C07: Second Suspect (2)

Day 3 - Nighttime - Night

24th Second autumn, 1152

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Hannah opens her eyes. The scene before her is filled with darkness. For some reason, all she can hear is just a long silence. The girl can see a bit in the dark, but without something like a torch or a lantern, she can't see anything properly.

No lights, no torches, no candles, no lanterns, no people...

Hannah can only feel her presence in the room...

There's a window on the right side of the wall. It's closed but through the vision of the glass, a night sky is shown before the young girl. Hannah is confused, it was probably dusk when she came inside this room. There's a bit of light showing from the window, despite being a weak light, it's still helpful.

It means Hannah had overslept.

The only question in Hannah's mind right now is that... where are Braun and her baby?

Hannah feels a bit afraid when there's only her in the room. Everything is dark, only the window shows some light from outside.

Hannah stares at the window, wondering how many hours have really passed. The window shuts off as a shadow showed up with a sharp hiss, the curtain has now covered the window, the only light source in the room has gone.

A cold shock runs down the spine of Hannah, her eyes wide open because she's panicked. Someone just showed up and pulled down the curtain, the room is now completely filled with darkness.

She's not alone...

Hannah immediately opens her right palm and catches a magical spell, a small fire shows up and floats on her palm. It shows her the way, but the fire is too weak. Without another choice, Hannah drains more of her power to build up a larger fire. As a result, the light has become much brighter.

But the shadow that showed up earlier isn't in her sight...

Hannah immediately gazes at the bedroom before her. The person who showed up as a dark figure earlier is probably inside that room. Was that Braun? Hannah can't answer, her mind has been frozen so much, it's freezing her inside.

The girl minds her step, walking carefully and quietly to make sure she won't be heard. The front door is close to her, she easily reaches the door but doesn't dare to open it, she's still scared to do so. What if someone is outside waiting for her to come out? Hannah keeps wondering if she should grab something to save herself.

Surrounded by fear, her mental state is also affected. Without a bright mind, Hannah is struggling. Sweats keep coming out from her face since it's hot in the room, she wants to bet on the decision of opening the door. The girl grabs the door handle, she inhales, deciding to open it when she counts to 3.

All of a sudden, Hannah's mind becomes heavy. The fire on her palm gets smaller significantly. That's a warning sign of her draining out of power, she would pass out if she runs out of magical power in this situation.

Hannah looks up as she heard some footsteps. In the bedroom, a dark figure can be seen standing at the door frame, hiding its presence. That figure keeps hiding by covering in the corner. Hannah looks closely at the dark figure and sees a tiny sharp sparkling thing reflecting the fire on her palm.

It looks like a knife...

Fighting her fear, Hannah opens the door and jumps out with the position as if she is shoving someone. Nothing is outside at all. Her forehead touches the ground, the strong landing impact also affects her jaw. Hannah feels some blood dripping out of her teeth.

"Help me!!! Help me!!!". - Terrified by what she just experienced, Hannah immediately gets up and runs as fast as she can to get out of the area

Hannah runs in the long hallway, sometimes she looks behind to check if someone is following her. She keeps running, she hopes she finds someone. But she sees no one on her way, she's freaked out.

"Someone, help me!!!". - Hannah screams once again, this time is much louder

But no one shows up.

Her mind is still in fear. Hannah immediately hides behind a tall knight statue, watching the scene. The path before her is the hallway she just ran past. Braun's room can be seen clearly from this angle.

All of a sudden, a person steps out of that room. The girl can't really tell if that is a man or a woman. Clothing is also unknown due to the darkness, distance and lack of torches on the walls. The person looks from left to right, then runs away, turning to the left hallway.

"Ahhhh!". - Hannah screams and grabs the thing that just touched her back, it is a man's large hand

Two Royal guards are before Hannah, both of them appear to just have arrived. They're confused. Hannah soon notices more and more guards coming to her place.

"Miss, is there anything wrong...?". - A guard asks

"I saw someone holding a knife, just ran through there!", - Hannah, still terrified, she tries to explain.  "They came out from that room and ran away!".

Four guards later draw their swords and run towards that room in a vertical formation. The first one with a torch steps inside, following are men armed with short swords. A guard of the team guards at the door, not joining the others.

Meanwhile, another group starts chasing by following the road the figure went. Hannah joins the men. She runs to the room and peeks inside to see what's happening.

"No one's here!". - The guards in the room shout, every one of them leaves the room in silence

Hannah starts following the guard group that is going after the shadow figure. She is exhausted, but still tries her best to keep up.

"Did you see someone running through here?!". - A guard approaches two maids who were chatting near there

"Over there". - She points her finger in the direction that leads to the backyard

"Men, follow me!!!". - A guard appears to be a commander roars, he charges forward

The other guardsmen also follow their commander. Everyone soon arrives at the area where the shadow figure was last seen. Hannah looks around, wondering where is the man. She only knows to follow the guardsmen.

"Keep searching, he must be around here!". - A guard yells

The backyard is wide. The guards come to the flowerfield and look around, all of them are cautious. Some of them point their torches to the dense field, some even step on the flowers. They wonder if someone is hiding, lying below the flowers to hide from their search.

