C02: Two People's Job

Day 2 - Daytime - Noon

23rd Second autumn, 1152

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As the new day started, Jeanne and Hannah got into the investigation after they had a light breakfast. Everything didn't go as well as they expected to be. Too many nosy people watching them work, evidence was a mess since they couldn't find anything valuable.

Following the regulations, both of the investigators searched for clues by searching every room of those who went missing. They got nothing in return, they started tracking the blood stains as they finished the full search in a room. However, they couldn't track even a blood stain. It took them a lot of time to leave a searched room.

Everything went disadvantageous till this moment. Up to now, the investigative couple has managed to finish searching to the 4th room. They got nothing. Here's the 5th room already, both of them decided to track the blood stains after they failed to find anything valuable from the room's furniture.

Jeanne is one of the two people crouching in the room. Both she and her daughter before entering the room had ordered the guardsmen to watch outside. They're wearing gloves, staying in one position, limiting their movements and being careful where they step on.

Jeanne wasn't supposed to be with her daughter. She was doing something else, but decided to come to Hannah for assistance. The daughter gets up and watches as her mother opens a bottle and carefully sprinkles the liquid down on the floor. She is waiting for her mom's instructions, a bit impatient.

"They're looking at us, mom". - Hannah speaks to her mother, she feels a bit embarrassed when the nosy people are watching them

"As long as no one enters, please be patient, sweetie". - Jeanne replies, she rubs the floor gently by using a cloth

"It's the 5th room already", - Hannah says, as if she wants it to end fast.  "why haven't you changed your conclusion yet?". - She holds the curtain, still waiting for the order

"Follow the regulations", - Jeanne replies.  "that's what we always do. There's still a small possibility that we can find blood, all we need is patience". - The mother sprinkles the liquid a little bit on the floor, she rubs it carefully

Hannah is still waiting. She suddenly hears the footsteps of someone, she looks up and sees the prince and his bodyguard. They're both entering the room, seem very curious. Being irritated, Hannah approaches them, holding back her tone before she speaks.

"Your Highness, do not go in". - Hannah speaks to prince Koenig

Dunkel steps forward as he heard the tone of Hannah, appeared to be a bit misbehaving towards his ruler. However, prince Koenig taps the back of his bodyguard, asking him not to do anything. He keeps a certain distance from the girl.

"I saw people gathering here so...", - Koenig replies.  "I just wanted to see if everything was going well".

"Thanks for your care, but there's nothing yet". - Jeanne speaks up.  "Please do not touch anything, just stand right there, Your Highness".

"Luminol's ready, Hannah". - All of a sudden, Jeanne calls her daughter

Hannah rushes to the curtain and pulls it down. The room is now covered by a little of darkness. Both investigators look at each other, nodding. The prince and his bodyguard are a bit confused.

Hannah raises both hands forward, opening her palms. A second later, a small source of blue fireball appears and floats on her palms. Hannah keeps her hands steady, she lowers them to the floor, aiming at the side where the liquid named "luminol" was sprinkled on.

Jeanne and Hannah broaden their eyes, both of them focus on the floor as if waiting for something. However, nothing shows up. Seconds later, the daughter stops casting magic. The fireball vanishes as she lowered her hands.

"Still nothing". - Hannah murmurs, her tone is mixed with frustration and disappointment

Jeanne stands still, her eyes keep locking on the floor. The female investigator just stays there in silence, her eyes are still there. Prince Koenig and his bodyguard don't exactly understand what these investigators are doing. However, by looking at their behaviors, they learn that those two are having struggles.

"Was that the last spot in the room?". - Jeanne asks her daughter

"I guess so". - Hannah replies.  "Unless the luminol has a problem. We haven't used it for months".

"No, they're very well kept so it's impossible...". - Jeanne replies

"Do we still have to follow the regulations from the beginning to the last, mom?". - Hannah asks

"Hmmmm...". - Jeanne thinks a bit.  "All rooms still need to be checked, it's not good if we leave out something". - The investigator scratches her head a little 

"I have to go back to work", - Jeanne says.  "You're now allowed to check rooms however you want. If you spot blood, call me immediately".

