"We are here, young master."
The voice of Sebastian interrupting his thoughts, Ciel turned, and walked out of the opened door.
The shop of Undertaker stood in front of them, the sign still as ancient as ever. A large 'CLOSED' sign sort of welcomed them, hanging on the door knob.
Ciel turned the knob and went in, trying to expect what he would see.
He gasped.
Everything inside looked half destroyed. Books with their pages roughly torn out lay scattered on the desk, if you could recognise that it was originally one. The desk itself was half in splinters strewn over the cracked floors, the remaining half missing a leg. The layers of the shelves fell and the nails were wrenched out. A few coffins were opened, or in fact that their lids were chopped open. An empty coffin was completely destroyed.
"Not a pretty sight, eh? Young master?" Sebastian questioned, a bit cheerfully, snapping Ciel out of his trance-like state.
"What the heck?" Ciel tried his best not to use a swear word he had heard from an adult when he was small.
"Looks like he's not here," Ciel stated as plainly as he could.
He walked over to the splintered desk and picked up a leather-covered book.
"A diary," he whispered softly. He started to flip through the pages.
"Reading other's diaries are not considered polite and private,
young master," Sebastian said with a smug look on his face.
"Shut up." As Ciel flipped to the pages of the last few days, Sebastian checked the damage of the furniture.
"Milord?" he said aloud, "I should say that this damage is caused by a particularly large blade, if not, I suspect a scythe."
"Hm-m," Ciel responded vaguely, until he found the last written page.
"Er, Sebastian?" he handed the book to his butler. "Undertaker's writing is TERRIBLE. His
handwriting was fine along, but the last few pages were unreadable."
Sebastian took the diary and studied the scribbly page.
He looked up for a moment and said,
"I shall read it out aloud." he waited for a while after Ciel gave him the permission, and then he spoke.
"'It's consuming me. Hehehe. Who would think that I, a shinigami, would be so easily tempted?'" here he paused, a warning look in his eyes, "'Yet this being is beyond my control. It has crept into the depths of my mind. I am losing. It had drove me mad.'" here Sebastian squinted, as the lines of the words became more and more unclear, "'But I know a weakness of it. Hehehe. It is not so hard, and not so easy. Ju-'"
Sebastian stopped abruptly, and gazed at Ciel.
"Hey, what happen? Continue!" Ciel snapped.
"There's no more, young master, someone turned over the ink pot and it spilled. The words
were covered," he showed Ciel the blacked page.
"Oh jeez!" Ciel almost shouted, "Damn you Undertaker, going away like that and spoiling our very last evidence, or at least the most useful one!"
Sebastian smiled at his master's fury.
"Though, don't you think that the disappearance of Undertaker itself is the evidence?" he questioned, the knowing smile still on his face.
"What do you mean?" Ciel raised his eyebrows.
"The day when Undertaker disappeared, if I am not mistaken, is the exact date when the first victim was found." Sebastian reached in his jacket and took out a pile of papers. He flipped the shuffling pages and stopped.
"The first day was the 4th July." He closed the booklet, "Today is the 10th. Undertaker went missing a week ago, from looking at the thickening dust layer."
"I see..." Ciel said softly. "So Undertaker could be that mystery killer. It all matches with the previous evidence: the appearance of the man in the photo, his behavior (maniacal) and the few sentences in the diary."
Sebastian's expression turned grave.
"It would seem that the Undertaker is the culprit."
Ciel turned and walked to the door, which was covered with new cobwebs.
"Sebastian?" he finally said, "What will you do if Undertaker is the murderer?" He stepped towards his butler.
Sebastian had an amused look on his face.
"Why, of course I will fight him." he smiled.
"If he dies, we would lose a very useful adviser." Ciel stared at him.
Sebastian sighed.
"I would not kill him, unless he proved to be very much a threat to you."
"Kill him not, Sebastian. Bring him back and stay with me, be at my side, even if you have to fight.."
"All the time?"
"All the time, Sebastian."
Ciel nodded and stepped out of the wooden door.