Time for Anya's Interrogation of the Suspects

Anya entered the room which was a very typical-looking study, old-fashioned and very victorian with a desk in the centre, it was currently lit with two candles and two chairs were facing opposite each other, she assumed the butlers had ensured it was layed out correctly. Smiling at their promptness, she took a seat at the side of the desk for the questioner. All the papers had been filed away she presumed, as before they had been all scattered about when she had witnessed the photos of the possible room crime scenes. She gestured for the nervous-looking hostess to sit down opposite her and smiled. "So then, can I simply first confirm your name?" She asked and drew out her own personal note-pad and pen from her pocket, placing them hidden from Mrs Peacock's view on the desk.

Odette sat down and looked at Inspector Violet.

"My name is Odette Emilia Peacock and my maiden name is Swan." She said, answering her question after taking a deep breath.

Anya smiled, appreciative that Odette was clearly trying to be helpful, she mostly had to deal with people who were full of attitude and resentment in her career. "And where were you, Mrs Odette Emilia Peacock, on October 1st, the night of Dr.Black's murder? At around midnight?" She put on her usual voice that she used when questioning a suspect, but added a hint of warmness, after all, the woman did seem particularly nervous. It was very difficult to picture her as a suspect.

Odette took another deep breath. "I was on the dance floor... I was... I was going to meet with Dr. Black at 2:15..." She said, adding the last part softly, looking down at her hands.

She blinked, noticing for once she was still holding her glass of water. She took a sip before setting it on the desk.

Anya decided to take the investigating slow, Odette was clearly nervous so it wouldn't do well to push her, this could be a long night. "Alright then, so can you remember anything key that occurred whilst you were on the dance floor? The smallest irrelevant detail may help," Anya spoke encouragingly before moving on to her next question. "And why were you meeting Dr. Black at the time of 2:15 a.m?" That last bit did have her confused, it did not put Odette in good stead for being innocent of the crime that occurred around that time.

Odette shook her head sadly. "No... I was too into dancing... I just wanted to finally relax a little... it took most of the night to greet all of my guests..." She said, looking up at her. "I'm sorry that I wasn't more observant..." She said, sighing a little.

Odette looked at her hands in her lap as she shook her head again. "I don't know... he didn't say... He just said he wanted to meet me... He said he wanted to meet me in here at 2:15..." She said, looking up at her.

She crossed her arms and rubbed her hands on her arms. She felt cold and still couldn't completely stop shaking.

The image wouldn't leave her mind...

His body...

The blood...

It was like it was engraved into her mind...

She started to shake some more and tears started to form in her eyes.

Make it go away... please... make it go away.... She thought, in her mind, trying to force the image away.

Anya longed to reach out and comfort Odette as she began to cry but current circumstance made that impossible, she was the Inspector and could not thus really take care of one of her suspects. She instead settled for some kind words. "Are you alright to continue Mrs Peacock? I could leave your questioning until later," She smiled, in reality, her answers were seeming pretty key to the investigation, she was supposed to meet Dr. Black at 2:15am, and his body was found dead before he could get there. Why was this the case? Did someone not want Odette to hear what he had to say? Or was Odette lying about the time and she had killed him? She found the latter most difficult to believe but had to consider it all the same.

Odette took a deep breath and shook her head quickly, shutting her eyes tight. "No!" She said, louder then she meant to.

She cleared her throat. "I-I mean... No, I want to continue... I just..." She said, looking to the side for a moment. She closed her eyes a took a deep breath. "May I walk around the room some? I... I've never been one for sitting still for too long." She said, with a sheepish smile.

When she realized that the tears were still on her face, she pulled out her handkerchief from her other sleeve. "I-I'm sorry." She said, with a slight laugh. "I'm not usually like this... I just haven't ever been able to take d..." She took another deep breath. "death very well..." She said, looking at her handkerchief sadly.

{OOC: Heeeeey, fancy seeing you up XD I'm fixing to take a bath, I'll reply again after then }

Anya's heart twinged, she hated seeing anyone so upset and she nodded with a smile at the woman's request. "I understand it must be difficult for you with this being your home." She solemnly replied to Odette's comment about death, watching the woman closely, she thought it was alright to continue as she seemed to relax a bit more and was very sure she wanted the questions to carry on. "Alright then Ode--- Mrs Peacock, where was your husband at this time?" She corrected herself quickly with the name, hoping she hadn't realised her mistake, it was so difficult to see Odette as a suspect, she blushed a little in embarassment.

