Laughter is Born From Madness

Chapter 55

Woodley became highly uncomfortable as Jeremy leaned closer to his face.

"That aside, how in the world did you...rather, since when? And why are you here?" Arthur asked.

"Dear me. Questions, questions." Jeremy muttered as he turned to Bard and asked. "You there. Open my bag, if you would."

Bard opened the bag to reveal a white owl.

"Whoa!?" he exclaimed.

"That is Mister Sebastian's owl!!" Mey-Rin exclaimed. "I-Is it dead, is it?"

"No, it was acting up, so I tranquilised it for a brief spell. It will wake up momentarily." Jeremy explained.

"E-Even if it was acting up, that's much too cruel!!" Finny yelled.

"Do please take a look at the letter around its leg."

Ciel walked over and removed the small message tied to the owl's leg and looked at it.

"Young master! Whatever did Mister Sebastian write!?" Mey-Rin questioned.

Looking at the paper in irritation, Ciel crumpled it and put it in his pocket before addressing everyone.

"It appears that he sent this letter to Jeremy anticipating that he himself would eventually be killed."

"Oh no...Mister Sebastian..." Mey-Rin mumbled.

"But that paper alone isn't proof enough that he's not the killer!!" Grimsby shouted. "I mean, if he managed to come here from outside of the manor, he could've committed last night's murders too, right!?"

"Proving my innocence is quite simple. Look in my coat pocket."

Reaching into Jeremy's pocket, Finny pulled out a crinkled ticket.

"A ticket...I think? From the theatre..."

"And the date on it?" Ciel asked.

"Yesterday...the ticket was purchased at the door for the evening performance on March the twelfth. The location and programme were... um... the... el... ay... dee... The Lady of the Lake at the Lyceum Theatre!" Finny stated, happy he read it correctly.

"The Lady of the Lake is indeed being performed at London's Lyceum now." Irene confirmed.

"Yes. Last night, I went to the Lyceum Theatre in London." Jeremy spoke. "The performance ended well past ten at night. Even if I'd caught a hansom cab and slipped the driver a sovereign to rush over here, it would have taken over two hours to reach this manor. Moreover, the streets are a veritable quagmire of mud, what with all the rain, so it would have taken nearly twice as long as usual."