#and use the ensuing chaos and resulting casualties as a distraction to escape'

[ehlnofay]

wip wednesday aka friday aka saturday three minutes from sunday

tagged by @wispstalk​ :) here is an excerpt of the current Long Thing I’m almost done working on, which is an extremely self-indulgent character study in which arabella, having been insane for the better part of a decade, picks a random place to sit down and declares “I’m going to be normal now.”

[hshq-scotlandyard]

THE RESULTS

THE OFFICIAL STANCE OF THE POLICE !

Prince Arthur II denied ever entering his father’s office on the day of the incident. He had, instead, commanded a few of his personal staff to aid him in gathering his personal belongings in other areas of Buckingham Palace. The guards at the Palace and stationed to watch over his father admitted to never having seen Prince Arthur II come within the vicinity of the office prior to the discovery of the body, other than when he clearly passed by the end of the hall, headed to his own room. HRH Catherine of Scotland heard the sound of Arthur I falling to the ground, as she was using the bathroom in the same area, and promptly headed to the office to investigate the noise. By the time she arrived, Arthur I was already deceased. HRH Catherine of Scotland promptly alerted the authorities.

Detectives believe that the assailant was an extremist who wished for the monarchy to be abolished, having found multiple online groups that were stoked to action by the recent clashes between Scottish/English forces. Authorities are currently assuming the former. The current unrest and chaos within London has made it difficult to locate the assailant, who escaped just before HRH Catherine of Scotland entered the scene. 

English authorities are trying to organise and ask for any help finding the regent’s murderer.

THE CULPRIT !

Prince Arthur de Iturbide II of Mexico murdered Arthur Windsor I.

Congratulations to the ones who guessed the murderer! And thank you everyone for playing! This was mega fun

He may have escaped the law… this time.

THE MOTIVATION !

Prince Arthur II has been planning his father’s murder since Princess Natalia was named heir to the throne. 

At first, it had been motivated by blind rage; then, it increasingly seemed more logical to do so. Prince Arthur II had been hard at work ensuring that the English nobility did not question the royal family, even after his sister had been named the new heir. He had also been the perpetrator of the Parliament explosion in 2020, though there were no casualties. The attack was a warning, and one that was inspired by his father’s actions against the Dutch. But it did not seem enough. Unrest raged on, and Prince Arthur II believed that his father would continue to undermine his political efforts and destabilise the country ever further should he be allowed to come close to any sort of power. Prince Arthur believed that his father had become the cancer of the nation, and his siblings unable to stop the spread of his influence. All other international parties were either resentful of England or too loyal to the old (ex-) monarch to offer aid and be rid of the despot entirely.

THE CRIME !

Enabling the Scottish and nationalist English factions to cause further chaos in England was the first step. By then, England was already at the breaking point. They needed someone to blame, and it was so convenient to paint Arthur I, the tyrant. He was most already high by the time his father’s conviction was announced, confident of what the outcome would be – not because he manipulated it, but because the sociopolitical conditions of the country might as well have dictated it. 

The second condition was the party. Though Arthur II had no hand in planning it; it was just convenient that it was at Buckingham Palace. It was also convenient that his father chose that same night to take part in the celebrations. Arthur II took this as a sign.

The anger and mortification he conveyed to others was only half true. It constructed the lie that he wanted to retire to his private quarters at just the right time, especially when his father had taken his leave. He instructed his personal staff to gather the rest of his belongings elsewhere: books, memorabilia, and the like, particularly in the library. He obtained a silencer from his private security detail, but needed to find the concealed weapon – unregistered, and received it as a gift from his less pristine connections – in his private quarters. His room also had a secret entrance into the hidden passages within the Palace, and he knew these well, having explored them at length as a child. He traversed them, hearing the guard, George Abbott, watching something on his phone through the wall as he passed by the area that would have been the waiting room beside the study. He waited until his father was alone in his office, and entered promptly. He shot the man first on his back, hitting his chest. Arthur I fell and hit his nose on the table’s edge, breaking it. The elder Arthur attempted to get away and alert authorities, especially upon seeing his son, and Arthur II coldly interrupted: “I hope you’re proud of me now, dad.” before firing a single bullet between his father’s eyes. He did not need to come close to his father and allow his shoes to be stained by his father’s blood – he had been hunting with Catherine since they were old enough to be allowed to hunt together, and they were both excellent (and competitive) shots.

Disgusted by the sight of his father and still somewhat tipsy, he removed the ring from his finger – which he almost never takes off – and allowed it to fall to the ground, not noticing that his father still had his. 

The office has two hidden doors: one that’s an exit to the passage (behind the trophy cabinet) and one that’s an entry point on the opposite side of the room. If Arthur II had returned to the hidden passages, he would have created a mark on the blood spatter on the wall, as well as stepped over the body. This would not do. Knowing that the guard was distracted, he opened the door carefully and slipped out. By the time the guard returned to his post, having finished smoking by the window in the waiting room beside the study, he didn’t know any better. Arthur II rounded the corner just as he was spotted by the maid, Alicia Greene. Her irrelevance to his current concerns caused him to forget they even interacted.

It was a fortuitous moment later, after Arthur II’s subsequent exit, that Catherine heard the noise. The ring was beside Arthur I’s body, and noticing the same ring on the deceased, she recognised it immediately as her childhood partner-in-crime. She picked it up, and the events continued as we know it at present.

RED HERRINGS AND VITAL CLUES !

Madelyn Desjardins

While Madelyn and her beau had a jealous reason to be rid of Arthur I (may he rest in pieces), they were also commoners. Killing a monarch would have been a sure death sentence without the right connections and without prior extensive planning.

Nicole and Natalia de Marquis (and Ennio Este? Arnauld D’Orléans?)

This has to be the most convincing one. We were setting it up the entire time and you got jebaited ! They are all innocent of (this particular) crime. Other crimes, though? Who knows

The Palace staff

Alicia Greene straight up lied. She watched Arthur II and Natalia grow up, after all, and still sees them as kids. She doesn’t know what exactly happened or who killed Arthur I, but she’ll do anything to protect her kids. George Abbott has worked at the Palace for three years, but in those three years, the Palace has seen its fair share of chaos and scheming that he’s learned to steer clear of the study, and Ian Ford probably didn’t give a damn, being loyal to Antonia. The cook and the gardener were innocent and corroborated these claims.

The Windsor siblings

While we were all alluding to killing off dear old dad, none of them are actually murderers

Apart from Arthur II : D

The Dutch?!

I wish

The cufflinks

These were Arthur I’s, which he took off for himself in frustration while he was calling his lawyers. The list of his clothing did not include them.

The wine

Madelyn drank some before leaving the scene. No scuffle ensued here, but Arthur I was struggling to uncork it, which would explain the opener.

The notepad and the laptop

Because the laptop has the most incriminating piece of evidence, we decided to save the best for last. To solve the password, you had to have access to the notes. Old people have a tendency to just write down their passwords, so we placed it there for good measure.