Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc

Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc
Start	Chapter 38
End	Chapter 50
Volume	9 - 11
Previous	Circus
Next	Luxury Liner

The Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc is the fifth arc of the Kuroshitsuji manga.

Plot

The story begins with Arthur Conan Doyle riding a two-horse carriage, which he is not used to as he is a commoner. He had received a letter of invitation to a party at the Phantomhive Manor, of which he is clearly nervous about. It then moves onto Ciel Phantomhive talking to Soma Asman Kadar over breakfast. It is notable that the newspaper he holds says something of diamond trading in South Africa, where a man died.

Double Charles

Meanwhile, Mey-Rin and Baldroy are complaining about the weather when they are interrupted by the Double Charles, who ask if Earl Phantomhive is in. After being randomly attacked, they attempt to fight back. However, they are interrupted again by Sebastian Michaelis, who brings the two to meet the Earl while serving them tea.

After brief introductions on the Charles' parts, they show a letter to Ciel from the Queen that asks him to host a banquet and entertain a guest who is coming to visit England. Ciel politely objects, as he does not enjoy social events, but is told he has no choice, because of the matter from the "other day," i.e. regarding the matter with the Noah's Ark Circus. Afterwards, Charles Grey asks to stay and supervise at the time. Ciel tells Sebastian to prepare the invitations and contact Lau and the Undertaker while he's at it.

Arthur remarks that after that incident, his life turned 180 degrees. Years later, he is finally writing about the horrible events that came to pass at the manor, and shows a picture of Sebastian in a gruesome way, blood spilled all over.

Ciel is on the phone with an unknown person, and it begins to rain. Soon after, the party begins.

The guests are Irene Diaz, an opera singer, with her boyfriend/theater producer Grimsby Keane, Karl Woodley, a diamond dealer, Patrick Phelps, Lau with Ran-Mao by his side, and Arthur.

In the lobby, guests are politely chatting as they wait for their benefactor. Arthur runs into Lau, and makes small talk. Lau presents Ciel as a scary person, conjuring images of weird, old, pirate-like men, without mentioning Ciel's age, as Ciel comes down the stairs. He politely greets all the guests, and thanks them for coming to his home. As Ciel mentions that the guest of honor isn't here yet, Mey-Rin comes, announcing the arrival of a guest. Georg von Siemens and Charles Grey enter, and they are all introduced, except for Mr. Arthur. Dejected, the author/dentist sits down when Sebastian comes up to him, and he admires him for a minute. Ciel Phantomhive takes the seat next to him, and they talk. Arthur is pleasantly surprised to find that the Earl, even though he is a noble, read his work. Ciel comments on how if you are famous, everyone will continuously praise you as opposed to when you are unknown and talented. Grimsby barges on their conversation, remarking about how true what the Earl said was, and asks if one day they could work together, to which Ciel responds, "Right...one day."

Sebastian pouring the wine.

Across the room, a scream is heard as Irene tells Georg to stop harassing her, which leads him to harass her further. She reacts by slapping him, and Georg is about to throw a glass of alcohol at her. Ciel blocks the lady with his own body, and tells them that is enough. Grimsby becomes extremely angry, however, and throws a bottle at Georg, but Sebastian flies through the air and uses the bottle make a pyramid of glasses pouring wine. Everyone's moods are lifted. Irene attempts to thank Sebastian, which might show some interest on her part, but Sebastian is too busy with Ciel to bother with her. Grimsby becomes slightly jealous.

While drying him with a towel, Sebastian and Ciel make small talk in French. They make fun of the man, and when Arthur laughs at his joke, Ciel puts his finger to his lip, signaling "shush," revealing a slightly playful side.

Georg has fallen asleep, and Ciel says it must be his bedtime too. He leaves with Sebastian, who carries Georg on his back. Sebastian lightly jokes to Ciel how he's only a child when it's convenient, much to Ciel's annoyance. Later on, while the servants are cleaning up, Georg rings for one of the servants to go to his room.

"He's dead!"

Mey-Rin and Sebastian go to Georg's room, where they hear screams. Sebastian breaks open the door, and Georg is dead, his head tilted and his arm dangling off the chair he was sitting in. Arthur bursts through the crowd, examines the body, and declares, "He's dead!"

After they examine Georg' corpse, they conclude that he died from blood loss because of the fatal wound on his chest. They begin to move the body to the cellar before its rots until the Yard shows up. Lau then comments on how they may be there for quite a while seeing as there is a storm outside. Karl complains that he doesn't want to stay where a murder took place but Lau says that it's fine since they were all supposed to stay the night. It is then realized that because of the storm, there is a good chance that the killer is one of them.

