A voice was heard in the darkness as the brother and sister knelt down behind the sofa.
"There is no use hiding; I know that you are in here. Both of you."
Edmund answered.
"Susan, can you shut the doors and stop talking so loudly?"
Susan remained standing, staring at them with a firm look on her face.
"Please?" Edmund mumbled.
The doors creaked shut slowly and quietly.
"Where you? I can't see a thing!"
"Over here." Lucy offered to her sister.
"Well, that certainly helps a lot!"
After several minutes of groping about in the darkness and following the voices of her siblings, Susan managed to locate them.
"What are you doing here, Edmund?"
"I'm happy to see you, too."
Susan sighed.
Edmund finally answered her question, "I will tell you, presently. Both of you, please sit down."
The girls obeyed as they plopped down on the sofa watching their brother stand before them.
"Here we go, again." Lucy muttered.
"I will start from the beginning."
Edmund spent the next few minutes repeating to Susan, what he had previously told Lucy, minus the constant comments and interruptions.
His youngest sister sat impatiently waiting for him to continue his narrative.
"Did you find anything after you searched his room?" She asked.
"Yes, Lucy." Edmund answered in frustration. "I was just about to say what I found out."
He paused for effect.
"Well?" Susan urged him to continue.
"I discovered a goblet by his bedside, which had contained water. I noticed that a putrid odor wafted from it."
He looked into the eyes of each of his sisters.
"Our brother is being poisoned."
Susan and Lucy looked back at their brother in disbelief.
"You're joking." Susan stated.
Edmund shook his head.
"Who would do such a thing?" Lucy asked.
"Anyone. A king cannot always know who his enemies are. The perpetrator could have been a foe, posing as a friend. You never know."
"So the poison is the reason for his recent behavior?" Susan wondered.
"Precisely." Edmund stated. "My hypothesis is that the poison begins by slowly destroying the brain. The only physical symptoms are headaches and fatigue- nothing very obvious. That is why it's not surprising that I have not suspected this before. The detiorating of the brain causes rash decision making and confusion, amongst other mental defects."
"That's awful! The villain must be hung!" Lucy said vehemently.
"I agree." Susan responded. "Do you know what poison was used?"
Edmund plopped down in a cushioned chair across from the sofa his sisters sat on.
"I placed my finger in the goblet and the remains of poison mixed in with drops of water made the water feel grainy. It stung when it made contact with my finger and afterwards it looked as if that area was burnt. Besides that, the only way the poison can be fatal is through ingesting it. In my studies, I learned of Colandier trees that contain fruits, similar to blueberries. If the fruit, which is called Brogis, is crushed and grounded, its sour taste cannot be detected, and if the ground up fruit is mixed in with liquid, its color blends into the drink, which is why Peter did not notice it in his water."
"How do you know for sure that Peter is being poisoned by the Brogis fruit?" Susan questioned.
Edmund answered her, "He has all of the symptoms, the mixture in his water has the same sour smell and grainy texture. Susan, I would not guess on a matter as serious as this."
"Is it... fatal?" Lucy asked in a quavering voice.
The look on Edmund's face was enough to warn her of the seriousness of the situation.