TED

It was... impossible. Simply impossible. The man wasn't there. Vincent had vanished without a trace. How was it possible!? To be gone in such fashion .....!
Both of them got aggravated by the magical disappearance.

For some seconds, that seemed a lot longer, Dan was just there, staggering open-mouthed, contemplating the room's center.
- What the... He was right there! - Dan kept looking wide-eyed at the empty chair - I tied him up perfectly! Knots tied tightly. Then....
- Then, how could he have vanished? - Guaine stared at Dan, perplexed, the former's eyes having an hollow and dim appearance, and then approached the chair, crouching - there's duct tape attached to the back and the legs; and these cloth knots seem to be still intact and they're only a bit, not much, loosen. It's like, this guy, besides being apparently an insane maniac, also values escapism as something to do in the happy hours. Quite an hobby.

Then he intently checked Dan, who seemed as if putting quite an effort trying to think.
- I don't believe it.... How?
Gip inspected the bondage items, touching them:
- The tape isn't cut; seems as if it came a bit loose, although its edges are still strapped to the chairs. If what you say about these shreds is true, then it seems like.... either he was untied by someone else, or he has abilities that can put every magician in the dust.
Dan gazed upon the floor, then the walls, and then looked to the furniture lying around.
- There wasn't anyone else here. I'm pretty sure of it. I mean I checked every corner, didn't I? And now I can't find signs of anything displaced; I don't see any cutting tools, weird footprints. I'm positive that there only corpses upstairs. Unless they somehow turned into zombies.
- I could believe that. By now it's like we're inside a 40's B-movie. I don't wanna sound like I'm a CSI agent, but I don't make any marks of the chair on the floor, nor chips or bruises on the legs of the chair. I imagine that, to get rid of the knots, he'd have to swing himself to fall on the floor or something like that.

Dan kept reasoning out loud, as if trying to remember every detail:
- No one else could know that there was a person tied up here. Or could they? Vincent could have screamed. And someone in these houses could have appeared. But without a key to open the front door...... How? I didn't take notice, but it seemed to me that the windows aren't shattered. I just can't follow it. There must be something that I missed. Something I can't even phantom.
- It's probably a good idea to run a search through the house and see what can be found.

Dan hesitantly nodded in reply:
- OK, I agree. We must never leave each other's sight, in case he's still around. It's obvious that we must be prepared for the unexpected.
- First we advance in this level, then we move to the upper floor.
So, foot by foot, they systematically rummaged the disordered furniture, the bookcases and the pantry, and the kitchen stands. After that, they went upstairs, and [this time breaking the doors open] swept through rooms - being particularly meticulous in the parsley room - to no avail. Nothing.
In the bath room, however, it was found an almost transparent flagon containing more of the violet liquid Dan had seen earlier.
The tag had written in it: "Temperature Electrolytic Drupe". What was it ?