“Alice! Why must you say that to him?” Betty said irritably.
The club was currently in a coffee shop having their dinner. They left the mansion in the evening and decided to eat together outside.
“I just want to rattle him a bit,” Alice replied. “He’s still a suspect regardless of his response.”
“That’s true...” Betty's infamous red cheeks emerged. “Nevertheless, what if they decided not to speak with us again?”
“Then we just have to do the harder way. We’ve been there before.”
“You…!”
Elaine gently spoke, “It’s fine, Betty. It’s just the way Alice likes to do it.”
“Hmph,” Betty picked up her utensils and noisily munched on her food.
Daisy chuckled, admiring how adorable Betty was with her red cheeks and pouty lips.
“That’s a lot of new things we found out just from Sebastian,” Elaine said as she looked through the notes on her phone.
“Hmm…” Daisy gave some thoughts. “I wonder who told Harold about Daniel’s spending on his allowances.”
“Someone did,” Alice answered. “They wanted them to fight each other and give a reason for Daniel to commit murder.”
“Whoever it is, it is clear. The said person probably wants more money and Daniel out of the way.”
“Maybe they all did it? They might as well be on it together,” Elaine said.
“What if it’s just Sebastian?” Betty spoke up. “He seemed so cunning and sneaky.”
“I think he knows that you could easily be teased, Betty,” Daisy grinned, recalling those times.
“Urghhh….” the petite girl pouted, knowing she can’t deny it.
“We can’t proceed much further without asking the other two, so why don’t we meet Yui first?” Alice suggested.
“That would be good, leader,” Daisy nodded.
Alice smiled, looking forward to tomorrow.
The topic of the murder didn’t come out again as they converse into the night.
The following afternoon after their respective class, everyone once again met up at the academy’s clubroom.
Alice immediately started dialling Yui’s number, given by Harmony.
When the phone was answered and she introduced herself and the club, a gentle female voice spoke over the speaker.
“Alice, I heard about you from Sebastian. You were trying to clear Daniel’s name. Whatever you guys hear, I hope you took that old man’s words with a grain of salt.”
“Can we come to meet you today?”
“Sure. Let’s meet somewhere a bit more open than this mansion. Hopefully, you can assist Daniel in some way…”
Everyone exchanged surprised looks.
Yui was sipping through a cup of coffee while taking a lengthy examination of each of the four young women facing her. She takes an evaluation of the girls in her mind, imagining how she could convert them to drawings that best represent their true selves.
The woman was in her thirties, with one hand on a half-drawn picture she was working with. Her black coat that covered her dress kept her warm. She was near a quiet, dark corner of a particular restaurant section that she had reserved doe this meeting.
The meeting took place in one of the more affluent city sections, with the meeting held in one of its finer restaurants.
Neither Alice nor Daisy, the Commoners, would ever hope to enter such a place typically. Just looking at the displayed menu’s prices was something they could only do by sacrificing a month of their allowances.
As they have introduced themselves before through the phone, everyone simply sat around the restaurant’s remaining chairs.
Betty looked downwards at the drawing that Yui had in her hand.
They were similar to the ones she’s seen in the hallway. Terrible shading and usage of colours, Uninteresting to look at, even for a glance. She kept all these opinions to herself.
Without waiting to be asked, Yui spoke, “On the night of the murder, I was in my 2nd-floor bedroom when I heard the gunshots. I came running down the stairs with my brother, Shiro. His room is just next to mine.”
“I saw in time to see Daniel running out of the hallway.”
Elaine was furiously typing and paused. “Where was your brother when he saw Daniel?”
“He was right behind me. I came out first, so I was at the front, but we all saw him from the middle of the staircase.”
“How many shots did you hear?”
“Maybe two or three? I wasn’t so sure since I was already lying down on my bed.”
Alice watched for the woman’s expression before asking, “I heard from Sebastian that Daniel and your father fought the previous night.”
