Chapter 7
Step By Step

"We must look back on the beginning of the evening," Jakob began, leading the guests to the lounge. "The first to arrive was Mrs. Crimson, all formal and straight to the point. I took her coat, and lead her to the lounge where she took a drink from—"

"Uh, sir?" Felicia raised a timid hand. "Perhaps a little less detail?"

"Huh?" Jakob raised a brow, "Oh…right."

The butler cleared his throat and began again, "Next to arrive was Ms. Silver. When I lead her to the lounge, I noticed something very peculiar. Upon seeing Ms. Silver, Felicia refused to meet her eyes."

"My late husband, Laslow, was infatuated with her," Selena waved a hand at the maid, uncaring.

"Is that why you murdered him?" Felicia asked, with a surprising amount of confidence.

The red-headed woman shrugged, "There were many reasons. But yes, that was a prevailing one. I was furious."

Jakob nodded, apparently agreeing with the statement, "Were you planning to murder Felicia here tonight?"

Sighing, Selena shook her head, "No. I dealt with Laslow already. The maid didn't love my husband, nor did she try anything with him. She was…otherwise occupied."

"Thank you," the butler said. "That leads me further into my explanation. One by one, all but one of you arrived without event. Then, Duchess Snow came.

"I lead her to the lounge, where I could not help but notice Felicia giving a greeting that breached etiquette. A maid of Felicia's experience, while clumsy and incompetent, would never make such an error. She knew the duchess, which is a focal part of this evening's occurrences."

Jakob walked to the dining room, letting the others follow him. "At dinner, you all met Flora, our dear Felicia's sister."

"And that Mr. Night and Duchess Snow knew each other," Niles commented.

"Yes!" Jakob grinned. "Mr. Night, care to enlighten us?"

"I know her through one of my maids," Xander said, without elaborating.

"What a woman she is," Camilla said dreamily.

Everyone blushed and looked away, save for Niles and Jakob.

"Ahem," the butler coughed. "Also, Mr. Night brought to our attention the empty chair."

Jakob lead the group to the study, "Once Mr. Kamui arrived, we adjourned to the study. There, I went through and showed why each of you were being blackmailed.

"But most notably, was what happened after Mr. Kamui handed out the weapons. He shut off the lights, but instead of trying to kill me, like he assumed you all would, his life became in jeopardy," Jakob explained. "When the bullet missed, he played dead on the ground, fooling our doctor."

Niles laughed, "Well, there is a reason for that."

"Out with it," Kaze spat.

"I'm not a doctor," shrugged Niles. "I'm a simple conman. I was only pretending to be a doctor."

Jakob's eyes widened, "What?"

The white haired man winked, "Fooled you. Glad to know I'm still this good."

"Um…" Jakob paused, off-kilter. "Er…then we heard Felicia scream! So we rushed to her side."

The butler ran to the library, prompting all the guests to do likewise. When he entered the room, Jakob spun around and said, "But one of us wasn't here."

"What?" the guests chorused.

"No," Jakob smirked, back in his element. "Could it be someone had stayed behind to make sure Mr. Kamui was really dead? Maybe they grabbed the candlestick and hit him on the head once he got up and tried to escape?"

"Well, did they?" Kagero asked.

"All in good time!" Jakob cried, prancing out of the room again. "After we spoke with Felicia, Ms. Silver went to the bathroom. Inside, she found Mr. Kamui's body.

"But yet again, one of our number was not there," Jakob looked at each guest. "Instead, they were busy murdering the cook with the knife."

"What I don't understand," Kaze began, "is why the cook had to die? She had nothing to do with this affair."

The butler laughed, "Of course she did! Everyone who was murdered tonight had a connection to one of you, and fed Mr. Kamui vital information about your activities."

"Flora is my employer's cook," Kagero revealed. "She must have found out he and I were…"

"Gunter was one of my old co-workers," Kaze said, following her lead. "He was aware of what I was doing."

"The caretaker was also one of my patients," Niles chuckled. "Evidently, he realized I wasn't a real doctor."

Selena pointed toward the door, "The policeman was investigating the murder of my husband. Mr. Kamui probably got to him."

"Gunter was the caretaker of my estate for a time, probably after he left Mr. Green's employ," Camilla shrugged.

"And Felicia used to be my maid," Xander said.

All eyes darted to the maid, who looked down in shame.

"As you can all see, everyone here tonight was involved. That was my intention when I gathered you all tonight," Jakob said. "But after it occurred to us to check on the cook, our number became eight again."

"How did they sneak past us to kill the cook?" Selena asked.

"The secret passageway in the conservatory," Xander answered. "There's a false wall that connects with the freezer we found the cook in."

"Very good!" Jakob complimented. "After we found the body, Mr. Night suggested we split up. And I suggested we lock the weapons up. But when I put the key in my pocket, someone switched it for another key."

