Chapter 35: Chapter 35 – The deceased´s room

In a small town, like Redhill, there was hardly any crime. So it wasn´t surprising the only police station that existed had only two policemen; both low-ranking officers and no inspectors. In other words, accustomed as these uniformed individuals were to dealing with drunkards doing their thing on the streets, or arresting homeless people for a theft that wouldn´t even cover the cost of a hotel room, these people had never dealed with a murder case.

Although, despite not having that experience, it was clear they did put the effort to be efficient.

When they arrived, first thing they wanted to do was inspect the room and the deceased himself. They brought the village doctor with them to help, trying to clarify the cause of death with his assistance.

It wasn´t until the room and body had been thoroughly investigated that Mr. Patterson was removed from the room, with the help of a couple of servants, and the intention of sending his remains to the villa for further investigation. They should still contact a senior official in the process, whether it was a homicide inspector or a commissioner, to explain the event and perhaps so that he could see the body himself. Because it was so obvious it was a murder, that there was no doubt the police investigation would be followed by a trial... if they managed to catch the person responsible for this, of course.

It was already past ten in the morning when the officers began to call the masters one by one. The service had set up a separate room so that the police officers could chat with guests and patrons without being disturbed. While, from the living room, those who remained to speak with the police stayed nervous or outraged by this unfavorable treatment - since questioning them about how they had spent the night must be an atrocious attack on their individual freedom - until they too were called.

Although the agents took their time with both masters and servants like Weiss, who had more contact with the bosses, taking between fifteen or twenty minutes to speak with each one, with the rest of the service they took much less time. Since they had about a hundred people to question, they waited until the afternoon to do it.

Now that Oscar thought twice, it must have been somewhat awkward for Ramsey to welcome the same policemen to his table for lunch who had had the hard face minutes before treating of his guests like vulgar murderers. But, luckily, it wasn´t known in the service wing that there had been any fight in the dining room. No fountain broke in anyone's skull, nor did anyone go upset to his room because they didn't take his word for it.

As those who served the dishes later said, there was deathly silence for most of the evening, only interrupted by the hosts' attempts to make conversation. A conversation in which, by the way, only the officers, the doctor and from time to time a guest who did not usually open his mouth to say more than two lines participated. Either because they had nothing to contribute to stop this suffocating environment, or because they were still unable to speak because of the resentment they felt. In short, as if the fact that someone had died could have been foreseen by Ramsey, but he had not wanted to cancel the hunt despite it.

It was at two in the afternoon that the police began to question the servants, starting with those who worked cleaning the masters' rooms and ending with the youngest employees of the stable, who were the ones who had the least contact with the deceased.

As with servants, the interrogations were individual. But their duration was a maximum of about five minutes per person. Whether it was to streamline the process or because they really had nothing to extract from them, it happened quickly.

As for Oscar, when it was his turn, they asked him things like if he knew the deceased beforehand or if he had had any dealings with him during those two days. There, he didn't lie. He had never contacted Patterson before and, the few times he saw him interact with others, he found him to be cheerful. In the hunt the day before, the deceased had spent most of his time with old Ramsey and Mr. Lewis. And it was there, to be exact, that Oscar had the opportunity to observe him. Although of course, separated as they were by some distance, he couldn´t hear anything they had spoken.

The officers also wanted to know if Oscar had gotten up in the night, if he had felt anything. And, at this point, Oscar did allow himself to lie. He did it so naturally that no one doubted his words.

No, he was not going to confess he had gone to the kitchens and that, once there, he was almost attacked by an unknown shadow. It wasn't because wanting to play the hero, thinking he could solve this mess before the police even gathered clues to it. It is that he believed it was the wisest thing he could do: The intruder couldn´t betray him without first betraying himself. And, if Oscar said anything, he would become another of the suspects in that network. Besides, snitching so crudely would put him in the crosshairs of another murderer.

Looking where he looked, it was convenient for him to keep quiet, mantaining all his suspicions and conclusions to himself.

After sharing his terse and lacking answers with the officers, he was free to meet again with his colleagues from the service area. He alerted the next person who had been summoned by the cops, and then met with Mallory, whom he had found in a hallway while he was returning.

“Well, how was that?” He asked, after a brief greeting.

"What do you mean? If you're trying to ask about Madeleine or Mr. Seymour, I'll tell you they're fine. Just a little distraught by everything that's going on.”

