The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 136: Jeremy’s Death (2)

Chapter 136: Jeremy’s Death (2)

"Who is dead?" Cassian felt he had received a wrong information, probably because his friend must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but Orson nodded his head frantically, gesturing that he wasn’t joking or playing around today.

He’s been trying to keep himself composed after seeing Jeremy’s lifeless body on the cold floor in his cell, but he wasn’t particularly sure how long he could pretend to be strong after seeing the bloody mess, and not just of anyone, but Jeremy.

"He’s dead, I’m fucking telling you the truth." His anxiousness was laced to his tone as he tried to convince the young lad about the havoc that was about to take place.

Cassian still had a hard time believing what Orson just said to him, but when he looked at the entrance of the CIB, to his dismay, two agents were taking out a body that was covered in white sheet. Stains of blood had coated the side of the white sheet, and Cassian didn’t hesitate to walk up to the two men who were taking the body out and to who knows where.

Anxious to confirm if what Orson just said was the truth, Cassian pulled the covers of the bloody stained sheets, revealing the face of the person they were taking away, and his eyes widened slightly, revealing his disbelief as the familiar face came into view.

Jeremy’s body had paled completely, his face void of any life, and not even a faint heartbeat could be detected, making Cassian grow suspicious as he had the strangest impulse to examine the body further.

Still pulling the sheets, Cassian took notice of the bloody area that gave him a mental image of Jeremy being stabbed there. Already used to the sight of blood, Cassian didn’t hesitate to examine the deep wound, and he could see the flesh twisted as though he had been stabbed with something more deadlier than a knife, and he got another mental image of the sharp blade being sunk into Jeremy’s abdomen, his killer twisting the blade into his body and making him bleed profusely.

"Hold on." Orson tried to create a distance between Cassian and the bloodied body of Jeremy. "You can’t see blood, remember?" He whispered, reminding Cassian of his usual taste for blood, but the young lad’s gaze reassured him that he won’t be affected by the mere sight of Jeremy’s blood, or any other blood to be more specific.

Thanks to Madeline’s blood he had consumed last night, he can control his taste for at least a few more hours before having the urge to taste blood.

"What exactly happened?" Cassian asked as the body was finally taken away, and Orson ran his fingers into his hair as he worriedly paced back and forth, looking like an emotional mess that deterred Cas’s expression. "I don’t know the exact details, but those who saw it claimed he committed suicide. The blade was found in his hands and it was too late to think of saving him since he died almost immediately."

"Suicide?" Cassian scoffed, conveying his objection to that word. "His palms are bandaged, Orson, I knew the amount of damage my gun could inflict on him, he may never use those hands again, so how can he kill himself? Okay let’s say, by chance, he did, but there’s certainly no way he could inflict that much damage into his system. Didn’t you examine it? Someone else did it, the suicide is practically a lie to cover it up."

From the little observation he made, Cassian could come up with a good theory that was starting to make sense to Orson. His hands were bandaged, so how can he hold a knife? Talk more of stabbing himself with one?

From the corner of his eyes, Cassian caught a glimpse of the crying Juliana who was being comforted by the Duke as they followed Jeremy’s corpse that was being taken away, and Cassian sighed deeply, feeling the gloomy air hit him as he wasn’t expecting to meet Jeremy’s death this way.

"Where’s the evidence?"

"Come with me." Avoiding the drama outside as the agents tried to do all they could, Cassian and Orson went into the building. They made it past the expensive lobby and into another door that was highly secured by two hefty agents. Already familiar with Orson and his fellow partner, they let them in, and inside the awaited lab was Klaus and Abbot who were having a discussion, but had stopped talking when the door opened.

"You both are here." Orson made his presence known as he stepped in further, Cassian trailing behind him as he too was surprised to find Klaus and Abbot here, but with Abbot’s presence, he couldn’t risk blowing his cover.

"Yes, frankly speaking, I’m glad you both are here." Uttered Klaus who shifted his gaze from both of them and returned his attention to the dagger that was smeared with blood around every corner of the blade. The dagger rested on the table with a white handkerchief placed beneath it.

"This is the weapon?" Cassian asked after sighting the bloody dagger, and Orson nodded. Abbot’s gaze was fixed on the young man with a black mask as he moved closer to examine the blade.

"The dagger is here, but I still feel something is missing." Klaus cryptically said what he thought as he shifted his attention to Orson. "He killed himself with a dagger, but despite the proof, I’m not willing to accept that that is all to it regarding his suicide."

"I just lost a brother and it is something none of you can relate to, I need to know what is on your mind." Stated Abbot as his eyes shifted to all three of them. His eyes were instantly fixed on the masked one amongst them who suddenly took hold of the dagger, but he carried it along with the handkerchief to avoid getting his imprints on it.

"What are you doing?" Klaus raised a brow, already aware of who it was behind the mask, but Cassian said nothing as he continued to observe the corner of the blade.

Immediately, he recalled the death of Roland and how they would have caught the one responsible if Madeline hadn’t touched it, and the same method strangely rhymed with what was going on as he got a mental image of Jeremy being stabbed with another blade, but the one responsible was extremely smart enough to switch the blade, rubbing the fake weapon against Jeremy’s blood before placing it in his grip to cause distraction.

"What are you thinking?" Abbot’s tone broke him from his train of thoughts, and Cassian looked at the three of them before placing the dagger back on the table.

"This weapon is fake." He said. "The killer is actually smart, he didn’t drop the actual weapon and left a replica."

"Huh?" Klaus looked lost, and Cassian let out an exasperated sigh at the thought of having to elaborate everything for the dumb fool standing beside him. "Did you take time to examine his wound, Lord Jeremy’s wound, cause if you did, you’d be able to tell the difference and make quick calculations on the amount of damage this dagger could inflict, and from what I saw, this dagger is not capable of inflicting that much on him."

"So what you’re trying to say is that this was carefully planned?"

"Yes." He answered. "Someone already had the intention of killing him. He didn’t commit suicide, it’s a blasphemy that the killer intends to use to us all, but we’re not that stupid, are we?"

"Let me get this straight." Orson finally joined. "Jeremy didn’t commit suicide, someone killed him with another weapon for reasons that are unknown to us, and to avoid getting us to figure out the main truth, the weapons were switched and now we’re left with no evidence?"

"Hypothetically." Cassian answered.

"But why would someone want to harm my brother?" Abbot butted in, "Jeremy was placed under isolation which means no visitor was allowed to see him, so how can your statement correspond with what is going on? Except you’re trying to say that the CIB are all careless fools who couldn’t observe my brother properly to know he was targeted?"

"That is correct." Cassian agreed as though Abbot had read his mind.

"You’re the brother of Lord Jeremy if I’m not mistaken, you must be more shaken up than the rest of us since he was related to you. I can’t have a conversation with you when you’re bound to get emotionally violent." Cassian always had a retort to give, and Abbot’s gaze darkened when he realized he just got indirectly insulted for not being bothered by his brother’s death.

"But if someone killed him, then who did?" Klaus asked out of pure curiosity, and silence reigned in the lab.

~

"Who is dead??"

Inna’s hands flew to her mouth when the news of Jeremy’s death reached her ears.

Madeline, who had gotten out of bed and joined Inna in the living room, couldn’t help but pick up the note she had dropped due to the shock she received at what was written on the paper

Reading the letter herself to understand what was going on, Madeline’s eyes widened as well, and her face turned ghostly pale when Jeremy’s death was being revealed to them.

"Oh my God." Inna and Madeline exchanged glances, and Madeline had to hug Inna who was shock-stricken by the news.