"Alright, mom". - Hannah later starts stuffing the tools back inside her handbag

"Get the room locked and move to another one, don't be careless". - Jeanne reminds Hannah as she walks outside

"I know, mom! I'm not a kid!". - Hannah shouts

Jeanne leaves and soon returns to the living room. Many people can be seen inside the room, chatting and lining up for some reason. Everyone goes back to their line as Jeanne returned. All of them appear to be maids and guards.

"Oh, Your Highness?". - Jeanne is surprised as she notices prince Koenig keeps following her

"What were you doing earlier?".

"I tried to make the blood visible, but it didn't work".

"What's that luminol thing? I've never heard of that, madame". - Dunkel also joins the discussion

"To say simply, it's a liquid that reflects blood if you put it on where the blood was. I mean, the blood even when it's cleaned up, it's still there at where it dropped", - Jeanne tries to explain.  "but our eyes can't see it, but luminol can".

"I heard that you are strange in the way you investigate. So it's not a groundless rumor as I thought". - The prince comments.  "I'd like to tell you that we've rechecked all the keys, not even a single one is lost".

"Thanks for the information, Your Highness. But please, let me return to work now, I'll see you tonight".

The woman passes the crowd and reaches a table. Around the table has two maids standing around it. The table itself has many blank paper sheets placed on it, very neat and stable. Two closed ink boxes can also be seen near the papers.

"Thank you very much for the help, you can return to your line now". - Jeanne speaks to the maid, she returns to her position

The investigator opens a box next to a paper sheet. Inside the box contains many other paper sheets, all of which have black ink marked on the surfaces with writings. Everything, for some reason, doesn't go well with Jeanne, her face is a bit sad. Most of the papers placed in the box seem to be very messy, carelessly placed.

"Still good... still good... at least they're not smudged". - Jeanne speaks to herself when she was checking on the messy papers

"Everyone, thank you for coming over". - The female investigator greets the people who are lining up.  "Like I said earlier, it only takes you a couple of minutes. When it's done, you can go back to work", - She opens two boxes.  "it's simple, you dip your fingers in this box then mark them on one of these papers, choose the blank sheets and mark. It's finished, you go back to work". - She puts two blank paper sheets in front of everybody, she also grabs a pen nearby.  "Like what you saw from the nobles, what they did earlier was simple, just similar to what you're going to do here".

"What's that for?", - A guard asks.  "you ask us to dirty our hands but what for? I need an explanation".

"My ink can identify who is the culprit that caused the terrible acts in this place. If you're innocent, you're not going through anything". - Jeanne changes her tone, becoming a bit playful.  "But if you're guilty, you'll be paralyzed. That's the magical thing about this ink. So everyone, don't be scared but step forward, y'all innocent, only the culprit runs away". - Finished talking, the investigator laughs in her mind, thinking everyone wouldn't believe that ridiculous story

Jeanne soon notices the fussing of the people. Everyone seems surprised, they're also very curious. The room is filled with lots of fussing but soon stays in order because everyone steps forward to do the check.

"Yes, that's how it works". - Jeanne guides a maid on how to dip her fingers in the ink box and print on the blank paper sheet properly

Two maids who came up first, now are printing their fingers covered with ink on the paper. A deep mark was printed on, that's a fingerprint. Jeanne looks up and down, from the right to the left. She wants to make sure the fingerprints are printed well on the paper and visible with the best quality.

"Hmmm... what's your name?". - Jeanne puts her pen down on the blank side of the paper, next to a fingerprint

"Martha". - An elder maid says

"Relva". - The young maid on the other side says 

Jeanne carefully jots down the names "Maid Martha" and "Maid Relva" on the blank side of the paper to remember them. When everything is done, she puts the paper aside, leaving it there carefully to dry the ink completely.

