Blue Mansion Murder Case - Chapter 1 Opening Move

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

The excited crowd silently waited for the announcement of the championship award of the international chess competition. Everyone had their hearts filled with joy and excitement raced upon their hearts. It was the breaking moment of their waiting as the host stood up on the platform with a very tensed smile.

“For the awaited championship award, our year’s champion is Rook Kazuki from Japan!” the host announced. Rook heard the loud applause and cheering from the crowd, which totally made him even tensed, happier and excited to receive his trophy on the stage.

He went up the stage and claimed his trophy; he raised it up as the camera flashed continuously towards him who won the award. As he went down the stage, his friend was there to meet him. His amazed smile warmly welcomes him.

“As expected from you Rook! You got the championship again! You are always at the first place!” his friend Tatsumi complimented.

“Aren’t you also a winner?” Rook replied as he points to Tatsumi’s trophy, winning the Blitz Chess Tournament.

Rook and Tatsumi were always the two sides of the sky. Rook would always be the sun and Tatsumi would be the moon. Both had their different type of light that shines throughout their persona.

Tatsumi smiled at him with a take of winning. Both of them are expert chess players and were chosen to represent Japan for the competition now held in Sweden. Rook noticed an old man approaching them from the crowd. Some of the other chess contestants bowed at him when they take notice of him.

The old man had this delighted look on his face. He carries a checkered cane and a suit that somehow defined his well-mannered personality. His blue polo and white tux was the one that piqued Rook’s interest.

“Are you Rook Kazuki and Tatsumi Sakoshita?” the old man asked.

Rook bowed at the old man before answering and gave their introductions to him.

“Yes, I am Rook and this is my friend Tatsumi. Excuse me Sir, but aren’t you a Chess Grandmaster?” Rook replied and asked.

The old man was surprised on his question. His amazement raced his interest how Rook was able to come up with such inference.

“There are three underlying hints. First, when you are approaching us, some of the contestants bowed at you. The people in this contest hall comprises of the contestants, judges and the other reporters who were monitoring the winners in each round. When these people were in the contest hall, the contestants never bowed for respect like they did to you. Second is that your cane is designed with checkered black and white. I can now infer that you maybe are a player of chess. The last hint of my notice is that of your clothes. Judges and other crews of this contest never wore one like you do. They wore simple white polo and black pants, but you, you are wearing a blue polo and a matching white tuxedo, black slacks, and black shoes. You don’t have any ID like the other crews. Those data narrows my inference that you’re a respected personality. Grandmaster or a Connoisseur,” Rook explained, with a confident aura.

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The old man clapped his hands in amazement.

“As expected from the son a detective. You have trained your observation skills. I am your father’s friend when we were in our younger days. I am Hansel Mortensson and yes, I am a Chess Grandmaster here in Sweden. I have already asked your father to let you stay in my house for a while. Please accept the invitation, of course, with your friend.”

Both of them looked at each other and Tatsumi nodded before he faced Hansel.

“I guess it can’t be helped,” Rook answered and smiled.

A white 911 Porsche arrived in the parking area near the contest hall. The chauffeur opened the front seat.

“Well then, shall we go?” said Hansel and guided them both. They quickly moved and opened the back seat and waited for the chauffeur to wrap things up.

“I also want to show you my garden. I actually want your father to see it but sadly, he said he was busy cracking a really big case,” Hansel explained as he tapped the chauffeur’s shoulder signing he should start driving them home.

“A garden, Sir?”

“A Lavender Garden. You see, when my wife was still alive she always bugged me to build a garden of lavenders. She was very happy and excited when I finally had her request filled. Every time, she’d go there and do her painting. I guess the lavenders gave her a very big inspiration for a piece,” the grandmaster explained. Tatsumi can see the excitement from his voice as he told them about his wife.

“You fill the request of your wife? Shouldn’t that be something you should do because you love her? Sounds like she’s some kind of client,” Rook thought. He was wondering why the grandmaster said it differently.

After crossing some sharp curves and kilometers of roads, Rook saw a wide garden of lavenders from a large mansion from the car window. He points it to Tatsumi who was, amazed by the architecture of the mansion.

“Is that the lavender garden?” asked Tatsumi.

“That’s right, I hope you would like to take a look of it there.”

“Totally amazing,” Rook lauded, enjoying each beauty within. The car stopped in the front gate of the large mansion as the maids opened it. They parked the car in a large garage on the right side of the mansion. The garage was fully designed and clean. It was beautifully painted with a coat of blue and there were no cracks. Rook noticed that everything inside was symmetrical. He made a pale smile and noted that the grandmaster is probably a perfectionist.

“Please enjoy yourself upstairs. We can visit the garden later. I will have the maids prepare some coffee for you,” Hansel welcomed and went straight on the conservatory. Both agreed and started to wander their eyes on the mansion’s offered finesse. The first thing that struck Tatsumi’s eyes are the paintings of famous painters placed perfectly on the wall.

“Whoa! Famous paintings! The Starry Night, Dora Maar, Four Dancers, Woman with a Guitar and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon!” said Tatsumi, as he explored his eyes on each of the paintings. A maid approached them and said their coffee is waiting upstairs in the lounge.

“I never knew you’re into these kind of stuff,” said Rook, in a very downright smug manner.

“You just don’t get the meaning of the paintings, do you?” Tatsumi fired back. Rook stayed silent and went straight upstairs.

Unable to get calm in the conservatory, Hansel went to the garden to have his fresh air. A middle aged man from the mansion opened the back door, holding a couple of folders and written documents.

“Sir Hansel, some of the business contracts are in need of your approval. All you need to do is to sign them for further transactions,” he said.

“Good work, Aldern. Good work,” Hansel replied and took a skim on the documents before signing it and handed it back to the man. Aldern was his long time secretary. Among all the people in his company, it was only the man he trusted and had his full confidence that the company would push further with his efforts. Everyone in the company knows how trusted the man is.

Rook saw both of them from the lounge’s window. He is talking with Tatsumi when he noticed them.

“Businessmen can’t even rest well, huh? You always get to see documents to read and contracts to sign,” he thought and returned his attention to his friend.

“Hey Rook, Hansel-san is a very kind person isn’t he? To think that your dad knows someone as rich as him,” Tatsumi said.

“Hansel-san said it was when they were young back then. Maybe it was when dad travelled back here in Sweden. He mentioned to me some cases he solved here in Sweden. I think that was the time when he met him.”

“Everything happens for a reason. It is quite interesting. Are you finished with your coffee?”

“Yeah,”

“Let’s ask the maid where the chess room is, we got to practice for the next competition to be held soon,”

“By soon, you mean next year? Come on Tatsumi, we need a break. You have to be kidding me if we need to play at this kind of hour,” Rook answered. He wanted to take a break from the stressful sight of the chessboard.

“Oh, so the champion needs a break from the chessboard,” Tatsumi said in a very condescending tone. Rook scoffed his friend’s reply and went on. Both of them took their time exploring the large mansion. They didn’t notice the time as they were so amazed by the house’s beautiful design.