[color=ec008c]Optional Reading Continued.

The captain's house was modest by the standards of someone in his station, however the inside made up for the modesty by being filled with enough trinket ridden tables and wall hangings to fill a home three times it's size. Dusting was likely to be a nightmare of grand proportions. 

"Ah, Miss McClellen! The Captain will be ready to see you in a short while." Liechtenstein's Head Butler said as he poured some tea into a cup purchased from France out of a pot made in China. The ostentation servant had been so surprised at Lillian's appearance and request to meet the captain she was half convinced his oiled and coiffed mustache might just jump off his face. Probably a good thing that didn't happen, she mused, otherwise the man's outrageously large eyebrows would have become lonely on such an otherwise hairless example of a mammal. Lily let out a small giggle at that particular thought, which the butler assumed was in response to a boring story he was trying to regale her with as part of some attempt to keep her entertained while she waited. She would have much preferred to wait in private with her thoughts rather than stuck trying to tune out a man who was under the impression the price of a tapestry made for engaging conversation. Lily scowled every time the butler -whose name she refused to remember- turned his back or looked away.

Lillian normally tried to show more respect for the serving staff as they were often good people who were regularly abused by their employers. However she could not stand listening to such a pompous individual; the man acted as if he were somehow superior to others because of the station of the man whose shoes he polished. 

"The clay of the pot add's a great deal of flavor to the tea. I do hope you will enjoy." he said as he topped off her cup, seemingly unaware that his listener had begun to very obviously count the number paintings in the room. There was a long pause, and Lily briefly wondered if the man had finally taken the hint. "Ah! I see you are an admirer of the Captain's fine art collection. Some of these are painted by the world famous painter Elmyr de Hory who-" Lillian cut him off.

"I do foresee this visit as requiring something a bit heavier than tea. Perhaps you can fetch one of the Captain's wines." There was another pause as the man waited for Lillian to give more details to assist in picking the correct drink. She had observed on many an occasion that in situations where the employer or guest failed to specify what sort of drink they wanted, or what the occasion was, there were unreasonable repercussions for the poor servant who fetched it and guessed poorly. Lily intentionally left her request vague to make the man nervous as she knew he was aware of what would happen if he chose poorly. Perhaps a touch too cruel, even for such a swollen-headed individual, but before she could say another word to course correct the Butler snapped to attention, then bowed and stood so fast his ridiculous mustache bounced around slightly.

"Right away ma'am." and off he went. Lillian let out a long sigh, both because she was a tad upset with herself for being a bit too mean, but mostly from relief at finally having a moment of peace. 

She took a long sip of her tea, and found to her great annoyance that the tea had been badly burnt and had thus become far too bitter. "Perhaps my actions were more justified after all..." she quietly mumbled. There was little point in acquiring and using fancy Chinese pots if one could not even manage the basics of brewing tea. Of course there was always the chance The Captain preferred his tea as such; it would not be the first time a rich upper crust fool with no taste buds insisted their staff ruin quality ingredients in the name of some so-called preference. She took another sip of the tea as she was actually rather thirsty and hoped she could power through the bitterness. The sip caused her to scrunch her nose up so much her glasses slipped from their perch and almost fell off her face. 

Lillian corrected her glasses then reached into one of her pouches and pulled out a small bottle labeled 'Miraculin' and added a few drops of some liquid from the bottle to her drink. After a quick stir she took a tentative sip and found that the chemical was doing it's job. The tea was still not as good as it could have been, but a lot of the bitterness was gone and replaced with a mild sweetness; the sweetness had an unnatural taste to it but it was better than ruined tea. 

Her drink fixed, Lily reached into another pouch and pulled out a small box which she promptly opened. Nestled inside was a piece semi-hardened plaster that was imprinted with the shape of Tereza Kucera's head wound. There were multiple large grooves, and rounded knobby bits on one end that almost made it look like a sea shell. The impression wasn't perfect, and some of the woman's hair was caught in the casting which made the object feel even more morbid than it inherently already was. As far as murder weapons went the pattern was quite distinct which likely meant the weapon itself had something unique about it as well. With the strange shape, and the level of damage to the head, Lillian's first instinct was a shalaylee. Not a terribly common weapon outside of Inis Ealga, however The Captain was a collector of all kinds of paraphernalia so it wasn't impossible to think he might have such a thing in his possession. 

