Memories of Murder:

Chapter 11:

There was another clubroom next door and there hadn't been any sign of a filled in hole in the wall there so it could be a very deep cavity in between the rooms. He was slightly nervous that a dead body was going to fall on him if he destroyed the plaster completely. The others came to join him.

"It looks like it's undergone some damage from earthquakes," Bardroy observed. "It shouldn't be hard to break through."

Sebastian examined it closely. As Bardroy had said he could probably break his way through as it had been weakened, but he could see traces of much darker plaster as if it had been covered up a few times before. He picked up his torch and used it to illuminate the wall so he could take a photo. Recording the evidence before he destroyed it was a sensible move.

After taking a clear photo he gave the wall a hard punch and the plasterboard splintered and fell away. It was much easier than he had thought.

"I was about to suggest using a chair," Finny said weakly. "But that seemed to work."

Ciel moved through the wall into the cavity and Sebastian shone the torch inside so Ciel would be able to see.

"It does not look like the ceiling is going to fall in," he observed. "There appears to be some stairs in here. There is not anything else."

"Can you see anything in there?" Mey-Rin asked. For a moment Sebastian thought she was asking Ciel.

"I think there are some stairs," he answered and climbed into the small space where Ciel was waiting, "Are you all coming with me?"

The inclusions of a secret staircase did explain why there was twelve steps instead of fourteen on the flight leading to the top floor. These stairs had to lead to something in the roof which was an area they had not been able to explore. Perhaps the pharmaceutical company that the building belonged to had been up to something illegal and the rumour William had mentioned was true.

He slowly made his way up the stairs mindful of any broken stairs and found himself in a large room with a low ceiling. He waited for the remaining members to arrive before he properly investigated so the light would be brighter.

It became evident it was a small laboratory. The walls were off white and covered in damp. There was a shelf full of laboratory standard substances and the cupboards were full of dusty glassware, micropipettes, microscopes and dyes. What was missing was any documentation to hint what the laboratory was used for. Even some health and safety risk assessments would be helpful. If it was a hidden lab, what went on had to be top secret, illegal or both.

"There's an empty blister pack of pills here," Mey-Rin announced and held it up. "It's strange- the name of the drug isn't printed on it so I have no idea what it is. Is that even legal?"

Perhaps there were things to find after all. He should not give up so quickly. Ciel was on the other side of the room peering through all the cupboards they had left open and looked to be very invested in searching. He couldn't let Ciel do all the work so he concentrated on their only finding so far which was the empty pack of pills.

If the packaging was unmarked it could be a trial drug. According to the information from William, the rumour was about volunteers dying in a drug trial. Could this be evidence that backed up the rumour?

"Where did you find it?" he asked Mey-Rin.

She pointed to the sink and Sebastian did his best not to miss anything. He did not have a good track record of finding things yet. Past Ciel had found the space behind the poster and ghost Ciel had found the photo of the mask. The inside the sink was very dusty with old spider webs which was to be expected. The only place something could be concealed was the plughole. He shone the torch in and struggled to see if there was anything. Ciel joined him and helped him out in an unusually non condescending manner.

"There is something really thin in there. Just stick your hand in and feel along the right hand side."

Sebastian followed the instructions and felt something thin like Ciel had said. He carefully pulled it out and shone his torch on it.

It was a strand of hair. It matched Ciel's hair colour exactly.

It probably was Ciel's hair.

Ciel stared at it with a look of recognition.

"So I have been here before?" he said wonderingly.

Sebastian nodded and became aware that he was being given strange looks by the other three. It did look like he was nodding to the sink so he could understand the confusion. He placed the hair in a sample bag that he had brought with him and took the empty pack of tablets from Mey-Rin.

"Should we take photos?" Finny asked. "I'm going to think this is all a dream tomorrow if I don't."

They all grouped together the produce photos with appropriate lighting. Sebastian's motive for taking photos was of course much different. Some hard evidence was going to be required to prosecute Ciel's murderer and the laboratory wasn't guaranteed to stay in its current state permanently.

On their way back down Bardroy asked a question that Sebastian had been waiting for someone to ask for half an hour.

"Um, why is there a secret lab here? And why is Sebastian not surprised?"

Finny patted him on the shoulder. "I was just waiting for him to explain in good time."

"It's an illegal secret lab," Sebastian emphasised as he replaced the poster as he had found it. "This building used to belong to a drugs company."

Bardroy looked like he was working something out slowly.

"So if it's illegal and secret, if they find out we know, we will have to go to the principal's office!" he gasped. "We will get expelled!"

Sebastian snorted, expulsion sounded better than certain death. He neglected to remind him about the skull in the well. It wouldn't do to have another member drop out and there was a chance that Bardroy would grass on them to save himself.

