It was going to be another late night for William, who finally managed to complete the file for the circus. Due to large quota of souls that required its own paperwork for each soul, not to mention the two lost by demons, it took him and Katia a long time to complete. They knew they couldn't rely on Ronald on completing the paperwork, but since he did collect the most souls that night and due to the limited staff, he was assigned to his usual soul collecting quota instead. William did not wish to be involved in the majority of the paperwork, but he had no choice. It would be cruel of him to give this all to Katia, who was already overworked with the amount of paperwork she was doing now. Both of them have been staying at the office during overtime for a couple of days. However, William had his own reasons for staying up so late.

Ever since the whole circus situation, a lot of things seemed to change and not just between him and Lilliana. He was worried that Katia knew more than she admitted to him about seeing him with Eris and might one day tell someone. Even worse, he feared she would tell the known gossipers in the sect, like Grell and Ronald, who notoriously could not keep secrets, and with Grell especially, who knows how he would react. Though, something about her seemed different than when he last formally spoke to her. William has caught her daydreaming often at her desk, which might be the reason why the paperwork is taking as long as it has. Since she doesn't have a demanding soul quota like the other Reapers, she had enough time to get this done. Still, he was a bit relieved to see her happy than keeping an eye on him, but had to wonder why.

William could hear the bells of a tower tolling in the distance, signaling him to go home, but he refused. Or really, it wasn't that he didn't want to go home; he didn't want to go to sleep. Luckily, as a Reaper, he could forgo sleep for a few days, but when he's been doing nothing but paperwork, it took a toll on him. He could feel his eyes getting heavy, but kept sipping some tea to keep him awake. However, as the night progressed, he sensed that the tea wasn't enough anymore. With a yawn, he got up from his desk and walked out of his office, hoping that a little movement might energize him, even if it was for a little while longer. At this time, the night shift was out collecting souls and would return a few hours later to do the paperwork. This group usually included Lilliana, but she was busy on her special mission at the manor. He wondered how she was handling this since she can't just simply collect the souls and come back. Once she did, they would have to talk, which they both dreaded.

After a while, he found Katia's desk, but she was asleep with a pen close to her hand and her head lying on the papers she needed to turn in eventually. He smiled just a little bit: another victim of overtime. It reminded him of when he first started collecting souls and spent overtime just like this. He decided to not wake her since she clearly needed the rest, but he still needed her to finish so he could go home. Normally, he would wake her and tell her to finish it quickly, but he tried to delay sleep as much as possible, so if she doesn't finish until the morning, that would be fine.

He walked back to his office and sat back in his seat, wondering how he would spend this free time. He still had to look busy in case Katia knocked and turned in the paperwork, but that might be for a while. Will grabbed the almost-finished file and went over it, seeing if there were any mistakes to correct. Though, he found it incredibly boring to go over every single soul and see the same information over and over again with few variations. It was monotonous, tedious . . . pointless . . . boring . . .

The next thing William knew, he found himself in a room that was unfamiliar to him. Wallpaper with various types of flowers stared right at him and the oak furniture complimented it. He soon realized he was laying on a bed with white sheets, pillows, and blankets with a wooden headboard to contrast it. It was a small room, almost as if he was staying in a hotel, but there was no door to find his way out and the only window in here was too small for him to crawl out of. No, he didn't fall asleep, did he? "Wake up!" he said to himself, but it wasn't a lucid dream, unfortunately.

"Oh, you're back. It's been a while," a familiar female voice said, making his heart pound in fear. "If I had to guess, I would assume that you were trying to avoid me." He looked around and found a full-length mirror, but in the reflection, Eris was observing him from the previously empty chair. He soon looked at the chair and, sure enough, she was there with a mischievous grin. "Welcome back, mon amie."

"No, not this again. Please, I can't take it," he said as he quickly got up from the bed, looking for an escape, with no luck.

"You know I won't do anything to you while you're here. I promised, even offering to make a contract that you rashly denied. Still, you still act so irrationally," she said as she got up from the chair. Ever since he ate the chocolate with the spice, William has been having dreams about Eris. It started as an accident; even she didn't expect to see him the first time this happened. It turns out that whenever the two of them fell asleep at the same time, they would meet in this room and according to her, this would continue until the spice was out of his system. "So, another day without making love to your dear Lilliana?"

"I already told you that it's not going to happen! What happened that night was all a trick," he exclaimed. He didn't want to hear this all over again. She keeps insisting that he should sleep with Lilliana to release the spell of the spice and every time, he refused it.

"Believe what you like, but don't forget that succubus like me can see into your deepest desires," she said as she approached him.

"What you saw was a memory—,"

"Mon Lucifer, you're so stubborn. I don't know how anyone, especially Lilliana, can tolerate you. The truth is obviously right in front of you, and yet, you have the nerve to deny it."

"And how am I supposed to believe a demon? Your kind is known for manipulating the truth to fit your needs. You especially are guilty of this."

