I'm tired. There's no way I could have slept on the cold floor, especially with them talking the entire night. They didn't even say anything meaningful for the investigation; it was just a long talk between lovers. Fortunately, I managed to slip out once they left this morning for breakfast, which, at least, was early. I really want to sleep right now, but I want to take this opportunity, as they are having breakfast, to check what's in Ethan's wardrobe. I walk to his room, and with a hairpin, I try to unlock it, but I notice it's no longer locked. Did Ethan open it and forget to lock it back? At any rate, I open it, and there's nothing except for some clothes, as expected. If he opened it, then it means that whatever was here, he already took it with him.
Nevertheless, I want to subject Ethan to a final test. I look for the butler.
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"Lady Nathae. How is the investigation progressing?""It could be better. I need you to force Ethan to do the inventory of everything.""The inventory?""Yes. It's fundamental. Also, I need to talk to a maid. It's four rooms to the right from Ethan's one.""Understood. I'll tell her you wish to speak with her. Her name is Emma. And I'll tell Ethan about the inventory. I hope we can conclude the investigation with these.""I believe so. Thank you." Unless something goes wrong, there is a good chance I'll be able to solve the case once I check these two things."If you would excuse me, then."
Now Ethan will have to write several times. If he is ambidextrous, there'll be a single time where he will use the other hand. I initially thought that he might be ambidextrous, but he still mainly uses his left hand, meaning when he closed the door with the right one, it was just an exception. With this test, I'll be sure of it. Even if he tends to use one hand more than the other, there will be an instance, either casually or because his left hand starts to tire down, where he uses his right hand.
Firstly, I speak with Emma, she is walking to me. I'll try to use a stupid trick from Patea."Emma, right? I need to ask you a few questions.""Of course, Lady Nathae.""Favorite animal?""...Cat." She clearly didn't expect this question."Favorite color?""...Light blue. But w—""Any hobby?""...Reading.""Ethan is right- or left-handed?""Right-handed...""I see. This'll do. Thanks for your time."She is confused but bows and leaves without complaining.
Now, what was the point in what I did? While I wasn't sure, I anticipated Emma might be involved in the homicide. It was just a guess—no, more precisely, a precaution. Assuming Ethan is ambidextrous and decided to do some trick involving showing everyone he is left-handed in order to avoid being suspected, there was a good chance she was aware of it, given they have a relationship. And like he did yesterday night, he used his right hand in front of her. This trick I used, while stupid on the surface, is useful. Let's say she was involved—she would expect questions about the murder and be mentally prepared to answer them, trying to avoid giving me useful information. What would happen when someone with such a mentality is asked their favorite animal? The reaction would be one of confusion: 'Why is my opponent asking such unrelated questions?' — 'Shouldn't she try to interrogate me?' It also switches the focus from 'I have to be careful answering' to 'Why is she asking me these questions?' subconsciously. So the mind would start to look for an answer for that and stop focusing entirely on lying. And when the real question is asked—in this case, if Ethan is left- or right-handed—either the mind needs a bit of time to regain the original focus, which is noticeable, or it will just answer and not lie, realizing it too late. It basically just creates confusion and helps spot lies. Emma wasn't even trying to lie, but I didn't know if she was involved or not, so I needed to be careful.
That said, the information that from her perception Ethan is right-handed is extremely useful. Why would someone who works with him daily think he is left-handed, while someone he has a relationship with thinks he is right-handed? All I need to do is spy on Ethan doing the inventory, and after, this case will be solved.
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I followed Ethan for hours. He used exclusively his left hand—even when it was visibly tired, he didn't switch. At this point, there's no way he is ambidextrous, and I finally solved this case: who killed Randolph, how, and why. Why Ethan steals bread and takes it to his room. Why people have different perspectives about Ethan's dominant hand. Why that wardrobe was locked and left unlocked this morning.
I call the wife, Ethan, Emma, and the butler.
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"I finally solved this case, and I guarantee that none of you is the killer.""Then who is it?" asks Jennie."Ethan, since you are involved and know the culprit, why don't you tell us yourself?""I-... I have no idea what you are talking about!""Then why did you raise your tone? In any case, let me explain everything. Why was Ethan stealing bread from the dining room during meals? If you think about it, it doesn't make sense he does this to eat it himself in his room, does it? He just ate a full meal; he shouldn't be that hungry and desperate to break the rules. The answer is: to bring it to someone who doesn't have access to meals like everyone else—Ethan's twin brother. Second clue: Ethan is left-handed, yet Emma believes he is right-handed, since he acts like that in front of her. But that's not Ethan; it's his brother. I don't blame him. He had to stay hidden for an entire year or more. I assume he started to like you and decided to pass himself off as Ethan to avoid any problem, even if it meant lying to you.""...What?" A small tear flows down Emma's cheek, and Ethan can't look at her."Yes, I'm sorry to be the one to break it down to you."She freezes for a moment and then decides to jog away."At any rate, the homicide played out this way: Ethan had dinner with the other servants until 21:30. He stole some bread and returned to his room to bring it to his brother, despite the fact he was scheduled for chores. Lord Randolph noticed he wasn't around, so he looked for him and therefore went to his room, just to find two people there. And since they were found out, they had to kill him. Somehow Lord Randolph ends up on the floor hitting his head on the desk, and Ethan's brother, right-handed, strangled him to death. At 21:43, he stops breathing. They hear someone approaching, and therefore they decide that the brother would hide in the wardrobe, which, in fact, was locked. I found it unlocked only this morning, after the brother went out to meet Emma, and Ethan instead decided to fake that he just found out the corpse.""You don't have proof for this!""Then it's not a problem for you if the police search the entire mansion, right? If they don't find anything, then I'm wrong. If they do, you'll both get arrested.""!...""I would like to pose a single question, though. How did your brother manage to stay hidden that long? And I'm not talking about how you managed to avoid people finding it out for a year or more—that's easy to do. I'm asking how he managed to endure it.""...We had no other choice. The world outside is even more dangerous... At least here we knew we could sleep and eat every day... It's granted, but in our past, we could go days without eating... We never knew... We tried to be hired together. There was space for only one, and Lord Randolph didn't want to negotiate, so we had to plan this out... I'm really sorry for deceiving anyone and for being responsible for Lord Randolph's death." He then bows. When he does, a hand collides with his face—it's Jennie's."How could you!?" She then pins him down and starts beating him, with tears flowing down her face. "Do you know how I feel?! I lost the love of my life! And the excuse is that you had a rough past?! I hope you'll burn in hell, you and your brother!"Then the butler tries to calm her down. I already asked him to contact the police—they'll be here at any moment. My job here is done, but..."Jennie... I'll have to arrest you too if you don't stop right away."She stops and looks up at me."I understand you, but it's still wrong. You can't kill him, and deep down you don't want to either." I offer her my hand.She then starts to sob and cry. The butler takes her away. There's only Ethan on the floor—he passed out, but he's still alive.
This story reminded me of how amazing Rhys is. Despite all the adversities she faced and still faces every day, she never had to kill anyone. I don't blame Ethan and his brother, but in the end, what they did is still wrong... In the same way, my will to kill Jack is wrong too... But I'm not strong enough to repress it... I'm scared that when the day comes... I won't be able to contain myself...