The air in the study hung heavy with an unsettling silence. Davis, his face etched with concern, stood before Ryan, the weight of the news hanging heavy in the room.
"Dead?" Ryan echoed, the single word laced with disbelief. "But how?"
Davis shook his head, his voice barely a whisper. "We don't know yet, Your Grace. A messenger arrived just moments ago, bearing the grim news."
Ryan's hand tightened around the ledger he'd been examining moments ago. The carefully arranged notes Suzy had compiled, the discrepancies she had unearthed, all felt meaningless now. Their prime suspect is dead. This is a dead end. Frustration gnawed at him, a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Did you at least deliver the message I sent?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"Yes, Your Grace," Davis replied, his voice barely a whisper. "A formal request was sent to the Viscount's residence, requesting his immediate presence here. This… unfortunate news… arrived shortly thereafter."