"I wouldn't exactly call showing what you truly desire 'manipulation'. I do admit that I know demons who do nothing but lie and cheat humans for fun, but I did what I did to feed, I promise. The more I talk to you, the more I get fascinated with you and your emotions for Lily. They're deeper than I initially suspected."

"And what does that mean?" he asked with his anger building. At times like this, he ready wished he had his Death Scythe, even if it was hard to navigate it in this small room.

"I'm trying to figure that out myself. I've been doing my own research, but to put it simply: your emotions go deeper than just the little fling during the exam." He sighed. At this point, it's like she was a broken record player: constantly trying to convince him that he had some repressed feelings for Lilliana, whether it was love or guilt. That seemed to change with every encounter. "Not like you would believe me, but there is a section of your memory that is actually clouded and even I can't see it clearly. Even repressed memories are no enigma for me, but this surprises me and that's where my fascination comes from."

"You're making no sense."

"Rightly so. If I figured out this mystery, I probably wouldn't be so fond of you. Not to mention, but you're also a Grim Reaper with deeper feelings than lust to another one of your kind. Usually, I merely see lust with a hint of an attachment, but you don't have that. Like I've said before, sex is more of an afterthought, or at least, it used to be before I came along."

"And I wish you never appeared and put that idea in my head. Nothing would have changed if it wasn't for you!" he said angrily, which she was used to. Though, it was still a bit shocking for her to see a stoic man show his emotions.

She took a deep breath and said, "So you wished to keep your feelings repressed? You'd let another person claim her instead of you? Now you know for sure that she's involved with Sebastian, but before then, you've always had an inkling and it made you a bit jealous. Even if I wasn't around, I'm sure you would have seen them together in that tent. She'd still be wearing that sexy outfit you seemed to like. Even without my influence, would you be able to control yourself?"

"Of course I would! I did it once and I can keep doing it," he blurted out, but as he heard his own words, he got quiet.

Eris smirked a bit. "If I looked into your memories accurately, Lilliana ate a piece of chocolate too, didn't she? Though, I haven't seen her here once."

"She has an unusual sleep schedule. I doubt you two would have synced up."

"Or she has already exhausted it out her system. I wonder who was the lucky one to help her out. It's a good chance it was dear old Bassy, but it could always be someone else. If you acted on your impulses like I told you, it could have been you."

"Shut up," he yelled as he pushed her against a wall with enough force to shake the room a bit. "As much as I disapprove of it, I cannot do anything to stop her from getting close to that demon. If she didn't have blackmail on me, I may have reported her and sent her back to . . . ," he said as slowly stopped his sentence.

"Rehabilitation? Yes, I'm quite aware of the tortures," she said with a defiant face. "I saw it in Lilliana's eyes for a brief moment. It was a traumatizing experience for her, which I'm sure you figured out. It's the only reason why she's keeping to the rules as she is."

"You have a very annoying habit of nosing around people's memories and emotions," he said, but being so close to her, not to mention, her chest kept rising with every heavy breath she took, started to activate the spice. Sporadically, he had the urge to take her and had to let her go to control himself.

"It's getting stronger, isn't it?" she asked, fully knowing the answer.

"What?"

"The spice. It just activated, non? Even something as simple as being close to a woman triggered it. That's not good."

"And I suppose the only cure is to sleep with Lilliana, right? That's what you keep telling me," he barked back.

She sighed. "It doesn't necessarily have to be her. I didn't want to tell you this since this could ruin my little experiment, but at this point, the spice might do that instead. I hoped you sleeping with Lilliana could possibly clear up that cloudy memory, but it's not like I would be able to see you in the foreseeable future to confirm my theory." She got up in his face, despite the fact he was still trying to hold back his urges. "In order to release the spice, you need to sleep with anyone, not just her. Masturbation could help relieve the urge, but after a while, you'll need to ejaculate multiple times to feel the same effect. As stoic as you are, I figured Lilliana would be your best chance since she understands your situation and had to deal with the effects herself. Unfortunately for you, she doesn't need you to get her fix."

"And the longer this spice stays in me?"

"The less control you'll have over it. At first, it'll be triggered by little stimulation, but eventually, the urges will be so uncontrollable that you might force yourself on someone. Some might take it as a threat to keep quiet, like our sweet Katia, or some might be excited to be intimate with you, like our scandalous Grell." The thought of being intimate with Grell made him shiver in disgust. And with Katia, he would feel awful if he forced himself on her, especially when there was already tension between them. He could not have that on his conscience. "And I doubt you would want to force yourself on Lilliana, but like I said earlier, she would understand that it's not fully you in control."

He really did have limited options. "I-I'm going to talk to Lilliana about this. She'll have a solution to this since she is associated with your kind."

"I'm not so sure how much of a solution she'll have that's different from mine. It's possible that she didn't know Sinful Spices existed until this whole scenario happened," she said as she walked away from him, but soon, a door appeared. "At least consider what I said. She's your safest choice. Who knows, you two might find something new about yourselves. Until then, au revoir," she said with a dainty wave before exiting through that door.

