Erudition of Doyle: Volume One

CHAPTER 10: CASE III - HAPPY FACE HIDES EVERYTHING

Case 3: Happy Face Hides
Everything (The Argument
Deduction Chapter, Last Part)

ROSALINDA

"Dad, I know who did it," Clark said confidently, and I quickly made my way to the first floor.

"So that’s why you disappeared again," his father remarked, sighing. "Go ahead. Make sure your deduction is right."

Clark pointed. "The culprit is Rio Grande, the Chaves family’s butler!"

No, Clark. You’re wrong.

"W-Why me?!" Rio stammered. What nonsense is this? Why are you awake?

I quickened my pace, feeling August’s footsteps close behind. "Rosalinda," he called, but I didn’t answer.

"Is the culprit my mother?" he asked.

I met his gaze briefly, noting the calm in his eyes—as if he had already known. "Yes. It’s your mother." I returned my eyes to the stairs and hurried down.

"You took the chance when Mrs. Rowena asked you to clean the casket for three weeks straight," Clark said. "According to her, she never goes to the basement—she has nyctophobia, and the light there isn’t working. It’s unlikely she’d enter just to commit a crime." He paused. "Sure, she could use a flashlight. But in a basement this large and dark, a single light might not ease the fear enough for someone with nyctophobia."

Raleigh looked at me as I arrived. "Where have you been?" he asked, but I ignored him.

"The mansion is dark. No light comes in; the black curtains are closed," I said, drawing everyone’s attention. "But think—if Mrs. Rowena truly has nyctophobia, wouldn’t she turn on the lights as she moves? Yet she doesn’t. We’re the ones switching them on."

His eyes widened as he realized this. However, his determined expression remained unfade.

"Mrs. Rowena had her cellphone, so she could have used its flashlight to find the switch. Yet she didn’t, which is strange since people with nyctophobia usually avoid the dark and rely on light for comfort. In her conversation with Augustus, he didn’t seem worried about her being alone. If she truly feared the dark, he would have stayed with her. So, is she lying about her nyctophobia?"

"She's lying," Augustus said firmly. "I’ve seen her alone in the dark. She never got scared, even though she always claimed the darkness terrified her."

"Let me ask you something. Why were you frightened when your mother screamed?" I asked as Augustus looked away. "Not because she feared her husband’s death, but for another reason tied to your father."

"I fear my father might harm my mother," he replied formally.

"Why?" I pressed. "What has your father done to alarm and traumatize you?" Though he withheld the full details, I sensed his theory was more than mere speculation—he was avoiding the full truth about their family.

"I once witnessed my father abusing my mother and assaulting her while she was asleep. I saw him act against her will, and I found my mother restrained, her body marked with cuts and bruises." Augustus answered.

I turned to Clark. "If Rio Grande has a motive to kill his boss, then the victim’s wife does too."

Mrs. Rowena bowed her head, hands trembling. "The Chaves family wears happy faces, but behind the facade of a large, cheerful household lies something darker."

"A large family?" Raleigh asked.

"There are supposedly nineteen members of their family," I continued. "The fifteen children vanished without a trace on January 5th. When Augustus woke up that day, they were gone from the mansion." I passed Clark and approached Mrs. Rowena. "I wonder why you ordered your son to burn all the adoption papers and photos of the complete Chaves family," I said, noting her eyes widened. Slowly, she lifted her head to meet my gaze. "Based on what your son saw, surely your husband had a hand in your fifteen adopted children disappearing. And you knew about it too, didn’t you?"