The Whole Truth

Make sure to read Chapter 27 if you haven't done so!

It seemed almost the set of a little comedy the next morning – the entirety of El Dorado Estate assembled before him once more, wearing expressions of concern and distaste and, a little worryingly, a general detachment with life. Times had not been good to them. It had been most difficult to convince Kim Junmyeon to allow them to set foot in his house, but something in Onew's words to Minho that it was a matter of life-and-death, had pushed him to agree. Behind Onew was the rest of Odd Eye: Jonghyun resting his ankles on his bag with a worried expression, Key gripping Minho’s arm with a few hushed words of ‘get a hold of yourself, don’t you dare try something you’ll regret’, Minho looking faintly nauseous about everything that was happening and what he had said, and Taemin staring at him with wide, startled eyes. Behind his back, Onew held the telegram. He looked away from Odd Eye, and trained his gaze at the crowd before him.

He smiled faintly at them. It was not returned. “Is this everyone?”

“Luhan is awaiting trial,” Junmyeon said wearily, “And Jongin and Doctor Zhang would be at the hospital, recovering from the surgery yesterday.”

“It will have to do, then,” Onew murmured to himself. “Good morning, everyone. I should like to begin by apologizing to my friends. I am sorry, if my actions have caused more harm than good. Perhaps I should have said something, explained myself - but I was afraid of many things. I was afraid of being wrong. I was afraid of being right. I was afraid of failure, one way or another, and I did not want to see this...fall apart again."

"It's not," Jonghyun said sharply, "And you're a damn fool if you think we're going to just let it."

The other three nodded their heads as well, but Onew could not bring himself to smile just yet. "Thank you. But listen first to what I have to say... I have assembled you here, gentlemen – and lady – because of the matter of the murders that have occurred. I have not invited the police here, though… I know who the murderer is now. The truth will go to the police tomorrow morning.”

There was a tense silence. Jessica’s voice rose, abrupt and resonant. “The murderer is amongst us, then? You know – which?”

Onew held up the telegram. “I know – now.”

“What is that?” Junmyeon asked sharply.

“A wireless message – from a steamer on her way to Bangkok. But do not concern yourselves with it for the moment. I –”

“You’re bluffing.” It was Oh Sehun who spoke up, face red. “You don’t know who the murderer is, and you’re trying to force a confession out of us.”

Onew smiled patronizingly. “A clever idea, but not the truth. Let me walk you through the steps I took to reach this conclusion. There were two facts that immediately arrested my attention the moment the crime was made known to me. I have repeated this to Odd Eye many times; only when the questions were answered would the criminal be found. The first was that of the telephone call. Jonghyun investigated this, and it was quickly proven that the call had not come from within the house, or indeed, anywhere near the house. But I was certain that I would find the murderer amongst those who had been present on that fatal night. Could an accomplice have sent the call, then? Was this, as they call it, a two-man job? Possibly. Who was that accomplice? Were they also amongst the household? Or were they someone outside?”

“That’s assuming the telephone call was of importance,” Key pointed out.

“I think, undoubtedly, it was important, and that was because of what it caused. Which was that the murder was discovered that night, instead of, in all probability, the following morning. This answered the question of why the call went through. You agree?” He addressed this to the household.

“Yes,” Junmyeon said slowly, “It’s unlikely anyone would have woken to disturb him once he was in the studio that night.”

“Good. But not good – what could the murderer have gained