Capítulo 2: Unsure
He waited until the early hours of the morning before moving in. The crisp summer morning sun began to break out, only slightly warming the chilling breeze that swept through his surroundings. However, he didn't feel it. The wind had not flown through his suit. The suit in question was a dark brown pinstripe, complete with a spruce brown hat that wouldn't budge from his head regardless of any velocity of wind. Well, wouldn't budge his skull.
He had made a mental note about who entered into the house. With Erskine counted it was eleven in total. Faith had been right. Although she hadn't asked him to come down. If he remembered correctly, and he always did, she had expressed a want for him not to come here. Something about shooting him on sight. He chuckled. He wouldn't shoot him on sight, he would ask him what he as up to. Then shoot him.
He walked up to the back door and picked the lock, it was glistening gold and must have been installed recently. It didn't take long, Erskine was definitely out of practise, he would be an embarrassment to the Dead Men if he was one anymore. Ever since he brought it on himself to try and change the world, killing two of his closest friends in the process, he had been exiled out. He held no respect for him, he doubted anyone did. Besides, he hadn't been invited to his sympathy feast, he was only here in case Erskine decided to become sinister. And whilst no sinister signs had presented themselves, he'd thought he ought to have a closer look anyway. He silently opened the door, stalking quickly through what seemed to be a back sitting room. Of course he had more then one sitting room, he had always loved having much more than he needed. He crept out of the room and slunk along the wall of the hallway, ducking down occasionally when there was a picture on the wall. He stopped short of a doorway he was about to pass when he heard the sound. It was slightly ajar but there was nothing but pitch black inside. The sound he had heard was a dripping sound, as if someone had left the tap on or a pipe is leaking. It was Ireland after all, not all pipes could cope with the rain that lashed almost everyday. He edged his way in, pushing the door open wider and summoned a ball of fire. He used it to find the switch, turned it out and snuffed out the flame.
The sight before him made him glad Valkyrie wasn't there, she would have bolted out of the room to throw up. On the back wall read the words 'No Remorse', written in dark red blood. The bloods source, Erskine Ravel. Laid out on the table, the once brown waxy finish was now covered and dripping with blood. His eyes were open and unseeing, a passive pale look frozen onto his face. His chest had been ripped open, each broken rib jarred and out of place, fragments all over the floor. Joining the fragments on the floor were each of the organs once in his chest and abdomen. All carved out, the only organ remaining in his body was his brain. He looked around the room for anything out of place. All the knives seemed to be accounted for, all the carving and tenderising tools were still in there metal holder near the oven. As impossible as it may have sounded, and looking at how his chest was opened, this must have been done by hand.
No-one aside from the guests had come or gone that he had noticed, from in here he could see the anti teleportation sigils on the walls. He gave the floor a once over and could see no cracks. This meant that someone in this very house committed this atrocious crime, couldn't have happened to a nicer person. He stepped carefully into the room, looking for more clues or hints as to who could have done this. He lent over the body and inspected the ribs, seeing if they had left any significant marks that could lead to a possible weapon.
"Oh my...Skulduggery?"
The voice had come from the doorway, he stood up straight and peered over his shoulder. "I didn't shoot him"
"Clearly" Faith Matthews was stood by the door, dressed in dark blue trousers and a black short sleeve t-shirt. She had brown leather jacket tied around her waist. "What the hell happened here?"
"I'm still trying to work that out myself. Looks like someone had an anger problem" he replied, brushing some dust from his shoulder.
"I heard you were ruthless, but never thought i'd see it. Is this your example of revenge?" He turned fully as someone else stood beside Faith, she was a few inches shorter than her with coal black hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Delilah, isn't it?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. She nodded, her eyes not leaving his sockets. I didn't do this. The person who did this is highly dangerous and they are still here which mea-"
"Any one of us could be next" she cut in, her eyes widening.