"Is there anywhere else we need to go?" Mey-Rin asked. She had been taking all of the revelations surprisingly well.

"Room 23, it's on the ground floor."

That classroom looked just looked like an average science lab from twenty years ago with lots of dark wood and benches fixed in place instead of tables and sterile white gas taps. All they turned up was a lot of dust, a nest of dead spiders, dirty glassware and a dead rat.

When he closed the door behind them after temporarily giving up, the nameplate on the door caught his attention. It was very faded with only a few letters visible.

It looked like it said 'Ange... B...' which had to be Angela Blanc who was of course the teacher that had threatened William. Could Ciel be indicating that she had killed him? Instantly he realised it didn't make sense. Ciel wouldn't have known who had killed him when he was alive and he couldn't have left that message as a ghost. It had to mean something else.


After school the next day Sebastian dutifully did all of his homework without Ciel's help whilst the ghost was occupying himself by watching television in the lounge. Then the mystery took priority and he called Ciel back in.

"Where should we go from here? You are clearly the detective fan- no one else would have used 'Shelling Ford' to refer to a Sherlock Holmes poster. You have to have some ideas from all those detective stories," Sebastian said.

No one had offered any idea at the club meeting at lunchtime. Not that he had expected them to particularly useful. It would have been useful to get their views on it as they didn't know as much as he did and would see some things from a different perspective.

"You could make a timeline of events," Ciel suggested. "It would make motives much clearer to understand. It might start to all add up."

Sebastian saw the merits and briefly admired how quick Ciel was. If he had to investigate his own murder he would get stuck at the first hurdle.

"So Tatra Chemicals develops a drug that accidently kills volunteers during the trial. The company building is converted into a school. Seven years later, Ciel Phantomhive attends Weston International School. The mystery club investigates the Seven Mysteries and you find out about the mask which suggests they are fake. Somehow you find out about the secret behind the poster. You have to have been killed very soon after that. Someone blackmails your parents to keep the Police away from the school. The building is closed down and you now haunt the school."

"That has to be right. That was surprisingly good and succinct."

Sebastian fought back a smirk at the compliment and tried to work out what they were missing in order to solve the mystery. They knew the motive and the reasoning behind it now. The timeframe had been narrowed down too. The who, how and the where the only missing elements.

"The people involved have to be the Weston Six and the headmaster. Finny told us the names of two of them and the clue you left points to Angela Blanc being definitely involved."

Ciel looked thoughtful and then his eyes widened.

"Is there any chance your parents want to have dealings with Fudo Pharmaceuticals? You might learn the name of the headmaster that way."

Sebastian considered it. Unless there was a market expansion he was unaware of, there shouldn't be any chance their paths would cross. Then he remembered that his father had been in talks with William's father who had connections with Fudo Pharmaceuticals. There was a slim chance that his father might know something about the headmaster.

"I think we might have a chance. I will have to ask at dinner."

So he waited patiently at dinner for everyone to finish eating. Dinnertimes had become more entertaining when Ciel was present at the table. It was hard to not talk to him or even acknowledge his presence.

After dinner coffee provided a chance for Sebastian to ask.

"Have you had any dealings with Fudo Pharmaceuticals yet?"

His father looked surprised that he was expressing interest in business matters.

"Actually I have met a few people on the board through another company. I don't really have any plans to expand that far yet though. The strange thing was that the headmaster of your school is on the board of directors. He must not actually run the school if he has that much spare time."

That was exactly what he had been hoping for. He exchanged a small smile with Ciel.

"No one has ever seen the headmaster so I am a little curious. What did he look like?" Sebastian questioned.

His father was not the best with physical descriptions so he would have to prompt him if the description was too vague.

"He was old and creepy," his father contributed helpfully. "His voice was surprisingly bone chilling and his laugh was unnerving."

That was a general description of any headmaster. Sebastian pressed on,

"Did he have short hair?"

His father made a face. "It was actually very long and there was even a plait. I did say he was weird."

The description did narrow things down. Sebastian was sure there weren't too many people with that hairstyle around.

"With that hairstyle his fashion had to be equally strange," his mother commented over her chiffon cake.

"Everyone was in smart dress so it was relatively normal. He had a top hat and a long necklace."

"That is unique," Sebastian said. "Do you remember his name? You can't find his name anywhere at school."

One of the most surprising things that could ever happen occurred. His father smiled.

"I know why. You won't believe me without evidence so I will show you his card."

His father returned a minute later with the card and passed it to him. Immediately Sebastian understood why it wasn't written on any of the promotional material for the school.

Mr. Under Taker