Day 2 - Nighttime - Night 

23rd Second autumn, 1152

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It's night already. It appears to be peaceful although it's really not. The investigation did not progress much as the investigators expected it to be. But at least, their efforts on the first day were well paid with new information.

Jeanne managed to collect more than 1,000 samples of fingerprints all by herself. The samples of 1,000 people were carefully collected. Right now, the fingerprint has little value in the case, but it can be useful someday.

Hannah had also managed to check on all the rooms of the missing people. The clues she collected appear to be more useful, it can be somewhat promising. 

That's why these two investigators are in the room. They sit firmly and quietly at the table, documents and files are scattered on both sides. This is the time for a discussion, to share each other information.

"So Hannah...", - Jeanne speaks up.  "what did you find so far?".

Hannah doesn't respond. The daughter instead, gives Jeanne a paper sheet with full of writings. That's about the brief report of what she discovered in investigating the rooms of the missing people. Since her mother demanded a report, she had to make it quick and detailed enough.

"If I have to start", - Hannah stops a little, she thinks about what to say.  "I checked all the rooms as you ordered, I followed regulations... I did skip some. But, I did try to keep the scene as intact as possible". - The girl stops again, thinking about the important parts.  "I only used luminol when I found nothing left. So I... found nothing, I skipped and got in the maid room to check to make sure luminol wasn't broken".

"You wrote all of it in the report, sweetie". - Jeanne speaks up.  "Alright, so... you found lots of blood in the maid room".

"Yes. It's said that they got stabbed when they were sleeping, the blood remained there. It's very clear".

"So it confirmed that our luminol is still fine. But that's not what I want to know about, I need to know about those who went missing, if there's anything suspicious found in their rooms". - Her mother speaks up again in a serious tone.  "The next part isn't in the report".

"I did find some blood in there too, mom". - The daughter explains.  "But the blood stains did not look like they were stabbed, attacked or anything like that. Just a small amount on the bedsheets...".

Jeanne keeps her eyes away from the report. The female investigator starts thinking about another scenario, she then sighs a little bit. Her eyes accidentally glance at the box which contains papers with fingerprint samples.

"Maybe that's the blood we always get in the hurt days". - Jeanne says.  "Did you find any fingerprints?". 

"I don't think so, mom. They've gone missing for months, those marks could have been worn out. Even when they are still visible, it's difficult to see". - Hannah explains 

"Any bloody fingerprints?". - Jeanne asks again 

Hannah shakes her head.

Jeanne puts the report paper down on the table. She sighs once again. The investigation doesn't seem to progress, the fingerprint samples are becoming useless since they can't be used to solve the case. 

Constant missings in one location for six months, no eyewitnesses, suspicious farewell letters, evidence lost, no necessary evidence found in the rooms, etc.

It drives the investigator to another crazy scenario.

"We'll tell the guards to lock those rooms tight in case we return there in the future". - Jeanne comments 

"Alright, mom". - Hannah nods

"This murderer... is much more organized than I thought. It means they lure the victims to another location, murder them, break into their rooms and erase all the evidence". - Jeanne tries to put herself in the killer's perspective.  "The bodies are just around here, maybe they are beneath us, who knows...". - She keeps her right hand on her chin

"What if you were wrong?". - Hannah speaks up.  "They have the key, they can drag those bodies outside at night and dump them somewhere, maybe in the woods". - The daughter later puts a geography map of the Warsaw Kingdom on the table.  "You see? Outside the capital city is just full of woods, the bodies can be dumped there and devoured by animals, no one will know".

"You're right at some point". - Jeanne comments.  "However, there's no way the killer can have the key so easily in the first place. Alright. If you tell me the killer possessed the key in the beginning, explain to me why not keep that killing method but change to use the burglars?". - She questions.  "That method is too perfect that we couldn't predict how the victims were killed and where are their bodies. Then why change it?".

"Uhhh... they made a fake one?". - Hannah answers with an unsure face 

"No way. Who do you think has the right to touch the key and even bring it away without trouble?".

"The burglars... maybe didn't have any connections. They... saw the killer coming in and out a place so many times, so they followed. Maybe they somehow learned about this place, so they broke in".

"Then why did they have to break in once every month? Why broke in the maid room while there were other rooms? Why why and why?". - Jeanne keeps saying.  "They worked with an organized pattern".

