"Announcement! Gather around for the royal announcement!"
Shouted the royal family Herald .
Calling all nobles to the front , near the golden encrusted throne of the King , where he sat poise and ready . All games came to a stop , voices dropping lower and movement ceasing .
They waited in anticipation for the announcement to be made .
For some this would be the day they'd be promoted ,others granted many more titles and land deeds , soldiers given thier due merits and proposals made for young maidens .
However, little Clara couldn't care less for the announcement to be made . More focused on the vast array of desserts plated and put upon the white linen draped tables .
" Duke of Edinburgh is to be promoted to -"
The words spoken by the Herald eventually faded into background noise , with something interesting catching little Clara's attention even more .
A small cake lavished with berries of all sorts atop it and white vanilla cream , gold dust scattered above .
It looked delectable.
She simply had to taste it .
Jumping of her chair in a manner her mother would surely call unbefitting of someone of thier Noble House , little Clara dashes and weaves through the throng of people in the ballroom steadily making her way to her prize .
Reaching to her tippy toes , she yanks on the tall servants vest , causing the young man to stumble and look shocked as to what pulled on him .
Looking down he glimpses brown pigtails tied with sunflower shaped beads .
" Give me that cake on your tray now ! "
She demands as politely as she can to someone of lower status .
" Well , since you're being quite rude about it ...No ."
He responds, feigning to have thought his answer .
Little Clara , did not take nicely to his blatant disrespect.
" Let me rephrase my sentence into something easier for your common mind to translate. I . Said. Give . Me. The. Cake . On. Your . Tray!"
Throwing him a glare the whole time she speaks , gnashing her teeth at each pause she makes in her speech , her little hands curled into tight fists . She hopes he now understands .
Yet , the man still responds , " No. And if you can't understand that then you must really brush up on your education young lady ."
He reprimands her . His face straight and completely unbothered .
She fumes at his response , however she recognises that she is unable to call for assistance nor for her parents as everyone pays rapt attention to the court Harelds words.
Her eyes catch the glinting cake knife nearby , her fists unfurling and a smile dawning her face .
Someone would recount she looked a demon incarnated .
Grabbing the knife at astonishing speed , she grips the handle and jabs with all her strength into the thigh of the man before her , the silver tearing through his pants and the muscle obstructing it's way , finally reaching bone .
The man lets out a screech , flailing helplessly grabbing his thigh in shock .
His eyes harden .
He recomposes himself and drops the tray , the cake smashing to the ground.
Ofcourse no noble heard him scream , ofcourse no noble payed attention to the knife embedded into his flesh ,but ....
Sadly no noble payed attention to the little girl with bloodied hands .
No one saw little Clara's eyes dim at the sight of the fallen cake nor her fear when the man's outstretched fists landed on her little body , dragging her into a dark hallway .
No one saw her leave just a little sunflower bead left in the place she last stood , it's little stem snapped in half .
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As detective Maddison looked at the scene before him , a clear example of hatred and anger intermingled .
Only one thought came to mind -- the scene was for display.
Meant for an audience but sadly confined to this small warehouse by the police.
It was every bit as personal as he thought when hearing the case debrief.
The Case had originally been about a missing girl from the Lawrence household , not an out of ordinary case and quite small in information , or so he thought .
The leads weren't hot and had run cold after a long time , at least , until a month ago where they had found a new trail to chase , and like hungry dogs they ran to it .
Even so nothing would've prepared them to find their "missing girl" in pieces. Mutilated bodies of children , nonetheless strewn across all directions , blood showering the walls , adding a bright red coat of colour to the dingy warehouse .
The rest of the officers were still in shock .
He , however steeled himself to move and when he took a step , he felt something beneath his foot shifting .As he applied more of his weight ,he looked down to see what lay beneath the soles of his new Oxford shoes .
An eyeball .
Most likely a little girl , as her body , well what remained of it was not far off. The floor was a mixture of hair and blood clotted together , the scent of rotten flesh making for a disgusting stench .
"How cruel." , whispered someone in the background .
However not for the reason one would think .
Everybody knew it wasn't because of the death of the girl - No , it was the burden of picking who was to explain what they had found or rather what remained of their child to the parents , and to be honest the Lawrence's weren't known to be understanding.
Seeing that he had done his due work , Maddison decided to prepare to depart if he wanted any semblance of sleep that night .
Leaving the scene , Detective Maddison left it to the paramedics to identify the rest of the mess that was the children's bodies .
Seeing he had done his part, dutifully confirming Clare Lawrence was in fact not missing but dead , he decided to only rectify the files tomorrow, after the family had received the news of their loss .
He was being humane , not postponing work simply because he was tired .
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However sitting in his own home provided no comfort at all , the scene still vividly playing in his mind as if on repeat , there were so many unanswered questions. The discovery that Clara Lawrence was not the only victim added much workload already .
Why we're the other children found among the grotesque pile of bodies neither reported nor filed away as missing -dead .
But before he could really consider the many factors .
The Case had surprisingly escalated , the public becoming aware too quick, newspapers already in the citizens of London's hands by the morning .
The very next day , the monarchy ruled by the King who felt very threatened by the situation, increased his 'own' protection , when the ones truly scared and at risk were the commoners, who had lived in the area where the warehouse was situated.
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The case was closed off . Ofcourse it would be , the public were already starting to riot , not for the dead spoiled Clara Lawrence , No , it was for bigger underlying issues the monarchy would be forced to deal with , if they continued to persist as strongly .
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To me , however the case was far from political , too personal for such , it was however stil only beginning.
The killer was not found , though the gardener who worked for the Lawrence's was executed , obviously framed by the killer but the evidence was against him , he had held resentment to the Lawrence's but for what ?
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The killer's intentions were not clear but his method of dispatch was indeed brutal as if he had bore an age long grudge against the Lawrence's as the little girl , now identified to be Clara, was done the worst to , the medics unable to even piece her together .
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This left another question unanswered, why go for the other children?
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It was too much , a complicated case that needed more time and resources, but , alas, the case was closed to the public , now to him too.
Reclining on his chair , Maddison downed his scotch and sat up leave for sleep because only when drunk could he catch the ferry to dreams and rest .
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All of what he thought would change, when yet another brutal case appeared , the very next month calling for an audience far bigger than small city London .
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and then Add to home screen.