Chapter 4

Buying me a few dresses was clearly an investment for the Browe couple.
A small amount spent now so they could sell me—Rosalyn—at a high price later.

Judging by how eager they were, they might already be discussing marriage offers behind the scenes.
The upcoming party could simply be a staged “coincidental encounter.”

I only smiled politely to show my thanks, and just then, the young maid assigned to serve me approached.

“I’ll prepare your things for going out, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

She bowed neatly and stepped away.

A strange feeling settled over me.

Just a few days ago… I was exactly like her.
A maid.

***

The typewriters clacked loudly. Officers shouted across the room.
Serious conversations overlapped with the hurried footsteps of mail carriers and reporters.

In the middle of this noisy police station, Ash was reading the documents Louis had given him, missing not a single word.

“Everyone in the building died, but the case itself isn’t complicated,” Louis said.
He believed it was a simple household accident—likely caused by the maid the Thesis family brought from their estate.

But to Ash, something felt wrong.

They say the fire began in Rosalyn Thesis’s room… but why did the flames grow so fast?

It made no sense.
There shouldn’t have been anything highly flammable in a noble girl’s bedroom.
If it had started in the kitchen, fine—that would make more sense.
But in a bedroom? With maybe an oil lamp at most?

And that wasn’t all.

The baron and his wife had died in front of Rosalyn’s door—he could accept that. Maybe they were trying to save their daughter.

But inside Rosalyn’s room, they found the bodies of two servants—a man and a woman.
And in a first-floor room, they found another maid dead.

Why didn’t anyone escape?

Especially the maid on the first floor.
The fire started upstairs.
She should have run outside immediately.
So why did she die in her room?

None of it fits.

Ash’s eyes paused on one name—the only survivor.

Rosalyn Thesis.

She was suspicious too.

Why did she survive alone?

Maybe it really was luck.
According to the report, she had gone out for a walk when the fire broke out.

Or… maybe it wasn’t luck.

Ash wrote the essential points in his notebook.

At that moment, Sergeant Greg Norman approached him with an awkward expression.

“Inspector McCallen, sir. I heard the Browe townhouse fire case was transferred to you.”

“That’s correct. Why?”

“There’s some overlap with one of my cases.”

He handed Ash a thin file.

“The Thesis family’s maid, Emma Hampton, went missing. I believe she may be involved in the fire.”

“…This says she was fired a week before the incident?”

According to the record, Emma had left the house and spent six days in police custody.
On the final day of her bail period—the very day of the fire—she paid a three-hundred-thousand-Gilden bond and was released for twenty-four hours.

“Yes. She applied for bail saying she wanted to gather the compensation money, but she never returned.”

Greg scratched his cheek nervously.

“At first, we thought she ran away because she couldn’t pay. But after the fire, I remembered she said she would ask the baron for money. So maybe things didn’t go well, and she… set the fire.”

He added in a low voice:

“She claimed the dress payment wasn’t her fault—that Lady Rosalyn should’ve paid it. So maybe she acted out of resentment.”

“You mean she said she was falsely accused?”

“It’s possible she was framed. If we interrogate Heather Dartmouth—the one who reported her—we might learn more.”

Ash’s eyebrows knitted together.

“And why are you only thinking of this now? Emma Hampton was arrested a week ago. What have you been doing until now?”

“T-that, uh…”

“You arrested her based solely on Lady Rosalyn Thesis’s statement?”

“W-Well, the circumstances pointed that way. Heather Dartmouth also reported Emma, so—”

“And why arrest her before the deadline? She had a week to pay. Isn’t that the law?”

“Oh, come on. A country maid isn’t going to find fifty million Gilden in a week. Giving her time was just a formality.”

Greg spoke as if nobles were the only people worth protecting.
Emma Hampton—whose life had been ruined by the petty rivalry between two noble girls—was invisible to him.

Ash didn’t feel some noble duty to protect the weak.
He was simply frustrated by how police bias often blinded them to the truth.

“…Leave the file here,” he said finally. “It may be relevant to the fire investigation.”

“Yes, sir.”

Greg retreated, embarrassed.

Ash watched him go, then looked back down at the documents.

Everyone assumed the body found at the fire was Emma Hampton.
Louis didn’t know she had been fired.
Greg assumed she was there to borrow money.

But strictly speaking…

Ash’s eyes moved quickly over the report.

There’s no proof that body was Emma Hampton at all, is there?

He wrote the thought into his notebook.

He would have to examine the recovered bodies and the fire scene again.

***

Ten days after the party was first mentioned, I was sitting in a carriage wearing the elegant dress Countess Browe had bought me. We were now heading to the MacCallen estate.

Anyone watching would think I was their daughter—
Exactly the impression they wanted.

“This is the MacCallen estate?” I asked.

“That’s right,” the Earl said. “The MacCallens are a very old and respected family. Making a good impression on them can only help you.”

True.
Even if noble influence wasn’t what it used to be, high offices in the kingdom were still dominated by nobles.
A count-level family like the MacCallens held real power.

Just looking at the mansion—practically a palace—made me shrink a little.

“Is there anything I should know beforehand?”

“Just stay beside me and greet people properly. Ah—one more thing.”

The Earl lowered his voice.

“This family has three sons. The youngest was born out of wedlock. So it’s best not to mention him in front of the countess.”

“That shouldn’t be difficult. Why would I bring him up?”

“Well… you’d think that. But unfortunately, that youngest son is the detective handling our townhouse fire.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes. But don’t worry. That won’t make things awkward for us.”

A detective…

Immediately I remembered the man I’d seen at the funeral—the one with ash-brown hair, a strong build, and a soldier’s stride.
Handsome too—annoyingly so.

I had a feeling he was the new investigator.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “If he lives here, he must be acknowledged as part of the family. Then why become a police officer?”

“My thoughts exactly,” the Earl grumbled. “He would have risen quickly if he stayed in the army.”

“The army? He was a soldier?”

“Yes. He volunteered when he was young and earned several honors. He was promoted very quickly. If he had stayed, the MacCallen family would have gained influence in the military. But one day, he suddenly left and became a policeman.”

The countess clicked her tongue.

“He’s handsome—you’d think he would marry into a good family someday. But instead, he became a police officer! You should’ve seen how upset Lady MacCallen was.”

Of course, the police bureau’s high-ranking posts were filled with nobles, and they came with dignity and influence.
But to most nobles, working alongside commoners was distasteful.
And the kinds of cases police dealt with were hardly elegant.

So yes—I understood why they disapproved.

Maybe he rebelled because he’s an illegitimate child…

At the same time, I felt oddly satisfied.
My instinct at the funeral—that he seemed like a soldier—had been correct.

The Earl leaned closer.

“Anyway, try not to stare at him too much. He’s tall and good-looking, so your gaze might wander.”