Fawkes Manor was ablaze with lights at five in the morning. Almost all the important people in Whitestag were gathered there.
The servants and maids hurried to and fro to greet the guests who had rushed to the manor, some of whom had been woken up from their sleep. None of them could hide the fear on their faces. Their master, the owner of the manor and the only parliament member in Whitestag, Sir Fux, and his butler, Walf, had been murdered in his study.
The newly appointed steward, Felidos, was no exception. He was standing in the study.
Sir Fux and Walf's corpses were still in their original state, but they were covered with a white linen sheet.
The disheveled Viscount Wenisk, who had been brought in from his bed, repeated his story countless times.
"I … I'll say it again. I really didn't send anyone to deliver any urgent documents to Sir Fux!
Can't you use your brains a little? I'm the navy and he's a parliament member! Why would I have any urgent documents to discuss with him?
That's not even close!
Besides, I do not have a lieutenant named Abraham, who has just been transferred from the king's city. I do not have anyone with a beautiful moustache under my command!
This is a conspiracy, a conspiracy against the naval base! "
Faced with the flustered viscount, Felidos was much calmer. "Please calm down, Viscount Wenisk. No one will suspect you.
This has to be a conspiracy. Otherwise, the murderer wouldn't have impersonated a naval officer to kill Sir Fux and his butler. He clearly knows that you and Sir Fux aren't on good terms.
This means that the murderer knows the situation in the naval base very well. He's not an outsider and is probably hiding in the base.
I had another question. According to the servant Bede who opened the door and the personal maid Sherna who was waiting outside the study, the uniform of the navy officer the murderer was wearing was very fitting and fitting. It couldn't have been put on at the last minute.
It's precisely because the murderer has the bearing of a noble and military officer that they didn't suspect anything.
Then the question is, where did he get his military uniform from? "
Felidos rubbed his chin in thought. "Our kingdom's laws forbid the commoners from copying military uniforms. Offenders will be sentenced to at least five years of hard labor. That's why the commoners usually don't make military uniforms. Even if they receive orders, they'll report it to the police lest they get involved.
"While the navy uniforms are more or less the same, there are some differences in the details, especially the officers' uniforms.
Your aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Runkede, was identified by the servant and the maid just now, and he wore the uniform of the assassin.
"Obviously, the murderer is either someone from the naval base or someone with ulterior motives. Otherwise, he wouldn't have paid so much attention to the details.
"We have to take care of both. Go to the naval base and investigate where the lieutenants were last night and see if their uniforms went missing.
I'll send someone to investigate those tailor shops, clothing shops, and cloth merchants to see if anyone has purchased fabric similar to the color of your military uniforms to make your naval officers' uniforms.
"As long as we find something, we might have a clue to the murderer.
"After all, the murder of a parliament member is a shocking incident that will cause a storm in the kingdom. You and I won't be able to escape, so we need to give our superiors an explanation.
"I've already sent someone to the royal capital to report this matter to His Majesty and the parliament. It's likely that the royal envoy will arrive in three or four days.
"I hope we can find the murderer before then, or at least find some clues that will help us identify a suspect.
"That way, we won't be implicated in this incident.
"Oh right, bring the servant who opened the door with you. You can identify him on the spot."
Wenisk had calmed down by now. "I understand. I'll go back and gather all the first lieutenants in the B Squadron. I'll have the servant who opened the door identify the culprit."
At that moment, two men in black robes and top hats stopped their activities and walked up to Wenisk. They shook their heads and said, "My apologies, Lord Wenisk. We can't find any traces of magic here, so we can't use tracing spells or recall spells.
Clearly, the murderer only killed Sir Fux and his butler. There are no signs of magic being used here, which means that the murderer is not a Magician. The murder that happened here is not under the jurisdiction of our department. We will take our leave first. "
Seeing the two men leave, Viscount Welisk, who didn't hear what they said earlier, asked in annoyance, "Who are they? What do they mean by saying that this murder case isn't under their jurisdiction?"
Felidos sighed softly. "They are the heads of the branch sent here by the Royal Capital's Special Department.
Actually, I really hope they can find something. That way, they can investigate Sir Fux's murder and we won't have to worry about it.
Unfortunately, it's just a simple murder case. They're more than happy to watch the show from the sidelines. "
Wenisk knew what the special department was referring to. When he heard that it was the people in charge of the special department, he didn't say anything else.
After a moment of silence, he looked at the two corpses covered by the bedsheets and turned to leave. However, Felidos called out to him again.
"Wait a little longer. Detective Joseph is here. Let's take a look at his autopsy report first.
He's been a detective in the royal capital for more than two decades and has handled many murder cases. He was the one who solved the seven corpses in the underground sewer of Triumph Bridge.
He's from the southwestern prefecture of Dodesath. He's planning to retire and was passing by Whitestag. I asked him to help set up the criminal department of the patrol station and train the rookies.
