A Murder, Inc.

5: Uninvited

Chapter 5

Uninvited

03:16 pm

Cynfael Mansion, Manhattan, New York

“Your Lady, a visitor named Mr. Auberon Hildegard is here to see you,” her butler, Jason, announces in a monotone voice one evening. If Vira is not trained, she would have choked on her Thai Milk Tea.

“Send him in,” she tells him. The butler strides back out and comes back in five minutes, Auberon tailing behind him this time.

Now that the lighting is better, she can see why her cousin hangs out with him. His looks are obviously above standard, making him the perfect new conquest. The person standing in front of her is even more exquisite than the photo. He has short dark hair, deep blue eyes and pink lips. She wonders how long Aramis is planning to play friend before he ends the guy.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met,” Vira greets him with a smile, putting her friendly mask on. That is code for: I don’t know if he knows who I am or not, so let’s just play it cool. She extends a hand and he gladly takes it. “Vira Cynfael.”

“Hi, m’name’s Auberon, but you can call me Beron. I’m a friend of Aramis, who I believe is your cousin. He is, isn’t he?” She nods. “I’m a little bit concern about him. Been skipping school for a couple of days now without any words. I tried to contact him, but the call always goes straight to voicemail. I was wondering if you know what might have happened to him.”

“Aramis is missing? My, I have no idea. Please take a sit. Would you like something to drink, though?”

He seems to be surprised by my carefree reaction. “A-are you sure?” he asks as he places himself on the couch across from mine. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”

I signal for Jason. He nods and makes his exit towards the kitchen.

“Yes. But you see, I am not really that close to him, so this is news to me. What do you know of his disappearance, though? Have you even check his place, yet?”

“I did, but there was no sign of him anywhere. If I had known, I would be here in the first place. I thought you might have some ideas of where he might be, but I guess I am wrong.” Is that sadness she detects coming from him?

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that he’ll be fine.”

“How can you know? It’s not like him to just disappear without a trace. I…. I suspect that he might be missing.”

“If you really think that he’s missing, then why did you come to me? You could have made a report to the police by yourself.”

“I did want to do it, but I think that there’s something bigger out there. Two days ago, someone asked about him at school.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“It’s a she, and I only told her what she wanted to know. When was the last time I saw him, what did we do before he disappeared. You know? Stuff like that.” Vira notices how the boy is fighting the blush that is creeping on his cheeks.

With a knock, Jason walks in carrying a tray of Thai Milk Tea. He pours some for Beron, and the boy thanks him. He takes a sip, and his eyes widen in surprised delight.

“Never tasted it before?”

He shakes his head. “It’s really good. What is it?”

“Thailand Milk Tea,” she replies, taking a sip as well. “Anyway, do you know who she is?”

“Who?”

“The person who asked you about Aramis. Do you know her?”

“Never seen her before. No, actually, I wasn’t sure who it was. It was quite dark, so I didn’t get a good look at her. All I know is that she wore white shirt that day.”

“Day? Not night? Why was it dark enough that you couldn’t get a good look at her?” Vira sounds curious, as if she didn’t know the answer to that question.

“S-she,” Beron is trying really hard to control the blush on his face.“She brought me into the janitor’s closet. To interrogate me discreetly, I guess.”

“Interrogate? Discreetly? Is that so? Nothing else happened?” Now she’s just teasing him.

“That’s not the point here!” he snaps, causing Jason to act disapprovingly.

“So, what else did you notice about her?” When Beron throws her a confused look, she elaborates, “Like her accent? Or scent? There shouldn’t be a lot of room to move around in there, should it? I’m sure’d at least notice it.”

“Accent? I don’t think so. But her scent…. Now that you mention it, she doesn’t smell like anything at all. It’s strange, don’t you think?”

“Yes, very strange,” she mumbles. It appears to be that her secret will remain safe. The question now is, what will she do with him? He seems to be infuriated with her after her ‘questioning’. Maybe she should fix this. Won’t want to get in her cousin’s way, after all. “You know what, I think I have something that we can use to find Aramis.”

“Really?” Beron’s eyes lid up by that.

“Yeah. Come with me. It’s in the basement.” That is code for Jason to lock all exit.