"No, those two I know they're fine. Let them die or give them something for having to deal with so much stress... For that little they won´t fall”

"You're really still the way you were before moving into Lilac Hall," Mallory pointed out, grinning at a black humorous comment that might not have been appropriate. “I don't understand why Kenneth goes around saying you're trying to have an affair with Madeleine.”

"Kenneth would say anything that gave him the opportunity to put more weeds in any discussion, I wouldn´t take into account even twenty percent of what he says," Oscar advised her and then, returning to the previous topic, asked. “You say the masters are fine? I guess it must have been a shock to them. It´s not every day that someone dies within a few meters of where you´re sleeping.”

"To be honest, I think Madeleine is in a worse mood not because someone died under her roof, but because of Mr. Seymour's rejection."

“Rejection? And now what happened? They just got engaged yesterday, and today they want a divorce?”

"No, I don't think it's that bad. What happens is that not enough time should have passed for your employer to think things through, to mature the idea of ​​marriage, before Mr. Patterson happened. So now, in this period of insecurity in which there´s supposedly a murderer loose in the house, Madeleine wants to approach him for protection... A protection he cannot provide, because he´s still in the process of acceptance.”

"Come on, he's trying to get away from her and he can't. Plus, since Madeleine is pushy and dramatic, things can only get worse.”

"It's terrible, and you know what's the worst?" Seeing that Oscar couldn't or didn't show any sign of trying to guess, she continued. “That I am in the middle! Since Mr. Seymour refuses to have more contact than necessary with his fiancéé, it is I who must comfort her.”

‘Wasn't that your job in the first place?’ Oscar wanted to ask, but adding fuel to the fire was not a plan if he wanted to find out how the protagonists were doing.

"The first thing Madeleine did this morning, after I broke the news, was sent for her fiancéé. And yes, I went to that, but Mr. Seymour himself dispatched me claiming that he was busy, because he hadn´t been able to sleep well. He told me to let Madeleine cry if she wanted to, because that strengthens the character.”

"He was somewhat right," Oscar laughed, without specifying what he was referring to.

“I asked Lamb for an explanation, since he had just arrived when I knocked on the door and was preparing the clothes the young master would wear. And Lamb told me, and this was hours later, he had found your employer in the bathtub, in the bathroom on the first floor and half dressed.”

“Inside the bathtub?”

"I didn't understand it either, nor did Lamb explain it to me. But, knowing the bathtub lack of water and that Mr. Seymour's outfit when I saw him this morning was the same one he was wearing during dinner last night, I can deduce a couple of things.”

A couple of things that, of course, she wasn´t going to comment out loud. Mallory wasn't that intrusive. But, anyway, he wouldn´t have needed it for Oscar to imagine something too.

Since he left him on his bed, Patrick must have woken up and gone to the only bathroom on the whole floor, with who knows what murky intentions. Well, although it wasn´t so unusual for any of the guests to want to take a bath, nobody was in the habit of doing it at dawn.

"Look, I don't particularly care where your boss takes a nap," Mallory continued, "that's not my problem. But both you and Lamb should be doing something to get Mr. Seymour to react and have a serious talk with Madeleine about her relationship. It is not possible that that couple is always in the middle of a war!”

"They're getting married, doesn't that end the conflicts?"

“I almost preferred those two separate, but anyway… There they are. All I want is for them to clarify their feelings once and for all so that I can have some peace of mind. I can't spend my life acting as a messenger of peace between the two of them when they get angry only to find out, ten minutes later, they solved it by their own. And then discover that, two days later, they´re angry again”

“Change jobs”

“Like you?”

Mallory didn't know that Oscar was also working for the local newspaper - for that was something Oscar preferred to keep secret, as it could cause him problems if someone from Lilac Hall found out that he had another job outside of that property - so she must refer to his work at the Seymour house. Oscar, therefore, couldn´t answer that question in a satisfactory way in order to maintain his secrecy.

It seemed like no one in all Fairview was having a good time that day. No one, except for Kenneth, who just before teatime came running to Oscar, saying cheerfully and not caring about being overheard, that he had fresh news he thought would interest him.

By then Mallory had already left again, busy as she was in her task of not leaving Madeleine alone for a moment. And the service's interrogations were still far from over. Kenneth had already been talking to the officers, although he didn´t take the five minutes that had been imposed as a rule, but held the policemen with his bland gossip for more than half an hour. It wasn´t surprising, being so, that the process had been delayed to the point it was already rumored these men from the police station would end up spending the night in the mansion.

