After closing the door behind them, Walter proceeded to take up the cape that had been removed, setting it to hang on the nearby rack until such time as he could spare the time to properly see to its drying; presently, there were more important matters to attend to.

"I'll be right back. The linen closet's just upstairs."

And with that brief notice, he departed abruptly, ascending a staircase that split off into opposite directions and taking the path that diverged to the right. He disappeared behind one of the doors shortly thereafter, only to return a handful of seconds later bearing the towel he had promised.

Despite the pace with which he had attended to the task, he wasn't even out of breath.

"That wasn't so long, was it?"