Chapter 15: 15 – The culprit is you!

“This… no way, it can’t be…” the boy dressed in a Sherlock Holmes-esque outfit muttered to himself whilst raising back to his feet. “Combined with the note… and the bookmark… That means… there’s no other explanation…”

He made a sharp turn, locked eyes with the maid, and stabbed a finger in her direction. “The culprit… is you!”

The maid, Jessica, widened her eyes and froze on the spot for a moment as everyone present turned to look at her in shock. She then dipped her head down and let out a low chuckle.

“So… you finally figured it out,” she muttered before lifting her head. Her expression warped into a sinister grin.

Before anyone present could react she pulled out her completely safe rubber knife, dashed over to the duke’s daughter, and grabbed her from behind whilst pushing the fake knife against her throat.

“Gyaaah!” the hostage screamed.

“That’s right! It was all me! I’m the murderer!” she shouted.

“That can’t be! Why?!” the butler shouted in horror. “Why kill our master?! Didn’t he pick you up from the streets?! Save you from poverty?!”

“Saved me? Hah! As if…! That was all just a lie!” Jessica grimaced. “No… it all began that one fateful day when…” she started her monologue.

…

Back over at the audience’s seats, the trio of magical girls in her civilian guise were eating popcorn.

“Oooh, the maid was the murderer? Didn’t expect that plot twist!” Erika exclaimed.

“Eh, I thought it was obvious,” Sarah shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah, Ms. smartypants.” Erika rolled her eyes.

“No, I mean. Jessica was playing the maid, that’s why it was obvious.”

“... what?”

“You know! If Jessica is in the play, she’s basically guaranteed to be the villain. You know her! She has that villain-all-along kind of feel to her,” Sarah said whilst nodding to herself.

“Err, kinda…?” Erika replied.

“Hmm… I don’t think that’s right,” Nicole spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“I feel like it’s the opposite. I always thought of her more as the good-guy-all-along type instead!”

“Eh? Jessica? How so?” Sarah quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean, it’s all just an act to her, right? She’s just acting as the villain, but in reality, she’s not evil.”

“Hmm, I guess…?” Sarah admitted.

The girls continued their conversation, none of them ever even thinking of denying the fact that Jessica definitely fit the bill of a double or triple agent of some kind.

Once the play was over, the three met up with Jessica behind the scenes. She still wore the red paint-stained maid clothes.

“Oh, hey! You’re all here! I’m glad you came in the end!” Jessica beamed at them with a cheerful smile. Her face still had traces of red paint on it though, making it look just a bit unnerving.

Sarah gasped whilst covering her mouth in faked shock. “Oh no! It’s the murderer! Everyone! Run!”

The trio giggled.

Jessica on the other hand… narrowed her eyes, put on an evil grin, brought out the fake knife covered in fake blood, and licked it while chuckling. “Heheheh… now that you know… I can’t let you…” Then she suddenly recoiled. “Ack! Ptui!” She spat out.

“You shouldn’t lick paint…” Nicole whispered.

They giggled again.

“Hey girls! How did you like the play?” a male voice called out to them.

Turning around, they spotted Cody, the guy who had played the butler. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. Unlike Jessica, he had already changed from his red paint-stained suit.

“Oh, Cody! My BFF!” Jessica yelled out and pulled an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey there. I liked it. Although honestly, I didn't expect the ending,” Erika said whilst pointing at Jessica’s outfit drenched in red paint.

“Yeah, I was expecting the maid to just get arrested…” Nicole added.

“Hah! How predictable!” Jessica laughed. “I already hated having to do the cliche of recounting all of my evil plans from the beginning once I was found out. When Rick told us about the boring original ending, I suggested an alternative!”

“Of course, it was your idea,” Erika said whilst rolling her eyes.

“Still, I really liked the plot twist with the culprit,” Nicole said.

“Eeeh, it was obvious you were the villain all along.” Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Oh-ho? Professional detective Sarah on the scene?” Jessica teased.

Sarah was momentarily reminded of the piece of paper they were still trying to decipher. She quickly pushed that nasty thought aside.

“Well, you know! You just have the vibes of being the hidden mastermind! I wouldn’t even be surprised if you were secretly a demon in real life or something!”

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Both Jessica and Cody paused at that. A demon? Was Sarah hinting at something? After all, Jessica had dropped off the letter just the other day. Did Sarah know the magical girls? Had they told her?

…

Nah, probably not. She was overthinking it.

Just like in the play, she dipped her head and chuckled. “So… you finally figured it out,” she said in a low voice whilst locking eyes with Sarah.

Sarah flinched at that.

Jessica strode over to her, an evil grin planted on her face. “That’s right! It was me! I’m the demon lord himself!”

“What?!” Both Sarah and Erika widened their eyes.

Nicole on the other hand… “Oooh… that was in the play, wasn’t it? That exact line. Except for the demon lord thing.”

“... huh?” The other two girls blankly stared.

“Yup!” Jessica gave her a thumbs up. “What’s up with you two? Don’t tell me you actually believed it for a second?”

“What? No way! Not at all!” Erika denied.

“Ehh… Like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if you really were a demon…” Sarah admitted.

Jessica made a mental note of Sarah’s reaction. Maybe she did know something, but Jessica wasn’t about to drag her into the whole demon business. It would be too dangerous for a normal human.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun with it in the meantime though.

“Okay, okay. Don’t worry Sarah. Once I topple the demon lord and replace him, I’ll make sure you’ll be the first to be informed!” Jessica gave her a bright smile and a thumbs up.

Sarah laughed along with her friends even though part of her felt like Jessica might not have been joking.

“But anyway, what surprised me about the play the most was the coupling of you two of all people. Aren’t you both gay?”

“Yup,” Jessica and Cody said simultaneously.

“That’s pro actors for you…” Nicole whispered.

“Eh, I just imagine Erika instead of Cody and it’s simple.” Jessica waved her hand.

“Wha–”

“Yeah, me too. Well… not Erika, but you know what I mean,” Cody added.

Everyone laughed except for Erika. She just pouted, trying not to show the embarrassment on her face.

“Also, we’re co-workers at that place I told you about, so we know each other pretty well,” Jessica added.

“Huh? Really?”

“Actually, she’s technically my boss. She got promoted a while back,” Cody corrected.

“Wait, seriously? You really got that promotion?”

“Yep! Moving up in the world!” She once again put an arm around Cody’s shoulders. “Say hello to my loyal minion number one!”

“Hey, I told you not to call me a minion!” Cody said without any heat in his voice.

Some more giggles came from the girls… except for Sarah who eyed Jessica with a hint of uncertainty. Jessica, naturally, noticed that, which only confirmed her suspicions.

“So anyway… the school is gonna end soon. Any plans for the summer?” Erika asked.

“Well…” Jessica paused for a second. “Probably just work,” Jessica said with a shrug.

“Yeah, we got a bunch of big projects in the works. There’s a lot to be done and not having to worry about school will help,” Cody added.

“Yup. What he said.”

Erika felt a pang of guilt. She knew that Jessica always went abroad with her family every summer. But with her being alone now…

“Hey… don’t you think it’s a waste? To work through the whole summer? Don’t you wanna go to the pool or something?”

The two locked eyes for a second. Erika’s pleading, Jessica’s determined for some reason.

“I mean… are you inviting me?”

“Um, yeah. Why not?”

Jessica grinned. “Sounds good!” She chuckled. “My evil plan of having Erika invite me to a date worked!” She raised her hand and Cody high-fived it.

“Wha– Wait what?! Stop calling it a date every time!”

Jessica just laughed.

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