Don't Ask, It'll Hurt If You Know - Chapter 18
At the time, Chloe had been shocked in many ways, and since it was her first time at the Lloyd mansion, she couldn’t remember the exact location. She only vaguely recalled the room’s layout and the position of objects.
But the maid who she first met then, who had told her various things about Bianca Lloyd and the Lloyd family, would know where it was.
Chloe immediately looked for the maid, but as luck would have it, she had left on vacation this morning. The other servants seemed to know nothing about the place in question.
“My luck really is terrible until the end.”
Still, the fortunate thing in this misfortune was that the place in question was likely preserved as it was. If none of the servants knew about that place, it meant no one had cleaned it either.
“I’ll have to look for it myself.”
Remembering that she had come out to the first floor through the stairs, Chloe examined every room on the first floor of the Lloyd mansion.
Thanks to remembering the room’s layout roughly, she was able to find the place in question quickly, but two problems arose here.
The first problem was that not only was there no magic circle drawn in blood, but even the horrifically mutilated animal carcass that had been too gruesome to look at was gone.
“……!”
“L-Lina!”
The second was that the maid who was supposed to have left on vacation this morning was hanging dead from the ceiling.
* * *
When news spread that a maid had hanged herself in the mansion, the Lloyd residence was thrown into chaos.
“Lina’s dead? That’s impossible! Lina left the mansion this morning saying she was going on vacation!”
“I heard she hanged herself…… could it be suicide?”
“That’s impossible! She was so excited about buying gifts for her family back home……. There’s no way she would commit suicide!”
While the servants were in an uproar, filled with shock, fear, and confusion, Chloe leaned against the wall with an expressionless face.
“My goodness, look at that young lady. How can she be so calm after seeing someone who hanged themselves?”
“I know. She must not have any emotions.”
“That’s not it, she just doesn’t care. To nobles, it’s just a mere maid who died.”
“How ridiculous. Acting like a real noble when she’s noble in name only…….”
I can hear everything, you fools.
Properly speaking, gossip should be done secretly where the subject can’t hear, yet they’re doing it so openly.
Newly realizing Bianca Lloyd’s position in the Lloyd viscounty, Chloe clicked her tongue.
Normally, she would have sharply scolded the cheeky servants who couldn’t distinguish their place, but she held back, not wanting to make a scene when someone had died. There was also something else bothering her more than the servants’ insolent attitude.
“…….”
Chloe crossed her arms and swept her gaze across the room. The room that had reeked of blood was now spotlessly clean. If she hadn’t remembered the room’s layout, she wouldn’t have thought this was the place.
Since none of the remaining servants said they had cleaned this room, the dead maid must have cleaned it.
And she would bet that the maid was killed by someone immediately after finishing the cleaning.
Yes. That maid didn’t commit suicide, she was murdered. Someone killed her to silence her and made it look like suicide.
A sharp light flickered in Chloe’s eyes as she looked at the dead maid.
The maid was still hanging from the ceiling. Though it was pitiful and unsightly to see her hanging there like a museum exhibit, they couldn’t touch anything until the investigator and the capital guard arrived to preserve the scene.
“Excuse me.”
Only after two hours had passed since the servant went to report it did the investigator and capital guard finally appear.
While the guard was taking down the maid’s body, the investigator quickly scanned the room, then asked Chloe in Bianca’s form.
“The maid committed suicide?”
Are they jumping to conclusions before even investigating? Chloe smirked and asked back.
“Why are you asking me that? Shouldn’t you find out through your own investigation, Inspector?”
Seemingly displeased with Chloe’s attitude, the inspector frowned and glared at her.
Far from being intimidated, Chloe smiled mockingly and added.
“You should do your job properly, Inspector. That way the salary going into your pocket won’t be wasted.”
