The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 68: The Socialite

"What?" Charlie could hardly believe his ears.

Lumière was equally astonished and glanced at Charlie with sympathy.

Seeing his two colleagues head upstairs, the officer cuffing Charlie briefly explained: "Charlie was both terrified and confused: 'How could it be? How could she be dead...?'"

"When I left, she was still alive, really! I swear by Saint Vievre!"

"According to the preliminary autopsy report, Mrs. Ellis's time of death was between 11 p.m. last night and 1 a.m. this morning. And apart from you and Mrs. Ellis, there were no other traces left at the scene."

Perhaps it wasn't a human who left those traces? Lumière thought of the Montsouris ghost and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

At that moment, one of the officers who had quietly left earlier came down from the fifth floor, holding a glittering diamond necklace in his white-gloved left hand.

"I didn't do it! Do you hear me? I didn't do it!"Charlie shouted desperately, struggling with all his might.

It was to no avail. He was escorted out of the "Golden Rooster Inn" by two officers.

By then, several tenants had gathered at the stairwell, having been drawn by the commotion. Among them was Gabriel, who appeared to have just finished a night of writing.

"Do you think Charlie did it?"Lumière asked the playwright, standing beside him, as he gazed thoughtfully at the now-empty hallway.

Gabriel, who had come out early and had a general idea of what had happened to Charlie, shook his head and said, "I don't believe Charlie did it. He's not a good person, but he's not a bad one either."

Pushing up the black-rimmed glasses on his nose, Gabriel added, "He was cheated out of money before and almost starved to death, but he never thought of stealing from us, his neighbors. This suggests that he either has his own principles and boundaries, or he's very afraid of the law. In either case, it proves that he wouldn't resort to murdering that lady."

Lumière nodded first, then chuckled softly.  "But people can act on impulse, they can change."

With that, he began ascending the stairs, heading to the fifth floor.

This was the top floor of the "Golden Rooster Inn." The ceiling above had large patches that had been stained and dried by water, as if it would leak every time it rained.

Lumière stopped at the door of room 504, where Charlie had been staying. He pulled out a small piece of wire from his pocket and used it to unlock the wooden door. Charlie's suitcase, bed, and wooden table had all been rummaged through by the two officers earlier. Various items were scattered around in disarray, but they were quite few in number.

Previously, during a chat over drinks at the basement bar, Lumière had learned from Charlie that he had pawned his only suit and many other items during his period of unemployment, and he hadn't been able to redeem them since.

As he stepped inside, Lumière's gaze slowly moved across the room until he suddenly noticed a painting.

It was affixed to the wall opposite the bed, depicting a woman in a green dress.

The woman appeared to be in her late twenties, with auburn hair, green eyes, rosy lips, a refined face, and an air of elegance.

Lumière stared at the painting, feeling that the woman looked familiar.

He knew that this was likely the famous courtesan Suzanne Martis, whom Charlie had mistaken for Saint Vievre. But he had never seen this woman before, so there was no reason for her face to seem familiar.