The Mansion

Chapter 5. House Arrest

Luna hid under the oldest willow tree in the Eastern Marshes, oblivious to everything going on around her in grief.

"Luna!" She heard Near calling "where are you? It's fine, Luna, it's just me! Luna, can you hear me?" she heard the change in volume clearly "She should be somewhere nearby."

She heard him approach through the difficult terrain of the marshes. It was not long before the rustling of the willow tree's leaves reached her ears as her friend found her hide out. She heard him stumble with the upper roots.

"What's wrong?" Near asked, as he saw her.

"Go away, Nate." She replied, without looking at him.

"It is real tough, right?" He answered "you can tell me, Luna"

"Just leave me be" She moved slightly away. Near sat next to her, putting an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"You know you can tell me anything." He added softly "You can trust me, I'll always be there for you." Like when we were kids he thought bitterly.

The brunette laid her head onto her friend's chest. "Why are you here?" She asked.

"Shanon sent me to look for you to your uncle's office" He explained "but you weren't there, so I thought you might be hiding here again."

"Wha' are you hiding from me?" Luna straightened herself to look into his eyes.

"You always know, don't you?" He sighed "you're right."

"Tell me" She pleaded, her light green eyes glowing beautifully under the tree's shadow.

"When I went to look for you" Near began "I found your uncle alone, he was... dead." His friend looked down, and some random point on the dirt. "so I went looking for L, he asked me to look for you, since you might have been the last one to see him alive."

"I should probably go, then." She said, the white haired nodded "where is he?"

"He should be at the office."

Luna stood up, freeing herself from her friend's hug, who took her hand, holding her back, she looked at him.

"I'll go with you." His friend nodded, and he followed her towards the manor, this time, they took the passageway leading into the office. At the two of them came out from the passage's entrance, L rose his eyes from the corpse. Luna avoided it completely.

"Do you know who might have done this?" L asked her, approaching them.

"I certainly do." The brunette answered calmly. Seeing her there, L began wondering whether he had been wrong in pointing Ryoma as the murderer.

"Can you spot the murderer in the room?" The private eye asked, she nodded. "When was the last time you saw Mr. Black alive?"

"This morning, no doubt about it." Luna said.

"Did you notice anything odd in his behaviour?" The brunette shook her head.

"He wanted tae ask for help in order tae research something" she pointedly avoided mentioning the topic. "also, he said tae be careful."

"I see." L looked at the floor, pondering her answer "When was the last time you saw Ryoma?"

"Today, at breakfast, before I was told Bràthair-m'athar was looking for me."

L walked about the room for a bit, stopping before the window leading South. "Did he ever mention something about what to do when something happened to him?"