"William, William," Katia's said within his office. She was shaking him gently, hoping he would wake up, which he eventually did. Thank gods, he was out of that nightmare. "William, if you were that tired, you should have gone home."

"I-I'm fine. I was finishing up the file, but I must have fallen asleep accidentally. I apologize," he said with a tired voice.

"Ah, well, I have the rest of the paperwork done. Finally, we can be done with this case," she said with a soft smile.

"Yes, we can finally put this behind us," he said as he extended his arm to take the paperwork from her hands, but he accidentally brushed against them. She blushed as she pulled them back quickly when he got a good grip on the paper and he stared at her for a bit. The spice was activated yet again, but he started to see Katia in a different light. This helpless girl, who acted innocent around him and others. He wondered what secrets her mind guarded and maybe playing with her body would release them. He just needed to—

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

He came back into reality and shook his head to both answer her and regain himself. "No, I was just thinking about how good it would feel to not have to deal with overtime for a while."

"I agree. Hopefully there won't be another big case in a while."

"Be careful what you ask for. You might jinx it."

"Well, maybe you can assign other Reapers instead."

"I'm sorry to say, but you're the most reliable and available Reaper we have. I would never assign you a case like this on your own, but you will be assigned to more complicated cases in the future until you complete your mission."

"Oh well. I guess I should be heading home before Grell gets worried about me again. I'll see you tomorrow and make sure you get plenty of sleep, all right?" she said as she left his side and closed the door.

William sighed in relief. If she stayed any longer, he feared for her safety. Eris was right: the urges were getting stronger. Before, he never thought of her like this, but now, he was even considering raping her. He needed this spice out of him now and, sadly, only Lilliana and Eris had a solution. He hoped it won't be as humiliating as Eris suggested. Still, he wondered if Lilliana would be willing to help him in that way if needed. He figured if she did, she would be detached about it, which pained him a little. He didn't know why, but all he knew was that he had to take care of himself when he got home and hoped he could relieve this even if it was only temporary. How shameful.

"I couldn't tell at first since I was hastily pushed in here, but I thought I recognized my niece in her little maid outfit," Jeremy said. He observed Lilliana's shocked expression and smiled. "What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see your uncle?"

"I-I—," she stuttered, not knowing what to say, but he tried to help her out.

"I might understand your reluctance. We were never on the best of terms. You still have your father's free-spirit, unfortunately."

"Now just hold on a second! How the hell can the niece of a vicar be a maid?! Even if she fell from grace, that is still quite the contrast in social class," Charles said, still trying to piece everything together concerning the new thirteenth member. They looked at her, hoping she'll be able to answer, but she still had none.

"I think it'll be best if I cleared the air," Jeremy said and all eyes turned to him. "The young lord and I hoped to keep this a secret until I eventually found her a husband to marry her off to, but it can't be helped. Her father, my brother, was always the rebellious one and refused to take on the work that our father blessed upon us. Unfortunately for us, after he passed away, my brother completely broke away from the church when he fell in love with a woman he met in France and decided to stay in her homeland. I was furious at him, but never wished him any ill will. Sadly, her parents were killed in a tragic accident, leaving behind a niece that I never knew of until their funeral."

"How awful," Irene said in a sad voice.

"It was. Since he never spoke of his family in England, the locals nearly put her in an orphanage until I said I would take her in. Though, I'm not sure which would have been better. When she was younger, she was nothing but trouble: sneaking out of the house, getting kicked out of boarding school after boarding school, and even public drunkenness. I would understand her behavior some time after losing her parents, but this persisted long after. Her reputation was so horrible that people in the parish believed that she may have been influenced by devils."

"Of course religious people would automatically assume that demons are involved in behavior they don't agree with," Lilliana finally said to confirm his story and out of her own bias. "Go on, uncle. Keep telling them how I ended up here," she said with a little bite in her voice.

Jeremy smirked subtly. "As you wish. When she grew older, I figured the only way to get her out of my hair was to marry her off, but sadly, her reputation proceeded her and men were scared to even court her. I had one suitor say that having her join his family would bring shame and misfortune to them. I was getting desperate, but one day, I received a phone call from the Earl saying that she had trespassed on his property. I was mortified and came as soon as I could to bring her back home, but after venting my frustrations to him, he proposed a solution to change her behavior: she would become his maid until we found her a husband. I was promised that they would teach her valuable marital skills while also fixing her problematic behavior. He said that many eligible bachelors visit him and if he found one that could handle her rowdiness, then we would both give a dowery for him to marry her."

"A prison sentence, if you ask me," she said with crossed arms. "All you've done is send me from one prison to another. I'm sure marrying a man who acts more like my warden than my husband will be no different."

Mey-Rin had a realization. "So that's why she's so against marriage."

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you would have just behaved. I gave you many opportunities to create the noble identity that your father once threw away. Be grateful that the young lord gave us the chance to be out of each other's hair or else you would have been another victim to Bedlam," Jeremy said as he got in her face about it. The guests were feeling uncomfortable with the family feud they weren't expecting to endure.