Irene then comments on that since the door to the room was locked, the killer broke in through the window. Charles says that if the killer came in through the window they would leave footprints because of the rain. Along with that fact that the room is on the second floor and the window was locked. It is then believed that the killer locked both the window and door from the hallway but this would be unlikely because all the keys to the mansion are in Sebastian's possession and only he knows where they are stored. Since the keys couldn't have been stolen and there is a possibility of locking the room from the inside, it is then concluded that this was a locked room murder.

They then begin discussing their alibis. Lau, Ran Mao, and Karl were all together in the lounge with Sebastian, who had been serving them. Charles, Arthur, Grimsby, Irene, and Patrick were all in the billiards room while the servants were all cleaning together. The only one without an alibi is Ciel who is the only one, other than Sebastian, who knows where Georg' room was and can navigate through the mansion. Lau then suggests possible reasons for Ciel to murder Georg.

Since the killer is still in the mansion and they are unable to leave until the storm settles, they decide to put Ciel in confinement with Arthur. Charles retrieves the handcuffs he uses at work so neither Arthur or Ciel can run off in the night. Before leaving, Ciel tells Sebastian to make sure the coke in the hearths don't run out.

Sebastian, just before being attacked.

While Sebastian is checking the hearth, he seems to discover something. As he is about to reveal what he has discovered, someone appears behind him.

Sebastian is then shown waking up Baldroy to give him instructions for the meals for the next three days. In this process he wakes up Finny and tells him to change the coke in the hearths. He then goes to Mey-Rin to give her an owl that has a letter for someone and to release it at the crack of dawn.

Ciel and Arthur are then shown. Arthur, having trouble sleeping, has trouble wrapping his head around the fact that Ciel is the same age as his little brother and comments that he looks cute when he is sleeping. Sebastian then comes up behind him with Ciel's pillow saying that this would be his security blanket. Sebastian then, as a joke, asks Ciel if he would like a lullaby, which causes Ciel to become irritated. Sebastian then returns to his work after Ciel quickly falls asleep.

Sebastian and Arthur have a small conversation about how although Ciel is an Earl, he is still a child and how hard it must be on him to be stuck in this kind of situation. Arthur then tells Sebastian that he doesn't believe that Ciel is the killer. As Sebastian is leaving, he tells him "I'm leaving the young master in your hands."

Arthur begins thinking about who the killer may be if it isn't Ciel. He believes that the most suspicious ones are the servants and the most suspicious out of them would be Mey-Rin and Sebastian because they had found the body first. He starts to think that Sebastian committed the murder because he and Mey-Rin want to run away together. He dismissed the thought and goes to sleep.

He then wakes up to Ciel saying that Sebastian is late waking him up. Tanaka then enters the room with Ciel asking where Sebastian is. Arthur and Ciel run to the room where Sebastian is lying on the floor dead. Ciel begins to order him to stop sleeping on the floor and get up, even going as far as slapping Sebastian.

Lau then says that it's impossible for the confined Earl to have killed Sebastian and that things have just got interesting.

Soma and Agni are shown at the townhouse. Soma is seen looking out a window and begins to worry about Ciel. Agni tries to uplift Soma's spirits by saying that Ciel has Sebastian with him so everything will be alright.

As they begin to examine Sebastian's body they notice he has been stabbed by the fireplace poker as well as receiving a blow to the back of the head. Arthur proposes that there were multiple culprits: one would get his attention while the other hits him on the back of his head and then the first gave the final blow to the front. They decide to move Sebastian's body to the cellar as well. While everyone leaves for the dining hall, Ciel apologizes for losing it and hands over the head butler pin to Tanaka. He then scolds Ciel for being shaken by the death of a servant.

The third murder

.

In the dining hall, they all begin eating but Irene says that she's not very hungry, so Charles asks for the leftovers. However, when she was handing him her plate, he says he meant the one next to her. They realize that Patrick is missing and go to check on him. When they get to the Earl's bedroom they find it locked, but Charles cuts down the door. Patrick is found on the floor dead.

The owl that Sebastian entrusted to Mey-Rin is then shown being taken down by something.

After they exam Patrick's body they find two small puncture wounds on his neck. Arthur says they could have been stab wounds or an injection of poison. He then comments that two puncture marks to the neck are similar to the bite of Carmilla the vampire, but of course it would be ridiculous and unscientific to suggest it. He then notices that the clock at the beside was on the ground and broken. The clock says 2:38, suggesting Patrick' time of death.

In the drawing room, they begin discussing the times of deaths and alibis for each. Georg died around 1:10, Patrick died around 2:38, and it is unknown when Sebastian died. When the servants say that they last saw Sebastian at 2:50, this suggested he was the last one who died. Since Sebastian is the only one who knew where the key to the Earl's room was it was most probable that he was the killer, but he was killed himself. They begin suggesting ideas for everyone's death. The most probable cause of killing them would be that the killer would have something to gain from the deaths.

