The Jackson’s three-story mansion always had something to be in awe of for any passerby who happened to be looking at it. With lush greenery surrounding its thick high stone walls, it was an old-fashioned brick mansion reminiscent of the industrial age with old-fashioned long windows that have been appropriately maintained throughout the years.

One of the richest and highest noble of the kingdom, the Jackson family were not one to be trifled with.

On this one particular night, there was a strong thunderstorm.

Betty sat on the only chair in the study room and instantly felt goosebumps. The ominous mood of the murder scene slowly took over the petite girl.

She turned on the lamp, situated at the table adjacent to the chair. A light shone on her lap, where she took a book to read. 

Almost at once, a whole ball of fur jumped onto the table. It purred loudly with the return of its master. Betty smiled fondly and petted Gilbert’s hair gently, causing the other to make loud continuous purrs. 

It then settled comfortably on the table, eyes closed.

A few minutes have passed.

That was when the doorknob of the study room’s door started turning slowly.

A tall, curvy silhouette emerged behind the door as the hall’s light brightened the study hall slightly. However, Betty couldn’t identify who it was.

“Who’s there?” she asked calmly.

As the figure approached the petite girl leisurely, she realised that the person was holding a recognisable object: a gun.

Fear instantly punctured the girl’s eyes as she placed the book close to her head, peering over and still seeing the silhouette steadily looming over herself.

Gilbert started meowing loudly as the gun drew closer and eventually fell into Betty’s forehead.

Sweating and releasing a terrifying groan, Betty closed her eyes, gasping as the metal end of the gun pressed hard on her forelock.

A click sound was made, indicating the gun was on its first pressure. Just another pull, the bullet would be released.

That was then, suddenly, a blur of white fur flashed across her face.

“Ouch! Ouch!, let go of me!” The person in the silhouette screamed. “Argh!”

For a moment, nothing happened.

Immediately, Betty ran towards the cat and forcefully pulled it away from the person’s hands. Gilbert continued to meow loudly and have its claws still extended, screeching and pushing.

“It’s ok, Gilburt. It’s ok,” Betty petted the anguished cat. “No one’s going to die tonight.”

With that, the entire room lit up.

Suddenly, there was a loud continuous sound of gasping shock. 

In the middle of the room stood a tall woman, wearing an oversized jacket and wig that was precisely the same as what Yui was wearing. And on her hand was a toy gun, configured to look similar to the firearm owned by Daniel.

The woman took off the wig.

“Now I need some payment for sacrificing my poor hands,” Daisy remarked. “Alice, you owe me a lot today.”

“You are not going to base this on a cat, do you?” Yui backed away, her eyes darting from side to side. “We should have gotten rid of the cat once Father died.”

But Alice didn’t have any of it. She headed forward and presented Gilbert to everyone present in the room.

“As you can see, the only witness to the murder has shown. In cat style.”

Yui’s eyes flared. “Proof of what? All it did was scratch my hands, just to protect what is thought to be its master returning.”

“Really?” Alice raised an eyebrow. “From what I see, Gilbert has shown us everything we need.”

“No, it doesn't!”

Alice ignored the protest and started addressing the crowd in the room.

“Gilburt was the perfect witness. And I am sure it can identify its killer. How? Yui raised your hands. Show the back of your palm.”

Yui wanted to argue but ended up spontaneously following the demand. Shiro and Sebastian immediately showed surprise as they looked back and forth between the woman and Daisy. 

“You almost get away with it, Yui. You found a chance to remove Harold and Daniel at the same time. Daniel will lose whatever money or properties he gets as stated in the will, while you can receive money much earlier than expected. ”

“That’s a lie!” Yui argued. “And everyone knows I don’t have a gun!”

“But you knew that Daniel had one,” Alice countered. “At first, you didn’t mention it when we came to you. However, later you are the only one who said that you saw Daniel running away with one!”

“That’s… that’s…”

Alice was on a roll. “You stole Daniel’s gun a few weeks before the incident. Your first brother was right that the gun was stolen before. However, you used it so that you can get familiar with it as you received no firearms training.”

