12 Closing the DeBlasse Case

"We've detained the suspect. Cornered him at the large intersection that's the entrance to the Rhubarb port. It seems he was planning to leave Garden on one of the merchant ships."

"What has His Majesty instructed you to do with him?" Vincent was bowing his head to clip on his cuff links as he spoke to the full-body hologram sitting on the armchair in his office.

"Finn wants me to find the source of the tainted mecha stones. Before it can cause more harm. Then, we can just give the man to the Imperial Research Facility."

Vincent acknowledged the Marshal with a hum and brushed the non-existent dust on his sleeves. Straightening his suit, Vincent picked up his gloves before moving to leave.

"Have fun at your date."

"It's not a date."

"Maybe not to you, but the young men and women who have no business going to this dinner party for officials will be there to try to impress you. Hope you take a fancy to them."

"Why don't you entertain them instead, Jacob? Seeing you're so interested."

"Hah!" Marshal Jacob Salvadore punctuated his mocking laugh with a fluid leap from his seated position, "I left that life behind long ago, dear Vincy."

Walking around the large wooden desk, that had files and folders piled messily all over it, Jacob strode past Vincent and gave him a flirty wink, "And I'm never going back."

The hologram disintegrated as the last of Jacob's sentence passed through the spatial communication device.

Vincent took a deep breath and tried to still his trembling hands. With another nervous brush of the lapels of his suit, Vincent slipped on his gloves and set off to the palace.

---

Jacob blinked rapidly to try and clear the fog from his eyes, a side effect of using spatial communication for an extended period of time. As the last of the blurriness faded, he felt soft hands rub the back of his neck in circular motions.

"Better?"

Jacob sidestepped the massaging motion and exited his bedroom, leaving only the crisp click of the door as an answer to Soren's question.

Soren's hand was still hanging in the air after Jacob had left and brought all the light with him, shutting out the glow from the hallway and leaving Soren alone in the suffocating, dark room. His arm came back down to his side and he turned on his BrainCell, prompting the kitchen aid to take out dinner from the heating oven and serve Jacob.

"Dinner's ready downstairs." Soren stared intently at his BrainCell and hoped for a reply, even if it were merely a curt word or grunt of acknowledgement. His heart was left hanging for a few minutes before settling heavy in his stomach when his BrainCell refused to light up. With a shaky release of the breath he had been holding, Soren ran his hands through his short fluffy hair and climbed into bed.

---

Vincent was currently slumped against the pillows on the sofa in Finnegan's Imperial Office, nursing the glass of wine he had picked up from a waiter at the beginning of the dinner party.

"He's definitely the one who murdered Arianne DeBlasse?"

"No doubt about it. He was matched by the face recognition program and has confirmed it himself not an hour ago." Finnegan topped off his glass of whisky for the second time since they had entered his office.

"You've already had your special force work on him?"

"He's been spilling it all without them even touching him. I'll have Rosa hand you and Jacob the final report. You'll probably receive it by tomorrow night."

Vincent threw back the last few mouthfuls in his glass and straightened out his posture. "We need to wrap this up as quickly as possible before the public starts getting knowledge of DeBlasse's operations."

"Yeah. Is the retaliation we discussed before prepared? It's of utmost importance we preempt DeBlasse if he tries to release information about the tainted mecha stones, to try to incite the people."

"Everything's ready. When all the loose ends of Miss Arianne's case have come together, you can begin to corner DeBlasse."

"Good."

The heavy atmosphere dissipated when Vincent's BrainCell rang for a text notification. His eyes lit up after a brief glance at the message.

"Sir Asoka has found a new gardener for my residence. He'll probably be starting in the next week."

"Check this one properly. We don't want to make the same slip-up as your last gardener. But you know that. Just be careful."

"Mmm. It's his new apprentice, apparently." Vincent absent-mindedly replied to Finnegan's warning while he messaged Kai about the preparations for the new gardener.

"What's his name?"

"It's uh... Sir Asoka didn't give me his name."

Finnegan sighed and gulped down his whiskey. "I swear, you would probably sell yourself to the new gardener and even help them count the money as long as he promises to revive your courtyard."

Vincent coughed out a self-depreciating chuckle and made to leave Finnegan's office. Taking the bottle of whisky with him, he waved farewell to his Emperor.

"Take it all you want, I'll just scam more out of the cellar guard."

The smile on Finnegan's face fell away after Vincent left, elbows resting on his knees, he grasped his auburn-coloured hair and pulled it in stress.