After wandering around the estate for the entire day, Elena returned to her bedroom that evening. She took out the pen and paper she always carried with her and headed to the study to work on her 'Justice Judge' script.
The study was spacious, with walls lined with mahogany bookshelves filled with a dazzling array of books. In the center of the room stood a large mahogany desk, and above it hung a chandelier casting a soft, warm glow. Scattered books lay messily across the desktop—likely someone had been reading and hadn't returned them to the shelf. The room was filled with a unique scent of old books, mingled with the floral fragrance of cornflowers arranged on the desk—an oddly pleasant aroma.
Elena found a clear spot on the desk, set down her writing board, and began outlining her script.
Detective fiction, as a literary genre, had evolved through history into various subgenres—deductive, orthodox, unorthodox, social... However, in modern times, it broadly fell into two categories. One focused on physical evidence at crime scenes, unraveling the truth through decoding the criminal's trickery—this could be termed 'forensic deduction'. Most widely acclaimed detective stories, like the well-known 'Little Death God Detective', belonged to this type.
The other category emphasized deep insight into human nature, analyzing criminal behavior and motivation to uncover the truth—essentially, 'criminal psychology'.
Since this script was meant for Elizabeth and Janet, Elena naturally chose the former as the main detective method. The first step was to determine the victim.
Given that a single room would serve as the scene for gathering clues, it was clear that the victim would be a noblewoman, murdered in her own room.
As for the murder weapon—if it were improvised, that would suggest a crime of passion. After all, who knows what can be found in a victim's room? Even if someone did know, how could they be sure it would still be there during the crime? In contrast, a premeditated murder usually involved a weapon prepared in advance, which could serve as a crucial clue for the detective. Wanting a more intricately structured plot, Elena naturally opted for premeditated murder.
Next was determining the suspects. Elena thought three suspects would be ideal—two could be ruled out, and four would feel too messy. As for motives, crimes of passion, revenge, and greed were the most common. Considering that revenge would involve too many plot threads, she temporarily ruled it out.
With a victim, suspects, and motives in place, the basic framework of the case was ready.
Elena made rapid progress. Within a few days, she not only completed the script but also carefully arranged the scene and had the servants memorize their lines. She didn't require them to recite verbatim—so long as key information was conveyed accurately. After two rehearsals, she was satisfied and invited the eager Elizabeth and Janet, along with her older cousin Simon Campbell, who came to watch the fun, and the idle Ms. Susan, to participate.
"What are all of you gathered here for?" Simon approached curiously. "Is this that detective game you mentioned before, Liz?"
Seeing Simon, Elizabeth grew uneasy. She worried that having her brother around would add pressure during the game, and feared that if she made a mistake, he'd mock her without mercy. She tried to get rid of him. "Why are you here? Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Not at all. I'm pretty free today," Simon replied with a grin, determined to see how the show would unfold.
Elizabeth huffed in displeasure but didn't insist on driving him away.
Elena smiled and said to Elizabeth and Janet, "You may begin your investigation."
The guest room had already been transformed into a mock crime scene. On one side of the room stood a bed with half-drawn curtains. A long-haired doll lay beside the bed, a delicate dagger stabbed into its chest.
Elizabeth gasped the moment she stepped in. "So 'this' is where the doll I didn't want ended up."
Janet, full of curiosity, immediately began inspecting the doll, flipping it back and forth. The dagger, of course, was a carefully crafted prop—blunt-edged and specially provided by Elena's grandfather.
"Hmm, looks like she was stabbed to death with this dagger," Janet concluded, sounding quite professional.
Elena stood silently at the doorway, smiling at them.
"Oh, this wall clock seems broken. Was it knocked over during a struggle?" Elizabeth picked up a clock with a "Broken" label attached to it. The hands were frozen at 9 o'clock. "Hahaha, why did you even put a label on it that says 'Broken'?"
Well, they couldn't very well smash a real clock.
After rummaging through the room for a while, even Simon got involved in the clue-hunting. Soon, they found a promissory note in the drawer. It stated that Anna had lent the maid a staggering sum of 10,000 pounds.
Simon stared at the note in disbelief. "Did Anna have some kind of leverage over the maid? Ten thousand pounds is enough for a dowry."
"The repayment date was yesterday," Janet noted with sharp eyes. "Which means if the doll is Anna, then the maid no longer has to pay her back?"
"Hmm, killing to avoid repaying a debt sounds like a pretty solid motive." Simon nodded in agreement.
