A soft creak sounded as the door gave way to Vanessa entering Sil Bernard's office.
Her expression was serious yet composed as she made her way forward, approaching Sil Bernard and standing beside him, but as she did so, Melissa, still in the office, shifted her gaze. Her eyes rolled briefly before settling on Vanessa, sharpening into an intense, unmistakable stare.
Sil Bernard acknowledged Vanessa with a brief, restrained nod, never fully breaking his attention from Declan and the others.
"If I understand correctly," he said, " you're suggesting that I personally deliver the gifts to the Vikii family, for certain reasons." As he spoke, his gaze drifted to Melissa, who remained nearby and attentive, before sliding down to the neatly arranged boxes on the table and the ones stacked along the floor.
"Yes," Declan replied softly, one eye focusing on Melissa.
He didn't trust her. She looked and behaved slightly off, and her presence was too composed to read, making it difficult for Declan to gauge what exactly she was thinking. Moreover, she had been in the office for the entirety of their conversation with Sil Bernard. As for Melissa, she had no intention of leaving, not until she'd taken a look inside the boxes and relayed whatever she found to Kevin, or simply Jack.
Sil Bernard cleared his throat.
"If I may ask again. Can you specify exactly what is in these boxes?"
During the brief conversation the detectives and Sil Bernard were having, it seemed that Bernard's interest was aligned with Kevin and Melissa's.
The scientist stepped forward, approaching the two boxes on the desk.
"Jewelry and some vintage oils from our country. On top of that, it's just a costume-made revolver." He said, opening the two boxes.
As the man just clarified, the boxes indeed contained Jewelry and some oils. With the jewelry and oils sitting in the box to the left, and a revolver in the box to the right, leaving the four remaining boxes on the floor.
"Wow, this oil smells delightful."
Looking at the box with the jewels and oils closer, the strong scent of the oil hit Sil Bernard's nose, leaving him speechless for a moment as the scientist continued.
"We hope these gifts will be to the lady's liking; our country people tried their best to make them look perfect."
"That being said... We have something else we need to show you, but as you can see, we can't show you at the moment; we'll need a more private space." Declan added, shifting his gaze between the two servants in the room and then back at Sil Bernard.
Sil Bernard understood this and gestured at the two servants to leave.
....
Soon, Melissa and Vanessa were standing in the hallway. Vanessa was slightly shaking as her gaze drifted to Melissa, who seemed not care what Vanessa was going on about.
A second later, Melissa glanced at the sealed door behind them, wondering what the people inside the room were talking about, and what exactly the purpose of letting them go outside was. sparking her curiosity even more to know what was in the remaining four boxes.
She let out a quiet sigh, biting her bottom lip.
Vanessa, seeing this, thought Melissa was going to lose her patience.
"...A-are you alright?" She asked nervously, still slightly trembling.
Melissa slightly pivoted, her gaze turning into a glare, and so Vanessa thought, because of the reason that these two never got along, and Vanessa, standing so close to Melissa, thought this was the end for her.
Vanessa stiffened up the second Melissa made direct contact with her.
"S-sorry," Vanessa uttered, her voice a little shaky, but surprisingly, Melissa allowed herself a smile.
"What're you sorry for?" She said, her voice blunt.
Vanessa was taken aback by this, making her stiffen even more than before.
"You seem troubled. Is anything the matter?" Melissa asked, her smile glowing even softer.
Though Melissa was trying to act like a completely different person, it didn't change the fact that the two never got along. And this was just a plot to make Vanessa help her with peeking at the boxes.
"Auh... No." Vanessa replied.
Strange. Is Melissa smiling, or am I losing my mind? She wondered, slowly calming herself.
Melissa dropped her smile, shifting her gaze back to the door, and then spoke. "I wonder what they're talking about in there?" She shrugged and faced Vee again. "But there's no point in wondering bout it when I'm not even involved in their conversation."
Vanessa stared at her with no words of sorts, then eyed the sealed door herself, making her wonder what might have piqued Melissa's interest. The reason is that most of the time, Melissa seemed detached from whatever was happening in the mansion, and she never showed any interest in anything until now, which made Vanessa curious.
"I think they're talking about the boxes that were on the floor." She stated the obvious.
"Is that so?"
"I-I think."
Melissa stepped closer to the door and pressed her hand against it before closing her eyes and pushing it open. The door creaked, slowly shifting inward, and the people inside stared at it with surprised expressions on their faces. As for Vee, her jaw dropped, equally surprised as the people inside. Sil Bernard only shook his head sideways and looked the other way with a disappointed expression.
"What're you doing?!" Vanessa said, surprise lacing her voice as she stepped closer to Melissa.
Luckily, the people inside had already finished with their business and were on their way out. The two boxes that had been on Bernard's desk were no longer there; the only boxes left were the ones still on the floor, only now locked.
The detectives and the others took a second to collect themselves before stepping forward, approaching the door.
"Purdon us," Nowa said, passing Vanessa and Melissa and heading out of the office.
***