The Mysterious Villa

Lucrane Villa, September 11th, 10:00 A.M

Dr Smith soon arrived at the Lucrane Villa; however no other detectives were with him at the time. Damien Thrifter told Daniel that he would be able to join him as soon as he was available.

Daniel made his way into the dining room, the room in which Peter died. But the big question was: 'was he murdered?' Nobody knew.

"Thanks for coming to our villa." Diane remarked as soon as she spotted Daniel. "It must have been quite a journey for you to get here."

"Not really," Daniel replied. "It is a far distance between my office and here, but because we have access to teleporters on Rhombodian, the journey was a hop skip and a jump. Nevertheless, would you mind telling me what happened?"

"Well, our steward Alex was gathering the dishes. During that time Peter decided to leave the table. However, he seemed to have trouble getting to his feet and he soon collapsed afterward. I wish there were more I could have done to save my youngest son." Diane explained.

"I believe he was poisoned." David added.

"What brings you to that conclusion?" Daniel inquired.

"He just got married. If it were natural causes, he would have known in advance, he would not have wanted to put Luisa in any pain. However, because he did get married, he was not worried about putting Luisa in pain; thus, it could not have been natural causes."

"Yes, that is logical, but are you sure that's your only reasoning."

"I also knew his medical records like the back of my hand. He kept other things personal, but not his medical records."

"So, if he had a disease that could have killed him at any time, you would be one of the first to know."

"That is correct."

"I will take your information into consideration. But if what you are implying is true, then perhaps you know how the poison was administered."

"It could have been a slow acting poison hidden within the meal he had as soon as he arrived at the villa or a fast-acting toxin that someone slipped into his wine."

Daniel nodded his head. "Which do you think is more likely?"

"I have not got a clue. We all had the same meal with the same ingredients. The food was prepared by our top chef. I think if it were just a simple case of food poisoning then Peter would not have been the only one to collapse."

"I see, what about the wine?"

"I served the red wine and Alex poured the white wine, both of which came from the wine cellar. Alex is already down there now."

"I will see him as I do have a few questions for him. But I would like to ask you if you drank some wine."

"No, he did not!" Diane exclaimed. She appeared upset from being excluded from the conversation for so long. "He spit his out because he is a member of an Alcoholics Anonymous group for three months, he didn't ingest his wine as he didn't want to ruin his progress."

"I understand. Is that true David?" Dan inquired.

David nodded politely, a suitable response. David did not seem to want to discuss this matter any further.

Daniel now searched for the wine cellar, but he had forgotten to ask David or Diane for directions. He did not want to ask Luisa, he was not aware that this was her first visit to the villa, but he was aware that the victim was her husband, and he did not want to disturb her currently. Daniel did spot Luisa in the dining room if she were not there then she would be just as lost as Daniel was right now.

Finally, Daniel arrived at the wine cellar without any aid. Dan spotted Alex Dolven, the man that Daniel and David were conversing about. Alex was taking inventory; he had a concentrated look on his face. Daniel could tell that he had not yet stumbled upon any missing, extra, or misplaced bottles of wine yet.

"Good morning." Daniel spoke.

Alex turned to face Daniel. "Good morning, Dr Smith, can I be of any help?" Alex spoke with a purely professional tone.

"Yes, I have a few questions to ask you."

"Go ahead, but I must warn you, this ordeal has left us all a little heartbroken, so forgive me if I appear to be distraught."

"I understand. Would you mind telling what you saw last night?"

"Yes, I served the food that night, the chef prepared the food in the kitchen before I passed it out. I did not return to the dining room until after they finished their meals. After that David asked me to go with him to this room. While we were in here, he asked me to pick out a suitable red wine for this occasion."

"So, it was you who got the red wine from this cellar. In other words, if Peter were poisoned then the only one who currently had the opportunity to poison the bottle it would be you."

"I see, but I do hope you aren't jumping to conclusions doctor."

"As I understand it, it had been some time since the family had been united like this. You would not have a reason to kill Peter as he had not been to the villa in over two years. Besides, Diane told me over the phone that Peter was always nice to the staff; that includes you. Have you found both bottles of wine served after diner."

"No, the white wine was still on the table after I attended that fiasco; however, after I finished looking at Peter's body; like Diane and Luisa did, the red wine was nowhere to be found."

"Has the missing bottle been located as of yet?"

