Aion's sobbing continued for a while; at some point Alphonse said he needed to go. Eventually Aria stumbled away in a daze, leaving only Aira and Aion behind in the midst of death.
Aira had chosen to stay quiet, letting Aion grieve for the loss of Sam.
"...ard…" Aion mumbled something.
"Huh?" Aira seemed to have gone into her own thoughts at some point, her previously clouded expression leaving for one of surprise.
"Goddamn bastard!" Aion spat; an enraged expression was on his face, completely replacing his earlier grief.
Aira was startled and made a small "ah!"
"Aira, do you mind if you stay with me while I investigate?"
"Ah, no, not at all!" Aira readily agreed.
"I…I don't want you to die on me too…" Aion's previous passion faltered when he said that.
His eyes swam with tears like he would cry again.
Aira looked surprised, and she bit her lip a little before nodding.
"Thank you…"
Aion looked relieved and faced the room with the hanging Sam. Taking a deep breath, Aion walked into the room.
The room was in the west wing of the second floor, along with the room where the chef had died. Sam's room was in the northern area, while the chef's was more in line with the center, being directly a turn away from the hallway leading to the ballroom.
As for Sam's room, it seemed like it was a parlor. The couches and table had been pushed aside for the spectacle of Sam's death. Aion gently brought his hand to Sam's and immediately jumped back in surprise.
Sam's body—it was cold.
"What's wrong?" Aira asked.
"Sam's body…it's cold…" Aion said slowly, as if he were trying to tell himself that it was most definitely the truth.
"Cold?" Aira asked, a little confused.
"Hm…I guess you wouldn't know…"
Aion looked in deep contemplation.
Sam's body was cold to the touch. That implied algor mortis had completely set in. In other words, at minimum, several hours should've passed since death. Generally a body doesn't feel cold to the touch until around twelve to twenty-four hours after death.
So…Sam was dead around 12 hours ago? Aion thought as his head throbbed with pain.
"Aion, you don't look so good…" Aira said. "Are you sure you can investigate in this state?"
"I'm fine. But Aira, this may sound like a dumb question, but Sam was at the party, right?" Aion asked.
"Are you really okay?"
"Yes! This is a serious question!"
"Yes, I saw Sam at the party."
"Did you talk with him?"
"A few brief things, but nothing in-depth."
"Hm…"
"What's wrong?"
"Algor mortis, or rather, the body has become cold…that means Sam being at the party should've been completely impossible."
"Huh? That's impossible though; he was there!" Aira said loudly before wincing a little.
"Hm?"
"I bit my tongue…" Aira said with an embarrassed expression.
"Is that so?"
Aion's expression grimaced after the small exchange.
If Sam hadn't been at the party, who was it that he was talking with?
Furthermore, Aion thought, this is a locked room…
Looking around, Aion found there was no other way to leave. Just in case, Aion checked the windows and found them locked.
And considering the fact that this room was at the end of the hallway, escape should've been utterly impossible. There was no way the killer could've slipped past everyone in this hall.
So, if anything, it was even more plausible that the murder took place before the party even began.
"Aira, is this room lockable from the outside?" Aion asked.
"No," Aira answered.
Aion bit his lip with a confused expression on his face. Once again, another locked room that seemed impossible.
He'd read a work once where locked rooms were extraordinarily commonplace, and he hadn't figured any of it out, only learning the truth later. So attempting to solve rooms like this was, to say the least, taxing.
Aion decided to shift his focus toward the doorknob. It was the standard golden knob everywhere in the manor with no clear standout. But if James and Noah were poisoned by some sort of trap, he supposed it would probably be hard to find. So, instead, he opted to look for prick wounds on James' body. This was also a perfect time to try and figure out the poison.
But when searching the body, he found that neither were answered. The most obvious thing was no wound, which meant the poison must've been inhaled or ingested. The other, what poison it was, Aion couldn't figure out. The main poisons Aion was most familiar with were cyanide, arsenic, and strychnine. They were all common poisons used in detective fiction. Outside of the three most commonly used poisons were a couple like ricin or hemlock. But the details didn't seem to add up.