"That's all and good, but we still have a mystery to solve. This man could have been the only one who could have committed all three murders and he has no alibi. We can't trust him just because he's a vicar," Woodley exclaimed. "And it doesn't help that he's related to the most suspicious person here and gave us a testimony against her character."

"Unfortunately, that is utter nonsense, Mr. Woodley," he said.

He gasped. "How do you know my name?!"

"That ring you're wearing gives the game up, I'm afraid. A diamond so large and of such a distinct cut leads to but one conclusion. You see, the 'round brilliant cut' can only be achieved with new equipment recently developed by the Woodley Company. And I hear the London gem dealer Daniel Anderson has been describing it as a rarity not available on the open market. So, out of all the guests that Lord Phantomhive invited to his dinner party, it would make the most sense that Karl Woodley would possess such a singular ring. I am not mistaken, am I?" Woodley was shocked and grew quiet, impressing the rest of the guests. "Human observation has become a hobby of mine, so I apologize if it troubles you."

"If we can move on, how did you come here? For that matter, why did you come here?" Arthur said, asking the questions everyone had on their minds among other things.

"Bursting with questions, aren't we? I guess it can't be helped. You there, sir with the cigarette and goggles, set my bag down and open it," he said, addressing Baldroy. He did as told and carefully opened his briefcase, but inside was nothing usual: it was a owl, but not any owl.

"Oh! That's the owl Lilliana gave me!" Mey-Rin exclaimed.

"I've drugged him to keep him asleep during our travels. If you would so kindly take a look at the letter, my lord." Ciel did as told and knelt carefully to the sleeping bird and took off the letter attached to its leg. He took some time to read, but quickly crinkled the paper.

"Of course he would do this," he said with a bit of annoyance in his voice. "Evidently, he arranged for the owl to carry this note to Jeremy because he somehow predicted misfortune would fall upon him."

"As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what's in that bit of paper. It isn't enough to prove he's not our killer," Grimsby said.

"Perhaps if you inspect my coat pocket, it may ease your mind," Jeremy said. "Darling niece, if you would be helpful—,"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she said rather rudely. Luckily, once she got a good idea of her backstory, she could easily improvise. She reached into his pocket and pulled out a box office ticket. "Figures you would go see a play, but what more important is the date." However, after scanning the ticket, she let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Finny asked innocently.

"It's for the 12 of March in the evening. Additionally, it's at the Lyceum Theater, a good two hour ride from here," she said in disappointment. She really wanted to find some dirt on him.

"What was the show?" Irene asked.

"'The Lady in the Lake'," Jeremy answered. "It was quite a lovely performance."

"That's right. When you've been in the theater world long enough, you are knowledgeable about shows, even outside your production," Irene said, feeling happy she was of some use.

"By the time the show was over, it was past ten o'clock. Even if I'd given the driver a sovereign, the trip here would have taken two hours by hansom cab, or even twice that long in this storm," he said.

"Getting a cab in this storm is almost impossible. With the river flooded, you wouldn't be able to cross unless you had some very strong horses," Lilliana said.

"A fair point, but there are many ways to the manor besides the main roads. Knowing that the storm will cause some disruption, I figured the less-used paths would prove less cumbersome and I was right."

There was silence in the room, but she broke it by saying, "So you happened to save your ticket to prove you were there?"

"I thought it was a very-well done production, so I kept the ticket as a momento. I would hope that my niece wouldn't think of me so ill. After all, if you're the most suspicious person in the room, then why are you trying so hard to incriminate someone? That would make you even more suspicious, wouldn't it?" She kept quiet and he smiled. "I've given you enough evidence to clear myself of any wrongdoing. Perhaps you could untie me and I can provide some assistance to your problem."

Despite the suspicious timing, they had to trust him just as much as they trusted the others, especially since he provided evidence of his innocence. The servants untied him and Arthur began to disclose all the information they had so far. Right now, Jeremy was just as trusted as Arthur, if not more so, which some found hard to believe. Still, the hardest thing to believe was that not even a family member could vouch for Lilliana's character, which caused some to make theories about why she killed them. Siemens was a flirt and was hitting on all the women, so it's possible that if he was drunk enough, he would want to keep her in his manor if he paid the right price, so she had to prevent him from doing so. Phelps was a young man that Jeremy might have liked if he met him, so she would have to get rid of him. And for Sebastian, it was hard to say. There would be no reason for Jeremy to allow the two of them to get married if she was supposed to be married to nobility and Sebastian had no real authority to force her into that life.

"And there you have it," Arthur said.

"This is most intriguing indeed. If I may, I would like to inspect the bodies for further investigation," Jeremy requested.

"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll take you to the wine cellar—," Arthur tried to say before he was interrupted.

"I'd like to ask a favor from you. Carry each body to a separate room before I conduct my examination. Smells are frequently of the utmost importance in solving a case. If the bodies are kept together, their scents will intermingle and a wine cellar smells strongly of wine. We want only the scent to be that of the mystery we must solve."

