Title card!

Wally looked around at the guests. He looked at his wife and regretted not being here to make sure she wouldn't have to bear witness to this scene. The look on her face was heartbreaking.
He sighed, keeping his calm. This wasn't his first time seeing a dead body. He knew someone needed to get a handle of the situation before all hell breaks loose and everybody panics. Miss Markov had already started to lose her nerve, giggling while looking horrified at the same time. He took a step forward, but someone beat him to it.
"How intriguing..."
Mr. Sunny Santana stepped into the room on his tippy toes – so as to not touch anything – like he was dancing. He stood over the body for a moment, humming while thinking.

"What are you-?"
"Dr. Osman. Would you be so kind as to check if the good doctor is actually dead?"
Wally was taken aback. No one has ever cut him off before. Well, except for him, of course...
"I'd ask Miss Markov, but I wouldn't want her to see her mentor up close in this state." the bird man continued. "You understand."
"Y-Yes, of course."
The lion man walked in and knelt beside the body. He checked the pulse on his wrist, then on his neck.
"He's..." he sighed. "He's dead."
"Father!!!" Miriam tried to run to him but her fiancé pulled her close.
"Miriam, don't." he embraced her.
She buried her face in his chest, crying.

Sunny took a deep breath.
"Lady Tempertuft, will you gather everybody back downstairs? And please make sure no one leaves."
"Woawoawoah!" Catherine raised het hands. "What makes you think you're in charge of this situation?"
"Who are you?" Wally asked.
The two men looked into each-other's eyes. Sunny smiled.
"My apologies, everyone. Allow me to reintroduce myself." he turned around, then spun around again, striking a pose. "I am the Great Detective Sunny Santana!"
"A detective?" Raymond repeated, as confused as everybody else.

"What in the world is that?" (Y/n) asked.
"I've heard of it." Wally nodded. "I would've never expected you to be one."
"Aw, thank you, your Highness." he bowed his head before turning to the small crowd. "Well, whenever the prestigious royal guards of Escoba are having some trouble with a case, they ask for my expertise."
"You work for the royal guard?" the Count of Tremontes asked.
"Not at all, I'm an independent detective. I help wherever my help is needed. The guards come see me whenever they're faced with a particularly tricky case. And this..." he crouched with his hands on his knees to scan the body. "This is particularly tricky."

"What happened?! Who did this?!" Miriam exclaimed.
"We've just discovered the body, there are no answers just yet. However, I can tell you one thing..." he stood up. "There has been a murder! And the murderer... Is somewhere in this manor!"
Gasps. Thunder stuck right outside the window.
"We're not going to leave it all in the hands of this guy, are we?" Catherine looked at (Y/n).
"Of course not, my dear Madam!" he waved his hands. "What kind of detective works on his own? That being said, while I ask that you fine guests return downstairs together, I would like to request that a few people stay to look over the body and the crime scene with me. Lady (L/n), his Majesty King Darling, and Dr. Osman. If you don't mind of course." he looked at all three of them.
"Fine by me." Wally entered the room.
"Catherine." (Y/n) called out for her while the other guests started to leave. "Write a letter to the royal castle and tell them to send guards here, alright?"
'I didn't get to send a letter to Arnold because of everything that's been going on. I certainly won't get to do that tonight...'
Catherine nodded and left. (Y/n) joined Wally's side and it was just the four of them now.

"Alright, doctor. What do you have for us?" Sunny asked.

"Excuse me?" he raised an eyebrow.
"You know! The time of death, the cause of death, possible murder weapon. Give us those delicious details!"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm more of a doctor with a doctorate in medical research than an actual doctor."
The detective looked a little disappointed by that.
"What I can tell you is," he looked down at the body. "other than that wound on his chest, there are no other physical injuries. And that the body is still warm, rigor mortis hasn't kicked in yet, his skin hasn't gone pale. That would mean that he died... Probably less than ten minutes ago."
"So... If we had gotten the door opened earlier," (Y/n) looked heartbroken. "we could've saved him."
"We don't know that." Wally held her hand in reassurance.