"I found the murder weapon!" Kenneth had exclaimed loudly, excited, as if he had just found a treasure that would make him a millionaire.

“Am I supposed to believe it?” Oscar asked, more to himself than to the other. “Though if I think about it again it's not that impossible”

"That... that's because you hold me in high regard! But no, wait, let me say it again: I know what was used to kill him! Because I really didn´t find it, I only saw the doctor put it in a bag and take it away when he left again to town. Oh, and I know it's the murder weapon because I heard the cops and a couple other people of the service talking about it.”

"I'll play along, then. What was it?”

"A letter opener! Can you imagine? What a simple thing the murderer was to use, it would have been much more elegant to go to the kitchen and use one of those knives for cutting ham”

That scenario Kenneth posed reminded him too much of a horror movie. Not because a larger knife was used to kill the victim but because, had the killer used such a thing, there would have been even more possibilities for Oscar to run into an armed individual during the night.

"They must have got him out of Mr. Ramsey's office," Kenneth went on, "because I don't think there's anywhere else in the house where there could be anything like that. Or well, maybe the lady also had one. Unless… What if someone sneaked in from outside the house with their own letter opener? That would explain the footprints in the garden!”

"Kenneth, the question I'm going to ask you may sound a bit strange, but have you ever thought about becoming a detective?"

"Do you think I have a talent for it?" When he asked this question, his eyes lit up, as if what he longed for most in life was to get an affirmative answer to that question.

"You´re talented, without a doubt."

Not for deductions, but for interrogating people. Oscar had even come to think that Kenneth was like the annoying character that always appears in a cliché detective novel. The one who does everything to clarify the mystery, even if the crime is nothing of his concern, but the shot backfires and he ends up murdered due to his lack of foresight.

“I'm excited! No one has ever told me that I have a talent for something!”

"Well, they should," Oscar insisted with extreme conviction: At first, it had seemed to him that Kenneth's side of always getting into other people's conversations was a nuisance, but now he saw a way to take advantage of it. “You might have the ability to solve a puzzle or two. I wonder why you didn't even think about trying to get into Mr. Patterson's room to investigate, just like the police did”

"Get in there? But we´re forbidden to do so, even though the officers have already finished with that room.”

"Don't worry, it was just a suggestion." Oscar smiled innocently, as if he wasn't really up to something. “I just thought: If he´s competent to find the murder weapon and therefore a trace of the criminal in such a short time, he may be able to solve the murder if he enters the room of the deceased! But you're right that it's risky, you could get into serious trouble with Weiss and the housekeeper if they find out.”

"Those people don't scare me! One because, as religious as she is, I'm sure she'd be willing to excommunicate me if she found out that I'm trying to break into the place where a person died in such a violent way (which I don't care because, come on, apart from the fact that I'm not religious, I don't work for the Ramseys either.) And the other because the police already have Weiss in their sights and... And surely he will soon lose all the authority he now has!”

"So quickly has he been booked as a prime suspect?"

"What did you expect? He´s the perfect suspect! He was the last to... Or well, so they say, because I got another theory. The thing is, he was the first one who entered that room during the morning, he could perfectly have taken a letter opener before going up to the guest rooms. And, taking advantage of a moment of weakness in which Mr. Patterson called him, to stab him!”

Oscar was sure the doctors would rule out that possibility after a brief check on the condition of the corpse, but he let Kenneth continue as if nothing happened:

"Now, as I was saying, it´s not certain that it was the butler. And, according to a partner of a friend of Sean, who also works here, Patterson was seeing someone. Not only that! The individual dressed up too much, as if he was trying to impress someone. I tried to ask the two or three servants he brought with him about this, because there are several of the servants who think that Mr. Patterson was dating someone, but I couldn´t get anything out of them. You understand? Nothing at all! That is, they did admit his boss was seeing someone, but they didn´t admit who. Although they were perceived as uncomfortable, so after pressing them a little I deduced it was one of Ramsey's guests”

"One of the guests, you say?"

"Well, it might as well be Ramsey's wife, but I don't know. The Patterson employees told me many times that he loves her, he´s a good man, that while he has had a few partners over the years, he was always honest with all of them. Not only that, he seems like a guy with no enemies. I can't imagine him courting his best friend's wife!”

"Good people don't show up with their throats slit in a mansion full of untouched jewels."

"But imagine it wasn't Patterson's thing, that it was one of the women who seduced him and then, unable to accept a rejection, she killed him!"

