That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Commendable 3

{That evening...}

FLASH! RUMBLE.

Chêne jumped slightly at the bright flash of lightning and the loud boom of thunder. The lightning and thunder were pretty close together now, so the storm was almost right on top of them.

"The population of London alone is 4.5 million, and that swells further during the Season. By simply relaxing the conditions, the number of suspects increases," Ciel said, lightly slapping the papers he had been reading. Since it was getting late, Ciel had changed into his pajamas and a robe. Sebastian was standing in front of the window, and he was taking notes and organizing the material they had gotten for their new suspect list, narrowing down the suspects according to Ciel's requirements.

"What are you writ—!?" Chêne started to ask Sebastian when a blindly bright flash of lightning struck again, causing her to yelp and jump in fright. To her embarrassment, Chêne had unconsciously clung to Sebastian in her fright. "Sorry!!" Chêne yelped, jumping away from the demon butler as she quickly released him, blushing.

"Oh, dear. Could it be you are afraid of the storm brewing outside?" Sebastian asked patronizingly as he gave Chêne a brilliant shit-eating grin. 'Come to think of it... Chêne always did seem rather nervous whenever there was a lightning storm, but it usually wasn't this bad,' Sebastian thought.

"How Childish," Ciel said, smirking at her.

"Hmph! You'd be nervous too if you had been struck by lightning before!" Chêne huffed indignantly, crossing her arms.

"...Wait, say that again?" Ciel said, stunned. Did Chêne really just say she had been struck by lightning!?

"You heard me! Obviously it didn't hit me directly, or I'd have been fried to a crisp, but it hit the ground right next to me. I somehow managed to survive without any major injuries, but I still had to go to the hospital so they could pump me full of electrolytes. The doctor told me it was a miracle I wasn't paralyzed by all the electricity that had gone through my body!" Chêne explained.

"I see... that might explain a few things," Ciel said, sweat-dropping. He wasn't sure if Chêne was cursed or extremely lucky, since strange things seemed to happen to her, but at the same time, she was never seriously hurt by them.

"Yes, it explains quite a few things," Sebastian said, smirking.

"Did you just imply that I was drain bamaged—I mean brain damaged!?" Chêne demanded incredulously.

"I rest my case," Ciel deadpanned.

"Hey! I've always been dyslexic! I was born this way!" Chêne snapped defensively. That was why she always had someone double check her math and spelling, to make sure she hadn't accidentally flipped the numbers or letters around in her head, or on paper.

"So, in other words, you've been abnormal since birth?" Sebastian said, smiling radiantly.

"That's not what I meant!!" Chêne yelled, her face flushing out of frustration. "—!?" she yelped as she actually hid behind Sebastian. "A-Anyway, I think it might help us if we focused more on what the prostitutes had in common, and then work from there. They didn't have any consistent traits among them, like a common hair or eye color, so the killer isn't choosing them for their looks, which is usually the main reason why a killer would chose victims that are complete strangers... People don't usually kill strangers for no reason, so I think 'Jack' must've met them all at least once before," Chêne said, sweat-dropping, and blushing out of embarrassment as she avoided their gazes.

"Still at it, are you?" Madam Red asked as she entered the room. Like Ciel, she had dressed for bed, and she was wearing a nightgown with a robe that had butterflies embroidered on it.