Forensic Imperial Concubine

Chapter 26 A Homicide Case (Part One)

It never occurred to Harper that the whole thing would go so smoothly. She not only managed to raise 10, 000 taels of silver, but she also bought a store. After her products were produced in batches, she would be able to sell them.

"It's time to go home," Harper offered.

"It's getting late. We should go home now." Carlson was so drunk, and even Harper felt dizzy. After buying the store, they had gone to the tavern to celebrate with a few too many drinks.

When the door of the tavern opened, Harper staggered and stumbled forward. Fortunately, Nina was there to catch and break her fall.

"My Lord, are you okay?" Nina asked anxiously. If Charles heard about Harper being this drunk, he would get furious for sure. They had just been living a well-content life without anyone's disturbance for just a few days. She was afraid that something bad would happen again and put an end to their peaceful life.

"It's okay. It's okay. I drank too much today, so I won't go back. Let's check in at an inn!" Harper tried to come off as sure and confident, knowing that she was already too drunk to make the trek home. Aside from that, the chance of Sue finding out that she drank herself to oblivion would probably not be for the best. She might as well stay in an inn for one night and sneak back tomorrow morning without being noticed.

"You want to stay in an inn tonight?" Nina asked in a loud voice. Upon hearing her exclamation, Carlson immediately booked a well-suited room of the best inn in the Imperial Capital for her. Right after securing their booking, he left the pair alone with a satisfied grin on his face.

Afraid that Anabel and other maids might get concerned about Harper's situation, Nina quietly went back to the mansion. She informed them of Harper's decision of staying at an inn tonight. She was

worried someone might let slip out to Sue or Charles that Harper had gone out of the mansion.

Harper stayed alone in the inn and slept soundly. In the middle of the night, a ruckus about someone getting murdered in the inn woke a lot of the inn's guests, but not Harper. She slept soundly until a waiter came knocking at the door to wake her up.

"What happened?" Harper rubbed her head and asked in confusion, still hung-over and groggy from being woken up from her sleep.

"Mister, someone has been killed in the inn!"

"Nonsense! I was asleep the whole night. How could I kill anyone? Maybe you killed whoever it was that gotten killed," Harper exclaimed, resting her hands on her hips.

"No, mister, you have misunderstood me. I mean that a murder had just taken place in the inn. There was no noise from your room, and I haven't seen you since you checked in. I thought something happened to you, too. Constables have just arrived and want to see all of the guests, so please come down quickly," explained the waiter. Harper's face slowly morphed into a furious one. The waiter couldn't help but shiver in fear. Harper was Carlson's friend. If he offended Harper, Carlson would certainly not let them go.

Harper had completely sobered up. What a bad luck! If her identity was exposed, she would be in big trouble.

Harper didn't expect that even the constables would come to investigate. If she was thrown into prison as a suspect, it would only take a few hours for Charles to know it. Even then Mavis wouldn't be able to help her.

Harper estimated the height of the window and calculated if she could escape successfully. On second thought, she realized that if she ran away now, she would be suspected even more. It would not be

difficult to find a person like her in the Imperial Capital. After weighing it over and over again, Harper gave up the idea of running away. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

After washing up and changing clothes, Harper went downstairs unhurriedly. The hall was crowded with people and the constables were asking people questions one by one. Harper breathed a sigh of relief after she found no familiar face in the crowd.

Before she relaxed, she heard, "His Highness has arrived."

Harper hid in the crowd as quickly as possible. Although she had changed into male clothes and disguised her facial features in make-up, it was still possible that Matthew would recognize her. It would best for her not to risk it.

Matthew was pushed into the inn in a wheelchair. The moment he came in, a hush fell into the crowd. All heads turned to look at him. He was the most eye-catching and also the most pitiful prince. He was considered a jinx who brought death to his fiancee, and he was disabled and unable to walk now.

The crowd went down on their knees in front of him to show respect. "Good evening, Your Highness."

"Rise, please." The next second, Matthew's eyes fell on Harper. She went stiff as a board and felt cold sweat beading out. For a moment she thought he had found out her true identity. But he looked away immediately, and she felt relieved. With her disguise, she was confident enough that even Matthew couldn't recognize her.

"How is it going?"

"Your Highness, the victim was a merchant coming from the Western Regions. We believe he was killed by a person holding a dagger. According to the waiter, the merchant carried a large amount of money with him. We can't find the money now though," the leading constable answered.

"So the murderer killed him for his money?" Matthew asked coldly.

"I suppose so."

"Have you examined the corpse?"

"No. The coroner has gone back to his hometown a few days ago, so no one can see to this task right now," the leading constable answered truthfully.

Matthew nodded and shifted his eyes somewhere. Barry, who was standing behind him, walked into the crowd and threw a person in front of Matthew.

Harper laid on the floor, motionless. Matthew had found her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked his man to bring her out from the crowd. But why did he single her out? Did he regret letting her go before and want to kill her now?

"Get up! Do you need me to help you up?" Matthew's stoic voice came. Harper froze in fear and immediately shot up from the floor.