NOVEL FROG Chapter 104 - Confession
“How did the Countess die?”
“That seems like a horrible question, so unspecific!”
“Not specific is good in this case! All the previous answers were extensive and elaborate even with not very specific questions!”
“And why would they answer that in any extensive way if it incriminates them?”
“Cause the mirror enforces it?”
A wild discussion is taking place in the stands… and I am here for it! Think as long and hard on the matter as you must, delvers!
After a lot of back and forth, they finally settle on a set of questions and conditions based on the answers they receive. Harry makes his way up to the mirror and the familiar display begins again. Amidst the mist and mystery, Harry’s doppelganger takes to the stage.
Harry releases a deep sigh, before asking the question he previously protested against alongside Kallion.
“How did the Countess die?”
“She stabbed herself through the chest with an iron skewer.” comes back the immediate answer and all hell breaks loose in the stands.
“That has got to be a false answer. We gotta continue with the other questions as to the how and why of it.” Kallion calms everyone down.
“Right.” Harry takes a deep breath. “Carrying on then. How did the iron skewer get into the gardens and disappear afterwards?”
“Simple.” the father says. “I carried it out of the kitchen and then handed it to the countess when I passed her. It got carried off by our helper along with the circlet afterwards, and then cleaned and returned to the kitchen.”
Another commotion breaks out at that pronouncement.
“Either these are both false answers or we have a solid idea about the “how” now. We should do our best to find out the “why” next! After we know how many falsehoods we gotta deal with, we can speculate more.” Simon suggests.
“Sure, that makes sense…” Comes a hesitant agreement from the rest alongside some murmurs and slow nods.
All right then. Let’s see your final question then and let’s see how you deal with the information.
“For what reason would you plot to bring about the Countess’ death?” Harry questions his mirror image with some reluctance.
“The reason? Money, of course! The church is struggling to fund all the charities that make sure my convocation has what it needs, and some benevolent patron has offered a fairly generous donation for the Countess’ death.”
That answer sets off another bit of murmurs but before another discussion breaks out, Simon silences everyone with a glare before indicating for Ellie to speak, who is just waiting for the mist to vanish fully.
“There was one wrong answer there. Good luck with all of that.”