CHAPTER 1
“Poppy... Ms. Poppy, we have some bad news…” One of the maids in their house shouted while trying to wake Poppy Ann from her deep slumber.
“It can wait, Rosie. Let me sleep for some more time.” Poppy muttered in her sleepy voice.
She then lifted the blanket and covered her face as she got annoyed being disturbed in her sleep. Moreover, the morning sun sent its burning rays through the window without any mercy that made Poppy twist her eyebrows in loathing.
“Ms. Poppy, I am sorry, but it’s about Isabelle…” The maid held her shaky hands together. She tried to wake Poppy once again by pulling the blanket away from her body.
“What happened to her? Did she once again try to run away from her home? Do I need to go and find her?” Poppy asked with contempt while not letting go of her blanket
“No... Ms. Isabelle is no more in this world. They found her body on the streets of the third lane early this morning.” The maid replied.
“What?” Poppy threw out the blanket that was covering her body in a hurry.
She then jumped out of bed and held Rosie tightly.
“What did you say? Is that true? How did it happen? Who was responsible for that?” Poppy kept on questioning the maid, who was already trembling in shock.
With a shaky voice, Rosie said, “No one knows anything about the full details. We have received the news just now, and I came running here to your room to inform you immediately. It is unsafe to go out at night, Ms. Poppy. Yesterday night you were away for a long time.
If Madam knows about that, then I will be punished. So, please do not go out anywhere today. This town has become a dangerous place to live recently. It’s already the fourth murder in two months. And the murderer is targeting young mature girls who are ready for the marriage.”
“If you do not tell my mom about me being away from home, then no one will know. Do not worry; I will never get caught. Moreover, I have a case to solve now. I will find the culprit who killed my cousin and bring him before justice.” Poppy stated.
“Ms. Poppy, I really cannot do that now. Being a young unmarried woman, you shouldn’t roam at night. The current situation had become worse, and the mayor had issued an order saying, ‘No women must leave the house after sundown and before the sun rises.’ Also, Madam had already started to look for a perfect groom for you to get married.” Rosie explained.
“What? Something terrible has happened in our family, and my mom wants me to get married? Is that even important in this current situation? Right now, we have to catch that killer and put him behind bars.” Poppy shouted while trying to change into her daily wear.
“That’s why Madam wants you to get married sooner. You are already twenty and way past your marriage age. Once you are married, madam believes that the killer will spare you.” Rosie concluded and started to pick her used dresses for laundry that she threw all over the room.
Later, she started to make the bed while Poppy went to the bathroom to get freshened up.
When Poppy came out, her room had become neat and clean while Rosie was nowhere in sight. At first, she thought to jump down the window as usual and go to the murder spot.
Being the only female detective in that era was not so easy. She had to disguise herself as a man and carry on with investigating the crime scene at night. Then she gathers the information from the people around her in the day, disguising herself as a proper lady and trying to gossip around the whole town.
The minute she climbed down the stairs, her mom, who was sitting on the couch, lifted her head. She twisted her brows in disapproval.
Poppy looked down at her dress once, to make sure that everything was perfect as per her mom’s demand. When her mom’s eyes landed on her hair that resembled the bird’s nest, she understood what was wrong.
She immediately lifted the glass flower vase kept on the table next to where she was standing. When she saw how messy her hair was, she understood that in a hurry, she forgot to comb her hair.
Poppy noticed that her mom was not alone in the room. She could see that there were relatives whom she hates the most sitting along with her mother.
She scolded Rosie in her mind for not letting her know in advance that her aunt Charlotte was already here at their home.
She started to comb her hair with her hands while trying to walk back to her room. But before she could escape her aunt already noticed her.
“Poppy had already grown up a lot. Good thing, you decided to fix her marriage soon. Since your daughter does not go out alone much, I mean, other than being with our people gossiping around the town, she has a high chance of getting married soon. Or else who knows what might happen for her too…”
Aunt Charlotte started to curse at Poppy without her knowledge. Her husband, Henry, who was sitting next to her, sent a warning by coughing loudly.
It was not like no one knows the ill mindedness of her aunt in this house. But just that they were already used to her nasty comments so much that they started to ignore them.
“I did not mean that something would happen to her. Do not get me wrong! What I am trying to say is, if we don’t want our only daughter of this house to end up like Isabelle, then we need to fix her marriage with some aristocrat soon.
I know some good men who are willing to marry her. If only you are ok with that, then I would invite them to our house and hold a party. You can see and choose one of them who will be a perfect match for our Poppy and marry her off soon.
Then we do not have to worry about her anymore. Till now, the killer had only targeted unmarried women, so the sooner we get her married, the better. Think about it and let me know as early as possible.
I already have plans to hold a party this weekend. All the unmarried girls will be attending. I hope our Poppy can also participate in and find a perfect match. You are my first invite. I have many more families to visit. So I cannot stay here for long.”
Aunt Charlotte said while pulling her husband up from the couch. He was busy gulping down the refreshments in front of him from the time he came.
Aunt Charlotte is the only sister of her dad, Alexander Fox. Her mom, Emily Margaret, was the eldest daughter in her family. So, her mom had learned patience long ago and never tried to talk back to her sister-in-law even once.
