Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS or P&P... all rights reserved to the owners... and the names used for my original characters are purely coincidental (if such person exists) and thank you, Vividpixie for helping me! :)

Chapter 23


...Three days later...

"Looking good, Mr. Barnes," said one of the inmates, "going to an appointment or something?"

"Though I bet my life that the superior won't let you go anywhere other than another prison," mocked the other, causing all men in the prison cell to laugh.

Vernon Barnes, who was fixing his attire after combing his hair, laughed back and said, "Oh, there is an appointment, in fact, the superior himself invited me at tea time. A gentleman should look at his best, even though I am in this situation."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Barnes," said an old prisoner, "for how many years I've been in prison here, not one of those men there would give a prisoner special treatment."

Then, two policemen arrived at the cell. One of them unlocked the door and cuffed Mr. Barnes whilst the other said, "It's time, Mr. Barnes. The superior is waiting for you in his office."

"Ah, good afternoon, gentlemen," Mr. Barnes said, and then turning to his fellow inmates, continued, "See what I've told you, gentlemen. The superior has taken a liking to me."

"Oh yeah, really. Going to a tea date in chains is such my thing," A prisoner said while the rest were laughing.

"What can I say? I am quite a celebrity here compared to all of you," Barnes said in reply as he was taken away by the two officers.

When they were out of sight, the old prisoner said, "Conceited chap is he not?" The rest of the inmates agreed.

-0-

The three men walked down the hallway briskly, and on their way, Barnes, in the middle, put on his usual cheerful atmosphere and greeted all the people he saw, as if he was happy that he was imprisoned. They reached the superior's office; the two officers led Barnes before the superior. Only the top of his head was visible as he sat on a Hepplewhite armchair which was facing the window. On the desk was a tray of scones and sandwiches and a tea set.

One of the officers began with, "Chief, Mr. Barnes is already..."

"I know, please leave us for a moment," said the superior. Then, the officers left.

"Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Barnes" said the superior.

"Oh, thank you, Mr... uhh... chief, sir," Mr. Barnes said, "I'll take a seat and eat, then."

As Barnes started to eat, the chief of the police said, "I am sorry that I had to keep you in shackles. You might have not eaten properly like before."

"Oh, do not mind me, sir. After all, with these snacks I hardly notice that I am in chains," Mr. Barnes said, "Oh, and do forgive me if I say this, sir, but your voice sounds, well, awful."

"I am recovering from a throat illness, Mr. Barnes, but I didn't call you here for a chat about it," the superior said.

"Oh, and what that might be?"

"I was tasked by the Scotland Yard to gather information about The Society and its future plans, and whether your threats three days ago were true."

"Oh, you meant to know about my comrades, eh? Funny, though, your approach is quite, let's say, unpredictable," Mr. Barnes said sarcastically, "I cannot believe that the only thing you did was to offer me food for that precious information. I expected a little more, hmmm, like an offer of money, perhaps? Or if not, a little bit of cruelty or something like that..."

"But then again," interrupted the superior, "I decided that, instead of gathering information of your comrades, I just wanted to ask you on how you will carry out your plan inside this building and what you did to the real Mr. Garner."

"Would you like some tea, sir? I bet you are now hungry from all the talking," Barnes said, "Besides, this jasmine tea is really soothing, and you might be stressed out from all this work..."

"I had mine already, and please, Mr. Barnes, I need your answer to my question," the superior said, "By the by, I heard about your escapades, and had me very much amazed and interested."

"In what way?"

"You're the head of The Society, am I right, Mr. Barnes? Such an intelligent mind heading an elite group of criminals, and yet you manage to outwit every single officer here in the country," the superior said, "I even heard from the prisoners that The Society is one of the most feared group in the underworld, erm, the 'rulers' they say. You might as well run the entire underworld."

"Though a bit exaggerated, yes, well, I guess we are that amazing," Mr. Barnes said, "tell you what, Mr. Superior, sir, regarding your first question, yes, the threats were true, and before I had my "marriage" to the late Ms. Ayuzawa, I've instructed my comrades to 'take care' of the rest, you know what I mean..."

"I understand perfectly."

"As for the other question, I had his corpse thrown at Thames, such an unfortunate man, Mr. Garner, he is," said Mr. Barnes. He took a sip of tea, and then he said, "Well, are there any other questions?"

But before the superior could say anything, the door opened, and out came Inspector Norris.