Yui smiled uncomfortably, “Yes, everyone was there to see it. Father knew how much money Daniel wasted spending on unnecessary stuff while barely doing anything for the family.”
“That has to be the first physical fight they ever got?” Daisy spoke up.
The middle-aged woman seemed to be working out her answer with furrowed eyes, “I believe so. I suppose Daniel had gone too far. And someone told him about it.”
“Do you know who it was?”
Yui shook her head, “It can be anyone. My suspicions lie in Father’s butler, Sebastian. He always wanted to be shown as being loyal and dedicated to Father. This was an opportunity for him.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Well, jealousy, of course. Both men have never been on good terms. Since Father had given Daniel a lot of money, and perhaps even in his will, he’s much easier to be framed for murder. Not that I entirely defend Daniel, his way of spending money at that time still is partly to blame.”
Betty nodded. That old butler loved to tease and was creepy and suspicious. It’s within the possibility that Sebastian was the one who tried to frame Daniel for the incident. Now they just needed a confession or clear evidence that the butler was the culprit.
However, her leader continued to interrogate, “What about your brother? Doesn't he have the same feelings about him too?”
Yui raised an eyebrow, “You mean Shiro? I doubt so. He worked for the company earning way more than the allowance Daniel was given. And he’s guaranteed to take over the company Father had built up.”
“Then you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you work?”
Betty found this whole thing a bit unusual. What was Alice playing at? She’ll ask them later.
“Yes, I do. You can see it here. I do art. Since Father saw that I do well at drawing and painting, I went overseas to train as an artist and come back here to make a name for myself.”
Alice nodded in understanding while Daisy crossed her arms, digesting the information.
Betty saw the princess typing furiously on her phone to take down notes and stopped momentarily. She had a frowning face, deeply thinking about something.
Glancing at the Royal, the petite girl whispered, “Everything’s fine, Lady Elaine?”
Replying with a brief smile, “I’m fine. Thank you, Betty.”
“If you need me to take over, just inform me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Betty felt warmth seeing the princess’ reassuring smile. She always felt comfortable around the Royal. This was one of the reasons she enjoyed spending time in the academy together daily.
Her ears returned to the main conversation.
“-didn’t believe women in doing business. Even though I was the first child, Father trained Shiro as the next heir,” Yui was explaining.
“There’s also the last matter concerning the will,” Alice stated.
“Ahh… the will and inheritance,” Yui nodded several times, just recalling the fact. “I suppose Sebastian told you about this too?”
“Yes,” Daisy answered.
“You are right. I suppose you expect it to be a lot of money, so each of us gets a portion of it. Even I will get it, though not enough reason to kill Father.”
Yui stretched her hands, “Anyway, you shouldn’t trust everything Sebastian told you. He’s only loyal to Father, not the rest of us children. He does anything to protect anything beneficial to him.”
She slung her bag across her arms. “I need to go to another exhibition this evening. But I can arrange for you to speak to Shiro right after this. His office isn’t that far from here if you walk.”
The middle-aged woman dialled her phone and made an appointment for the girls. “Anything else for me?”
“Just one last thing,” Alice said. “Who do you think owns the gun that Daniel used to shoot your father?”
Yui tapped her chin. “I think it could be Daniel, but I don’t know where he got it from.”
Alice thanked the woman and led the club to leave.
Meanwhile, Yui, who had gone to her car, followed the club’s movement through the windows as they headed in the direction of the academy. She sighed while getting ready to drive to her exhibition.
Multiple worries plagued her thoughts as she drove.
This incident had set her family behind and partially damaged her reputation since her friends and fans have asked her about it. She and Shiro had to repeatedly calm everyone they have relations with to still work together with them.
For now, all that could be done was to keep quiet and hope this entire incident would blow over quickly. The culprit hopefully would be caught soon. Then perhaps she could take a well-deserved vacation from all the stress of the recent days.