"Oh Christ" Lucian walked in, his hands slowly rising out of his pockets. "I know you didn't like the guy, hell none of us did, but this...this is too far"
"Lu..cian, he didn't do this. But someone staying here did." said Faith before he had to defend himself again. Her tone was softer than when she had spoken to him. Lucian smiled and walked over to her .
"Just had to be sure. Although, if someone here is capable of this then we should all really be heading to the door. Interview everyone at the sanctuary and lock up whoever did this. "
"As neat of an idea as that is, leaving appears to be out of the question" Delilah moved to the side to allow Raven to step in, he looked about and heaved. He swallowed it down, mutually nodded to Delilah before continuing. "The door is locked tight, similar to the withstand power Tanith possesses. I launched shadows at it, tried to worm my shadows into it and splinter it and nothing worked. Same with the windows and the walls, didn't bother trying the floor. Whoever orchestrated this clearly doesn't want this getting out."
"Wait, Skully, when did you arrive here?" asked Faith, she stepped in but exceedingly quickly stepped back out when her toes stepped on Erskines intestines. She grimaced and began scraping her boot on the floor. He took a moment of observing what had happened before responding.
"Once you're done, I arrived shortly before you all did, watched who arrived and kept an eye on things. I didn't enter the house until about thirty minutes ago"
She looked up with a look of surprise, her tone injected with apprehension. "You've been here for hours?! I told you to only come here if I didn't come back! Why are you here now?"
"Well, I couldn't sleep. Plus, I was intrigued about Erskines offer to you all. Good thing I came too. Will do well to have a detective here to save you all."
"Excuse me, Saviour. A fair few of us work for the Sanctuary. Faith and I are fellow Deadmen. We don't need saving thank you." Said Lucian, who Faith had taken to using as a leaning post whilst she cleaned her grooves. She looked up and raised her eyebrow at him.
" Okay, what would you do next detective Lucian? Please enlighten us."
"Alright, alright. Simmer down. I guess-"
"No time for guessing Lucian. I was able to enter half an hour ago. Which means it would either need to be someone awake, or someone pretending to be asleep. Lucian, Faith, go wake up everyone else, pay attention and see if anyone else is groggy or just pretending. Once you've done that, bring everyone into the living room. And be careful, someone here doesn't have good intentions."
Lucian just stared blankly whilst Faith fought back a laugh.
"C'mon detective Lu. We got a job to do."
She giggled and pulled him out of the room. Skulduggery heard him mutter.
"I was just about to say that, if he had of let me finish."
Raven and Delilah were still stood in the room, now scowling at him.
"You accusing us?"
Raven spat, his eyes turning cold and his tone accusing and brittle.
"Of course not, I find it less complicated to accuse someone of murder until I have the upperhand."
"And why shouldn't we be accusing you? You're the one who snuck in and was the first at the scene. You're the one who had a problem with Ravel."
Before he could respond Vixen walked in, Ebony in tow. She went to speak but gasped and recoiled in terror. Her eyes wide and her hands shot to her mouth as she looked the whole area over. Ebony surveyed the scene but her reaction was very different. She didn't seem shocked, disgusted or appalled. Her blank response stayed the same whilst Vixen looked as if she was fighting back to urge to vomit. She looked up and he caught her eye and nodded.
" Skulduggery wouldn't have done this. Yes, he doesn't like Ravel, but who does? No-one here. Accusing each other isn't going to help, we need to pull together"
Raven opened his mouth to speak, but rethought it. He looked between them all before turning on a dime and walking out. Delilah followed in his wake leaving the three of them standing there.
"How long were you standing out there, Vixen?" he asked, walking carefully over to them.
"Not too long, but enough to hear the gist of things. So someone hear is a murderer?"
"Seems like it, could have been a hit and run but then why lock us in here? It doesn't make any sense"
"This is terrible. I was really hoping something didn't happen this weekend. Motive will be hard to decide between, almost everyone has had a problem with Ravel. There has to be more to it."