"Very well, then. We'll proceed as you advise. Carry the corpses to three separate rooms," Ciel ordered.

"As you wish, master," the four servants answered and were about to leave, but stopped when Jeremy continued to talk.

"It would be a relief to change out of this wet clothing."

"You—There should be some clothing in my late butler's room that will suit you," Ciel responded. "Lilliana, please escort him there."

"Yes, my lord," she said with a hint of bitterness in her tone.

"Her taking orders with no resistance? My lord, you perform miracles," Jeremy said in a jovial tone.

"Just pray I don't serve your food," she said in a soft tone that anyone around her could hear before the two of them left the group. When they reached Sebastian's room, she told him as she opened the door, "You could have given me a little warning, you bastard."

"Then I'd miss your superb improvisational skills," he said as he entered and immediately walked to the wardrobe.

"At least give me something that I can use to rid everyone of their suspicion. Thanks to you, I have even more darts on my back to worry about. One thing goes wrong and I'll be the one in jail."

"I highly doubt it. You always had a knack for getting out of trouble," he said as he came out in Sebastian's usual tuxedo.

"I'm glad it fits," she said in a snarky tone and all he did was smile.

"Now then, I shall examine each corpse in order according to the time of their death," Jeremy said as they returned to the group.

"In that case, you'll want to look at Herr von Siemens first," Arthur said.

"Excellent! I'll be coming, too," Charles said in a happy tone.

"Very well. If you don't mind, I'd like the young lord and Lilliana to accompany us, since they have been deemed the most likely to commit any murder due to their alibis, or lack thereof. It is possible that seeing the bodies again will trigger some type of reaction that could incriminate them," Jeremy said. The two were confused, but agreed. The five of them proceeded to the room with Siemens's corpse and Jeremy quickly got to work examining the body. "There's only the one external injury. A single blow with a blade that was quite sharp. Hmm, and I see he was overfond of drink. A nasty habit," he said as he pulled out Siemens's pocket watch.

"And how did you suss that out?" Charles asked.

"This Lange pocket watch is an item of considerable value, but there are scratches all around the keyhole. Only a man who was very careless or drunk would leave such marks. Then, of course, there the rather strong smell of alcohol. He had a stiff drink shortly before his death. However . . . ," he said before inhaling the air deeply. "I think I detect a faint whiff of the sea."

"The sea? What are you, mad?" Lilliana said.

"Nope, just knowledgeable of certain scents. Good sir, do you have a handkerchief?" he asked Arthur, who quickly gave him one. However, he would soon regret that as Jeremy soon stuffed the handkerchief in Siemens' mouth so he could get a better idea of the scent. "I'm much obliged," he said before returning it to Arthur, but he almost wish he just kept it. "Now, Mr. Phelps is next on the list, I believe."

The five of them headed toward Phelps's room and once again, Jeremy was quick to investigate. "As you can see, he was killed in a vastly different manner than the other two. I suspect he was injected with something poisonous into his neck," Arthur explained. Honestly, the way he was presenting the case made him seem like a neurotic Abberline, which Lilliana found a bit amusing.

"May I see the room in which the murder took place?" Jeremy asked and they all obliged.

On the way to Ciel's chambers, the four of them were having a small chat to both ease tension and to express lingering thoughts. "We're lucky to have a sharp observer like Jeremy on hand. He may well notice something we've missed in our own investigations," Arthur said.

"Lucky for you, perhaps," Lilliana said before turning around and noticing he wasn't there. "Hey, where is that old geezer?"

"Are you still with us?" Ciel yelled and like magic, Jeremy appeared with his handkerchief out, wiping away sweat.

"Ah, do excuse me. I'm a touched winded," he said with an innocent and apologetic smile.

"This is the problem with the elderly," Charles said bluntly before he continued his walk.

"I let you borrow my handkerchief because I thought you didn't have one!" Arthur said in astonishment. Lilliana couldn't help, but chuckle a bit, but the group made their way to Ciel's chamber. As before, Jeremy conducted his investigation.

After a while, he made his report. "I can conclusively say that there are multiple guilty parties. Apprehending Herr von Siemens's killer should present little difficulty, but capturing the one responsible for Mr. Phelps's death may be more complicated. Capture him we must, and with some haste, before any more life's can be lost. However, it will require two things: we must wait for nightfall and I will require the assistance of the young Earl."

"Wait, my assistance?" Ciel asked in confusion.

"Yes. I'll explain everything this evening."

"I can hardly wait, it in the meantime, the butler's next. Shall we be off?" Charles said as he immediately started walking out of the room. The others followed suit, but most of them did not like being kept in the dark, while only a select few knew the truth.

Once they reached Sebastian's room, Jeremy asked for clarification, "I believe you said that he was fatally stabbed after receiving a blow to the head. I'll just take a closer look." He knelt down and removed the sheet, but Ciel suddenly felt shock coursing through his body. Arthur and Charles looked his direction to make sure he was all right while Lilliana made sure to have her attention on both the body and the young lord.

