episode_0178

drug. The worst disease that began to eat away at the kingdom more than 10 years ago, and is now showing itself without even thinking about hiding.

It was now used to assassinate the dukedom’s head. No, keep all possibilities open. It’s about thinking. Earningstern carefully studied the matriarch’s face, then stepped back a little and looked at Arsien.

“When the previous head of the family was alive, did you ever show any awkward behavior or behavior?”

“What does that mean?”

“For example, you seem strangely drowsy, suddenly obsessed with something, or something like that.”

In response to Earningstone’s question, Arsien crossed his arms and thought of his living enemy, Duke Derkel, and the image of his father.

Although my father was strict, he was always proud and noble. He was a role model for all nobles, and he never compromised in his work.

He may not have been able to express himself well, but he was a father who always thought of his family first. That’s why he never got angry when I didn’t come out of the room. He just believed and waited.

Sometimes he would call me over and spend time with me for a walk. Of course, even then he just walked next to me without saying a word, but that may have been my father’s own way of expressing affection.

‘No matter what you do, I am by your side.’

I can’t be sure because I didn’t read my father’s mind, but at least I felt that way. That’s why I was able to turn my attention off everything else and focus on research.

But since when? My father started to feel strange. Arsien frowned as he recalled his father’s indecent behavior in his mind.

It wasn’t something like displeasure or anger. It was pity and sadness.

“… … It must have been a year ago.”

“What happened?”

“My father was a person who enjoyed wine. However, unless it was a special day, you never drank more than one drink. At some point, that person began to show a huge obsession with wine.”

“Wine… … .”

Earningstern thought of the word alcoholism when he mentioned the keyword wine, but quickly shook his head. Alcoholism is certainly dangerous.

However, it is not a problem so serious that one dies in just one year. What if I emptied one oak barrel a day? From the looks of it, it probably isn’t that much.

“And at some point, his speech suddenly became slurred. He couldn’t come to his senses and often crashed into something… … . shit… … . He wasn’t that kind of person to begin with… … .”

“Was there anything else?”

“… … You have difficulty controlling your emotions. That’s all I know.”

“I see. It must have been difficult to recall, but thank you for your cooperation.”

Earningstern said that and slightly bowed his head.

Arsien didn’t like Earnings Stone for making him talk about his father, but he didn’t dare to express his feelings out loud.

“Then we will take charge from here on out.”

“They came out of nowhere and asked for cooperation, but now they say they will move on their own. Ha, this is ridiculous.”

“I will apologize for that later. Please, please understand with great generosity――”

“You guys.”

Arsien, who interrupted Earningstern, glared at him and said.

“Remember that if you weren’t a royal investigator, you wouldn’t have anything to say even if you were beheaded right here.”

“I will keep this in mind.”

Arsien glared at Earningstern, who had his head down, for a moment, then turned his back and left.

After a while, Earningstern, who had been lowering his head, sighed and raised his head.

“Ha… … .”

“Senior, what do you think?”

“Okay.”

The junior shrugged his shoulders and said, as if he didn’t understand Earningstern’s lukewarm attitude.

“No, even if this incident is obvious, isn’t it too obvious? From the Duke to the Duchess, and even Lady Charlotte, the only one left standing. Is there more to see?”

“Sometimes I see you and you look smart, but other times I see you… … . no. That’s it.”

Earningstern’s words were mixed with a sigh, and his junior looked at him with an expression of resentment, but Earningstern just rested his chin and was thinking about something.

A senior in this state will not even listen to anything I say. The junior sighed inwardly and walked in front of Earnings Stone, putting his face in front of him.

“So, senior, what do you think?”

“Okay. First of all, he probably didn’t die from drug addiction.”

The junior, who was about to nod, realized something was strange and tilted his head.

What did I just hear wrong? The junior answered with a calm expression and blinked as he looked at Earningstern, who was lost in thought again.

