The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 65: The Questioning

Mason Von Weise was not a handsome man, with small eyes and hooked nose and receding purple hair, he looked like some cartoon villain. But he didn’t care. In fact, his looks helped him a lot in his job, as he was one of the elders of the inquisition hall. The hall is responsible for punishing criminals in the family and purging spies.

This time he has two missions, An official one by the family to investigate the murder of Nick Von Weise, and an Unofficial one by the head of his fraction, “Convict Victor Von Weise.”

When his Airplane landed, Baron who was there waiting for him ran quickly to his side.

“Master Mason, It’s pleasure to meet you again, Would you like to go to the hotel, or shall we head to the police station? Victor has been under arrest there as per the Inquisition hall’s instructions.” Baron said.

“Ah, Baron, You have grown fatter. Let’s go to the station, I want to finish this mission early then head to your brothel, I heard It has some nice products.” Said Mason as he kept walking toward the exit of the airport, only sparing Baron a slight nod. This can be considered a very generous gesture from him.

“Ah, yes, of course. This way Please.” Baron said as he guided Mason to the car. He already knows this man’s habits. As arrogant as ever.

“Where is Theodore, he was supposed to be here too?” Mason suddenly asked.

“He was here with me earlier, but he took a phone call and headed back saying something about having some important business. He will meet with us at the station.” Said Baron.

“It’s better not to have him around, he would ask too many questions. Did you find any bombs in the mansion?”

“Nothing, we still don’t know how he did it. Young master Titus instructed me to give you Victor’s clothes. We already planted some dirt and traces on them.” Baron said.

“What an idiot. Couldn’t you ‘Discover’ some bombs in the mansion, that would have made things much easier.”

“We didn’t have any at that time, as we had expected to discover something. Victor or his servants are the only ones who could have done it.” Said Baron.

“Tell your men to prepare some now, you would testify that you found it in the mansion later. And make sure it is the same kind found on the explosion site.” Said Mason as he got in the car.

“Ah certainly, but wouldn't that be too obvious?” Said Baron as he gestured one of his assistants over to instruct him to get some explosives.

“It doesn’t matter. Theodore is already suspecting Victor, we only have to push him to give up on the boy, and he would be all ours.” Said Mason as he relaxed in the car.

After a few moments, the car started and they headed to the police station.

“Master Mason, May I know why are we targeting Victor. He is just a nobody. I heard that he fared pretty well in the ceremony, but he is just a junior. His elder brothers and sister are much more dangerous for our faction.” Asked Baron nervously, he didn’t dare ask Titus about such things as that guy would punish him. As for Mason, he worked for him a long time ago, and their relationship was not bad at all, as Baron was the one who was tasked with arranging certain services when they were young, and he knew many of Mason’s dirty secrets.

“Ah, Titus didn’t tell you? It’s not really a secret. You know that the b*tch Linda Cross is Victor’s fiancée right?”

“Ah yes, young master Titus has been dating her for a while now. He seemed to have truly charmed her.“ Said Baron.

“Her mother has been dissatisfied with the engagement with Victor lately, so they approached my brother last year and proposed that Linda should marry Titus instead. My brother had no problem at all, But the Patriarch didn’t agree even after we blemished Victor’s reputation, It seemed that he didn’t want to upset the power balance in the family. So we had to resort to a more drastic solution. Before Linda and her family discover that Victor is not as useless as they predicted.”

“But Linda is just a governor daughter, and her mother Amelia Cross, didn’t hold any position in the Von Brown family after marriage. Is it worth sacrificing an important pawn like Nick for such a purpose?” Asked Baron.

“That’s old news. Amelia as you know belongs to the Von Rosen family whose members mostly hold a summoner class. It has something to do with their awakening method. You know that she traded her daughter for a blood sample from the family’s treasury a few years ago. She was trying to use it to summon a high-level demon. Last year, after many tries she succeeded in summoning a level four demon and her rank has risen sharply in the family. She is now nominated to occupy a seat in their elder’s assembly. So a marriage with her daughter would let us gain a strong supporter, and be very beneficial for our cause.” Said Mason as he looked at the road outside the car.