"And which of those women was it, according to you?"

"Mrs. Lewis, of course," Kenneth said quickly, as if he'd been waiting for that question. “She´s the quietest of all and also the one that has been seen the least, with I don't know what excuse that she is someone of delicate health who shouldn´t be exposed to the cold. She must have! Then she panicked and went to her room, without telling anyone.”

Oscar sighed upon hearing this. It was a lousy theory, not least due to the fact that at the time there was not a single piece of evidence that anyone other than Patterson himself had been in that room at dawn. But because all the doors of that wing could be closed from the inside. And the door to Patterson's room was open, ergo, even if someone had passed by, they wouldn´t have met the slightest resistance. It was possible the occupant of it had invited them to pass.

It could have been Mrs. Lewis, but it could have been anyone else too, come on.

"So," Oscar began, suddenly lazy to refute each of Kenneth's arguments, "what happened to your theory of the intruder who came from the outside with his own letter opener?"

Kenneth thought for a moment before concluding:

"Maybe I should take a look at Mr. Patterson's room. Maybe he got a clue or two about what actually happened...”

Oscar didn´t comment on that idea, dangerous as it was. After letting Kenneth think about it a bit more, he said as if the thing wasn´t with him:

"If you decide to do it, it would be a good idea to go now, while the masters have tea. I don't think anyone is heading upstairs. Also, the cops are still busy questioning people.”

"If I go, will you cover for me?"

"Obviously, I'd stay on the stairs to make sure no one comes."

That statement was like the last push Kenneth needed to encourage himself to fulfill his new mission of becoming the hero of his own role. So convinced was he of his own gifts, so happy was he that one of his most precious friends supported him in this odyssey, that he never stopped to think that from the stairs Oscar wouldn´t have time to run to warn him if something happened.

Although that, in truth, was irrelevant.

Oscar had been thinking, long before the crime was committed, that it was in his best interest to examine the crime scene to make sure it hadn't been the villain's fault. But that was a problem in itself, as crime scenes were well guarded and, even when no one was near them, there was always a chance they would be caught red-handed.

With his usual bad luck, that chance was tripled. And it wasn't worth the risk of entering a crime scene himself, no matter how hard he wanted to find out if his suspicions were true! Better to let Kenneth do the work for him, since he was so willing.

It was probably not very ethical of his part, but although Oscar was serious when he said he would be waiting for him on the stairs, he had no intention of warning him or standing up for him if anyone showed up. The way Oscar saw it, in life you had to make certain sacrifices in order to move on. And if that meant using others with less intelligence to achieve his purpose, let it be so.

So, fifteen minutes later, one of them entered a deserted corridor through which he was forbidden to wander, while the other remained on the landing of the service stairs, halfway between the two floors, ready to go down if he heard someone come up.

He had made certain recommendations to Kenneth, in a subtle way, about the things he should notice once inside the room. So he was calm, almost as if he himself were inspecting the room. And the thing is that Kenneth was so motivated that he hardly had to comment on any detail for him to look at the whole picture, inquiring even about what it was not necessary to know.

Not even five minutes had passed since Oscar had said goodbye to Kenneth when footsteps were heard on the stairs. And he proceeded, then, to fulfill the promise that he had made to himself. That is to say, the one to get out of there if someone appeared. But he hadn't gone down six steps when he stopped again, realizing that it was none other than Madeleine who was climbing.

"What are you doing standing there?" She asked as soon as she saw him.

"That´s what I should ask you."

The stairs where they were led to the guest wing, yes. But to that of the male guests; the women's rooms were accessed from the opposite side. That's for a start, because neither Madeleine nor any of the other guests should have had a reason to use anything other than the main staircase to reach their respective chambers.

"I…" Madeleine sighed sadly, as if she was doing her best to confess the cause of her misery to a good friend who was caring about her. “I guess you know about Patrick.”

"The thing that you've already managed to tie him up to a marriage he doesn't want or his indecent act in the bathroom?"

"Neither of those two things! I mean how bad he's been making me feel since last night, excusing himself from dinner without warning after the congratulations ended and refusing to visit me in my room before I sleep”. As if she had just realized something important, Madeleine inquired.  “What's that indecent act in the bathroom?”

