That Butler, Confining


I own nothing but my OC.

≤speech in Indian language≥

'thoughts'

"speech"

{setting/stage directions?}

SOUND EFFECTS

An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.

=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift

—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location


Previously:

"Kyaaaaaaaah!!" Irene screamed.

"Uwaaaaah!!" Phelps cried.

"Ah! Mister Phelps!!" Woodley exclaimed, startled when the nervous man fainted.

"Excuse me!" Arthur said, rushing forth from the crowd to check Siemens' vitals. Sebastian held his chin while he observed. Chêne furrowed her brow in confusion.

"… He's dead!!" Arthur announced gravely, pale with shock.

[At that moment, not a single one of us ever imagined—or rather, could not have imagined that his death would come to be a mere prologue.

The rumbling thunder and the deluge of rain was akin to a benediction by the Devil's orchestra—the curtain had risen on the Phantomhive manor murders.]


"H—He's dead…!" Arthur announced grimly, beads of cold sweat sliding down his face.

"What!?" Woodley exclaimed, turning his attention away from the fainted Phelps.

"No..." Irene said with a trembling voice. She and Grimsby stared at the gruesome scene with pale faces. Grey frowned and furrowed his brow. Lau, Ran-Mao, and Sebastian were quiet. Chêne was confused.

"… Are you sure?" Chêne asked hesitantly.

"He doesn't have a pulse," Arthur replied. The crease in her brow deepened.

"What was that voice jus… Whoa!" Bard exclaimed when he, Mei-Rin, and Finni entered the room, and flinched in shock at the sight that awaited them.

"I-Is this man dead!?" Finni asked anxiously.

"Yes..." Arthur answered, wishing it wasn't true. But the evidence spoke for itself. "The hemorrhage from the chest wound was most likely fatal. I can't be certain because of how dark it is, but—"

"Hey," Bard said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Ain't this room kinda hot?"

"Yes, it is," Sebastian agreed. "I had heated up the room in advance, but… perhaps he felt a chill."

"Perhaps..." Chêne said, though she didn't sound very convinced.

"I say, what on earth is the meaning of all this racket?" Ciel asked, making them aware of his arrival with Tanaka, who was carrying a candelabra.

"Young Master," Sebastian said.

"!!" Ciel gasped when he saw Siemens. "Lord Siemens…!" Ciel and Sebastian exchanged a glance. Chêne didn't miss it.

"I—In any case," Grimsby said, "let's just leave things untouched as they are until the Yard gets here—"

"No. We should move the corpse right away," Bard said gravely.

"Eh?" Grimsby said, taken aback.

"I don't wanna put it like this, but flesh rots faster than you might think," Bard explained. "Even if we douse the fire now, the corpse'll go right off if it's kept by the hearth."

"Flesh… rots, you say..." Irene said, horrified, turning green around the gills as she swayed a little on her feet.

"Irene!" Grimsby said, concerned. He quickly helped her steady herself.

"He's right," Arthur said, referring to Bard. "I also believe that we should place the corpse in a cool, dark place until the experts can examine it."

"Then let us relocate him to the cellar until the gentlemen of the Yard arrive," said Sebastian. "Finni, bring us a cot."

"Right!" Finni said, leaving immediately to fetch it. It only took him a few minutes to retrieve the item and come running back with it. Chêne watched quietly with the others while Sebastian helped Bard carefully move the body onto the cot, and Bard and Finni carried it away to the cellar.

"But that won't be anytime soon, now will it?" Lau said standing by the window with Ran-Mao, referring to Sebastian's comment about the Yard. Ciel and Chêne looked at him. "I mean, have you seen this storm…?" Lau asked, lifting the curtain a little more.

FSHHH.

The wind was blowing the rain so hard that the trees looked like shaky blurs in the darkness outside.

"… But that means we can't leave this place either, doesn't it!?" Woodley asked, getting upset.

"You only realized that now?" Lau asked him.

"I imagine the Yard wouldn't want anyone to leave before they had a chance to interview us anyway," Chêne said. "Right, Young Master?"

"That is usually the way of things," Ciel agreed.

"Now, see here!!" Woodely exclaimed. Lau shrugged.

"Anyway, it's fine," the Chinese man said carelessly. "We all planned to stay the night anyway."

"It's far from fine!!" Woodley shouted. "A murder was just committed here—"

"—Indeed," said Lau. "Right now, this manor is truly an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. Therefore, it is highly likely that the murderer is still inside the manor or within the grounds." Lightning flashed outside as the other guests began to murmur amongst each other, and Bard and Finni returned.

"Or perhaps I should say… thinking it through logically the murderer is one of us?" Grey suggested.