The first notable thing was coughing up blood. That was the first true sign Aion had seen that Noah had been poisoned. That symptom by itself is fine; the issue was the speed at which it killed its victims. Most of the poisons that he knew of that caused coughing up blood acted far slower than whatever happened with James and Noah. Furthermore, there didn't appear to be any obvious signs of poisoning at this point. Perhaps if more time passed, it would, but he didn't have that time.
Perhaps it is a gaseous poison then? Aion was far more familiar with ingestible poisons than gaseous poisons simply because ingestible poisons are easier to use, thus making them more effective murder tools. He really couldn't be certain.
Ultimately, it wasn't like he could start investigating various poisons. One, the time would've prevented that. And two, he doubted he could find information on poisons in a place like this. Especially since James and Noah said they were cursed rather than poisoned, implying the concept of poison is not that well known in a place like this.
"Hey, Aira," Aion said as he turned toward Aira. "Are you familiar with the word 'poison'?"
"Poison?" Aira repeated back a little quietly, a little taken aback. Her eyes swam with some unreadable emotion and she said, "No, I haven't heard of it."
"...Yeah…that tracks…" Aion mumbled.
So the killer was someone who knew about poison, so they were probably more connected with the outside. But the only person he knew that fit that was Alexander…
Alexander had disappeared at some point; maybe he was plotting all of this? But why? What exactly would he gain from all this?
"Just to make sure, Alexander Dolion isn't attending this party tonight, right?"
"Hm?" Aira snapped out of whatever she was thinking about. "Oh no, not at all. Mr. Dolion would never attend an event like this."
"Are you familiar with him?"
"No, it's just," Aira paused for several seconds. Seemingly thinking for a while. It seemed a little long, but Aion didn't think much of it because she soon continued with "I've worked here since I was about six, and he's never attended a party."
"I see…"
"Of course, I know a lot of the nobility aren't fans of him…"
"..."
If the murders had been of the nobility, at least some justification could've been made. But the deaths so far have been the servants, a noble's child, and a random commoner girl. It was completely nonsensical to assume that the motive was a grudge against the nobility. At least with the current information it was that way.
But…who else would that leave? Aion thought. Perhaps a doctor?
A doctor should be familiar with the dangers of certain things to ingest, not necessarily inhale, but at least the digestion part.
"I have a question: is there a doctor in this town?"
"Ah," Aira made a surprised noise. "Yes, he's actually attending the party tonight."
"Hm…then how does he treat his patients?"
"Uh, he usually gives something called 'medicine.' Have you heard of it?"
"Yeah, I have…" Aion went back into contemplation.
A doctor was attending tonight; thus, the possibility of him being the culprit opens up. Thinking about it, the chef and Mark were killed very cleanly, like the work of a professional. If there was any likely candidate, a doctor seemed like a good choice.
In other words, Aion thought, the primary suspects were Alexander and the doctor currently…
But that was based solely on the poisonings and not on how they could've committed the murders or why they would. So it was only a loose level of suspicion.
"So, my question is," Aion started again. "If this room had a body in it the whole time, how did no servant stumble upon it?"
"Ah, well…" Aira thought for a few seconds before continuing with, "We were actually ordered to focus purely on the ballroom and the foyer today. So it wouldn't be too surprising if no servant came down this way since there's nothing needed down here."
"Ordered, huh?" Aion mused.
That would strictly eliminate Alexander and the doctor since Aion highly doubted either of them had the authority to make such a declaration.
"Who gave the order?" Aion asked.
"I'm not really sure…I heard it from my sister…"
"I guess I would have to ask Aria then…"
"If I had to take a guess, it would've come from either Sebastian or Alphonse, though."
Aion narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. Esme had been killed, so Alphonse wasn't likely to be the killer. Then there was Sebastian…
The biggest issue with Sebastian being the killer is he is just a butler. He wouldn't be privy to information outside of Magna, so knowing about poison seemed highly unlikely. It was possible, just not very appealing probabilistically.
Additionally, Aion found the motive troubling to lock down. Generally, if a servant was the killer, a noble would've been taken out. But not a single noble has been killed so far…
And of course, the method of how the murders were performed would still be completely shrouded in mystery.
Aion decided to keep that in mind for later, and he moved down the hall to where the chef's body was.
The inside of the room was plain. It looked like an unused room with just a few things thrown in at random. The room had no windows, making the only actual exit the door.
"Just to make sure, this can't be locked from the outside, right?" Aion asked.
"Yeah…" Aira said, a little down.