"Nothing, nothing, better ask the people in charge of this floor about that, they´ll surely be able to explain it better than I can." Without letting her insist on that, he continued. “Regarding the marriage proposal, I was told that Patrick passed out right after you ‘received’ the ring. Don't you think it's normal that he doesn´t want to see you? I mean, discounting the fact that it must have been a very strong trauma to suddenly find out that he´ll have to take you as his wife, when one is sick to the point of fainting, the usual thing is that he wants to retire soon.”

"Well, more in my favor! I understand he preferred to leave the dining room, to be honest, I was also a bit overwhelmed by the fact that people were congratulating, insisting on toasting us, beginning to ask when the wedding would be, and talking about the suit I could wear ... " While she was saying this, Madeleine's smile widened, as if she were reliving a beautiful memory. “With so much attention, when I wanted to turn to look at Patrick, he had already left! And this was much later, after he passed out and regained consciousness. I mean, he left without saying good night! I had invited him to my room to rest with me, in my bed, for a little while. But he didn't even come! And when I got tired of waiting and went to his room, guess how I found it!”

You are reading story How to survive the worst novel ever written at novel35.com

"I can't imagine it."

"He was in his bed, snoring like a maniac, with a sheet covering him whole and in a mummy position! Do you think these are ways to spend one of the few nights that we have a chance to be alone, without being interrupted by anyone?! And don't laugh, this is serious!”

"Oh, sorry, I was wondering where you would have seen a mummy to find out what position they sleep in," Oscar said, although he was still laughing. “But let's forget it. Tell me, did you get to wake him up?”

"I tried, but it couldn't! I had to call him, hit him gently on the cheek... Then I got angry and pulled the covers, trying to move him, but I made him fall out of bed. And guess what? He didn´t even wake up! He curled up on the rug, as if it were still part of the cot, and continued snoring.”

By this point in the narrative, Oscar was already laughing out loud. His throat still hurt a little and he felt constipated, so that triggered a coughing fit that left him on the floor, struggling to breathe normally again.

“It's not funny!” Madeleine exclaimed reproachfully, unable to tell if he was doing it on purpose or if he was really wrong. “Stop pretending to die too!”

After a couple of minutes in which it seemed that he was going to throw out his organs through his mouth, he finally managed to calm himself and stand up, with the help of a wall that served him as support.

"What did you do after that? Did you leave him there?" He kept asking normally, as if the attack from a few seconds ago hadn't happened and he didn't expect Madeleine to even ask about his physical condition.

"I felt horrible for making him fall out of bed, you know! And I apologized for it but of course, since he was still asleep, he didn't hear me. I wanted to put him back on the bed, but there is no way someone my height and weight could lift someone with the bearing of Patrick Seymour. So I thought about asking for help... However, I had to discard that too because let's see, they would surely have asked me what he was doing in Patrick's room while he was unconscious on the floor!” Thinking there was something not quite correct in his speech, he rectified. “Or even if they didn't ask, they would have made their own assumptions. And that is much worse!”

"So you left it on the floor, as it was. Didn't you touch his clothes or do anything to him?”

"I'm not a pervert! Of course he wasn't going to abuse an unconscious man! I just unmade the bed a little, moved the pillows, and turned off the lights before I left. To make it look like he had fallen out of bed on his own account.”

‘This woman has a worse idea than I do, which is saying a lot’, Oscar thought, still amused by the whole situation. The protagonists should humiliate themselves more often.

“And now what? Don't tell me you sneaked up to properly apologize to Patrick. That, in regard to this, I believe that he´s with the other guests, in the living room.”

"He's playing pool with the Foleys and Mr. Lewis, that seems to take away the stress… But I didn't come for Patrick! Well, not for him directly." After a pause that she took to verify that no one had followed her, much less that someone, except Oscar, was listening, she suggested between murmurs. “I wasn't going to ask you, but since you're here, would you like to help me?”

"I don't know what you're going to ask me, but the answer is no."

"You see, I've been thinking," she continued, as if she hadn't heard, "and your idea of ​​the ring was excellent. Instead, you only provided me with the means to marry, I lacked the motive! But now I see it from a new perspective, from this morning, to be specific. I just have to show Patrick that someone as smart and capable as me is worth having by his side!”

“And you intend to prove that...”

"It's obvious, solving the crime before the police do."

"Ah… I want to go home now!" Oscar complained upon hearing this, as if no one was hearing him. “I feel sick, the food here is disgusting and people only come up to me to tell me miseries for which I didn´t ask.”

