So, by the time everyone was able to gather, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
Everyone had a worried expression on their faces. The only one who probably still had the same expression was the lawyer, Arthur Wells. Well, this character probably had facial paralysis that's why his expression barely changed.
The other one who didn't have much reaction was Sorcha. Which was probably understandable considering that she didn't really have much interaction with this family and therefore didn't feel much after hearing of what happened to her former father-in-law.
The one who seemed to be truly affected by what happened was young Gilmore. Ever since he saw William's burnt corpse on the bed, he had been moving like a robot. Although he was still doing his job as the butler, gathering everyone in this room for one, it was obvious that he was not in his usual state.
Now, he was standing beside an older woman, probably in her 40s. If he remembered correctly, this woman was the cook. The Irish one. Her hair was the same shade of red as Gilmore. They also had the same eye color and same pale skin. Even some of their facial features were quite similar. It's easy to see that the two were related. Maybe a mother and son?
But unlike Gilmore, the cook also didn't show any drastic reaction upon hearing the news that her employer was now dead. The other servants in the house did show shock and sadness when they heard what happened to William.
There were four maids, including the housekeeper and the cook. There were two male servants, which were the butler and the footman. Wait- where's Saunders?
[Let's ask the other servants later. For now…]
He scanned each and every one of the people in the room with his gaze. Then, he cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention. And it succeeded, since almost all of them turned to his direction.
"I believe everyone here know that someone had murdered Mr. Harcourt," he started. "I saw smoke coming out of the master's bedroom at about one o'clock in the morning. I rushed inside and found the burning body. But from my observation, Mr. Harcourt was killed and burned much earlier than that. I believe Doctor Baker could back this. Which I find very curious.
"As everyone here knows, a series of explosions happened just right before the body was found. This series of explosions was used as a diversion, so we wouldn't find the burning corpse until the fire spread and we wouldn't know the real time of death. Therefore, it would be also hard for us to know the real situation at that time. Everyone would simply assume that he was killed at the same time that the explosion happened. Chapters first released on noveⅼfire.net
"Of course, that was not the only reason for the explosions. From what the servants had told me, there was a landslide and the mountain roads leading up to this manor are now blocked. That's not all, I heard that the telephone lines were also cut. And based on the position of this mountain, despite those huge explosions earlier, it would take time for anyone to notice what happened.
"So, for all intents and purposes, we're now quite isolated. I guess we should be thankful that the electric lines were not cut off. This means that we're on our own right now. We can't call the police or even the morgue for that matter. But fret not. I will make sure to capture the culprit."
After Luo Yan's long tirade of information, everyone was speechless. They probably didn't expect that he would say this many things without stopping.
"Surely, it's an outsider who did this," George Cooper said. "Maybe it's a group of thieves. I believe Father has quite the art collection."
"Oh please, Georgie, no thieves would go bomb a mountain and burn someone just so they could steal a couple of paintings," Charles said sarcastically, his voice slurring. A sign that the wine he had been drinking since earlier was finally getting through to him.
"I agree with Mr. Charles here," Luo Yan said. "Causing such explosions would be too much of an overkill for a thief. No pun intended, of course."
"If it's not an outsider, then, it must be one of the servants," Edward said.
"Beggin' your pardon, sir. But none of us would do such a thing to Mr. Harcourt!" the housekeeper said, clearly affronted by what Edward was insinuating.
"That's right! Mr. Harcourt was a good master. None of us would want any harm happen to him," a maid seconded.
"Are you suggesting that it's one of us?" Edward said, glaring at the two.
None of the servants answered. But their silence was already an answer in itself.
"Eddie, calm down," Sofia, who was now very much clothed, said, putting her hand on Edward's shoulder to calm the other. "I'm sure they didn't mean it."
Luo Yan glanced at Sofia's action, mirth filling his eyes. It lasted for a second before he controlled his expression.
"It's not really unfounded," he said.
Edward turned to him sharply. "So, you believe it's one of us?"
"I'm just saying that out of all the people here, the ones with the motive and intent are you three, his children. The only question now was if you have the opportunity to do it," Luo Yan said, citing the Crime Triangle – motive, intent, and opportunity.
He felt a bit like a detective when he said that. Of course, this was all under the assumption that the who died was indeed William Harcourt.
He then stared at William Harcourt's three children. "Now, where were you between the hours of 12 and 1 AM?"