The Descent (Black Butler fanfic)

2.

I woke up the next morning to Sebastian gently touching my shoulders, as he usually does. The morning light shone through the thin lacey curtains that hung over the large window. "It's time to wake up now Young Master." Were Sebastian's first words.

later in the morning while I was sitting once again in my study surrounded by piles of white sheets of paper filled with words and plans and calculations I decided that I would take a break from my paper work. It was all getting to be a bit much for me at the moment and I needed to focus on something else. So with the information Sebastian had told me about the chain of murders yesterday over supper, I began to sketch out a rough idea of who the culprits could be. First I made a list of all the people who had been murdered.

1. Amanda Smith, 28, drowned in her own bathtub.
2. Charles Garthsmore, 42, found washed up on the ocean shore.
3. Amelia Dickens, 26, drowned in a sick at the bakery she works in.
4. James Peterson, 31, drowned in his own toilet.
5. Arthur Simons, 49, drowned in public hot springs.

Next I racked my brain for all of my or her Majesty's potential enemies. I dare say we'd both made quite a few in the past couple of years.

1. Mr. Woodsly, arrested at my hand for murders and cases of blackmail he did not commit although he was guilty for other reasons.
2. Earl Grey, works also for her Majesty but for some reason is constantly trying to frame and me and prove me unworthy of being her Majesty's "watchdog".
3. Aleistor Chamber, countless scandals and elaborate crimes involving her Majesty and myself.
4. Lord Arthur Randall, has never trusted myself or Sebastian while helping inspect with the rest of Scotland Yard and is still set out to put me in jail like I once was, as of being wrongly accused.
5. Janet Guiles, has never forgiven me for being the one her husband sacrificed his life for.

Just when my mind was on track and I was getting somewhere, there's a knock at my study door. "Young master," I hear Sebastian's muffled voice through the thick wooden door, "may I come in?" "Yes." I replied slightly irritated at the interruption of my investigations. "Sir, Scotland Yard just reported another murder." "Another one?" I asked, the irritation left from my voice now. "Indeed. A young lad named Peter Phillips." "Oh. I think I remember him actually. He came for a meeting at the manor once. Decent man, a shame really. So I assume it was another drowning?" I inquired. "Yes indeed it was master. Found in the shallow part of the pond in the middle of town." Said Sebastian, standing over my desk and looking down at my notes scrawled on the piece of paper. "Hm I see. What exactly is the killer trying to pull? It's not as if he's killing off my current employees, so it's not effecting my business directly." I began to think out loud. "Yes I suppose that is true but your reputation will certainly be tarnished whether they solve this case or not." I bit my lip on thought as I folded up the paper and put it aside. I stood up from my seat at my desk then and walked out to stand in front of Sebastian. "Shall we go down and examine the corpses and see if we can narrow down some culprits?" I asked looking up at him slightly from where I stood. "Of course young master, let up be on our way." And with that he was out the door. I followed shortly behind him. We passed Finny, Meirin and Bard on our way to the door and Sebastian told them to begin to prepare supper before his return. Outside, as I sat in the carriage on the way into London I realized I hadn't thought about Sebastian in a while now with this case on my mind. Perhaps a mystery will do me some good. Whoever this killer is, they definitely have me thinking.