Chapter Three: Humilitas - Superbia
After Clair had made officer Harris leave without a clue, she and Kai returned to examining the list of suspects. They had been previously discussing Sasha, Karen's mother, who was opposed to the marriage of her daughter and Jack. Their theories had picked up right where they left off before the interruption.
"I still think it's too much to say she killed him," Kai quietly defended. Sasha wasn't on the top of his favorite people list; she wasn't even in the middle. However, she wasn't someone Kai would label as a murderer. She was simply proud, but not impossible to persuade, stubborn but not murderously obstinate. She had for the most part, as far as Kai could tell, accepted Jack.
"The ones that don't seem like murderers are the most likely suspects at times. She was conceded, she was used to having whatever she wanted," Clair elaborated. "She wanted her daughter to marry someone of high society and she didn't get it. That's a harsh blow. When someone lives like you, they get little scratches and bruises as they go through life. They learn to deal with the pain."
Kai's look became more attentive as Clair spoke. He wanted to raise an eyebrow and give her a disapproving look. She was speaking as if she knew him, but she didn't and it bothered him. Yet she spoke with such a sense of knowledge and experience that he couldn't interrupt.
"People like Sasha are fragile; people like her can't deal with the pain of disappointment. They can do things that are... preposterous," Clair finished with a hint of... Sadness? Guilt?
Kai's face remained frozen as Clair broke eye contact and instead stared at her list. If he wasn't too shock to move, even the small muscles of his face, his eyes would have been wide and his jaw would have dropped. Instead he was frozen. Was Clair speaking from experience? She certainly sounded as if she was. She herself was a rich spoiled lady, who had obtained everything in the eyes of most. Did she murder someone? Was she feeling regret? Was that her reason to help him pursue the truth? Was this her way to chase after redemption? That would explain why she was so disturbed. She certainly knew how to handle a gun and she wasn't afraid to shoot. Who did she kill?
"Are you listening to me?" Clair interrupted Kai's thoughts exasperated. When he snapped into attention, she continued, "Jeff cannot be discarded, though quiet and seemingly submissive, he might have been a time bomb waiting to explode. Years of being in the shadow of his brother, of being unworthy," Clair spoke proudly of her own father, Jeff's brother, as superior to her uncle. "And of being pushed around by his controlling wife, might have finally gotten to him."
Kai couldn't comment, he was too immersed in his own thoughts.
"Karen Moon," Clair spat out the name like poison, "or should I say Karen Harvest?" It was clear she hated her cousin. "Sure, Jack was her husband, but no one knows that girl like I do. She's got her dark side."
Pretty, proper, polite Karen? Kai was in no position to question Clair; he didn't know Karen well enough to contradict her. He realized that Clair had a point in considering everyone a suspect. Before he was falsely accused and Clair's mansion became his sanctuary, he knew she had a rivalry with Karen, but he never thought Clair Moon was so disturbed. He never would have imagined the inside of this lovely mansion to be so neglected and covered with dust if she was still living in it. He never would have imagine it to contain a horrific room full of bullet holes.
That mansion was much like a person, it was painted and cared for on the outside, displaying a beautiful yet empty face, but on the inside it was falling apart and no one saw that unless the door was opened and one was allowed in. People were like that too, especially Clair. Suddenly her list made a lot more sense, everyone was a suspect and he didn't blame her for including him on that list too. He was innocent, he knew that, but Clair had never visited the room of his soul, she had not seen what inhabited his mind, so she couldn't know. Maybe she didn't even know herself that well, maybe he didn't know himself that well either, maybe no one did.
"Alright, I'll just go and get started filling up the hot tub with bubbles so we can make love in it." Clair's statement brought Kai back to reality.
"What?" He stared wide eyed with his mouth open.
"You're not listening," Clair scolded. "I hope you at least know I wasn't serious. Honestly, men are impossible. Leave it to a man to filter out everything except that. Are you even interested in solving this case at all? I'm not going to keep you here forever. If I grow impatient with you, I'm turning you in and going after the culprit by myself!"
It was then that it hit him. Clair wasn't looking for the culprit to clear Kai's name; he knew that from the start. Clair was looking for the culprit for her own reasons, her own vengeance. What he didn't notice before that was the fact that she apparently had no intentions of handing the culprit to the police. Clair was going to make her own justice. She was going to kill Jack Harvest's murderer. "I'm sorry," Kai finally voiced. "It's just a lot to take in. I'm sorry, you're right, they should all be taken into consideration."
Annoyed, Clair huffed and returned her eyes to the list, speaking the next name, "Rick Poultry."
"Now there's a likely candidate," Kai voiced before he could stop himself. He had never seen eye to eye with Rick. He had a huge overprotective brother complex and Kai happened to get what he deemed to be too close to his sister. Then he stopped and thought about it. Rick was overprotective, annoying, nagging, infuriating, intolerable, unpleasant, cranky and a number of other things in Kai's opinion, but was he a murderer? That might be going too far. Furthermore, what would his motive be? "Karen!"
