Moonlit Meetings:
Chapter 9:
Ciel crossed one leg over the other and seemed to consider the proposition. He exchanged looks with his conspirers before coming to a decision.
"I agree there is a benefit in us working together so we should pool our knowledge and plan together," he paused. "If you ever betray us or this turns out to be a ploy to get evidence against me, Aunt Ann will deal with you."
The mention of Ciel's aunt made Sebastian feel like someone was walking over his grave and he hastened to deny Ciel's statement.
"I promise. We can make a contract if you like," he suggested. Ensuring that Ciel trusted him was important.
Once the contract was constructed and signed by everyone, Sebastian relaxed. Angelina now looked less threatening and Ciel wasn't glaring at him. Tanaka even offered him tea and Mey-Rin passed him a plate of biscuits.
Ciel began the discussion by producing the heist notice.
"We know our deadline for working out a plan. We have two weeks and we can't start properly until Mey-Rin and Tanaka visit tomorrow. Sebastian, can you give us any important information about the house?"
Sebastian was about to answer when he realised that he had to tell Ciel that Ash had indeed murdered his parents. If it was found out later that he had known, Ciel would hate him.
"Before I answer," he hesitated for a moment. "Ash told me earlier that the phantom thief was targeting him to find evidence that he had killed the phantom thief's parents. He also confessed to doing it."
Ciel's grip on the piece of card shook a little before he regained control. He gave Sebastian a small smile.
"We already suspected it was him so it isn't really a shock," he answered calmly.
"In the very least it will not be a pointless heist like the early ones," Tanaka interjected. "We can stop breaking the law after this."
"That would be nice," Mey-Rin agreed. "I always worry about Ciel getting arrested."
"You're an accessory to all the crimes he committed," Sebastian reminded her.
"You are in the same position," the phantom thief pointed out. "You signed the contract."
Inside he was still mistrustful of Sebastian. The contract had allayed some of his misgivings. The others had thought it was a good idea for them to group together and they were in the majority. He recalled in the beginning that he had thought it would be better if Sebastian was on their side because of his instincts and intelligence, so why was he worried?
Perhaps he was worried that Sebastian was going to question him about the kiss now that he knew who the phantom thief was. He decided it was best to avoid thinking about it.
***
The atmosphere at the office was different the next day. The sun was shining, Sebastian made tea and they were all on the same side. Ciel didn't have to worry about letting information slip or being caught out by Sebastian.
As Mey-Rin and Tanaka were visiting Ash Landers, he and Sebastian were alone in the office. They were sitting around one of the tables and having a competition to have the best infiltration and exit plan. It was something to pass the time before they could gain more information from Mey-Rin and Tanaka.
"I think we should get hold of some flash bombs, a mannequin and a hang glider. When I have found the evidence, I can use the flash bombs as a diversion and use the dummy and the hang glider to make it look like the thief escaped off the roof whilst I rejoin everyone as myself," Ciel related his hypothetical plan.
"You have read too many stories," Sebastian sighed. "In theory it would work, but when the dummy was found it would raise suspicions about one of us being the thief."
"It's all hypothetical," Ciel grumbled. "What's your idea?"
"Ash wants to kill you," Sebastian stated plainly instead of explaining his theory. "There's going to be something like a trap hidden somewhere to kill you. The house is full of secrets."
Ciel flinched. It wasn't particularly surprising that Ash wanted to kill him, now that he was aware that Ash knew who the phantom thief was. If Ash didn't want his crimes to be found, it would be natural that he would dispose of anyone that could find out.
"I can look after myself," he told Sebastian and tried to look confident. "We can all work together to construct a foolproof plan."
Sebastian patted him awkwardly on the head. "If Ash wants to kill someone, he usually manages it. I just hope he doesn't this time. I would feel guilty about not being able to prevent it."
"How did you know that he was a murderer when you were younger?" Ciel enquired.
It had been bothering him since the night before. If Sebastian had seen evidence of Ash's murders it would save time and make the heist simpler and less dangerous for all of them.
"I had returned from graduating university and was staying at their house for a while before I had to move somewhere else to start a job," Sebastian started his explanation. "One day I leaned against a wall and one of the portraits moved and I found a small recess behind it."
Ciel leaned forward in eagerness to hear the rest of the story.
