CASE 1, ACT 5: DECAY
The occupants gathered in the hall at the request of Jessun. Besides Cartelie and Barlu, they all stood a fair distance from one another, knowing full well that one of them was the killer.
"Where is Sevius?" asked Flesuna, looking around with concern.
"Worry not about him, my dear," replied Jessun. "Descendant Renka asked me to not summon him down here. He is probably unwell, what with all these tragedies happening."
Flesuna hesitantly nodded in agreement.
"I found some!" shouted Renka.
The occupants looked up at the above landing to see the Descendant leave Sevius' room, and walk up to the banisters. Renka was holding the vessel of water from the servant's room.
"We are not thirsty, Descendant!" grunted Rhesus as he subtly shifted away from the others.
"Now, now, Doctor Rhesus. You of all people know the importance of staying hydrated at all times," noted Renka.
Rhesus was baffled by her behavior, but he quickly closed his mouth. He knew the Descendant was up to something.
"Flesuna," said Jessun. "Please get some cups from the kitchen."
"Yes, godfather." Flesuna bowed and dashed away.
Renka walked along the landing, and down the staircase toward the occupants.
"I could use a cool drink after all these horrors," remarked Cartelie.
Barlu placed his hand on Cartelie's shoulder. "It will all be over soon, my dear. The storm seems to be dying down now, and we will soon be able to leave this place."
"That is correct, Doctor Barlu," said the Descendant as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "And the killer will most certainly be uncovered before then."
"And, I take it, you will catch them with that vessel of water?" Rhesus enquired, pointing at the pottery.
"I will indeed, Doctor," announced Renka, as she reached the group.
They all exchanged looks of doubt.
Flesuna entered the hall holding a tray of empty kylix cups, which were broad, shallow, and decorated with intricate designs.
Jessun showed her to the others with an upward palm. "Please hand out the cups, Flesuna. You take one as well."
"Yes, godfather."
Each occupant took a kylix from the tray. Flesuna then put the tray down on the floor, and picked up the last cup.
Renka began walking around the hall, filling the cups with Sevius' water.
"It was very kind of Sevius to let us drink the water from his room," commented Renka with a sly tone in her voice.
"I suppose so," sighed Rhesus. At this point, he simply wanted to play along with Renka's plan and see where it would go.
All of the occupants held their filled cups in their hands. Finally, Renka poured herself a drink.
"I hear that drinking water feels better when you do it with your eyes closed. Covering the sense of sight increases the sense of taste, so they say!" advised Renka.
"Just do as the Descendant says!" muttered Rhesus, rolling his eyes.
"Doctors know best," mentioned a smiling Renka.
Everyone, filled with unease, steadily closed their eyes.
"Let us drink," commanded Renka.
With everyone sightless, only the sounds and tastes of water being gulped down could be felt.
"Ah, was that not revitalizing?" asked Renka, after the drinking sounds had stopped. "When we all open our eyes, we will be greeted with everyone's faces, all refreshed and restored. Although… It would appear that one of you is not very thirsty right now."
The occupants quickly opened their eyes, and looked around with intense curiosity. One by one, they noticed that one of them had not drunk any water from their cup.
"Flesuna, are you well?" asked Renka.
Flesuna silently stared at her glass of water with an expressionless face.
"Flesuna," echoed Jessun with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"Worry not, everyone. There is nothing wrong with Flesuna. She is simply being cautious. After all, the water was from Sevius' room, and the missing crystal from the fallen chandelier was hidden inside this oinochoe."
"So what?" disputed Rhesus. "None of us have swallowed a whole crystal."
"That is true, Doctor, but that crystal is made of compressed Natron."
Gasps echoed throughout the hall. The three doctors dropped their cups and they smashed on the floor.
"Curse it all, Descendant!" snapped Cartelie.
"You mean we just drank contaminated water?" exclaimed Barlu. "Any Natron in our bodies could burn our insides!"
"Please calm down. No harm will come to you," responded Renka gently. "I replaced this water with clean water from my own temple beforehand, so it is safe to consume. I apologize for scaring you all."
The doctors breathed sighs of relief, and shook their heads to relieve their shock.
"But… this cannot be," disputed Jessun. He turned to the head maid. "Flesuna, did you find the crystal in Sevius' vessel at some point, or did you put it there?"
"Perhaps Sevius could have stolen the crystal, Mr. Jessun?" Cartelie gently suggested. "He discovered Doctor Macarius after the chandelier fell, so only he had the chance to get it."
"Well observed, Doctor Cartelie. Flesuna also had that suspicion. She went into Sevius' room to interrogate him on its whereabouts, realized he would not drink from the oinochoe of water, and determined that the crystal was in there. I did not find it before, as Sevius had ground it into dust, then mixed it into his water. She then secretly acquired a second Natron crystal, probably disguised as a gem in one of her necklaces, ground it into dust as well, then poured it into the missing bowl of smelling flowers. She encouraged Sevius to breathe in its scent, possibly to ease his tension, and this triggered a fatal anaphylactic shock."
