We were free to spend the majority of the next day doing whatever we pleased—but then, that was owed to the fact that the party after dinner was the main event on the schedule. Mr. Fisalis and I opted to go for an aimless stroll down the villa corridors and the garden outside, keeping an eye on all the invited guests as we toured the place.
Along the way, we happened to see Miss Verbena in the midst of a tea party with several young men.
“Something tells me someone else set up the perfect husband-hunting opportunity for her...and that she wasn’t given much say in the matter,” I remarked.
“I’ll bet.”
“Just look at the face she’s making... Hee hee!”
“If that’s her attitude, she’s never going to find a good match.”
We peeked in on her from the shadows. If her expression was any indication, this latest matchmaking exercise was going to be yet another bust.
In complete contrast to Miss Verbena, Miss Iris and company were amicably chatting away.
“There’s the usual quartet...plus two extra girls. Jeez, I can practically hear the advertising slogan: ‘Hot singles in your area! Don’t miss out!’”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these girls have better luck than Verbena.”
“I mean, the vibes can make or break a relationship. Miss Verbena could stand to make more of an effort, sure, but I don’t think Duke Argenteia is helping matters by pressuring his daughter to find a partner...you know what I mean?”
Of course, that was easy for me to say when it was partly my fault that she had missed out on her ideal marriage window. Mr. Fisalis had been her first love, after all, and she’d been dead set on becoming his wife for the longest time.
When I stole a glance at my husband beside me, he gave a questioning tilt of his head and mumbled, “Hm?”
I’m really sorry, Miss Verbena. I wish I could introduce you to a nice bachelor to make up for it, but I’m afraid I don’t exactly have a list.
“Viscount Trifolium and Baron Radiata are part of the group, I see.” Mr. Fisalis spotted two of the men who had come up in yesterday’s discussion.
“Oh, you’re right.”
From the look of it, they were hitting it off with all the single ladies.
We ran into Celosia as we resumed our stroll, and Mr. Fisalis took the opportunity to casually inquire, “Did anyone come in or out of the villa yesterday?” He’d slipped it in there naturally enough that his friend didn’t even stop to wonder why he would be asking such a question, and we got an answer out of him easily. “Just your butler. As far as I’ve heard, nobody else has gone anywhere.”
This whole incident was really driving home just how good Mr. Fisalis was at his job. It was moments like this that highlighted the difference between him and the kind of men who relied on nothing but their lineage to move up in the world; he had social standing in spades, sure, but he also had the skills to back it up. His success in life definitely hadn’t been an accident.
“If no one’s left the villa, that means the culprit still has the Viola Eye in their possession.”
“Oh, now I get it!”
So that’s why he bothered asking about it!
✦ ✦ ✦
I had to psych myself up for the party that night, so we kept our walk relatively short and went back to our room to relax afterwards. In my current state of mind, our chill pace was just what the doctor had ordered. I mean, look at me—I’d been making an ass of myself non-stop since we’d got here! There was no taking the edge off your exhaustion in someone else’s home, it seemed.
“Since no one has come in or out of the building, chances are high that the Viola Eye is still somewhere inside the villa—in the culprit’s possession, to be exact.”
“So long as nobody smuggled it out, you mean?” Rohtas tested Mr. Fisalis’s hypothesis.
It wasn’t like their only option was to lug the stolen goods right out the front door, after all. In fact, it seemed like a much better idea to discreetly pass the necklace along to someone on the outside.
Or so I thought, but Mr. Fisalis countered, “Vacation home or not, this villa is property of the Argenteia family. The perimeter is too tightly guarded for anyone to get away with such shifty dealings. They’d be more likely to attract suspicion by sneaking around than they would just carrying the ‘goods’ right out the front door. Hence why I asked who had come and gone.”
“That’s a good point.”
“Now if only we could conduct a large-scale search of the building. Blast it!” Mr. Fisalis ran a hand through his hair, visibly annoyed.
Calm down, Mr. Fisalis! I know this is frustrating, but if we want to keep this under wraps, we can’t do a large-scale anything! Besides, it’d be wrong to go snooping in people’s rooms without a warrant.
And yet Rohtas oh-so-nonchalantly replied, “I’ll scour as much of the place as I can manage.”
“Appreciated.”
Et tu, Mr. Fisalis?! And is it really that easy to go poking around?! I guess if anyone can pull it off, it’d be our servants...
“In the meantime, we’ll establish contact with the suspects at tonight’s soirée. I’ll get a read on the girls; Vi, I’ll leave the men to you.”
“Aye-aye, captain!”
“Do your best to naturally, casually bring the conversation around to your jewelry.”
“I’ll, uh...see what I can do.”
I would’ve given anything to trade places with the Bombshell Trio right about now. Those girls could carry out a mission like this with their eyes closed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Dinner was set to start a little earlier than usual tonight. The time had finally come, so we got dressed up and readied ourselves to head to the banquet hall.
“My word—just look at how cute you are, Vi! How am I supposed to let you out into public?!”
“We could always have them bring our dinner to our room! Here, I’ll pretend to be sick! Oh nooo, I’m getting woooozy...”
“I think you’re onto something!”
Rohtas interrupted our time-honored banter. “Ahem. Don’t you two ever tire of this routine? Cut the nonsense and get going. Did you forget about your investigation already?”
“We know, we know!” Mr. Fisalis and I reassured him.
Today we had the OG straight man around to shoot us down.
Oh c’mon, you don’t have to look so fed up with us! This is practically our pre-party ritual! We’re just honoring tradition—no need to take it so seriously!