A light pops up in Hannah's mind, she immediately rushes to the backyard gate. It's still locked. There's no way someone would vanish in the air, Hannah doesn't want to believe it. She looks up at the top of the gate, it appears to have metal long spikes, all of which are placed next to each other, spreading to four sides.

Apparently, it's very difficult for one to climb up. It even leaves scratches and blood if someone climbs up there carelessly.

But... what if...?

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Nighttime - Late night

One hour has passed since the previous incident. Jeanne got back to the palace about 30 minutes after the incident, it was too late. She wanted that incident to get silenced in order to keep up her silent investigation. But everything didn't go well as planned, the security level in the palace will soon be increased from now on.

This means the culprit would be more cautious...

Back to the couple investigators, they've locked themselves up in their room. It's supposed to be a meeting, but now it's a discussion. This could be lucky and unlucky at the same time, both have managed to collect information from two different suspects. At the moment, they want to know how would they change their investigation.

Jeanne is drunk. She still decides to stay at her desk to fill up the new files, she wants everything she collected today to be filled all. Generally, she would keep in mind what she collected. But right now, the investigator is drunk, she knows she would forget all tomorrow so she decided to write out so that the clues will be saved.

"Mom". - All of a sudden, Hannah calls her mother

"I'm a bit headache, sweetie, say immediately".

"I have a new theory. The burglars didn't get inside by using the key. They climbed in".

"I thought about it too but it's very difficult. The gate itself is 5 meters (16 feet) tall, they can go in by helping each other to climb in". - Jeanne grazes her hair, her eyes feel very heavy and her hair is very messy.  "But the top of the gate is full of spikes to prevent climbing. It's difficult. Even if they could, those spikes would bleed them".

"How could you conclude that when you haven't tried?".

"Ask His Highness yourself, he can give you some men. I've checked the top side with luminol, no blood". - Jeanne stops jotting down, she tries to remember what she did with Selena in the tavern.  "About the fingerprints, let's say they did try to get in that way. But I found nothing, those samples get worn out in that environment fast".

"Your theory is interesting, but we have nothing to prove it".

"So... you said you smelt blood in Braun Frieden's room?".

"I'm not so sure. But I guess so, that's some intense smell, it comes from something under the bed".

Jeanne stops writing.

"Did you check on it?".

"No".

"I guess we must need a warrant to make a full search in her room tomorrow. It's very important". - Jeanne returns to write

"I know it's rush but... we should ask Braun to see us. I see something unusual about her case, an interrogation is needed". - Jeanne comments as she read some parts of Hannah's today report

"I guess I'll go see His Highness".

"You stay here and rest, I'll go". - Jeanne extremely protests her daughter from going outside

"Hmmmm...". - For some reason, Jeanne stays silent and scratches her messy hair while keeps writing.  "I'm glad you're still safe. You should have listened to me, you should have been more caref-...". - All of a sudden, she stops

"Do we... still have luminol?".

Hearing her mom's question, Hannah checks the two backpacks to make sure.

"Well... two bottles left".

"You go to the room the prince set up for us. Guide those mages the way to create luminol and the blacklight, we really need it". - Jeanne picks up a cup of water and sips a bit.  "You're the only one who can use magic here. Without you, it's difficult for me to go this far".

"Right in tomorrow?".

"Hmmm... just take your time". - Jeanne keeps filling the files

Writing for a few more seconds, Jeanne stops. She has too many thoughts in mind, she needs an explanation, she can't answer all.

"Sweetie". - Jeanne calls Hannah

"You said you were sleepy when you got in Braun's room?".

"Well... I'd say I drank two cups of tea and then I fell asleep".

"Hmmm... was there anything else?".

"Earlier, I ate a cake given by a maid. But they were all eating together so no way that cake would get poisoned". - Hannah believes that Braun was the culprit who drugged her

"I can't tell which one caused you to sleep, it could be one or another. I'm a bit confused... someone could be blaming her". - Jeanne comments.  "It's rare to see a criminal who would be bold and risky enough to make themselves in trouble and act like victims".

"You were then chased by someone holding a knife?". - Jeanne focuses on the report written by Hannah.  "That person ran away when the guards chased them. Then they disappeared when they were followed to the backyard?".

"Was there anything else...?". - Jeanne asks her daughter, she sips some water

"A couple of maids told us the direction that person was going".

"Did you remember their faces?".

"I guess I'll remember if I see them again". - Hannah replies

"Hmmmm... do you remember the person who ran away? I know it's difficult but... what color of their clothing? How tall they were?".

"Mom. I'm a human being... I can't remember it all".

"Alright, I'm sorry. Too busy with work... just... write all you could remember into a paper, that's all". - Jeanne stops writing abruptly.  "Please take your time, do it later... have a good sleep, sweetie".

The room is filled with silence when the mother and daughter don't talk to each other. Jeanne sighs, she keeps filling the files. Hannah is lying on the bed, covering herself with the bedsheets. She hasn't slept yet.

"I'm very sorry, sweetie...".

Still... Jeanne hears no response from her daughter...

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