The doctors gasped and stepped back.
Jessun dropped his cup on the floor. "Sevius… is dead?"
"I… I am sorry to say this, Descendant," began Barlu. "But Sevius could have just… committed suicide over the shock of losing his master and Melia, and Flesuna is not drinking for the same reason."
"Twelve," said Renka. The others looked at each other bewildered. "That was the dying message from Melia just before she died."
"Twelve?" asked Cartelie. "Twelve what?"
"In Flesuna's room is a jewelry box. There are display spaces for twelve necklaces in there, and yet, one necklace is missing. Could it be that in order to make the chandelier fall, Flesuna dipped one of her necklaces in liquified Natron, threw it at the chandelier chain so it would wrap around it, then quickly washed her hands in a vase of roses on the walkway before the Natron burned her? The thrown necklace would eventually burn up, and melt the chandelier's chain along with it. Any remaining traces of the burned necklace would have been lost among the destroyed chandelier. After all, Flesuna would have chosen a necklace which was made of the same metal as the chandelier's chain."
"It had to be Flesuna," observed Rhesus, his brow tense with deep thought. "When Flesuna was passing around the cups, I could smell roses. Her hands had to have been gloved when she threw the necklace to protect her hands, then she quickly washed them in the vase. The scent of the flowers still remains on the gloves she wears now."
"You are right," confirmed Cartelie. "I could smell roses as well as she served us. It is mild, but it is absolutely present!"
"No. That tells us nothing," argued Barlu. "Flesuna is a servant here. One of her roles is to regularly maintain the flowers. Am I correct, Mr. Jessun?"
Everyone, apart from Flesuna, turned to face Jessun.
The head maid continued to silently and calmly stare into her cup. No ripples appeared in her water, as her grip on the cup was cold and still.
"I am afraid not, Doctor Barlu," sighed Jessun. "Only Melia tends to the flowers here."
Everyone went silent.
"May I confirm one more item of interest with you, Mr. Jessun?" asked Renka.
Jessun stood up straight. "Yes, Descendant?"
"How many cloaks does Flesuna own?"
"Why, she only has three, including the one she is wearing now."
Renka faced the head maid. "Ah, so it was Flesuna who jumped from balcony to balcony to get into Melia's room to kill her. She covered herself with a spare cloak to shield her from the rain, then discarded it to the floods to hide the soaked evidence. Alas, there was only one cloak left in her room when I checked, and the reason one is missing is now obvious."
Along with Renka, everyone stared at Flesuna in dismay.
Renka walked up to her.
"Doctor Macarius summoned Melia to the hall the night he was killed," surmised Renka. "If Doctor Rhesus is correct, Doctor Macarius occasionally updated Melia on the progress of her antidote. That was the best time to deliver his next update, considering he had just announced their upcoming separation. But the meeting took a dark turn."
Renka walked over to the center of the hall beneath the chandelier's chain, and imagined the events as she stared at the ground. "Doctor Macarius suddenly suffered an anaphylactic shock and fell to the ground. Melia was unable to call for help as she had no voice, of course, but she knew she could calm his reaction down with the smelling flowers near the main door. Melia ran to get the flowers, and Macarius, still conscious, tried to make Melia's task a little easier by dragging himself across the floor towards the door. Then the chandelier's chain snapped, and it crushed Macarius."
Renka looked at Flesuna again. "In a panic, Melia went into your room, Flesuna, to get your advice. You probably told her to simply return to her room so that she would not be implicated in a death. Doctor Macarius died from the chandelier falling on him, and not from the anaphylactic shock you caused. How did that make you feel, Flesuna? How did that make you feel?"
Flesuna's cup of water fell to the ground, smashing into countless pieces and soaking the stone floor below. "She took it away from me," said Flesuna, eyes bulging and shaking with anger. "He was supposed to die my way, and only my way."
"You knew that Macarius was allergic to Natron, so you acquired two crystals and a liquid made of it, likely through your connections with Macarius's healing center, and hid it in the chandelier when it was your turn to clean it. As Natron reacts to oxygen, it would decay over time, and consistently contaminate the air of the hall. Macarius would breathe it in almost every day, until his body could not take it any more. You eventually saw him coughing a lot, signaling that his health was finally crossing the point of no return, and you wanted to remove the evidence. However, you could not simply identify and replace the Natron crystal. After all, all of the crystals look the same to avoid suspicion from anyone else who cleaned the chandelier, and some of them would have cracked and decayed over time along with the imposter crystal."
Renka slowly walked back up to Flesuna, who was now coldly staring at the Descendant. "So, you sabotaged the chandelier so that it would crash down. It would be taken away for repair, all evidence of the Natron crystal would be conveniently removed from the castle. Doctor Macarius would eventually die prematurely, and you would be out of the country for so-called "overseas studying"."
The other doctors were horrified, and Jessun could not help but look away from his god daughter.
"He deserved it," claimed Flesuna. "He deserved to die slowly, and Melia had no right to take over my work! She had to be punished for taking such a liberty, especially since I had invested so much time and energy into my plan!"
