"The corpse is this way, Lady Nathae. Please follow me."
It has been one week since I started to officially participate in police investigations. I gained access to all their information regarding criminology. I studied each single murder case as far as they documented, but from what I can tell only my parents and Cavendish were planned out by Jack. And the only reason I can say they are is because of those letters he intentionally left. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't even know about his existence. Right now, I'm helping with a murder—another noble died, Lord Randolph Churchill. It might be Jack's doing, but I doubt it.
"This way." He opens a door and reveals the corpse of the noble. I can tell he died yesterday at night, around 21:43. I enter the room. I don't smell anything that can be linked with poison. I move closer to the corpse.
"Lady, we concluded the cause of death was a hit on the head with a blunt weapon. You can see a wound on his temple."
"I noticed it, but I don't think that's the cause. He has less noticeable bruises on the neck, and one of his eyes is red. He has been strangled by a right hand. I believe the bruise on the temple happened because he fell down and hit his head somewhere, likely before getting strangled. I need a list of all the servants that were in the mansion yesterday night. And please mark all the right-handers."
"Will do, Lady."
"Also... here..." I move close to a desk and touch the edge. "You can see some dry blood. This is where he hit his head. Maybe he was pushed and fell down, and since he was stunned, he was an easy target. Anyway, whose bedroom is this? It doesn't seem to be Randolph's one."
"No, and, Lady... please refer to him with 'Lord'. Anyhow, the room belongs to a footman, Ethan. If I remember correctly, he is left-handed, though."
"The body died at 21:43, give or take. Were servants still doing chores at that time?"
"Yes. If you are thinking someone might have brought Lord Randolph to this room and killed him here, I think it's possible. From what I remember, Lord Randolph wanted to talk with Ethan, so he likely went to check this room, and the killer might have decided to ambush him. I still find it hard to believe someone from this mansion decided to kill our Lord."
"Is everyone loyal to... Lord... Randolph?"
"All servants worked here for at least one year—some, like me, even for decades. If someone had resentments for Lord Randolph, he would have acted earlier. That's my opinion at least. I don't recall any meaningful event happening recently that could have unleashed this."
"I understand. Please bring me the list I told you about. I have to talk with Ethan. Oh, another thing—by any chance, was the room locked?"
"It didn't appear so. You should ask Ethan to make sure. Now, if you would excuse me."
He bows and leaves, but I want to make sure I obtain every clue there is, so I stay and check the entire room. It seems an ordinary one for a servant. It's small, with a single bed, a desk, and a small wardrobe. The bed is made. I assume he didn't sleep here tonight due to the murder. I try to open the wardrobe, but it's closed. Ethan must have the key. When I was close to the edge of the desk earlier, I noticed there were a few crumbs of bread—hard to notice, but they were there. I believe in mansions like this one it's forbidden to eat outside of specific zones, and bread is easy to steal. The question now is: why would he steal it?
I move out of the room and walk to the right corridor. The mansion is enormous, so it might take me time to find Ethan. As I walk, I can see all the servants' rooms. Only one door is slightly open, so I decide to take a peek. I can see a maid inside, right-handed; she is writing what seems a private diary. I can't make out what she is writing, though, but if she wrote something about yesterday, I must read it.
I hear some footsteps approaching. I would say a male. They are currently seven meters behind me—it's where the corridor turns—so I stop what I was doing before getting caught, and I look in that direction.
"You must be Lady Nathae. It's an honor. My name is Ethan. I was told you needed to talk to me."
"Yeah... Do you mind if we go to your room to talk?" I have to verify something.
"Wouldn't it be better—"
"No, your room is better. The corpse is not a problem."
"As you wish, Lady, then..."
I follow him to his room. He opens the door. He opens it using his left hand. I just needed to verify the butler's information—not because I suspected he was intentionally lying, but he might still be wrong. It appears he was correct, and therefore Ethan isn't the killer. No one would strangle someone with the weak hand. Firstly, you wouldn't be able to apply as much force as by using the dominant one. Secondly, it also happens instinctively, in the same way you open doors with the dominant hand without thinking about it. This is a trick Patea taught me: involuntary actions can't lie, since people can't control them, and therefore they are the most reliable information about someone. Now, the question is: why would someone kill Randolph and bring him to Ethan's room? Or why would someone kill him inside Ethan's room? I'll have to wait until the butler gives me the list with all the servants.
Anyhow, we enter the room. He gestures for me to sit on the bed, and so I do. "Ethan, so you have no idea why Randolph was killed here?"
"No, I don't. In fact, I was the one who found the corpse when I was going back to my room."
That's a lie. It means he knows why Randolph died here, and since he is negating that, he is either being blackmailed or he is involved in the homicide. The rest is probably what he faked to do. Let's say he was involved. It would have played out this way: the killer murders Randolph and Ethan helped him somehow. After, they heard footsteps, so the killer hid somewhere and Ethan faked to find the corpse. If he got blackmailed, then he simply happened to see the murder, and the killer had to take precautions. Now, I have to act like I trust him. If I insist and push it further, he might later on tell the killer I found everything out. It's important to make your opponent feel he is winning until your victory is assured—another trick Patea taught me.
"I see. I honestly found it weird. It's too obvious—if you were the killer, you'd likely have tried to hide the corpse somewhere else. It might be someone is trying to frame you."
"I assume so. But I have no idea who this person might be. And thanks for understanding."
"I have another question. Was the door locked before you entered to find the corpse?"
"No. It wasn't. We never lock the doors here."
It's unlikely it's Jack then. "I see. Anyway, the killer is right-handed, while I was told you are left-handed. I would say this excludes you from the suspects."
"That's a relief. I can't risk to go to jail."
"How so?"
He freezes for a moment, but it's his fault—he said more than he had to say, giving me free hints.
"Well... who would want to go there?"
It's blatant it's not the real reason. He would have said 'I don't want to go to jail', instead he said 'I can't', meaning there is something preventing him. He also couldn't look me in the eyes like he was doing before, and it took him more time to answer.
"That's fair. Anyway, we are done here for now. If I have more questions, I'll look for you. I was told you servants won't be able to leave the mansion until the killer is found. Is this correct?"
"It's correct. Then please follow me out, Lady." And so I do.
Now there are many leads. I have to find out why Ethan knows what happened but can't tell me. Why the wardrobe is locked. And why he steals bread from the kitchen or dining room. I have to check the diary of the maid and interrogate the servants until I find a convincing truth. Unless someone from outside killed him, then the killer must be one of the servants—they were the only ones in the mansion yesterday. I was told Randolph's wife was away because of her job, but she will be back as soon as she can.