Chapter 8
“Could it be… that someone started the fire to cover up that fact?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s difficult to believe that someone would deliberately start a fire just to conceal a theft that had gone unnoticed.”
“Then what does that mean?”
“Are you saying that the burglary just before the fire had nothing to do with the incident?”
I questioned him, half in protest while pretending to be the victim.
All the while, I struggled not to be intimidated by his piercing gaze.
“I also think it’s too perfect to be a mere coincidence.”
“As we continue investigating, I’m sure we’ll eventually find where the pieces connect.”
Although he spoke as if all possibilities remained open, his attitude made it seem as though he had already reached a conclusion.
His questions did not end there.
“One last question.”
“It’s about the identities of those who died in the accident.”
“Hasn’t all of that already been confirmed?”
“I just want to verify it one more time.”
“First, Baron and Baroness Tessis.”
“My condolences.”
“Thank you.”
“Then one male servant and one maid on the second floor.”
“One maid on the first floor.”
“And finally, one male coachman who managed to escape the mansion but ultimately died.”
“That’s our current understanding.”
I nodded.
The maid who died on the second floor was probably Rosalyn.
Ash quietly watched me before speaking again.
“I find the male servant and the maid who died in your room particularly strange.”
“A maid entering her mistress’s room is perfectly normal.”
“But why was the footman there?”
Now that he mentioned it, he was right.
Even Baron Tessis himself rarely entered Rosalyn’s room.
So why would a footman be there?
“I-I suppose you’re right.”
“Furthermore, we believe the maid found in your room was Emma Hampton.”
“How could a maid who had already been dismissed get into your room?”
My thoughts became increasingly tangled.
The one who died there was Rosalyn, not me.
So it made sense that Rosalyn had been in her own room.
But there had also been a male servant there.
Why?
‘Wait… the footman… the footman… N-No way…?’
I suddenly remembered seeing Rosalyn standing on the landing the day after returning from the first party, whispering to someone while giggling.
The person she had been talking to was definitely the footman sent by Count Brough’s household.
I remembered him being remarkably handsome, just as one would expect of a wealthy household’s footman.
‘I thought they were just chatting and didn’t pay much attention.’
Perhaps it really had been nothing more than casual conversation.
However, it was certainly strange that Rosalyn, who had returned humiliated from the party the previous day, suddenly seemed to be in high spirits from that day onward.
If feelings had begun to blossom between the two of them back then…
What if they had committed a lovers’ suicide because their love could never be fulfilled…?
The possibility that suddenly came to mind made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
But I forced myself to calm down.
‘No. I can’t jump to conclusions. I might just be forcing the pieces to fit.’
There was nothing to gain from letting Ash notice my agitation.
“I have no way of knowing.”
“Perhaps Emma barged into my room intending to harm me, and the footman chased after her to stop her…”
“No… I don’t know.”
I lowered my eyebrows and shook my head.
“I don’t know what happened in the mansion that day.”
“But I’m certain that it wasn’t an ordinary day.”
“I sincerely hope you’ll uncover the truth, Officer McCallen.”
“It doesn’t seem to be an ordinary case.”
“Finding the clue won’t be easy.”
Just as I was silently praying that he would never find it…
That this would simply become a case no one remembered anymore…
He spoke again.
“But I’ll do my very best.”
“So even if I become somewhat bothersome, I’d appreciate your generous cooperation.”
“What?”
“What do you mean by… bothersome?”
“Among everyone who stayed at the townhouse, you’re the only survivor, Miss Rosalyn.”
“So you’re also the only person who can answer my questions.”
Ha…!
My instincts had been right.
He would be even more troublesome than the previous investigator.
Not only troublesome…
Persistent and devious as well.
‘You’re the only survivor,’ and ‘You’re the only one who can answer my questions.’
What else could those words mean?
He was telling me that I was the most suspicious person and that I shouldn’t even think about escaping.
It could not have been easy to suspect a noble lady who had lost both of her parents.
Yet this man was anything but easy to deal with.
“Ah, of course!”
“Seeing how dedicated you are to this investigation is truly reassuring.”
Smile brightly.
Like someone innocent and completely blameless.
I had no idea what exactly made him suspicious of me.
As long as I didn’t give him anything to use against me, that was enough.
☆☆☆
A faint smile lingered on Ash’s lips as he left Count Brough’s estate.
