Chapter 2 - Arthur Caine

𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 1889, 𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙧. 𝙀𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝘿𝙪𝙗𝙤𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝘼 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧.

𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 23𝙧𝙙 1889

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪" 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳

"𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭" 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 "𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦"

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺"

"𝘈𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 ahead 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩"

"𝘺𝘰𝘶 sound like one of my students

too lazy to accommodate new ideas" 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳 "𝘮𝘢𝘺 i 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦"

"𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦" Arthur replied

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯"

𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥" 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 "𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘐 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 must 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 "𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯"

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 " 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥

"𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 mystery 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥." 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳

"𝘈 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴" 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥

"𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯" 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 "𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳"

"𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺" 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥

"𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘪 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦" 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥

"𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦" 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥.

T𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 i like 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 , 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.

We arrived at Mr Dubois resident

with inspector stokes leading the way to the scene of the murder,

On getting to the dinner table you could see mr Dubois sitted with a golden knife shoved into his chest, while Arthur stood smoking his pipe staring at the corpse with immense scrutiny

"when was the body found" he asked

"5 AM" replied stokes

"I made an inquiry before your arrival" he continued

"Mrs. Dubois told me that her first son had a bit of a row with Mr Dubois last night before his death which the butler also confirmed, the odd thing is they all passed out exactly the same time"

"I will need an audience with each member of this household, I'll start with the maid" he said

The maid was a young lady named evelyn, she had a ginger colored hair I would say she had quite a remarkable feature, the expression on her countenance was extremely sad,

she must have been crying ever since the incident

"What can you tell about last night" Arthur asked her

Mr. Dubois had a row with his son in his study around six-ish,

An hour after that I served dinner for the family, to which Mrs. Dubois encouraged me and the butler to join them at the table, after we were done with dinner I proceeded to clean up but then I blacked out waking this morning to to find Mr Dubois with a golden knife in his chest and his son henry covered in blood"

Evelyn dissolved Into tears

Whispering 'my dear Ernest'

Arthur Caine proceeded to interview the butler

Who was a sturdy man with a towering height of over six feet, I wondered if he was also a bodyguard

"Tell me about last night" said Arthur to the butler

"I couldn't tell you much sir" he said "I heard mr. Dubois arguing with master henry, after that we all proceeded to eat dinner then I don't remember much, woke this morning at the dinner table to see Mr Dubois in his sit with a knife in his chest and master henry with blood all over him and

Mrs Dubois was crying heavily.

"Do you think mr Henry did it" asked Arthur

"Master henry might be a troublesome fellow but I don't think he could do such a thing"

"That will be all "said Arthur

Mrs. Dubois came in, she was a woman who had a certain air of sophistication around her, I watched her as she proceeded to sit

"I'm sorry for your loss" Arthur interjected

"You must be devastated"

"You can't imagine the grief I feel, Ernest was the best man I ever knew"

"Is the golden knife a property of Mr Dubois"

"Yes, he got it from his travel to egypt.

Always like Ernest to acquire shiny objects" she replied

"What was the nature of the argument between your husband and henry"

Asked Arthur

"Henry has a bad habit of gambling he lives recklessly and extravagantly with no responsibility, he wanted his father to give him more money to which Ernest disagreed,

we wanted henry to be a man of his own"

Arthur Caine had his method of processing details he gathered,

he would sit quietly with his eyes closed while reenacting scenarios in his mind, most days this went on for hours, but with the urgency of this investigation maybe a few minutes.

15 minutes later stood up and instructed inspector stokes to gather the entire household in the living room

Arthur Caine proceeded to address everyone

"Now the question we must ask ourselves ladies and gentlemen is, what was the motive behind this murder?

Who gains the most?

Mr Henry wouldn't go so far as to kill his father just to get caught this easily " Arthur Caine continued

"Now upon the death of of Ernest Dubois I would infer he was killed by a woman, if you examine the stab wounds more closely you'll find it is not the work of a strong man but rather a lady of meager strength she proceeded to stab 5 five times in order to be sure he was surely dead, there was no sign of struggle from the victim which was ensured by the sleeping pills that was administered in the food,

now all evidence points to the maid who prepared the food,

who sedated everyone killing Mr Dubois then proceeded to frame henry who would look guilty because of the suspicious squabble he had with his father

but that my dear audience this doesn't quite fit.

Because the maid has no reason to kill Mr Dubois, who I will confidently tell you was her lover"

Arthur Caine said smiling.

Miss Evelyn in her sit was now too embarrassed to meet anyone's gaze,

Inspector stokes on the other hand was filled with delightful as watched Arthur Caine unravelling the mystery

"Now I will tell you our killer was motivated by greed,

greed is an awfully green-eyed monster

that infects the mind, it compels even the most moral of us to do bad things.

The only one responsible for committing this heinous crime here today is Mrs. Dubois

who in spite killed her husband after discovering that he was having an affair with the maid, and framing her son in order to keep the inheritance for herself.

Inspector stokes you may proceed to arrest Mrs. Mary Dubois for the murder of her husband Ernest Dubois."

'Mr Henry Dubois is therefore innocent of all allegation

Now if you must excuse me

I'll be on my way to have my rest.

Merry Christmas everyone do enjoy the holidays" he said as we turned to leave"

"That knife is quite the a price,

would have made an excellent decoration for my Christmas tree" I said jovially to Arthur who nodded in response.

"I think I'll have stokes bring it to the house house, it's the least he can do for me after solving the case" replied Arthur

"That would be quite jolly of you" I said

"Ah there's nothing more cheerful than unraveling a mystery my friend" he replied as we got in our cab, riding off Into the streets of London.