Whether I turn out to be the hero or the villain within these pages is all up to how long you decide to continue turning them. But the story begins on a bleak morning in September where the sky was the colour of a television and the channel was disconnected. The guests arrived on time, from what I was informed, and it was to be a calm and orderly event, twelve guests joining the three who lived in the mansion and staying the night till the afternoon the next day. It was due to be an evening meal to celebrate the happy couple living in the house spending 20 years happily married…
I wouldn't have been contacted if it stayed that way.
By 2:00 all the guests were there and gathered in the dining hall. From what I gathered, they were all very important and knew the family in some way or another. And all went well until 5:02 rolled around.
I was contacted 37 minutes following the commotion.
I arrived at the house hole with my jacket strapped to me, no idea what to expect, just given a code red warning that there had been a killing and there were children present. I could tell when I entered the room that none of them knew me personally but a few recognised me from newspapers and such, the looks of shock amongst panic and grief should have been heart breaking to see. But on a heart of diamond lies no scars. I walked past them all and looked at the notes the police had gathered on my way up to the room.
When I walked in I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw.
Atop a bed, still bleeding, eyes that had once been very alive from what I could see were now paling over. I shut them quickly, knowing that I hated that, it made me sick. The rest I was okay with. I looked over the body, and it was definitely a shot to the head that did it. Glancing around the room and picking up all the details I could I was interrupted in my thoughts by a knock, followed by the sound of feet. Turning, I locked eyes with a blue eyed blonde male who shut his eyes tightly as soon as he entered. That's when I knew he was the husband, no need for an interview for that information. His question was simple, and one I had been asked before.
"What do you want us to do?" I sighed slightly at his question and he made eye contact with me when I opened my mouth to speak.
"Get me one of the officers from outside please" I commented and he did as such, quickly and then stood behind the officer to listen to my demands, "As much as I hate to say it, one of the guests has to have done it. Secure all doors and windows, no one is getting in, no one is getting out" I finished, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as I began a closer examination of the body. The next step was to interview one at a time and try to figure out what had happened. This was the body of a brunette male, Feliciano Vargas, a caring individual I had once known in school was now lying as dead as a dormouse on his own bed. I felt extremely sorry for him. "Gather in the dining room" I shouted out, knowing one of the police officers would pass on the ridiculous message as I pulled off the latex.
This was bonkers… But I had to solve it. 14 suspects stood downstairs and amongst them was a murderer.
I wandered down into the living room where so many eyes looked up at me, some filled with grief, some angry, some a mix of both, some confused and one pair, unreadable. I glanced around at my selection of suspects, all of them looked incredibly rich but it was which one would resort to murder. I sighed, knowing they all awaited my words.
"You're all on shut down" were my first ones. They all exchanged glances apart from three of them, two eastern world CEOs by the looks of things and one European, "Because amongst you is a murderer" Gasps echoed as the young girl held back very visible tears, "I hate to say it but the bullet hole goes directly through the mattress. Unless we can find another hole, it's a safe bet to say Feliciano was pushed into the mattress before being shot" I sighed.
"How do you have the nerve?!" I glanced over at a lady with long brown hair, the only lady in the room.
"I'm sorry Ma'am would you please explain what you mean?" I asked politely.
"I mean that there is a child in the room who has just lost her father and you have the gall to explain how it is he was killed? People like you make me sick" She spat venomously.
"Investigators make you sick?" I asked, curiously, "Well how odd. You know, I could easily just leave with you thinking of the fact that one of you around here killed the person you care about so deeply" I commented, exchanging eye contact, "I chose to be here because I am called to work when the police know they can't solve the case alone and if you have any issues with how I deal with a case then you are free to bring them up in the interviews I will be conducting but mark my words miss…"
"Elizabeta Héderváry" She filled in for me, in slight shock from how calm I was.
"Miss Elizabera, mark my words when I say I never give up until I have solved the case. So, if you don't mind I would appreciate it if you get off my ass about it and give me a reason you're not suspicious, and don't just say I didn't do it, after 16 years on this job it gets very dull…" I said, crossing my arms not breaking eye contact.
"I cannot" She responded.
"Exactly" was my response, staring her in the eyes and finding a slight fear. This was the time I started picking out the likelihood of suspects.
I sincerely doubted the husband and the daughter, the pain the young girl was in plus the accuracy of the shot meant she was immediately out of the picture. The husband seemed to want to be sick at the sight of blood so I doubted he would be a suspect. Everyone else was on the suspect list, it was just who was more likely.
"I'll take Ludwig out first if you don't mind…" I commented sternly as he looked up at me, picking up his daughter and passing her over to a blonde male in a white hat who looked almost as serious as he did. The tall male walked over to me and I took him out, heading through to the dining room across the massive entrance way where I sat down at the head, pulling out a pen and paper and inviting him to sit down next to me where he took it and put his head in his hands, "I apologise for what I am about to ask but it is simply policy" I commented quietly, "Remember that all words you use could be used against you" He glanced up at me with tearful eyes and I felt a wash of guilt wash over me before I even asked; "Did you do it?" He looked completely appalled at the question I asked.
"Why would I do it?" He asked me, wiping harshly at his eyes, "I care about him, with my whole heart. I've loved him for 25 years…"
"I know, I'm so very sorry for asking, it's simply something I have to" I told him as I took a note with my right hand without even looking, a skill I had developed to perfection and used brilliantly for the past 7 years, "Do you know who did it?"
"If I did I promise I would tell you" He said, sighing before looking me in the eyes and, I knew I would have a serious conversation with him.
