[ WP ] You are a famous master detective . Once again you have gathered the protagonists in the drawing room , and by brilliant deduction you reveal the murderer . But for the first time in your long career the murderer , instead of confessing , realises that you have no evidence at all .

Aaron smiles waiting for praise as Mr. Conaway looks at him suspiciously. Ms. O ’ Leary whispers something to Madame Amelia and Sheamus puts his head in his hands. Fred puts his arm around his wife ’ s shoulder protectively. Aaron ’ s face drops and he shouts, “ Well is someone going to arrest Mrs. Belarus? ” Mr. Conaway shakes his head, “ Aaron, I ’ m sorry but you need to lay down for a while. ” He says trying to usher him upstairs. Aaron shakes his head profusely, “ Stop! Stop! I know I ’ m right! Sheamus, you ’ re a doctor! Tell him! ” he says angrily. Sheamus looks up reluctantly and says disappointedly, “ I ’ m sorry Aaron but one feather on the ground is just not enough. Why don ’ t you follow Mr. Conaway ’ s orders? ” Aaron bites his cheek and looks at Fred and the accused, “ But it ’ s her feather! From her hat! Look at my streak! I ’ ve hit a few wrong turns but I always get the bad guy in the end! ” he shouts. Sheamus gets up from his seat and puts his hand on Aaron ’ s shoulder, “ Aaron, you don ’ t even have the feather. You say that you saw it on the ground but none of us saw it today. ” Aaron chuckles in disbelief, “ Are you serious right now? ” he asks as he breaks free from Mr. Conaway ’ s and Sheamus ’ s grasp and looks desperately around the room for anyone considering his deduction. Sheamus sighs and quietly asks, “ Can I please speak to you? Upstairs? ” Aaron groans covering his eyes; not even his best friend was on his side. He nods and Sheamus follows him. 
 
 They go upstairs to Aaron ’ s bedroom; Aaron grabs a snow globe from his personal fireplace and shakes it ignoring Sheamus ’ s presence. Sheamus smiles and sits on the bed. He looks at the pill bottles littering his nightstand and asks, “ Did you take any today? ” Aaron continues to shake the globe and replies, “ No. ” Sheamus reads the bottles and takes out the appropriate dosage. He grabs the glass of water from the stand and hands it to him, “ Take it, you ’ ll feel better ” he says. Aaron sneers, “ I don ’ t need medicine! I need my friend to back me up! I know I ’ m right ” he says shaking the globe harder. “ Take it and I ’ ll listen ” Sheamus says sternly holding his hands out; his left palm holds the pills and the right holds the glass of water. Aaron rolls his eyes and takes the medicine. Sheamus knowing his tricks makes him lift up his tongue to prove that he swallowed them and then lies down on Aaron ’ s bed. “ Alright Aaron, Let ’ s talk ” he says closing his eyes. 
 
 Aaron grabs a pillow and smacks his friend with it, “ Ok so Ms. O ’ Leary was in the dining room with Mr. Belarus talking about her new antique vase when the portrait disappeared. The vase is worth far more than any painting and with her chronic ocd, she would never purchase something that didn ’ t match her color scheme. Mr. Belarus walks with a cane, it would be far too difficult for him to steal it. Mr. Conaway has worked with my family for years if he wanted it, he could ’ ve taken it at any time; he wouldn ’ t wait until I have guests over. You ’ re not a fan of paintings and make decent money from being a doctor. That leaves Fred ’ s wife, Norma Belarus. Her husband ’ s is known as a dangerous man around town, She might need it to repay one of his debts. Earlier today I swear I saw a feather in the library where the painting was located. She literally admitted twenty minutes ago that she loves hats! Hats have feathers! I ’ m right! ” he explains getting closer to Sheamus with every revelation. 
 
 Sheamus nods but doesn ’ t share his excitement after a moment of silence he asks, “ How have you been feeling since Tracey ’ s accident? ” Aaron ’ s heart pounds and he throws a pillow against the wall, “ Look Shea! It sucks! It ’ s one of the worst things since my parents but I ’ m not losing my mind? ” he says sitting down on the other end of the bed. Sheamus smiles, “ It ’ s okay that you ’ re having trouble. Some people have more trouble coping than others. It sucks that you are one of them and have experienced such great loss twice but that is why we have modern medicine. Why don ’ t you lay down and we ’ ll call the police? ” Aaron sighs and nods knowing that he couldn ’ t say anything more. Sheamus collects the pill bottles and says he ’ s giving them to Mr. Conaway to distribute to him daily. Aaron stays silent as his friend leaves the room and runs over the evidence again in his head. He runs his hands through his hair frustrated and annoyed at his lack of evidence. After a half hour, there is a knock at the door. A few policemen walk in with notepads, Aaron tells his version of the day ’ s events trying to be unbiased and indifferent to his own prediction. He puts his head down in shame as his voice shakes, he was used to being cocky and prideful with accurate predictions rather than moronically wrong. 
 
 After they leave, Aaron goes downstairs to see his guests still sitting down in the living room. Mr. Conaway was doing damage control to cover up his wrong prediction. Aaron enters the living room quietly and after a minute of awkward stares says, “ I would like to apologize to all of you especially Mr. and Mrs. Belarus. I ’ m wrong. ” Mr. Belarus laughs egotistically, “ Well obviously! Who is it Aaron? Now is it going to be Sheamus or your dear butler? ” Aaron stays quiet and Mr. Conaway jumps in, “ Mr. Belarus! Aaron is sickly and requires medical attention! He isn ’ t naturally so quick to judge, please forgive him. ” Fred smiles and continues to goad Aaron, “ It ’ s alright Aaron. It ’ s what one would expect from an uneducated orphan such as yourself. It is a shame about Miss Tracey but you are still young. I think it is time you grew up, to prove that we accept your apology, I will offer you a job in Norma ’ s wedding shop. So will you take it boy? ” Norma smiles and claps her hands together excitedly, “ Oh that would be perfect! You can be a stand in model for all the tuxedos! All the brides will love to buy a dress from you! ” she says happily. 
 
 Aaron looks at the couple and his other guests. It would surely cause more trouble if he didn ’ t accept the offer. Then he looks at Conaway and Sheamus. They were his best friends and both their eyes were anxious as if they would strangle him if he refused. He had caused enough trouble and had a good run but it was time to get serious. “ Thank you Sir! ” he says putting on a smile and hugging Mr. Belarus, the man who had secretly murdered his parents many years ago. 

