EP 06: THE MAGICIAN TELLS ALL

EPISODE 06

'the magician tells all'

IT WASN'T HIS smile that captures you. When you look at Dominic Prince, it was the aura he exuded that makes a sturdy presence. The way he captures you with everything he's got is nothing short of a fisherman luring his fish just by appearing in its presence and offering his hand to the water. Dominic Prince was Prince Charming personified. He was built for charm, the way he proposed his body language, the airy tilt of his smile. Dominic Prince wasn't sharp angles but fine lines. He had a strong jaw and cheekbones, but his eyes looked soft and kind. He didn't look as intimidating as his credentials possessed.

He had blue eyes - more than blue eyes, they were like sapphires in the enchanting dark shade. His tousled blond hair looked soft and framed his face nicely. His lashes were long, his lips were full, and his gaze was a quiet keen.

When you looked at Dominic Prince you didn't see manipulator, or someone who enjoyed enticing uncomfortable emotions. You look at Dominic Prince and you see nothing but innocence.

Innocence was the wrong word. It was sincerity.

And that was dangerous. Because when you see sincerity, you are putty in the hands of the malice behind it.

"Did you miss me? Let's be honest - " Dominic adjusts his seating position, leaning back and twisting one leg over another. " - the expressions you all have right now is making my most likely dead bones laughing. Do you get it? Because it's funny bones?"

No one laughed. The rest of the boys - Hamel, Brackham, and Song, after gathering as soon as the first two arrived - were still set in a fog of disbelief and none of them replied to a pre-death video of a friend whose cadaver they just visited earlier in the day.

"Oh Christ, the long faces, I can just imagine it. Cheer up, you poor sad lot!" Dominic laughed. It was important to have that distinction in past tense. Laughed. Because I had seen the Dominic now hours before. He was cold, unsmiling and dead. But he seemed so alive now that it just felt like a distant, inconceivable dream.

"This shouldn't be a sad event, especially you, Jimmy, fix your place please." Dominic smirked. "You're wasting such good features with those horrendous expressions."

James, blinking, muttered an emotional, "Fuck you."

"And you, Faris, such a cool, cool face. I do wonder what expression you'll show at my death. That's why I named you the 'Holy Spirit'. You're someone so altruistic and almost abstract to me because emotions to you are the same concept. So I do wonder, the most, what expression you'll show for me, old boy."

Dr. Hamel fixed his glasses. Then slowly raised a middle finger.

When Dominic stared at the camera again, it was like he was staring past the TV, the recorded video, as he turned to Leon who stiffened. "And of course, the man of the hour. The Son. My most precious friend. You gave me the idea you know. I was only ever connected to them through you. And who else do I leave my murder to? Certainly not the Yard - my apologies, Jimmy my boy. It's... impersonal for my murder to be helped up by police. Random coppers I don't know. And murder is such an intimate occurence. It doesn't seem as appropriate if I let just anybody get to the bottom of my demise if not my three best friends, don't you think so?"

He clapped his hands together, startling the rest of us who were all tensed. "And now here we are. I guess I don't really need to twaddle on like a tit, though I'm sure you all miss my gloriously bespoken face. But we're all going to trudge on - and I promise! It won't be boring. You'll also have complete and personal view of my lovely face."

"Please tell me he doesn't go on about his dumb face for another twenty minutes," Dr. Hamel muttered. James grunted his assent.

"It comes and goes," Leon said. I wanted to turn. So badly to turn and dissect his face at how thickly he spoke. Like talking after a thick cough syrup is still sliding down your throat. Every little difference, every little idiosyncrasy made me want to look at Leon Song and note it all down.

James groaned. "This is going to be irritating."

"First," Dominic continued. "We have to get the important bits out of the way - before this video dictates all my little schemes, we'll go first with my supposed will. So here it goes." He sat up and cleared his throat. "I, Dominic Tobias Prince, leave all my property and money to any living heirs."

That, of course, erupted the room with fury.

Dominic started laughing. "I would pay Saint Peter himself to see all of your expressions right now, my god! This is enjoyable. But before you do find yourselves desperately seeking answers for the existence of my children or not - let's focus first on me. Specifically, my murder. Then you can all trot and prance trying to find living heirs. If none of you find anyone of course - thank god, I'm quite the responsible rubber user - then I'm sure this will is void. It's always good for a just in case, you know?"

Dr. Hamel grinded his teeth, closed his eyes and rubbing his forehead. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"How's that possible?" I asked, truly curious.

When he raised his eyes back to the screen, his voice was low and dangerous. "Trust me, I'll make it possible."

Dominic sighed, raising our eyes back to the screen. He's mood is different, the room felt stiffened. "Alright, let's get serious. I will invite seven people for a little soiree on the 20th. These are the invitations - Cream paper, all black, just my style. C'est magnifique." He showed us all seven in one hand, formed like a magician's fan. "Each one of these seven people have a very distinct motive to harm me. Enough for murder, I assure you.

"Now, you're all probably thinking, is he just bored? Suicidal? Or did I get an alarming note from my doctor that my demise is coming and I should make an entire spectacle of my death instead of inside a luxurious hospital with tubes rawing me up six ways to Sunday?"