"Wha—!?" Grimsby exclaimed in alarm as he, Irene, Arthur, and Woodley paled with shock again. "Why must it be one of us!?" Grimsby demanded, getting angry. "What kind of sick joke is that!?"

"Y-Yes, that's right!" Woodley agreed, backing him up.

"First off, the majority of us have just met one another, and..." Arthur said.

"Ah!" Irene gasped.

"Miss Diaz?" Sebastian asked.

"When we arrived at the door to this room, it was locked, wasn't it?" Irene asked.

"Yes, it was," Chêne answered.

"Then someone could have entered the room from a window, and after locking the door to stall for time, escaped the same way they came, couldn't they?" Irene suggested. Chêne and Grey both approached the window. He tried to open it, while Chêne felt the carpet in front of it with her hand.

"But wouldn't you expect there to be footprints if someone came in from out of this downpour?" Grey pointed out. "What say you?" he asked Chêne.

"The carpet is clean and completely dry," she reported. She stood up and returned to her spot beside Sebastian and Ciel.

"See? And let's not forget, this room is on the second floor," Grey continued. "The window's locked too."

"Then somebody locked the door from the corridor and then ran off after all..." Grimsby mused, holding his chin.

"That is impossible," Sebastian said firmly, grabbing everyone's attention. "The keys in this manor all belong to warded locks from when the manor was first built. The keys themselves are of very complicated make, so without a master locksmith on hand, duplicating them is implausible. Moreover, the keys are stored in a locked storage cabinet, over which I, the butler, stand guard, so no one can take the keys out as they please," he explained, holding up his key to the cabinet. "In addition to the warded lock, the doors are fitted with a latch on the inside for convenience's sake, so they may be locked from within. In a situation where the keys cannot be removed from the cabinet, it is only possible to lock the doors from inside."

"And the latch was in place when the door was broken down," Chêne added, bringing their attention to the damaged latch lock that had been ripped from the wall along with the door.

"In other words… we're looking at a locked-room murder, hmm?" Lau said.

"That's not possible… This isn't some novel!" Woodley exclaimed.

"Indeed," Ciel agreed, yawning. "You'd never hear the end of it from the public if an unsophisticated locked-room drama like this was ever published."

"Eh?" said Woodley, slightly taken aback.

"Aren't you of the same opinion, Professor?"

"Eh…!?" Arthur said, pointing at himself. "Ah!!" he gasped when it clicked. "Now I see… Yes, it is possible if you use that."

"What do you mean?" Lau asked.

"The needle and thread method?" Chêne said.

"Correct," Ciel confirmed. He knew she would get it, being a fan of mysteries.

"Needle… and thread?" Woodley asked.

"As Sebastian mentioned, this door can only be locked from the inside. However, you can easily lock it from the outside with needle and thread," Ciel explained. "It goes like this. First, you jam the threaded needle by the raised latch to fix it. Then, you leave the room, having pulled the thread under the door. Last, if you tug on the thread carefully so it doesn't break, and dislodge the needle… the latch will fall, thereby locking the door! If you retrieve the needle and thread from beneath the door, just so, you leave behind no proof. And disposing of a needle and thread is easy enough. It's a simple and boring trick that's been used over and over in mystery novels. But the intruder isn't looking to write a novel. This trick serves more as a practical diversion, wouldn't you say?"

"I do see now how you can create a locked room that way, but..." Lau said, holding his chin.

"Doesn't that mean it's possible anybody could have murdered him…?" Arthur finished.

"We did no such thing! It must have been somebody else!!" Grimsby said, putting his arm around Irene and pointing in Woodley's direction.

"It wasn't me either!!" Woodley protested. "Y-You're the most suspicious one among us! You were quarreling with the lord at the banquet!"

"Don't falsely accuse me, old man!! Who'd murder a man over such a trivial thing!!" Grimsby yelled. "Besides, you..."

"Come, come, you two," Lau said calmly. "We just need to calm down and verify everyone's alibis. Lord Siemens was murdered after he retired to his room… or to put it more accurately, he was killed after he rang the bell for the servants and before Master Butler and company arrived at his door."

"Irene and I were in the billiard room," Grimsby said.

"Yes," Irene agreed.

"I was there too," Grey said.

"I as well. And Mister Phelps too," Arthur answered. He had kneeled down beside the still unconscious man to try to help him. "After Lord Siemens went to bed and until the commotion occurred, we were all in the billiard room. None of us left the room in that time."

"What were you two doing?" Ciel asked Lau and Ran-Mao.

"Nn? We were drinking in the lounge with Mister Woodley," Lau replied. "Riiight, Ran-Mao?" She nodded in agreement.

"Yes! We were together until the racket began," Woodley said, still looking a little nervous.

"And I believe we had Master Butler bring us some more liquor after midnight because we ran out of drinks?" Lau said.

