At Markus’s insistence, they had loitered in the second floor reception area in front of the entrance to the common room, Markus lounging on the fainting couch while Alexia stood, arms crossed, brooding over the events of the day and trying to decide just how far she could trust Markus. Downstairs, Juris’s shouts of protest accentuated the chaos. It sounded like a district attorney had joined the police, and he and Juris were quoting chapter and verse of various obscure financial laws at each other.

After about 20 minutes, Maxwell appeared from the west hallway with four others behind him. Jeorge, Merrick, Elise the head groundskeeper, and another young girl Alexia didn’t recognize. The two women were still wearing gardening clothes, having come from their work outside.

At their arrival Markus sprang to his feet, but it was Jeorge who spoke first, with a tone of concern and confusion:

“Young master! Just… what is this all about?”

“All shall be made clear, but first let’s head inside, to the scene of the crime!”

Markus threw open the double doors to the common room and led everyone inside, speaking as he walked.

“As you may know, a horrible, heinous crime has happened here in the Marcellinus house! Maxwell has had a portion of his paycheck stolen in a most ostentatious manner, and I intend to get to the bottom of this mystery. But let us begin by having Maxwell himself outline the series of events for us.”

All eyes were on Markus as the crowd entered the room except Alexia, who took up the rear. She stared at the letter on the table that she herself had placed there only a little while before. A sickening feeling of impending doom was growing from the pit of her stomach. Maxwell began his testimony:

“Well, to begin with, our paychecks are delivered to our personal mail boxes here in this room on the first of every month, which was yesterday. When I checked mine, it was not there.”

Maxwell gestured at the stack of open-faced metal cubbies that stood next to the line of computers. Each bore the name of one of the house’s servants. Random letters and papers stuck out from a few of them. It was obvious that taking someone else’s mail would be easy.

Next Merrick spoke up. He was an elderly man with heavily grayed hair, and deep-set lines on his lean face showed his age. He was tall, though Maxwell still stood several inches taller.

“Ah-hem! I printed and delivered all of the paychecks at exactly eight o’clock yesterday morning. Yours was definitely included, Maxwell. I remember placing it in your box. What time did you check it?”

“It was after seven in the evening when I came back here. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, so I went to dinner and returned to my room for the day. I assumed it would be delivered by the next morning.”

“My paycheck was there.” Chimed in Elise. She was a serious-looking woman in her late thirties with dark hair and eyes. She was tanned darker than the rest, except for her hands, which were still light. Her soiled gardening gloves were tucked into her belt. Behind her stood the other, much younger girl. She remained silent and clutched her hands together in front of her, gloves still on. She was trying to shrink into the background as best she could.

“I guess I came back around five-thirty, and I suppose his check must have already been stolen by then. I was still here when Maxwell came in at seven and I’m sure no one else went to the boxes before then. Mary was with me too. She’s still in training, so I have her stick close when we’re on the job.”

“Y-yes!” said the young gardener, startled into speech by hearing her name mentioned. “I- I was with Miss Elise the whole time! She didn’t take anything!”

“Oh hush Mary, no one said I did.” Answered Elise.

“So please tell us how you came to notice the theft, and what made you suspect me.” Cut in Markus.

“Well, the next morning– which was today– when I came into this room, my mailbox was still empty, but there was a letter with my name on it sitting in the middle of the-”

As he spoke, Maxwell looked to the table, where he now saw the new envelope. He lunged to it and ripped it open, causing two $50 bills to flutter down to the table. Maxwell didn’t notice, as he focused all his attention on the letter he now held. His eyes darted back and forth over the lines, his face growing redder and redder as he read. By the time he finished, even the tips of his ears burned crimson. He crushed the letter in his hands and spun to face the others.

“Why that- ! What arrogant-! It’s not about the money!”

His eyes wandered over their faces, his suspicious, enraged glare seeming to search for something. His gaze settled on one person.

“Alexia…”

“Huh?! Yes?!” Alexia answered, her heart jumping up into her throat. She hadn’t known what was in the letter when she delivered it. But she felt her guilt must be written on her face, plain as day for Maxwell to see.

“After I left to gather the others, were you with the young master the entire time until I returned?”

“Wha- Ah, yes!”

“And did he enter this room at all?”

“No.”

“You’re sure? He never left your sight?”

Alexia began to calm herself as she realized that it wasn’t her that Maxwell was suspicious of, but Markus.

“No… He was laying on the fainting couch the whole time. We didn’t even open the door.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Maxwell sighed, then turned to Markus and held up the crumpled letter.

“It’s from the thief. It would seem I owe you an apology, young master. I was in this room before I came to confront you, and this letter was definitely not here then. You couldn’t have put it here.”

Markus smiled. Alexia glared at Markus wide-eyed.

So this is your air-tight alibi? Asshole! She thought. It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know what was in there!

But would anyone believe her? She started running through possibilities in her mind. Markus pointedly ignored her gaze.

“I appreciate your vote of confidence, but let us return to your story. Yes– we must have method! Method and order! And in this case, the order should be chronological. Please begin your story again- you were telling us how you found the first letter from the thief this morning. Once we have heard everything, we shall put our little gray cells to work and discern the identity of the criminal!”