“Yes? No, you just said it was drug addiction.”

“There is nothing more foolish than revealing all the information you have in front of someone who may be a suspect. If you want to live a long life as an investigator, be sure to remember this.”

Don’t trust anyone except your fellow investigators. If you are not sure, you should not trust the informant. Move with the thought that everyone around the incident occurred could be a suspect.

After saying that, Earningstern looked at his junior as if he understood. The junior nodded absently, picking up the words pouring out.

Earningstern, who saw this, looked around carefully and then approached the direction where Duke Derkel’s body was.

“Look carefully. Here, towards the lips.”

“Other than bruising, cracking, and scabs, there is nothing in particular… … .”

“Look a little closer. What do you see on the slightly opened lips?”

The junior, who had been staring intently at Earningstern’s lips, frowned when he saw something stuck between them.

“That… … . What is it? It’s brown and looks like a small lump… … . huh… … ? Meat scraps?”

“Okay. It’s meat scraps. Maybe they thought they had to quickly freeze and preserve it, so they only cleaned the visible part and didn’t think about the inside of the mouth.”

“But what is the meaning there?”

“It means that something in the stomach regurgitated.”

Earningstern’s words reminded the junior of a dead body after rigor mortis was relieved.

“Are you saying that as rigor mortis was relieved, the stomach contents regurgitated?”

“Usually it takes two days for rigor mortis to wear off and the contents in the stomach to regurgitate. However, if you look at the duke’s body, his mouth is tightly closed and there is no place where his posture is wrong. And here, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck.”

After saying this, Earningstone squatted down, and his junior followed him, squatting down to look at the Duke’s profile.

If the duke’s body had not been trapped in ice, it was in such a clean state that it would be safe to say he was just asleep.

“Ah. There is no Siban.”

“Okay. There isn’t even a banquet. In other words, it was frozen like this between 2 and 3 hours after death.”

“Then what is this meat residue on my lips? I wonder if he died because his airway got blocked while eating.”

“It may be because he ate poison and vomited blood. When it comes to poison that is taken with food, it is usually mixed into drink. According to what you said, the drink would probably be wine.”

“So, is this really poisoning?”

Earningstern, who had been looking at the body with a complicated face in response to his junior’s question, frowned and stood up without any answer to his junior’s question.

“Did you see your face when you brought up the word drugs a little while ago?”

At those words, the junior recalled the face of Arcien, who was quietly looking at Earningston, unfazed by the word ‘drugs’.

“Um… … . It seemed like you didn’t have any thoughts. As if I already knew… … .”

“Okay. He didn’t seem very surprised. Well, yes, I expected it. He had that kind of face. In other words, he didn’t seem to know that the head of the house was taking drugs.”

Earningstern scratched his head nervously.

“Fuck… … . The one who gave drugs, and the one who gave poison. It’s really the first time since that day that an incident this bad has happened… … .”

Earnings Stone gritted his teeth as he recalled the underworld of the royal capital, which in the past was the root of corruption and the birthplace of drugs.

“Senior, that… … . If it’s as you said, wouldn’t it mean that drugs and poison are separate things? Then who on earth gave him the poison?”

“It must be someone who can touch wine. A being who can freely roam around the mansion without being suspected by others. A being that can enter the wine cellar at will. and… … . A being that has a reason to kill the head of the family.”

After speaking up to that point, Erningstone closed his mouth and frowned, quietly immersed in thought.

After thinking about it, he turned his back and headed out of the room.

“Let’s go. There are so many places to look.”

“Where should I start looking?”

“If you start by looking at the most suspicious areas, the culprit will hide… … .”

Erningstone said and walked away.

“Let’s start with the investigation. Slowly apply pressure starting from that area.”

“Where do you start?”

“We should start with the maids. Because the maids are the ones who see and hear the most in the mansion.”

After saying that and exhaling lightly, Earningstern narrowed his eyes as he remembered a maid.