Ducking under yellow police tape, Atticus and Shutter made their way through the cluster of bushes and trees to the crime scene. The bear trap lay bloody on the ground, ordered to be left as it was until the inspector arrives. Atticus bent down and studied it carefully. A slow smile crept across his face.
“Oi. You’re at a crime scene. Someone just died.” Shutter spoke up and Atticus grinned sheepishly.
“Yes, I know. But come here and look at this, Shutter.” He moved over as Shutter crouched down besides him, “This bear trap has no sign of rust or marks, besides the blood from Charles Winston. It still has a shine to it, and here-” Atticus pulled up the part that was hammered into the ground and dusted it off, “Still shiny! This is no accident, Shutter, this bear trap was installed recently at this very place by someone with a very strange and terrible intent. It’s a well-planned murder!!” Atticus announced gleefully but sombered up as Shutter stared at him in disapproval.
“Whoever he was must be long gone then,” Shutter stood up and took out a box of cigarettes, “Want one?”
“No, they’re terrible for your body, Shutter.”
“Hmph.”
“And don’t be so sure that our suspect has escaped. We still have much to investigate. I’m going to walk around a bit before we head inside the manor.”
It was the beginning of autumn and leaves were starting to change colour and were drifting down one by one, twirling in the light breeze. Atticus breathed in the fresh air and observed the ground and the trees as he walked around the crime scene. His brain rattled of names of every plant and tree his eyes landed on. Oak, pines, red maple, speckled alder, dogwood, lilies. He stopped. A broken branch lay at his feet, quite a sturdy one too. He peered up, squinting his eyes for anything unusual but found nothing. While observing the trunk itself, he found marks where the bark had been scratched away. Bearing this in mind, he walked back to Shutter who was now standing with someone. As they came closer, Atticus saw it was a young woman, with strawberry blonde hair that fell around her shoulders and a rather troubled looking face.
“Atticus, this is Lorie,” Shutter introduced her, “She’s one of the servants in Winston manor. Lorie, this is Atticus Sherrinford. Tell him what you just told me.”
Atticus shifted his attention towards her and she looked at the ground.
“Y-yesterday, Apple- the dog Mr. Winston kept in the back garden- started barking in the morning for no reason.” she stammered, fidgeting, “I realize now she must’ve been barking at Mr. Winston or whatever did that terrible thing to him. If I had only gotten out of bed and gone to look, I could’ve prevented this!” She looked at Shutter with tears in her eyes, “I’m to blame for this happening! P-please arrest me!”
Shutter laughed and Atticus blinked in surprise.
“I don’t think that is a valid reason to take you in, Miss Lorie.” he said as she wiped her eyes, “You can rest assured the only person who will be arrested is the one who cut off Mr.Winston’s arm.”
“A person did it?” Lorie looked at Atticus in shock, “It wasn’t an animal?”
“Apparently not.” Shutter grinned, “Don’t you worry your pretty head, miss, we’ll take care of this in no time.”
“Oh! Let me help with the investigation then! I can show you around the manor if you’d like?” Lorie smiled, all fear of being arrested gone from her face.
“Ah, yes.” Atticus said, “If you could escort us in now and tell us a bit more about Mr.Winston on the way, it would be quite helpful.”
“Of course!” Lorie led the way out of the forest, “Are you a detective, Mr.Sherrinford?”
“Atticus is fine and I wouldn’t really say-”
“Yes he is, and a fine one too,” Shutter cut him off loudly, “He’s just too humble to call himself one.”
“Have you been on many cases?” Lorie asked with fascination.
“Well-” Atticus started.
“He’s helped me out countless times!” Shutter interrupted again, “Caught each and every foul little criminal too!”
“Shutter, please-”
“That’s amazing!”
“Miss Lorie,” Atticus wearily tried to take control of the conversation, “We’re supposed to be asking the questions, remember?”
“Oh yes, I’m sorry,” Lorie grinned sheepishly, “And um, you can call me Lorie if you’d like.”