The plaster had yet to fully harden, so Lillian placed the lid back on the box and tucked the whole thing into a pouch so as to not risk misshaping some rather important evidence. She then sat in silence and thought, sipping her strange tea, while she waited for The Captain to arrive. 

After a few minutes a maid with sharp cheekbones and kind eyes entered with a silver platter, atop which was balanced a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. Mustache Butler had pawned the job off on someone else to avoid risking any ire flying his way; most likely picked the wine himself then had the maid deliver it that way if it turned out to be a good pick he could claim credit. Lily resisted the urge to scowl and instead smiled at the maid. "Thank you kindly, miss?" The maid froze part way into placing the platter down.

"... Oliva. Oliva Flaversham, my Lady." She quickly placed the platter down. "Is there anything else I can do for you Miss McClellen?"
The maid seemed oddly nervous, and Lily made note that Oliva was clenching both her fists and attempting to hide that she was doing so within the folds of her dress. 

"No thank you, Oliva, you are free to go. Your services have been greatly appreciated." She made a point to mention the woman's services rather than make any mention of the wine to ensure any positive credit didn't find its way back to that weasel of a butler. Lily then did her best to give a kind smile, which she appeared to succeed at as the other woman returned a smile of her own, bowed slightly, and turned to leave. She was still visibly bothered, clearly distraught about something, made all the more obvious by the fact she remained in the room with her back to Lily. Anyone else of her station would have become irate with the maid, but Lillian sat and waited to see if the other woman would muster up the courage to do or say what it was that was on her mind. 

"...You think the captain is responsible for Tereza, don't you?" Olivia's voice was shaky buy clear, and it was obvious she and Tereza had been friends. Word apparently traveled quickly in the maid network; Lillian had made her way straight to the Liechtenstein estate from Kateřina Kucera, and the news of the sisters death had been not far behind. 

Lily chose her words carefully. "I am following a line of clues and logic. Both have brought me here, but that implies no guarantees that I am in the right place. Only that there is sufficient reason to, at the very least, come here and investigate." Oliva nodded, and her fists visibly unclenched. She then strode out of the room quickly without looking back.  


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Captain Radovan Vladislav Liechtenstein eventually arrived, though had kept Lillian waiting for some time. Her first thought was she was waiting for him to pamper his own mustache into shape as in comparison to the butler his had twice as many curls and three times the luster. 

While the pompous method of decoration would suggest the owner was equally pompous Lillian found that the man was shockingly down to earth, and quite jovial. He knew all his servants by their first names, at least the ones who were attending to him, and would regularly send kind words their way or slip coins into pockets and pouches. Lillian briefly wondered if it was all an act to endear himself to her, but thought better of it as she had yet to meet a noble of any standing that thought to use kindness towards their staff as some kind of ploy. There was always a chance The Captain was a unique case, but Lily preferred to think there was at least one decent noble in the world. It was a shame she was currently investigating him for murder, as the man was quite knowledgeable, and unlike his man-servant knew how to tell an interesting story. 

The pair talked for quite some time, Lillian using the conversation to probe for clues. Getting an idea of the mans whereabouts two weeks prior, if he had been having any issues with the staff, and lastly she asked various questions about his health to see if he was even capable of doing the damage required. The whole time they spoke she had a feeling in the back of her head that she had seen the man's face before, however she was also a hundred percent certain prior to their current meeting they had never met. And yet he first entered the room she had a feeling of familiarity. 

Regardless of the strange feeling, Lillian pressed on. Eventually the conversation shifted towards the purpose of her visit. Not wanting to give anything away Lily lied about being there to represent her father and how he was looking for investors. A lie that wasn't totally a lie, as her father was looking for investors for a project, and he had told her himself that should the opportunity ever arise she should try to hook someone in. The project involved trade with Indian and by pure luck The Captain was utterly obsessed with the country and was practically onboard with little coaxing. The whole thing made Lily wonder if the man had some British ancestry in his blood. 

