Novella (Part I)

by Rachelle David

“She seemed fine at first.  After a few steps, she looked a little confused.  She started to breath loudly.  Hyperventilating, more like.  Then, she fell…unconscious.”

“Or dead?”

“Yes.  D-d-d-d-dead.  She died right there in front of us,” witness number one said through sobs and tears.  The witness seemed so sad, but Dr. Brapvy was not yet convinced. 

“Where was this?  Who are the ‘us’?”  Dr. Brapvy needed to understand everything. Witness number one, known as Anthony by his friends, was not a good first witness. His memory was too clouded by sadness and drama. The Doctor could see the witness’s eyes never fully looking into his own. Anthony mainly tried to stare at various objects in the dark room or simply keep his eyes shut. At least he was open and wanted to find the cause of his sister’s death.

Anthony said with his head sinking into his hands, “Every year on March 16^th there is a dinner for all the members of the Noble Knights House.  It is more like a feast.  Every person who lives or practically lives in the house is invited to the meal.  Even the servants are invited.  Every person is treated like an equal and we all dine together.”

The Doctor was scribbling on his notepad something in a hurry.  When he looked up he asked, “You said ‘practically’ lives there.  What does that mean?”

The man looked up, surprised, and said, “Well, the word house does not describe the Noble Knights House.  The word mansion does not do it justice.  Imagine a whole acre of land filled with a five-story high building.  That is what the house is similar to.  A lot of people live there and the workers have a minimum of 13 hours per day that they work.  You can imagine the amount of workers that a house that size has.”  He seemed slightly distracted from the death of his sister.  Maybe this distraction could supply the Doctor with some real facts.

“So how does this dinner work?”

“Actually, it is a lot of fun.  We all have random assigned seating.  Shockingly, it is really interesting to speak with the servants and guests that you do not see because the house is so big.  As I said, everyone is treated equally and there are no grand entrances; except, of course, my sister.  She had a simple entrance.  All she did was have a slight introduction and walk in.  It was then that she… she… she… “  The witness fell back as a wave of grief hit him.

“Yes.  Thank you very much, Anthony.  I will call you in for further questioning in about a week.  If you remember any essential information, feel free to call me and please do.”  Dr. Brapvy gave Anthony his card.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Anthony said as he sniffled.

The Doctor shut off his recorder and began to pace across his office.  The office was small and dirty.  There were some paintings on the wall of jails and policemen.  There was also a waiting room right next door.  Mr. Cameroon worked in there.  The Doctor liked his little office.  He did most of his thinking in there.  He had his suspicions about who killed Roxanne.   In fact, I already have my own suspicions about who killed her.  Actually, this mystery is quite old so I have a bit of an advantage.  I am thousands, if not millions of years old.  But I digress; let us get back to his story.  It is not about me, of course.  Where were we?  Ah, yes here: There where thousands of witnesses and he most certainly had his work cut out for him.  Any one of them could have murdered her.  She was the owner of the house and therefore incredibly rich.  The only problem was that no one there got the inheritance.  Roxanne gave all her money and possessions to the Noble Knights Organization, which funded the Noble Knights House.  The Doctor widened his eyes, then opened his pad and made a note.  It read, “Ask witnesses about the point of the Noble Knights Organization.”  Dr. Brapvy had no idea what this organization was about and he had never heard of it. 

“Mr. Cameroon, please send in witness number two.  Quickly please.  We have a busy day ahead of us.”

The man stood behind a shadow and waited.  He tried to relax but could not.  He was too nervous to sit.  He was terrified that someone would find him.  He just wanted to be alone and happy with the whole incident behind him.  He still could not believe that he had that kind of power.

“Mr. Cameroon, I told you to send in my next witness.  Hurry up.  I have dinner plans and I need to get through at least two-dozen witnesses.  That is only a dent in the thousands of people who were there.  Oh, and please stop by the body examiners.  I need the cause of death as soon as they have it.  Mr. Cameroon?  Where are you?”  The Doctor was not happy.  Dr. Brapvy was tired of the horrible assistants of the past.  He had finally found one who was worth keeping and he was not going to let one case drive this guy away.  I have heard that it was very difficult at that time to find a worker who would actually work.  People would just sit in a bar and pretend to be at work.  They would even get paid.  They lied and were encouraged to do so.  Outrageous!  Anyway, Dr. Brapvy lived in a mystery so he decided to investigate.  Mr. Cameroon was not at his desk.  Dr. Brapvy looked around the small waiting room.  Then, he saw it.  The man was hunched in the corner, shaking.  Dr. Brapvy did not recognize the man, but he wanted some answers.  “Who are you?  Do not be scared.  I will not hurt you.  Come out of the corner, please,” Dr. Brapvy said slowly and calmly.