“Well, Lorie,” Atticus shook off Shutter as he nudged him gleefully, “Will you please tell us some more about Mr.Winston?”
“Yes, um. Where do I start...He was very passionate. And quick-tempered. One time he fired a cook after finding a bug in his food. He made sure everything goes according to his plans, and if anything went wrong he would go crazy. Me and the other servants were always having to clean up after him, but once he took a liking to someone he could be very generous. He took me in after my mother died and made sure I was comfortable here.”
“Had he been behaving differently than usual recently?”
Lorie took a minute to ponder.
“Yes, I would say he was recently even more aggressive than usual. For the past few days, I would say,” she said, “Maybe it was the stress of the annual party that was getting to him, but everything was going along rather smoothly as far as I know.”
“Did you notice anything else unusual?”
“No, not really. He went to bed rather early yesterday night but again, the party is today so that wouldn’t be surprising.”
“Hold on, the party is still going on?” Shutter asked in surprise, “Even though the host has passed away?”
“Yes, Mr.Winston had a will written for a time like this for quite a while. Anything could happen to him on his travels, he said, but his legacy and everything he has collected in the manor must be put on display and admired at his annual party every year even if he’s not there.”
“Lunatic…” Shutter mumbled.
They now walked through a gate and headed toward a red-bricked path that was surrounded on both sides by exotic flowers and bush sculptures. A fountain sat not too far off, presenting water being poured out from pots that sat upon the shoulders of beautifully carved women. As they walked towards the stairs that led to the large decorated front door, a dog came running up to them.
“Apple!” Lorie exclaimed and tried to calm it down, “These are guests, it's okay girl.”
“Shit!” Shutter pushed Atticus in front of him, “Get it away from me, I don't like dogs.”
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Lorie apologised with an amused smile as Shutter slowly moved backwards up the stairs, still holding Atticus in front of him. Turning to Atticus she said “This is the dog who I heard barking last night. She's very well behaved usually, I thought it was a small animal that got her excited.”
“What does she usually bark at?” Atticus stumbled as Shutter moved back, “Shutter, perhaps you better wait for us inside-”
“Damn right, hurry it up though.” With a last glare at Apple, he jogged up and went indoors. Atticus crouched in front of Apple with Lorie and petted her head.
“She gets excited by anything new and barks at guests and animals sometimes, and she barks when she knows she’s gonna get treats.,” Lorie explained, pleased that Atticus seemed to like Apple, who barked immediately at the word ‘treats’, “I've had her since she was a puppy and Mr.Winston was kind enough to allow me to keep her as long as she doesn't come indoors. She's very sweet and smart. Here, look.” Lorie cleared her throat and Apple perked her ears up. “Apple, sit.”
Apple sat down immediately.
“Shake!”
Apple gave Lorie her paw.
“Roll over.”
Apple rolled over. Twice.
“She does that so I'll give her extra treats.” Lorie laughed and went back to petting Apple, “Good girl!”
“She's a great dog.” Atticus smiled, “I suppose she was tied up last night?”
“Yes, we tie her up at night. We have other guard dogs that she doesn't get along with roaming around and I don't want her to be bit.”
“Other guard dogs?” Atticus stared at her, “Where were they last night? You didn't hear them barking?”
“Oh!” Lorie looked at him surprised, “That is really strange isn't it? I didn't hear them barking at all, but I'm sure they were roaming around. I saw them in the evening before I went to my room.”
“How interesting.” Atticus rose up and dusted off his clothes, “In any case, how about we head inside and look around? I'm sure Shutter is bored by now.”
“Sure,” Lorie got up and kissed Apple on the head, “Go play, Apple. Head to the back for treats!”
Apple barked at the word treats and rushed to the back of the house.
“Head to the back for treats?” Atticus inquired as they went up the stairs.
“Yes, our kitchen has a backdoor and sometimes the cooks throw her some leftover meat or other foods. They love her.”
“I see.”
When they got inside, Shutter was waiting for them impatiently.
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