Chapter 6 yay! I honestly don't know how many chapters this story is going to be, but I know where it is going so watch this space.
"Shall we solve a mystery then Rose?" The Doctor asked getting up from his examination of the corpse.
"Yay. Goody. What a way to spend a holiday." Rose said sarcastically. The Doctor hit her across the chest.
"Aw what was that for?" She asked while rubbing her chest. It hurt.
"For being sarcastic. I haven't finished with the body yet but I want you to find out all you can about those two, and if you have time about the person that has been murdered." The Doctor said, clearly trying to get rid of her for a bit.
"I can be Inspector Barnaby!" Rose said and jumped for joy. She stopped when she saw the look of confusion on the Doctor's face.
"Didn't you ever watch Midsomer Murders?" She asked, disbelieving. Everyone has seen at least one Midsomer Murders.
"No. I'm beginning to think that TV is not good for your little mind Susan." The Doctor said.
"Rose." Rose said.
"Yeah, whatever. Now be a good little girl and go and solve some mysteries. You can be whoever you want. Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Columbo, Scooby Doo, you name it you can be that person, just GO!" The Doctor said and practically pushed her away.
"Alright. I know when I'm not wanted." Rose said but continued to stand there, just to bug the Doctor.
"Oh for heaven's sake just go, do what you like. Just be back here in a few hours. Got it?" The Doctor said, getting very impatient.
"Sure. I think I will go and talk to those people anyway. I'll see you in a few hours." Rose said and waved. The Doctor waved back and watched Rose leave for Versailles with the last of the crowd. None of them were too suspicious as the TARDIS was more or less camouflaged by the night and the wildlife.
The Doctor was all alone now with just a corpse for company. He was grateful for his sonic screwdriver. Without it, his examination of the corpse would have been pretty terrible.
He managed to gather most information about the corpse. A young adult male, in his twenties, in perfect health, except for the dozen stab wounds in his back. The one thing he wanted to know was his name.
What was he doing out here anyway? The Doctor thought to himself and decided to try and trace where the killer was standing when he or she attacked.
It was pretty easy to figure that out. The body had not been dragged at all or moved or there would be some sign and by the fact that the corpse is lying by a massive bush, it was pretty easy to know where the killer was hiding.
The Doctor went into the bush and switched on his sonic screwdriver. It gave out some light, but only some light he needed. It would clearly reflect off a knife if it was here.
He moved closer into the bush, and could feel something crawling on his arm. He wiped it off without looking to see what it was. Branches snapped under his weight, and he was being very noisy. He had no idea how the killer could have remained so quiet in here. He was about to leave when he heard branches snapping. Only it was not from him.
Must have been an animal, the Doctor thought to himself.
The Doctor looked about thoroughly, but could not find anything. He searched the surrounding areas as well but there was nothing.
The Doctor bent over the corpse and started looking through his pockets to see if there was any form of identification. He did not get his hopes up. This was, after all, 18th century France.
"Who are you?" A female voice said.
The Doctor jumped. He did not think anyone was left from the crowd, but clearly someone had decided to stay behind. He looked about and could see a figure in front of him. It looked short, but it was too hard to tell in the dark.
"Come closer. I can barely see you. Do you have a light?" The Doctor asked.
The Doctor heard a noise, then there was some light. The girl had lit a candle. He could see her more clearly now. She had long strawberry blonde hair and looked quite thin. She looked very serious. Her nose was quite small, and her eyes were a dark brown and deep.
"Who are you?" The girl asked again.
"I am the Doctor. May I ask who you are?" The Doctor replied.
"I am Gabrielle. What was that device you held earlier?" The girl asked, looking very curious.
"That was nothing important. Why are you here?" The Doctor asked, wanting to get rid of her as soon as possible.
"I came to find out who you were, and to examine the corpse myself. You see, I am some what of a scientist myself." Gabrielle said and bent down towards the corpse.
The Doctor's situation had changed. He did not need to get rid of her right now, as she could answer some of his questions.
"Who was he and why was he out here?" The Doctor asked.
"This man was called Louis Theréson. He was to be wed to another aristocrat called Jeanne d'Artois. However, he had other ideas." Gabrielle said and ran her fingers over some wounds on the corpse.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor said.
"You are aware of how the feudal system works? The marriage arrangements are made before you are born or just after giving birth. He had no choice. The two families had decided that they should marry, only he went fooling around with another woman." Gabrielle said and the Doctor thought there was a look of triumph on her face.
"Who? I may need to speak with her." The Doctor said.
"Marie Orléans. You have met her. She came up to you earlier and left with her colleague. She thinks I didn't know about it, but she was flaunting it so much there was no way I could have missed it. She always does it. She has to flirt. It makes me sick." Gabrielle said. The Doctor thought back to the girl, Marie, walking off with the man. She looked like she was flirting then.
"You've known her a long time then?" The Doctor said.
"Unfortunately yes. We were best friends until that man came into the picture." Gabrielle said.
"Louis?" The Doctor guessed, not sure who she was going about. The regeneration had been causing him to lose track at times.
"No. Jack. I had heard about Jack before but when I met him, I thought he must be a con. The Jack Harkness I heard of was brave and flirted with everyone. This one is too frigid and too cowardly." Gabrielle said.
"Jack Harkness? You're not from here are you?" The Doctor asked. She was in league with the other two. Now he had pretty good idea of what they were.
"Yes. I was born in Paris 23 years ago. I grew up here." Gabrielle said but the Doctor couldn't miss the telltale signs of lying. She was fidgeting with her fingers as she told the Doctor she had grown up here and didn't look him in the eye.
"I see" The Doctor said, not risking to confront this girl just yet. "So what is it you do for a living?"
Gabrielle paused for a moment as if to think of an answer.
"Hello? I am from the upper class. We do not work." Gabrielle said.
"Of course you are, but what I am asking is what YOU do for a living. You think too much, therefore you must do something." The Doctor said and Gabrielle looked stumped.
"Like I said, I do not work." Gabrielle said.
The Doctor gave out a heavy sigh. He was getting tired now of not getting the answers he wanted.
"Let's cover this body up shall we and go back to the Palace." The Doctor said and grabbed the sheet to cover the body.
He got up and held out his arm for Gabrielle just as he did for Rose.
Gabrielle gave a look of disgust.
"You can't just leave the body here!" She cried, pushing the Doctor's arms out of the way.
"Why not? Who is going to steal it and besides, we'll deal with it in the morning." The Doctor said and held out his arm once more.
Gabrielle looked down on his hand, as if it were dirt, but still took it anyway.
They both left the corpse with their arms locked, heading back towards the party.