Havelock sat in his temporary office, thoughtfully looking at the notes he had managed to collect over the past few days. He felt that everything had come together in one moment—the letters he had found, Lord Livingston's diary, the symbols on the ring and the mysterious key. However, something was bothering me. He was on the verge of solving it, but every step forward raised even more questions.
He was recalling a recent threatening letter. "You are getting closer to the truth, but if you continue, you will become the victim yourself." Who could have sent it? There was no one in the mansion except the Livingston family and the servants. It means that one of them is closely following his investigation and is ready to take extreme measures.
The next morning, Havelock decided to focus on Harold Livingston, the lord's eldest son. Harold seemed to be the most obvious suspect: his complicated relationship with his father, constant quarrels amid financial difficulties, and the fact that he was at the mansion on the night of the murder. Everything pointed to him. Harold was irritable and nervous during interrogations, which made the detective even more wary.
Havelock decided to have another conversation with Harold, but this time to ask more carefully about the events of the night of the murder.
"You say you've been in your room all evening," Havelock began when they met in the small guest room. — But can anyone confirm this?
Harold replied sharply:
— I already told you that there was no one around. I was alone.
—Convenient,— Havelock said coldly. — However, I have learned that you have left the room several times. What for?
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Harold clearly hadn't expected this turn of events.
— I... yes, I went out. But not to hurt my father. I just wanted to talk to him about our finances. He rejected any offers, and we needed the money. But... When I got to his door, it was locked. I didn't bother him, I went back.
This version still looked suspicious, but at the same time Havelock felt that Harold was missing something, perhaps not even knowing that it mattered. But for now, the detective was sure that this direction needed to be rechecked.
Feeling the need to carefully double-check all the evidence, Havelock returned to the letters and notes he had already studied. He went over every line of Lord Livingstone's diary anew, hoping to find the missing detail.
As he carefully reread the notes, something caught his attention: strange discrepancies in the chronology of events. Some of the dates in the diary seemed inaccurate, and the details did not match what the family members had told him. This could mean that the diary was forged or altered by someone later.
He began to check every piece of evidence, comparing it with the accounts of witnesses. It became increasingly clear that someone from the family was trying to mislead him. However, the false footprints turned out to be so skillfully placed that Havelock now doubted every step.
The next step was to deal with the key that Havelock found in the hidden room. He decided to take another look at the room he had found and check all possible locks in the house. One of them, found on the door of the old wine room, perfectly matched the key.
Inside the wine cellar there was an unexpected discovery — old letters and documents that pointed to a long-standing connection between Lord Livingston and an influential businessman. The documents concerned not only finances, but also ancient artifacts related to mystical research that fascinated Lord Livingston in the last years of his life. This businessman supplied the lord with rare and possibly illegal items.
Havelock realized that the motives for the murder could be much deeper than just family conflicts. Lord Livingston may have been involved in dangerous transactions that attracted the attention of more than just his sons.
Havelock began to suspect that the murder of Lord Livingston might be connected with something much larger than internal family strife. Now, not only Harold was in his field of vision, but also several external figures who might have had good reasons to want the lord dead.
However, the investigation was still confusing, and false leads distracted the detective from the main line. At every step Havelock sensed the presence of an invisible opponent who was not only trying to confuse him, but also clearly threatening his life.
The false trails that filled this house turned the investigation into an exhausting struggle. But for Arthur Havelock, this was just an additional incentive to get to the truth. He knew that he was going to face new difficulties, but he also felt that the real solution was already close.