In fact, she looked a little pale.
"Aira? You don't look so good," Aion said with a concerned expression.
Aira laughed and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Aion asked, getting a little closer.
Aira backed up and said, "Yes!"
Her voice was a little high-pitched, probably from the sudden surprise of Aion moving closer.
"Okay…"
Aion moved along, some of his concern still lingering behind. But he chose to trust her.
So, going back to the situation, Aion was once again deadlocked by another locked room. This time, however, he had a clue. The key to unlock the door was in front of the door. In some way, that must've been important.
Aion picked up the key that Alphonse had left behind and examined it closely. It seemed normal enough with '2G' inscribed on the bow of the key, likely indicating the room, but he wasn't sure.
"Aira, can I see one of the other keys?" Aion asked.
Aira brought out the key ring and dropped it. "Ah! I'm sorry, I lost my grip, I guess."
Aira went to bend down, but Aion bent down first to pick it up.
"You didn't have to do that…"
"It's fine. I asked you to bring it out, so it's the least I can do."
"If you say so…"
Aion took a couple seconds staring at her before looking at the bows and designs of each key. Generally, they were all the same except for what was inscribed on the bows and the designs of the actual unlocking part of the key. Basically, the key to this room seemed like it belonged.
"Isn't having keys for rooms that can't be locked from the outside kind of pointless?" Aion asked.
"Ah…well…I think it's in case a guest or someone is not responding or in cases of emergencies…"
"Still…the keys should be able to lock the doors," Aion said as he shut the door to the chef's body.
He didn't want to continue seeing the corpse, plus he felt shutting the door at least let the chef preserve some sense of dignity.
Although, he seemed plenty at peace when he died… Aion thought.
Staring at the knob, he, for some reason, inserted the key into the lock and turned to lock it.
Click!
A lock noise echoed from the door.
"Uh…" Aion was shocked that the innocuous action he just performed solved the biggest issue of this case in an instant.
"Huh?" Aira didn't notice what happened, snapping out of some of her own thoughts. Then, a perplexed expression formed on her face when she realized what had happened. "Huh? But…"
Aira mumbled a few things with squinted eyes.
"Hold on, I'm going to test this on the other doors," Aion said.
Aion ran down the hall and tested Sam's death room, but unlike the last, it did not lock.
Perhaps it really was just that door…
Going back to the original scene, the key was in front of the door, and the actual shock was the fact that the key was missing from all the servants' key rings. In other words, the real issue was how the keys were all systematically stolen.
Still, he should at least check the scene of Esme's death.
"Aira, I'm going to be checking—"
Aion stopped himself when he saw Aira leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.
"Sorry…you just ran…too fast…" Aira breathed out.
Aion felt a prick in his heart, and he closed the distance between them fast.
"Aira…you're not fine…"
Aira smiled softly and said, "Yeah…I am…"
Aira fell to her knees on the ground.
Aion immediately followed her down and grabbed her shoulders forcefully, saying, "No, no, you're clearly not! You're struggling to breathe. You're struggling to even walk down a hallway!"
"But Aion, I am fine…"
"Aira, don't worry, I'll get the doctor, and he'll be able to—"
"Last night, I dreamt of the future…" Aira said.
"Huh?"
"It was kind of weird, you know, dreaming of the future and all…"
"Aira, let's just head back, okay?" Aion heard his voice crack a little.
Logically, he knew.
Emotionally, he was only just catching up.
"In that dream, I…was so happy…" Aira smiled beautifully, a smile so large, so big in comparison to anything he'd seen her display before.
Aion gritted his teeth and looked down.
"You know why I was so happy?" Aira asked.
"...Why…?" Aion asked back.
It was the least he felt he could do.
Aion waited for a response.
He waited and waited.
It was a long silence that seemed to last an eternity.
But this was no eternity.
It was only a few moments in Aion's "aion."
"...Yeah…that's wonderful…" Aion said as he felt his body shudder. "I'm sure…it was a wonderful dream…a beautiful, wonderful dream…"
Aion didn't look up.
He didn't look up, no matter what.
He wanted that last image of Aira in his head to be her beautiful, wonderful smile.
So, without looking, and without disturbing her body, he left with his eyes closed as tears streamed down his face.
He should've realized a while ago.
And he regretted not doing so.