"Not yet, I was taking inventory. Before came down here to speak with me. I have not yet reached the spot where I found the bottle of red wine that was served last night."

"Why didn't you start there?"

"I have been so distraught that I have forgotten where I got the bottle from. I was hoping that the memory of which pigeonhole I got the red wine from would return, unfortunately, that is not the case."

"I see, did you see anything else that caught your eye that night?"

"You mean if I saw anything strange? Yes, I am certain that the wine I chose and the one served were two different drafts!"

This was a surprise, Dan had stumbled onto a nonsensical discovery, an unexplainable contradiction, how could there be two different red wines when the two bottles were a red wine and a white wine respectively; how could the red wine bottles have been switched right under everyone's noses? Daniel had to consider for a moment if Alex's testimony was credible or not.

"Well, if you have any more information, call me immediately; Diane knows how to contact me." Daniel announced.

"Alright then, I'll keep looking for that bottle now."

Daniel left the wine cellar and began searching up and down inside the villa for the person he had not spoken to yet: Luisa. But where was she? Dan hoped that by the time he found her, she would have calmed down to answer Daniel's questions.

Daniel found himself back in the dining room, unfortunately Diane was no longer there. Where was Diane now? The answer to that question was anybody's guess. Daniel had to find her, if he did not, he would not be able to question Luisa, unless he found Luisa before Diane.

Dan could hear a television in another room; Daniel knew it did not matter who was watching that TV, they would be able to give Daniel the information he was searching for, so, he headed to where the sound was coming from.

After finishing following the sound, he discovered Diane sitting upon a sofa watching the television, she did not want to stay in the dining room as she could not be sure if it was a scene of a crime yet, so she decided to leave in order not to disturb anything. She decided to come to this room and watch TV out of boredom.

"Diane, do you know where I can find Luisa?" Daniel inquired.

"Yes, but I would like you there myself. In a building this size it is quite easy to get yourself lost. Please follow me." Diane replied.

So, Diane got up and walked away Daniel followed behind her. They went up the staircase and she led him through the upstairs area and after two turns they reached the guest bedroom. They could hear Luisa sobbing sadly within.

"I think you wait just a bit longer; she is still suffering under the full gravity of this situation." Diane noted.

"Ok, I shall wait here until she stops crying, if you don't mind, could you wait in the foyer? A man by the name of Damien Thrifter will be arriving soon. He will be aiding me in figuring out what is going on. When you meet him, lead him to me. Do you understand?" Daniel said.

Diane nodded and left Dan's side.

Damien soon arrived via a teleportation crystal, and he was now moments away from opening the front door to the building and entering the foyer. He was unaware that Daniel had informed Diane to take Damien straight to Daniel the moment she saw Damien.

Damien now entered the villa and was met kindly by Diane Lucrane.

"Are you Damien Thrifter?" Diane inquired.

"Yes lady, would you mind if I ask you some questions?" Damien replied.

"Daniel has already asked me about the incident, and I have told him everything I know already; I do not want to repeat myself, so, why don't you ask him?" Diane replied.

"But I have no idea where he is right now!"

"I know where he is, and he told me to lead you to him as soon as you arrived. So, if you don't mind, would you please follow me?"

"Sure." Damien replied and Diane began to walk back to the guest room. Once they reached outside the guest room's door. They spotted Daniel still waiting. Luisa hadn't finished crying yet.

Diane left both Daniel and Damien to do what they do best. Hopefully together they will solve the mystery in a matter of hours.

"Dan, I want to ask the people in this villa my own questions." Damien said.

"If you can get help to navigate this maze, then you can ask as many questions as you'd like, but until then, I'm afraid we are both stuck." Daniel replied.

"What about that lady that lady that led me to you, she seems to know this villa like the back of her hand. Where did she go?"

"She most likely returned to the living room. I don't think she would have wanted to return to the dining room."

"Do you know how to get there?"

"Yes, I made sure to memorize how to get here from the living room. So, if I informed you of the route, I took but backwards, it would be correct."

So, Daniel told him the directions to the living room from the front of the guest room door. Damien got a notebook from his special bag and jotted down all the directions in as much detail as he could fit on the page.

After Daniel had finished giving Damien directions, Damien left following every instruction he had written down on his notebook, thanks to Daniel's excellence in providing details, Damien got to the living room without getting lost or running into a dead end.