"Let's calm down, sweetie". - Finally, the mother tries to relax a little.  "Let's say your theory was real, it means it's beyond our capability to solve this case. Now we only have a few clues to depend on, too far imagination is worthless if we have nothing to prove it to be true". - Ending her speech, the investigator sips some tea 

"What do you think about this killer, mom?". - Hannah asks

"Give yourself the right to imagine, don't depend on me". 

"You know I'm still inexperienced, this is my first time solving something this big". - Hannah frowns a little, she also sips tea

"Well...". - Jeanne puts down the cup, she looks at an empty space.  "Woman... intelligent... very meticulous and organized. However, she makes me feel a bit awkward, the burglar case is a headache. I don't understand what she thought about doing that".

"The killer is a woman? And why are you so headache, mom?". 

"Well... her killings were going very smooth and clean. And suddenly, she put the burglars in to mess up". - Jeanne explains.  "That's the reason why the guards have been extended to patrol around the palace, I don't know what was she thinking, as if that wasn't her".

"Hmmmm... do you think she changed the way she murdered to seek more attention?". - Hannah gives an idea to her mother  

"Hmmm... it sounds reasonable". - Jeanne comments.  "However, that's still odd of her, unless she was really looking for attention".

"But we can't take our imagination too far". - Jeanne looks at Hannah.  "Hannah, listen to me. I'm afraid we're facing a dangerous serial killer, but... not just her".

"Mom, explain". - Hannah is still very confused 

"She's not working alone. Living in the palace and killing at the same time is not an easy thing at all. Unless she has backups. The disappearance of the prince's wife and concubines is proof for that".

"The reason I put his concubines on the suspect list... I think you understand what I mean here". 

"Hmmm... I think I understood". - Hannah replies.  "By the way, mom. Let's call this serial killer the "Palace Killer" for now, since we need a name".

Jeanne nods. She opens a smile in her mind, she really doesn't care much about naming killers like her daughter, she is not interested.

"Well... how do we start our investigation tomorrow?". - Hannah suddenly brings up a question 

"I'm thinking about it too".

"Should we try to investigate the missing investigators?". - Hannah gives an idea to her mother 

"But we have no clues to lead us to find them. I will consider your idea if we find a clue leads to yours".

"I have some questions about the suspects...". - Hannah asks again.  "I know this sounds dumb, I know I'm more educated than you but I don't have enough experience and maybe... I don't have talents for this job at all", - She complains a little.  "I read many books, I studied in the school about this subject. They said we should arrest and lock up the suspects, torture them until they give up and confess guilty".

"Maybe that's my fault when I didn't teach you and let you learn it yourself...", - Jeanne sighs a bit.  "but you never do anything till the end anyway". - She murmurs

"Well, technically we can't do that to our suspects. They're nobles, you don't need me to explain, nobles always have more rights".

"About the torture, I'll tell you my experience. Back when I was 16, I was a militia who guards the post and an investigator, very very poor. Got this job just about three weeks, my first case was a homicide". - Jeanne feels very proud and happy when she is telling her past to her daughter, this mother tends to be very quiet, now she sees an opportunity to brag

"That husband was suspected to be the one who murdered his wife. He was a drunk man, jobless, beat his wife a lot. His woman was a courtesan, she sold her kids to pay for rent, he was arrested as I explained, his tavern wasn't far from the murder scene". - Jeanne wants to tell the story much longer, but she thinks about shortening it.  "In short, the scene was next to my inn a few blocks. I wasn't at the post, a guy was hired, he tortured the man, that guy couldn't take it, so he yelled out loud he was guilty". 

"But when I came, I found many unreasonable clues". 

"However, according to the laws... someone when confesses guilty means he is guilty, no change even when his alibis are REASONABLE".

"So do you understand y-".

All of a sudden, the room door has knocking sounds on it. Jeanne and Hannah are a little bit confused. 

"Who's there?". - Jeanne asks

"Madame, what took you so long?". - Prince Koenig voices in

"Oh, Your Highness". - Jeanne immediately approaches the door.  "I was discussing with my daughter, we were busy with the case. I'm very sorry to make you wait".

"Can we get in?".

The female investigator doesn't respond but opens the door widely right away. Koenig and his bodyguard guard enter the room. The prince nods a little as the way to greet the women.

"I hope you don't feel disturbed".