"Is something wrong, my lord? You look pale," Arthur said with genuine concern while Charles seemed to be annoyed by the young brat.

"I apologize. I'm finding it tries my nerves to keep seeing Sebastian's body like this," Ciel said as he crouched close to him.

"It is a grievous loss. There's no need to apologize."

"What? Where was this reaction earlier when you were casually undressing his body?" Charles said in confusion.

However, he would never get his answer as Jeremy pulled back the sheet to cover the body. "There. I'm all finished here. The butler's cause of death was simple indeed."

"You're done with him already?" Lilliana asked as she walked closer to him.

"Yes, I've seen enough to get a full picture."

"Oh, look at that! It's almost time for dinner," Charles said as he casually started walking out of the room. "I shall see you all downstairs."

"Why don't you two join him. There's something I must discuss with my niece and then I shall join you for tonight's festivities," Jeremy said, noticing she had a disappointed look on her face. "If it makes you feel any better, it is not concerning marriage or your attitude."

"I guess I have no choice," she mumbled.

"Well then, we shall see you tonight then," Arthur said as the two left their presence and the relatives headed the opposite way. However, unexpectedly, Charles rushed back to the room at full speed, catching everyone by surprise. He quickly opened the door and immediately pulled off the cover, thinking something wasn't right, but his suspicions were wrong: Sebastian's body was still there.

"Surely it couldn't be," he said to himself.

"Is something the matter?" Lilliana said from the doorframe. Charles looked at her and then back at the body.

"Nothing. I just found it a little suspicious that Jeremy didn't take long to investigate this body like the others."

"Well, there's not much to investigate. There are wounds on his head and chest, which even you saw when we undressed him."

"His chest . . . right," he said before he walked up to the Sebastian's face and stomped on it, making her gasp and cover her mouth.

"It might not be my place to say, but that was uncalled for," she said through her hand.

"I just had to prove something to myself. And aren't you supposed to with your uncle?" he asked as he started walking toward her, or really, pass her.

"I was, but I saw you rush here and had to make sure things were all right. That's what Phantomhive servants do, after all."

"Well you better go back to him, unless you want to kill me too."

"Quick to assume as always," she said as she exited the room behind him and closed the door.

Despite having a low supply of food, the servants managed to pull off a meal fit for nobility and huge stomachs like Charles thanks to Jeremy's help. Despite being a soy product, everyone believed it to be real meat and the herbs added in it helped suppress Charles appetite, even if he still ate multiple plates. However, the peaceful dinner would return to its usual tension as Jeremy said, "Now that our bellies are full, I suppose it's time to tell you all my deductions. However, first, I must require the earl's assistance if he'll be so kind."

"What is it you need me to do?" Ciel asked.

"Oh, not much, my young lord. Simply undress," he said nonchalantly.

"P-Pardon?!"

"I can't explain everything at the moment since I want to test my hypothesis, but I do suspect that the murderer will strike again tonight in the young lord's chambers. Also, I will require the assistance of someone who has the quick reflexes to attack our murderer before they can strike."

"Oh, my little Ran-Mao may be the perfect candidate for you. She has a true fighting spirit unmatched by anyone. Isn't that right?" Lau said and she nodded.

"Excellent. She is even the perfect height to fool our adversary. Now, I will also require the assistance of Mr. Grey to apprehend the suspect once he is distracted. If they get too violent, I give him full permission to strike them down, but not kill. We need to have a witness."

"On it," he said.

"As for the rest of you, I'd like you to stay outside the chamber for your safety. We don't want any collateral damage because of this."

"Of course," Grimsby said. "I just hope this works."

"Well this is all we can do since he won't tell us much else," Woodley said in a disgruntled tone.

The groups proceeded toward Ciel's chambers, where Ciel, with the help of Lilliana, removed his clothes and was instructed to give them to Ran-Mao. Jeremy, Charles, Lilliana, and Jeremy waited in a corner in the room while Ran-Mao was instructed to get into Ciel's bed and pretend to sleep. The rest of the group waited in Woodley's room close to his bed chambers and patiently awaited the news. Arthur blew out the candles so the room could be dark and they waited. After a while, the group started to get impatient, but soon, their adrenaline shot up as they heard a slithering sound in the room and it was definitely not coming from them. How did they get in? The door wasn't opened and there were no footsteps. All of the sudden, Jeremy yelled, "Now!" In no time, she kicked the cover so it would trap the murder as they landed on the floor.

"I have them!" Charles said as he pulled out his sword and tried to slice the blanket, but was stopped by Lilliana with a candlestick. "What are you doing—,"

"Thank you, Lily," Jeremy said as he quickly walked toward the cover and made it impossible for the killer to escape.

"I told you not to call me that," she said angrily.

