"I'm afraid I don't catch your drift. If you've got something to say, say it. I've got no time for beating around the bush." Spat Alette, clearly annoyed by this trifle.

"There are two conditions for catching Mr. Phelps killer. First," He declared, sticking a finger up. "We must wait for nightfall. And the second, is your cooperation, Countess." Selima raises a fine eyebrow at the man. "I'll explain everything tonight.

"Well, the butlers next, let's go back." Announces Charles. Ciel and Jeremy exchange a glance, reassuring each other as they enter the next room.

"I heard the butler was stabbed to death after receiving a blow from behind. Ah, well, if you'll excuse me." He lifts up the thin white sheet to reveal the butlers arm. Selima can't help but feel as if something bout the body was off.

"Earl? What's wrong? Are you ill?" inquired Charles as Ciel almost buckled to the floor.

"I'm sorry, seeing Sebastian's body so many times…it's too much for me to bear." Feigned Ciel.

"Earl…" trailed off Arthur, rubbing his head affectionately.

"Whaat? Weren't you perfectly fine when she was undressing him earlier?" asks Charles.

"What about you Miss Lovelace?" questions Jeremy. "Does seeing your dead lover upset you?"

"I'm perfectly fine. And I don't know if you could call him that, it's not like we actually-."

"Selima!" scolded Alette.

"It seems the butler's murder was quite simple." Observes Jeremy

"You're done already?" asks Charles.

"Yes. I've seen more than enough. "

"Oh, it's almost time for dinner. I'll be going back then." Proclaims Charles.

"I have to prepare for this evening so you four should head back without me."

"Of course." Nods Selima. They turn around, and follow Charles until he takes off around the corner.

"What the hell?" Alette swears. As Charles rips off the sheet covering Sebastian's body, he turns around and finds Selima at his heel.

"You should have more respect for the dead." She hisses in his ear. He turns around and sees she has fire and blood in her eyes, before turning on her heel and following her mistress down the stairs and to the dining room. Jeremy is there, waiting at the door.

"I know they're in there." He smiles politely, despite the urge of wanting to pin her against the wall and kiss her.

"Then you do this." She answers, putting a heeled foot to the door and kicking it open without a second thought. Bardroy almost drops his cigarette.

"Mr. Jeremy! Miss Lovelace!" squeals Mey-Rin

"Can we help you?" asks Bard. "If you came scrounging for food, there's nothing left."

"There's got to be something left." Insists Selima

"One of the party guests consumes a massive amount of food." Explains Mey-Rin. "Sebastian prepared enough for three days, but— "

"I suppose I'll have to whip something up."

"But what? The only thing we have in excess is beans and flour."

"Oh that's quite simple. You've got just the right ingredients, along with the herb garden here. "

"She's right. Herbs have medical virtues and many even act as a hunger suppressant.

"Like fennel, which I'm positive we have, will subdue appetite when used to season certain foods."

"Herbs can do some amazing stuff!" exclaims Finny.

"Can't you make soy meat out of soy beans as well?" asks Selima rhetorically.

"Yes, a meat substitute made of soy beans. If prepared well, it may not even be noticeable that it is not authentic meat."

"With the amount we have in excess, we should be able to make thirty servings." Added Selima.

"Thirty servings?!" they all yelled in inclination.

"Cooking is a science that can change infinitely depending on the combined materials."

"You two are a great team! Almost as good as Mr. Sebastian and Miss Lovelace!" squeals Finny. Jeremy winks at her, and Selima blushes lightly.

"Don't waste time on admiration, move!" orders Jeremy.

"He's right, dinner is approaching quickly. Start by boiling the soy beans in a large pot of hot water." Instructs Selima.

"I'll get the herbs!"

"I'll boil the soy beans!"

"I'll go with Tanaka to get some wine! -Ah!"

"What's wrong?"

"I-I just remembered something bad I saw earlier while checking the women's luggage!"

"Something bad?" Selima tenses up as well.

"Yes! Irene had a bottle filled with a dark red liquid!"

"I see, that's certainly intriguing." Responds Jeremy

"Don't you think it's time you stopped stalling and gave us the truth about this case, Reverend?" investigates Lau.

"No need to be hasty." Procrastinates Jeremy. "Before that, Countess, I wonder if you'll indulge me?"

"What?" asked Alette

"Remove your clothes." Selima jumped into action, pulling a knife out of her sleeve and pinning the man's sleeve to the tale. She had a look of extreme indignation in her evergreen eyes.