Diane was sitting in the living room, watching TV as Daniel had predicted.

"Lady!" Damien exclaimed.

"Oh, it's you, do you need something?" Diane replied with a kind smile.

"Yes. Is there anything you were reluctant to tell Daniel as you didn't think it was important enough to have merit?" Damien inquired.

"No, it was a very traumatic scene and I've already told Daniel everything I knew about the incident."

"Are you sure? How about before Peter died."

"We were eating a delicious meal and discussing the events that have happened in our lives since our family was last together; I don't think any of that is important enough to tell you guys."

"Daniel told me over the phone that there were other witnesses."

"That's right. My daughter in law Luisa, and my son David. Daniel is waiting to talk to Luisa."

"Is that everyone?"

"Well, our steward Alex Dolven left the dining room after serving the white wine and returned to collect the empty glasses. There are two others in the villa. Lyra, our maid and Fernando, our chef. But all of those people had no motive against Peter, he had such a caring and generous spirit that it was difficult to hate him."

"Daniel and I understand. You and the rest in this villa must be having a difficult time."

"Do you need to speak with anyone else, Detective Thrifter?"

"Yes, I would like to speak to David; I know Daniel has interviewed you by now, but I think I should try and tie any loose ends Daniel may have missed."

"Very well then, please follow me, I'll lead you to where he is staying tonight."

So, Damien followed Diane through the villa until they reached David Lucrane's bedroom. Diane then separated from Damien, perhaps she was returning to the living room to continue watching her TV, or perhaps she was heading to her bedroom to finally get some well-deserved rest.

Damien knocked upon the well vanished mahogany door and within a few seconds David opened the door. David saw the policeman and stood aside to allow Damien to pass. Damien entered the quarters so he could ask David some questions. Damien turned around as David closed the door and Damien saw David's face; gears began to turn within Damien's head, he believed he had seen David's face before, but where?

"Good morning, I am Detective Damien Thrifter, and you are?" Damien inquired as a general intro.

"Good morning, Damien, I am David Lucrane, is there something I can do to help you?" David politely replied.

"Wait... did you just say 'David Lucrane'?" Damien inquired and a slight look of excitement showed upon his face, and it slowly grew as he started his next line. "As in 'The Fantastic David Lucrane; Magician Extraordinaire'?" He gave a slight excited squeal.

"Yes indeed. It appears that my influence has even reached you, an inhabitant of a planet far away from here. Now, let's return to the matter at hand, you still haven't answered my initial question."

"Sorry, I rarely get to be in the presence of so prominent." Damien stated and calmed himself. He then cleared his throat. "Please tell me, is there anything you can tell me that you haven't already told Dr Smith?"

"I accept your apology, but I'm afraid that I've already told your friend everything I knew about what occurred last night, I'm afraid that there is nothing more I can tell you."

"Your mother said that you were having a conversation at the table last night, care to elaborate?"

"I don't see why I have to, but we discussed what we did in the last two years, that was when we reunited last, the one that occurred prior to the union after the wedding. I personally discussed my progress with my performances, but of course, you already knew that."

Indeed, Damien did know about David's progress, Damien had been an avid follower ever since he saw David appear in a news article.

Saddened by been unable to find any new crucial information, Damien bade David adieu and left to re-join Daniel Smith, hopefully by now, Luisa would be ready to converse.

After what seemed like forever, Damien finally got back to Daniel. Dan was still waiting. The sobbing inside the guest bedroom was finally slowing down. It felt as if the crying will stop any moment now.

"Nice to see you again, Damien. Have you discovered anything new?" Daniel inquired upon seeing Damien.

"No, not really. Were you aware that David Lucrane is a famous magician?" Damien replied.

"You mean that guy you always go to see at the theatre. I thought his name rang a bell; I just wasn't able to put my finger on it. Well, it sounds like Luisa is calming down now, but I'm going to pay respect and leave her be. She has been through a lot. I don't think I should question her just yet."

"Then what do we do?" Damien asked.

"We need more information. I would like the autopsy report. I think the coroner should be finished with his inquest by now."

So, Damien and Daniel went outside to Dan's car which he took through the portal he took from Rhombodian to the villa. They entered the vehicle and headed off to the hospital. They didn't know that the case was about to take a twist that they couldn't have seen coming.