Harrison thought nothing could get even worse than this. He has no ill feelings for him but the mere sight of him makes him very uncomfortable, it was uneasy. Of all people Scotland Yard could send, they sent him.

Dr Angus.

The first time he saw the young doctor was five years ago when he was on a case. The doctor was part of the forensics team. He had a lighter shade of blonde, a pale skin, and his eyes were of light green. Harrison discovered Dr Angus’ hobby when he caught him dissecting a cadaver with mere excitement on his face as if he was enjoying it. The way he cuts were thorough and clean stating that bodies are one of a kind creature that is made with complicated genetics. He has dislikes with bodies stabbed to death because it was messy and the skin patterns around the wound are severely destroyed.

After that, Harrison never came near him again.

But he wasn’t so sure about now for the said doctor was present in the crime scene examining the body for some possible signs.

“Such a nice skin colour” he spoke, his voice deep but clear.

“Eight hours” both chorused.

Harrison, Duncan, Gregory, Moran, and Dr Angus turned to see who the other source of voice was and was surprised to see the familiar face beside his master.

“Approximately Eight hours and thirteen minutes” Lu Han spoke.

“Oh” Dr Angus’s face was full of amusement.

“Dr Angus” Duncan started “allow me to introduce Marquis Wellesley” as he motioned his hand to the tall blonde “And his valet”

Dr Angus bowed to Kris and turned to Lu Han “And your name?”

Lu Han stared blankly at the man. He didn’t like his aura “I do not wish to state my name for it is not of importance”

“Good for you to come back, my Lord” Theo spoke. “And I see you’ve brought your valet”

“Ah, yes. I sent for him to accompany my fiancée but it turns out she could manage all by herself”

“I thought you were a bachelor, my lord?” Dr Angus spoke

“I had my weaknesses” Kris faked a smile and Theo frowned

“You don’t like him. The doctor”

“No one likes him” Lu Han replied as he handed Kris his tea.

All guests were accommodated to the ballroom for the usual investigation procedure. The officers were asking for their alibis as of last night and what they were doing. Kris sighed. It was all pointless.

“They’re wasting their time”

“How so” Lu Han sat beside Kris after he placed the plate of biscuits in the table.

“None of the guests were murderers. They should have narrowed it down to that”

Lu Han grabbed a biscuit and took a bite “Pray tell”

Kris shot him a look “Am I really?”

“Look, your deductions are in no doubt all facts but you can’t expect anyone to trust your words without explaining how it’s done” as Lu Han continued to chew on the baked food.

“It’s too troublesome”

“You like to show off” Lu Han commented.

Kris gave him a glare then he sighed “There are five prominent categories here. I’ll simplify it so that you could understand”

Lu Han shot Kris a displeasing look.

“Five categories: the hierarchy. The hierarchy contains the viscount, the count, the marquis, the royal family, and the guests. The prime minister invited these prime categories. The viscount is the Mille family. There’s Viscount Mille, his wife, his two sons, and their youngest daughter. Next is the count. There’s Count Matthews with his wife and their son. Another is the widowed Countess Ernest with her two daughters. The Marques are Lord Barrington with his wife, then Lady Oxford and her new young lover, then I with my fiancée”

Lu Han shivered at his last words.

“The royal family may not be present but their four relatives are” Kris continued “the guests would be the officers and the other actors. So there are twenty-one guests in the hierarchy category, if we add the officers and the actors there would be thirty-nine of us here at the palace. If you want to include the servants then there is the butler, three cooks, two gardeners, eight maids, a housekeeper, a parlour maid, and three scullery maids, which will then total in fifty-eight inhabitants then there’s the Prime Minister and his daughter so that is sixty. But out of these sixty, there’s only one killer”

Lu Han was astounded “Then how will you reduce them?”

“Let’s narrow it down to nine people who are closely related to the murder” Kris paused “fifty-nine people are innocent. The nine people would include the dead lady herself, Lord Guttenberg, his daughter, the four officers, you, and me”

Although not understanding what was going on in Kris’ mind, Lu Han nodded for Kris to continue.

“Lady Le Rou is dead. Lord Guttenberg had invited their crew to perform last night. Lady Guttenberg was her co-actress. The four officers were on duty. Now both of us had never interacted with the dead lady but let us include ourselves in as a possible scenario for it to be plausible.” Kris paused “For we may be participating in the card game”

Lu Han put down his tea “Why do you say that?”

Kris glanced at Lu Han then back to his tea, his reflection slightly visible from the almost transparent drink “He must have known we took part on the murder case of Lady Lowell. Why else would he send a telegram here when he should’ve sent it to the Scotland Yard? There are four officers here who participated in the same case. Why play with them when they did not solve the case themselves?”

Lu Han knew Kris was on point. If Jack the Ripper sent it to the Scotland Yard, it was natural. But instead, he sent it to the same four officers who were present when Kris and he were explaining about Lady Lowell’s case. It was all between them.

“What about the crew members? They are also closely related to Lady Le Rou” Lu Han questioned.

“Out of the picture, if they intended to kill her, they would’ve done it already. If it concerns the play—“

“What if they were looking for the right time?” Lu Han intervened “I mean, last night was their last performance right?”