The conversation went on for some time, and when it finally ended there was only a few hours before the sun set. Under normal circumstances Lillian would have preferred to keep talking as she found herself liking The Captain quite a bit. But she had a killer to bring to justice and was running out of time to do so, at least be her own standards. 

By the end of her conversation with The Captain she had managed to both secure another investor for her father, and rule out the Captain as a suspect. Not only was he not present at the time of the murder, several of the health conditions he mentioned made it very unlikely he would be capable of caving someone's skull in. There was always a chance he was lying about his whereabouts, but she had watched him closely while they spoke and was able to confirm that his medical issues restricted him in ways that would make him unlikely to be the murderer. He had a great amount of difficulty totally closing either hand, and so would grab his wine glass around the widest part -the bowl- and totally avoided the stem and epicure which would have required both more dexterity and more range of motion with his fingers to grip properly. He did the same with his tea cups, which was notable as he did so even when the cup would have been quite hot, suggesting he had no feeling in his fingers. With that information, and the fact that one of the maids kept swatting his hand away from the sweeter of the treats available, suggested he most likely was suffering from type 2 Diabetes. Her suspicions were confirmed when after some probing, Radovan mentioned a healer he met in India a year prior claimed he was suffering from madhumeha.

Lillian stood and gave a polite curtsey "It has been quite the treat conversation with you Captain but I am afraid I must be going now. My father will be greatly pleased to hear you are interested in his project." Liechtenstein stood, saluted, gave a bow that made his back omit a symphony of horrendous pops and cracks, then gently took Lillian's hand and kissed the back of it.

"An absolute pleasure my dear, an absolute pleasure. You have been a much greater conversational partner than I have had in some time. Your parents raised a jewel of a woman, and I must say the rumors about you are quite-oof!" The Captain jumped slightly as the same maid who had bene swatting his hand away from treats gave a light jab with her elbow into his ribs. The Captain chuckled while rubbing the spot. "Incorrigible little minx isn't she? Ah but that's just how I like them, a strong woman keeps you on your toes, keeps your mind sharp, and your wits witted." he laughed heartily. "Come! Let me see you to the door." He beckoned for her to join him, offering his arm like a proper gentleman. Lillian was about the take it, when her heart suddenly jumped so hard she had to swallow to get it back in place. One of the myriad of the paintings on the walls was of The Captain, which was likely the reason he seemed so familiar, but more importantly than that the painting featured him standing triumphantly over a Rhino while holding a saber with a unique and familiar pommel. 

"Lord Liechtenstein, in that pai-" Lillian was cut off.

"That The Captain to you young miss! Lord Liechtenstein is my cousin." he laughed and clapped Lilly on the back hard enough it stung. He likely didn't feel a thing.

"But of course, Captain," She corrected "that painting of you. Do you still have that sword?"

"Hmm? What's that?" He looked around the entire room before his eyes landed on the painting in question. He squinted his eyes, held up a monocle, got close, then stepped farther back before giving an excited "ah ha!" and pulled Lillian close so he could gesture properly. "That is a Tulwar, a mighty sword used by the finest swordsmen in India. Saw a man once cut through tree as wide as my stomach once!" he clapped a hand over an immodest belly and laughed "Though I was quite a bit thinner back then so perhaps not that impressive." Lillian smiled, but was feeling very close to answers and felt compelled to push The Captain along.

"Yes that all sounds wonderful. I shall have to return sometime and hear more stories, however in the mean time could you tell me if you still have the sword?" 

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He in fact, did not have the sword. It had been given as a gift to his grandson Alexander, a fact that made Lillian itch with how close she felt she was to catching a criminal. However it was short lived as The Captain informed her Alexander was in Italy, had been for a month, and would be for another month. She was also informed that the sword, the Talwar with a shell shaped pommel, had gone with him as it was apparently a prized possession. It was at that point she came to the reasonable conclusion neither the Captain nor the Grandson had anything to do with Tereza's murder. 

