August Whodunit: Royal Flush

Rhododendrons and Scabiosas

It was the third day at the Black Manor. Another day of gloominess and munching. Lily was hungry. She wondered what would be out for breakfast today. She'd been craving pancakes recently. Or crepes. Oh wait no - waffles. Waffles were always a good solution. Well, except when you've been stabbed multiple times. She doubted waffles could stop the blood flow.
Ah yes. The detective had released information, bit by bit, on the murder. Apparently. It had been done in the living room, with the use of a knife taken from the dining table. So obviously, it was a murder case and not suicide. They were told that Delilah was stabbed multiple times centered around his heart, and that he died from blood loss. There was also a bunch of other stuff, like something about no fingerprints, but Lily found the chandelier to be very interesting at that point. There was a flying little pixie swinging on the little crystals, and she completely zoned out on what the detective was saying. Not that it mattered much, since everyone would be talking about it for a while, the little birdies were sure to bring her the information again. Quacking them out and all that.
Lilith Cox yawned. She was quite tired, other than having awoken rather early, she hadn't rested quite well at night.It was probably because of the pea under the mattress, interrupting her nap and whatnot. Speaking of peas, Lily's stomach grumbled. Well, at least she knew where she was headed right now. Breakfast. She desperately needed to fill her tummy with some cakes.
So there she was, sitting on the kitchen table, munching on some rather yummy muffins - not the flying ones of course, she wasn't a killer after all - when she overheard some delicious piece of information. The detective would be interrogating a few people today.
''Would you look at that Mr. Raisin, he might get to the bottom of this after all. Wait a minute- raisin. What in Gordon Ramsay's teddy bear is a raisin doing in my muffin!''
She scowled at the muffin before spitting said atrocities out. Honestly, people these days just didn't have a care for the world. They committed terrible acts, like opting for raisins instead of chocolate chips, or some would say even murder, with no spare thought of the consequences.
The bells in her head rang. It seemed the detective had decided to call on her now. Naturally, it didn't bother her in the least bit. After all, it was always nice to have a little chat with real human people.
Lilith Lily of the Cox walked into the small room, flopping on a chair. Detective Robert Santiago stood in front of her in all his glory. He had wanted to talk to her, something about a murder? Or maybe it was about binder. Quite frankly, he could've been speaking about talking trains for all she knew, because she was too busy in a subconscious fight about whether cyan is considered as green or blue. She noticed Robert's mouth was open, before closing abruptly upon seeing all her settled. It reminded her of a fish, like Nemo or Flounder. Having a pet slash buddy fish Flounder would be just amazing wouldn't it?
''Very well, good evening, Miss Cox. How are you?''
The detective sat down in a chair in front of her. It made her wonder who was his Watson, because surely, everyone had somebody like that.
''Meh alright considering the situation. I miss my flying little yellow piggies but it's okay, I'll live. Oh dear me, I did not mean to make a pun my dear Santiago.''
"I won't pretend to know that I know what you just said and I really don't care enough to. Let's cut to the chase, what were you doing the night of the murder, Miss Cox?" He eyed her coolly.
''Did you bang your head on a golden fishy? I was with you at the bar dummy. You were busy flirting with Anna, wait no - it was the other way 'round I think, her with you when we got the call of the terrible murder. Then again, it might not have been Anna, You see, you flirted with a lot of people it was hard to keep track.'' She sighed. ''My poor purple dress-''
Robert cut her off before she could continue, leaving her to dab her eyes of voidless tears.
"I do remember but it is routine for me to convey the investigation this way. Anyway, what I meant was - what were you doing before you sat down at the bar? And my condolences to your dress.''
''Well when I first arrived at the manor, I saw everyone, chatted people up a bit, bumped into Daniel and met up with my muffins too. That was all earlier in the day though. Then I went to my room, propped the suitcase open and changed into my purple dress. And then I made my merry way down to the bar. I had a nice glass of wine too, but there just had to be a wall there, that had the audacity to bump into me. Spilled wine all over me too, the little rascal. My dress- My favorite purple dress got ruined and the wall dared to blame me. ME. How very rude.''
"I understand. That was incredibly rude of him. I have heard that you were taking a phone call at some point in the night, may I inquire who you are calling. I, of course, don't mean to intrude. Only if you are comfortable." Robert gave her a small smile.
''Oh well, I got a call from my dear old mumsie. You know how parents are, no matter how old the chicken is they always have to check up on its eggs and its whereabouts. It barely lasted half a minute though, I did not want to miss some one on one time with the glass. It had quite the stories to tell. I can tell you now if you want-''
She cleared her throat, getting ready to launch into stories of the adventures of the whiskey cup and the bottle, but Robert cut in, before they could stray further off the topic at hand.
"Did someone see you leave and enter the balcony?"