"Of course not, Your Highness". - Jeanne bows a little 

"May I join?". - Koenig asks

"Yeah". - Hannah replies 

"I want to ask you something, Your Highness. Are there any places in the palace considered secret?". - Jeanne suddenly asks the prince 

"I don't get it".

"I mean... the places people rarely visit, deserted".

"Hmmmm... I see. If you mean it, we have a small basement to keep prisoners, we left it for a while", - The prince replies.  "another place is the basement in the king's room. But outsiders are not allowed".

"We think we can find something by searching there. Please allow us". - Jeanne asks for permission 

"Well... I think you have no problem with the jail basement but the other one is... you'll never get in". 

"Just one is enough, thank you". - Jeanne replies.  "But how long has it been neglected, Your Highness?".

"I don't know exactly, maybe not too long but no one uses it now. Even the jail keeper isn't there, sometimes they open it up just for cleaning". - The prince replies 

The investigator approaches her daughter after that. Hannah notices her mother is before her, but she soon returns to drink tea. The atmosphere in the room is a little complicated. Hannah has no problem with it, but Jeanne prefers everything to be as quiet as possible since she wants to focus full force on this ongoing case.

"Where's your maid?". - Jeanne accidentally asks the prince 

"I asked her to rest now". 

Jeanne returns to glance at her daughter as she heard the news given by the prince. In her plans, she wants to approach the suspects as quietly as possible. Once she gets along with the suspects for a while without their noticing, she will find the right moment to arrest them.

The first suspect would be Selena - the prince's private maid. Jeanne only knows a little about the girl, only knows she is 17 at the time. With Hannah's approach, everything would be much easier for Jeanne. Hannah is 24, older than Selena a little, Jeanne can use her daughter to trap the suspect.

However, her mother instinct collapsed that idea. Jeanne doesn't want to put her daughter in danger. Especially when she saw what happened to Hannah in the tea incident, she can't see anything but a child before her. She doesn't want to put her child at risk, she would rather return to her "previous self".

"Hannah". 

"Yeah, mom?". - Hannah replies as she heard her mother call her

"I need you to come to the jail basement tomorrow. It's just a small possibility, but you might be able to find blood or... I mean, the victims could be over there".

"If you say so". - Hannah replies.  "What's about you, mom?".

"I'll get along with a suspect". - Jeanne whispers to Hannah's ears

The investigator puts her attention to the prince as she finished the little discussion. Jeanne notices that Koenig is gazing at the documents with lots of curiosity. She immediately raises her right hand towards those files to block them from being picked up.

"I'm very sorry, Your Highness", - Jeanne pulls the files away a little.  "you're my client, but I'm sorry when I can't share you everything. Some information cannot be revealed and even if I do that, I want you to memorize it only and not telling it to anyone".

Dunkel, the bodyguard who stands behind the prince, doesn't seem to have a mood. The way he saw Jeanne saying his ruler wasn't allowed to read all the files, has made him consider it as something blasphemy came from a peasant. But this bodyguard still stands to guard, he knows the prince wouldn't mind it anyway.

"Well... I'm sorry if I was too curious". - The prince speaks up.  "I'm waiting for something positive. As long as their bodies haven't been found, there's still a chance that they're still alive. I'm right, right?". - He seems to be very desperate, he wants to cling to the scenario that his wives are still alive

"I hope so, Your Highness". - Jeanne replies. This investigator is thinking about whether or not should she wait for the right moment to report.  "I found no blood in the rooms of your wives. So it may be positive, they're still alive to this moment". - She gives the prince some white lies, she can't think of anything but some lies to ease this person 

"If you need it right now, mom can give you a report of today's investigation". - Hannah speaks up

"No please. I know you both are doing well with it, report back to me maybe in the next week". - Koenig replies, he doesn't want to take more information, he's scared 

Jeanne nods to take the order of the prince. 

"Your Highness, may I ask for something?". - Jeanne asks 

"What is it?".

"Could you give your maid a day off tomorrow?".

"You mean Selena?", - Koenig asks.  "I'm sorry, I have many maids but I guess you were talking about her. Well, that's alright. But why?".

"I just want to make sure all of your wives are safe. The case will be long, so I... maybe want to make some friends while I live here".

"Alright, I get it. I'll make sure to put more guards, the place is still unsafe and I don't want anything bad to happen again".

Jeanne nods.

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