The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 52

“Milady! Please wake up!”

 

“I’m already awake. Come in.”

 

The moment the answer came, Doris opened the door and hurried in, her expression clouded. “The security forces are here to take you in.”

 

“We knew this was coming. For questioning, at least.”

 

“No, it’s more than that.” On the verge of tears, Doris shook her head in agitation.

 

An ominous feeling washed over Shailoh, and she swallowed hard. “What?”

 

“They said they’re here to place you under emergency arrest as a murder suspect.”

 

“What are you talking about…?”

 

A wave of dizziness hit, and Shailoh pressed a hand to her forehead. Her vision swam. She had braced herself to be summoned over Olivier’s case and dragged through a grueling investigation, but she had never imagined anything like this.

 

“I don’t understand what’s going on either. But if you let them take you like this, you’ll be in real danger!” Doris stamped her feet in panic, then forced herself to come up with a solution. “Ma-Maybe we should run for now? We have the secret passage.”

 

“That would be far too reckless. It would only make them more suspicious.” Shailoh shook her head and drew in a deep breath. “I suppose I should go to meet them.”

 

“Milady…”

 

“There’s no evidence anyway. I don’t know what they’re using as grounds to lock me up, but I’ll be out soon enough.”

 

If her guess was right that this was the work of the Diponz family, it would be even harder for them to fabricate false evidence that she had done it.

 

Shailoh turned to Doris, who was on the verge of tears and at a loss, and gave her instructions. “Once I’m gone, secretly send a telegram and let His Highness know. And don’t panic too much.”

 

* * *

Contrary to her expectation that they would shove her roughly into an escort carriage, the security forces officers were unexpectedly courteous. They didn’t grab her arms to restrain her or manhandle her into the carriage. As they would with any noblewoman, they avoided unnecessary contact and simply told Shailoh to board the carriage on her own.

 

The carriage set off in heavy silence, and all the way to the security forces, Shailoh anxiously wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. No matter how composed she pretended to be, the truth was that she was being hauled off in the middle of the night on a heinous criminal charge. Maybe her obvious unease stirred a bit of pity, because the officer sitting across from her spoke up.

 

“You don’t need to worry that much, Miss Griche.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

“You’re on the list of suspects, but we haven’t singled you out yet. If you’re not the culprit, you’ll be released.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Somehow, that eased Shailoh’s mind a little, and she nodded. As the tension in her shoulders finally began to loosen, a question rose to the surface.

 

“But, Officer. Wasn’t Olivi… I mean, Baroness Boris’s cause of death was a heart attack?”

 

“That’s what the initial autopsy said. But apparently something else was found in her body.”

 

“Ah…” Shailoh had the feeling that if she pressed any further, he wouldn’t tell her anyway, so she pretended to accept that and let the conversation drop. “Thank you.”

 

“Not at all. I’ve seen you perform on stage before, Miss Griche. I was really moved. I’ve been wanting to tell you that.”

 

Instead of answering, Shailoh gave the officer a faint smile, then sank back into her thoughts. So it really wasn’t a simple heart attack, but could it have been poisoning? The same poison that killed the Grid Merchant Guild Leader? The more her thoughts branched out, the more tangled and chaotic her mind became. While she was busy running through every possible scenario, the carriage reached its destination and rolled to a slow stop in front of the security office.

 

“Go on in.” An officer opened the door to the interrogation room and ushered her inside.

 

The moment the door shut behind her, Shailoh glanced around. It was her first time in an interrogation room. The small space was pitch-dark, with not a single window. All it held was a table in the middle, two chairs, and a lone candle that barely lit the room.

 

Feeling dwarfed by the oppressive atmosphere, Shailoh took one of the empty seats. She had barely sat down when the door opened again, and a man walked in.

 

“Miss Sasha Griche, correct?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m the investigator in charge.” He didn’t seem to expect a reply. He sat down directly across from her and, without any preamble, launched straight into the questioning. “On the fourth, you went to visit Baroness Boris. Is that correct, Miss Griche?”

 

“Yes, that’s right. We’re somewhat acquainted, so I went to see how she was doing.”

 

“How long would you say you stayed there?”

 

“I thought it would be rude to keep a patient who needed rest, so I didn’t stay long. I went around noon and was there for maybe twenty minutes or so.”