"Yes, I discussed her while you were off in space," Clair snapped.
"No, I mean Rick, Karen!" Kai insisted. "Rick is in love with Karen." Rick had been working for the family for some time. His father, Rod, had been the butler at the mansion for years before he left. Kai had heard Rod ran off to find a miracle cure for cancer to save his wife, Lillia, and had not returned since then. Most theorize he just couldn't face the truth. Kai had to agree with them. A miracle cure? If there was a miracle cure for anything, it would have been found by now.
"So you think Rick killed Jack out of jealousy? You can't say he's in love with her then," Clair mused aloud, "they say you hurt the ones you love, but that's only when you don't know how to love. I know the difference between that superficial lustful love and true love. I've felt both in the past, neither ever amounts to anything in the end, but true love lets go."
Neither amounts to anything? "Love is definitely worth something, its worth a lot. Love is-"
"Enough," Clair angrily interrupted. "This isn't a talk about love; it's a talk about death, about murder. Rick will be investigated like the others. The next suspect is Rick's sister, Popuri." She worked as a maid at Karen's home.
"She would never!" Kai immediately argued.
Clair's frown deepened, "shut up!" She shouted so defiantly, no one would dare to speak. "Do not let your emotions cloud your judgment. If you are useless to this investigation, you are useless to me."
Kai could only silently nod. If he was going to recover his life, he needed Clair's help. In the end everyone was a suspect, but that didn't mean everyone was a culprit, at least not of that particular crime.
Clair shifted in her seat in the room of wilted roses where she and Kai had been discussing the list of suspects. "You seem to be keen on coming up with reasons as to why these people didn't kill Jack. However, I must remind you that what we're trying to do is quite the opposite. Let's think more about why these people could have done it. We'll start with Sasha since, other than you, she's the one I currently suspect most strongly and your judgment is clearly flawed."
Kai opened his mouth to protest but Clair's icy glare made him shut it again and remain silent.
"Are you absolutely certain you didn't notice Sasha doing something out of the ordinary?" Clair insisted.
"Well," Kai thought it was an unimportant detail but decided to cease that way of thinking. All the details, however small, were important to their investigation. "Sasha bought dessert. I thought it was unusual because I always made all the food, desserts included. I didn't think too much about it at the time. There's a new gourmet dessert shop in town, I thought she was just curious."
"Interesting," Clair mused, "we cannot assume that the poison was contained in the main dish. It would be inconvenient to poison a specific someone from the lasagna that was prepared as a whole?"
"Yes, I made it, I cut it, I served it," Kai confirmed. "As for the dessert..." his eyes went wide in realization. Clair might be on to something after all. "They were some elaborate parfaits, each a different flavors. Licorice for Karen, strawberry for Sasha, vanilla for Jeff, chocolate for Jack, she even brought a pineapple parfait for me. She knew everyone's favorite flavors; she knew Jack would eat the chocolate parfait."
"We might have found the answer, but it's too soon to tell," Clair acknowledged. "If Sasha wanted to poison Jack, she could have slipped something into his parfait, but how do we confirm this?"
"We can't," Kai grimaced, before holding on to a small ray of hope. "Unless Sasha still has some of the poison in her possession."
"That would certainly be incriminating," Clair nodded in acceptance of the theory. "The other members of the household are not as suspicious by comparison, so we'll focus on Sasha." Karen's mother had become the prime suspect in their investigation. Yet Clair didn't want to conclude that Sasha murdered her son-in-law until she was sure. Then, after the proof was found, Sasha would pay. "I must go out for a while," Clair tossed the notepad and pen onto the table. "First I'll show you were the cleaning supplies are. I want this mansion cleaned from top to bottom. You have until five in the afternoon."
Kai's jaw drop, "that's impossible! No one can single-handedly clean up a mansion this big in so little time!" He protested. He was expecting Clair to put him to work, but not like that.
"I didn't say you had to finish today," Clair growled. "Clean as much as you can until five then rest, sleep, that is after dinner has been made. I expect lunch too; I'll call for some groceries and other necessities to be delivered. I'm pretty sure there's an alarm clock in your room. Set it to whatever time you see fit for you to be fully awake after your nap by midnight. I also want a cake, a dark chocolate cake, not spiked. The most important part is that you're ready to go by midnight."
Kai nodded, taking in the torrent of information, or rather the flood of orders. Clean as much as possible, make lunch, dinner and an alcohol-free dark chocolate cake. Sleep and be ready to go at midnight. "What exactly do you want me to do at midnight?"
