Eavesdropping

May 9, 1889
Paris, France
Ellington Estate

Dumont was exploring the gardens and grounds of the Ellington estate. In the past, as an agent for the French government, he might pose as a servant to infiltrate and gain intelligence, but he wasn't on a spy mission here. That didn't stop him from watching and listening as he went anyway, those were his natural tendencies.

On his way back to his quarters, Dumont's ears perked up as he overheard some of the staff gossiping as he passed the open windows of the kitchen. He stopped to listen closer. This was the kind of information he always loved and looked for. Listening intently as the servants continued to gab, he heard rumors about the young maid, Lucie, having a moonlight tryst with the groom, a man named Jean. They went on to discuss Lady Ellington's guests, how strange they all were, and how much food they would have to make. This all ended with a gasp as soon as Greta entered from some other side of the kitchen and began barking in German, scolding them for being idle and then instructing them on the correct way to prepare the hors d'oeuvres they had been working on.

Dumont continued to walk into the house and toward the stairs as if he had been just passing through and Greta walked out, nearly bumping into him.

"Excusez-moi." said Dumont.

The old woman gave him a sharp look up and down before seeing his smile and deciding he was not a problem.

"Nein, nein. Entschuldigen , eh... Monsieur." she curtsied slightly and moved on to one of the larders for ingredients.

Dumont and went to his room and began writing a letter to the Duke, documenting his experiences since arrival, of meeting Dr. Jackal, Sung, Lady Ellington, as well as the other members, including the impromptu new members.

Then he noticed the window slowly cracked open and Dumont looked up, it felt as if a brisk breeze had blown in but... strangely... the wind didn't even seem to be blowing... the leaves and boughs of the tree outside were still... not swaying. And the sun was shining. He dismissed the odd occurrence and went back to writing. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him but it seemed that the inkwell kept inching further away when he wasn't looking.

When he was finished, Dumont sealed the letter and put it in his pocket. He would personally deliver it to the post the next day. Then he noticed there was a braid of hair strawberry blonde hair on his writing desk.

"Quoi?..." he said aloud to himself. "Comment?..." He could have sworn he had fastened the braid onto the strap of his pocket watch... and he hadn't checked the time since before heading into the house... had he?

He rubbed his chin and pulled out his pocket watch. The time was 4:07 PM. The braid was not attached to his watch strap. He chewed his lip and tapped his fingers on the table. Perhaps he had dropped the braid and someone knew to return it to his room? He looked around the room. Was he being spied on?

Dumont ultimately came to the conclusion that he was being clumsy and forgetful. That would not do well for finding the evil docteur. It was a good thing that tea time was soon. He needed something to sharpen his wits.