Once she and The Captain parted ways she waited around, and managed to talk her way back into the house by asking to speak with Oliva. The maid brought her to the room Alexander used when he stayed in Prague, and the pair searched the room quickly making quite the mess which Oliva promised she'd clean. Lillian found a series of letters in a locked drawer which she picked open; it was a correspondence between Alexander and his mother, informing the woman he had impregnated a maid and wanted to marry her. While the mother was not happy, affairs with the staff were hardly unheard of and it was clear she had some experience with such things. While she was very firm that marriage was out of the question and murder, nor any of is euphemisms, ever came up. It was quite clear that Alexander had feelings for Tereza and was going to do right but her and her unborn child.

After they were done searching the room Oliva asked for permission to tell The Captain about his former maid as he was likely to have a care package sent to Kateřina and her husband as means of condolences, and she felt they could really use it. Lillian of course gave her blessing and the pair parted ways.  

With little else to do, and no more leads, Lillian returned to following Tereza's journal in the hopes it would prove useful. With only a couple hours left of the day she found herself at the edge of stream looking down at the bones of a woman who had likely died some time ago. The bones were unnaturally smooth from their time in the water, and the sun bleached them whiter than marble. Lillian wanted to examine them closer, but found she couldn't bring herself to do so. Not for any moral reasons, but because anytime she brought any part of her close to the bones she would suddenly start feeling a sensation of pins and needles running up the limb. There was clearly some force within the bones that had not dissipated with death or time, and it had been calling out to Tereza. Whether it was intentional or not was a mystery for another day, just as the identity of and strange nature of the bones. 

And so, dejected and defeated, Lillian returned to the site where she had found Tereza's body and sat upon a nearby rock to look out into the forest. She leaned back slightly, bracing herself with her hands against the rock and took in as much as she could. She had often found that in times of defeat it helped to take ones mind off the problem for a while and focus on something else. Returning to the problem with fresh eyes regularly helped a great deal, and sometimes a totally unrelated bit of stimulation fired up an impossible connection of grey cells that lead to a shocking revelation. So she sat, and stared, and thought. 

"Unless someone else had access to the poor woman's diary there was little to no chance they could have been in waiting in the woods for her, so it was highly likely she had been followed from the city. Of course given Tereza's habit of taking new routes the only sure fire way to ensure one could follow her would be to stake out her home or her place of work. But given the woman's affair with The Captain's grandson her hours, as well as comings and goings, would be much less predictable. And unless the pair were complete fools they would have been attempting some level of subterfuge... " Lillian spoke aloud to no audience in particular. Another method of hers to help when one is having a problem, talk out loud as if you were explaining something to someone. "That could mean whoever did this was simply bidding their time, waiting for the moment to strike. Or perhaps they somehow were privy to the information that Alexander was out of Prague for a time." Various ideas and thoughts flowed from her mouth, some being rejected immediately, others taking some thought before she could eliminate them for good. As she thought, and spoke, she ran her hands over her rock seat. "Of course this is all only relevant if-" she stopped as her hand brushed over an odd shape, an odd, smooth, shape. She stood up and spun in a flash, kicking up dirt and leaves as she did. She began to look the rock over, and quickly found that at the back of the rock, sticking out shockingly noticeably, was a fossilized sea shell. Lillian pulled out the plaster casting of the wound -which by this point had dried well enough to handle- and placed it next to the fossil. They were not exactly the same, but that was to be expected given the human skull isn't normally meant for impressions. That said the sizes were the same, and the location of grooved and rounded bits lined up near perfectly. "Did she simply... trip and fall..." Lily quietly asked of herself, finding it difficult to accept such an answer. Was it possible there was no murder and instead an unfortunate accident caused be a woman wandering in the woods alone. Perhaps the body was never hidden by human hands, but instead by some carrion beast trying to hide their meal. 

It all seemed unlikely, extremely so. "But..." she began while starring intently at a tree whose knots formed a crude face. "Let us assume for a moment this is still a murder. That would mean the health, or physical strength, of the person was less relevant. You don't need to pick up the rock to hurt someone with it, you just need to trip them or push them....' with that one thought she had figured out who the murderer was and rushed off to apprehend them. 



To be concluded:[/color]