264 Lurking- Part 1

"Who would have imagined that a man such as Mr. Heathcliff would kill a person," said a villager who was standing near the house like many others, who had a look of curiosity on their faces. 

"I heard he lost his father yesterday," said another man who stood next to the first one who had commented earlier, "He must have gone mad in pain. It is possible to lose mental stability when something so tragic happens. Losing your family member is never easy, tch," he shook his head. 

The first one shook his head to say, "Why would he kill the duchess' daughter? I heard he was going to get married to Mr. Barnes, daughter. Do you think the one who was found dead wanted to get married to him and tried to stop the marriage?" 

"Whatever it is, he was foolish to bury the body in his backyard. And with the hand sticking up," the other man took a deep breath, "The dutches is not going to be happy that he killed her daughter."

The villagers continued to crowd around Heathcliff's residence. They were talking about what happened and what was the latest news they heard about the murder. Since the body was found, James Heathcliff had not shown up at his house, nor did he show up at his shop, which was near the market of EastCarswell. Theories had started to fuel one after another. 

Many other officials arrived at the scene. The magistrate forehead was in a deep furrow as it seemed like this month was very hard for him with people missing and getting murdered here. This was not good for his job. He would need to put the blame on someone to prove that it wasn't his fault, which was true because he never asked the human to kill and bury the body. Which idiot even did that?

"What happened to my daughter?! Where is the man!" the Duchess of Greenway questioned the village magistrate who was standing in front of her. 

"My Lady. The men are currently trying to find the man whom this house belongs to," the magistrate was trying to keep things down, but with every other person swarming like flies around the house, it was hard not to let the word spread out about what happened. 

The Dutchess had arrived ten minutes ago and was questioning the magistrate after seeing her daughter.

"What do you mean you don't know?" questioned the duchess, her red eyes flaring up in rage and holding unshed tears, "My daughter Layla was found dead three hours ago and you have no idea where the culprit is?" she demanded from the magistrate. 

"How can you ask me to be patient? Do you know in what condition my daughter was found?!" The Duchess questioned and then walked near her daughter's body, which wasn't in one piece. "Her head has been torn from her body. Her body was disposed into the mud like she was some piece of garbage! And you ask me to be patient?!" 

The magistrate turned to look at the girl who was dug out of the ground this morning. Her body had turned brown because of the wet mud. When one of the neighbours who was walking by noticed a hand sticking out, the village woman had been confused before screaming her lungs out to gather other people who were nearby. 

At first, when the body was pulled out, it was noticed that the head was missing from the body. After some more digging in the same backyard, the decapitated head was found in the corner, which was hidden better than the other half of the body. 

"What happened here?" came a deep voice from behind the magistrate. The magistrate's frown deepened at the question, he turned around to see it was the King who had arrived at the scene. The people quickly bowed their heads one after another, some even moved away to keep a distance from the vampire while some stood there in curiosity. 

"It looks like you are not happy to see me, Charmire," the King commented on seeing the village magistrate who bowed another time, this time deeper than the previous one. 

"My Lord! Why would you think that? Your presence brings light and strength to us all. You are our dear King, yo-"

"That's enough with boot licking," Calhoun walked past the magistrate whose face turned red.

"Milord!" The Duchess sobbed coming forward, "Look at what they did to my daughter!" the woman's shoulders shook as she cried, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, "They said they are not able to find the man. He must have fled after killing my dear Layla."

"I am sorry for your loss, Duchess. Let me see what help I can provide," he assured the woman who vigorously nodded her head. Believing the King would help her to find justice as he was here now. 

Calhoun patted the duchess' back, and walked forward, to take a look at the girl who was murdered. He observed the girl who was laid on the ground with her head placed at the top of her body. The villagers couldn't help but stand there. 

"What do you think is going to happen?" asked the first villager who had earlier spoken, "The King is here. He never shows up here."

"Maybe he knows the Duchess," responded another one, "It is rare to see him getting involved in cases."

When the last word left the villager's mouth, the King automatically turned his head to look in the direction where they stood. This had both the men straighten their back, their body turning stiff because of the King's intense gaze. 

"Hello, gentlemen," the King greeted the villagers, his voice unfriendly, "Are you helping the magistrate in finding the culprit?"

One of the men who stood there made some noise at the back of his mouth as if wanting to speak, but was unable to bring out the words in front of the King. The King stood far away from where they were standing, which had the villagers confused as to how he was able to hear them speak. 

"If you have nothing better to do here, go on with your day. I don't think anyone of you would like to be a suspect for standing here for so long now, would you?" Calhoun asked the two men whom he had heard talking. His eyes fell on the others, and within a second, the villagers immediately dispersed away from the scene, going to a place where they could discuss about the murder. 

Calhoun turned back to look at the magistrate, "You cannot even keep the situation low?" he questioned when the Duchess was taken away from the scene as she was in grief. 

Charmire, the magistrate cleared his throat and then opened his mouth to speak.

"When was the body found?" inquired Calhoun. 

"Three hours ago, my King. It was reported by Mr. Heathcliff's neighbour," Charmire turned his head in the direction of the house to let the King know. "Mr. Heathcliff is not here, milord. I have sent out the officials, but he is nowhere to be found."

"What about Mr. Barnes' house?" Calhoun asked, even though he already knew James was not there, but in the dungeon. 

Charmire quickly nodded his head. The thin moustache on his face moved feebly, "He wasn't there either. I checked with his assistant, but no one has seen him since last morning. It looks like it has been nearly a day since the girl died. Both her head and body were retrieved from the backyard."

"And Mr. Heathcliff decided to dispose the body recklessly without bothering to cover it?" Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows and Charmire nodded his head.

"It is what we found out."

Calhoun knew what kind of job Charmire did here. He barely did anything, but Calhoun had continued to keep him positioned in this post for his purpose. It was times like these that the magistrate came to be useful, not because he was helpful but because he wasn't. 

It was only Theodore and him who knew James was in the dungeon, while the rest in the village thought that the tailorman had run away from here after committing the murder. 

"Greetings to the King," another villager arrived, who was dressed more decently compared to the other villagers, "I have something that I would like to share." Seeing the King give a small nod to go on, the man said, "Three or four days ago, Mr. Heathcliff had asked me for a maid's address."

Calhoun's eyes were quick to narrow as he found out who had led the path for James.

"What does it have to do with this?" questioned Charmire. 

The man looked apprehensive. A small gulp followed down his throat, "The maid had disappeared the very next day. My wife told me that there was no man who the maid wanted to elope with and something must have happened to her."

Of course, Calhoun was already well aware of it. It was because he had killed the maid himself.