"Precisely, now both of you, into the sitting room. I have a meeting to hold" He watched Ebony turn about and follow Vixen as she walked out of the room. Weird child. No-one he had met this morning seemed like a killer, but one of them was. Finding who it is isn't as easy as he always made it look. Accuse the wrong person and you have another Dreylan Scarab case. Vixen was right, unless the motive was too dire and personal, motive alone wouldn't show him who the killer was. He needed something more to catch this meticulous person, before they killed again. He thought about who it could be. Ebony didn't seem to mind the sight of Erskines dead body, yet nothing disturbed her. She was never fully in a conversation, not even with Vixen. What about Raven. He had been quite accusing. Some murderers use the tactic of making it look lie someone else is guilty. Although if this is his tactic, he's played it quite early. But Delilah did the same. Could have been both of them. Then there was Rio, out of all the guests information on him was in the shortest supply. Could have been the perfect hired hitman. He definitely had the skills and technique needed for it.
His mind wondered to his fellow Dead Men, Faith and Lucian. Something was going on there, maybe they worked together to accomplish this. Faith has been through hell in the past and maybe something triggered something in her mind. And Lucian, he had recently returned from England, maybe this was the reason why. He could have been warped by the English council, they weren't the best minded people at the best of times. Avelija was an interesting one. Girlfriend of Raven, she loved knives or any blades really and she had a psychotic side that didn't play nice. Could be that that side of her paid a visit to Erskine last night. And then Mendacious, Dexters recently surfaced daughter. She could have been told the stories by Dexter and decided to do something about it. Killian was another like Rio, hardly anything was known about him. But unlike Rio, Killian had a good reason for that. People theorised that he isn't of this world, but from an alternate reality like the Leibenz universe. If he was from the Leibenz universe and isn't a mortal, that could mean he is a soldier of Mevolents. He lightly shook his head, this thought train had gotten him nowhere. Anyone of them could have done it.
"Skulduggery, everyone is in here but you!" Faiths voice echoed down the hallway, he needed to ask her and Lucian if they had discovered anything. Then he thought better of it, maybe they couldn't be trusted. He hadn't enjoyed this kind of thing with the remnants and he enjoyed it even less now. There wasn't a remnant that he was aware of, only one existed anyway, so this was of someones own volition, which made them dangerous and the worst kind of enemy.
He walked into the sitting room and inspected everyone. Avelija, Rio, Killian and Mendacious seemed tired, Mendacious in particular. Her normally luscious and curly hair was flat down, almost tamed, she seemed more innocent. Faith was sat on the arm of the chair Lucian was sat on, both their eyes followed him in. Ebony and Vixen were conversing in hushed whispers, they hadn't heard him come in. Raven and Avelija were sat with each other on the sofa near the window, they were also talking but Raven kept looking over everyone in the room.
"Thank you all for convening here for me, it's much appreciated. If you haven't heard, or been eavesdropping, Erskine Ravel was killed at some point during the night. It appears that someone in this room killed him." The light had been creeping through a slit in the curtains, eager to pour in and fill the room. He waved his hand and the curtains flew open, the early morning mix of a vibrant orange and a hint of a subtle yet pulsing red clashed as it brightened the room. There were some groans and even the rubbing and shielding of eyes. He waited for silence to continue.
"Anyone in this room could have done it, even teamed up with someone else. It couldn't have been all of you. What would be the point of locking ourselves in. Yes we are all locked in here in case you didn't know. Unless you are all after me which would just be absurd. One, none of you knew I was going to be here and two, you would need more of you. But, with that being said, we can rule out it being all ten of you, so at least one of you is innocent. Everyone should travel in pairs, if not trios or even in packs of four. Just in case. I will need full cooperation and honesty if I am going to solve this with minimal casualties. So, anyone got anything they want to get off their chest?"
Everyones eyes left his and started scanning the room, a mixture of glares and questioning eyes flitting between their peers. Each person almost waiting to see if the murderer had the gall to reveal themselves. No-one said a word and a few of them shook their heads.
