A Bloody Honeymoon in a Haunted Hotel (5)

“He’s already dead.”

Nikolai said, bending down to check Lanzkoi’s condition.

The baron’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he were trying to plead his injustice.

Viscountess Borodin turned her head to the side, as if the eerie gaze were watching her.

“There are no signs of stab wounds or blunt force trauma. It appears that he was poisoned to death by something.”

“Who, who could have poisoned the Baron like this……?”

Judith asked, shivering.

“Isn’t it suicide, the door was locked!”

Viscountess Borodin said, as if to refute that.

Then Katya, who had been standing in the back, observing the people gathered here one by one, stepped forward.

“I don’t think so, look at that.”

Everyone looked at the same time to where her finger was pointing.

There, in the corpse’s mouth, was a pinkish color of frothy gunk mixed with blood.

His face was pale and red, with red spots around his eyes.

“I’m guessing the purpura¹ was caused by his blood pressure rising when he tried to force himself to vomit. And judging by the fact that all ten of his fingernails were chipped and scratched on the floor, he was scratching at the floor with his nails to keep himself alive until he was about to die.”

It was a stark reminder of how much pain the Baron was in before dying.

“People who take their own lives usually use poisons that don’t hurt or take pills beforehand to ease the pain. Under the circumstances, it is highly likely that it was a murder.”

As Katya continued to reason, she coughed in embarrassment as she made eye contact with the wide-eyed people watching her.

“Who are you to talk about such things?”

Viscountess Borodin asked, wary.

“It’s just, I like mysteries.”

Katya’s words made the Viscountess giggle in disbelief.

It was ridiculous to be so intimidated by someone so insignificant.

But Nikolai was more than a little shocked by her words.

“Have I ever told you that I read a lot of mysteries in my youth? I’ve always wanted to come to a place like this. Doesn’t the idea of a clandestine murder give you heart palpitations?”

It turns out what I said before entering was true.

Unintentionally, Katya’s prediction had been fulfilled.

“Did you notice anything particularly strange about this guest? Anything at all, even the smallest details.”

Katya asked the manager, Mengano.

Halfway through, Nikolai’s translation interjected, and he thought back over the day’s events and clapped his hands as if remembering.

[Come to think of it, he paid for an entire year’s worth of accommodation with a single payment today. There was no one at the lobby, and I remember how I spontaneously offered to assist him with the transaction.]

His assistant, Judith, told him that Baron Lanzkoi liked the view from room 504, which overlooks the forest and the river, so much that he reserves a year’s worth of accommodation in advance and occasionally paints pictures here.

“If that’s the case, the possibility of suicide would be even lower. A person who had thoughts of dying today wouldn’t bother reserving a room they won’t even visit by paying for an entire year of accommodation.”

Katya looked around and began her own investigation.

Nikolai followed her curiously.

The only thing in the trash can was a blue handkerchief.

The handkerchief that Mengano had used a little while ago was slightly different in color, but the pattern was the same.

Katya searched through the outer pocket of the corpse’s clothes.

He had obviously taken the handkerchief from the left pocket in the dining room, but it was now empty.

Instead, there were two in the right pocket.

There were three handkerchiefs in total, including the one in the trash can. They were the same color and pattern.

“I heard earlier that you wash the handkerchiefs for him, is that correct?”

Judith nodded.

“Yes. He gave me six this morning, but he threw two away on the way here.”

“So, counting the one he threw away at the dining room earlier, that’s six. But does he use six handkerchiefs a day?”

“He doesn’t normally use that many. But when he came out today, he seemed to have a cold, so I put a few more in for him. Is there…… something wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

Katya rubbed her thumb under her chin in thought.

Then, suddenly, Viscountess Borodin stamped her foot in exasperation.

“If there really was a murder, I’m out of here! How can I be in such a dangerous place?”

“Wait a moment. Don’t leave until the truth of the matter is known –”

“Don’t give me that crap about there being a killer among us! We were all in the same place when this guy died!”

She was right.

We were all in the same place at the same time when the murder happened, so there was no time to do anything.

Everyone was each other’s alibi.

“You can’t tell me to stay here when there’s a killer lurking and could crawl out at any moment. That’s bullshit!”

As she turned to leave the murder scene, Katya grabbed her from behind.

“If the killer is indeed hiding as you say, it’s dangerous to go it alone. Madame, do you know how to use a knife? A gun? Are you confident that you’ll survive if a killer suddenly attacks when you’re alone?”

“That, that’s……!”

