"What sort of bad reputations are we talking about?" Merasi asked with a curious look.
"Random bouts of anger and disdain towards commoners. Highly competitive nature even around things that didn't need competition."
"If a shop were doing rather well and he didn't own the shop, he would either buy the shop from the owner or try to create one of his own that did the exact same thing."
"If that didn't work, he would use his influence to slowly drive customers away from those shops."
"And there's of course the unlikeable personality where he thinks himself above all. There are rumors that he has beaten people, but since he is a marquees, no one really dares make claims against him directly," Alekor said.
Ning was quite surprised. It hadn't even been half an hour since they had arrived in this city, and Alekor had already gathered so much information.
"So, considering all that, the citizens are rather elated that the Marquees is suffering right now," Alekor said.
"Geez, that's quite bad," Ning said softly. "Did the dead son have a similar reputation too?"
"Umm, not really. People are talking more about the marquees than the dead son surprisingly. They really hate the marquees," Alekor said.
"So, he's morally and ethically a bad guy, but there's nothing legally wrong that he's done, right?" Merasi asked.
"Well, he might've but, as of yet we have no evidence," Alekor said.
"Do you guys believe that this was an act of vengeance from someone who was wronged by the Marquees?" Chanam asked.
"That's my theory at least," Merasi said.
"Well, it's not a completely baseless theory," Gassu said, thinking to himself.
Ning nodded to himself and turned around to look at the green rug again. If not for this rug, they would've never gone anywhere.
He had—
"Hmm," Ning squinted his eyes and suddenly his vision magnified. He got closer to the rug and picked up something.
A long strand of hair, around 40 centimeters long was stuck on the rug.
"A woman's hair!" Ning said with a surprised voice. He brought the hair to the sun and saw the reddish light shine through it.
"A red-haired woman," Merasi said with surprise. She turned around to the two detectives and asked, "Was there any mention of the young lord having a wife?"
The two detectives shook their heads.
"Ugh, girlfriend? Mistress? Anyone?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Gassu said. "We can go back and ask. This might also be a maid's hair."
Merasi nodded. "Alekor, go out and listen for any information about the young lord's affairs," she said.
"Yes, captain!" Alekor turned around and flew back towards the sky, and soon disappeared as a veil of light wrapped around him.
"Let's go back and ask some more questions," Merasi said and they all went back inside.
Gassu went to find a woman in the house with a head full of red hair. Chanam went back to the crime scene to see if he could find anything else he might have missed.
Merasi and Ning went to question Callum in the lounge area.
"Tell us, did your son have any woman in his life?" Merasi asked.
"No," Callum said. "Maybe, He would go to fuck some whores from time to time, but he wouldn't dare bring home any women here. He and Marquees Sun's daughter have been engaged ever since they were little."
"Well, your son did bring some woman home, or at least her hair, seeing as there is no maid in your house with red hair," Merasi said.
Callum grumbled but said nothing.
"Do you know where your son was yesterday?" she asked.
Callum shook his head. "He went out during the day and came back in the evening. I do not know what he did during that time," he said.
Merasi nodded. She would now have to go and look for—
"Captain," Ning called Merasi, who turned to look at him and saw a weird look on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked before turning and her eyes narrowed too.
In the hallway stood a young woman in her 20s. She wore a flowery dress with a sun hat and had her hands behind her, grabbed by a single of Mercy's hands.
"Mercy? Where'd you find her?" Merasi asked in surprise.
"Outside," Mercy said simply. "Alekor met me along the way and told me that he was going to look for more information as well as a woman with red hair."
"When I came to the manor, I saw her fidgeting outside, going back and forth, so I caught her and brought her here. For some reason, she isn't struggling at all, so she might be the one you're looking for, right?" Mercy asked.
Not struggling. That was certainly an admission of guilt. But why the guilt?
"What's your name, girl?" Merasi asked.
"Reena," the girl said.
"Your full name," Merasi asked.
The girl's eyes changed and she glared at Merasi. No, she glared behind her, at Callum.
"Reena Gafter. Daughter of Damian Gafter," She said with hatred in her voice.
Ning didn't have to turn around to see that Callum's face had gone dark. Was that anger… or fear?
"Did you know the late young lord Higen?" Merasi asked, looking at the red-haired girl.
The girl nodded, not a speck of the hatred in her eyes lost as of yet.
"How did you know him?" Merasi asked.
"We were in a relationship," the girl said, tears welling up in her eyes..
"Lies. There is no way—"
With a single glare from Merasi, Callum stopped speaking.
"Were you in his room last night?" Merasi asked.
Reena nodded. "I was there from late-night till midnight," she said, not caring to hide anything. Callum's eyes went wide as the fear of what was happening dawned on him.
"Were you the one who killed him?" Merasi asked.
"Yes," Reena said.
"Oh," Merasi was a little surprised at the forwardness of the girl. "Care to explain how you did it?"
Reena nodded and started explaining.