Jeremy only smirked in the darkness and continued, "I only requested your help, Mr. Grey, if our attacker tried to fight back, but fortunately for us, they haven't." Arthur quickly lit a candle so the room could have light and walked to the cover. Jeremy careful removed it and they were all surprised to see their identity: a snake. Jeremy was quick to grab it by the throat and tail and gently tie it in a knot to not harm the animal, but also prevent it from escaping.

"Well this is unexpected," Lilliana said.

"I'm relieved it's not one of us, but that's even more unnerving that this was slithering around the household the whole time," Arthur said with shivers down his spine.

"Well now that we have our culprit in custody, it's time to alert the others, don't you agree?" Jeremy said as he held onto the snake carefully, but the threatening hissing was terrifying Arthur, who was quick to agree and leave. However, as they left, they noticed that Lilliana seemed to be hissing at the snake back, which naturally seemed rather odd to them.

The group joined the rest of the party and, as expected, they were terrified by the snake, who now seemed to act calmer than in the bedroom. "A black mamba, native to Southern Africa, has venom that contains potent neurotoxins," Lilliana said, "The true killer gave it a whiff of the earl's scent and trained it to kill based on that."

"And how exactly do you know this?" Woodley said in shock.

"What? Can't a servant just know about potential threats that could afflict the young lord? I just tend to focus on toxins since my father aspired to be a doctor, but never reached that goal sadly," she said with some sadness in her voice.

"Seems like a convenient cover-up, if you ask me," Charles said.

"We literally have the killer in my uncle's hands and you have the nerve to still suspect me?" she said with her anger boiling a bit, but she stayed calm so her eyes didn't turn red.

"You said it yourself: the true killer trained it to attack."

"Regardless, in the end, a snake is a snake. It could follow the Earl's scent to his bed, but couldn't know whether the human in that bed was indeed the Earl," Jeremy explained.

"I realize how incredible it must sound, but the creature really did attack Ms. Ran-Mao when she was wearing the Earl's clothes," Arthur said. "That indicates the killer was unaware that Lord Phantomhive was sleeping elsewhere."

"And Patrick Phelps unfortunately paid the price," Ciel said with a bit of melancholy.

"The effects of long training are not easily cast aside. I set a trap, expecting its return, and I was correct," Jeremy said as he placed the snake in a vase with a heavy lid nearby to get it off his hands. "And by putting my coat on the tiny lord's body, it helped mask his scent so it wouldn't go elsewhere."

"You always say at least one word too many, don't you?" Ciel said in his normal voice, but keen eyes like Lilliana and Jeremy's could tell he was frustrated and they chuckled a bit.

"What I'd like to know is how the snake got into the country at all," Arthur said, "As far as I'm aware, it's illegal to carry poisonous snakes on trade ships."

"I'd wager that it was smuggled in. The simplest way to accomplish it would be to pay someone off who owns a freighter," Lau said. It was nice to here him contribute something useful once in a while.

"That may be, though, given where the snake originates, it would have to be someone who does business in Africa," Ciel said.

"What are England's main imports from Africa? . . . Gold and diamonds, I suppo—," Arthur said, but stopped himself when he, along with the rest of the group had a realization. All eyes turned to Woodley, who was stunned by the unspoken accusation.

"Now hold on a moment! It wasn't me! What about Kunlun? They're a trading company!" he yelled.

"Yes we are," Lau said, "But our business never takes us to the African continent."

"Still, having some connections in Africa isn't enough to prove that Mr. Woodley is a murderer," Charles defended, much to everyone's surprise. He was usually the first to jump on the accusatory bandwagon.

"And yet the young lord and I are prime suspects for having less evidence against us," Lilliana said in a snarky tone.

"That's right! Neither of you had valid alibis. I have one when Her von Siemens was murdered, if you recall," Woodley said in a frantic tone.

"Ah yes, but that alibi may be meaningless. The corpse the servants found when they broke down the door wasn't a corpse after all," Jeremy explained. Everyone was shocked at this piece of information, wondering how the hell that was possible. "For those of you who are familiar with Romeo & Juliet, there is a scene in which Juliet drinks a certain potion that made her seem dead-like, but was very much alive. Well, thanks to the scientific discover of tetrodotoxin, the potion now exists. If they are refined a certain way, the toxin could simulate death just like in our tragic love story."

"I believe I've heard of it before. It's the toxin found in octopi and pufferfish," Arthur contributed.

Jeremy nodded. "As some of you may recall, I detected a scent of the sea while examining the body. It likely came from a pufferfish-based poison. Now this raises a new question for us: why would I smell poison on a person who was stabbed?"

"Because it was a ruse," Lilliana said. "If what you're saying is true, then Her von Siemens faked a chest wound, drank the poison, disposed the container, and pretended to die. None of us really examined the chest wound closely, especially since the room was very dark. Still, that doesn't explain why he would have a real chest wound when we examined it closely."

"He meant to fake his own murder and then was actually killed? What rotten luck," Lau said in a tone that was somehow both joking and serious.