"What is a prisoner doing in my office?" he turned towards the officers outside who brought Barnes in the office.

"Well, sir, it was under your orders that we bring him here, and we were a bit surprise to found you outside your office..."

"Wait, Inspector Norris is the chief of this police district?" asked Mr. Barnes.

"Yes, I am," the Inspector answered.

"Then who is this man seated here?"

Without approaching his armchair, Inspector Norris said to the person seated on it, "Quit messing around my office and leave already, Ms. Ayuzawa."

"My, my, I was just admiring the view from your window, Inspector. I haven't done this for a very long time. Oh, and Mr. Barnes, about you carrying out your plans," the imposter began to say in his real voice; the deep rough voice of a man changed into a voice of a woman. She rose and faced Mr. Barnes, and when he saw her, he turned pale. The golden eyes of the woman flashed brightly as she said, "Good luck with that."

She walked passed Barnes who was too stunned to move, and then to the Inspector she said, "I'll take my leave now, Inspector, and please provide Mr. Barnes here the information I spoke to you about three days ago. He might as well be informed."

"Farewell, then, Ms. Ayuzawa," the Inspector said, "Oh, and by the way, Lady Everglott will hold a party at Nottingham this weekend, be sure to be there."

"I'll try," Misaki replied, and then she left.

Left in the room were the inspector and the prisoner who, now recovered from too much shock, was about to say something, but was interrupted by the former. "I could read in your face that you wanted to know how she's alive, and that I will tell you."

-Flashback-

"Seems like I have the last laugh, eh, Detective Ayuzawa's daughter?"

"You, monster!" exclaimed Angelique, "After all what you did to my family; you already took away Emile, and now, you killed Ms. Ayuzawa!"

"Oh,that Emile, eh? I fancy that he is now rotting in the depths of Thames by now, and as of Ms. Ayuzawa, I planned to kill her during our honeymoon, but it turned out that I didn't have to do that anymore, now that she took the poison meant for Gerard," said Barnes, then, with a tone of 'kindness', "Even though I will be in prison, my friends will take care of the rest, so I suggest all of you to take care of yourselves, 'kay?"

"Get him out of my sight this instant! And call a doctor!" shouted Inspector Norris, in which the officers did. "Miss Suzuna, how's your sister?"

"Getting worse..." the sister said in reply. "Mr. Usui, caress her head and don't let her fall asleep. I'll ask for..."

She stopped for a faint voice was heard.

"...ter..."

All looked at the woman in Usui's arms.

"...Pitcher...water... please... hurry..."

"My house is nearby, I'll get some," said the minister.

"Hold on a second," Suzuna said, then she looked at her sister nearer, and after which she said, "I'll go with you." Then, they left.

A minute later, Suzuna returned with a basin of water, and splashed it on her sister.

"Miss Suzuna! What have you done to your sister?" the Inspector said.

"Waking her up," Suzuna replied, "Oh, and I'm very sorry that I splashed some on you, Mr. Usui."

"I am fine, but, I think Ms. Ayuzawa..."

"Oh, I am fine, thank you," Misaki said as she removed her veil and wrung it. "Suzuna, just tend to Lady Chevalier for now."

"Well, thank goodness you're alright, but the truth is, I am a bit confused about what is going on," Angelique said.

"All I knew was your plan of this sham marriage, Ms. Ayuzawa," Inspector Norris said, "but then again, you're not telling me everything. Your sister told me that you weren't well."

"That's true, Mr. Norris," Suzuna said as she attended her patient, "But when I looked at her face closely, I realized that, rather showing signs of being poisoned, her face showed signs of not eating and sleeping. You should know her methods pretty well, Inspector."

"Oh yes, I forgot that she is the reckless type of person," Inspector Norris said, "But then again, you never failed to make us worry."

"Setting that aside," Misaki said, "Inspector, are there any reports?"

"Four of The Society's members are already captured, four more to go," he answered, "everything is going according to plan."

"What plan?" asked Angelique. "I believe I cannot follow you."

Misaki replied, "Ah, I'll do some explaining later..."

"I'm so sorry that the water's late," the minister said while running, "here's your pitcher of water; my family's still asleep so I could not go inside my house easily, and my wife's got the keys... oh, and here's a wineglass"

Misaki grabbed the pitcher and in a matter of seconds, the water was gone. "Well, that'll suffice for my empty stomach. Shall we head to my house?"