“I am Sebastian and I killed Roxanne Anderson.”

The man could not believe what he had done.  He was officially a sinner and a criminal.  He felt as though some dirty gangster possessed him at times and he would suddenly wake up and finish the job himself.  There was definitely something wrong with him.  When the whole story got out and was eventually forgotten, he would have time to ponder over his psychotic behavior.  But for now, he had business to take care of.

“Thank you very much for your time, Sebastian.  You must not forget about calling that…specialist.  Expect a call from my office for further questioning.  Good-bye.” He opened the door for Sebastian and left it open after the man left.  Dr. Brapvy hated dealing with the grief filled witnesses.  Although he was a doctor, he did not like helping people heal mentally or physically. 

The Doctor decided to check on his assistant.  He exited his cozy little office and saw Mr. Cameroon immediately.  He was preparing himself to give a lecture but Mr. Cameroon beat him for the first word and said quickly, “Doctor, are you alright?  To whom were you talking just now?” 

Dr. Brapvy hated when his assistant spoke to him before the Doctor spoke.  Dr. Brapvy always ignored the assistant’s senseless questions. He had his own pointless questions and he had the right to ask them.  Instead of answering he said, “Where were you?  I was worried.  There is a big, bad world out there with murderers, psychos, and drug addicts that would easily do terrible things to a man your age.  You must be careful out there.  I do not want to be investigating your murder or kidnapping.” 

“You sound just like my mother when I come home two minutes after curfew.  Anyway, I was here the whole time.  You seem to be loosing a bit of your marbles, Doctor,” Mr. Cameroon answered frankly.

Dr. Brapvy raised one eyebrow and said, “No.  I let the witness leave, I called for you to send in the next one, but you did not answer.  I was concerned so I came out to check on you and found your desk empty.  There was a man in the corner instead and it turns out that the man in the corner was Roxanne’s adopted son.  He was the replacement for the next witness who was…”

Mr. Cameroon sighed.  Dr. Brapvy always seemed to know everything but wanted others to put it to words.  He answered, “Connor the Cook.  What a name, right?”

“Yes, Connor the Cook, so you need to put Sebastian in the records instead.”

“I will immediately, Doctor. I can tell that you really care about me, Doctor, being so worried and all.  I have to say, I really am touched by your concern.  And for the record, I was here the whole time.”

“I have no time for your childish games and if you really were here the whole time, then do you remember when the man entered this room?  Thought not.  You are supposed to record all the comings and goings of this office.  Do not force me to eliminate you.”  The Doctor did not really care about Mr. Cameroon not being in the office at all hours but he preferred to be told when he would be alone in the office.  He did care a lot about Mr. Cameroon’s well being even if he hated to admit it.  

“So what did this replacement witness say?” Mr. Cameroon asked cautiously.  He did not want to upset the Doctor.

“Well, he was a bit crazy but I referred him to Trina.  You remember Trina, right?  The therapist who helped us solve with the Cox case?  He told me that he killed Roxanne.  His name is Sebastian.  It turns out that it was just guilt but he is definitely on the suspect list.  Mentally unstable people are very dangerous.  Keep that in mind when you enter the working adults club.  Anyway, Sebastian told me more about the Noble Knights Organization or NKO.  I want you to find out all that you can about it.  He told me that the Organization is meant to help immigrants from America find jobs and transition into the European lifestyle.  The Swiss way is very different from the American way.  If that is the case, and I am not sure that it is, then I want to know why Roxanne gave NKO everything.  I should go to the house and find out how it really works.”  Dr. Brapvey took his coat out from the closet, picked up his hat, and left the office. 

Mr. Cameroon was glad to see him leave.  He loved his job but he thought that Dr. Brapvy might need to visit Trina himself soon.  Mr. Cameroon had no idea what the Doctor was talking about.  He was sitting at his desk the whole time.  He never heard Dr. Brapvy call him to send in the next witness.  He never saw any Sebastian or man in a corner.  There was something very strange happening.  Mr. Cameroon still needed his job to pay for school so he had to get back to work.  He had lived in Switzerland all his life and had never even heard of the Noble Knights Organization. This case was getting more curious by the second. 

