"It's not supposed to be my job this weekend," Alex protested weakly. "I'm supposed to be avoiding the boring people at this party, not wrapping one up in a winding-sheet to preserve them for forensics."
They wanted to preserve the whole drawing room, but it just wasn't feasible with so many guests needing to be shuttled around.
Julian sighed and kissed him. "Let's make a list of everyone that was in here before we both forget," he suggested.
"You're far too sensible about this," said Alex grumpily. But he let Julian go get them paper and pens, and they began to list out everyone they could remember. Then they went to poor Smithson, who was looking rather traumatised from behind the bar, and got him to list out everyone he remembered, which got two extra people that Julian and Alex had overlooked between them.
"I know it wasn't you," said Alex, though he couldn't say why he was so certain. After all, Smithson would've had after-hours access to the snake as well as opportunity, but in the end he couldn't think of any reason the man would randomly murder one of his employer's guests.
"I hope them detectives believe you, once they get here," said Smithson, grammar slipping in his distress. "I ain't had any jobs as good as this one, and I don't want to go to jail or get fired neither."
Alex nodded. "Had you ever met Nonami-Finklewick before this?" he asked.
Smithson shook his head. "Nah, he wasn't one of the regulars. I feel for his wife, though, with how he flirted."
"He did not cheat," said Tsukiko, coming up to them with mascara streaked but dignity restored. Her clothing was still impeccable, not a hair out of place, only the handkerchief in her hand and tear-streaks on her cheeks to show for her grief. "His eyes roamed, but my Ronald was faithful."
"Even if he was a cheater," said Alex philosophically, "you were in the other room, so we know that wasn't the motive."
She laughed, sharp and bitter. "They'll look at me, anyway. The wife is always a suspect."
Julian patted her arm very gently. "I wish I could say you were wrong, but they will. They won't find anything, though, will they?"
He made it sound rhetorical, but Alex had been asking the question internally the whole time.
Tsukiko shook her head. "They will not. I did not love all of Ronald's ways, but we were a good match, for this sort of marriage. It will be hard to take over the reins of household and business without him."
"You won't have to do any of it right away," assured Julian. "You'll be allowed a period of mourning, like any widow."
"I will, yes," said Tsukiko with relief. Her face went all sad and she said, "They have put him in the musicians' unused rooms, for now, so that I may visit if I feel the need."
"Don't try to undo the wrapping," warned Alex. "There's a spell that'll bring me running if you do."
She nodded. "They warned me. I don't know that I will need to visit him, honestly. His voice is with me in my memories, and his smile, neither of which his corpse can provide."
There wasn't much else to say to that, so they left her to get a cup of tea from Smithson and went over to Chudleigh. Two servants had taken the body away, and Alex could feel the spells lessening in his attention as it moved into the upper part of the wing, at the back where the less-desirable guest rooms were.
"No one can get to us until tomorrow at the earliest," said Chudleigh, "and we can't leave, either. No roads going in or out are passable."
"We'll do what we can to solve it," promised Alex, patting his shoulder. "I'm sorry you've had to deal with this."
He couldn't imagine having to put on such a party in the first place, let alone having a guest murdered. There was a lot to sympathise with for Chudleigh and his staff, and Alex was now used to being nice to people about things like this. Julian had trained him where Lapointe had failed.
"Bloody hell, I have to figure out how to keep these people from going stir crazy," said Chudleigh with great feeling, as Dr. Geoff came up to console him.
"We'll figure it out together. We can always still have dancing, just, you know. Respectful or something," said Geoff, clearly just doing his best.
Alex did not envy either of them.
"We should probably talk to everyone who was here before their memories get clouded over," said Alex reluctantly. "They'll be muddling each other up right now, I expect."
"You never do that part," said Julian, surprised.
Alex shrugged. "If not me then who? Besides, you'll be there to play good agent, even if neither one of us is actually an agent."
"I'll put you in the den," said Chudleigh. "But you should start with Smithson before I bring anyone else in, right?"
"Right," agreed Julian. "He'll have a different perspective on what happened since he was behind the group."