Karl then states that Patrick was Lau's business rival. Ciel then asks Lau if he does, in fact, carry a needle in his sleeves. Lau pulls it out saying he does, but it is used in oriental medicine. They begin blaming him for Patrick' death saying that he could have been destroying evidence while he was going through Ciel's closet. He dismisses it by saying it is impossible for him to commit a locked room murder from the walk-in closet.

The alibi list

Arthur then makes a chart of all three deaths and everyone's alibis. He then says that even if they were working with Sebastian, it's impossible for a single person to commit all these murders. They begin fighting amongst each other until Karl says he doesn't want to be killed and starts to leave. Ciel tells him to sit down, and Karl accuses Ciel of having all of this planned out from the beginning. As he begins to punch Ciel, Tanaka restrains him saying that if anyone means any harm to the Earl, the servants will show no mercy towards them.

Since Arthur is the only one with an alibi for each murder, Ciel entrusts him for making their decisions from now on.

As they continue their conversation, Arthur proposes the idea that whoever holds the key to the Earl's room and killed Sebastian is the criminal. Charles suggests to check Sebastian's body to make sure that he isn't carrying the key himself. Arthur then says that whenever they move they should move in a group and tells Irene, Grimsby and Karl to stay in the drawing room. Lau and Ran Mao decide to stay as well while Charles says that he won't have anything to do so he'll tag along. When they lift the cloth to see the body, they find Sebastian's body all wet and decide to move him so it won't decay as fast. After examining the body, they find that he doesn't have the key on him so they decide to check his bedroom.

When they get to Sebastian's room, they begin searching places where one might keep valuables, since none of them have really been in his room. Ciel then searches Sebastian's closet and finds all the cats he had hidden from Ciel. After searching thoroughly they find no keys within the room. They begin discussing how none of them, not even Ciel, know where Sebastian had come from.

Charles then suggests to check everyone's luggage, and since he has more authority he can force them. After checking all the men's luggage, they wait for Mey-Rin and Ran Mao to finish checking the women's luggage. Mey-Rin finds a small vial with a dark red liquid inside, which she believes could be blood from Patrick.

The red liquid

They hadn't found the key anywhere so Arthur proposes the idea that Sebastian could have thrown it out a window, and that since it's so small it could be buried. Finny, shaken from Sebastian's death, decides to look for it outside along with Mey-Rin and Baldroy. After Baldroy convinces Mey-Rin and Finny that what they are doing is insane and that they should be protecting Ciel, Tanaka comes and informs them that they will soon run out of food supplies.

Back in the drawing room Grimsby says that they should play a game of cards, but Arthur doesn't want him to go alone because they still don't know who the killer is. Lau then proposes the idea that the unlikely thought of the killer being able to not leave footprints while being in the storm will become likely with the existence of a 13th person. Karl dismisses the idea saying that there's no chance of that happening. Lau responds saying that if it's true then he could be lurking in the mansion waiting for a chance to pick them off one by one, and that he may not be that far off. While saying that there may be a 13th person who shouldn't exist, there is a loud noise behind the door in the kitchen where the servants are.

Jeremy Rathbone

The servants are then shown running into the drawing room saying they caught a "suspicious looking guy." Lau states that even he is surprised that the killer is revealed and then asks for his name. Ciel reveals the man to be Jeremy Rathbone, an adviser to the local church. As his alibi, Jeremy shows Sebastian's owl saying that Sebastian anticipated that he'd be killed and sent a letter to him. To prove that he really isn't the 13th person, he shows a ticket to a play from the night of the murders.

After they filled Jeremy in on what has happened since the first murder, he asks to see the bodies but must see each body in a different room, as the scent may give him a hint to the crime. If they were all together, the different scents would interfere with each other. After the bodies are moved in separate rooms, he says to show them to him in the order they were killed.

While examining Georg' body, Jeremy says that he was drinking up until his death and that there was a faint smell of the sea on the body. After examining Patrick' body, who was killed in a different way than the other two, he asks to see the room in which he died in. He then concludes that there were multiple killers. To catch the killer, he says that they need to wait for nightfall and Ciel's cooperation. He quickly examines Sebastian's body and they all leave for the dining room. However, Charles races back to the room in which Sebastian's body was and checks to see if he is still there.

While the servants are discussing dinner plans, Jeremy comes to help. He suggests using the soy beans to make hamburgers which will make about 30. As they begin to cook, Mey-Rin remembers that she found a vial filled with a dark red liquid in Irene's bags. She also says that she thought Irene was a vampire because she is twelve years older than Keane but dismissed the idea.

After dinner, Jeremy tells Ciel to take off his clothes so they could catch Patrick' killer. He also says that he can't move at all, and to not make any noise. Jeremy is then seen yelling at the figure in Ciel's bed, who is revealed to be Ran Mao, to step aside as Charles is just about to kill them. However, he is stopped short as Jeremy says that they are an important witness and they are needed alive.

