Throughout the whole Meridian family home there was a small figure which appeared in many different places very quickly.
Another figure was hidden in a tree and keeping watch over the surroundings until a stone flew over towards them without warning. "Ow.."
They were caught off guard but turned in the direction of their attacker which had ran away before they could get a good look at them.
It was strange for the shadow guards to be attacked suddenly due to them being unnoticed by most people within the family grounds so their curiosity had been taken by someone that could detect and had attacked them.
Their pursuit lead them to where people were gathered so they hid again and found the situation a little strange.
The shadow guard frowned behind his mask. 'Why would they be gathered at a time like this? Should I listen in? Hmm..'
Just as they were thinking about how they should proceed, they begun to overhear parts of the discussion.
"I cannot believe the plan failed."
"That child is lucky."
"We should have eliminated her sooner."
"Indeed… the whole household has been turned upside down after she had reported this to the family head."
The same situation happened in other places and the shadow guards reported back what they had seen and heard to Rufus which helped to better identify who was involved with Pixel's poisoning attempt.
Dr Miyagi did not waste any time identifying the poison and had found a way to better identify who was actually handling and adding it to the ingredients sent to Pixel's home.
He pointed to his nails and stated. "This type of poison leaves a stain on or underneath the nails upon making contact with it that cannot he so easily washed away. It takes several attempts to completely remove it. I have checked over both of the suspects and have confirmed who the culprit is thanks to that."
Rufus calmly responded. "Was it as my granddaughter had suspected?"
Dr Miyagi answered in an enthusiastic tone of voice. "She was correct. Although I do not have the exact details of how or why they did it, the evidence does not lie. Although they claim their innocence and that they have been framed, they have clearly made contact with the poison. The other suspect has been confirmed to be innocent after being inspected but it would be safe to not make an assumption right away. How is your investigation going?"
Rufus was looking through many documents which showed he was still very busy. "There are many internal problems that have been brought to my attention this time and your assistance has only made my job easier in identifying them. I believe that I will be done soon and will be able to put an end to this."
Dr Miyagi nodded. "I am just glad to be of help. If anything, this has helped to identify a threat to many innocent lives. We cannot have such dangerous things being circulated among our lands."
As the two were having a discussion among the selves, they were coming to a final conclusion about who was guilty or not which lead to several events inside and outside of the Meridian home.
In some homes within the family grounds, there were sudden interruptions to certain people's daily lives as their homes were searched or some were taken away to be questioned and put in a prison cell.
The doors were hit hard or were kicked down without warning as those inside had scrambled to their feet and stopped what they were doing.
Those brave enough tried to put up a fight against the intruders but were quickly subdued.
Older or lazier Minks which had skipped training or had not trained for a very long time would not be able to contend with those that had been sent to their doorsteps by Dr Miyagi and Rufus so they were quickly subdued.
Meanwhile in one of the courtyards of the family home, a door was hit hard as a stern voice demanded from outside. "Open the door! The family head has called for the madam to come right now."
A female cat Mink was startled by the noise and showed a nervous expression on her face but quickly became cold and calm in a single moment. "Coming."
She looked over towards her son who approached. "Stay here."
The son frowned and then complained in an aggrieved tone of voice. "How dare those mere servants order my mother around."
The mother coldly glared towards her son and rebuked. "Behave. Stay inside and do nothing."
The son became obedient as soon as he was rebuked then quietly watched as his mother opened the door and walked out.
The moment that she had left, his gaze became malicious as it pierced beyond the door as if he was holding a grudge and trying to imprint the memory into his mind for later.
A cruel smirk appeared on his face as he thought of how he would teach those who looked down on him and his mother a lesson.
There was another figure within the room which had stayed silent the whole time and had watched everything as if their presence was unnoticed within the home.
They continued doing as they were after they sent the boy a gaze filled with disappointment and a little pity contained within.
They did not wish to be around the boy so they silently moved out of the main room and headed towards their bedroom and locked themself in.
Inside of the Meridian family, the investigation was moving into the final stages where people would be handed their punishments one after another then action would be taken to investigate the source of the poison and anyone linked the the plot against Pixel.
The second culprit was eventually cleared of suspicion and was released while the first had been proven to be guilty, the elder connected to the first culprit had helped her enter the family and gain her current position while helping to secure a couple of other things so they had invested some time and energy into them so they were a valuable pawn.
The first suspect had been smart enough to make use of others and had used those who she kept around her and helped out as disposable pawns for herself when she was asked to do anything that could get her into trouble.
Most of the things she had done were minor things but there had been some errors in the finances and goods within the household after some things had been looked over and being confirmed with Pixel and Ash.
It seemed as if some of the things that had been rightfully Pixel's had been carefully siphoned away and had been sent to the elder while the person who behind it had received various benefits for doing so.
Normally it would not be noticed since Ash did not notice the small difference and was not used to living within a noble household but the incident had caused it to be brought to the attention of Rufus.
Various elders connected to that elder were either lazy or untalented elders who preferred to put their bets on someone who could allow them to maintain their current lives as they had been so when a request had come for them to act, they wasted no time in taking sides in the battle between the children of the main bloodline.
There were some which aimed to secure a place for their children or grandchildren by the side of their chosen heir so they had placed everything on their success but had come out as failures.
Each of them had been dragged out of the family home and were paraded through the streets as they were lead to be interrogated further for their other crimes which had been discovered due to the evidence that they had failed to destroy.
One more culprit that was connected to the case had been identified but there was no proof besides some claims from the elders who hoped to have their punishments reduced.
It was difficult to decide their punishment due to their status within the family and there being a lack of proof so Rufus looked towards the cat Mink opposite him then said coldly. "You will be sent to a separate courtyard and will remain there. You cannot leave and see anyone until I have given you approval to do so."
The female mink grit her teeth and said coldly. "My family will not remain silent over this matter."
Rufus maintained his calmness in the face of the threats. "See her out and make sure she does not cause any more problems. Tell the two children that they cannot see their mother for a while, if they ask why then just say she has done something wrong and should be punished."
The female mink was held by her arms and was dragged out. "I will not forget this!"
After she had been dragged out, Rufus coldly stared at the closed door. "Almost everything is done. Now I just need to watch over some others that have been found to be suspicious and we have to chase this trail further."