Private Investigation

C.P.

As the clock tolled midnight the manor was silent. Two of the three detectives had fallen asleep in the study while Hester continued to look through the transcriptions of evidence. Kei was quietly looking through photographs in Rhian's room, the occasional  tear rolling down his cheek and smudging the ink on an old letter that rested in his lap. On the floor above, Hort was in bed fast asleep. Tedros had snuck back into Agatha's room earlier and assumed, based off the lack of intrusion, Beatrix hadn't heard. The couple were huddled together under a blanket in front of the  dying embers in the fire place. Everyone else in the house had fallen asleep by now, the shock of a murder had long since worn off and they just wanted the ordeal to be over. However, two were not in the house at all, they had departed and it wasn't until a question struck Hester that anyone noticed. 

Flicking through Sophie's file, the tattooed detective came a hand written note hidden sheets of neatly typed text. She glanced up at the board of suspects and caught sight of a note beside Agatha's name. The handwriting was an obvious match, it belonged to Dot. The main part was in quotation marks and it read "Agatha doesn't know what she's getting herself into this family has no trust, no loyalties. They are only out for themselves" In the right hand corner was the date from a few days ago and the initials C.P. Who was C.P? Hester thought too herself as her eyes scanned the board until they landed on Sophie. 

Of course. 

Chrome platted. 

Hester carefully manoeuvred herself from under the other two. Anadil had fallen asleep with her head on Hester's shoulder next to her on the couch and Dot had somehow ended up leaning against her legs as she sat on the floor. 

Once she was finally free, Hester left the study closing the door as softly as she could before heading upstairs. 

The room she wanted was at the far end of the hallway and she had no doubt it would be the largest. Three soft knocks on the door came to no avail so Hester knocked harder, cautious not to wake any of the others. Still no one came to the door. 

Hester tried the handle and thankfully it was unlocked, she nudged the door open and was not surprised by the lavish interior. As she had suspected it looked like something from a movie. A large vanity stood opposite the window framed by long emerald green drapes which Hester suspected were worth more than her annual salary. A matching set hung from the Ebony four poster bed in the centre of the room. The bed sheets were raven black with velvet detail along the top. A collection of cushions partially obscured the headboard that had been engraved with blooming roses and twisted vines. There were no personal touches to the room, no artwork or photographs and not a single thing was out of place which slightly unnerved Hester. 

As she continued to look around the room it became clear that Sophie was not  here. She made her way over to the walk in wardrobe, careful to avoid the white fur rug beside the bed for fear of getting it dirty with her heavy leaver boots. 

All four walls in the wardrobe were covered in rails, cupboards or shelves, all packed with clothes shoes and accessories. Admittedly it would be easy to hide in there but Hester didn't think Sophie would stoop to that level. 

When Hester returned to the main bedroom something caught her eye that hadn't before. The corner of the rug had been flipped over as if someone caught it on their shoe. Normally she wouldn't think anything of it, but in a room as pristine as this she doubted that Sophie would leave something so easily fixed. Crouching down Hester looked for any threads or dirt that could give her a clue to the culprit, then she noticed a bottle of rose nail varnish that had rolled under the bed side table as if it had been knocked off. 

Something was going on. 

Where is Sophie? 

Just as she was heading towards the door, thinking about where Sophie could be, she saw it. On the doorframe were four crescent indentations which had caused the paint to crack. She looked closer and surely enough amongst the flakes of white paint were were small flecks of pink, the same as- 

This time Hester ran. 

She didn't care who she woke up. She reached a doorway identical to all the others and started to bang her fists against it. She saw someone come out of a nearby room but Hester carried on until her door opened. 

Agatha appeared with a black blanket draped over her shoulders, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Detective, I-" 

"Where has Sophie gone?" The urgency in the detectives voice confused Agatha, her tired state taking her longer to process things. 

"She's in her-" Agatha looked down the hallway past an annoyed Beatrix to Sophie's room. The door had been left wide open giving a clear view of the empty room and it became obvious her best friend was missing. 

Agatha's eyes widened in shock and as if on que they heard the rumble of an engine starting up outside. 

Moments later Hort came down the stairs. "Where the hell is Japeth going?" Everyone who had now congregated on the first floor froze. What was going on? 

Hester was the first to react. "Shit!" she ran for the stairs, Agatha and Hort close behind. 

Anadil and Dot were startled awake by the door colliding with the wall as it swung open. "What's going on?" Anadil questioned, struggling to keep her eyes open. She saw a brief glimpse of Agatha following Hester to the desk, Hort demanding answers and Hester rifling through drawers. She rubbed her eyes a few times and then followed Dot over to the desk. 

Hester forced the draw closed with such a force it almost cracked wood before slamming her hands onto the surface of thee desk. Everyone fell silent trying to predict the detective's next move. 

"It's gone." she took a deep breath and collapsed into the chair. "Japeth has taken the gun." Hester looked up and met Agatha's eyes. She didn't need to add anything else. Everything had fallen into place. 

Tedros entered the room with Beatrix and Kei close behind. One look from Hort said everything Kei needed to know, but he didn't get a chance to react. 

"Where is he? Where has he taken her?" Agatha ran at Kei before Tedros held her back. They all knew Agatha wasn't angry, she was scared, but Agatha was never scared. 

"The village has so many witnesses and he wouldn't stay near the manor. All I can think is-" 

"The forest." Hort concluded.