"We were all in a huddle, anyone of us could have done it!" exclaimed Kaze.

"Precisely," the butler nodded. "Then, Mr. Gunter arrived. We locked him in the lounge, and set out in our pairs.

"But one of us snuck away from our partner, and switched off the power. Using the cover of darkness, they took the secret passage from the study to the lounge," Jakob said. "With the lead pipe, they killed Mr. Gunter."

"Enough of all these dramatics," Kagero stepped forward. "Who did it?"

"Who killed Mr. Kamui?" Jakob posed the question on everyone's mind.

The butler stepped up to Kagero, "Was it an adulterous wife?" he then turned to Kaze, "Or a thieving diplomat?" then to Selena, "Or even a jealous wife?"

Jakob shook his head, "No. It was the noblest of all, Duchess Snow."

"That's a lie!" spat the purple haired woman.

"Is it?" the butler raised an eyebrow. "Ladies and gentlemen, there is one key factor in which this entire evening has revolved around: love. Love, and a woman named Felicia."

The maid, a far worse liar than Camilla, sputtered out a weak excuse. The silver-haired man ignored it, and continued his explanation, "Duchess Snow was the missing member when we were drawn by Felicia's screams. She'd stayed behind and delivered the killing blow to Mr. Kamui once she realized her gunshot had missed."

"Then how did I kill Flora?" Camilla shot back. "Not only was I with you when you surmised the cook's demise, but I also lacked a motive."

"That is because you didn't kill her, your lover did," the butler said, pointing at Felicia. "Mr. Kamui didn't learn of just your prolific habits or preference in company in bed, but also of your scandalous relationship with a maid in your retinue."

"F-Flora told Mr. Kamui everything," Felicia quietly said. "She…didn't approve of my choices."

"I'll admit to killing the snake, Mr. Kamui," the duchess said. "But I did not kill Gunter or the policeman."

"No, you didn't kill Gunter. And neither did Felicia," Jakob admitted.

"Was it Mr. Green?" Selena asked. "He had a motive."

The butler shook his head, "Actually, it was someone without a motive. Mr. Night."

The hall quieted, and Xander frowned, "Why would I?"

"I should have said 'someone without a known motive'," the silver haired man amended. "After all, none of us know your connection to the duchess."

"We're friends," Xander sighed, knowing when to admit defeat. "Felicia was my former maid, and I cared for her happiness. That led me to get to know Camilla, from which we hatched this plot."

"It was through Felicia we were able to know who would be there, and learn the secret passages," Camilla explained. "We sought to free ourselves from Mr. Kamui's network of informants, and the blackmailer himself."

"B-but we didn't kill the policeman!" protested Felicia, sticking close to Camilla.

Niles nodded, "Indeed. Though if I might take control of the situation, I have a question to pose. Where is the gun? The policeman was shot, and whoever has the gun ought to have done it."

"Everyone needs to turn out their pockets and handbags," Kagero demanded, opening her bag to reveal nothing.

Just as everybody moved to do so, Jakob reached into his uniform and revealed the revolver. "I shot him," he said simply.

The seven others backed away, wary of the butler holding the gun. Jakob laughed, "Come now, surely it has occurred to one of you? What's the one question I never posed, yet must have gone through all your heads?"

"How did you know all of that stuff about us?" Niles asked. The realization flashed over the other six people's faces, sparking them all to jump to their own conclusions.

"I'm Mr. Kamui," smirked Jakob. "I'd like to personally thank Duchess Snow, Mr. Night and Felicia for getting rid of my informants. They were becoming more trouble than they were worth."

"Who did I kill?" Camilla demanded.

"My butler," Jakob chuckled.

"Why kill the policeman?" Selena asked, apprehensive.

"He arrived too late for you to end up killing him," Jakob said. "And Mrs. Crimson suspected you. I do love theatrics, so I decided to shoot the cop."

"What about the other police coming? Or was he the only one?" Kaze pointed at the door.

Jakob nodded, "I had such a plan for when he arrived. But it goes to show you, that not all plans go well. Now, I suggest we all leave before anyone finds Mr. Green's abandoned car and starts asking questions."

"You mean, we're just going to leave and pretend this didn't happen?" Xander frowned, stepping forward. "Are you going to keep blackmailing us?"

"Of course," Jakob said. "Why not?"

"I'll tell you why," Xander growled, pulling a revolver of his own out of his suit jacket.

Bang!

Jakob Kamui stumbled back and hit the floor. "Good shot, Mr. Night!" he coughed and glanced down, "Very good…"

"Let's go," Xander said, grabbing his coat from the closet.

"Mr. Night with the revolver in the hall," Camilla giggled, Felicia by her side. "Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"