The Night of the Waxworks

Marlene has run Hotel Marrow for eleven years and knows every key, every invoice and every rumor in the house. Punctual to the point of pain, Marlene looks at the clock more often than at the guests tonight.

Tilda plays the ghost of the Poisoner in the basement of Hotel Marrow and leads the guests through the Chamber of Horrors. In the séance, Tilda gives the spirit voice behind the fireplace curtain, and nobody except Marlene and Mirabel knows about it.

Mirabel Dorn has led spirit invocations for thirty years and tonight sits with her tarot table in the corner of the salon. She likes to talk about the “house that listens,” whispers, and reads meaning into every sign.

Dr. Falk is Cornelius Marrow’s oldest friend, practices in Nebelstein, and smokes the same pipe mixture as his friend on every occasion. He considers séances hocus-pocus and would rather drink his cognac.

Viktor Halden buys hotels with a history and sells them as an experience. He has bid €14 million for Hotel Marrow and negotiates at every opportunity, even over the canapés.

Ines authenticates historic wax figures for the auction house Kessler & Rohde, and at Hotel Marrow she is to assess the collection ahead of its sale. She likes to explain how to tell real wax, and lets no wrong word about it stand.

Leopold has run the salon bar for fifteen years and knows every guest’s favorite drink. As the owner’s only son, he knows his father is deciding the future of the house tonight.

Greta writes about haunted places and ghost houses, and she invited herself to the gala as a press guest. Her phone is always raised, and no shiver goes unphotographed.

Fenna has restored the figures of Hotel Marrow for nine years and lives under the roof. She talks about the wax figures as if they were people, wears the studio key on her belt, and steers clear of every argument.

Oskar has sat in the porter’s lodge of Hotel Marrow for forty years and logs every call, every guest and every key. He knows the house better than the master of the house does, and he rarely says more than he is asked.