"Was there any suspicious behaviour or is there anyone you suspect?" I asked him after taking down his promise with my notebook, looking at him calmly as I tried to keep calm as I knew he was. He looked on the verge of breaking down.
"The only behaviour that seemed at all hostile towards Feli during the day was early on in the evening, meaning there was a tension throughout the night. Lovino seemed rather upset about something Feliciano had done, I was unsure if it was just regular Lovino though, he is a very angry person. I did not suspect anyone else of very much else. Yao seemed to be in a bad mood with everyone tonight, though he seems to develop a bad mood when something bad is about to happen so maybe he sensed something, might have just been chance" I took note of the important words and put in my mind the two people he suspected. Lovino and Yao. How strange.
"Thank you very much Ludwig, can I ask for your full name as confirmation?" I asked him calmly.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt-Vargas" He said in response sighing. I stood up with him.
"I am extremely sorry for your loss Sir, please be with your daughter for now" I smiled.
"My daughter comes first Inspector, however I must know what happened to Feliciano" He told me and I took another note of this mentally. How interesting, so a very family and business orientated man I sense. We both walked through again and entered the same atmosphere.
"Please go and do something everyone, I cannot stress how important it is that you do not sit here and drive yourself crazy" I told them all calmly once again and everyone began glancing amongst each other as some people walked out the door beside me, "Which one of you is Yao?" An eastern looking man in a red outfit raised his hand half-heartedly. He looked stripped of emotion like a winter tree but the eyes spoke of non-verbal anger and grief, "I'll take you next"
We walked towards the room and I noticed his calm posture. He seemed pretty certain about something. He took the same seat as Ludwig and sat very properly, with a straight back and his legs together like a woman. He kept his serious face on as he stared at me.
"I'm going to say the same thing I did to Ludwig, what I am about to ask is simply policy so I apologise if anything offends you at all, what you say can be used against you." He nodded in understanding, "Did you do it?" I asked again, clicking my pen.
"I didn't do it, I can tell you that much, Aru" He said, and I noticed a small lilt to his voice that was slightly sad.
"I understand this might be hard on the mind" I said sadly in response as I looked at his brown eyes that only had trickles of life in them, "Do you know who did it?" I continued on, looking him in the eyes as he stared back.
"I'm sorry I don't know anything, I wish I did though, I should have known something would have happened today, even my boyfriend's been getting on my nerves…" I listened to his odd comments.
"Who's your boyfriend sir?" I asked him, continuing to take notes as he continued, "At the same time as you answer that, could you tell me who you suspect?" He nodded.
"My boyfriend is Kiku Honda, the other Asian in the room" His comment made me frown slightly. They just call themselves Asians? Okay well whatever floats your boat I suppose, "I don't suspect him, he's too innocent to do such a thing. Kiku is respectful and is rarely in a bad mood. I am not sure as to who I suspect, Aru, but I know that it would not be Roderich or Matthew" I waited for his reasoning and he gave it to me, "At the time of it happening, me, Roderich and Matthew were in the Living room having a conversation and a drink. We heard the gun shot a short while after" I nodded at these words.
"Could you please give me your full name?" I asked him calmly, taking in these facts. So Ludwig suspected Yao even though he does have a solid alibi. Lovino is next on my list but I'll need to speak to Roderich or Matthew for confirmation of this.
"Wang, Yao" He told me, "I hope you figure this out Investigator, Feliciano was the light that connected us all, without him a lot of things will fall apart". He said before standing.
"I understand sir, please head through to one of the rooms and calm down, I recommend drinking tea" I responded and he nodded with a soft smile before exiting. I took a note of the words he said about Feliciano before moving through to the officers in the hall, "Go and get Lovino please" I told one of them and they nodded heading off as I took a seat back down in my chair, flicking to the next page in my notebook and clicking on my pen as the door opened and slammed behind an individual that looked very similar to the victim. He wasn't giving the best start.
"What the fuck am I doing here?" He asked me. Aggressively.
"I'll be asking the questions around here" I stared at him with a frown as he took a seat. I suddenly understood Ludwig's comment about Lovino being a very angry person, "What you say can be used against you" I growled as he stared at me with an almost permanent frown, "What were you doing at the time Feliciano was killed?"
"I was with Antonio in the kitchen" He answered, short and snappy. He's not pulling this together but this Antonio will answer the question for me later.
"And do you know who did it?" I asked him.
"Would I be here if I fucking knew?" He asked me, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair. His eyes were glistening, it was like he was putting on a mask of anger to hide the fact he was deeply upset and suddenly I felt pitiful for him.
"Do you have any susp-" I was cut off by a sudden rather girly yell and both me and Lovino stood up. We weren't the first to arrive, a few others were there and we arrived in front of the music room where the yell was heard at the same time as the other eastern male, who I assumed was mister Honda that Yao had mentioned. I pushed through to see a brunette man wearing glasses, shaking, staring at the piano.
"Keep Honda out of the room…" I muttered to one of the officers who had arrived. Whomever was doing this was killing everyone off one by one. I slipped across to the piano where someone had obviously been playing… That wouldn't be happening again any time soon. Yao was off my suspects list to say the least… Yao was dead.
So my sweet little detective, seems you're about to take part in a very interesting game and I hope you enjoy. One has been shot, another stabbed while you were there and your two main suspects have been proven to not have killed one of them. Of course, they could have killed Feliciano, however I suggest you get these interviews done fast. The next murder is being planned already… And I wish you luck in your game
Xxx