Odette gave a little smile. "Thank you, Inspector." She said, before getting up and walking around the room. After a moment, she visibly relaxed.

Odette nodded when the female inspector at her words. "Not only that... but when I was seventeen, my parents died in a carriage accident... I was with them when it happened..." She said, looking sad and for a moment lost in a memory.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Inspector Violet almost said her first name. She turned back to her and smiled softly at the mention of her husband.

"My husband... George had to make a last minute business trip the day before the party... At around the time of the murder... he would have probably just gotten to London by that time..."

Anya's face fell a little when Odette explained about the carriage accident, that must have been heartbreaking for a young girl to deal with such a catastrophe. "Well as long as we can find him an alibi that he was in London, that rules him out as a suspect," She nodded and smiled encouragingly towards Mrs Peacock, grateful for her extensive information she was providing. It was just the reasons behind the supposed meeting with Dr. Black that were foggy. "I think that will be all for now, Mrs Peacock, there may be some further questions later but that is it for the moment." She smiled towards her warmly. "Thank you for your help. Would you kindly send your butler to perhaps fetch the next suspect? The Reverend Green?" her questions had been short but it was only an introductory exercise after all, just to get the basic notes and information. "You are free to roam around the Grange as you please, but do not leave Arlington. Thank you once again."

George... a suspect? Odette thought, not liking the thought of it.

Relax, he's fine, he has an alibi... She thought, calming herself down.

"Thank you, Inspector Violet." Odette said, smiling. She turned to the door, then stopped and turned back to the inspector.

"I almost forgot... One of the suspects, Colonel Phoebus Mustard? He wasn't invited." She said, with almost an angry look.

She pulled a piece of paper from her sleeve. "This is the list of those who were all here that were invited and had replied to their invitations. There are check marks by it, so I could keep up who I had greeted during the party. The only name without a check is Professor Milo. He kept ignoring me when I was trying to catch up to him when he was trying to get money for another of his expeditions. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even remember who exactly I am." She said, handing Inspector Violet the list.

"To know the reason why Colonel Mustard wasn't invited, is because we're not on good terms. He is actually my cousin on my mother's side..." Odette said, bitter at the thought of him crashing her party.

Anya scribbled down every word that Odette said in those last few moments and nodded appreciatively as she handed her the paper, that information was indeed very useful. "Is there a particular reason you and your cousin are not on good terms?" She asked the question as delicately as she could but she needed to know, it could be key to the case and finding out who the murderer is.

Odette sighed and looked away. "I don't actually know what his personal problem with me is, but when my parents died, they didn't have a Will, the court ruled me too young to inherit everything, so they left me and and everything of my parents to my aunt, Cruella Mustard. After a month, she kicked me out, making sure that none of my parents' wealth would go to me..." She said, sadly.

"That was when I appeared on George's doorstep, soaked to the bone... He was a friend of the family... pretty much the only person I knew I could trust..."

{OOC: Sorry for the short reply! Chapel! DX}

{EDIT: Whoops, I meant "didn't have a Will", gah, was in too much of a hurry to look it over >.<}

Difficult financial situation... Anya continued to copy down every word that came out of Mrs Peacock's mouth, her interview had proven useful indeed. She smiled towards the woman once more, for some reason she found herself warming to Odette already, she couldn't be a murderer... could she? "Thank you for that last piece of information," Anya indicated towards the door. "If you think of anything else, you know where I am, thats all for now." Anya finished off her last bit of notes and pushed them to the side, entitling the next 'Reverend Frollo Green'.

The police officer followed Frollo to the study.
Frollo slowly entered the room. He saw Odette on her way out. It must be really hard on her. To have someone being murdered in her own house. He couldn't picture her as a murderer, so it must be awful for her to be a suspect.
He looked at the other woman in the chair, Inspector Anya Violet.

{OOC: XD Sorry, I'm leaving this area now XD}

Odette nodded. "You're welcome. If there's more I can think of, I'll let you know. Thank you, Inspector Violet." She said, giving her a grateful smile. "Goodnight." She said, before walking to the door and leaving the study.

Edgar stood outside of the door, waiting for further instructions. Odette smiled at smiled at him.