"Maybe you wouldn't have such a bad time if you did something on your part," Madeleine snapped, with all the sensitivity one would expect of her. “Now straighten up and stop growling; I was just going to Mr. Patterson's room to take a look. Why don't you just stay here waiting for me? You can go up and let me know in case someone comes.”

It was ironic that Madeleine's idea was the same one he ended up getting when he was arguing with Kenneth about the crime. And since there were already two idiots willing to stake their necks just to find out, why not let them?

"I don't think it's convenient for you to go," Oscar began. “Right now Kenneth, my co-worker, is in that room trying to solve the same case you were preparing to investigate. Why do you think I was standing here, if not? He was being a lookout! Although, evident as it is, I´ve only been able to tell you this because it´s you. I wouldn't have confessed to anyone else, at the risk of gossiping to Mr. Ramsey or any of the other masters”

"How is it that a mere servant is trying to solve something as important as the cause of the death of a man as illustrious as Mr. Patterson?"

Madeleine asked this question halfway between surprise and outrage, as if only a privileged few had the right to poke their noses into things that didn´t concern them. As if that crime scene had even been reserved for her.

“You see, he was excited and I couldn't tell him not to. Kenneth is so stubborn when he wants to...”

"Surely he won't be the one to make a single correct deduction if left alone!"

"It's possible, but what can I do? Someone had to stay to watch, and anyway, a pair of eyes to inspect a room is enough. Kenneth may not be very clever at connecting the dots, but I assure you that he´s quite thorough with the details. When it´s his turn to describe what he has seen, he´ll tell you even what you don´t need to know”

"Even so I don't know... You say he's to be trusted? Will he tell us everything he sees, without omitting anything?"

"Why don't you talk to him yourself?" Oscar asked this question for the simple reason he was already bored and didn't feel like getting even more involved with stupid questions. “I'll tell you what we can do: You wait for him here, go up only if you see someone coming. Be a lookout, like I was doing. Kenneth will be back in a matter of five or ten minutes at most, then you can talk to him all you want”

"What are you planning to do?" Madeleine asked, seeing that the other was already beginning to descend the steps. “Won't you stay?”

"I'll go watch the main staircase."

Although that was a lie, he actually went to the kitchens to see if they had any tea left over. He hadn´t had an appetite all day, he ate little but, in contrast, he had developed a certain fondness for inserting some liquid into his stomach. Hence the plan of going out for a hot drink was much more appealing than just waiting for these idiots to come to an end.

So there, sitting with his tea, he began to place bets with himself on how long it would have taken Madeleine to ignore him and run up the stairs to enter Patterson's room and scare Kenneth to death.

He wasn´t worried about someone catching them while they were there because, if necessary, they couldn´t drag him as an accomplice. He could deny he had anything to do with it, supported by the fact that he was nowhere near the other two while they committed the crime. And, if anyone were to suspect him, he could always conclude he regretted at the last moment and ignore all responsibility while pretending he was just a poor and timid gardener trying to survive, even without having clear the rules of the society in which he moved.

“May I?” Someone asked permission, referring to the seat next to him.

And Oscar nodded, without even stopping to think about it. As long as they weren't like the people he'd just dumped, he wasn't bothered by the company. He heard the chair slide, and when he looked up from his cup, he was dumbfounded to see Albert sitting next to him.

"They let you be here?" He asked, surprised.

The room next to the kitchens, which served as a dining room for the servants, was a restricted place even for the servants themselves during certain hours. The reason was so simple and understandable as if someone who wasn´t employed at the meals were in the place, it would hinder the work dynamics of the group. So if you wanted to spend time in the dining room, you had to be there when the tables were not being set or cleaning after lunch. And if the servants themselves weren´t to be idle in those parts, the guests would no longer be called.

"To tell the truth, I was recommended to leave," the villain pointed out. “But, after insisting a bit, they have not objected to letting me stay”

“I can imagine”

Although the custom was that no guests were allowed to enter that area, if they insisted there was no way to prevent them from wandering where they wanted. Oscar figured that whoever Albert spoke to shouldn't have resisted much.

"So," he continued, "what brings you here?"

"Before that, are you okay? You don't look good”

"It's nothing, surely others look worse, like for example…" Realizing that his black humor comments wouldn´t be appreciated by the worried-faced individual next to him, he redirected the conversation. “I might have caught a cold, but nothing major. This day without leaving the mansion has been perfect for me to regain strength”

"Have you talked to the doctor? He had to come to the mansion anyway, so while he was examining Mr. Patterson, maybe he could have given you some remedy” Perhaps realizing the doctor didn´t speak to the service, except for those few who asked him, and the guy probably didn't even know someone was sick under that roof, he added. “If this is not the case, we can still send a message to the village for him to return. I'd take care of it, if necessary.”