As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together in front of his mouth, as if twirling an invisible mustache. Maxwell continued:

“Ah… well, as you wish. This morning I found a letter from whoever took my check. It contained the remainder of my check in cash and coins and a most arrogantly worded note thanking me for my ‘kind contribution’. Later when I counted the money and calculated what was taken, it came to exactly $65.95, a rather suggestive amount. I happen to remember you, young master, mentioning that you wanted a new game the other day, and when I checked the price, it matched perfectly, which is why….”

“Yes, a most suspicious coincidence! Why, it’s almost as if the thief wanted you to deduce that it was a game, mon ami.” Markus nodded as he spoke, still spinning that non-existent mustache. “And what was the time when you discovered this letter?”

“It was as soon as I entered the common room this morning, at- I believe- about seven-thirty. The letter was in the center of the table, just like the one we found now. The others were already here too. I believe Jeorge was the first to arrive that morning.”

Jeorge took up the narrative at this point.

“Yes, well, at my age you find you don’t really need that much sleep, so I always wake up too early. I came here to drink my morning coffee and read the news from six-thirty, but that letter was already on the table. It was addressed to Maxwell, so I left it where it was. Elise and Mary arrived before Maxwell, so they were here for the, uh– the scene.”

“The scene?” Markus asked, eyebrows raised. Maxwell cleared his throat and, with a bit of color in his cheeks, answered:

“Yes, as soon as I arrived Jeorge directed me to the letter. After my initial stunned silence, I– well, I don’t remember exactly what I said– but, I suppose I may have lost my composure...”

Elise let out a laugh and filled in the blanks for him.

“‘Arrogant, scum-sucking bastard! Insolent, dumpster-juice spawned walking tumor, how dare you touch my pay! Use it to buy an ounce of self respect and shove your thank-you up your’ – well, you get the idea. And this shouted in a quiet room first thing in the morning! Shocked me awake better than coffee! But there were some good ones in there, I think I might borrow a few.”

Maxwell turned crimson again, and raised his hands looking like he was fighting the urge to clap a hand over Elise’s mouth. His own mouth cranked open and closed, but did not produce any sounds. Jeorge recovered first.

“Elise, please! Mind your language in front of the young master!”

Alexia hadn’t found it particularly shocking. Jeorge seemed to have an over-idealized image of the young man whose family he served. She spent almost every waking hour with Markus, so could harbor no such delusions. She had heard worse straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Mary looked at her with a wry smile. Jeorge had fretted over the ‘young master’ and completely ignored the two young ladies in the room. Mary’s face seemed to say, “and what are we, chopped liver?” Alexia smiled back, but thought to herself that the poor girl would soon learn that nobles were a different breed, not to be compared to mere commoners like them.

Markus stared at Maxwell:

“Where is this letter now?”

“Oh, I ripped it to shreds and threw it in the trash. It should still be there.”

Maxwell pointed to the wastebasket in the corner. Markus clucked his tongue.

“Temper, temper, man! That’s a valuable piece of evidence! And then? What did you do next?”

“…After I calmed down, it occurred to me that it might have been a bad joke, so I went to the bank to confirm if a check had been cashed in my name. I found that it had– and I was able to talk to the very teller who handled it. Whoever had stolen it had shown up in a butler uniform, feigning a cold to disguise their voice and wearing a face-mask. I usually use the same teller, so she should have noticed something was off, but she said the mannerisms matched me so perfectly that it didn’t occur to her to be suspicious.”

Markus looked up at Maxwell and continued for him:

“And so you remembered that I once forged my father’s signature, and felt sure it was me– since it lined up with your preconceived notions about the game.”

“Yes… so I returned to the mansion and consulted Jeorge about it. He advised me not to pursue the matter against a member of the Marcellinus family… but I just couldn’t leave it alone. I searched the mansion for you, but then I remembered that today is a school day, so I ended up just waiting here in the common room, since I had nothing else to do…”

Maxwell glanced at the wall clock, which now read 1pm.

“Come to think of it, why are you…?”

“I cut class to buy the game, of course. And the very day after your stolen check was cashed! I’m looking more suspicious by the minute! But do continue.”

“Well, I forgot to mention, but I ran into Alexia when I was searching the mansion, and I let her know that I was looking for you. She came to tell me as soon as you came back, and so I went to confront you in your room… which has brought us here.”

Markus turned to Alexia and put on a hurt expression.

“Oh Alexia, you could have at least warned me! Or did you assume I was at fault too?”

Alexia stared at him dumbfounded. Everything– every single word that came out of his mouth was bullshit. He was making it sound like she had sided with Maxwell, helping him to track Markus down. This ironically strengthened his fake alibi since it depended on her testimony that he had never entered the common room. Markus was making her the lynch pin of his defence, and she didn’t like it. She could bring it all crashing down if she told the truth… but that would make her look like an accomplice. Even if she pleaded ignorance, what would become of her employment if she turned on Markus? That path was just so… uncertain. While she tried to think of how to extract herself from the mess, Markus continued on in his confident tone.

“Don’t forget that we stopped by uncle Alfred’s room, and he said that he gave me the money to buy the game! That’s a point in my favor.”

“Yes, I heard it with my own ears.” confirmed Maxwell with a nod. His last doubts about Markus had evaporated.