Over the past ten days, his superior, Chief Inspector Linberg, had found one excuse after another not to reassign him to this case.
Even after enough officers had been assigned to Inspector White’s human trafficking investigation.
‘The reason is obvious.’
‘The person who evaluates Chief Inspector Linberg’s performance is Commissioner Astrid.’
It was hardly worth mentioning the rumors that he had rolled up his sleeves to secure a promotion for his nephew.
As time passed, evidence and witnesses continued disappearing.
In the end, Ash confronted Chief Inspector Linberg directly.
“Please reassign me to the case.”
“That fire case is already as good as finished once Sergeant Fidelo’s handover report is organized and submitted.”
“So focus on assisting Inspector White.”
“Are you saying you deliberately assigned me a case that wasn’t worth investigating any further?”
“N-No, why would you put it that way?”
“I was only trying to make things easier for you…!”
“The problem is that it isn’t easier.”
“I have a certain reputation to uphold within my family as well.”
The moment the word *’family’* came up, Chief Inspector Linberg flinched before backing down.
Every time he had to invoke his family name like this, it left a bitter taste in Ash’s mouth.
He had never welcomed relying on it.
Still, he was relieved to regain control of the case file.
‘An easy case?’
‘Idiots.’
Had the people at the Police Department, obsessed with nothing but internal power struggles, really looked at this as a case that could be wrapped up in five pages of reports?
To him, it was an extraordinary case filled with countless mysteries.
‘Rosalyn Tessis…’
‘It seems the social circles have begun paying close attention to her because she’s an unmarried heiress.’
According to the rumors, the House of Tessis was not particularly wealthy.
However, anyone who married her would immediately receive the Baron’s title.
That alone would make her an attractive prospect for men who did not want to wait for their parents to die, as well as younger sons with no right to inherit a title.
Even his second brother, Karl, had said as much after the party.
“Ash, I heard you’re handling the case involving that young lady whose parents died.”
“Use that as an excuse to get close to her.”
“At least you’ll gain yourself a title.”
His tone was openly sarcastic.
Yet it had not sounded entirely like a joke.
Unlike Joel, the eldest son who would inherit everything from the Count’s household, Karl was merely the second son who had to accept whatever scraps his elder brother handed him.
The younger half-brother who had suddenly appeared was naturally an eyesore.
After all, the family’s limited titles and wealth would now have to be divided.
That was why Karl could so casually imply that Ash should know his place and stop coveting titles.
Of course, Ash had no intention of obediently backing down.
“It’s difficult to introduce you to someone who could very well be a suspect in my case.”
“Find someone else.”
“What?”
“No, I didn’t mean me—”
“The same goes for anyone else.”
“If necessary, tell them to approach Count Brough instead.”
With that, he stood up and left.
‘I suppose Rosalyn Tessis isn’t Karl’s type.’
Ash let out a scoffing laugh.
From what he had seen, she seemed perfectly capable of playing Karl in the palm of her hand if she wished.
Remembering that conversation, Ash chuckled softly before taking out his notebook and reviewing the transaction history of Baron Tessis’s central bank account once again.
After an eight-million-gulden withdrawal on May 19, the account balance had fallen to zero.
“In fact, Lord Adam Tessis withdrew a large sum before his death.”
“But as you know, the fire destroyed all of that money.”
“The insurance company is refusing to pay compensation because it claims the exact amount lost in the fire cannot be verified.”
“Miss Rosalyn must have suffered a tremendous loss.”
The woman whom high society now viewed as an heiress was most likely under tremendous financial pressure.
He did not know how much support Count and Countess Brough were providing.
However, they were merely distant relatives.
They were hardly the sort to give endlessly without expecting anything in return.
So what was Rosalyn Tessis doing under those circumstances?
His curiosity about that question was precisely why he had decided to visit her so suddenly.
If she appeared financially comfortable, it would mean she had another hidden source of funds.
And that source might very well be connected to the cause of this case.
However, regarding money, it seemed only fair to conclude that Rosalyn was innocent.
‘When I mentioned the jewelry that had disappeared before the fire, that was the moment she remembered the jewelry even existed.’
If she had been obsessed with money, the first thing she would have thought of would have been her jewelry boxes.
Not forgotten them entirely.
But as for the topic that came afterward…
Well.
‘When I mentioned the victims, that was the first time she avoided my eyes.’
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
