“Who used the circlet to control the Countess?”

The question rings out on the stage, piercing through the anticipatory silence.

Allea smiles and responds to the question asked by her doppelganger.

“I did.”

Two short words, and yet they cause a flurry of reactions from the audience.

“What the hells?”

“What do you mean it was just her!”

“This has to be a false answer.”

“But what if it isn’t?”

All of the audience discusses loudly amongst each other, until Simon silences them all with a commanding “Stop!” More quietly, once everyone is focused on him, he continues. “There is no point Freaking out over it, we need two more questions to ask. Remember that we are on a clock here.”

“Right. Well, we have a suspect, or rather two, assuming the statement is true, now we need a motive.” Kallion puts forth.

“Why not just ask why she did it?” Astrid asks.

Ah, the simplicity itself. And, judging by the thoughtful stares, an idea worth considering to them. Sometimes, simple is best, after all.

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“Uhh, yeah, let's go for it I suppose. Allea?”

Both Replica and the original turn towards Simon and nod, before facing each other again.

“Why did you cause the Countess’ death?”

“Because she is a member of a devil cult, and needed to die.”

Yeah, that got the expected result. Shocked silence.

“Well then. That… definitely is a motive I suppose. Assuming it's true, that is.” Simon states.

“How do we verify it? Asking a simple question that's easy to confirm?” Nathan suggests.

“That's… an option.” Kallion offers. “But how about we ask something more about that motive? It seems… nebulous. And with some deductive work I’m sure we can figure out which of the answers are wrong.”

“I… have an idea.” Simon says. “Ask about how she knows that the countess is a member of a cult. That way we can identify whether that answer was true and also expand on that… motive. Right?”

“That sounds reasonable. Everyone okay with that?” Kallion asks the group. He receives a couple of nods and then nods to the two Allea’s on stage.

“Right. So, how do you know the Countess is a member of a devil cult?” the doppelganger asks the person she is imitating.

Allea takes a moment to think about her response, before opening her mouth to reply, her calm and collected voice ringing out across the audience’s seating.

“I am part of the Inquisition. We have investigated a local cell of devil worshippers for a while now, but they are firmly entrenched in the local governance, and so it took forever to procure evidence.”

The audience’s reactions vary, to my great satisfaction. Shocked silence descends on the hall, in general, and I take some time to study the expressions of surprise, confusion, astonishment and bewilderment… interspaced with a nonplussed look on Astrid and a calculating look on Simon, and… is that alarm on Ellie’s face? Oh, it is barely perceptible before her face morphs into an expression of shock, but I have seen acting before, and having peered behind the mask for a moment has dispelled the illusion. Well, well, well… isn’t that curious.

I can’t wait to delve into the reason behind that.