That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Dispensable

'Finni was sayin' he felt like it was okay to trust this man—or something like that, but... this fella materialized outta thin air, and now, he's pullin' this whole high-'n'-mighty act... who is this clown?' Bard wondered, watching Jeremy with suspicion while he conversed with Arthur and Ciel.

"So it is to be Lord Siemens first, yes?" Jeremy asked them.

"I'm coming with yooou toooo!" Grey declared, volunteering himself.

"This way," Ciel said, leading them on.

"You don't have to look so openly hostile, Bard," Chêne told him as they watched them go. "He is here to help."

"So you say..." Bard said, frowning. He still didn't like the guy's attitude.

—^—^—^—

"The corpses of Siemens, Phelps, and Sebastian have each been set out in the order of their deaths within the rooms on this side of the hall," Ciel explained as he guided the others down the hall.

"Much obliged, my lord," Jeremy said as they entered the first room. He kneeled down beside Siemens' body and removed the sheet covering it. He began examining the body. "—Hmm. He has but one external injury, the wound to his chest. Stabbed once with a sharp blade, I would say." He paused when he picked up the German's handsome pocket watch. "This man was none too pleasant when he was drunk, was he?"

"What makes you say that?" Grey asked.

"Oh, it was quite clear the minute I saw this," Jeremy replied, holding up the pocket watch. "We have here a very expensive-looking pocket watch, but there are numerous scratches around the key wind. Only a terrible boor or a drunkard would do such a thing, don't you agree?" He sniffed the air. "And this pungent odor of alcohol is proof that he was drinking spirits of considerable strength right up till the moment of his death... Oh?"

"What is it?" Ciel asked.

"I detect an ever-so-slight scent of the sea..." Jeremy said, sniffing again.

"The sea?" Arthur asked. Grey narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Ah, Professor, would you happen to carry a handkerchief?" Jeremy asked.

"Ah! Yes," Arthur said, retrieving one from his pocket and handing it over. "Here you are." He was horrified when the vicar proceeded to shove his clean handkerchief into the dead man's mouth. "Hey, now just a—" He froze when Jeremy began sniffing the cloth. "Whaaaa...!?"

"... Hrm," Jeremy said, furrowing his brow slightly. He stood back up and promptly returned the used handkerchief to its owner. "Thank you so very much," he told Arthur.

"Eh...!?" Arthur gasped in disgust at the damp cloth placed in his hands. 'Ugh, how foul...'

"Now!" Jeremy said, wasting no time in moving on the next room. "Mister Phelps is next, I do believe?" They marched down the hall to the next room.

"The manner of his death alone differed from that of the other two," Arthur said while Jeremy kneeled down to have a look for himself. "I think it likely that he was injected with a poison via the puncture wounds on his neck... At the time of his death, the only entrance to the room was locked, creating a perfect locked room scenario."

"I see..." Jeremy said, examining the wounds on Phelps's neck. "May I take a look at the room in which he met his end?"

"Aah, let me show you," Arthur said. For that, they had to go upstairs.

—^—^—^—

"Vicar Jeremy's powers of observation are quite extraordinary, so he might notice something we missed in there," Arthur said to Ciel as they climbed the stairs with Grey.