The three people who had secretly met with Earl Sachia were the local tobacco magnate, the bald Mr. Sanberg; the strikingly beautiful Ms. Martha, dressed in a red dress and smoking a slim ladies' cigarette; and the gloomy, greasy-haired Mr. Francis, who taught basic physics at Huntington Public Theology College.
In the order of Mr. Sanberg, Mr. Francis, and Ms. Martha, the three had met privately with the Earl in the room. Each meeting had lasted around half an hour. None of them had left The Club afterward. Mr. Sanberg had continued meeting with business partners on the 1st Floor, Mr. Francis had run into an acquaintance on the second floor, while Ms. Martha had left The Club but had not gone far, and so had been brought back.
All of them had letters from the Earl inviting them to meet today, and no source of poison had been found on them after they were searched. But since all three had had time to dispose of their personal belongings after meeting the Earl, they remained the prime suspects.
Most strangely, before Colonel Wood brought Shade and Mr. Bernhardt into the room, none of the three had been willing to reveal why they had met with the Earl. Once Colonel Wood formally announced that Earl Sachia had been confirmed dead, and had died in front of Princess Margaret, all three sharply inhaled, looking utterly stunned.
"Gentlemen and lady, none of you are leaving until we get to the truth of this."
As a soldier, Mr. Wood acted decisively. Invoking the Princess's name was meant to make them understand just how serious this was. Sure enough, after learning that a member of the royal family was involved, all three were willing to explain why they had come here. However, they demanded to