"We're going out to investigate," Clair grinned. "That is to say," she elaborated, "we're sneaking into the scene of the crime, the mansion where Sasha and her family lives. Leave the security system to me, I have connections. You just have to be ready to help in the search."
Once again, Kai was shocked, "that's trespassing!"
"Better a trespasser than a murderer, wouldn't you say?" Clair reasoned.
No one ever said proving one's innocence against all odds would be easy. With a serious but determined expression, Kai nodded. "I'll be ready to go on time."
xoxox xox xoxox
The rest of the day passed uneventfully except for the horrors of cleaning a mansion that was in great need of maintenance. His room had been clean, and so had the kitchen. Kai assumed that Clair did what she could to keep at least a few parts of the mansion presentable. Keeping the entire place in order without a proper staff would indeed be quite the challenge.
Kai wondered about Clair's connections and how their trip at midnight would go. She told him to be rested, but how could he take a nap thinking about what they were going to do? Just what was up with Clair? How could she be so nonchalant and at the same time so temperamental? Kai had never been shy around women; some would even label him as a flirt. He was not one to be discouraged or intimidated no matter how beautiful or strong the woman in question was, but Clair was a whole other story. She was a dangerous enigma, perhaps a deadly mystery.
While cleaning, Kai stumbled upon a room full of various stuffed animals. The room was behind one of the few doors that was unlocked in that particular hallway. After Clair had returned from wherever she went and sat down to have lunch, Kai had inquired about the locked rooms. Clair had told him to leave them. He didn't question this.
He observed the forest-like atmosphere of the room with dark green walls a lighter green carpet and polished brown wood furniture. There were deer, bears, birds and a variety of other animals. Kai wasn't sure if all of them could be legally hunted, but he wasn't about to question Clair about it. He would just clean the dust off them pretending they were only sculptures and nothing more.
Atop a large elegant fireplace there was a framed picture with a pair of hunting rifles hanging from the wall left and right of it. A man fully dressed to hunt, carrying his gear, smiled at the camera. To his right there stood a shorter person, the man's arm resting on the younger one's shoulder. The boy was also dressed in hunting gear... wait, it was a girl. Her hair was tugged into her hat and the baggy clothes did little to hint at the shape beneath them, but her face was smooth and feminine.
Looking at the picture, Kai soon realize that he had seen those blue eyes before. The girl grinned at the camera with an almost menacing expression, as if she couldn't wait to get out there and hunt. She was Clair; Kai knew right away it had to be her. She was perhaps fourteen or fifteen in that picture. If he had to take a guess, he would say that the man next to her was her father. Kai found that Clair as a hunter was rather easy to imagine, she gave him the strong impression of being trigger happy.
xoxox xox xoxox
After a long day of cleaning and cooking, Kai tried to take a nap as Clair had instructed. The reality had not fully sank in that they were apparently going to break into the mansion of Karen and her family to search for evidence incriminating Karen's mother, Sasha. Kai knew that if this went well he could be a free man, but what about Sasha? Was she really a murderer? What would Karen's reaction be to her own mother killing her husband? The household would fall apart and the tension would fly in every direction, including at Karen's maid, Popuri. The image of the strawberry haired young woman crying made him feel guilty when he realized that she was probably already crying. Her brother, Rick, would be having a field day throwing out all sorts of insults and accusations about how he knew all along that Kai was the very incarnation of evil.
The young man shifted in his bed and buried his face in his pillow. How was Clair going to get into the mansion anyway? She said she had connections, but what did that mean? Would she threaten the staff? Would she threaten Popuri? Would she hire a professional burglar? Kai wouldn't put it past her, that woman was capable of anything.
While he tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep so he could be alert during the mission, he felt the door being opened and someone enter the room. It was Clair, as he confirmed turning his head towards her. She was as quiet as can be and would have slipped in unnoticed if Kai's senses weren't on full alert. "Still awake? You might as well get up. I want you to meet the other member of our team before we leave in an hour. Make sure you change into the clothes I left for you," with that said, Clair promptly left, not waiting for a reply.
Kai let out a deep breath and realized just how long he had spent tossing and turning in bed trying to take a nap he was too nervous to take. His body ached from the day of work and he was exhausted, but it was impossible for him to sleep. He got up and headed to the adjacent bathroom to finish waking up with cold water on his face. He didn't know what clothes Clair was talking about, but soon spotted an all black ninja style outfit waiting in the bathroom. He didn't know when she came in to deliver it, probably while he was busy cleaning. Dressing quickly, Kai headed to find Clair and meet her mysterious guest. His theories about the person were all over the place and none were favorable.
When Kai made it to the main dinning room, he finally succeeded in locating Clair. She sat at the end of a very long table with a man old enough to be her father to her right. In front of her there was a slice of the cake he prepared earlier, which she savored slowly. Another regular sized slice was set in front of the empty chair to her left. The rest of the cake was being devoured by the man in the chair to her right.
