COUNCILMEN - 3

After Emma found the news about William's death, she had hurried to come to the Mayor's house to see how they were doing. Even though she had only become William's governess for a very short time, she had somehow felt connection with the boy. Reading how the boy's body was found on the newspaper, broke her heart to pieces. She was as devastated as his parents for how tragic his death was, for such a young boy to die like that.

How cruel that person who had murdered a boy in such fashion!

Emma totally understood that William's parents must be so devastated to lose their only son. She felt sorry for them. Yet, she could not resist the urge to come here and see the boy for the last time before it got cremated. So she tried her best to persuade the guards to let her in.

However, in this kind of situation, the least person she expected to see, appeared in front of her, smiling at her broadly.

Newton Piper. The councilman who had been trying to court her for the past six months.

"Mr. Piper." Greeted Emma, bowing her head slightly at him.

"Miss Emma. Pleasure to see you here." Responded Newton. His tone of voice turned softer to her. "What brought you here in this kind of unpleasant situation?"

"I was the governess of William, Sir." Answered Emma. "I'm here to convey my condolences to the family."

"Really?" Came a surprised remark from Newton. He knew that Emma was a governess, a well-known one in Easton, but he did not know that the Mayor would hire a female to educate his son. "For how long, if I may know?"

Feeling as if she was being interrogated by Newton, Emma knitted her brows, not liking his question. "What is it that you're doing here, if I may know?"

Newton's smile got broader and broader. This was what he loved about the woman: her bluntness.

"I'm the one who responsible to investigate the case."

"Ah, I see." She mumbled, feeling stupid with her question as she had completely forgotten of who the man was for a second. "How's the investigation been going?"

"It's alright. I got my suspects ready to be sent to the prison." He said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulder.

"You found the suspects already?" Frowned Emma, tilting her head forward as if she did not believe what she just heard. "How many exactly?"

Before the councilman could answer her, four persons came toward them. Two of the persons, who was a man and a woman, were walking in front of the other two men who appeared to be the councilmen. Their arms were chained. Both of their heads hang low in shame. Emma acknowledged them immediately to be the maid and the guard.

Impossible! She mentally exclaimed. There was no way these two people were the one who murdered William. Her green eyes looked up at the handsome man next to her who shot her a knowing look.

"Are you serious about them?" She whispered to him lowly.

Newton shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to find out, Miss Emma?" He coaxed, gauging her expression from his eyelashes.

"What do you mean, Mr. Piper?" Asked Emma curiously.

"Would you like to ride with me?" He offered her. Seeing her shock expression, he added subtly, "In the same carriage as me and the two suspects?"

Without wanting to miss this opportunity, Emma nodded her head excitedly, not realising the man's heart just flipped.

Far away from the Mayor's house, five of the councilmen were busy inspecting the mansion of the councilman who got murdered last night.

"Sir, we found the bottle of the poison in one of the maids' room." Said a short man with baldy hair. He lifted the evidence high enough for anyone to see.

"Take her to the prison." Order the old man with white hair and shaggy beard. His tired looking eyes stared at his assistant who had spent hours finding the evidence.

"What about the body of Mr. Clark, Sir?" Asked the same man who had the bottle of the poison in his hand.

"The body will be cleaned up soon as the preparation for the burial is ready." Said the old councilman.

Hearing this, the baldy man narrowed his eyes at him. "Shouldn't we do the autopsy first?"

"What for? We all know Mr. Clark died out of poison." Came the rough and stoic answer from the old man. "We need to go back to the council immediately."

Not wanting to question his leader's order any further, the baldy man went ahead with the order. They soon left the mansion to go back to ride back to the council.

However, before the carriage left Easton and travelled further to Claremont, the old man stopped by at the mansion which was located near the border. He ordered his assistant to stay in the carriage, telling him he would not take long as he stepped out of the carriage.

As he entered the mansion, the housekeeper greeted him with respect.

"Mr. Brown." The housekeeper bowed at councilman. "Master is expecting you at his study."

"Thank you, Derek. I brought your Master a good news." Chimed the old man in.

"Master must be very happy to hear that. Would you like to have something to drink?" Asked the housekeeper as the walked closer towards the study.

"I'll be fine, thank you. I still have a long journey ahead of me." Mr. Brown answered.

The big double doors painted with gold colour was pushed opened gently by the housekeeper. He announced the arrival of the councilman to his Master who welcomed it with a satisfying smile on his face.

"Good afternoon, Mr. West." Greeted the councilman.

"Mr. Brown, I hope you bring me the good news." Said Samuel West, reaching out his right hand for the councilman to shake.

"Absolutely, Sir." Answered Mr. Brown confidently. "Everything has been taken care of as you wish."

"Well done, Mr. Brown. Well done!" Praised Samuel to the old man. "I would ask Derek to arrange your reward immediately.

"Thank you, Sir." Mr. Brown bowed at him. "However, just out of curiosity, why did you send Newton's team to Mr. Graham's house instead of my team? We would have been able to solve the case better for Mr. Graham family."

Samuel shook his head. "That can't happen, Mr. Brown. I trust you more than Newton."

For Mr. Brown, Samuel was an important man in the council that could smoothen his life within the council building. Samuel West was no more than an insurance of his prosperity in the whole Kingdom. Without Samuel, Mr. Brown would be back to farming in Midland.

So, him earning a trust from Samuel cause a smug expression on his face. He was still not happy that another important job that could lift his team status, was given to the new members in his department.

"Don't be greedy, Mr. Brown. You will still hold higher position in your department." Samuel patted his shoulder.

"Ah, no, Milord. I was just worried of Mr. Graham's wellbeing." Lied Mr. Brown.

Just like what Mr. Brown had said, he did not stay long at Samuel West's mansion. He departed not long after he received his reward from Samuel.

"Would you like to celebrate your achievement, Sir?" Asked Derek to his master who was in a much better mood than yesterday.

Samuel chuckled. "Maybe a bit later, Derek. I should probably go to see Gilbert and his wife. Don't you think that everything has fallen right in the right time, Derek? Who knew that the boy would be murdered last night as well. I hope you didn't have a hand on it."

"I never act on my own, Master. It's always based on your order." Responded the housekeeper truthfully.

"Perfect!" Samuel smirked. "With the ability that Newton's team has, I'm sure he will definitely lead us all to the forest."

"The forest, Milord?" Knowing absolutely nothing of what his master was talking about, Derek looked puzzle.

"Gilbert has reported that a girl was found in the forest by his son and his friends. Unnoticed by anyone else in the village." Explained Samuel. He pursed his lips slightly. "And if his suspicion was correct, you would reunite with your old enemy. The white witch."