"Thank you for your patience, Mr. Beckwith. I can assure you that it won't be long now. Before sunrise everything will be settled and everybody will be in their respective homes."

"I'm the one who needs to thank you, detective. I can tell you're making sure that nothing goes missing. Any other would have passed it as an accident without even trying further."

"Lucky for you, I'm not like any other," Alderton replied smiling. He felt – no, he knew that he was getting close to solving the puzzle. What a rush it gave him, like nothing else in the whole world. Those were the moments where he loved his job the most, being in front of a grieving person was not enough to make him feel ashamed of that. "Sir, what can you tell me about the gardener?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. He claimed he had no immediate family, that he just wanted to earn an honest living and that he was hard-working. That he was, he worked even too much at times."

"Nothing else?"

"He is a quiet man, never talks much, only the bare minimum to be respectful. So nothing. Do you think he's implicated somehow?"

"I prefer not to reveal any details for now. I promise it'll be clear in the end. Just one last question, before I let you go. Was the pot that was broken the same as the one still in the study?"

The man assumed an air of confusion. "Um... Yes, it was. I enjoy symmetrical spaces, I even got rid of the fireplace that was originally in there for this reason."

"Perfect, that would be all."