I choked on air, whilst James coughed out a, "Jesus."

"To answer the million dollar question, neither, your honour. I'm doing this because - well, my time has come." Dominic smiled comfortably, as if this statement was normal. "It's time for the epilogue, the curtains to close on Dominic Prince, yes? And I want my ending to be on my terms. I've had my fair share of near deaths, my share of death threats. So instead of waiting for a cliche hitman to take me out from a rooftop or a scorned old lover I never proposed to - I'm dying on my terms.

"And now past the heavy stuff to the good stuff - suspects. We have seven. First and foremost is a good doctor I know called Dr. Archibald Westley. A kind, nervous man who had a gorgeous wife called Alice and three daughters called Marigold, Amy, and Therese. He blames me for their deaths.

We were partners of sorts, met during one of my grandfather's endless Italian parties. He needed help with his clinic and I needed a doctor, so we got a partnership going. Somewhere along the lines, an incident happened and I stopped funding. His practice crashed and his wife and daughters died in an accident.

Next is a close friend of mine, an actual descendant of blue blood whose uncle was knighted seven years back. You all know him to varying degrees, Milo Cavendish. Now Milo, of course, is a different sort entirely. He's pompous, great, and filthy rich. Only, I know a big secret of is. A secret that he will kill for. A secret he has killed for. And I think he's starting to sound out that I know. Of course I won't be babbling about it here - you wish - but I wouldn't be opposed if you tried to find it yourselves. Milo is a great man, a bit dickish, but this secret can turn a true prince into a real monster."

Dominic exhaled. "Oof, really got a lot hot in here, huh? But next - Cassandra Bernault-Arjenios. You know her a lot, Leon. The girl who's desperately in love with me. That's enough to really go on that. She's a model, a druggie, and a little crazy. Always high too. But her mother's famous - her name is connected through everywhere so her darling little treasure is protected at all costs. You've met I believe, James."

"Oh she's a whole new level of bat shit," James added. "This got really stressful real fast."

"And the doctor who's family died didn't make you nervous?" I asked, rubbing my fingers together.

"Shoot me is what I'm saying," Dr. Hamel murmured.

"Next!" Dominic clapped his hands again. "My cousin's fiance, Aoi Nakamura. Or Nakamura Aoi. She's clever, that girl. Actually, too clever even. But before she got engaged to Enzo - before she even knew him, Aoi met me first. The real me. And I have a debt to pay for her. A debt that I understand needs to be repaid. So I can't blame her. I actually expect for her to be vicious to the point that I am actually worried for how she will kill me."

Dominic started chuckling. "That got real dark real fast, but e poi Enzo. Lorenzo Moretti. A damn bastard. This is not a surprise, I know. He's an asshole. And he's never cared about me. Which is fine, I never cared about him. But I know Enzo. I know how much his hate can grow, especially since nonno cares for me than he cares for him. And that will bite me in the ass, I can feel it. Also, it's a good opportunity for him to be present at my little play, no? Also he's always just been jealous that I'm better looking than him. It's like a potato facing god."

James groaned. "Nice, really. Nice."

"And then, of course, mon amour. Just before the last. Love of my life and the woman who most likely deserved to kill me. My lover, Genevieve Rottschild. You know nothing about her, I'll gather. Apart from clippings of news sites. She's a witty, dangerous woman. And I killed her husband. She doesn't know. She will soon."

Dr. Hamel and Leon sat up, James and I crowed 'what' at the same time. But Dominic continued, only smiling as if it was nothing at all.

"And now, il finale my grandfather. Mateo Moretti the third. He knows everything about me. Everything. And for that reason, he has the most bullets pointed my way. All I have to do is betray him, betray the family, and trust me - he will be the one in the middle of the firing squad. Because - here's a snippet of a secret. A, clue you can say.

"I'm not related to the Morettis. It isn't true that Mateo Andreas Guido Moretti the third is my grandfather, and neither is Lorenzo Moretti a cousin. Which is why the dickhead hates me because his nonno loves me more than him. Heh."

Dominic leaned forward, elbows to his knees. His eyes are beautiful, his gaze is beckoning.

"How do you profile a victim? You start with what you see about them. You start with how they look like as they died, what killed them, what's inside them. Then you find out everything else - their names, their ages, where they live, who their family is. I suggest you all start there. Because everything you know about me is a lie. You start from the start - profile the victim and find out the truth. Because right now, my dears, you know nothing." Dominic smiled. "I do hope you help these odd boys, Wendy Cain."

I jumped, but Dominic smiled slyly. The rest of the boys turned to look at me.

"For now, watch out for the amen huh?"

Dominic winked and the video was done.

We were submerged in darkness until the small lights filtered back on. The room was quiet.

"Well," Dr. Hamel said. "That just about summed up everything I expected from that."

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NEXT:

EPISODE SEVEN

CORDELIA SONG

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This is not edited. At all.

I know I just dropped a lot of names lol, but they are viable suspects.

Let's see if you can find the real one.

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