815: INTERVIEW (XXI)

INTERVIEW (XXI)

LUO YAN decided to interview the cook first – Mrs. Gilmore. He actually wanted to pick the young butler at first, but then, he changed his mind at the last moment.  0

He believed that young Gilmore didn't have anything to do with any of the tragedies that had happened in this family. He might be connected to it in some way, but he definitely wasn't the culprit or even the partner of the culprit/s responsible to what happened last night. 

The pain and sadness Luo Yan saw in the other's eyes when it was revealed that the corpse was 'William Harcourt' was definitely not fake. Gilmore truly believed that his employer was dead at that moment. Based on his reaction, anyone who saw him at that moment could see that he really cared for William Harcourt. 

If he added that to the opinion of the other servants and also to his own observation and judgement, Cian Gilmore was simply not the scheming or manipulative type. Unlike Catherine, who despite acting all timid and scared, he could still feel that there's something wrong with the other.

So, Luo Yan believed that the young butler would be very honest with him during the interview. Especially if it's to apprehend the murderer who 'killed' William Harcourt. If so, he could cross examine the answers that Mrs. Gilmore would give to that of her son. Then, Luo Yan would know if the cook was being truthful to him or not. 

If she wasn't, then he could only put her under the list of suspected people. And maybe it could even shed light to some of the conjectures running inside his head right now.

But this didn't mean that he was completely removing young Gilmore from the list of possible accomplices. This way, his judgment wouldn't be too clouded. And when it turned out that the other, in some bizarre way, was indeed playing an active part in this whole conspiracy, then Luo Yan wouldn't be too shocked or surprised. 

He then called the cook – Mrs. Gilmore. It didn't that long for the other to enter the study. Now, Luo Yan had time to observe the other once again.

The cook had the same dark red hair, green eyes, and pale skin as the young butler. Highlighting that the two were closely related as well as the fact that they were both Irish. She's probably around the same age as Catherine.

She seemed to be very calm and collected. It made Luo Yan remember the other's reaction earlier when all the servants were told of William Harcourt's 'death'.

She didn't seem to be very affected by it. As if what she heard was not the news of his employer's sudden death but today's weather instead. It didn't necessarily mean that she was immediately an accomplice because of that. Maybe she just didn't have that much of a feeling for her employer. Perhaps to others it wasn't really that big of a deal. But Luo Yan just couldn't help but feel that Mrs. Gilmore's reaction was just a tad bit… weird.

Because he could only think of two reasons for the other's reaction. One, just what he said earlier, she was simply not that attached to her employer. And two, she knew that William Harcourt wasn't really dead. The possibility of it being the latter was much bigger.

Because if one considered the fact that she and her son traveled with William from America, there's no way she had no attachment towards her employer. Even if it was just a tiny bit, she should have still showed a reaction. A frown would actually be enough. But the other only had a very calm expression on her face.

"Please, sit down, Mrs. Gilmore," he greeted the other with a friendly smile.

The woman only nodded at him before sitting down. 

Luo Yan started with the usual – asking her whereabouts after dinner and during 12 and 1 AM.

"I was at the kitchen after dinner. It's around that time that us, servants, eat. While I was waiting for Cian to finish all his duties, I was doing some cleaning at the kitchen. Then, Cian came and the two of us ate dinner," Mrs. Gilmore answered. "During 12 and 1 AM, I was at my room, sleeping. The head maid's room is beside my own. The sound proofing of the servant's room isn't really that good. So, she could hear if I left or not. You can ask her about it, detective."

Luo Yan nodded, writing it on his little notepad.  "I heard from the others that you and your son came here with Mr. Harcourt. Did this mean that you two knew him for quite some time?" 

"Yes," the other didn't hesitate to say. "We met him at Boston a couple of years back. He liked my cooking and asked me if I could be his personal cook. I'm a single mother who needed money to raise her child. Mr. Harcourt's offer would allow me to do that without any problems. So, I agreed. He- he'd been very kind to us. His former butler – Mr. Jones – even started training Cian. That's why when he passed away, his job immediately fell to my son. When Mr. Harcourt decided to return here, he also decided to bring us, mother and son, here and continue working for him."

What Mrs. Gilmore said certainly explained why William seemed to be very close to Cian and vice versa. Because they literally spent years together. This could also explain why the maid said that William was acting like a family elder towards the young butler. And young Gilmore also seemed to see the other in that same light. 

But if these three met that long ago, how come William's children seemed to not know about them? From what Luo Yan observed, it appeared like they only met the mother and son pair yesterday.

He'd think about that later. 

He looked at the woman in front of him and asked, "If that's the case, how come you seemed not very affected by Mr. Harcourt's death?"

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