Previously
Emma, impersonating Rosaline, attends a party at the MacCallan Estate hosted by Count MacCallan. She encounters Heather Dartmouth, who fails to recognize Emma's true identity and attempts to offer a condescending apology for the past incident involving the maid Emma.
If I feel like he’s mocking me, is it just my guilty conscience speaking?
In truth, I had been avoiding meeting with the police under the pretext of being too traumatized by the loss of my parents. I had only been questioned directly at the very beginning of the case before the lead investigator was changed; since then, the Count and Countess Brow had proactively stepped in for me.
But I couldn't keep that up forever. Now was the time to steel myself and dial up my acting skills.
I paused there and clenched my jaw slightly. I kept my eyes moist and looked toward the ceiling as if trying my best not to let the tears fall. I blinked three or four times, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then put on a face that said I was okay again.
With this, the image of a ‘pitiful woman trying her best not to show her pain’ was complete for anyone to see.
Ash MacCallan didn't seem moved by my acting at all. Even though his lips were set in a firm line, I strangely kept getting the feeling that he was looking down at me and scoffing.
He paused for a moment before speaking.
He seemed to be hoping I would flinch, but I had no reason to feel guilty. I had absolutely nothing to do with that fire.
Why were the words I’d wanted to hear so badly only coming out now?
I felt a desperate urge to plead my case as Emma Hampton, but right now, I was Rosaline Tesis.
Had someone witnessed that scene? That couldn't be.
If they had, they would have spoken up the moment Heather got angry. While Heather was the daughter of a quite influential family, Rosaline was just a girl fresh from the countryside, someone everyone felt comfortable bullying.
‘This man is testing me.’
And I was no stranger to this kind of ‘interrogation.’
As criminals say, you must deny everything until clear evidence is presented. Do it with a brazen face, as if you’re truly being wronged.
They said that even if the opponent is a noble, you can at least avoid the worst sentence that way.
Their teachings were proving useful even today.
With the conversation going nowhere, Ash seemed to decide to end today’s interrogation there.
However, if we parted like this, others might cast suspicious glances my way, so I added a comment to shift the mood.
I had saved my tears for this very moment.
I squeezed out tears by recalling memories of my childhood when I had been treated with agonizing unfairness.
Again, I pretended to hold them back, but I didn't stop my nose from turning red or the tears from welling up in my eyes.
The question I asked was extremely emotional and inappropriate, but it didn't matter. Wasn't I currently a woman drowning in grief after losing her parents? This level of rudeness would be forgiven many times over.
Sure enough, something like an emotion flickered across Ash’s expressionless face for the first time.
Unexpectedly, he admitted his fault and backed down quickly. I had actually hoped he would be a bit more stubborn.
Well, it seemed best to end the greetings here. Count and Countess Brow were starting to look a little uncomfortable.
Ash changed his mind about Rosaline Tesis. She was no easy country bumpkin.
‘She attacked me. That must be her way of saying not to take her lightly.’
He had a talent for reading the sincerity in another person’s reactions. It was a gift born from a childhood spent anxiously watching his mother, a brilliant actress, wondering if she truly loved him or if she would leave him.
So, frankly, he had thought he could easily gain a clue to the case with just a few words once he met Rosaline Tesis. He hadn't heard anything about her being clever when he’d looked into her background.
Most people didn't even know her well.
Even those who did remember her hadn't been particularly impressed by her.
He had already spoken with Heather Dartmouth as well.
She had confessed everything, from the way she had mocked Rosaline to the large compensation she had demanded from the maid who spilled wine on her skirt.
Heather, having had to confess to her own petty bullying, asked with a look of wounded pride.
Heather seemed quite shocked. It was likely because of the fact that her own reputation could suffer.
At first, he had wondered if she had instigated Emma to do it, but he had removed her from the list of suspects after seeing her constant annoyance and desire for her name not to be mentioned in connection with the fire.
A real culprit wouldn't state their wishes so openly.
‘Hmm. In any case, Rosaline Tesis isn't exactly thorough either.’
Heather seemed unsure, but he was certain it was Rosaline who had overturned the glass. If Emma had done it, Rosaline would have been flustered and dropped to the floor before she could even say it was ‘her maid’s mistake.’
In other words, as Sergeant Greg Norman suspected, Emma Hampton was a very strong suspect.
‘But hasty certainty is dangerous.’
Even if she had set the fire, there were many parts that weren't properly explained. And the only person who could provide a clue to that mystery was Rosaline.
That was why he had deliberately tossed her a bit of bait.
Whether she had spilled it or not, if she became flustered upon hearing this, this matter could be wrapped up easily. It wasn't difficult to uncover the truth from someone who wore their emotions on their sleeve.
But what if she remained calm? Then the story changed.
‘I’ll have to view this woman, Rosaline Tesis, in a completely new light.’
Whether intentional or not, she was showing two contradictory sides at the same time.
The woman who had trembled with grief at the funeral had momentarily twisted her lips into a smile, and at this party today, she had followed the Brows around demurely only to attack him with an innocent face.