"Congratulations, you two are innocents". - Jeanne speaks up.  "You can go back to work now".

"Everyone! Just a couple of minutes, wouldn't it be a nice day if the culprit is arrested today?". - The female investigator encourages people behind the line to come up

"I hate regulations...". - Jeanne sighs a little with a smile, her eyes secretly glance at the suspects who are available in the room

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Daytime - Dusk

After going back to work, Jeanne stayed for 5 hours straight to collect fingerprints. The time now has already passed, Jeanne managed to collect more than 1,000 fingerprint samples. Everything seems overworking for her and her daughter since there are only two investigators working on the case. Prince Koenig did provide them with help, two mages and a room for experiment. However, their help isn't valuable at the current moment.

The female investigator is currently rechecking the papers. She wants to make sure nothing is left out or lost, especially the fingerprints. Although the fingerprint samples appear to be worthless at the moment, she hopes they'll be useful in the later time.

Prince Koenig and his bodyguard Dunkel are also at Jeanne's place to help her. The maid Selena is supposed to follow the prince most of the time, but Koenig had ordered her to wait for him in his room.

Everything about the case doesn't seem to progress. Lack of clues, no eyewitnesses, lack of information, it's just like the entire case is being restarted completely to zero. However, Jeanne knows there are no miracles for her to solve a case just by overnight. She is still patient, she knows everything takes time.

"Thanks, Your Highness". - Jeanne stores the information box inside her room with the prince's help

"I thought you were supposed to be studying right now. Everyone says you are the heir of the kingdom". - Jeanne speaks while her eyes focus on the box, she wonders if she should make a full copy for backup investigators in case something unexpected happens

The prince doesn't reply. He sighs, doesn't mind going back to his room because he only feels tired.

"Are you going to finish your work like this, madame?". - Dunkel asks

"It's about to get dark. Nothing can be done just overnight, Sir". - Jeanne replies

"I'm interested in the way you investigate, it's very bizarre". - Koenig speaks up.  "To be honest, I wonder where did you get it".

"Someone... taught it to me...". - Jeanne seems to be hesitant about that topic

Jeanne decides to leave the box in her room since it was put in its rightful place. Now she waits for her daughter Hannah, she hopes her daughter has finished her job.

"I wasn't aware of you two in the first place...". - All of a sudden, prince Koenig speaks up to Jeanne.  "I chose the best investigators for this case, I chose both of you through my servant's suggestion", - He continues.  "your history said you came from Leafspear...".

"Does it have anything special?". - Jeanne replies, she feels a bit annoyed for some reason

"Of course. You came from a dead kingdom, it was ruined by a coup". - Koenig answers.  "It's rare to see a Leafspearian here, it was said that the people ran all the way they could find when it went anarchy".

"From what I found about you, you seem to be very known b-".

"Please stop". - Jeanne grunts a bit, she looks away

The prince notices the investigator is not in a bright mood. He stops talking, he thinks about changing the topic to ease the woman.

"I want to know more about what you've learned so far. Is there a way to search for missing people like the way the thing called "luminol" shows blood where it touches?".

"Did you see the blood...?". - Jeanne snaps back to reality, she starts to wonder if Hannah did something

"Yeah. I saw the blue things glowing on the floor when your daughter put the fire near it".

Jeanne starts to wonder where is Hannah now. This mother gets concerned when she realizes her daughter is now alone by herself. She wonders if what happened to the two previous investigators would also happen to her and her daughter.

"Where's Hannah?". - Jeanne asks

All of a sudden, a shadow passes Jeanne and everyone. It appears to be Hannah, who just walked in. That girl immediately jumps on the bed with her hands filling cookies in her mouth. Only the goddess knows where she got them.

"Hannah?". - Jeanne calls for her.  "What are you doing?".

"My job's done, mom". - Hannah keeps chewing those cookies.  "Well... I did find some blood, but do you see how I look right now?".  "I'll make a report later".

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