"What was that, Jeremy?" asked Selima, voice extremely low and dangerous. After five, almost six years how could she not have grown protective over the girl? Ciel stood up, almost as vexed as Selima. Alette's mouth simply hung open as her steak fell from her fork. What had he asked her to do?

After Alette had stripped down to her underwear, she heeded the man's words very carefully. You must not make a sound. You must not even tremble Keep your eyes closed. And if she didn't, death would surely come. How had things escalated so quickly. She was enjoying a nice hot meal less than an hour ago and now, she sat nearly naked in her bed, waiting for the murderer to reappear. Everything then seemed to happen at once. A slithering object entered her bed and everyone seemed to jump on it at once, Jeremy arriving first, stopping Charles from slicing the serpent to pieces.

"That's a valuable witness. I can't have you killing him."

"This is…the culprit?" questioned Arthur, staring at the wriggling sheets in awe. Alette shuddered, she felt humiliated being surrounded by so many people when she was barely clothed. Ciel was the most awkward about it, standing in the corner, as far from her as possible. Alette looks up as the small group that had been absent a few moments before returns.

"We've brought the killer."

"This is the culprit." Just about everyone flinches, except for Selima who is desperately trying to touch the snake wriggling in Jeremy's arms.

"A snake?"

"What? No way!" shouted Bardroy.

"It's hard to believe, but it really did come after this young lady while she was in the Countess's clothes."

"Black Mamba, It's a South African viper with a potent neurotoxin." Elaborates Jeremy. "The killer must have primed this snake to target the Countess' scent, training it like an assassin." The viper hisses at everyone, and Selima strokes its middle. "But in the end, a snake is a snake. By tracking its scent, it could sneak into the Countess' bed. But it couldn't have known if the victim was the Countess or not."

"I see; the killer didn't expect the Countess to be sleeping in a different room."

"And we switched rooms up! Mr. Phelps was the one using my room!" realized Alette.

"Trained behavior doesn't break easily." Selima continues petting the offender with affection that rivalled what she felt for Sebastian.

"Selima, stop that! What if it bites you and you die?" commands Alette

"What if I bite it and it dies?" replies Selima

"What if you bite it and no one dies?" Retorts Alette.

"That's just called kinky, my dear." Explains Lau.

"How about no one bites anyone and no one dies?!" yells an agitated Ciel

"Anyways." Begins Jeremy. "I was sure it would try again, so I stood watch, and sure enough. We're lucky this lady fits the Countess' clothes and agreed to stand in."

"Well, I wouldn't say they fit her…" mumbled Selima.

"If worst came to worst, you couldn't dodge the snake, could you, Countess?"

"I'm sure I could, but it wouldn't get that far. Selima wouldn't let just anything enter my bed."

"That is true. I will follow her to the ends of the earths, and protect her from every danger she should ever encounter."

"If the Earl or the Countess died, we'd be in trouble, wouldn't we Ran-Mao?"

"Yes."

"Inseparable since the beginning, those two. Mutual beneficiaries, if one falls the other suffers as well."

"You had me wear Selima's blanket to mask my scent?" questions Alette.

"Quite convenient, was it not?" smiles Jeremy.

"More importantly, how he got the snake might be vital to the police. After all, transporting venomous snakes is prohibited on trading vessels. Points out Arthur.

"It was probably smuggled in." smirks Lau, an arm around Ran-Mao- griping her waist tightly. "Bribing a privately owned freighter would be fastest, I think."

"But in that case, we have to assume the culprit has connections with African enterprises."

"Careful Ciel. Assuming makes an ass out of you and me." snickers Alette.

"My lady!" harangues Selima

"If we're talking about African imports, there's gold and diamonds…" Everyone turns to look at Carl Woodley.

"Y-you're wrong! It's not me! Kong-Rong is in the trading business too!"
"Unfortunately for you, we don't have any business in Africa." Rejoinders Lau.

"Anyways, concluding its him just because he does business in Africa, seems kind of unreasonable, doesn't it?" inquires Charles lazily.

"Exactly. What about Lord Siemens murder? I have an alibi for that one!" defends Carl.

"There may be little meaning in that alibi, I'm afraid." Informed Jeremy.

"What do you mean?" asks Grimsby.

"What if the corpse the servants discovered wasn't actually a corpse?" poses Jeremy. "Are you familiar with the tonic taken by Juliet in the classic Romeo and Juliet?"

"It can't be!" opposes Arthur.

"Yes, it actually exists." Carl's face falls. "Recently scientists have discovered a substance called tetrodotoxin. When purified, one can feign death just like Juliet."

"Amazing what scientists can do these days." Smirked Selima.

