As I was investigating, I didn’t know what I was investigating. I guess that means the mystery was... the mystery? Mystery-ception!

I didn’t figure out the real question until the artwork was finished.

It turned out to be:

What kind of place is this?

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Pretty much everything changed.

The room became older. The window became a mountain valley. A woman appeared. Then the bees.

I only had a couple of dead ends, though, and no red herrings, which is unusual. Most investigations send me chasing at least a few wrong ideas before they finally come together.

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The biggest surprise was how little backtracking I had to do.

Usually, I end up undoing all kinds of decisions before I find the right direction. This one felt surprisingly straightforward once the investigation got going.

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I almost replaced the mountains with giant flowers outside the archway.

It was an interesting idea, but it completely changed the atmosphere. Instead of feeling like a quiet, mysterious place, it became much busier and more whimsical.

The mountains gave the room the feeling I was looking for.

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The giant bees didn’t appear until after she did.

That led me to the answer:

This is the kind of place that only reveals its true wonders to the right person.