-End of Flashback-

"I'm pretty sure that you, too are wondering what Ms. Ayuzawa's plan was," said Inspector Norris after his narrative, "Before that, I might say that you remember pretty well those women whom you kidnapped and tried to sell, don't you?"

"I am pretty much surprise to see that they moved on, that Ms. Satsuki and the other girls... hmm... their names were Erika, Subaru and Honoka, if I'm not mistaken," said Barnes said, "Until that woman's father took them from me."

"And I'm pretty sure that was the reason why you wanted Ms. Ayuzawa killed," Inspector Norris said, "It's revenge, is it not? Though one of your men killed her father under your orders, but it's not enough. Now, you got your comeuppance. The same women, along with Ms. Satsuki's nephew, are heading the search for the members of The Society, and I'm pretty sure you'll see all of them when I transport you to the Scotland Yard early tomorrow morning."

-0-

Misaki exited the building and headed inside a coach and rode off; seated across her was the self-proclaimed avid companion, or as Misaki would put it, her stalker.

"Where are we headed to next, Ayuzawa?" said Usui in a rather cheerful tone, "Shall we proceed with our dinner date, then?"

Misaki sighed and said, "You did know I had no intentions of you accompanying me in my appointment, didn't you? But then again, since you're already here and that you were really persistent..."

"Is that your way of saying 'I don't have any other choice but to grab this opportunity to see my beloved?'" teased Usui.

"How annoying," said Misaki, "Don't you ever get tired?"

"As long as it is something to do with Ayuzawa, I won't get tired."

There was silence until Usui broke it, "You won't say something against what I said?"

"I'm tired of thinking how to counter your words," Misaki replied.

"Hmmm, translation: 'I am overjoyed about what my beloved said,'" Usui teased again, "Am I right, my beloved Ayuzawa?"

"No! And stop that 'my beloved' thing; it's embarrassing. People are talking about you and your frequent visits to my house and mistook you as my lover..."

"But aren't we as what they say?"

"No, but..."

"Then, do not mind what they say. After all, we are not doing anything wrong, and that we are only friends, but then again," Usui said, then in a gentler voice, "I won't hold back my true feelings just because of those useless chitchats of your neighbors, and I am pretty serious about courting you, Ayuzawa."

-0-

It was close to evening that they arrived at The Fort, a fancy restaurant a few miles away from Elsmwood. They were led by an attendant to their table and served tea as they wait for their other companion.

"I fancy that your friend reserved this place for your appointment," Usui said, "Is your meeting one that should be kept in utmost secrecy?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, it is," Misaki said, "After all, this is one of his family businesses."

"I see."

"Is there something bothering you?" Misaki asked.

"Nothing really of importance. I thought of asking you about Ms. Chevalier when she was so upset when Mr. Barnes mentioned Emile rotting in Thames," Usui said, "Do you think there's a possible meaning, or is it only because of what Mr. Barnes has done to the Chevaliers?"

Misaki smiled and said, "Well, I am not the proper person to ask that. Let's wait for him until he arrives."

"And I already have, Misa."

The two rose from their seats, turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Baron Patel walking towards them.

"I believe that you already knew each other, but I'll formally introduce to you, Mr. Usui, this is my friend, Baron Mikhail Patel, one of the founders of the hospital in London where my sister works," Misaki said.

"Nice to meet you formally, Mr. Patel," Usui said as the two shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Usui."

"Well, then, shall we take our seats," Misaki said and then the three sat down.

"Misa, I am not really complaining, but I thought that you were coming alone," Baron Patel said.

"This man is really persistent, so I let him accompany me," Misaki replied, "Besides, it's time for him to learn the truth, and after all, it is already safe for you to reveal your little secret."

"Well, that's true, so I've heard from Suzuna."

"Wait, what is this truth that I should know about?" Usui said.

"Ah, I have prayed for this day to come," Baron Patel said, "For three years I have suffered much; I have to hide from those people who tried to destroy me, yet my heart always yearns to return to the Château, and most especially, my master."

"Don't tell me that you're..."

"Yes, I am the real Emile Garner," the baron said, "And it's been a while, Master Takumi."

_END_


...Hyouka... Ice cream... I scream...

Oh, sorry for those random words. Have you watched Hyouka? It's a nice anime... :)

And there goes another chapter... until the next one, then?

~otaku911