the idea for a moment and quickly came to a conclusion. "I agree. Hartmut's missing file puts him at a disadvantage, but conversely his death being such an unknown also means he can manipulate the information in the other files to his advantage as well. Therefore, we shall rely solely on the testimony of the four Departed Souls to determine the truth of this strange turn of events, for the time being."

"W-wait! This makes no sense!" Hartmut cried. "What's the point of this trial if everything can be cleared up by just finding my file! Just because it's gone doesn't mean it evaporated into thin air! I mean, you're angels! Divine beings! How can you NOT find it!? Can't you just... magic it back up or something!?"

Panuel merely chucked to himself. "I believe you humans have overestimated us. We cannot 'magic up' anything if we are unaware of it's whereabouts. That is a power reserved only for the Holiest of Holies. However, I will take your request into consideration. So, Miss Tanya, do you remember where you left Hartmut's file?"

Shaking from the stress, Tanya meekly replied. "I-I don't know..."

"Then we shall continue as planned."

Hartmut quickly interrupted again. "Wait! Hold on! Tanya, come on! You've gotta remember something! Re-trace your steps! Where was the last place you saw it!?"

"U-Um... I-I.... Oh! That's right! I took out your file to show off to my friends, like I do every weekend!"

"Okay, that covers the WHY, but I'm asking about the WHERE!"

"I don't know! We do all sorts of stuff on the weekend! I could have lost it at any time!"

"Oh Lord, give me strength... Why couldn't you just leave my file alone, woman!?"

"What? It's pretty common for angels to take out their human's Personal Files to gossip about the wacky adventures they go on with their friends. It's super fun. Everyone is always left in awe at your genius deductions, Hartmut!"

Lily laughed. "In that case, he should have no trouble deducing his way out of this one. Think of it as one last case for the great Detective Hartmut to crack before he moves on."

"Yeah!" Tanya cheered. "Go for it, Hartmut! Show them, first hand, how brilliant your deductions are!"

"I never thought dying could be this stressful..." Hartmut sulked.

Banging his gavel to grab the other's attention, Panuel attempted to get the trial back on track. "It seems we've gotten no closer to finding Hartmut's file. I'll ask one last time. Miss Tanya, are you certain you have no idea where it could be?"

"I don't know... the arcade...? Actually, yeah! That's totally where it could be! I must have just left it there by mistake!"

"I see... in that case, I'll send a search team to examine the arcade you frequent." Panuel merely snapped his fingers, as a white light briefly flashed from the tips. "While we wait, let us continue the trial as planned, in case you're mistaken."

"No way! The more I think about it, the more certain I am!"

"As you all know, the cause of death is a key factor in deciding the fate of a Departed Soul. Was their life cut short, or was their death a direct result of their own hubris? Which of you four shall testify as to the cause of your deaths?"

The dead men sat in silence, unable to decide who should speak up first, until Ainsley let out an annoyed groan. "Fine, I suppose I'll go first. You cowards."

"Very well. Ainsley Atomizer, please step forward and give us your account of what transpired that day."