Chapter Twenty-Four:
Slowly, Seto turned from the corpse to Katsuya. The blonde man looked up at him calmly and intently. His face was still carefully neutral, but Seto wondered if he wasn't imagining a look of glee in his eyes.
I told you, I can destroy you.
"What do you have to say, Kaiba?" Katsuya asked.
What could Seto say? Accusing Katsuya of planting the letter opener would be stupid. Denying he'd had anything to do with McDonnell's death was expected, but with that letter opener sticking out of his chest as plain as day, he wouldn't be believed. Attempting to push his position as reason to be released could get him a beating. Really, he had no choice.
"I say I didn't kill him."
Katsuya snorted. "You deny that letter opener is yours? I can see the seal."
"It is mine. It was misplaced weeks ago."
Katsuya laughed. "Oi, that's convenient. You didn't report it, eh?"
"I said misplaced. If I had known it was stolen, I would have reported it."
"Convenient," Katsuya repeated. "You're under arrest, Kaiba. I hope you won't resist."
Knowing bait when he saw it, Seto shook his head. "Of course not. Though I request you contact my family solicitor."
"Immediately," Brown said. "Very well, Kaiba. Suppose we'll remand you at Charleston House."
Charleston House was actually a house, or was until the last of the Charlestons had died merely five years ago. He had had no idea it was part of His Majesty's Prison Service now. The House was only about a mile from Scotland Yard headquarters, so probably they had acquired the place after the death to remand prisoners of noble rank.
Seto didn't resist. Katsuya didn't accompany them as Brown and the two unnamed officers led Seto back through the gaol and to the carriage. Probably he wanted to stay behind and ensure the 'evidence' was thoroughly marked as showing Seto was the murderer.
On the way to Charleston House, Seto sat quietly beside Brown, musing. He had underestimated Katsuya. Simply accusing him and pitting his word against Seto's had been all Seto was expecting. Instead, somehow, he had broken into Seto's manor and stolen the letter opener. But how? Seto's manor was remote, he had a dozen staff-
Katsuya had gotten McDonnell to work for him with a bribe and a threat. Doing the same to one of Seto's staff was hardly out of his reach. One of the maids, his butler, or even the Cockney letter runner could have secreted the letter opener to him. He needn't have broken in at all.
What could Seto do? All evidence was against him. The letter opener was his, McDonnell hadn't been able to deny Seto was the man under the hood, and he had means for all three of the deaths. He'd been at the palace just before King Aknamkanon's illness, had been at the lake the day Lady Helen had drowned, and been in London both during the time McDonnell had been bribed and when he'd been murdered.
At Charleston House, Seto was placed in what appeared to be a office almost exactly like his at home. It was still richly furnished and a fire blazed in the fireplace. A maid even brought Seto tea, which he ignored. He was then locked in while his family's solicitor was summoned.
Seto went to the window and peered out. He was on the third floor of the manor. There was no balcony and from the window he could see two guards stationed outside the back door that led to the gardens as well as two more walking towards each other along the perimeter of the high wall surrounding the property.
It was supper before the solicitor arrived. A man thirty years older than Seto, he was possessed of a sharp, cutting voice, a look that could quell a rabid dog, and intimate knowledge of all of Britain's laws.
"Well, Master Kaiba," Mr. Andrews said as he hung up his top coat and hat on the waiting coat rack. "If all else, I suppose at least now I have a reason to validate my retainer."
Seto glared at him. Mr. Andrews was not the least bit ruffled. He had a briefcase in his hand and he set it on the desk, then turned his eyes on the officer who had seen him in.
"Privacy between solicitor and client is paramount," he snapped. "You lot will get your turn when I have asked *my* questions."
The officer colored, but retreated and shut the door. The lock closed with a loud clunk. Mr. Andrews turned back to the desk and seated himself in the padded wingback at the head of it without a word. Seto remained standing by the window. The solicitor took some time gathering a legal pad, a fountain pen, and his reading glasses from their various holders.
"Firstly, Master Kaiba, for formality's sake. Will I be defending a guilty man?"
"Of course not," Seto snarled.
Mr. Andrews only nodded. "Then, if you would, tell me everything."
Seto did, watching Mr. Andrews make copious notes in his tiny, neat handwriting. He asked few questions until Seto was finished, then set aside his notes before starting on a fresh page.
"Let's verify a few things. You saw the letter opener closely enough to be sure it was yours?"