"Worth a try, although all cards need to be out and open on the table. Avelija if you didn't know has a psycho side. Vixen can turn into a fox at a moments notice so if you see a tail, it's her. Rio is a hitman assassin that never let's himself get too well known. Mendacious is Dexter Vexs daughter, but I doubt that any of you didn't know that. Killian is not of this world, he might even be trying to find the portal from whence he came. Have I forgot anything? Oh! And Faith and Lucian are keeping their budding romance a secret."
They all stared in a stunned silence. Raven and Avelijas eyes burned with hatred, Vixen was in disbelief. Her friend Ebony was staring out of the window as if the topic of conversation bored her. Mendacious had turned her attention to Avelija, the look of curiosity on her face. Lucian and Faith stared with a blank look of surprise whilst Killian just observed as if nothing had happened.
"How long have you known Skulduggery?" asked Lucian, his eyebrow raised, his hand fidgeted in the secret location of the small of Faiths back.
"Simple really, you two have gotten closer since you came back from England. The amount of time you spend together is ridiculous, I can't remember the last time either of you did a job alone. I had my suspicions, but they weren't confirmed until just this morning in fact. Faith called you detective Lu. Now, anyone who knows her knows she assigns nicknames to the people she cares about. And why wouldn't she care about you? You're fellow Dead Men! However, she almost made the same slip up earlier in the same conversation but corrected herself but adding the rest of your name. Why hide a strong friendship? You wouldn't, hence, romance. You may now applaud."
Lucian was now looking at him with eyes quite blank, his mind taking all of it in. Faith on the other hand had shrunk back as much as the arm allowed her and her face was a deep shade of scarlet.
"What gives you the right to air everyones dirty laundry? Does it give you an ego boost to be such an insufferable know it all? The centre of attention?" Ravens hatred filled eyes were trying with all their might to bore through him. He spoke with a voice of disgust and practically spat some of the words out.
"Raven, I have not done this to start a fight. This information can be very important to an investigation. Besides, not wanting some things to come seems like you have something to hide."
Raven bolted up like a cannon firing, shadows coiled in his hands. "We have NOTHING to hide! You coming out with what plagues Avelija is vile and will surely arouse suspicion and aim blame at her! That's not fair!"
Anger was never the way to respond to people who were already angry, so he spoke with a soothing level of calm in his voice. "And if she did do it? Who else could be next? If she took someones elses life because they didn't know the information would that be fair? I told everyone because everyone ought to know so they can be cautious. I never accused her, I worded it precisely so that I wasn't"
"Bull! All you did was paint a target on her back! She will be killed just because someone thinks she could be the killer!" He snapped his head round to Mendacious. "And you! Stop staring!" She didn't recoil neither shudder. She stood up with grace but made no move towards him.
"We are entitled to know about our bedfellows and how dangerous they can be. This is not a preferred situation but it's what we have found ourselves in. So instead of jumping all over anyone who looks at you sideways. How about you sit down, think rationally and help us find out the culprit"
Raven looked taken aback, Avelija looked worried as if a fight was going to break out any second. Faith and Vixen looked impressed at Mendacious. Lucian was looking at Ravens hands, he slyly moved his own and the shadows in Ravens dissipated. Raven didn't notice, but Rio did. He raised an eyebrow and regarded Lucian differently.
"Raven, please sit down" begged Avelija, who had taken to lightly tugging in his sleeve. He looked to her and his gaze and stance softened. After a few seconds he sat back down. Mendacious nodded to him and retook her seat before looking at Skulduggery to continue.
"Everyone here has a target on their back, ten other people suspecting them of murder. Your nine colleagues and me. For now, trust no-one, but go nowhere alone. Have eyes in the back of your heads. Be weary, for there is the chance that someone else entirely is in here with us and we don't even know it. But for now, you're all being investigated for murder. So be on your best behaviour, if you find anything out of the ordinary, inform me as quickly as possible. From now, everyone is a suspect...and a possible victim...
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