Ciel stood beside Sebastian as the school principal gave a speech about the girls who had died in Lindstrom's experiments. Alois seemed bored and kept yawning often. Claude was seated with his back straight. Soon after the speech, lunchtime arrived. Ciel and Alois walked through the buffet, selecting different dishes to try.

They sat down with Claude since Sebastian had gone to give their condolences to the family. It had spread like wildfire that the Queen's Dog and Spider had found the dead bodies and given Lindstrom a proper punishment.

"Ciel, that woman keeps staring at you" Alois pointed out.

"Which woman?" Ciel asked looking around.

She spotted a woman dressed in a beautiful black dress and black blazer. She was staring right at Ciel who stiffened.

"Maybe she wants to talk to you" Alois suggested.

"She's pretty" Ciel commented.

"Maybe you should approach her" Claude said.

Ciel stood up and began walking towards the woman. The woman turned and then began walking away.

"Excuse me!" Ciel said walking faster now.

The woman finally stopped near a small fountain. Ciel stopped right next to her.

"I saw you staring at me" Ciel said and the woman smiled.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Countess Phantomhive. I am Alfreda, Duchess of York. I have come specifically to meet you" She said.

"You could have come to my home, Duchess. There was no need to approach me here" Ciel said.

"I am not permitted to leave my home without my husband's permission, Countess. I have come to you for help" Alfreda said.

"What sort of help?" Ciel asked.

"My husband is becoming more dangerous by the minute. We don't really get along because of my drinking problem but for the last month we have become even more distant. I feel like my life is in danger" Alfreda replied.

"I don't think it is my right to come into your marriage, Duchess"

"Please help me. I'm sure he will kill me even though I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in two weeks" Alfreda begged.

"I'll see what I can do, Duchess" Ciel said.

"Countess, if something does happen to me then make sure to punish my husband the way he deserves" Alfreda said.

"I shall try" Ciel replied.

"Thank you Countess" Alfreda said.

Ciel nodded and then returned to her lunch. The next day a letter arrived from the Queen.

"What does it say?" Ciel asked draining her mug of tea.

"We have to investigate the death of Alfreda, the Duchess of York" Alois replied and Ciel choked on her tea.

"What's the matter?" Sebastian asked.

"I met her just yesterday, the woman who was staring at me at the memorial. She asked me to help her because she thinks her husband was going to kill her" Ciel replied.

"Her husband was going to kill her? Why would her husband kill her?" Alois asked.

"I don't know but she asked me to help. She said that if something happened to her then to make sure her husband was punished" Ciel replied.

"Who is her husband?" Alois asked.

"World chess champion, Frederick Taylor" Sebastian replied.

"Chess champion? How can that be?" Alois asked.

"We need to investigate this thoroughly. First, we go find the body and then investigate the Duke of York" Ciel said.

They entered the Undertaker's shop where he was busy washing his hands.

"I made her all pretty. Not that she needed it" he said hugging an anatomy dummy to himself.

"What was the cause of death?" Ciel asked.

"Cardiac arrest or heart attack. She suffered for two minutes before dying" Undertaker replied.

"So her husband didn't kill her" Alois said.

"Something is fishy. Why did she accuse her husband of killing her? Why was she afraid of her husband? She had a drinking problem but then why did she ask me to punish him?" Ciel said.

"Maybe she was tipsy and it was just the alcohol talking" Alois said.

"Tongues are freerier with alcohol. There is something going on with her husband" Ciel pointed out.

They returned home and began their research.

"The Duke of York has a lot of money but rather a small estate. Most of his money goes into buying rare chess boards and pieces. He invests in property and horses" Sebastian reported.

"What about his life with his wife?" Ciel asked.

"They seem to be fine with no problems according to eyewitnesses and news articles" Sebastian replied.

"Maybe they did have problems but no one knew about it. It's all about keeping appearances" Claude suggested.

"I still feel like that Duchess was drunk" Alois said.

"Then screw you! She asked me for help and I told her I would help her. I gave her my word and I never go back on my word" Ciel said standing up and stalking up the stairs.

"I didn't think morals like hers existed in this century" Sebastian said.

"Master, you shouldn't have done that. We should just go with what Lady Ciel says" Claude said.

"Fine, I'll go apologize" Alois stood and walked up the stairs.

He opened the door to his room and found Ciel seated with her laptop. Onscreen was a picture of the Duchess and her husband the Duke of York. They were both smiling and looked happy.

"I'm sorry. I should have supported you on this hunch. If you want we can go search the Duke's home. We have the Queen's seal which can give us permission" Alois said.

"She looks so happy here" Ciel said in reply to his apology.

"Looks can be deceiving" Alois pointed out.

"Okay then, let's go" Ciel said.

They drove to the Duke's home which was a large mansion but not as large as the one they lived in.

"Rather a conservative home for a Duke" Alois said taking off his sunglasses and tucking them into a shirt pocket.

"It's just the two of them" Ciel pointed out and Alois nodded.

They were welcomed inside by the butler who was named Harry. He seated Ciel and Alois with tea.

"Welcome, Earl Trancy and Countess Phantomhive" The Duke of York said as he stepped into the room.

"Pleasure to meet you" Alois said and Ciel remained silent.

"Countess Phantomhive, your resemblance to your ancestor is astounding" The Duke said.

The Duke himself was at the age of thirty two with expertly styled black hair and deep blue eyes. He was dressed in a blue suit with expensive black shoes.

"We have been given orders by the Queen to investigate your wife's death, so I hope you don't mind our butlers taking a search of your home" Ciel said.

"Of course. My wife and I slept in different rooms because we had some issues between us" The Duke said.

"If you didn't love her then why not divorce her?" Alois asked.

"I had to keep up pretense in front of the press. Actually the main problem was her drinking. I never knew when she was tipsy and when she was sober" The Duke replied.

"I'm actually rather good friends with your wife but she told me that she hasn't touched a drop of alcohol in a good two weeks" Ciel said and the Duke stiffened.

"Do you enjoy chess, Countess?"

"I've never tried the game, sir. My ancestor might have been amazing at the game but I have never tried my hand at it" Ciel replied.

"I'm actually a world chess champion at the moment. Chess is not just a hobby, it is my passion, my life. The way I win is that I am two steps ahead of my opponent" The Duke said.

"Fascinating" Alois said but barely stifled his yawn.

"If you want, Countess, we could have a game right now" The Duke offered and Ciel smiled.

"Master" "Mistress"

"Yes?"

"We may leave now" Sebastian said.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, sir" Ciel said.

As soon as they were seated in the car, Claude reported on his findings.

"Sebastian found a diamond earring inside the Duke's closet. We didn't find anything in the Duchess's room except an opened pack of mints on the bedside table"

"One diamond earring? Did it belong to his wife?" Ciel asked.

"If it did, why not return it?" Alois asked.

"So our Duke had a secret lover. Sebastian, bring the Duke's credit card statements and his phone call list as soon as we get home" Ciel said.

They returned home and Ciel stood in front of a large blackboard. She lifted up the chalk and then wrote down 'Alfreda'. Next to the name she wrote 'Duke-husband'. Then she began listing down what they had found.

"It seems he was calling one woman relentlessly. Her name is Julie Day and she lives in an apartment in London just two miles away from the Duke's home" Sebastian said.

"We need to interrogate Julie about this. I suspect that earring belongs to her" Ciel said.