"Edgar, could you please send for Reverend Green? Inspector Violet would like to question him next. Also, please do whatever the inspectors need you to do. I'm sure that they would appreciate the assistance." Odette added.

Edgar nodded his head to her. "Yes, Madame." He said, bowing.

"Oh and could you please have someone get some rooms set up for everyone? I think this is going to be a long processes."

"Yes, Madame." He said, bowing once more before heading back into the direction of where the other suspects were.

Odette let out a breath. "And time for me to take a walk..." She said, turning in the opposite direction.

As Odette left the room, she sighed a little, feeling the lack of a warm presence, it was now just her, some police officers, Frollo and the butler. She was actually surrounded by men. Pulling out her pen once more, she gestured for the Reverend to be seated. "Can I just double check your name please?" It was standard procedure to ask the suspects name, to make sure they were who they say and also, to make sure the questioner is interviewing the right person. Looking at the Reverend, he seemed to have a sense of wisdom about him, something that made Anya shiver a little to look at him in his large dark cloak.

Frollo sat down in the chair in front of Anya. He felt uncomfortable. There were so many people, and he was a suspect. If he had just had an alibi he could use, then this wouldn't be such a huge problem.
He tried to calm himself down and just focuse on her questions.
"My name is Frollo Green," he said in a clear voice. He wouldn't let anyone see how much this situation affected him on the inside.

Anya nodded, this seemed like it may be quite a straight-forward investigation. "Reverend Frollo Green, where were you on the night Dr. Black was murdered, October 1st? At around midnight?" This should move pretty swiftly, he seemed quite confident after all and she doubted he would give any emotional outbursts or have any attitude problems to the interrogation. She smiled at him, he still gave her the shivers somewhat, especially at such a close distance. He was actually rather intimidating.

"Around midnight..." he repeated in a calm voice.
Around midnight? He hadn't looked at the clock. But he was pretty sure that was around the time he had been with Cinderella. He couldn't say that. But he hadn't been with anyone else. He had to say he was alone.
"I don't remember exactly what time it was," he said vague. "But I think it might have been around midnight. I went to the kitchen to talk to the staff." He knew for a fact that other people had seen him around the kitchen. He just hoped it wasn't too far from the time the inspector had asked.

"And why would you have wanted to do that...?" Anya's voice became slightly higher pitched with intrigue that he as a guest had wanted to interact with the kitchen staff, not many of a higher class spoke to that of lower. She smiled as it brought back memories of her meeting cale, an upper class girl waiting behind to say thank you to a kitchen worker. It was a happy memory. Apart from the fact she had had to go home. She winced. She really did dislike upper class houses. Looking towards the Reverend, she eyed him up and down, wondering if he had some secret or whether he was as virtuous as his vows to the church suggested.

He had thought this through while he was in the hall. He could do it. Besides, it wasn't a complete lie. Just an altered version of the truth.
"I simply wanted to thank them for their hard work during the evening. Mrs. Peacock is a wonderful host, but these kind of parties wouldn't be possible without the staff."
He folded his hands on his knees.
"I believe it's important to thank the people who deserve it."

Frollo thought about her first question for a little while. If he had seen anything suspecious, then it could really help the invesigastion. If they caught the murder, or at least accuse someone else for being the murderer, then he'd be safe. They wouldn't need to investigate him anymore.
"I'm sorry, but nothing really comes to mind," he said honest. "It's hard when you don't know what to have looked for. If I think of something, then I'll be sure to let you know, so we can get this case solved at quickly as possible. I'm sure it's tiresome for all of us." He added the last sentence with concern in his voice. It sounded like he cared more for the others well being than his own. And that was partly true. But most of all he just wanted to end the case, so he didn't have to worry about it anymore.

"My relattionship to Dr. Black?" he repeated. "I have heard of him from others, but never talked to him in person."

Anya nodded at his responses, they all seemed very simple and straight-forward although she was starting to wonder why he was a suspect at all if he had so little knowledge of the events that unfolded, it was interesting really. Sikes clearly picked him for a reason and she would find out what that reason was. But perhaps not today. "I think that will be all Reverend, for now, there is not much else I require from you. Is there anything else you may like to add? Final words?" Anya looked hopefully up at him, it would be nice if she could leave the room with some sort of clue from Frollo, Odette had hinted about Phoebus at least, that could be an interesting lead.