"It was late at night and it was dark and I didn't want anyone to know I had found it so I felt around in the dark. I found something that felt like a knife. The tip of it felt sticky and wet as if there was blood on it. I didn't want to confirm my suspicions so I closed it up and returned to bed. In the morning I thought it had to be a dream."
"That isn't enough provocation for you to disown them and want to arrest Ash," Ciel observed. "There must be more."
"At breakfast I saw a newspaper article about a successful businessman being stabbed in suspicious circumstances. I would have dismissed it, but he used to be acquainted with Ash and his company was rapidly growing. It passed my mind that Ash had killed him to prevent any competition."
"What did you do after that?"
"I kept hearing or seeing things that suggested he was breaking the law. The dog sometimes had blood on his teeth and I would hear someone leaving the house late at night. The breaking point was when I overheard him bribing a Police officer that had come to question him for something he was suspected of," Sebastian said. "I left after that and changed my name by deed poll to my original name. I was planning to get promoted to a high enough position in the Police that I could investigate him without trouble."
Ciel was silent for a while as he considered his former rival's story. It sounded genuine enough and it explained why he had exhibited concern for his wellbeing. He was now convinced that Sebastian was being fully truthful.
"Ciel, I have an important question," Sebastian's voice jerked Ciel out of his internal monologue. "Now that are no secrets between us, can we get along better?"
"I don't see why not," he replied reluctantly. You won't be hounding me anymore and I don't need to avoid talking to you."
"That's good," Sebastian flashed one of his heart stopping smiles and Ciel blushed faintly.
"I'm glad it makes you happy," he averted his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at Sebastian.
"Did my smile make you blush?" Sebastian blushed. "Can I ask about that kiss now?"
The phantom thief's reaction was instantaneous. Ciel blushed even harder and covered his face with his hands.
"I didn't meant to!" he protested. "I had to distract you to knock you out."
Sebastian had clearly made a decision to be annoying as he wriggled an eyebrow disbelievingly instead of accepting the explanation and moving on.
"Is that really the truth?"
Ciel was saved from answering by the return of Mey-Rin and Tanaka. One look at them told him that the visit had not been successful. Tanaka's face looked like thunder and Mey-Rin's hair looked frazzled.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Tanaka asked as he took the seat next to Ciel.
"The good news first," Sebastian said.
"We got the floor plan from Ash," Mey-Rin informed him. "He and Angela will also be on holiday at the time so Sebastian and Ciel won't have to come in contact with him."
"The bad news is that the floor plan has lots of space unaccounted for and the place is a maze. The dog is very much alive and slobbered all over us," Tanaka said with a grimace. "He also wants a private security team instead of the Police. We managed to persuade him to let us be there too, but it was hard."
"I can help with the first two things," Sebastian volunteered. "I can take care of Pluto too- I never liked him anyway."
They combined their knowledge together and ended up with a completed floor plan by the end of the afternoon and a list of the possible ways to kill or maim the dog. Sebastian also listed the possible places evidence could be concealed and Mey-Rin marked on the plan were all the cameras would be.
"We should do what we always do and destroy the fuse box so all the lights go out and the cameras stop recording," Ciel noted it down on his list. "Does anyone have any ideas regarding the heist itself? If Sebastian is correct, Ash will be waiting in the shadows somewhere to kill me and there will be his security people around too."
"We can drug the extra guards," Tanaka suggested. "A couple of us should also be drugged to avoid suspicion. That takes care of them."
Ciel added that to the list and a strange thought came to him. All this time they had been talking about Ash and hadn't seriously considered the person he was married to.
"What about Angela Landers?"
Sebastian looked surprised at the sudden question and then his expression cleared once he realised what Ciel was referring to.
"Ash may be the one that does the killing and is the most dangerous. However she isn't innocent. She knew what he was doing and I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't suggest some of the victims to be killed," he explained. "If Ash tries to kill you, she wouldn't be there- she doesn't like getting her hands dirty."
Ciel took note and continued on with his questions.
"What about the servants?"
"There is a butler and a couple of maids. We requested that the house be cleared of unrelated people and he gave them orders to be absent in front of us," Mey-Rin said.
"Does anyone have any sensible ideas yet?" the phantom thief questioned. "For the moment, I'm stumped and I don't want Ash to jump out of somewhere at the heist and kill me."
There was a brief silence whilst everyone was deep in thought. In the end the silence was broken by Sebastian.
"I have an idea. It's an idea Ciel would come up with, but it's the best I have got. We need flash bombs and Alois Trancy."