"Yes, I brought that over around 12:10," Sebastian confirmed.

"W-We servants were cleaning up, all six of us, we were!" Mei-Rin said nervously.

"To begin with, we didn't even know which room Siemens was staying in!" Grimsby pointed out. "It would take ages to find him in this huge manor, am I right!?"

"Which leaves..." Grey said, looking straight at Ciel.

"Forgive my insolence, Lord Earl, but what were you doing at that time?" Lau asked.

"…!" Ciel furrowed his brow and frowned. "I am indeed the only one without an alibi, but I had no reason to murder his lordship."

"Ehhhh, reaaally?" Grey asked dubiously.

"… What is it?" Ciel asked.

"You can't say you had no reason with absolute certainty," Lau said. "The reason for which one person murders another is typically inconceivable to other folk. People will never be able to understand another's mind, regardless of how much research genius scholars collect on the subject. Besides, your company has a branch in Germany, right? You might have had disputes over some documents with him, a board member of a large bank… though we'd know nothing of such matters."

"…" Woodley said as he watched.

"Are you implying that my Funtom is defaulting?" Ciel said. "What utter drivel!"

"It is possible," Lau said. "In this day and age, any large company can disappear overnight."

"P—! Please wait!!" Finni burst out anxiously. "I don't quite get the complicated stuff, but… but! Young Master would never do such a—"

"Finni," Ciel said firmly. "It's fine. Step back." Finni stepped back and looked down. Chêne placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"… What I want is a guarantee," Grey said.

"A guarantee?" Irene asked.

"A guarantee that we'll be able to make it out of here alive," Grey stated.

"What… do you mean by that?" Irene questioned.

" 'cos this here mansion is under the control of the killer, right? And until the storm passes, we're stuck," Grey said. "What happens if all our lips are forcibly sealed before the storm ends?" All of the other guests, aside from Lau and Ran-Mao, shivered and paled again at the horrifying thought.

"Ah. Then what about… we confine him!?" said Lau with a smile. "Y'know, lock him up!"

"Lock him up!?" Finni, Bard, and Mei-Rin exclaimed, shocked. "Our young master!?"

" 'Cos I'm sooooo scared!" Lau said lightly, making Chêne sweat-drop as she frowned at him. Sebastian furrowed his brow slightly and frowned too.

"Don't you think your joke has gone far enough, sir?" Chêne asked Lau.

"Ehh~ I'm being perfectly serious!" Lau responded in the least serious voice she had ever heard him use.

"If that will satisfy you, then do it," Ciel said with a sigh.

"His lordship's room won't work," Grey said. "An aristocrat's quarters usually have some secret means of escape. My place has them too!"

"Then how about we keep watch over the young master while seeing to you—" Sebastian tried to suggest.

"That won't do either," Lau said. " 'Cos you lot might let the earl get away hm?"

"So I believe the best alternative is to have one of the guests stay with his lordship and keep an eye on him," said Grey.

"You can count me out! There's no way I can leave Irene alone!!" Grimsby said.

"I-I don't want to myself!!" Woodley added.

"Me too. I can't bear to even think about it!" Lau said, doing a terrible job of hiding his amusement, while Ran-Mao nodded her head.

"I don't want to do it either, but someone's got to—" Grey said. Arthur stopped listening. He was looking at Ciel.

'If you consider the current situation, only he can be the murderer,' Arthur thought. '—However… would the perpetrator commit a crime when he is the only one without an alibi? To do so would make him no better than the foolish culprit in some penny dreadful. If he is indeed the murderer… did he disclose the details of that cheap trick knowing full well it would put him at a disadvantage?'

"—And so!" Lau said decisively. He clapped his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "It is in your hands, Professor!"

"—Huh? EEH!?" Arthur exclaimed, flinching in shock. Who decided that!?

"Make sure you keep a close watch on his lordship so he doesn't run off now!" Lau told him.

"N-No, this can't beee!" Arthur tried to refuse nervously.

"Oh, yes," Grey said, suddenly remembering something. "I have something useful loaded on my carriage. You there, will you go get it for me?" he ordered, pointing at Bard.

"Then we'll break up for the night," Ciel said. "Sebastian. Show everyone to their rooms."

"As you wish, Sir," Sebastian replied dutifully. "Now then, I shall take you to your rooms, ladies and gentlemen. If you will kindly follow me this way—"

=†=†=†=†=†=

FSHHH.

The rain was still coming down as hard as ever outside the window of the guest room they had prepared for Arthur.

'I never imagined… that something like this would happen,' the doctor thought, holding his face in his hands while he sat with his back to Ciel, who was changing into his nightshirt with Sebastian's help.

"—Ugh. This has turned out to be quite troublesome," Ciel said.

"You are quit right, Sir," Sebastian agreed.