"Tetrodotoxin…" trailed off Arthur. "As I recall, it's a toxin found in blowfish and octopi." Jeremy nods, pleased someone is catching on.

"Earlier when examining Lord Siemens, I detected the smell of the sea. That was most likely purified blow fish venom. Well then, here's a question; why would our victim smell like poison if he was stabbed to death?"

"It was a ruse." Concludes Ciel, feeling utterly stupid for falling for it.

"Exactly, after creating a false stab wound on his chest, he drank the poison himself and discarded the vial, and then faked his death. Most people have no desire to examine a corpse's wounds, so it would work as a short term trick. But the corpse I examined earlier was most definitely stabbed."

"So he meant only to fake his death, but then he was really killed?" questioned Lau.

"Judging by the circumstances, the culprit may be trying to frame the Countess or Earl."

"But why?" asked Alette.

"I'm not sure Lord Siemens was involved. He seems like a man who might lose himself under the influence. Or, the killer might have roped him in by saying "Let's give everyone a little shock."

"I had never met the Lord before, he has no reason to frame me."

"That you know of, my lady. Think back. Mr. Brandel wanted to murder you and he had previously never encountered you." Everyone turns back to Carl, who puts his hands up defensively.

"W-wait! Anyone could have gotten him involved!" He pleas. "Everyone's alibis are worthless now too!"

"Indeed, but then the same goes for you Mr. Woodley. Humans are dishonest creatures, after all."

"But if Lord Siemens drank form a vial, where is it?" inquired Charles.

"It's simple." Drawls Ciel. "He would just toss it somewhere we wouldn't look right away. "In a fire, for example."

"Oh yeah! There was a ton of wood in that fireplace, wasn't there?" remembers Bardroy.

"It's true, we wouldn't find it in there. Then, once the dust is settled he could sneak back in to retrieve it…"

"But, things didn't go his way this time." Picks up Ciel. "Because of Sebastian. Before he could dispose of the evidence, the butler came to rake out the ashes."

"If found, the vessel would indicate a ruse… and his alibi would be useless." Alette takes all this in, gripping her butler's blanket in her fists. She had to ac the part, for her ad Ciel's sake. She just hoped Selima had figured it out by now. "So he panicked and killed Sebastian in the spur of the moment, before collecting the poison vessel and returning to his room."

"In that case, whoever has the bottle in their possession is the murderer! But I don't have it! You searched through my things and this room thoroughly, right?!"

"Yes, we did." Agrees Ciel. "Except the hearth, that is." Ciel almost lets a hint of a smile sneak into his face, but as soon as It comes, it is gone.

"That's a false allegation! It's not here!"

"Then show us! Prove it's not there!" shouts a fed up Grimsby. He shoulders past Carl and stirs up a mess, Selima sighs, knowing she'll have to clean this room yet again. Everyone gasps as the sparkle of a shard of the bottle is seen.

"Glass shards?" inquired Arthur. "But we can't tell what is was…"

"We'll just have to put the pieces together." Sang Selima.

"Eh? That's impossible, it's completely shattered."

"Nothing is impossible." Hint Selima.

"All done."

"Incredible! It looks like a medicinal ampule." Recognizes Arthur. "Finding it in this fireplace can only mean…"

"So, you really are the culprit!" blamed Grimsby "You murderer!"

"I've never seen that thing before!"

"Why on earth would you try to frame children?" Alette huffs, muttering about not being a child.

"I-I wasn't!

"Diamonds. The leader in the diamond industry, the Roze company has agreed with both the Funtom and Indicum companies to collaborate and expand into the field of jewelry."

"If Carl knew about it, his company would most definitely take a hit." Elaborates Alette

"A few days ago, the president of the Roze company was murdered and our plans put on hold." Completes Ciel. "So while he had the chance, he decided to kill us both."

"What poor taste." Comments Selima.

"I didn't do it! You've got to believe me! I've been set up! These little children are Satan's spawn! The queens-." Charles jumps into action, Selima alongside him, before Carl can complete his sentence, he has a sword to his throat and a revolver pointed at him.

"Shut your mouth." Hisses Charles. "I don't need your excuses. We'll have plenty of time to talk while you're in prison."

"I-I didn't do it! I really didn't!" sobs Carl. Sweat seeps through his tweed jacket.

"Whatever, just shut up. I'm in a really bad mood right now."

"Earl Grey, would you like these?" sings Alette, gesturing to the cuffs she'd been chained to Irene to with.

"We'll let the police handle the rest of this."

"I suppose this means the case is closed." Concluded Ciel

"What a relief." Remarks Alette.