"And Sevius?" asked Renka. "Was it really worth taking another life to shift the blame from yourself to him?"
"It had to happen," Flesuna replied. "I offered to take Sevius's student loan to his medical school to pay his fees, but instead, I used it to buy those crystals, as well as a bottle of liquified Natron. By killing Sevius, he would take the fall and would never realize that his loan had been stolen."
"Flesuna…" said Jessun with a tear running down his cheek. "How could you be so cold-blooded? What on Earth possessed you to commit such atrocities?"
"Do not play innocent with me, godfather!" came her sharp reply. "You know what Macarius did all those years ago, yet you worked for him anyway. Ever since Father told me about what had happened before he died, I hated every moment of being under that doctor's wing!"
The others' faces were painted in confusion.
Renka made her observation. "In the paintings which cover the wall safe and the tunnel's entrance, there are two girls. One of them is you, Flesuna. Who is the other girl?"
Flesuna paused for thought. She closed her eyes, then forced herself to speak. "I lie to everyone who asks about it, and say that she is Melia. But, in fact… she is my younger sister, Fir."
"Fir?" said Jessun. "Could it be… You blame Doctor Macarius for her death?"
"He murdered her!" shouted Flesuna, glaring at Jessun with her reddened eyes. "And once more, he never apologized for doing so! He treated her death as an accident, when in reality, she died from his negligence! Ten years ago, Fir was diagnosed with a rare disease, and Macarius was assigned to find her cure. Father said that Macarius repeatedly experimented with Natron on her, but she had an allergy to it, and she eventually died of anaphylaxis. He… did not test her for any allergies beforehand. Yes, Father did reassure me that tests had been conducted, but Fir never mentioned any such tests to me! When I asked Macarius about the incident, he said that Fir accidentally played with some Natron when no one was looking. How dare he tell such a lie! Fir was just a child, but she was no fool. She would never play with anything she did not understand, let alone a strange substance like Natron! He was solely interested in protecting his own skin, and never Fir's!"
Flesuna began crying, and she buried her face in her hands. The others could do nothing but watch on, except for Rhesus.
"Flesuna…" he said softly, as he moved closer to the head maid.
Flesuna looked up at the doctor through her tear laden eyes.
"I am sorry for what happened to your sister, and what Doctor Macarius did was absolutely wrong. But make no mistake, her death made all the rival healing centers in Greece suspicious about what happened. They had no evidence to make a case against Macarius, so, instead, they focussed their attention on taking allergen testing more seriously. From then onwards, deaths linked to anaphylaxis in healing centers across the country had severely decreased over the last decade. The most recent report on Macarius's healing center was not good, but it does note one positive statistic. Since the death of Fir, there have never been any fatal anaphylactic shocks in that healing center. Perhaps Macarius wanted no more deaths from failing to test patients for allergens, most likely out of guilt over what happened to Fir."
Flesuna quietly looked at the earnestness in Rhesus's face, which was mirrored in the faces of Cartelie and Barlu as well.
"I want to see that report for myself," announced a shaking Flesuna.
Rhesus nodded. "Go to my room, and you will find it on my bed."
The head maid bowed, turned away, then ran up the stairs.
"I will see to her," offered Jessun, before he too left the group.
In Rhesus' room, Flesuna found the report. She seated herself on the bed, and began to read it. She saw that the death rate from anaphylaxis over the past ten years was indeed at zero.
Tears began to land on the papyrus scroll, as Flesuna came to the realization that perhaps Macarius was indeed remorseful about what happened to Fir, just in his own silent yet productive way.
Jessun entered the room through the opened door. He slowly walked over to Flesuna, and sat on the bed next to her.
"Flesuna, what on Earth were you thinking?" he asked.
With that, Flesuna started crying again. She dropped the scroll and she embraced Jessun. Jessun instinctively embraced his goddaughter back.
Flesuna's cries could be heard throughout the castle, as the other occupants in the hall reflected on what had happened during their ill-fated visit.
The rain finally stopped, and the floods eventually gushed away. The sun began to emerge on the horizon, covering the castle in a warm orange glow. The main doors were opened, and Renka escorted a solemn Flesuna outside.
"I will take her to the National Guard, Descendant," said a plain faced Jessun as he too left the castle. "Thank you for all your help."
Renka nodded to Jessun. "You are welcome."
"Come, Flesuna."
The two headed towards the sunrise.
Cartelie, Barlu, and Rhesus exited the castle and stood beside Renka. Their eyes were fixed on the head maid as she walked away.
"I appreciate that what you have all seen is unfortunate," said Renka. "But do not let all these tragedies make you lose courage."
"Worry not, Descendant," Rhesus responded. "We will recover from this ordeal in time."
Barlu chimed in. "And when we do, we will take over Macarius's healing center, and make it the greatest one in all of Greece!"
"I am glad to hear that," remarked Renka, exchanging a smile. "May the gods grant you success."
Renka then faced her palms to the sky, summoned her powers, and began floating up into the air. She became surrounded by light, and then, she vanished.