CLANK.

The chain connected to the shackle on Arthur's wrist clinked when he moved it. He recalled what Earl Grey had said when he produced them with a big smile on his face:

Here. I use these shackles when escorting terrorists and such whom I've captured for work. 'Cos I'm Her Majesty's private secretarial officer~! They're perfect 'cos the chain's so long, so if you run it underneath the bed, neither of you'll be able to escape!

'Haah...' he sighed internally, looking at the shackles that led from his wrist to under the bed. Ciel's end of the shackles wasn't on him yet, but it lay on the floor on his side, ready to be of use.

"By the way, the room we had prepared for Mister Phelps was next to Mister Siemens' room, and he refused to use it," Sebastian reported.

"It figures," Ciel said.

"The only other room to which I could show him immediately was Young Master's room, so I took him there," Sebastian said. "My apologies."

"No matter," Ciel replied carelessly, stretching. He plopped himself down onto the bed, kicking off his slippers. "It's to be cold tonight. Make sure the guest rooms have enough coke to keep the fires going through the night. Even if I'm not around, make sure our guests get the finest Phantomhive has to offer," he told him with a smirk.

"Yes, My Lord," Sebastian replied, returning it. "Then, if you will excuse me..." He applied the shackle to Ciel's wrist.

"Well, Professor? Shall we get some rest?' the young earl asked as he was tucked into bed by his butler.

"Y-Yes!" Arthur answered, feeling nervous and awkward to be sleeping with someone other than family, and under such strange circumstances.

"Then I bid you good night, Sir," Sebastian said, folding Ciel's robe over his arm. He blew out the candelabra on the night table and departed, shutting the door behind him.

—^—^—^—

The earl and doctor lay in bed, but they couldn't get to sleep.

"—Professor," Ciel said, rolling onto his side to talk. "I apologize for getting you involved in all this. I bet sharing a bed with a murderer makes it rather hard to sleep even when one should be sleeping, eh?" He gave the doctor a self-depreciating smile.

"N-Not at all," Arthur said. "Um… Do you keep an eyepatch on even when you're sleeping, my lord?"

"Eh? Oh, yes," Ciel answered.

"I may be meddling, but you ought to let your eye air out when you go to bed at least," Arthur said, reaching out to remove it for him. "It would encourage healing as well—"

WHAP!

Ciel sat up and slapped his hand away hard with a terrible expression on his face. Arthur stared at him, stunned.

"Ah..." Ciel said, taken aback by his own actions. He touched the eyepatch. "This injury… I sustained it from the time I lost my family, so… It's not something I really want to see."

"Please forgive me for being ignorant of the circumstances!!" Arthur exclaimed, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty.

"No..." Ciel started to say when he recalled an old memory. "Heh. That Reminds me..." He lay back down. "I wonder when it last was… that I slept beside somebody just like this. On a stormy night like this one… when I was little, I think. Yes, that night when I, afraid of the thunder, crept into my parents' bed might've been the last." The shackle on his wrist jingled a little when he gripped his pillow. He closed his eyes. "Now I have no one..." Ciel's eyes opened again when he felt someone gently place their warm hand on his head. For a moment, he thought it was Chêne because she was the only one who would touch him like that, but the hand was too large. He looked up at it's owner. "Professor?" Arthur gasped when he realized what he had done.

"S-S-S-S-Sorry!!" Arthur exclaimed, pulling his hand back and waving his arms, panicking. "I-I-I-I'm one of ten siblings, and I have a younger brother about your age, my lord, so I couldn't help it!!"

"A younger brother..." Ciel said, staring at him.

"Um! I was by no means making a mockery of you…" Arthur tried to explain anxiously. Ciel smiled a little wanly at that, recalling the last time he was called that by someone. Seeing how frantic the doctor was to reassure him, there was no way he could be upset with him. He had the same brand of kindness as Chêne.

"Heh. Let us sleep, Professor," Ciel said, settling down for the night again.

"Ah! Yes..." Arthur agreed, surprised.

"Good night," Ciel told him with a small smile before closing his eyes.

"Good night..." Arthur said. He lay back down too and listened to the sound of the rain outside.

SHHHHH.

"—Is... this little boy really a killer?' Arthur wondered sadly. 'Is he truly?'

=†=†=†=†=†=

SHHHH.

CLICK. CLICK.

Sebastian's footsteps could be heard just above the sound of the rain as he walked down the dark and empty hall. The only source of light was the candelabra in his hand. He reached Siemens' room.

"—Now then," Sebastian said. He stopped in front of the fireplace. "To 'make sure there is enough coke to keep going through the night'… was it?" He set to work on clearing away the ashes so he could add fresh coke to the fire. He stopped. "I should have known… This is—" A dark figure rose up behind him.

THOK!