Clair nodded at Kai and glanced at the empty seat to her left, as if telling him to join them. His footsteps made no sounds on the plush red carpet as he walked next to the long redwood polished table. A multitude of chairs were placed on both sides of it with enough space between them for the occupants to be comfortable if it were full.
Arriving at the far end of the table, Kai nodded to Clair, not daring to speak. He quietly sat down on the chair to her left, sinking into its soft red cushion. Another quiet nod from Clair indicated that he should eat. The cake was accompanied by black coffee, a common drink when it came to staying awake. The coffee was neither bitter nor particularly hot. It was not what one would expect from its color but it was pleasant and none the less strong with a very noticeable aroma.
"Gotz," at Clair's voice, the man to her right stopped stuffing his face with cake and looked at Kai.
Gotz was tall and heavily built, with a lot of that built pertaining to muscle. His face was practically completely covered with brown hair and his dark beady eyes were hard to see beyond his long bangs. He laughed; his mouth almost impossible to see in his bushy beard. "So you're Clair's new pet, are you, boy?"
"Excuse me?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"What's your name, boy? Mine's Gotz, like the lady said!" Gotz's manners in the table and in addressing others left a lot to be wished for.
"Kai," he frowned in disapproval. He was beginning to think that his guess about Clair hiring a professional burglar was correct. Not that burglary was an actual profession. Immediately, Kai instinctively trained his eyes on the man, watching for sudden movements while backing into his chair and pretending to mind his own business. He took a piece of cake with a golden fork that he didn't doubt was made of pure gold if the weight was any indication. Carefully, he ate the bite, the entire time his eyes remaining on the suspicious man across the table.
Gotz chuckled and Kai gripped his fork as if unconsciously preparing to use it as a weapon of self defense. A few more minutes passed in silence while each of the three ate their cake and drank their coffee. Then suddenly, once they were all finished, Gotz stood up and so did Kai. The younger man slammed his left hand on the table, gripping the golden fork in a stabbing position in his right hand as he leaned forward, his eyes menacing with the adrenaline of survival instinct.
"Kai!" Clair scolded him with sharp disapproval.
Kai didn't put his fork down and sit again until he realized Gotz had no intentions of attacking. "Sorry," he muttered still on edge.
Gotz laughed hardily, "you got yourself a protective one, eh Clair?" He met Kai's gaze unblinking, "but you know boy, Clair's not the kind to want to be protected, she's no damsel in distress." He then turned to look at Clair smiling under his beard. He ruffled her golden hair with the affection a parent would have for a child. "Thanks for the cake." He began to clear the dishes from the table.
"I'll do it," Clair offered, snatching the dishes away, piling the smaller gold detailed ivory plates into the larger matching cake dish Gotz was eating out of, along with the matching cups and golden eating utensils. She then briskly left, the heavy atmosphere weighing more on Kai's shoulders with every step she took away from them.
Kai's eyes never left Gotz as if watching out for any attack he might attempt to make. Then it sunk in how he ruffled Clair's hair. It was not something commonly done to someone who could no longer be called a child, let alone someone like Clair. "How do you know Clair?" Kai pushed his voice to be as polite and non-hostile as it could be.
"Ever since she was this little," Gotz laughed indicating a height that barely reached his waist. Seeing him standing up for a moment before he took a seat again, Kai observed his old stained white tshirt which added to his disheveled appearance as if the messy beard wasn't enough. "They were best friends," his voice turned solemn, "Clair and my daughter, just about the same age, but then I lost them, my daughter and my wife."
Kai saw then, not a dangerous man, but a kind hearted man who simply saw no reason in keeping up his appearance if those dearest to him were gone. Gotz was heartbroken and sounded painfully sincere. "I'm sorry," Kai whispered not only referring to the loss but also his earlier behavior. Despite Kai still fully expecting the means by which they would enter Sasha's home to be illegal, he no longer saw Gotz as a criminal, perhaps this would be his first unlawful act. That man was someone who held Clair dear as a living memory of his daughter. He wasn't a bad person; he just wanted to help Clair. No matter what people thought of Clair, Gotz looked past it and she returned the favor. An uncomfortable silence formed as Kai looked down in shame. Just as he, a traveler from a distant land was sometimes labeled as a trouble maker before he could convince people otherwise. Kai had decided long ago that he wouldn't judge by appearances, but he had broken his own rule.
Gotz chuckled, "can't judge a book by its cover, can you?" With a grin, he voiced the thoughts he correctly guessed must be going through Kai's head.
Something in Gotz's barely visible eyes seemed to twinkle with forgiveness and acceptance. It was then that Kai realized that despite his situation as a fugitive no doubt being all over the news for the world to see, this man was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as Clair had. "That's right," Kai grinned back.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon.