4141.222 · August 10, 1821 AD
The Investigator's Eye
When friendship collides with suspicion, which prevails? Victoria Ashford has known Madelyn since childhood—knows every gesture, every tell, every unspoken truth. And right now, her oldest friend is lying. Whilst the household awaits the constable, Victoria takes matters into her own hands. Some friendships are built on trust. Others crumble under investigation.
Victoria Ashford has always been observant. It's how she's navigated colonial society, cultivated influence, maintained her position. She reads people the way scholars read texts—analysing every nuance, every contradiction, every revealing pause.
And Madelyn is holding something back.
The hand straying repeatedly to her pocket. The panic at the mention of authorities. The evasiveness about William's state of mind. The fear that flashed across her face when young William Jr. asked about his father. These aren't the reactions of simple grief—they're the markers of concealment.
Whilst Madelyn rests and Thomas prepares for the constable, Victoria ascends to the east wing. The corridor stretches before her, colder and quieter than the rest of the house. Disturbed cobwebs. Fresh fingerprints in the dust. Scuff marks beneath a heavy door. Evidence of recent passage in a supposedly unused wing.
Then she finds it—the locked door at the corridor's end. In all her years visiting Jeffries Manor, this door has never been locked. The brass keyhole is bright from recent use. The dust beneath shows frequent movement.
Behind this door lie answers. Behind this door lies truth.
But some doors are locked for a reason. And some truths, once discovered, destroy everything they touch.
