Midnight Murders (A Mansion Murder CielxOC, Book 2) ~{COMPLETED}~

Chapter 12

12~ That Lady, Case Closed

It was quiet in the dark, the silence almost deafening, with nothing but thoughts to occupy our time I lay beside Ciel. Jeremy and Christine's words echoed throughout my mind as we waited with baited breath. Stay quiet, do not utter a sound, do not move under any circumstances or you both risk alerting the culprit. I remembered well but the silence was too much to bear. I shifted slightly, Ciel noticed and grasped my hand. My hair fanned out like a dark halo as I lay still, trying to focus on the task at hand.

I felt the warmth of Ciel's hand in my own as I was pulled farther and farther into the darkness of my mind. I opened them once more, but instead of the darkness I saw Grecian fire and the familiar figure of Athena. I dipped my head in greeting before risking a glance.

"Lift your head child, I am not here to warn you of danger. Come closer and sit, calm yourself and we will speak." I moved closer to the goddess, she held out a hand and gestured for me to take a seat in the chair opposite hers. "You have done well Siren, I know this situation was not the most ideal, but you overcame it."

"But my lady surely you are mistaken? I have done nothing for the situation, I have proven nothing other than the fact that I am still as vulnerable as when you first granted me your blessing, the darkness is still an imminent threat to me and now those I care for..."

"My child do you honestly believe you have learned nothing from this? " I held my head in my hands and stayed silent, "You are incredibly bright my child, your plans have helped Ciel more than you can understand at this moment and just because you did not have a direct hand in the overall solving of this case that does not mean you are any less deserving of this gift..."

I looked up to see light envelop me, "I don't understand..."

"You will in time, if i told you everything you wanted to know then you would never learn. The trials will get more difficult than you can imagine, but I have faith you will succeed. You are very bright Siren, and you have chosen an intelligent mind to be with. You have my blessing, now go..."

When I opened my eyes once more I looked over to see Ciel's questioning gaze, before I could answer there was a knock on the door. I sat up and turned to the door, Ciel gripped my hand while the others guests and our servants tensed. 

"Pardon the intrusion, the culprit in now in custody," Tanaka opened the door further to allow Grey and Arthur through. Christine met my gaze as she entered with a wink.

"Yeah they got the guy alright..." Grey sounded disappointed, like a child denied a toy. At the sound of hissing and shocked gasps from the other guests I turned my attention to Jeremy. Writhing in his hands was a large snake.

"Allow me to introduce our killer," Jeremy held the snake tied in a knot like a sort of prize.

"A snake!?" Ciel exclaimed beside me. Arthur entered the room next followed by Ran-Mao, a serious look on his face.

"I know it seems hard to believe but it truly did attempt to kill the young lady when she was dressed in the Earl's clothes."

"The Black Mamba, a highly venomous snake native to Southern Africa. The true killer  trained it by scent in order to kill the Earl." The snake hissed once more and Christine spoke up from her spot in the room.

"Even so in the end a snake is still a snake," Her voice was grim, "While it was able to track the Earl's sent to his bed, there was no way for it to know if the person it killed was the Earl."

Arthur scribbled in his notebook, "Fascinating! That would indicate that the killer was unaware that the Earl was sleeping elsewhere!" Christine nodded in confirmation.

"So it went to my room and Patrick Phelps paid the price..." Ciel muttered removing the large overcoat he wore from his head.

"A high price indeed," I nodded.

"The effects of long training are not easily cast aside, that is why I set up the trap, knowing that it would come back." Jeremy placed the snake in an empty urn for safe keeping, "My thanks to the lady.  The rest of us aside from Lady Sin would have been too large to play the role."

"Indeed, we would never endanger Lord Phantomhive's betrothed," Christine spoke in an almost sarcastic tone.

Ran-Mao was shifting in Ciel's jacket muttering softly to herself, "Tight clothes."

"Furthermore, I doubt the young Earl could dodge a snake." Jeremy's comment seemed to irk Ciel quite a bit.

"Tis true, the little Earl's demise would have been most inconvenient for us, right Ran-Mao?" Lau also spoke in his carefree way as Ran-Mao approached the both of us.

"I'm glad you're not dead." her voice was soft but monotone when she spoke. She leaned forward and hugged Ciel right to her chest, making him blush.

I moved forward to quickly push her off, "I advise you not to touch what isn't yours..." I pulled of the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. She accepted it without complaint and I nodded once in gratitude.

Ciel cleared his throat softly, still blushing, "Am I right then to assume you placed me in my butler's coat in order to mask my scent?"

"It was the perfect size to cover that tiny body of yours."

Ciel grimaced at Jeremy, "You always say one word too much..."

"What I still don't understand is why I had to undress as well!?" I shifted my irritated gaze to Christine who was laughing a bit nervously.

"Sweetheart, we couldn't be sure if you would be safe from the attack since you are so close with the Earl here, your scents could have mixed to the point where you would have been killed instead," Christine patted me on the head as she explained, "Besides you are just adorable dressed like that!" she gestured to the long cloak i had borrowed from Veronica's wardrobe.

"It is illegal to transport poisonous snakes on trading ships," Arthur explained, "I was a doctor part time on a boat that sailed the African sea course part time, the luggage was always checked thoroughly."

"That would mean it was smuggled in..." Lau put his hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose, Ran-Mau close to his side, "Bribing a privately managed ship would be the easiest way."

"You would need close connections with an African business..." Ciel tilted his head almost like he was bored.

"If that's the case, the imported goods would be gold or dia..." Arthur trailed off at the word. All eyes were on Mr. Woodley now. His face showed panic as he rushed to deny the unspoken accusation.

I rolled my eyes as Woodly tried to place the suspicion onto Lau, the tactic was desperate and left him defenseless. He is acting like cornered prey lashing out, but I knew better. Jeremy proceeded to explain the elaborate answer to the mystery, shock followed as Woodley was held at sword point after the discovery of glass vials in his fireplace. His sniveling cries were annoying but after he was chained and taken away everyone had calmed down. In celebration we had a drink and all was joyous once more.

I stood by the window, the clouds were finally clearing and the rain gave way for the moon, "We will talk after this is done..." I glanced up to meet the eyes of Christine. She nodded once and we continued in the mini celebration.