"No, no, I'm telling you it's not necessary."

Not that he had improved since the morning so as not to require care, but if the doctor returned at Albert's request just to attend to one of the employees, he would attract attention. And what Oscar most wanted was to go unnoticed! But what could you expect from someone who was known to be overprotective of his own sister?

"Look, I already had my tea and didn't go out in the cold. So I promise I won't die today, okay?”

Oscar thought that he had convinced him, because he didn´t insist that he see a doctor or get some medicine. He didn´t expect a hand to land on his forehead at all. Hand that he pushed aside after a few seconds, embarrassed: There were people passing by those rooms, from time to time, and they could see perfectly what was happening just by looking at them.

But why was the villain treating him like a child? That was the first thing Oscar wondered, thinking that no one had touched him that way for many years to make sure he maintained a suitable temperature.

"At least you don't have a fever," Albert said, relieved.

He didn't even look flustered, as if this action was the most normal between friends. So Oscar believed that he was imagining things that were not, cursing under his breath how exaggerated he had become since he was locked up in that novel.

"Told you, now you can rest easy and cancel my funeral arrangements. At least for another fifteen or twenty chapters I think I'll last.” Before Albert could ask what he meant by chapters, Oscar continued. “Oh right, Sean told me you were looking for me yesterday. Did you need me for something? I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but when they told me, it was too late”

"I had something important to tell you, yes. Something private. Hence, I was unable to discuss it with you when we met during the post-hunt social gathering. Now… thinking about it again, I think maybe it would be better if we talked about that once we got back to Snodland. So we can talk calmly and without fear of spectators”

Although those who passed through the dining room didn´t stop their work or dare to interrupt their conversation, it was clear they could hear the words or single phrases they managed to capture as they passed through the room. Albert, using his authority as another of Ramsey's guests, could close the dining room for as long as he was talking to Oscar, so that no one even had a chance to walk past them. But that would be inconsiderate - knowing that people didn´t pass by for fun - and the villain was too shy to dare to dispatch the staff like that, even more so knowing that he would then have to explain to the host if the work was disruptive.

"May I ask what caused such a change of mind? Since they told me you had come up to my room, I figured it would be something urgent”

"It was urgent at the time. I had been needing to ask you an important question for a while, but soon after I found out something that… Anyway! I no longer needed to ask you any questions. Not immediately, at least, because I tied the last remaining rope” After noting that perhaps he seemed to be wandering, getting to nothing in particular, he added quietly. “Either way, that wasn't the only reason. If I was in such a hurry to come see you, it was because I didn't get the impression that you were having a good time hunting and I wanted to verify that you were all right”

"Oh, I understand. I'm afraid my hunting skills are disappointing, I suppose you've seen that by now. And it might not serve as a defense to admit it, but I had never participated in such events before”

"But you've done your best, isn't that enough?"

“It is not! Surely they´ll lower my salary for each bird that I let escape. Thank goodness they didn't give me a rifle, because I haven't used one of those in my life. And, with my aim, I´d hit anyone except birds”

"Look on the positive side, if you´re so dangerous with a rifle, you could have taken the opportunity to threaten your employer with it and thus pay you what is fair for all your work," joked the villain. “I don't know what would happen next, but the hunt, I assure you, would have been interrupted that way”

"Why didn't I think about it before?" Oscar laughed. “I don't know why, but I thought you were going to scold me for acting so awkward all yesterday morning. And especially thinking that I was the one who invited you to come... It must have been an ordeal! In addition, it wasn´t the time to go for a walk in the mountains”

"But why should I scold you? You don't even work for me. How you do your job shouldn't be my business”

“It's true. That doesn´t console me, but it´s very true”

“During the hunt I also wanted to go over to see how you were, because you seemed down and I thought you might catch something, soaked as you were. But there were too many people around and some women from the village tried to drag me with them to the opposite side... So, I didn't find the time until hours later. I didn't insist too much during the little party Ramsey threw because, aside from the fact that you seemed to be busy as usual, I don't think it was in either of us to stop and chat in front of so many people. But looking at how you´re now, I think I should have tried to spend more time with you”

‘What is this? A murderer with a bad conscience for having left his victim unprotected…?’ Oscar wondered wryly. Not that he thought this guy wanted to kill him, but it was fun to compare the plot of the aforementioned that was presented in the original novel with the one that was now taking place.

