Allure Of The Night

Clayton went through the documents handed over to him, the frown on his face turning deeper. In the meantime, Lady Aurora stepped in front of Vincent and said, “Is fear finally coming to settle in on what is going to happen to you?”

“So scared that I cannot express how I feel about it,” Vincent sarcastically replied to Lady Aurora’s words, and the vampiress’s eyes slightly narrowed at his words.

“Still holding the cocky attitude as if you have all the cards with you. I gave you an option, but you refused to accept it. You left me with no other choice,” Lady Aurora smiled at him with a triumphant smirk.

Vincent clicked his tongue and said, “I didn’t expect you to move so fast. And here I was, considering accepting your proposal.”

Lady Aurora responded, “It isn’t too late.”

“Mm, I think I lost my mood for it. But you can take all your evidence back with you. I am sure it can add some more flame to your fireplace,” Vincent didn’t hold back his tongue for the vampiress, and his words only annoyed Lady Aurora that much more.

Lady Aurora schooled her expression before she said, “Your arrogance is going to put you in a deeper pit than the one you dug out for Camille. Haven’t you heard? Arrogance leads to a person’s downfall, especially when you don’t know who you are against.” She was older, wiser and more experienced than this young pureblooded vampire who thought he could surprise her.

“I didn’t know you like to joke, Lady Aurora. Especially when your arrogance is as much as mine, to think you can corner me with something so simple,” Vincent responded with his coppery-red eyes staring back at the woman with a glint in them.

“I would like to see if you will smile the same when you stand behind the dungeon cell. What do you think, Head of the Council?” Lady Aurora challenged Vincent before she shifted her eyes to look at Clayton, who hadn’t stopped reading the evidence that the Hookes had collected.

In the meantime, Vincent looked at the councilman who was now working for the Hooke couple and questioned him, “Byron. How are you doing? Enjoying the new case?”

The councilman turned to look at Vincent with a hint of weariness in his eyes. He responded with, “Making sure everyone gets justice.”

“What a noble man you are. I am sure the Hooke’s have rewarded you for taking up the case,” Vincent hummed, and Clayton closed the file in his hand.

The Head Council held a grim look on his face, and he looked unhappy with what was about to happen. He asked, “Marquee Hooke, do you have the maid and the people who saw Vincent when he spoke to Lady Camille’s coachman, who has gone missing since her death?”

Marquee Hooke nodded, “We do. In fact, they are waiting right outside. We thought it would be best to get their statements so that you can hear it now and know, before Mr. Moriarty decides to make them disappear.”

Vincent didn’t respond to it and calmly listened and watched them. Lady Aurora said, “I am sure those will be enough? I would request you to put Vincent Moriarty behind the cell for the pain and loss he has caused us.”

Clayton’s eyebrows were furrowed, and he asked, “The letter, who is it written by?”

“It is written by my daughter Rosetta. She has mentioned Moriarty mansion as well as the governess of the Moriarty family. Camille’s butler, Myles, told us that he found a similar letter which he gave to Camille before she ordered the carriage to the Moriarty mansion,” Lady Aurora responded with her chin up.

“This isn’t enough evidence, Lady Aurora. We need something more concrete if you are trying to accuse Vincent as the culprit,” Clayton replied, and his lips set themselves in a thin line. “A letter with just three lines in them isn’t sufficient.”

Lady Aurora raised her hand, turning to the side and  the councilman who was with them left the room. She then turned back to the Head Council and said, “Myles isn’t lying, and he is the loose thread that Vincent forgot to tie. He knew that leaving the coachman alive would let everyone know that Camille went to visit the Moriarty mansion. They killed her in the mansion, making it appear as if she was at another person’s mansion, when the person has no idea about it. Don’t you think it is a little too convenient?”

Marquee Hooke supported his wife’s words by adding, “Mr. Turner,” he addressed the small-looking vampire, “I have heard of how you share a bond with this young man, but you should know better to save your position than to save a murderer. Less a man who killed my sister,” he offered a small smile, and the Marquee’s words didn’t sit well with Clayton.

“Are you trying to threaten me, Marquee Hooke?” Unlike Vincent, Clayton wasn’t fond of jokes and stared at the couple with a serious look.

“There’s no need to be upset about my words, Clayton. I was only stating what can happen, nothing more than that,” Marquee Hooke answered with a smile.

Soon the councilman returned with the maid who belonged to the Moriarty mansion and a man. The maid didn’t raise her head. She clutched onto her skirt. The councilman informed Clayton, “This is one of the maids from the Moriarty mansion.” He looked at the maid and said, “Tell us what you told us earlier.”

Vincent recognised the maid and noticed the poor woman fumbling for words while her eyes darted to the ground without meeting anyone’s eyes. The maid stuttered, “I–I, the day when Lady Camille went missing, she had come to visit the mansion.”

“And,” Lady Aurora prompted with a slight glare.

The maid was sweating out of fear and anxiousness. On one side, she was a maid at the Moriartys mansion; on the other side, she had been given money to speak the truth against Vincent. The Hooke’s had mentioned that if Vincent was in the cell, there wasn’t anything she would have to worry about, and she would be able to flee from here. Go far away with the money in her hand. But it wasn’t easy as she felt his eyes weigh heavily on her.

Marquee Hooke encouraged the maid, “You have our full protection and the Council’s. Isn’t that right, Head Council? So that this poor woman can speak the truth.”

The maid finally blurted out, “Lady Camille had come to the mansion the day when she went missing. She looked angry and I saw her walk in the corridor.”

Clayton asked, “Are you sure about it? And what happened later?”

The maid shook her head, “I –I continued with my work. It was the last time I saw her there, Sire… There was a carriage in front of the mansion which Lady Marceline had inquired about.” She was there when the vampiress had questioned about it to the butler, but they didn’t know whose carriage it was.

“That doesn’t tell that Vincent was the one who killed–“

The councilman who was working on the case for the Hookes stated, “Head Council, may I point out that the Moriarty family reported that Lady Camille never visited the mansion when the investigation took place. It was after a lot of work that this maid here decided to speak the truth to provide justice to Lady Camille Wright’s murder.” He said, “I think we should summon Lady Marceline Moriarty here for questioning. And until then, keep Mr. Moriarty in the dungeon for possible so that no evidence disappears.”

“You seem to be to keen to see me behind the cell,” Vincent’s eyes brightened, and the councilman, who wasn’t particularly fond of him, responded,

“Your words don’t intimidate me, Mr. Moriarty.”

“I didn’t even say anything for you to feel intimidated, scared little chicken,” Vincent taunted, and he sighed before saying, “Alright, let us get this over with.”

“…”

The people in the room stared at Vincent. It was Marquee Hooke, Lady Aurora and the councilman in the room whose mouth was left slightly ajar at Vincent’s lack of fear or worry to end up in the dungeon. Clayton closed his eyes for a moment. The Head Council took a deep breath, before exhaling.