“Not only that, once you were ready, you returned the gun to the room. Then, you decided to tell your father about Daniel’s spending habits and hobbies. You were the one that caused both of them to have a strained relationship and a huge argument on that night before the murder. Thus, creating a perfect reason for Daniel to kill his father.”

“That’s not true!” Yui retreated to the study room door, but the smirking Daisy immediately blocked her.

“After that, you tried to steal the gun again. However, you realised that it wasn’t there. That’s because Sebastian had moved it. So you figured that either of them had done it, which you eventually found in Sebastian’s office.”

“I only took it because I was worried that Daniel might be tempted to use it,” Sebastian stated, but Alice dismissed it with a hand.

“Yui,” Alice gently moved over to the terrified woman. “On the night you came over, and as soon as you got the chance, killed Harold Jackson with a few shots. However, you wore gloves. So there will be no fingerprints and drop the gun next to the body. But something happened that you never planned for. Something even better.”

“It just so happens Daniel came to apologise for the fight that occurred, but out of panic and stress, he accidentally picked up the gun. You must be really pleased, aren’t you? After all, now there’s more evidence to pin on him.”

Alice pointed out to the hallway outside. “As Daniel was busy inspecting the body and the gun, you were able to slip out of the room and dashed up the stairs. Then, it just so happens that when Daniel was running away, all three of you witnessed and saw him doing it. You were also closer than the others, so you presumably were able to see more detail. But even then, once all three of you went to investigate the body, the gun was nowhere to be found.”

“Sebastian and Shiro might want to pin on Daniel for the murder by saying he has the gun as he ran away. But they didn't. Why? Because they were telling the truth for once.”

The two men wanted to say something but were quickly shut down by the grey-haired youth.

“Yui, you really have a busy night, didn’t you?”

“Do any of you believe this?” Yui screamed desperately, “She’s just a dumb woman who doesn't know what she’s talking about! Just playing detective like some fake professional!”

“As for how the gun was found in the bag,” Alice raised her voice, ignoring her protest. “You simply throw it away once you have the chance. But no murderer would want to intentionally keep the evidence, sealed perfectly in a bag for the police to find it.”

Seeing that there was no hope of escaping, Yui looked down, the shadow looming over her face.

For a moment, there was not much reaction until everyone heard a chuckle. 

Then, a harsh laugh.

“You are right! I did kill Father!”

“I hate being sidelined by Father. Just because I’m a woman! I’m aware that my paintings weren’t good and didn’t make much money, yet Father kept encouraging me! I want to work for the company! And yet he refused to do so, despite pleading with him many times!”

“You? Running the company?” Shiro said. “You’ll  burn down in a month!”

“That’s why I decided to do it,” Yui continued. “I couldn’t take it any longer. Father has to die.”

The woman showed a strong face of hatred and disgust.

“Oh well…” Harmony held the handcuff that was around Daniel’s wrist. “You’re a free man now. Guys!”

Two police constables entered the room and arrested the tall woman, who barely struggled, accepting her fate.

Alice showed satisfaction while feeling relieved that everything went smoothly.

Meanwhile, Betty immediately threw away the wig at the chair, feeling hot and disgusted with it.

“Alice, next time, I am not going to listen to a single request from you anymore. Even if it’s a plan that makes us catch the culprit.”

Eline chuckled at her friend’s protest. “I’m sure you will still listen to her eventually.”

“NO! Never!” The petite girl pouted.

Meanwhile, Daisy rubbed the scratched marks on the back of her palm, “Sigh… My hands… Alice, remember this.”

“I know. Still, I'm glad we did it, girls. Once again,” Alice had an extensive grin on her face. “Another mystery solved in our hands.”

Everyone laughed.

“Lady Elaine, what’s wrong?”

Betty noticed some tears were flowing down the princess’s cheeks. In a flash of movement, the petite girl has already reached up with a tissue to wipe them off.

“It’s ok, Betty,” Elaine sniffed. “I’m just happy that we did it perfectly for once. I just hope things can be this way until we graduate.”

“Of course, we will,” Betty reassured her. “Right, Alice?”

Alice simply nodded, a clear, bright smile punctuating the mood of the detective girls.