"Mmmh... Very well, gracias doctor!" Sunny patted him on the arm. "You may leave now."
"I'm sorry for not being of more help." he addressed everyone, but looked at (Y/n).
"Oh not at all." she shook her head. "Any insight is welcomed."
"Before I leave..."
He took off his suit jacket and covered the top half of the body with it.
"Until they find a white sheet." he explained.
"Thank you Mr. Osman." she said, relieved that she wouldn't have to look at it anymore (she felt bad for feeling this way).
He bowed his head and left.

"Alright, amigos!" Sunny clapped his hands together. "Let's brainstorm, let's review the sequence of events that led us here! At- Ah." he looked around, seeing no clocks on the walls. "Um..." he looked around at the ground, and found the clock. "Ah-ha. At around 19:45 – Sorry, 7:45pm – a strange thunder was heard, then around a minute later there was this cacophony of furniture happening here in the study. Then the majority of guests heard Mr. Osman scream, we then ran upstairs to find him, Lady (L/n) and Miss Markov, looking inside the room."
"Yes." (Y/n) nodded. "I followed the sound and found Miss Markov by the door. It was closed and we tried to get it open, that's when Mr. Osman came. He's the one that broke open the lock."
"How long were you trying to open it?"
"Around..." she slowly shook her head. "Less than five minutes for sure. And I heard him, he was still alive when I got there." she looked at the body but quickly looked away.
Sunny hummed in thought, twirling a strand of feathers around his finger.
"So. Locked door, only one exit, a messy room. He died right before the door opened." he gestured at the elements he listed. "And the only blood there is here is that small puddle next to the victim..."
His voice trailed off and he glanced at his two companions for the night. The royal couple seemed to be in deep thought, trying to figure out what all these clues meant. But the young detective had his eyes set on the famous Lady of Spades.

"My dear Madam, pray tell, what do you make of all of this?"
There was a moment of silence. Then, (Y/n) looked at him, a grave expression on her face.
"I think this is the work of a ghost."
Sunny's smile froze, his eyes widened.
"...¿Qué?"
"When I came here with my husband, Mr. Ashwood warned us about ghosts haunting this place. If the door was locked, it must've been a ghost."
Sunny was speechless, baffled even. He slowly turned to Wally, who nodded and shrugged.
"My Lady." he looked back at her. "With all the respect that you deserve: There are no such things as ghosts."
She gasped.
"Detective, don't say that! You'll offend them."
Sunny looked at Wally again, as if asking if he heard her right. Wally once again nodded.

"My dear Madam." he sighed. "I humbly ask you to consider other possibilities."
"What other possibilities are there?"
"How in the world should I know?" he smiled, tilting his head.
(Y/n) and Wally exchanged a confused look.
"In order to figure out what happened, don't just look. Observe. Example." he crouched down. "The only sign of blood other than on the victim's hands is the small puddle under the body. So the blood on his hands must be his own."
"...So he was possessed by a ghost and then killed himself?"

"Moreover..." he put on some gloves he took from his pocket and rolled the body to the side. "The small puddle truly is under the body." he put it back to how it was before. "What does that tell us?"
"That...he was standing up?"
Sunny smiled and stood up.

"Next clue. My Lady, I must ask. This strange smell in the room, I'm sure you've noticed."
"Oh, yes!"
"A strange smell?" Wally tilted his head (needless to say, it wasn't his most sharp sense).
"Indeed, it's very faint but, was it much stronger when you first opened the door?"
"Why yes, it was!" she nodded.
"What's the smell?" Wally asked.
"I... I don't know. I've never smelled anything like it." she sniffed around. "Oh. And it seemed to have disappeared completely by now. Detective, do you know?"
"There was something metallic about it..." he sniffed around. "But nothing like anything I've ever encountered before. No sé." he shrugged, but his disappointment didn't last long. "Now! Take a look around." he spun around. "If you've just killed someone, why would you leave such a mess? One might assume that the victim put up a fight before getting killed, however if there has been a fight, we would've heard it. And besides, the poor gentleman didn't look like much of a fighter. So how can that be? And do not say 'because a ghost did it'." he pointed at (Y/n), who shut her lips tight (she was about to say just that).

