Second World-Novel

"Thank you," Jack replied. "Now, do you remember what time you arrived at this mansion two days ago?"

The Marquess seemed to be thinking for a moment, then answered, "around ten in the morning."

"Can you describe what you did starting from when you entered the mansion until when you were aware of the theft?"

"Well… When I arrived, the butler received me at the main entrance. He then took me to the guest room where I waited while he went and informed the duke. One of the maids brought me a wine to drink. I have been sitting in the guest room waiting until I heard the commotion. The butler came back and informed me that there had been an incident and asked me to remain seated for the moment. I waited there for quite a while before the guards showed up. Curious and tired of waiting, I followed the captain to meet the duke, that's when I heard about the theft."

"What time did the guards show up?"

"Almost noon, I think."

"The maid that brought you your wine, was it the old maid?"

"No, that's the head maid. She rarely did anything here, she just gave instructions to the two other younger maids. It was one of the young maids, I don't remember her name."

It should be the maid other than Joselyn then, Jack thought. Since Joselyn was detained by the duke at the time.

"Thank you for your time," Jack said. "I will come to find you again if I have any more questions."

"What? You are still planning for a next time? Are you kidding? Go find others if you want to ask questions, don't come to bother me!"

Jack's eyes twitched. Calm down, calm down, he told himself.

The next one that came in was the butler Winston. The guy sat down calmly opposite Jack. His calm demeanor displayed his high refinement training as deserved of someone his station, but Jack could not help but think that he saw an allusion of disdain in the butler's eyes.

"Can you describe to me the series of events in the morning two days ago leading to when you found out about the theft?" Jack began his interview.

"Certainly. I've started the day as usual. I oversaw all the chores of the maids, gardener, and cook to make sure that everything was fine. And everything was just the usual morning, with the exception of a visit from Lord Marquess Fernando."

"At what time was that? Do you remember?" Jack interrupted.

"I certainly do. It was at 9:48 AM when I heard the door knock. I answered the door and brought him to the guest hall. I instructed one of the maids to serve him with wine before I headed up to inform His Grace Duke Alfredo about the Marquess' visit. Afterward, I went back down to check on the Marquess briefly before I went to do my other chores. But I could soon see the barrier formation activated, hence I went to find the duke immediately and I was informed about the terrible theft. The Duke told me to inform the rest of the occupants to calm them down, and told me that the guards would come soon to handle the matter. I went and did as was told. The guards showed up around 11:45 AM. I then brought them to see the duke."

Jack scribed down important points as fast as possible, he was not a fast writer so this was not easy for him, but it would not look professional if he asked the guy to repeat his statement, would he? It's a good thing his intelligence stat had granted him a better memory compared to his real-life self, it allowed him to not miss any points that needed to be noted down.

"Did you go outside of the mansion at any time during the event you described before? Particularly to the area under the tower by the mansion's front fa?ade?"

The butler looked at Jack with astonishment, "why? What was under the tower?"

"Just answer the question, please."

"No, I stayed indoors the entire morning."

"Any other unusual thing you are aware of?" Jack asked again.

The butler lifted one of his eyebrows. "Define unusual," he said.

"Like probably, if you see a stranger around the mansion or something you don't see on any other days in this estate."

"If I saw those, I would have said it already, wouldn't I?"

Jack looked at the butler awkwardly, "all right, okay, thank you for your time."

A rather large man was next. His clothing consisted of a simple long shirt and long pants, with thick boots under his legs, and a pair of rubber gloves was hanging on his belt. Some dirt was spotted on his clothes. It was easy to surmise him as the sole gardener of the mansion. He also wore a straw hat which he took off when he sat down on the chair opposite Jack.

"Good day to you, sir. I am Matias," he greeted in a timid manner which was contrary to his body size.

"Good day to you as well," Jack replied.

"Am I in trouble, sir?" Matias asked. Jack realized now that his expression seemed to contain a bit of anxiety.

"Oh, no, no. No trouble, I'm just going to ask you a few questions. There's nothing to worry about," Jack tried to put the big guy at ease.

Matias nodded, but his expression did not ease up.

"I assume you are the gardener for this estate?" Jack started with his questions.

"That's right. I mostly tidied the main garden in front of the mansion. But on occasions, I tend to the other outdoor parts of the estate as well. I am also the resident carpenter, so I can fix up any wood furniture that got broken."

"Where are you in the morning two days ago?"

"Two days ago…" He looked up as if trying to remember, before he snapped back after recalling. "Ah, I remember! I was trimming the overgrown shrubberies by the side of the lake."

"Do you see the barrier formation coming up around the estate?"

"Huh? What's a barrier formation?"

"Um… The colorful light that appeared by the side of the estate."

"Oh, that. It's beautiful, it is."

"Yes, it is. When did you realize it? Were you still trimming the shrubberies by the lakeside?"

"Uh… not sure. I guess I still was…?"

Jack was speechless for a while. Were his statements even reliable?

"Did you remember when the castle guards came in?"

"Oh, them! Yes, I saw them coming in drove before I had my lunch break. After my lunch, I saw them again walking all over the estate. I was wondering what they were doing, but I was too scared to ask."

"When you saw them come in, before you have your lunch, were you still trimming the shrubberies?"

"Yes, I was."

"Okay, all right. Now, a few more questions, Mathias, bear with me. Did you work on or go anywhere near the bushes under the tower at the left side from the front of the mansion?"

"Do you mean the tower where Duke's workroom was at?"

"Yes, yes, that's the one!"

He looked up to try to recall something again, then said, "do you still mean two days ago? Then no."

"What about yesterday and today?"

"Uh, also no."

Then why did you ask if I meant two days ago? Jack had the urge to shout out, but instead, he took a deep breath. He then asked, "did you see anyone go near that shrub?"

"Uh, I think not."

"Did you see anything unusual during these two days?"

"How do you mean unusual?"

"Never mind, thank you for your time."

Then came the old woman in the maid dress. She still put on that irritated look. She was obviously not in the spirit of cooperation. She sat down and crossed her arms in front of her.

Before Jack could say anything, she spoke out first, "I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but you are wasting all our time here. We have many chores still to do, and now that Joselyn was unavailable, I cannot appoint Luciana to do it all. I assure you that the duke will not be happy if our tasks are unattended to. Now I would like you to just call off these meaningless meetings, and let the guards do the job. They are more than capable to handle such matter compared to a nameless charlatan like you."