“It concerns the play”

“What?”

“The cards he’s playing concerns the play”

“That was all of them” Rhys huffed in his seat. They had been questioning all the guests with the same question.

Where were you last night?

What were you doing last night?

Who was with you last night?

What time did you sleep?

Did you go anywhere else around midnight?

Did you hear anything?

All of them had almost the same answers. They were in the ballroom by nine o’clock for the celebration of the play and went back to their rooms by midnight. The murder occurred at between eleven thirty in the evening to twelve thirty at midnight.

Harrison rummaged through what they’ve got so far.

Lord Guttenberg arranged some paper works before going to sleep at around twelve-thirty. His room was on the left wing while Anise’s was on the right wing. There’s around a hundred feet distance between their room and it was impossible to cross for he will be seen easily by the servants cleaning the hall.

Mary Eliza was with the crew the whole party. She said Anise went back to her room for a change of clothes at around ten-thirty— which were also proved by the rest of the acting crews. Her room was right above Anise’s. She retreated to her room by eleven for she was not feeling well. Theo and Rhys were standing on guard the whole night.

According to most of them, at eleven fifteen Anise had returned with a new set of clothes, apologizing for being late for she had twisted her ankle upon reaching the cabinet— in which Harrison and Duncan can confirm from the noise they had heard from the door. After that, she has been with them all throughout the party till it was finished. Harrison and Duncan were guarding her the whole night.

Harrison looked around the hall.

Only Lord Wellesley and his absent fiancée don’t have alibis. Both of them did not participate in the said party and were the only ones whose room is the closest to the dead girl, only one room apart. He signalled Theo and Rhys to come.

Kris had put his teacup down when he noticed three pairs of shoes approached them, “Is it my turn now?”

The three officers sat in front of them. “We want you to be honest, my lord”

“Go on”

“Where were you last night?”

“I was led in my room by the butler at eight thirty and never left. Hanna had fetched some of her things in the carriage when the storm came in at presumably eight twenty. The butler led her in my room as she was soaked at around eight thirty five.”

“What were you doing last night?”

“Do you want me to elaborate what we were doing?”

“Please do not answer the question with a question”

Kris smirked “I was… warming her up”

Lu Han knew if he couldn’t control his emotions well, he should be burning up right now. He stood up “I’m going to get some more tea”

Harrison sighed “Please be honest”

“I give nothing but honesty” Kris commented but Theo’s look of displeasure never faded.

“Going on” Harrison cleared his throat “I was informed you were invited personally by Lady Guttenberg but you never showed up at the party. Why is that?”

“Hanna said she was freezing and cold so I had to take care of her. I couldn’t leave my future wife in that state. With that said, she kept me busy the entire night.”

“Who was with you last night?”

“My fiancée, we were all alone”

“What time did you sleep?”

“I don’t think both of us got any wink of sleep”

“Why is that?”

Kris sighed “She was very loud”

Harrison cleared his throat “Did you go anywhere else around midnight?”

“No, we were currently satisfied by the warmth of the room that we did not wish to go out”

“Did you hear anything?”

“Apart from the intense noises she’s emitting, none”

“Thank you for your time, we shall take our leave” as the begrudgingly stood up and left the ballroom.

“Who was that?”

“Hm?” Duncan turned to the man beside him.

“The Asian man beside the Marquis” Dr Angus pointed at the two men on the sofa.

“We don’t know his name. Apparently he’s the Marquis’ valet”

“He piques my interests” Dr Angus smirked “No, even the Marquis has quite the aura”

“You could say” Duncan contemplated. He learned the doctor’s hobby the hard way and he could say the three of them possess the same interest “they’re interesting people”

“Hmm” Dr Angus grinned “is that so?”

“That was fast” Lu Han returned with a new set of teapot and placed it on the table “what did they ask?”

“Typical questions” Kris shrugged.

Lu Han sat on the sofa “So earlier, what did you mean by ‘The cards he’s playing concerns the play ‘?”

“Love’s Labour’s Lost. We are a part of it”

“So the murderer is re-enacting the play? Hold up, aren’t there two?”

Kris shook his head “The poem goes: ‘A twin, a mask. A twin doesn’t mean there are two of them. It means the other one is the real one and the other was only a cover. A tale lost in history means the play. It’s a story that focuses on a king and his three servants from Navarre who, despite avoiding women civilization, ended up falling in love with a princess and her three ladies who visited Navarre. The courtship was postponed when they heard the princess’ father had died. Thus, their love’s labour is lost”

“So, you mean we’re a part of that?”

“If I play my cards right, we can solve this in no time. The puppet will eventually show up—“

“Everyone” it was the Henlein butler who spoke “we deeply apologize for the circumstances but, something terrible has happened that we deeply regret. Due to the storm last night, a landslide has occurred in the eastern forest about an hour ago for the soil has weakened overnight. We humbly apologize but no one will be able to leave the palace”

The hall was full of gasps and cries of guests who wished to go home. They were frightened to the point of desperation.

“Tonight” Kris smirked “Well played Jack, well played”