"I notified him as soon as I received the news. He's already had his men examine the corpses and conduct a preliminary investigation. Let's see what he has to say. I'll have him follow you to the naval base later. He's more experienced in dealing with hidden suspects."
Detective Joseph was a balding old man with a rather chubby build.
However, he had a naturally frowning face. Although he spoke slowly, his words were sharp and he didn't waste any time.
"The killer is about 24 or 25 years old. His hair is dark blond and he has a mustache. I suspect he's dressed up.
He's about 1.8 meters tall and has bronze skin. He seems to be a sailor or crew member.
He's strong and skilled in combat. He's also bold and meticulous. After murdering Sir Fux and his butler, he was still able to go out and chat with Sherna. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave.
"That goes to show that he's experienced in assassination. Perhaps we can assume that he's a professional assassin.
There's a high chance that he was hired by someone else to murder Sir Fux. "
Detective Joseph hesitated for a moment and continued with a bit of confusion, "Now there's another uncertainty. The doorkeeper, Peter, said they were tawny, but the maid, Sherna, said they were a pair of enchanting blue eyes.
Both of them couldn't be sure if what they saw was real or not. In the end, they both admitted that they didn't see clearly. "
"I have a question," Wenisk said.
Viscount Wenisk said, "Detective Joseph, how did you determine that the killer was skilled in combat and had great strength?"
Joseph pointed at the two corpses. "They told me. I can tell by looking at where they died and how they died.
If the butler was in the same room as his master, he would've been waiting by the door for his master to summon him.
However, he died in front of his desk. This was obviously done on purpose by the murderer. He wanted to subdue Sir Fux so that he couldn't summon or alarm the other servants, such as the maid Sheerna, who was standing outside the study room. "
Joseph walked to where Claude was standing. "Thinking back to the so-called urgent document, the killer should've been standing here. He took out the document and handed it to Sir Fux.
The distance was rather awkward for Sir Fux. If he wanted to receive it, he would have to stand up and bend forward to receive it, as if he was saluting the killer.
"So, I believe that Sir Fux could only summon the butler by the door and place the document in front of him.
"That gave the killer an opportunity to attack Sir Fux after subduing the butler.
Otherwise, if he attacked Sir Fux, the butler would've sounded the alarm. If he attacked the butler first, Sir Fux wouldn't have hesitated to ring the bell on the wall.
"Unfortunately, the killer's plan came to fruition. Both the butler and Sir Fux met with misfortune."
"As for the killer's strength and combat skills, the reason is simple."
Joseph chuckled. "Sir Fux and his butler both died from broken necks. In fact, breaking a person's neck might seem simple, but it's not.
Without enough strength, it's impossible to break a person's neck in an instant.
Every Grandmaster of Combat knows this common sense. Breaking a person's neck requires more skill and strength than breaking a person's arm … "
Felidos clapped his hands lightly. "You're very precise, Detective Joseph.
I'll have to trouble you to follow Wenisk to the naval base. We need to find a suspect or killer as soon as possible so that we can prepare a perfect answer before the royal capital's envoy arrives. "
Joseph nodded. "I understand."
Nuit woke up in a daze when his little wildcat, Miss Minilace, screamed. He reached out to hug her and mumbled, "Why are you screaming so loudly? Let's go to sleep. Come, blow me …"
His little wild cat kept pulling the thin sheet to cover its body. "Nu Nuit, someone broke in …"
"Who … Who dares to break into private property …" Nuit finally woke up. He realized that his room was filled with four to five marines, his colleagues Captain Horic, First Lieutenant Biard, Second Lieutenant Louis, and a fat, bald old man.
At this moment, they were all looking at him on the bed and the little wild cat beside him.
"What … What's going on?" Nuit panicked. What's going on?
I didn't do anything wrong, did I?
"You were here last night?" the fat, bald old man asked.
"Who … Who are you? It's none of your business!"
Nuit was furious. He was still naked, and the little wild cat had pulled his sheet to cover himself. Nuit was furious that his body was exposed in front of so many people.
"Lieutenant Nuit, answer his question," Captain Horwich said with a cold expression.
"Yes, I was here the whole time. I never left." Nuit could only pull a pillow over to cover his lower body.
At this time, the bald, fat old man had already seen the crumpled officer uniform on the ground. He went over to pick it up one by one, and found that there was a stain on the uniform that was unknown whether it was food or wine. It was stained by the dust on the ground, and it looked like it had been dried for a long time.
The fat, bald old man raised his chin, and Ensign Louis brought in two people from outside, a man and a woman, the man like a servant, the woman like a maid, the body very hot.
They looked at Nuit and shook their heads. "It's not him."
Then, they took a closer look at the officer's uniform that the fat bald old man was holding and shook their heads to indicate that it wasn't this one. That one was clean and neat, while this one was wrinkled and smelled of alcohol. They could tell.
The bald old man frowned and threw the officer's uniform at Nuit. The poor Lieutenant Nuit hurriedly put on his clothes.
"You were drunk last night. What time did you sleep?" the old man asked.