CHAPTER 5 #2
Approx 7:01 Sophie Trent sees Sebastian alive, standing near writing desk, through open Blue Study door.
He looked at Romy.
“So at seven oh-one, he’s alive. Whatever happened had not killed him yet.”
“Correct.”
“But it still could have happened already.”
Romy looked at him.
That was the better question.
“Explain.”
“The room could already have been altered. If carbon monoxide was building, the person responsible could have left before Sebastian showed symptoms.”
Romy said nothing.
Leo continued.
“If somebody introduced the source before 7:01 and blocked the ventilation earlier, they don’t need to be in the room when he collapses.”
“Exactly.”
His expression changed when she did not correct him.
There it was.
The difference between somebody assisting and somebody contributing.
He had seen the shape of the problem.
Time of action might not equal time of death.
That mattered.
Romy opened a new line.
SETUP MAY PREDATE MEDICAL COLLAPSE.
Leo read it.
“You think Ellis already knows that.”
“I think Ellis knows many things he is not telling us.”
“That sounded personal.”
“Procedural irritation.”
Romy looked at him.
“You did well.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“Don’t make me repeat it. You found the relevant distinction.”
His mouth twitched.
“Thank you.”
No joke. No false modesty.
Romy’s thinking shifted.
Leo was not a teenager hanging around Pattern House because he liked old buildings, or merely an extra pair of hands she could reward with lunch and site work.
He was a trainee.
If she let him participate, she had to teach him properly.
Responsibility again. Different shape. Same weight.
At 10:18, the Show House media office sent an updated archive export after Romy requested everything timestamped between 6:30 and 7:10.
The file was enormous. Romy made tea.
At 7:02, Sebastian was not visible.
At 7:03, Vivian Cross appeared near the drawing-room doors looking at her phone.
Leo noticed first.
“She’s reading something.”
“Everyone was reading something.”
“But look at the time.”
7:03:42.
Romy frowned.
“We need to know whether Sebastian messaged her.”
“How?”
“We ask Ellis.”
Leo stared.
“You’re going to ask a detective for evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Does that usually work?”
“No.”
She called anyway.
Ellis answered with, “What have you done?”
“Nothing.”
“That pause was suspicious.”
“Did Sebastian send Vivian Cross a message at seven oh-three?”
Silence.
Romy smiled despite herself.
“You know.”
“I know you’re building your own timeline after I told you not to discuss witness statements.”
“I’m not discussing witness statements.”
“What are you discussing?”
“Public event photographs.”
“Romy.”
“Sophie told police she saw Sebastian alive around seven oh-one.”
Another silence.
“She told you that?”
“She confirmed she had already told you.”
“You called her.”
“One question.”
“That is how interviews begin.”
“Did Sebastian text Vivian?”
“No.”
Romy frowned.
Then Ellis said, “He texted her at 7:03.”
“You’re irritating.”
“I’ve been told.”
“What did it say?”
“I’m not giving you full message content.”
“Was it about the panel?”
Silence.
“Ellis.”
“He wrote, ‘Found the real story.’”
Romy stopped.
Leo mouthed, What?
She wrote the words on paper and turned it toward him.
FOUND THE REAL STORY.
Leo’s face changed.
“Anything else?” Romy asked.
“No.”
“Did Vivian reply?”
“Not before the courtyard remarks.”
“Did Sebastian send anyone else messages?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Was his phone found with him?”
“I’m not telling you that either.”
“Notebook?”
“Romy.”
“All right.”
“Stop asking witnesses questions.”
“One witness.”
“Stop.”
“I’ll try.”
“No, you won’t.”
“No.”
He exhaled.
“Send me your timeline when you’re finished.”
She sat up.
“You want it?”
“I want to know what you found from open material before you accidentally contaminate every statement I haven’t taken yet.”
“That sounds almost complimentary.”
“It was not.”
He ended the call.
Leo waited.
Romy pointed at the paper.
“7:03. Sebastian messages Vivian. ‘Found the real story.’”
Leo looked toward the screen.
“So he is conscious enough to send a coherent message two minutes after Sophie sees him.”
“Yes.”
“And Marcus?”
“Find him.”
They did.
At 7:04:31, Marcus was visible through the courtyard doors beside the event coordinator.
At 7:04:46, another camera caught him speaking to the councillor.
At 7:05:08, he took the microphone. At 7:05:19, applause began.
Romy checked three separate sources.
Same result.
Marcus was publicly visible.
Photographed. Filmed. Seen by dozens.
Leo said, “So if Sebastian was alive at 7:03, Marcus has two minutes.”
“Less, depending where he came from.”
“To get from the Blue Study service corridor to the courtyard.”
“He could manage it.”
“Could he?”
They stood because the question demanded movement.
Romy used Asterleigh’s floor plan on her computer.
“Blue Study service corridor to rear stair.”
“Down one floor.”
“Across service passage.”
“Out near catering corridor.”
“Courtyard.”
“Fast walk?”
“Perhaps ninety seconds.”
“So possible.”
“Yes.”
“Barely.”
“Possible is not barely innocent.”
Leo sat down.
Romy updated the timeline.
7:03 Sebastian coherent enough to message Vivian.
7:04:31 Marcus visible at courtyard entrance.
7:05 sponsor remarks.
Marcus’s window had tightened.
That helped him.
It did not clear him.
If Leo’s earlier insight was right, whoever arranged the Blue Study could have done it before Sebastian entered.
Marcus’s public appearance might be excellent theater.
Or an innocent commitment following his trip through the service corridor.
Romy hated both possibilities equally.
At 11:12, they stopped because neither could see straight.
Leo opened the biscuit tin.
“Emergency ration?”