⚠️Trigger Warning; Mentions of death and suicide⚠️

The room which the famous detective entered had 100 noble men and women whose feet tapped in synchronization, muffled by the idle chatter around from the rooms while dancing to flowing music of Adagio in B-Flat Minor. The scent of alcohol and cracker-bonbons wafted from the kitchen to the ballroom. He had just arrived in France a few hours ago by ship and had been invited to a ball, for he was a famous detective in both Japan and France. He was Oda Kato.

Kato had been a detective for a little over 3 years when he had solved a major crime case on a serial killer in France. He was very proud of the accomplishment which earned him a title in France and Japan. Kato glanced around at the ballroom and picked up a drink from the glass table when the nobles Louis, Nico, Dominique, Iris, and Summer approached him. The dark purple, pastel blue, and pastel pink dresses the three women wore swished from side to side with each step they took. The men looked a bit intimidating with their Black and Navy Blue suits.

“Good evening Monsieur Louis and Mademoiselle Dominique, Mademoiselle Iris, and Mademoiselle Summer. How are you today?” Kato asked.

“Good evening, Monsieur Kato. My friends Iris and Summer are well, and so is my courter, Louis,” Dominique said.

“That is nice,” Kato replied.

“I was wondering if you would like to play a game of chess with me today?” Nico asked.

“I would love to,” Kato replied.

---

They strolled around the building and decided to play in the garden. The garden was dimly lit by the starry sky and the full moon. The moonlight’s rays reflected off the crimson red roses and the violet nightshade flowers. Surrounded by the plants and flowers, they played their game of chess. During the game, Kato learned a few things about the group. Louis used to be the boyfriend of Iris, but they broke up a year ago. Iris wanted to continue being courted by Louis, but Louis refused. After a while, Iris was courted by Nico, and Dominique was courted by Louis.

After the game of chess, the ball had finished. Most people had already retired to their houses for the night, but the group decided to stay and help clean up the house. Louis was to clean the Front Parlor, Iris would clean the Kitchen, Summer would clean the garden, Nico would clean the Back Parlor, Dominique would clean the Ballroom while Kato was to clean the hallways.

Kato started walking through the hallways, dusting off the family portraits when the lights suddenly flickered and turned off. There was a soft thud, then the halls went quiet. Kato wondered what had fallen, so he went looking around the house to put what had fallen back in place. He looked in every room and found nothing had collapsed, but when he arrived at the Front Parlor, Louis was collapsed next to a desk.

---

“Dominique, Nico, Iris, and Summer, I wish you won’t freak out at what I am about to say,” Kato said.

“What is it?” Summer asked.

“Where is Louis? You gathered everyone here, but Louis,” asked Dominique.

“Just now after the lights went out I heard a thud, so I looked around so I could put what had fallen back into place. When I got to the Front Parlor Louis was lying on the floor. When I shook him, he wouldn’t move, so I checked his pulse… but I was too late. I am sorry for your loss,” Kato said.

Dominique cried out in horror and slapped Nico’s face. She yelled, “YOU DID IT, you killed Louis. You were jealous of him. Iris still wanted to be courted by Louis, but you loved Iris. You wanted him dead didn’t you.”

After saying her accusation she ran out of the room followed by Iris and Summer glaring at Nico who had been on the floor holding his face.

Nico told Kato, “I was afraid Louis would take Iris from me, but I would never resort to these types of methods to try to get Iris to love me. I know you might not believe me, after all, we are just strangers, but please… please believe me when I say I didn’t kill him.”

Kato replied, “For now, I shall not make any assumptions on who is the murderer,” then he turned and walked away pondering who could have murdered Louis.

---

Everyone was gathered in the ballroom being interrogated by multiple different police.

“Hello Monsieur Kato, I’d never imagined you would be suspected of murdering someone,” said Ivy.

“Neither would I. Nice to see you again Mademoiselle Ivy,” Kato replied

“Today I will be the one interrogating you,” Ivy said, “Where were you at the time the murder occurred?”

“I was cleaning the halls. I can assume Monsieur Louis was poisoned and fell during the time the lights went out. This is since I heard a thud come from a room when I was cleaning in the halls,” Kato said.

“What did you do after hearing the thud?” Ivy asked.

“I walked around looking for what had fallen over. I was sure that if I looked around I would find what had fallen. I looked everywhere, and when I opened the door, I never imagined that I would find Louis. Next to the body, I found a cup of blue liquid near the body… ”

“Ok, I will report this to the other police officers and see what they say. See you around Kato,” Ivy said as she walked turned and walked away.

---

“We have found out who murdered Louis,” Ivy said.

“Who did it?” they asked.

“We believe the murderer is Dominique,” Ivy replied.

“Why do you think it is Dominique? She wanted to be courted by Louis,” Summer said.

“I loved Louis with all my heart, why would you think otherwise?” Dominique said.

“We don’t know why you would kill Louis, but all the evidence points to you,” as Ivy says those words, the whole room goes quiet. Ivy continued, “I heard from Kato that there was a glass of blue liquid near Louis’s body. We checked the liquid in the glass and found out that the liquid inside was the same as the nightshade in the garden. When you all went to the garden, I heard that Nico and Kato were talking together and playing chess, so the two couldn’t have picked the nightshade. That leaves Dominique, Summer, and Iris as the suspects. Now if we think about where everyone was when the lights went off, Summer and Iris were cleaning together and had planned to clean their two rooms together, therefore leaving them with solid alibis. The only one without an alibi is you, Dominique.”

“Is this true Dominique?” Iris asks in surprise.

She looked down at her shoes with her teary eyes and sighed while she said, “Yes, it is. Every single bit of it is true. I killed Louis,” Dominique said.

“Why would you do that to him. Didn’t you know that he loved you? Did you not love him?” Nico asks.

“Well, yes, I loved him with all my heart, but I didn’t want anyone’s heart to be broken again. I knew he was eventually going to go court someone else and break their heart again. Truth be told, I don’t even think Louis loved me. He would always be busy when I would be around, and as of late, he had been sending letters to many women. He had already driven two of my friends to the point in which they committed suicide. One of my other friends had been so sad, she wouldn’t come out of her room for months only eating when she had to to survive. I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else going through something they had to experience, so I decided to become a murderer. I’m sorry Nico, Summer, and Iris. I’m also sorry I got you, Kato, mixed up in all this,” Dominique replied while she wept solemnly.

Not long after Dominique was taken away everyone decided to retire for the night. Everyone was exhausted after experiencing the tragedy at the ball.