Inside the duke's residence

Personnel from the two major Churches and the Police Department entered the scene. They would witness the entire investigation.

Strictly speaking, I was there at the time too, which makes me a suspect. I shouldn't be leading the investigation...

Luther thought as he made a circuit of the dance floor.

Several days had already passed. Even if any residual spirituality had remained at the time, it would have completely dissipated by now. All they could do was reconstruct some of what had happened.

The Red Gloves followed behind him and began investigating on their own initiative. Some photographed the scene, while others catalogued the traces left behind. The Spirit Medium Daly went even further, conducting a ritual to summon nearby spirit world creatures and trying to obtain clues from them.

The people from the Church of Steam, the Church of Storms, and the police watched from outside the cordon, their expressions complicated.

Luther reached the spot where Framis had died and looked around.

It was at the edge of the dance floor, where guests ate, rested, and chatted when they weren't dancing. Luther remembered that before Framis died, he had been holding forth with several gentlemen. The dance floor hadn't been too crowded at the time. Anyone who wasn't too far away should have been able to see them. In other words, they would all have had the opportunity to use long-range abilities.

But on second thought, he had been there himself and hadn't sensed any unusual fluctuations. It didn't feel as though someone on the dance floor had secretly interfered.

"Is the victim's body still available?"

After a moment's thought, Luther looked up and asked the people outside the cordon.

"It's currently at the funeral home... We've examined it several times already. There's no question that the injuries were