“Ah, Thank you for enlightening me, master Mason.” Said Baron as he began to formulate a plan to get close to the governor Oliver Cross, Amelia’s husband, a very straight and honest man. He has to find a way to lure him to his brothel and give him a good time and maybe record some tapes that could be useful later.”

It was half an hour later when they reached the police station where Theodore was waiting at the door with an expressionless face.

“It’s nice to see you again Mason. I already arranged a room for us and Victor is waiting for us there,” Theodore said and turned around to enter the station without waiting for Mason’s response. Most of the officers were given a vacation this morning, and those who stayed or had important work were ordered to keep to their own jobs and ignore anything else. So no one obstructed them as they entered the station.

Mason and Baron were soon guided into an investigation room where they were surprised by the sight of Victor, who was relaxing on a leather chair while a pretty boy was standing behind him massaging his shoulder. He didn't even look at them as they entered, just continued to rest with his eyes closed.

Theodore glared at his son then looked at Alex who was doing his best and shook his head. His son was getting more and more unruly. He couldn’t understand why Victor insisted on taking this boy, Alex, with him. According to the police he was captured after murdering some woman. And Theodore could already tell that he was a Player. But why is his son so interested in him? Could it be that Victor swings that way too? That boy is very pretty though.

His son assured him that the boy has signed a servitude contract with him, so he allowed Victor to keep him for now.

He will question them later, There were more pressing matters to attend to now.

“Victor, this is elder Mason. He is responsible for the investigation. Answer any questions he has, don’t worry about anything else, just tell the truth.” Said Theodore as he sat down on a nearby chair and gestured Mason to start his questioning without even giving him a chance to sit or introduce himself as if he was some servant.

“Um,” Said Victor as he continued to relax. No one in the room knew if this was a greeting or it was just Victor's moaning because of the massage. He seemed to be really enjoying it.

Mason frowned at Theodore then ignored him and focused on Victor. “Let’s wait and see if you can be this relaxed after I finish with you,” He thought while seating himself.

Baron could only stand behind his master respectfully while glaring at Victor. Although he had a high standing in the family and didn’t care about a junior like Victor. At the end of the day, he was still a servant and couldn’t act rudely toward him in public.

Mason cleared his throat and after glaring at Victor for a few more seconds he realized that Victor did not intend to greet him or even look at him, so he began to question Victor without delay. If Theodore was not here he would have strangled Victor for his rude behavior. But he can't act out now, he just needs to convict Victor then take him back to the inquisition hall’s dungeons where he could teach him how to respect his elders.

“Victor Von Weise, did you murder your brother Nick Von Weise,” Asked Mason with a cold authoritative voice.

“Ah, yes right there,” Victor said as he was directing Alex. Then he looked at Mason and replied,

“No, I didn't.” He said briefly before closing his eyes again.

For a moment there Mason thought that Victor was confessing, He quickly swallowed his anger and continued with his questioning,

“We found out that Nick’s corpse had many broken ribs and bones that were not caused by the explosion. And according to the testimony of the maid Hilda, you attacked him savagely in the mansion, and he needed to be carried out. why did you do that.” Asked Mason trying to turn Theodore against Victor.

“He came with the intent of raping my maids, so I had to punish him. That is my right according to the family rules. I might have gone a little overboard, But I didn’t kill him, He left the mansion alive and in one piece. Ahhh,” moaned Victor without opening his eyes, making Mason get angrier. He has always been very arrogant. Who in the family would dare disrespect him like this. And what did he mean by “not overboard”? According to the autopsy, If Nick lived, he would be crawling on the ground for the rest of his life.

“We found traces of explosives on your clothes and found some hidden in your mansion. It is the same type used on the car.” Said Mason, deciding that he didn’t like talking with Victor and wanting to finish things quickly. He can’t wait to get his hands on him.

Theodore frowned then looked at Victor. He clearly knew that this was a setup.

“Ah, those explosives are mine. I got them to have some fun. They have nothing to do with the car explosion, this is just circumstantial evidence. It proves nothing, now where are my explosives? Stealing from a family member is a big crime you know. I will send a complaint to the inquisition hall.” Said Victor as gestured Alex to massage a little lower.