Next, they found a torn-up drawing on the desk. It depicted a man and a woman labeled "Anna" and "Fiancé."
"You didn't even bother giving the fiancé a proper name," Simon said, shaking his head.
"The drawing was torn—so their relationship must've soured, right?" Elizabeth concluded.
Simon chuckled, "Sometimes that little brain of yours actually works."
Meanwhile, Janet found a diary filled with jealous musings and mentions of someone being madly in love, though no specific names were given. The entry was signed by "Cousin."
"What a jealous woman," Elizabeth frowned. "But she only just arrived a few days ago. The diary was written last week, and she only came to stay at the manor recently."
They also found a small sapphire and a dainty earring but no other clues. So, they proceeded to phase two—calling in the suspects and witnesses.
"Let's start with the witnesses," Janet said, summoning the butler. The butler, playing his role, sighed dramatically, "Miss Anna was the heiress of this manor. Who knows what will happen to the estate now that she's gone?"
Elizabeth asked where he was at 9 o'clock the previous night.
The butler recalled, "Last night, I was delivering late-night snacks. Around nine, another guest ordered something, but the kitchen made too much, so I went around knocking on guests' doors to see if anyone wanted the extra food. That's when I noticed the fiancé and the cousin weren't in their rooms." He paused as he tried to recall the details. "As for the maid, I saw her hurriedly leaving the hallway."
"Do you recognize this earring?" Elizabeth showed the earring.
The butler nodded, "It belongs to the maid. She was still wearing it at dinner yesterday. I think she put it away afterward."
Suspicion against the maid suddenly soared, and Elizabeth and Janet were thrilled. But Simon wasn't convinced it was that simple.
"When exactly did this happen?" Simon pressed.
"After nine. Our garden's clock tower chimes every half hour," the butler replied with a chuckle. "But yesterday, it was broken—it only rang on the hour. When it chimes, the whole manor can hear it."
"I see," Janet mused. "If the maid panicked after accidentally hurting someone, she might've stayed in the room for a long time."
They decided to call in the maid for questioning.
"I didn't kill anyone!" Jones, the actress playing the maid, shook her hands frantically.
"Then what were you doing at 9 o'clock?" Elizabeth asked bluntly.
"I was in my own room," the maid answered nervously, her voice trembling.
"Objection!" Simon suddenly mimicked his lawyer brother's catchphrase. "The butler clearly said he saw you rushing out of the victim's room around that time!"
The maid's eyes widened. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "I did pass by Anna's room, yes. I knocked, but there was no response, so I didn't go in."
"Then how do you explain this earring?" Janet showed the earring again, eyes sharp. "The butler said it's yours, and we found it in Anna's room!"
The maid's face changed, but she still insisted, "Maybe I lost it while cleaning. I noticed it missing a while ago."
"Liar!" Elizabeth said angrily. "The butler said you were still wearing it at dinner yesterday!"
The maid fell silent. She sighed and finally confessed, "Yes, I did go into the mistress's room last night, but she was already dead when I found her."
The three exchanged glances—despite being cornered, the maid still refused to admit guilt.
Elizabeth crossed her arms and pulled a folded note from her pocket. In a cold voice, she said, "Then explain this. Why did Anna lend you so much money? Were you planning to kill her over this debt?" Her gaze locked onto the maid, awaiting her reply.
Jones glanced at Elena, who gave a nod of approval. She slumped her shoulders and began to explain, "The mistress discovered her fiancé and cousin being intimate in the garden. She came to me, asking me to investigate, and gave me a large sum to help pay for my father's medical expenses. During my investigation, I found evidence confirming their affair. But the mistress didn't believe me—she thought I was sowing discord. She kept pressuring me to repay the loan."
She sighed again. "That night around nine, I knocked on her door to talk about the debt. No one answered. I thought she wasn't there, so I entered to find the note. But when I walked in, I saw her already dead. I panicked and tried to find the note quickly. But then I heard the butler's footsteps and had to flee."
"What was the evidence?" Janet asked.
"A diary," the maid said timidly. "The cousin's diary. It mentioned her and the fiancé."
Elizabeth quickly pulled out the diary they'd found earlier. After Jones confirmed it, she nodded—so the diary's "hot romance" had actually referred to Anna's fiancé. But since no names were mentioned, Anna had her doubts and wasn't fully convinced.
Anna's suspicion was partly cleared—but not entirely. Elizabeth and Janet exchanged a glance and decided it was time to call in the "cousin."