According to Gemma's statement, William was found by her who happened to go outside to retrieve some eggs from the backyard at three o'clock in the morning. As she walked towards the hen house, she stumbled upon something, which was later found as William's body. His head and arms were torn apart from his body, causing her to vomit upon seeing such gore.
"Do you usually go fetching some eggs at three o'clock in the morning?" Asked Newton. His eyes looked at her sharply.
"No, Milord. But Millie must have forgotten to get them yesterday afternoon. Our stock was short." Answered Gemma. Surprisingly, her tone of voice was calm.
"Were you the only one who was awake?"
She shook her head. "Few of the guards were awake. One of them was standing in the back entrance when I stepped outside."
"Bring him in." Order Newton.
Came in the guard that looked like he got beaten several times on his face. His eyes swollen. His nose got bandaid on it. His whole face got bruises. Seeing him in that kind of state, Newton furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side, glancing at the Mayor.
"What happened to your face?" Asked him to the guard without looking at him.
The Mayor turned his head on Newton's direction. His eyes were telling the councilman that he knew what the councilman was thinking.
"I ordered the other guards to beat him." Gilbert confessed.
"That's not good." Newton chuckled. He waved the seat in front of him to the guard. "Have a seat."
Before the guard could sat down, Newton already bombarded him with another questions. "What's your name? What did you see in the backyard before three o'clock in the morning?"
"I really did not see anything or anyone. I swear on my life I did not see anyone." Came the rush nervous answer from the guard.
"Since what time did you guard the back entrance?"
"From eight o'clock." Answered him.
"And you did not see anyone since then?" Newton questioned him.
"No, Sir." He shook his head in fear. "No one except Gemma."
"How far was it from where you stand to where the body was found?"
"About ten meters." He answered quickly and accurately.
"Did the rain, perhaps, blurred your vision?"
To this question, Sybil was the one who opened her mouth. "There was no rain last night."
"But it was still a dark night." Retorted Newton. His eyes gazed at the lady of the house sternly. He did not like when his interrogation was being interrupted. "Well, okay. No rain. Can your vision see clear of what happened within ten meters?"
The guard did not answer. He was unsure what to say to the councilman. Last night, even though there was no rain, the night was still dark. He could have been the first one to find the body of William but it was the maid who came early in the morning that find him. How could he miss it?
"You have to answer my question, Sir…?" Newton leaned his upper body forward, staring at the man.
"Je..re..my, Sir." Answered the guard, stuttering.
"Well, Jeremy. Let me rephrase my question. Do you think you can see something within ten meters away from where you stand at night time?" Newton finished his question with a sigh as he grew impatient.
"Yes, Sir." Jeremy whispered. He lower his head lower than before.
"But you believed you did not see anyone or the boy until Gemma came." Concluded Newton who could not fathom the mystery of the Mayor's son death. With the number of guards that the Mayor had placed around the house, it was impossible that none of them saw the murderer or noticed the murder when it took place.
Who would take the boy outside without anyone notice?
Newton could have just held both the maid and the guard as the suspect. Yet, he did not. He had a feeling that something it took more than a maid and a guard to murder a boy and dump his body outside invisibly. So, he dismissed the guard and called the next witness.
All of the maids and guards had been interrogated thoroughly. Newton still could not find anyone that he could hold as a suspect. All of them seemed clear except for the Mayor and his wife.
"Mrs. Graham." Newton set his eyes on the lady. "It's your turn."
At the same time, a councilman came into the room. He bowed to the mayor, then walked over to Newton who glared at him from interrupting. The man leaned closer to Newton and whispered something.
Gilbert and Sybil narrowed their eyes down at the two councilmen. They did not trust them for their lack of experience. How dare the council send a newly assigned team member to handle his son's death?
Sybil studied Newton's facial expression that was now frowning. She could not hear what the other man whispered to the team leader. It make her wonder what it could be. She did not like this man for one bit. Sybil did not expect her husband to involve the council in investigating her son's death. They could have buried her son straight away instead of dealing it for the sake of autopsy. What could they possibly found from the dead body?
After hearing the full story from his team member, Newton got up from his chair and turned his head to the Mayor and his wife, who stared hard at him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Graham, we would have to take Jeremy and Gemma with us for further investigation. The result of the autopsy will be handed out before this evening." Informed Newton with his composed expression. "I believe you would like to have your son rest peacefully as soon as possible."
"So, you think it's them both?" Came a skeptical question from Gilbert who got his eyes on the coffee table in front of him. He was trying to understand where this young councilman tried to take case.
"From the information I gathered, they both are the only possible suspects. Don't you think it is possible for both of them to work together and plan out the murder?" Newton did not mean what he said. But for one and two reasons, he had to have a strong ground to be able to hold the two as the suspects.
"May they rot in hell!" Came the pray full of hatred from Mrs. Graham who sobbed again.
"My deepest condolences to you both, Mr. and Mrs. Graham." Newton bowed his head and left the room with his team member. When they were out of the room and closed the door behind them. Newton turned to his man and said, "Turner, take out temporary suspect with us. Put them in my carriage. I'll ride with them."
Turner, who heard the order from his leader, furrowed his brows at him. "Are you serious, Sir?"
Newton nodded. "You can ride with others."
His man quickly do what Newton asked, walking toward opposite direction from his leader who went down the stairs.
On his way to the front door, he saw a small commotion at the entrance. As he got closer, he caught a red hair woman was arguing with the guards about something. His brown eyes studied the woman's feature who looked familiar to him.
"I'm sorry, but the Master and Mistress strictly said that they don't accept any visitor right now." Said the guard to the woman who had been insisting on seeing the Mayor and his wife.
The woman cursed inaudibly, running her hand to her open hair in frustration. Then, her eyes caught the sight of a man walking to the entrance.
When their eyes met each other, a broad smile was plastered on Newton's face who finally recognised the woman.