 

“Did you notice anything strange at the time?”

 

“Nothing at all, aside from her looking a little tired.”

 

The investigator, who had been asking dry, factual questions, produced something and held it out to her. “Do you recognize this?”

 

“This is…”

 

Taking the item from him, Shailoh’s eyes widened.

 

Sasha Griche. It was a handkerchief with her initials embroidered on it.

 

“It’s my handkerchief. I lent it to her once, a while back.”

 

“I see.”

 

As if worried she might try to take it back, the investigator quickly snatched the handkerchief from her and began writing something down in his report. Watching him in stunned silence, Shailoh knit her brows.

 

“Don’t tell me… you’re using this as evidence to single me out as a suspect?”

 

“It’s not conclusive evidence, no. Are you familiar with the term ‘dead sign’?”

 

“Dead sign?”

 

“It refers to the final mark a murder victim leaves behind to point to their killer. When Baroness Boris drew her last breath, she was holding it in her hand.”

 

The answer was so far from what she’d expected that Shailoh could only gape.

 

The investigator went on without pause. “The last person the baroness met was Miss Griche. A few hours later, when the baroness died of a heart attack, she was also clutching Miss Griche’s handkerchief. And before news of her death even broke, Miss Griche, who had attended the third prince’s engagement party at the royal palace as the baroness’s proxy, disappeared.”

 

Why, of all things, had the baroness been gripping her handkerchief so tightly as she died? Hearing a stranger calmly lay out her recent actions, before she could even work through that question, made it all sound undeniably suspicious.

 

Under that steady, probing gaze, Shailoh forced herself not to waver and gave her statement as calmly as she could. “I only went to the royal palace because the baroness, who wasn’t feeling well, urged me to go in her stead… And afterward, I only left the capital to rest for a while at a countryside villa. I had no idea something like that had happened.” Her voice didn’t shake, and her eyes didn’t try to flee his.

 

The investigator listened in silence, then took out something else and set it on the desk. It was a small glass vial holding only a tiny amount of liquid.

 

“What is that…?”

 

“The baroness’s cause of death was not a heart attack, as was publicly announced. She died coughing up blood. This is the poison we found near the body.”

 

“Poison…”

 

“Even the experts I consulted had never seen it before. All they could say was that it induces sudden cardiac arrest. In other words, it’s a poison we’ve never identified until now.”

 

For the first time, Shailoh’s composure cracked. She stared so hard at the glass vial that she didn’t even notice the investigator’s suspicious look. Almost without realizing it, she opened the stopper and took a sniff. Colorless, odorless. Not even a hint of a scent. It was the same poison that had killed the Grid Merchant Guild Leader.

 

“No one knew about this poison?”

 

“That’s right. Do you, by any chance, know anything about it?”

 

Faced with the grave question, Shailoh froze for a moment. If she nodded here, if she said this was Duke Diponz’s doing… With the coroner’s written confession she’d obtained earlier, she could prove it was the same poison that had killed the Grid Merchant Guild Leader. But there was no way to prove it belonged to the Diponz family. And before any of that, her own identity as a fake noble lady already accused of another murder would come to light. It was obvious whose side they would take. In the end, there was only one answer.

 

“No.” Shailoh shook her head and handed the vial back. “I’ve never seen it before either. I’m innocent.”

 

“…I see.” A flicker of disappointment crossed the investigator’s face. Looking reluctant to give up, he rose from his seat first. “For now, as of this moment, you’ll be detained until the charges are cleared.”

 

“What?” Shailoh shot to her feet and grabbed the investigator just as he was about to leave. “You can’t just lock someone up when all you have are suspicious circumstances and no decisive proof. You need undeniable, solid evidence before you can do that, don’t you?”

 

“That only applies to nobles. Unless there’s at least a noble willing to vouch for your identity, there are no exceptions.”

 

The moment the investigator shook off her hand, the door on the opposite side opened. Shailoh met the eyes of the man who stepped in and called out to him in relief. “Baron Cal!”

 

“You can’t just barge into an interrogation room. If you’re here without authorization—”

 

With a low sigh, Caleb held out some documents. “I’m her patron. I’ve already completed the identity guarantee.”