"To hide something." Wally replied.
"Exactamente!" Sunny snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "And there is another strange thing hidden in this nice little menagerie."
"What is it?" (Y/n) asked, looking around.
"Look around, see for yourself." he opened his arms.
The couple looked around for a moment of silence, with only the ticking of the clock to hear.
"Large furniture barely moved." said Wally.
"The clock is still ticking!" (Y/n) exclaimed.
"Tililililin!" Sunny beamed. "My! You both found critical clues! But both of these lead to the same conclusion." he turned to the clock, then to the other side of the room. "There's a nail sticking out on the wall over there, which means that the clock was taken down and thrown. Yet it's still in perfect condition. So the person who threw it must not have put a lot of strength into it. Same goes for the large furniture such as the desk and the drawers."

"So the murderer isn't that strong." Wally concluded.
"They were strong enough to kill a man." (Y/n) mumbled.
"An old man."
"It could be that our killer was weak." Sunny nodded. "It could also be that they were in a hurry. After all, they had to have killed Mr. Ashwood, make a mess of the room, then lock the door behind them before running away. All of this under roughly five minutes."
(Y/n) took a moment to process all this new information.
"So what you're saying is," Wally spoke. "we've made no progress."
"Your Highness, nonsense! Don't be negative." he patted his arm. "We've gathered a lot of clues and information. And now, we can all compile them into a box, and put that box on a shelf, in a little corner of our mind." he tapped his temple. "Then when we gather more clues later on, we can see how they connect with the ones we've found before. And eventually, we will get a complete tapestry of the murder and who the murderer could be! It's like music, you see!" he beamed. "We are getting different notes and melodies, and it is our duty as the musicians to put them together in a harmonious way!"
"I see..." (Y/n) nodded slowly.

"If the killer made this mess in order to hide something, then we should look for it." Wally said.
"Good call, Sir!" he snapped his fingers. "Let's get to it. Don't be afraid to speak up if you find anything you deem unusual. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem."
"Should we take this opportunity to tidy up?" (Y/n) asked.
"Of course not! We should tamper the crime scene as little as possible!"
And so, the trio began to look through the furniture. Wally pointed out there were traces of strange black ashes on the carpet, which was strange considering the fact that it was rather far away from the fireplace, and there wasn't any trail.
"It must be from Mr. Ashwoods' pipe." Sunny said, as he picked up that exact item.
"It's black though."
"Tobacco here in the Spades Kingdom produces such ashes. Am I correct, my Lady?"
"That is correct, yes." (Y/n) nodded. "Are you familiar with tobacco, detective?"
"My dear Madam, in my line of work, one must be knowledgeable in any and every subject, at least on a surface level." he smiled. "You never know when this knowledge might contribute to a case. But I myself don't smoke. Trust me, the only thing I smoke is the competition!" he struck a pose.
'Detectives have competition...?' she tilted her head.

Sunny tapped the top of the pipe's bowl and a small frown formed on his face.
"Your Highness, would you say that these ashes have been here for long? Are they embedded into the carpet?"

Wally crouched down and ran a finger through the stain. It stayed on his finger.
"No." he said as he stood back up, brushing his fingertips together to make it go away. "In fact, it's still warm."
"Still warm?" (Y/n) fully turned to face him. "So these are from the fireplace?"
"The fireplace is well lit." Sunny said. "If the ashes were from there, it would've been ember instead. And with the amount of flammable objects here, we would've had an entirely different problem on our hands."
"...So what does this mean?" she asked after trying to come up with some kind of explanation, but to no avail.
"I don't know..." he mumbled, seemingly lost in thoughts before smiling at her. "Like we said, putting this clue in a box." he mimicked the motion.