The house was nothing like Dr. Brapvy had pictured it.  When Anthony described it to him, the Doctor thought that the grief stricken man was exaggerating.  Little did he know that the house was actually 4,050 square meters. It was massive.  I still do not know how the people who work or live there did not get lost in the building.  He first looked around the courtyard. They even had a courtyard.  Where did they have room for all that?  Back to Dr. Brapvy; he found that around the building there were forests.  He still did not completely understand the annual dinner and if there was a window somewhere in the room, then the killer could have shot her through the window from the trees.  Then, he knocked on the door.  A small woman answered the door.  She was wearing a short, green skirt and a loose-fitting, purple shirt.  She was short and thin with very dark hair and pale skin.  The Doctor did not wait for her to speak first.  He said, “Hello, madam.  I am Dr. Brapvy and am the detective on the case of Roxanne Anderson.  May I please enter and look around?”

“Of course, Doctor.  If you need anything just ask,” the woman answered friendly. “Oh, and I am Aracelli.  I work in one of the various offices of this house.”  She stepped aside and the Doctor walked into a small mudroom.

Dr. Brapvy pulled out his notepad and began scribbling.  “I think it is better if someone comes with me so that I do not get lost,” he said without looking up.

“That is a terrific idea, Dr. Brapvy, right?  Your name is Brapvy?”  The woman said carefully.

“Yes that is my name.  And what did you say that you do here?  Would you please specify your exact career description?” Dr. Brapvy said rather quickly.  He was starting not to like this woman.

“I did not reveal to you my job and I do not plan on it,” Aracelli stated plainly.

“Alright then, can you find someone to take me around the house, please?”

“Right.  Now that I think about it, no one is available at the moment and I need to get back to work.  You can find the door, can you not?”

“Get back to your work doing…?”

“You are not getting anything out of me.  That is all that I am saying.  Goodbye.”

“So when is a good time for me to come and look around?”

“Have a nice day, Doctor.”  Aracelli slammed the door, left and did not look back through the window at the Doctor to make sure that he had left.  That was the usual routine and she did not think twice about breaking it.

Dr. Brapvy was not shocked.  In previous cases, he had pretty reluctant witnesses and he could not get any information out of them.  He just hoped that the rest of the members were not as secretive.  He already had spoken to witnesses and received some information.  That was definitely not enough.  He needed to find more people who lived in the house.  If the house was that big, then there would need to be more than one entrance.  He decided to take a trip around the perimeter of the house and find the other entrances. 

He pulled out his note pad and tried to sketch the house, the surrounding forests, the windows, and the doors.  He did his best, as always, but his artistic skills were not nearly as developed as some of his former assistants who would accompany him on his travels.  I remember hearing about this one who was so good that when the Doctor finally got tired of her, she decided to go to art school and is now an incredibly famous artist.  Nevertheless, Dr. Brapvy did find another door.  He knocked on it and a man answered the door. 

“Hi.  Who are you?  Would you like to come in?”  The man stepped aside and Dr. Brapvy entered.  His first time in the house was shocking.  As big as it looked from the outside, the inside looked even bigger.  There was an elegant rug on the floor and a gorgeous mural on the ceiling.  It looked similar to a cathedral’s ceiling.  It had a pale red outer oval with a semi-pale yellow inner layer.  In the center was a woman holding a small piece of dark green fluff.  The woman looked startled yet controlled. It was unnerving how she appeared to have two different expressions.  It was too difficult to look away from it but Dr. Brapvy forced himself to tear his eyes away.  As beautiful as it looked, the ceiling was nothing compared to the rest of the room.  It was fairly dark in the room and very earthy.  Everything was wooden.  The chairs were wooden, the walls were wooden, the furniture was wooden except for the cushions, the floors were wooden, and even the ornaments were wooden.  The Doctor was slightly overwhelmed by all the wood.  This place was termite heaven.  The ornaments were quite beautiful.  There were some sculptures, made of wood, that were exceptional.  They were painted and looked like people.  One looked just like the man who opened the door.  The Doctor immediately pulled out his note pad and again tried to draw the house.  The man looked at him and said, “I am sorry, sir, but it is not permitted for visitors to photograph or draw the house.  You, sir, are no exception and what is your name?”

Dr. Brapvy hoped that all the members of this house were not so cross.  These people were a little too secretive for Dr. Brapvy’s liking.  It was time for some under-cover work. 

“I am Luke Nielson and I am looking for a place to work.  I heard that this is the place for a guy like me to be.  I just want to sketch what the entrance looks likes so that I do not get lost, that is if I get accepted.”  Dr. Brapvy tried his best to sound foreign.  He was not a good actor.  He could easily lie and keep up his act but accents were not his forte.  He hoped that the man did not notice.  “What is your name?  I want to know as many people as I can and make friends,” Dr. Brapvy added quickly.

To Be Continued…