Sheriff stood transfixed to the spot, watching as the three-man gang were bustled out of the carriage.
The leader, Randolph 'Scarecrow' Thomas in the middle. Johnny 'Shanks' Wilfred and Casper 'Fang' Eden by his right and left sides respectively.
Three men that were not suppose to be at that location presently. They were supposed to be at Pembrokeshire, waiting until the whole investigation cooled down, the Detective and all his aides had been killed and the diadem had been recovered.
They were now in handcuffs back in the town, the Detective was alive and apparently responsible for their tracing and arrest, and the diadem was nowhere to be found.
When life comes at you fast, it also hits you hard.
A second carriage soon rode in, and four district police officers came down, all armed. It was clear that they had come prepared for any possible scenario. The District Police officers were of a higher jurisdiction than him, and were licensed to take charge in this situation.
He broke a sweat, and he knew it was appropriate in this situation.
"What the hell is happening?!" A voice from the crowd shouted, and soon it all erupted into a cacophony of expressions of surprise and annoyed comments
"What's happening is that you're about to hear the true story of what has been happening in this town as concerns the death of Lady Cynster," Miranda said as the District officers grabbed the keys and proceeds to uncuff Jedidiah and Miranda.
"That is a criminal we're keeping in custodsyz do not..." The Sheriff began in a feeble attempt to stall the inevitable. His eyes darted around the square, perhaps looking for an accomplice who would rescue him.
"Knowing the condition you're in, I'd say that the defence is completely useless, don't you agree? The jig is up, Sheriff. Now just be a good boy and play along."
The words of the officer shut him up, and soon the three captured criminals took centre stage.
The lead officer nodded towards Jedidiah, who then began his story.
"When I first took charge of the investigation into this case, I had feeble leads, a lot of suspects - technically the whole town - and a lot of factors that would have handicapped me. But because I had reliable information and help from people like the maidservants 9fnthe late woman - Martha, Jane and Emma, Marcel and a few others who I will not mention, we were able to reach where we are now."
The crowd was quiet be, everyone eager to hear him, to understand the scene that just unfolded before their eyes. He was already locked upx ready to be imprisoned and now he was free while the Sheriff looked like a fish out of water.
"These are the men who killed Lady Cynster that fateful night. A meeting was scheduled at this very square that night, and they had followed the late woman because they wanted something from her. A Spanish diadem called 'The Eye of the Sky' which Lady Cynster's mother had brought into this country when they migrated here."
The noise piped now.
"It was clear to me from the moment I learned this that someone else was orchestrating this behind the scenes, because there was no way such small-time criminals would have any idea on the existence of this gem."
People nodded, the noise dying down for a while.
"That was made clear to me after the town Sheriff here made his first attempt to thwart my efforts in this investigation."
The gasps of shock and disbeliefJedidiah had been expecting then came in.
"Someone ransacked my room and stole a couple of things. Luckily for me, I'm quite a bit of a sprinter myself, and I was able to recover those items, and to my surprise, 5hey were items that pointed in the right direction as far as this investigation was concerned. I decided I was going to a library in the next town the next day to investigate the case of the diamonds, while the Sheriff was supposed to stay here and investigate the murder..."
He cleared his throat.
"...but I didn't know the Sheriff had hired assassins to take me out. Then I was saved by Miranda Hernandez here," he said, raising Miranda's arm as people got talking. "She's a private investigator for 5hwbroyak family in Spain, and she was here in searching of the diadem as well."
It was now certain that Jedidiah was not lying. The Sheriff said nothing, keeping his eyes on the ground and shuffling his feet nervously.
"When back, we met a spy who had followed the Sheriff into an inn on my request. A man named Bucky, who was among the men arrested at the Cynster mansion early this morning, was with the Sheriff as they planned to raid the mansion in search of the diadem, and to kill Marcel, as they believed they would have done away with me. Then the Sheriff went to Carlisle Manor to meet with someone there. That 'someone' is the man behind the scenes controlling the Sheriff and all the other small fry."
"So who's this man you're speaking of?" A woman asked, hands akimbo.
"First, after this debriefing, we boarded a carriage to go home, not knowing that it had been set as a trap to kill us. We managed to wriggle out of that one, and get our assassin on our side. Then, we made him convince the Sheriff and our unknown man thatwvebwerr dead while we hid at Cynster Mansion. There, we investigated and found the diamond and also took steps towards arresting Lady Cynster's killers. An added bonus was discovering the identuty of our mystery man at the Carlisle Manor..."
The silence was palpable. Even the Sheriff was looking, listening intently.
"Former small time port guard Cornelius Finnegan!"
*****
I think I have about one or two episodes left, and I'll be done with this. Not that I haven't enjoyed the story, but everything has an end, and I'm all too happy to reach the end of this one.
Remember to Like and Comment as usual.