"Given how things played out, the killer may have been setting a trap for the Earl. It's not clear whether Herr von Siemens was a knowing accomplice, but perhaps the real killer sold it to him as a practical joke, suggesting that it would give everyone a good fright," Arthur hypothesized.

"It's possible. He and I never met before the party, so he wouldn't have anything against me," Ciel added, "I think we can therefore assume he was used and then silenced by someone who wanted to incriminate me."

"Indeed, and who would want to do that?" Jeremy said before he looked back to Woodley.

"Wait, anyone could have put him up to it, not just me! This makes everyone's alibi worthless! What about that maid! Sure, she is no longer suspect for Phelps's murder, but it's very possible she killed the butler and Siemens around the same time while wandering the halls all one! She even has some knowledge of poisons!"

"I have already considered the possibility, but when I questioned her in private, she was just as convinced as the rest of you that he was stabbed. As I was told, during the dinner party, he was the type to lose control when he drank and even tried to get handsy with her and the other women. It would seem like a motive to some, but that wouldn't make her any more guilty than the others who were affected by his drinking. As for the poison, it would be very unlikely for a maid to have the access to obtain ingredients for it, even less so the finished product. And lastly, my niece may be many things, but she is not a murderer. No level of animosity would drive her to not only murder, but also to frame the young lord for said murder," Jeremy vouched. Lilliana was actually shocked that he would come to her defense like that, but she smiled nonetheless.

"She may not have a strong motive, but we are still neglecting something: how did Herr von Siemens dispose of the bottle after he drank it? Surely we would have seen it when we cleared out his room," Charles said.

"That's simple; he tossed it somewhere we wouldn't immediately see it: the fireplace," Ciel said.

"That fire was burning particularly bright, like it had a lot of fuel," Baldroy said.

"With the fire, he could easily hide the evidence and the killer could then return to collect it when our attention was elsewhere," Arthur said.

"But he was prevented from doing just that," Lilliana said. "The last time I saw him, Sebastian was on his way to clean out that fireplace, possibly to find any evidence that we neglected at the time, but it seems he was there at the wrong time."

"That bottle alone could suggest the truth of the crime and the murderer would lose his alibi along with the others. So when he saw the butler trying to find it, he panicked and killed him. He then collected the bottle from the fireplace and hid it in his room," Arthur said.

"If that's the case, then whoever killed him must have the bottle and I have no such object in my possession! You've already searched my room for both evidence and that key, remember?" Woodley exclaimed.

"Yes, we searched everywhere in this room, except the fireplace," Ciel said smugly.

"Utter nonsense! I don't have it, I tell you!"

"That should be easy enough to settle! Let's take a look," Grimsby said as he walked to the fireplace, grabbed a fire-pick, and spread around the ashes. In no time, they found something unusual: tiny glass shards.

"That's still not proof. We can't tell what they were from. It could easily be a glass that he accidentally broke, but didn't wish to disclose," Arthur defended surprisingly.

"We'll be able to if we put them back together," Jeremy said as he walked up to the fireplace and bent down to collect the shards.

"Sorry? We can't possibly; the shards are too small—," Arthur said, but he grew quiet when he saw Jeremy miraculously put the shards back into their original form perfectly: an ampoule for some type of drug. Everyone turned back to Woodley, who couldn't believe what was happening.

"No! I've never seen that before, I swear!"

"You framed a child for a grimly murder? That's despicable," Arthur said.

"Why would I do that?!"

"Diamonds," Ciel interjected. "The Rhodes Company is the largest in the diamond industry. There was a highly secret plan in place for them to start a jewelry venture along with my own company. If it planned out as expected, Mr. Woodley's company was sure to see a drop in sales. A few days ago, however, the Rhodes Company president was murdered and the plan was temporarily suspended. I'd assume you wanted to kill me before the venture could go forward. Quite a shoddy plan, when you think about it."

"You must believe me! I'm innocent! I'm the one who is being framed! It's him, he's responsible! He's the Queen's guard—," Woodley tried to say, but was silenced when Charles's sword was placed near his throat.

"That will be enough! You can have your say when you've been safely put in a cell," he said threateningly. Woodley knew better than anyone just how happy he is to use his sword.

"Stop! I'm not the one you want! Please, I honestly didn't do this!" Woodley pleaded.

"Save your breath. I'm not interested. I find I'm in a particularly foul mood."

"So this is what it's like to have all the evidence pile up against you and you become the main suspect. The only difference is that I didn't actually kill anyone," Lilliana said before Woodley was handcuffed and taken to a different room with Charles. Everyone felt relieved and overjoyed that the mystery was finally over and that they were safe from being murdered. To congratulate them, the storm even cleared up and moonlight shined on the manor. To celebrate, everyone shared the drink Irene had that Mey-Rin mistaken for blood. In reality, it was just an anti-aging red parrilla extract that also helped relieve exhaustion, which they all desperately needed.

What's left of this murder party? Has justice been served? How will Lilliana and William's conversation play out? Reviews are appreciated!