Jeremy then reveals to everyone that the killer is a snake.

The killer

He says that the snake was most likely trained to kill the Earl when it caught his scent, and if snakes were used, one wouldn't need a key or an alibi. The snake is a Black Mamba, which inhabits South Africa. They have a strong poison and are experienced at climbing trees. This makes it the perfect snake for murder.

Arthur then says that importing poisonous snakes is illegal and to be able to get it here means the person would have to have close connections with an African business. Karl is the first suspect for the killer, but he says that he has an alibi for when Georg was killed. However, Jeremy says that an alibi wouldn't help his case, because the corpse of Georg wasn't actually a corpse. Georg drank a liquid similar to what Juliet drank in Romeo and Juliet to reach a state of apparent death.

Jeremy then reveals that Georg drank the liquid and faked his death, but was also stabbed to death. Arthur then proposes the idea that the killer was trying to lure the Earl into a trap. He proposes that when Sebastian was changing the coke in the hearths he found the evidence, and to prevent his alibi from going up in smoke, Karl killed Sebastian and returned to his room. After going through the ashes, Grimsby find glass shards. Jeremy then puts them together, which looked like an ampule of medicine.

Ciel then reveals Karl's motive: a top secret plan for a major company in the diamond industry and Ciel's company, Funtom Corporation, that possesses the leading technology were to cooperate. However, with the death of the president it was put on hold, and if it were to be put into motion the Karl Company would receive some damage. To prevent this, Karl decided to kill Ciel. Charles then arrests Karl.

Finny then asks what the dark red liquid in Irene's bag was. Jeremy explains that it's the extract taken from the Red Perilla, which has an anti aging effect.

After solving the case, everyone returns home. As Arthur is leaving, Jeremy comes up to him to thank him for solving the case. Jeremy then thanks Arthur, in French, for taking care of the Young Master. Arthur yells at the carriage driver to return to the mansion. He goes back to confirm the truth. Jeremy then reveals himself to be Sebastian.

Sebastian revealed

Ciel then begins explaining to Arthur that Karl wasn't the criminal in this crime. He then asks Arthur how he knew that Sebastian was alive. Arthur responds by explaining that both Sebastian and Jeremy were so perfect, too perfect that it became strange. He continues to explain what made him think that Sebastian had never really died, such as, he never said one word in Ciel's defense when he was accused. Sebastian explains to Arthur that everything was predicted beforehand, such as Georg being a sacrifice and that he would die.

Ciel and Sebastian go on to explain what had happened between them during the events. They both had known from the beginning that Georg' death was most likely faked and the evidence was hidden in the hearth. As Sebastian retells the events of the night he was killed, it is revealed that Charles was Sebastian's killer.

After killing Sebastian, Charles left to go the wine cellar, where Georg' body was, with Sebastian following him. Sebastian then witnesses Charles killing Georg, saying he's an eye sore. Sebastian then prepared the meals, gave instructions to Finny, Bard, and Mey-Rin. He then wrote Ciel a note about the inspection of the heart and slipped it in the pillow he gave him.

As a corpse, Sebastian was able to move around freely with an alibi. He gathered the shards of the ampule and returned with the ticket and owl as his alibi for Pastor Jeremy. When he had to examine his own body, he had taken Patrick' body and put it in his place. When he was inspecting the body, Ciel had Arthur and Charles leave the room, claiming that he couldn't see Sebastian's body anymore than he already has.

It is then revealed that everything that happened was Her Majesty, the Queen's wish. Ciel explains this was like his punishment for a little prank of his. Sebastian then says that this would clear the Queen's worries and make sure Ciel is kept out of harm's way.

By showing his true form, Sebastian scares Arthur to make sure he never lets the truth of this night get out. Sebastian explains to Ciel that because he had an eccentric experience, he'll want to write about it.

Snake bound by ropes.

Ciel then tells Sebastian that he has yet to explain Patrick' murder. Sebastian reveals that there really was an uninvited guest. Sebastian reveals the guest to be Snake from the Noah's Ark Circus. Snake then says that he wanted revenge on "Smile" because he caused the disappearance of the rest of the first tier members, who treated him like family.

Ciel then offers Snake a job there in his mansion, saying that he's trying to find Joker and the other members and if Snake were with him, he'd be able to see them sooner.

Ciel then asks Sebastian how he will explain his "death" to the servants. Several people are then shown carrying Sebastian's coffin into a church.

Elizabeth Midford, along with Agni, Soma, and the servants, are shown crying over Sebastian's death. As they begin to leave Sebastian's grave, the bell next to it begins to ring. Undertaker then says that if it is ringing, it means Sebastian is actually alive.

After digging him up, Tanaka returns the head butler's pin to Sebastian. They then head back to the mansion.

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