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Rook decided to roam for a bit in the mansion. While walking in the veranda, he saw one of the maids carrying a few trash with her. On a whim, he followed her. He remembered a few words from his father to follow even the most trivial things. There might be some clue hidden for the detective to solve. He really hated his father's lessons, but never did he complain. He listened and listened. He was rather annoyed that he is applying them now, in such situation.
The maid placed the trash on the incinerator and started to burn them. He approached the maid and smiled.
"Miss Isabel, isn't it? Did you burn the trash yesterday as well?" he asked.
"No Sir, all these are from the past two days. Sir Hansel orders us to take the trash every two days and burn them here. Is there a problem?"
"No, not really," he answered.
"Say, were there any wires or anything like that from your trash?" he continued asking. The maid shook her head and told him that most of their trash for the week are papers, tissues, a few plastic containers and a few disposables.
He waited for the maid to finish burning the trash before he tried to inspect what's left. He saw a few burnt pieces of rubber, paper ash and a few plastic materials. How trivial, he thought. Losing his hope, he went back to his room upstairs and saw Tatsumi on the bed, sitting there and scanning a photo album. Tatsumi seriously viewed the photos as if there is something that is hidden in those.
"What's wrong? Whose photo album are you holding?" he asked, curious what his friend was serious at.
"I got this from Sari's room. This photo album has their pictures when they were in the stage play. I think Sari was really a good artist; it's just that she was lazy enough to cooperate. In one of her photos, the others were rehearsing but she isn't. But looking on the other pictures, she received many awards. They even played a mystery story. I asked Jenny a while ago about it and she said the mystery was about a killer who is obsessed with a young girl who wanted to be a great artist. To become one, the killer must kill all her competitors for her to become famous. Jenny also said they used prosthetics and other face masks."
Rook listened to every detail. "Who was in charge in doing those face masks?"
Tatsumi gave him a photo from the album.
"Gabriel Zelezny…" he replied.
"Did the inspector tell anything new about the case?" Tatsumi asked, closing the photo album and reverting his attention to Rook.
"I just went into the forensics lab and I found out that Sari was first asphyxiated, and then her body was dismembered after that. We also found internal hemorrhaging because of the spasm in her larynx," he explained thoroughly.
Tatsumi laughed and scratched his head.
"You know I can't understand medical terms that much. I was not like you who had a father who trained you when you were still a kid," he said. Rather than being praised, Rook was a bit annoyed by it. He never really asked about any special training, but his father was always opposing and he wanted him to pay attention to what he's saying every time. However, he was starting to realize the use of it now.
There was a knock on the door. Tatsumi was the one who opened it. It was one of the maids. She was holding the telephone and said it is a call from Inspector Krauss. Rook was the one who gets the telephone from the maid and answered the call.
"Inspector Krauss, this is Rook," he answered.
"Young boy, we found out something. Not that I have to report this to you but I just want to tell you. Just like what I have expected, the time of death was not when you found the body dead," he bragged.
"What do you mean, Inspector?"
"She was killed earlier than when you saw her—"
"I already know that she was killed earlier though," Rook replied, with a condescending tone. Krauss cleared his throat and faked a cough before he continued.
"Right, but that is not all. From the victim's body, we saw traces of ceramic and graphite. We found this in the part of the blunt force trauma," Krauss continued. Right after hearing this, Rook's eyes widened as everything became crystal clear to his mind. He closed his eyes and the vision of the locked doors of mystery started to open one by one, as each mystery gets revealed within his brain.
"Inspector, I think I just have solved this murder case of yours," he said, calmly. He heard a few clink of metal before the inspector replied.
"What!? Are you sure!?"
"At first, I saw that the evidence the police gathered was missing a very important link. I searched carefully but I was not able to make completely what it was. When you mentioned the ceramic and the graphite, I finally opened the locked doors," he answered. His excitement raced over his body, but it was also mixed with fear, that he may not be able to pinpoint who the criminal really is. Both mixed in his core, but he kept himself calm and waited for the inspector's response.
"My men and I will be there in the mansion a few hours. Be sure about this or else –"
"I won't disappoint you, Inspector. The doors of the mystery have been finally unlocked," he replied, with his full confidence. He dropped the call and gave the phone back to the maid. The maid was rather confused, as she has heard what Rook just said.
"Please tell everyone to gather in the lounge and let us wait for the Inspector. I don't want to see anymore murders," he said and asked the maid to relay his message. The maid stuttered for a while until she took a grasp of herself and took the phone. She quickly responded and went to each of the guests' room to tell his message.
"Tatsumi, have you thought about it?"
"About what?"
"The murderer's first trick. If someone you don't know comes into your room, will you let him in?"
"Of course I won't," he said, as a straightforward answer.
"Then, if you know that person?"
Tatsumi stopped to answer for a while. He smiled after he thought of the questions Rook threw to him.
"So that's it!"
Both of them prepared, as they went down to the lounge.