“Then why did you steal Nick’s belongings?” rebuked Mason. He couldn’t take this anymore, this guy is too shameless.

“I didn’t steal anything, I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t take anything from my maids. I wouldn’t want any of their things to fall into his perverted hands. But I did find something interesting in his stuff,” Said Victor as he slowly opened his eyes.

“What?” Asked Mason as he thought about the ring his nephew told him about.

“Nick didn’t have a cell phone, neither did his men. It was as if they were there to commit some crime. And I am sure that no camera footage showed him heading to my mansion.” Victor said, making Mason realize that Victor has taken the initiative for their conversation and he was being toyed with.

“What??” Asked Theodore as he stood up. No one told him about such stuff.

“Is what Victor said true? Why didn’t you inform me?” He glared at Baron who was responsible for the preliminary investigation and asked him.

“Ah, this, Yes, but….” Baron stuttered not knowing what to say.

“Yes, but we found such information irrelevant so we didn’t need to inform you.” Said Mason, then he looked at Victor “Is that why you killed him? Although the explosives are not conclusive, it is enough for me to take you back to the island. The timing of the crime makes you the lone suspect. We have concluded that the explosives were planted at the mansion as The car was checked there that night because Nick was spending the night at a VIP establishment which was where he misplaced his phone.” Said Mason, offering an explanation for the missing phone. Nick really did leave his phone at that brothel, but that was on purpose to hide his tracks.

“Don’t worry, we will investigate this thoroughly, and if you are innocent you would be released.” He added, as he thought that Victor was definitely the culprit, and finding a piece of evidence is just a matter of time. There is no perfect crime. who else would kill nick?

And even if they didn’t find evidence or Victor was truly innocent, when he gets released, he would not be in one piece. And a very important part would be missing by an accident. He would not be fit to marry anyone by then.

“Ah a little lower,” Victor instructed Alex as he looked at Mason as if he was looking at an idiot, “But the murderer has already been found.” He said.

“What?” Asked Mason not understanding the meaning of Victor’s words.

“The murderer of my son was found this morning thanks to an anonymous tip.” Said, Theodore.

“Who was it?” Said Mason as he looked around, wanting someone to answer him, he believed that this “Murderer” was just a scapegoat.

Victor looked at Mason who fell into their trap, then at his father who was smirking and sighed. The role his father orchestrated for him in this play was over.

He closed his eyes and continued to enjoy the massage, Alex who was a martial artist has trained her hand to the limits, and her massage skills were top notch.

Theodore coughed a little then began to speak in a sorrowful sound,

“It was Jacob rice, my concubine’s brother. It seemed he wanted to get rid of Victor. There is conclusive evidence that he tried to rig Victor’s car in the morning, and there is a paper trail of him buying explosives a month ago for a movie shoot. We traced his movement that night, and he was last seen heading on the road leading to the mansion, then he left using a different route an hour later. We believe that he may have mistaken Nick’s car for Victor’s. I was destined to lose one of my sons that night.” Said Theodore as he sighed. He felt a little better that the one who died was Nick, he didn’t like him that much.

“What? Why did nobody tell me?” Asked Mason as he looked at Baron who was shaking then at Theodore.

“You only requested to meet Victor, you didn’t ask about anything else, how can I know that you didn’t do your homework before coming here?” Mocked Theodore, he hated Mason since they were young. And There was a lot of friction between them as they belonged to different factions in the family.

“Damn it!” yelled Mason, He believed that this Jacob may be the true killer, as Theodore seemed really convinced, and would not cover for his son's murderer. But he has to find a hole in their logic or his brother would scold him.

“I want to see that Jacob,” Said Mason while thinking of how he could convince him to testify that he did it on Victor’s orders.

“He is dead. The mastermind killed him to hide his tracks.” Said Theodore with some hatred in his words.

“What mastermind?” Asked Mason as his mind stopped working for a second, what the hell is going on in here? Is this some kind of a TV Drama?

“They should be here anytime now, I already sent my assistant George to arrest him.” Said Theodore with a smirk, giving Mason a really bad feeling.