Murdersdale 14

Jedidiah looked around the table to see if he could get support from any of those at the table, but that was an exercise in futility. Martha was white as a sheet, standing up and looking at him; Emma and Jane had both shifted their chairs backward and were staring at him.

Even Miranda lifted an eyebrow, clearly surprised at his deduction and wanting to know the reason behind it. A part of him didn't want to be so petty, but he had pieced together this part of the puzzle on his own, that had to restore some of his dignity in her eyes.

"Please calm down and take your seat - and lower your voice too. We don't want any unwanted visits happening too early, do we?" He said to Martha.

"No."

"Good."

She sat down, composed herself and straightened out her gown. "So?"

"It was the paintings."

Everyone turned and looked at them. Miranda looked between the paintings and the girls before her eyes lit up.

"Ah! I see. But how does that..."

"What happened to the paintings?" Emma asked.

"Well, I noticed that they were weird - that is, the style in which they were made, and that color scheme. The exact same order, the exact same colours. I had a feeling there was a four-key puzzle here. When I noticed you were all wearing the same colour of clothes - and you confirmed that it was on the request of Lady Cynster - I knew that it was."

Miranda smiled. "Smart devil."

The girls looked amongst themselves incredulously. They had not noticed or had any idea on the correlation of the paintings and the clothes they wore.

"You said four part key?" Jane finally spoke. "Who's the fourth person?"

"It's Marcel, isn't it?" Martha said, and it was Jedidiah's turn to be surprised.

"And how did you know that?"

"I don't know. Intuition. Maybe it fills in a lot of gaps and explains a lot of things like why she was out with him the night she was murdered..."

She suddenly looked back to Jedidiah.

"I haven't heard you say a word about the murder here since. Isn't it no longer the priority in this..."

"I assure you it is," Miranda said, stepping in. "We have our culprit, we know where Scarecrow Thomas and his gang are hiding out, but the issue is the Sheriff and the unknown sponsor pulling strings in the background. That's why we're here, because if we can find that diamond within the next day, then we can wrap up this case by 1 AM and have all the bad guys Imin cuffs, including who's hiding at the manor."

Martha seemed to calm down at hearing that.

"What about Marcel?"

"That's where we need to swing into action. And fast. We need to reach out to him and get him here, now. Once he's here, we can solve the puzzle faster. And then I can monitor you all and keep you safe at once."

All three maids nodded.

"So Martha, I'll need you to go over to Marcel's place and call him. Be as discreet as you possibly can - cloak, hat and veil if you will. Emma," Jedidiah said, before bringing out the letter he had already written. "Go drop this at the post office. Ask for Angelo, and tell him it's an express delivery."

He gave her a 50-dollar bill to facilitate the sending.

"Angelo?"

"One of the few people I can trust here. Confidential. Almost a part of the police force, I reckon."

They both left after a while, leaving Miranda, Jane and Jedidiah.

"What next?'

Jedidiah smiled, looking around.

"We prepare for an invasion, that's what. The gang that'll be coming here, Lord knows how many they'll be and what they'll be armed with. Right now, I don't know how strong and able you ladies will be, but Miranda is very proficient in hand-to-hand combat and wmuse of weapons, that I have verified for myself.

They both shared knowing grins before Miranda broke into a giggle.

"Well, my 'sisters' and I aren't too sloppy ourselves. Do you think this house was never robbed in all this while? She trained us in fencing and basic defence combat moves. Well not exactly be wrestling champions, but we'll count."

Miranda smiled. "Alright then, let's make them pay!"

*****

I decided to keep this one short since I was tired. I'm sorry I didn't put any action to it, so I guess it's just plot filler (ik, ik, everyone hates fillers) to build up to the action.

Enjoy!

Ghostwriter 👻 signing out from this school that's making attempts at my life ✌️🏳️