"What is this?" Rafael asked, trying to make sense of the paintings of Edgar’s daughters. "Do you think this is tied to what he said about his brother once wanting to court Penelope?"
Edgar stared at the paintings. "No," he answered.
If Cassius was only interested in Penelope, why were there paintings of Lily and Isabelle being brought out?
Isabelle’s painting, which was also made to look almost like Alessandra, was obvious, but Edgar had to look closer to tell that one was of Lily.
The details were well done since the paintings displayed necklaces that Edgar once gifted the twins to help tell them apart from each other.
Edgar wanted to destroy every last one of the paintings being lifted outside, but he needed one as evidence to show the kind of man Quinn was.
"Destroy all but one," Edgar ordered his men.
Rafael didn’t speak up since he would have done the same thing. Had he found paintings of his daughters, Rafael would have set the home on fire.
"Gather any servants you find and send them off to the palace!"
"Would the servants speak?" Rafael asked, though he knew the answer.
"No, not even if we threaten them. He might have something against his servants to make them stay quiet, but we can try. Worst case, we will need to torture them to get answers, but that can only be done if we find a clue about what he has done," said Edgar.
The more Edgar learned about Quinn, the more he didn’t want this to be a case the court dealt with. Quinn needed to be dealt with by the court and palace, turning a blind eye to let Edgar kill Quinn.
All that stopped Edgar was not knowing where Quinn’s victims could be, if there were any.
"We need to look into everyone he was seen speaking to, whether it be a man or a woman. See if they are missing, and more importantly, you need to keep an eye on your daughters. It’s evident that they are targets," Rafael said, watching as the Collins guards destroyed the paintings.
Edgar got down off his horse to go inside the home himself to see what else remained.
Rafael followed suit, knowing that Edgar was acting upon anger and someone needed to be at his side to keep him calm.
Rafael handed the reins of his horse and Edgar’s to a guard, then followed Edgar inside.
Edgar felt taken back to the past. It had been so long since he set foot here, but little bits of the moment were coming back to him.
When William died, the home was only visited by town guards a few times to make note of what was kept here and to take out what was valuable so no one could steal it.
Edgar tried to follow his memory of the last time he was here, though it was starting to become blurry the more he tried to remember. He made his way to the dining hall, where he had waited for William to return home to kill him.
"What is it? Do you notice something?" Rafael asked, missing what caught Edgar’s attention.
"I killed William here. I got in while he was away and killed him here. That was the day we went to kill Grant. I couldn’t let one more person out to hurt Alessandra live that day. He must have been here," Edgar said, speaking of Quinn.
"He would be a young boy then. If you saw him, you couldn’t have known that he would become . You wouldn’t have killed a boy," said Rafael.
"No, but if he were taken to the court, I could have noticed if he was a little monster and have him taken away to get him some help before he became as he is now. If there isn’t anyone here, we can’t kill him yet," Edgar said, annoyed by this.
Edgar tapped his gun against his head, trying to think.
"We’ll need a list of everything he owns. Only this home was left in William’s name. He has a business in town, so we’ll need to look into that too. If it’s not him, we’re back at the start," Edgar said, hoping it wouldn’t be so.
Quinn needed to be the one they were looking for all this time, since the other suspects ended up nowhere.
Rafael looked around the dining room, remaining close to Edgar so they could help each other if there were any traps.
"He was preparing to live here. I don’t understand. You said that William took women who caught his eye as payment for what their families owed, so why would Quinn want to follow in his father’s steps?" Rafael wondered.
If Rafael’s father had bought his mother and kept her around because he reminded her of art, Rafael wouldn’t want anything to do with his father. In fact, Rafael might have killed his father.
"He’s followed in William’s footsteps only by seeing others as art. William was suspected of being the killer who took the young ladies back in the day, but it wasn’t him. It seems his son is taking inspiration from Simon, or there are secrets about William we failed to uncover then," said Edgar.
It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Edgar that William had killed some of the women he held here or those who owed him money. They would have to dig around William’s home to find bodies. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveI~Fire.net
Edgar waited patiently for news from the guards that something had been found, but nothing came. The more time went on with no news, the more restless Edgar became.
"You’ll need to inform Tyrion of this. I know they have left to be alone, but would you be pleased knowing someone found those portraits of Alessandra and no one informed you? You would raise hell," Rafael said, knowing Edgar would have been angry.
"I will send someone for him, but if Penelope gets upset, I will tell her that it was your idea," Edgar said, starting to walk toward the front door.
"I am fine with it. She knows that I have her best interests at heart. Send for Tyrion as soon as you can. They will have peace once Quinn is dealt with," Rafael said, trusting the couple would understand.
Rafael followed Edgar outside, intending to inspect the area.
"You found Simon’s victims underground, right? We need dogs here," Rafael said, searching for where they would start. "I know that you are angry and rightfully so, but I need your mind to help solve this. Calm yourself and do what you do best."
If there was anyone who could find another clue, Rafael believed it was Edgar.