"Yes. I could see my family's seal. So could Constable Katsuya."
"Like the one on your ring?" He gestured to Seto's hand.
"Yes."
"The letter opener disappeared when?"
"I noted it missing the day of the party."
"But you had it the day before?"
"Yes."
"The party was on a Sunday. There is no post on Sunday. Why were you looking for your letter opener?"
"I didn't get around to opening all of Saturday's correspondence. I planned to finish before the party."
"How easily could the letter opener have been taken?"
"Quite easily, if one of my staff did it."
Mr. Andrews looked up. "You suspect someone?"
Seto told him his theories. Mr. Andrews nodded and made some more notes.
"Who would you suspect?"
Seto considered. His butler had been with his family since the last few years of his grandfather's life. The cook and both groundskeepers had been hired by his father at some point. Mrs. Galley had been with his mother's family long before she married his father and had come with her mistress to the Kaiba manor. Her two underlings were newer, but each had been with the family for at least five years. Seto couldn't remember for sure. The steward and the driver had both been hired by Seto himself within the last year. The previous steward had retired and the previous driver had been killed in a bar fight in London. His personal messenger was the newest additional to the household staff, having been brought on the previous June. All were well paid by the Kaiba family, more so than many others in their fields of work, though hardly in exorbitant amounts. A little more cash would probably not be amiss to any, even Mrs. Galley, and Seto said so.
Mr. Andrews sighed. "Quite a lot to question, but I'll have my assistants get on it. I suspect the police will be doing the same. Has anything else gone missing?"
"Not to my knowledge. And here, I can't look to be sure."
"I won't be able to get you to your own home before your first meeting with the magistrates. That won't be until tomorrow at the earliest. As it'll be Friday, they won't be too interested in much work either. But I believe I can get bail. It might be costly."
"I don't care."
"Shall I inform Younger Master Kaiba of these events?"
"Yes. And tell him to stay at school. He has nothing to do with this and the police will not upset him."
Mr. Andrews fixed him with that unconcerned eye of his. "I can't say for sure that his presence won't be requested. I quite suspect everyone you've ever even looked at will be thoroughly questioned."
Seto grit his teeth and said nothing.
"Still, he shall not be questioned without my presence. And considering you are his only legal guardian, I doubt without your presence either. Well, Master Kaiba. Can you think of anything else to tell me?"
"No."
"Then let's move on to who might be interested in your downfall for murder. Like all noblemen, I suspect the list is quite long, and neither of us has had our supper. Let's start with those who might benefit financially."
Seto wasn't about to point the finger at Yuugi or Katsuya to Mr. Andrews. Nor would he be saying anything to the magistrates about it either. Implying it was a frame-up was as close as he'd be able to get. So, he half-heartedly went through a list of those who had grudges against him, including Charlotte Jones. He didn't suspect that airhead to have had anything to do with this, but his public row with her and the Kensingtons would not be ignored.
"Quite a lot of people to question," Mr. Andrews said again. "Any letters you wish me to pass on?"
"Yes."
Seto took the legal pad and fountain pen from him and wrote a letter to Mokuba. He told him what had happened, told him to stay put, and told him to speak with no one but Mr. Andrews himself. Mr. Andrews slipped the letter into a envelope, sealed it with his firm's seal, then tucked it into his breast pocket. The rest he put back into his briefcase.
"One more thing, Master Kaiba. Do you fear for your safety?"
Seto hadn't considered that. What would be the point of framing him, then killing him? Still, Katsuya and/or Yuugi had done several unhinged things and one would have to be quite mad to be a killer anyway.
"I'm not sure," he said finally.
Mr. Andrews looked over the rims of the reading glasses he hadn't removed yet. "The magistrates won't have much interest in that, but it won't be remiss of me to have one of my assistants here with you. Collins or Randall?"
"You need ask?"
Mr. Andrews smiled faintly. Collins was a loudmouth who knew no shortage of miscellaneous facts he liked to insert into any conversation, no matter the topic, and had no awareness of whether his companions appreciated those tidbits or not. Randall, in comparison, hardly seemed to possess a voice.
"Randall it is. It'll be late before he can make it."
Seto nodded. He truly didn't expect to be murdered in the next few hours, or at all.
No, what he expected was to stew in Charleston House until Katsuya and Yuugi could finish putting together the case against him, making it airtight and having Seto swing for murder.
tbc...
A/N: Reviews are always appreciated.