Lily pondered off in thought. ''Hmmm. There was, whatshisname something that rhymes with Aluminum, Alabama, Al... Ali Baba.. No that's not right. Oh yes! Alan! The herondale. Afraid of ducks.'' She giggled. ''Might've been on a phone call, so he went over there. I was not spying of course, my eyes just happened to wonder to his not so charming derriere.'' She leaned down to whisper that last part. There was something fuzzy in the air, and it was clouding up her mind. Damn eyeballs.
"You have a very keen sense of sight, Miss Cox. I have never seen his derriere but I will take your word for it. I will confirm with Mr. Herend. Did he - I don't think you made it clear- see you leave or enter the balcony or not at all?"
She giggled. ''Oh sorry, the flying popcorns distracted me. Are you saying I went on the balcony? Why would I want to go there? There are cameras anyway, I'm sure the popcorns don't hide me.'' She shrugs. ''For all I know he's seen me, or he hasn't I don't know. But he is an odd glowing flower from the field so you never know.'' She sighed. ''I am hungry. How long is this conversation going to last? Can we go to the cafe instead? I'm sure the chair doesn't mind.'' Her stomach growled and she patted it.
"I will provide you with food if you give me more of your time, Miss Cox. I meant it has been - proved and vouched for that you came to the bar after you exited the balcony. Can someone account for how long you were on the balcony?" Robert sighed, averting his eyes.
''Pinocchio had quite a long nose, but my mirror tells me mine looks like Voldemort. The water sloshes in my tummy but it will not stop me from eating of course. Wait why am I here again?'' She looked taken aback, quite confused with what in helheim she was doing in a closed room. ''Where are the flowers? OH yes I remembered, excuse my little dory. My mum can account for the time of course. And any other person on the balcony, it was quite crowded.'' She scoffed. ''Talk about social distancing- oh wait, wrong plot, never mind. And as I said, there were cameras too. Nasty little pixies tried to bite me too but did I let them? No sir-y I showed them, lemme tell you that.''
"There weren't. I think you might have mistaken the glare of a mirror for a camera, Miss. And you certainly do make a beautiful Voldemort." Robert crossed his arms. "I am going to ask you for the third and final time, otherwise I will consider your answer to be no. Did someone see you leave or enter the balcony?" Robert sat back in his chair.
''I suppose not Santiago dear no. But that does not tie me up with the murder because it happened way before. Now if you're trying to pin me down I assure you, it is just a waste of time because I can provide you with a list of people who have no alibi during the murder. Not to mention that some alibis can be fake, but in this case you were my alibi the whole night,, except for that short minute where I was gone from your sight. Now I doubt a minute is long enough to run to the manor stab someone a dozen times and be back is it not?''
"Just because someone else has no alibis doesn't even remotely rule you out of the list, Miss Cox. And Miss, no one can vouch for the time you spent, it might have been a minute, might have been an hour. Many things can be done in an hour." Robert bit his lip.
''Nobody saw me leave or enter the balcony except for the flying yellow piggies. I'd ask you to talk to them to ask, but not everyone has the mental capacities to see them.'' Lilith tried to pat Robert. ''It's okay, you don't have to feel bad, it's a rare gift after all.''
"I consider myself rather fortunate to not be to talk to them to be honest. I don't feel bad but thank you. How very interesting, no alibis. It has also come to my attention that you were murmuring phrases such as 'having the urge to murder' someone - I for one heard them myself. Now, under normal circumstances I would let that slide but since these are special ones. May I inquire why?"
''Well as I said, on the way to the bar, I bumped into a wall, honestly who even needs walls these days. You know who got killed? Do you know who I killed?'' Lilith sobbed. ''It's absolutely terrible. I killed my favorite purple dress. It was the one with lace, and little duckies on it too. I wore it on every occasion, and now it's just gone.'' She dabbed her eye to stop the tears. ''That day not only Delilah died, but my dress, and a part of my soul. I can show you the cloth if you want. I haven't buried it yet, to tell you the truth, I'm not ready to part with it yet. I know wine stains can't be removed but there must be some way for me to fix it.''
"I see no reason as to why you would 'have the urge to kill your dress' if you loved it so much. You weren't lamenting it, you were expressing your wishes to kill it, Miss Cox."
''Oh no detective. I had the urge to kill myself. It was my fault the dress died, if only I didn't have such an alcoholic and sweet tooth, I wouldn't have gone to the bar, wouldn;t have spilled wine. I should- I don't deserve to live.'' She broke down, but the muffins in the corner patted her head whispering sugary and quacking things to her.
Robert let out a small smile. He took her hand. "It's okay." He said. "I think that will be all, Miss Cox. I have all the information I need, if I have any additional questions, I will be sure to ask you. You are free to leave."
Lilith Lily of the Cox stood. ''Where's my cake?''
"Ordering one right now." Robert smiled.
She smiled at the thought of that sweet sugary goodness and happily skipped out the room.
It was still early in the day though, meaning plenty of time to get some of her own sleuthing done. Armed with her spectacles deerstalker and of course, the flying muffins, she was feeling quite confident.