“Let’s all get out of here, then. We’ll all have to give statements as witnesses in the case, so let’s stay together in different quarters and visit the magistrate first thing tomorrow.”

Katya’s persuasion finally won. Viscountess Borodin nodded, her mouth shut like a well-behaved puppy.

In retrospect, she was afraid to travel alone at this time of night.

Her husband had been doing what he usually did, drinking and women, never doing anything useful. Normally, she wouldn’t even think twice about his absence, considering how little he contributes. However, today, she deeply felt the void left by his absence.

In truth, Viscount Borodin was lucky to have her as his wife.

When Grand Duchess Oksana had first offered her the position of headmistress, her cowardly husband had dismissed it, saying it would make her a bulletproof vest, but the viscountess had seen it as an opportunity.

Though she was a noblewoman by birth, her in-laws were the last in line to inherit the Borodin estate.

Having taken charge of all the dirty work, including money laundering, she managed to establish such a household, but ironically, her husband got caught up in feelings of inferiority and started wandering outside.

So, whenever she felt suffocated and couldn’t fall asleep alone, she used to escape like this and stay in a hotel.

Even though she stayed out overnight, her in-laws were all flustered and disapproved.

Now that she’s back home, it’s time to put an end to this escapades.

With that thought, Viscountess Borodin followed the others out of the building.

But her hopes were shattered.

The storm had caused the river to flood, and the impact had broken the bridge in half.

[There’s a boat over there! Let’s go there!]

Mengano shouted into the rain, feeling a sense of duty to get his guests to safety.

The four of them followed him back to the dock, braving the elements.

The ferry, their last hope, greeted them in shreds.

Someone had deliberately touched it with something sharp, like an axe.

“This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening!”

The enraged Viscountess looked up at the sky and shouted.

It didn’t take long for the four of them to realize that they were completely isolated here tonight.

It was decided that they would send out a distress call in the morning when the weather had calmed down a bit, and the four returned to their rooms.

Even if the distress call didn’t reach them, Boris and the Grand Duke’s knights would pick them up in the morning, find the bridge broken, and call for help.

Katya and Nikolai weren’t too worried about not being able to get out of here.

What mattered was how they would get through the night, with the identity of the murderer still unknown.

“Do you think it was an outsider, Grand Duke?”

Katya, who had washed up first and was sitting on the couch, asked Nikolai as he came out of the bathroom.

“Do you think there is a culprit among us?”

Instead of answering, he asked the question in reverse.

“I think there’s a killer among the three of them, not including me and the Grand Duke. Right now the most likely suspect is Judith.”

First, Judith, the assistant who was closest to the victim and who had apparently been molested by the victim consistently.

Coincidentally, she had many opportunities to commit the crime and a clear motive.

“But the other two are also suspicious. The Viscountess seemed to be waiting for someone in room 404 earlier.”

“If it was Baron Lanzkoi, that’s another story.”

“In that case, it would be a case of premeditated murder.”

“She was clearly acquainted with the victim and pretended to have never seen him before. There must be some sort of secret relationship, if not an affair.”

“Mengano is suspicious, too.”

Nikolai said, remembering the suspicious manager.

“If there are no hotel staff, even if he temporarily handles the tasks on our own, wouldn’t it be appropriate to later send someone to establish contact somehow? It’s not ideal to keep working alone like this.”

“Exactly, and on his first visit today, he said he wasn’t even given an official handover. But he knew exactly where the hotel had arranged for a ferry in case of emergency. The manual was written in Hersian, so he must not have gotten it right.”

Stroking her thumb under her chin, Katya blinked at Nikolai, who was staring at her.

“Why are you like that? Is there something on my face?”

“It’s fascinating.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your deduction skills are impeccable.”

“That’s because I love detective novels… But it’s you, Grand Duke, who appears incredibly natural in such matters.”

“Watching people die is something I’ve grown accustomed to. As a Grand Duke residing in the capital, I end up witnessing all sorts of incidents and accidents.”

It was surprisingly common for cases that magistrates could not resolve to come to the Grand Duke.

For example, if there was a dispute between boyanins who were higher in rank than the magistrate, they would not listen to the magistrate and would be sent to the chief magistrate. And if the chief magistrate or the chief justice could not stop them, or if they disagreed with the decision, they would ask the grand duke to decide the case.

“So how do you settle a case when it reaches the Grand Duke?”

“In fairness to both parties, since they both claim to be guilty, I offer to cut off one finger for each offense. And they’d say there was a misunderstanding.”

“How dowdy of you.”

Katya shook her head and smirked.

Just then, someone outside knocked on the door of room 404.