"I think I've been thinking too much lately," Oscar said, quite rightly. “I'm sure all the misunderstandings and messes I get into are largely because of that.”

"Who knows, but I think crawling through the mud and catching a cold pays enough for whatever it is you've done."

"Do you think so? Because me too, although I bet the universe doesn't think alike!” After a pause in which he preferred not to continue talking about his dramas with the villain, fearing to tire him, he intervened. “Enough of talking about me. Tell me, how are you? It must have been quite a shock to learn that a man has died in a room in the same wing that you are staying in”

"And in the adjoining room, too."

“Seriously?”

“But I didn't hear anything abnormal during the night, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep and I woke up only once at dawn. Nothing particularly woke me up, I just thought I should go to the bathroom, and… ”Albert paused here, perhaps realizing he shouldn't explain what was coming next. “Well, I guess they already told you about your boss. When I arrived it was already like this, so I refrained from using the bathroom and went back to my room. I kept sleeping and didn't wake up until morning”

"Did you see Patrick Seymour in the bathtub and didn't say anything to anyone?" Oscar repeated, on the verge of another fit of laughter. “What sense of morality is that?”

"I had heard him meet one of the women earlier that night. And you know I don't like Miss Cornell, but even doing that to her seems a bit mean. So when I saw your boss there it was like: ‘I don't know what happened to him, but he probably deserves it.’ And I let it be” Seeing that the other could not stop laughing and, fearing that he had done wrong, he hastened to add. “But I checked he was breathing before I left, I wasn´t so reckless”

"It's okay, I would have done the same." Oscar must have thought at that moment that, since Albert had told him a secret that no one in that house should know, he could also make a confession about it. “By the way, I did manage to do something similar”

And he was going to proceed to recount all his adventures with Patrick, from when he picked him up, who knows in what state, until he left him half dead in his bed. Going through the questions he was now asking himself, well, if the guy had a date late night with someone other than Madeleine, why had he looked so depressed?

But he was just beginning to say that he had seen his boss leaving an office, when a door opened and Madeleine's annoying little voice reached his ears, interrupting for the second time one of his talks with Albert.

"Oscar, how bad you are! You said you'd wait for us on the stairs!” She reproached using the plural, since Kenneth was with her. “Is that what you sneaked out for? So you could meet with Mr. Northrop?”

Saying this, the villain stood up. His expression must not have been very good, because Kenneth immediately ran to Oscar's side, who also had to get up before such a sudden irruption, fearing that a catastrophe would occur there.

"Let there be peace," Kenneth asked, trying to act as a protective barrier against Oscar, keeping him away from the villain. “We can all speak calmly, surely things can be solved without the need for a duel!”

“Kenneth, I'm not in the mood for your nonsense” Oscar said this and tried to push him away without success, he didn't know if it was because of the disease that his strength had been drained, or because the damned of his partner was doing everything on his part so that he walked away from the wrong person.

"I just wanted to talk to Oscar for a moment," Madeleine explained, turning to Albert, "it's a matter of life and death! It doesn't even matter that he left when he shouldn't have, anyway I didn't comply with what was asked of me either” With a nervous giggle, she added. “We must both be similar, and that is why we cannot be still where we are told to”

"Is it going to be a private conversation?" Albert asked, now no doubt in a bad mood. “Because I would like to stay, even if I have nothing to contribute to it”

"I'm very sorry, but it is something that only concerns us. So, being very sorry, you will not be able to witness it”

“I see”

And, although he seemed to accept the terms, he didn´t move an inch from where he was. That must have exasperated Madeleine, because she soon said in frustration:

"If you don't want to leave, we'll go with Oscar, there's no problem with that."

Albert didn't answer, but looked at Oscar as he was pushed by Kenneth out of the dining room. Not that Oscar wanted to accompany Madeleine, but at that moment she had information he couldn´t get if he was on bad terms with her. That is why he allowed himself to be drawn, but not before turning to apologize to Albert, also assuring him that he would return as soon as he could.

And maybe his fever was rising, because when he left the room, having said that to the villain, he could swore he had noticed a tinge of disappointment on his face. So soon, he found himself wondering what the hell was happening so now the female protagonist and the villain were fighting to get his favor.

 

 

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