Memories of Murder:
Chapter 9:
"So my past self was clever enough to leave hints, but not to avoid getting killed," Ciel observed on their way back from Elizabeth's apartment.
It did sound like the original Ciel Phantomhive had been smart, however sadly not smart enough to escape death.
"It has to be related to what's behind that poster in the clubroom. If I cannot get the others to come with me, I will have to go alone," Sebastian said, feeling only a small amount of trepidation.
Ciel stepped out in front of him and Sebastian barely managed to prevent himself from stepping through him.
"You are one hell of an idiot if you go alone. They knew we are investigating- they went to the trouble of pushing William down the stairs as a warning. If you go alone you might not be so lucky to get away with that."
Annoyingly enough Ciel was absolutely correct. If he went out alone after witnessing William get pushed and knowing that even Ciel was not smart enough to escape, he had to be stupid.
"Fine," he relented. "If I cannot persuade them, I am asking your cousin. She could scare anyone dangerous away with her pinkness."
Ciel scoffed. "Lizzie can do a better job of protecting herself than you."
Something besides the obvious anomaly of Elizabeth being stronger than him felt wrong about that statement. He soon realised what it was.
"You called her Lizzie."
"She insisted on it," the ghost replied.
Sebastian was very sure that had not occurred. "No, she did not. I have only called her Elizabeth-it's what she introduces herself as."
Ciel frowned. "You are right. I thought she asked to be called 'Lizzie'. Could it be a memory?"
"Perhaps your memory could return without solving the mystery after all- you would be able to remember what is behind the Seven Mysteries then," Sebastian suggested.
Ciel shook his head. "I think the school is the key. I was stuck there after all. The mystery needs to be solved first."
Another thing that Ciel was right about was William leaving the club. Finny opened the meeting the next day by waving around a resignation letter.
"Will has left. He said he was too busy with coursework and revision to continue being a member," he explained.
Upon hearing that Ciel and Sebastian exchanged looks. The school doctor and that teacher had definitely threatened him. As the leader of the club, Finny should have been the most likely target, not the former leader.
"I feel conflicted on how to feel about him quitting," Bardroy said. "He was so mean yet he was the brains until Sebastian showed up."
"Talking of Sebastian, Will left something behind him. It's a thank you for yesterday."
It would have been best if Sebastian had prevented the accident in the first place because William would still be a member and he would be able to ask him the questions he had wanted to. He was interested in seeing a thank you from someone who definitely didn't like him though.
Finny handed him a brown A4 envelope and Sebastian opened it and noticed there were several sheets of paper inside. Maybe William was capable of writing a whole essay about thanking him. He smirked, it would be interesting read.
He pulled out the first page and found that it was not quite what he had been expecting.
Dear Michaelis,
I suppose I owe you for yesterday. It would have been a worse accident without your help.
In thanks I have provided some information you will need to solve the secret of the Seven Mysteries. I have noticed that you are subtly more interested in solving it than those three idiots.
William T. Spears
From the corner of his eye he noticed Finny and Bardroy moving closer to see what the letter said. He quickly folded it in half and slid it back into the envelope.
"It just says 'I suppose I owe you for yesterday'."
Fortunately they believed him when he said that.
"Typical Will," Bardroy commented. "Snobby until the end."
"Now that's out the way, does anyone have any ideas about solving the mystery. I don't have any," Finny said awkwardly.
Sebastian decided that now was the best time to make his suggestion. He raised his hand.
"I have an idea, but it does involve doing some late night investigation."
Finny's face turned rapidly paler.
"Do you mean the well again?"
"Not at all," Sebastian replied. "There is something I wanted to check in the old mystery club room. Didn't Mey-Rin and Bardroy want to see the clubroom?"
Those two shared guilty looks.
"Well, yes," she admitted. "It would be interesting."
They made arrangements to meet at the back of the school at midnight and they all split up to go home. On their way out Sebastian finally asked about two things that had been bothering him.
"Who was the teacher that 'accidentally' knocked William down the stairs?"
Clearly Finny did not sense his sarcasm as he answered normally.
"That was Miss Blanc. She's very old and has been here since the school started. Apparently she's been secretly dating Mr Landers for years- he's pretty ancient too. They both teach Biology."
That teacher being one of the original teachers fitted perfectly into the mystery. There was definitely something to the idea that the original teachers were linked to the mystery. Now that he had found that out Sebastian moved onto the next question.
"Is there a drama club here?"
When he saw Finny's eyes fill with water he realised that it sounded like he wanted to leave the mystery club.
"Do you want to leave us so soon!? We need you."
With that Finny attached himself to Sebastian's arm and began bawling. Ciel smirked at him and Sebastian glared back.
"Finny, I am not leaving. It is simply related to the mystery," he told him and tried to pry him off his arm successfully. Finny had an unusually strong grip.
"Really?" Finny looked up at him with moist eyes.
"Yes and could you please let go of me now?"
Sebastian handed over a tissue and Finny detached himself.
"There is a drama club here, I can take you there now if you like."
Sebastian considered it. He was itching to see what William had provided, but he also wanted to tick off investigating one of the Seven Mysteries that he actually had a clue for. He made the decision to visit the drama club.
"I think the play they are doing this year is Hamlet," Finny said. "It's mostly always Shakespeare."
He knocked on a door that had a piece of paper affixed to it labelled 'Drama club-do not disturb'. Sebastian hoped they were not about to walk into the middle of a rehearsal.
A male student with very long blond hair opened the door.
"What do you want?"
Finny looked at Sebastian questioningly.
"We are from the mystery club. I have a question about props."
The student looked them up and down and turned his attention to Sebastian.
"Are you sure you don't want to try out for Hamlet?"
"I am very sure," Sebastian replied.
"Who is that?" Sebastian whispered to Finny as they were led through a room full of people in uniform reading scripts.
"Edgar Redmond. He was the head of the club last year. He should be in final year now. He still hangs around though, like Will."
Perhaps he was the perfect person to ask about the Seven Mysteries. Edgar came to a stop in a room of overflowing boxes. There was an opened box on the floor containing a selection of plastic swords clearly intended for Hamlet.
"What did you want to ask?"
Sebastian produced the photo.
"Have you seen this mask before?"
Edgar took the photo and peered at it closely. A look of recognition appeared in his eyes.
"It's the Seven Mysteries mask. I thought all photos of it had been destroyed. The quality on this one could mean it's a photo or photocopy of the original photo."
Sebastian knew he had now found something and someone who was willing to talk about the Seven Mysteries.
"Can you explain further?" he requested.
Edgar flipped his hair back theatrically and Sebastian just knew he was going to be dramatic.
"One of the Seven Mysteries is the 'face at the window'. It was just a rumour until someone happened to take a photo at the right time."
Sebastian was sure that the school had been happy about that.
Edgar continued on. "The face looked familiar to some people and someone claimed it was a mask the drama club had. It all came to an end when no one could find the mask and the original photo and any copies went missing."
That meant this mystery was deliberately manufactured by someone to scare people away. If the mask appeared on the top floor, it meant it was the floor which the clubrooms were on.
Edgar clapped his hands suddenly. "I know who you two remind me of. Six years ago, two boys from the mystery club came to ask the same questions."