And so, the search continued. There weren't a lot of unusual things so far, everything looked like it belonged here, and every strange trinket was clearly decorative in nature. Except for...
"Detective, Wally?" (Y/n) broke the silence. "Are you certain you haven't found anything that was broken?"
"Cierto, why do you ask?" asked the bird man.
"I found something... It's small but it certainly is unusual."
Sunny dashed across the room to look at what she found, Wally joined them soon after. She was holding by the tip of her fingers what looked like a small metal S. It was really strange looking. The bottom loop was a lot bigger than the top one and it had a hole in it. She turned it around. One side was rounded while the other one was flat.
"Could it be a piece of...a larger thing?" she suggested. "Maybe a screw is supposed to be here." she pointed at the hole before placing the S on the wall, rounded side up. "Then attached to the surface of something else."
"That sounds plausible." Wally nodded. "But what purpose could this odd S serve?"
"It might not be an S at all." Sunny said, making the other two look at him. "Maybe its shape is relevant to the purpose of whatever contraction it is a part of..." his eyes wandered, his voice trailed off.

"Contraption... I really don't see how this could be of use." (Y/n) looked at the small object.
"Only because this is literally just a piece of the puzzle!" he leaned closer with a big smile, making her lean back (which he got a glare from Wally for). "And I have in good faith to believe that the rest of the pieces are scattered across this very room!" he gestured around him.
The Lady gasped.
"Are you saying this is what the killer was hiding?!" she showed the S.
"Are we sure this is even relevant to the murder?" Wally asked. "If it isn't, and we look for the rest of this puzzle, we would be wasting a lot of time."
"That I agree with, your Highness." Sunny nodded. "Which is why I suggest that only one of you stays here and looks for all the pieces, while the other accompanies me to continue the investigation."
The couple looked at each-other.
"And if I must be quite honest, I would rather it be you, Madam."
"Huh? Me?" she pointed at herself, surprised. "You want my assistance?"
"Of course! I told you, I am a big fan of your work!" he beamed. "The new Queen of Hearts is known for her intelligence and perceptiveness. And after all, you did solve the murder of the King of Spades."

She felt her heart drop. Both her and Wally looked at him with big eyes, although her shock was a lot more apparent than her husband's.
"You... How do you know that?" she whispered.
"Well, if your reaction wasn't telling enough..." he grinned, tilting his head.
'Am I really such an open book?!'
"It's rather obvious that you did. The King of Spades died of mysterious circumstances, and although his old age might have caught up to him, foul play was always a looming theory. Based on the relationship between your two kingdoms," he pointed at her and Wally. "and the fact that you, Madam, are also known for your patriotism. Would you have really considered marrying the King of Hearts without knowing for certain who killed your own King? He was in the Hearts Kingdom the day before his body was found, was he not?"
(Y/n) instinctively looked at Wally, who has been staring at Sunny this whole time. It made the detective chuckle.
"No need for such a cold stare!" he raised his hands. "I'm just saying that it's clear to me you must've solved the murder before getting married. Maybe you even did it together and it brought you closer!"

"How did you know that I did it?" (Y/n) pointed at herself. "Maybe it was another detective."
"Detectives are fairly new to the world, Madam. Hell, you didn't even know they existed! If there was a detective here in the Spades Kingdom, I would've heard about it." he smirked. "And also, I never said that you specifically solved it. The 'you' I used could've been the plural one. Once again, you've just confirmed it yourself."
She gasped, covering her mouth.
"Detective, I shall watch what I say around you!"
"If you've hidden your words, your face would've spoken instead. The expression you both made when I said that, I could tell that this was a personal matter for the both of you. Which is strange for you, my dear madam... How personal could this matter be to you?"
His expression changed, as if he tried to see through her. She gulped, trying to keep a neutral expression. She was usually good at this, but this man was making it difficult for her.
"Were you that patriotic that your King's murder was treated like a personal vendetta?" he quietly spoke. "I wonder...if it could be related to the ring on your finger."
She glanced at her family ring for just a split second. He smiled, he noticed that.

"And have you solved this mystery, detective Santana?" Wally stood in between her and him.
She sighed, feeling like she could breathe again.
"Sadly no, I didn't!" he whined, back to his dramatic self. "How I wish I had, however! I should've sent my business card over to the High Council of Spades! I don't have any, that's why I didn't. I still don't, now that I think about it. I shall get to it as soon as I get ho-"
"Gentlemen please, we're getting off track!" (Y/n) exclaimed, gently pushing Wally out of the way so that they could both look at her. "Alright, detective, I'll help in any way I