"Twenty-three, if we also count the guards and the servants present inside premises of the palace and then, twenty guards all over guarding the gates of the palace and another ten servants in the servants' quarter adjacent to the kitchen tower."He replied, his eyes following the dame's movement.

"And where's the murder weapon?" Marren quizzed, as he took a step forward to examine the dead body.

"Gone, it is probably with the murderer." Marshall replied. His face was, now carrying a tired expression; already expecting what was to come. Whenever the duo was called for help, it was tedious day for him at work. He was always interrogated as if he had done the crime himself and was constantly reminded of the incompetency of the police force.

"Isn't the palace the ceremonial meeting place of the Accession Council?" The dame quizzed as she rummaged through the Duke's bookshelf and searched his desk placed adjacent to it.

"Well, yes, but I don't see how that matters?"Sergeant said in slight irritation.

"I just didn't expect such shortage of staff, especially at a place of such importance.Well, the royals are quite known for their grandeur." The dame replied, her voice still as calm as before.

"Their lifestyles are quite lavish.Well, I was of course, not including the female staff assigned to the palace."He said as if the act was fairly obvious.

"Well sir, may I ask why?" The dame said while putting certain emphasis on the word 'sir'.Her voice had grown a little stiffer than before.

"I simply don't think a woman would be able to harm a man of his calibre, and except for that fact, the position of the blood splatter on the walls clearly tells that a man of somewhat tall stature and build has committed the crime."He explained the reason for his assumption.

Her lips turned as if she was slightly amused by the sergeant's assumption.Then, she turned her head towards the grey wall and stared at the blood splatters on the wall.On envisioning, the scene of the Duke's murder and analyzing the position of the blood splatters, it was quite clear that the murderer did have a tall stature.

"Did you check the heights of the women employed in the house or any woman, for that matter, in the house on the night of murder?" She asked the sergeant.

"As a matter of fact we did, in fact we have records of the heights of everyone and anyone remotely related to the duke and none of them seem to be tall enough to have been responsible for this murder." He explained, trying to keep his composure.

Their arrival only meant humiliation and torment for him, but it did save him from the reprimanding of his superiors and was enough to save to face in front of the police department. While it did no good for his ego, he was able to earn some lofty promotions out of it. So, he knew that this was the part of investigation; he wouldn't be able to escape.

"Where were the kin of the dead at the time of..." The dame was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

"Well, that is not needed, we suspect the criminal to be an outsider, and at that too, a cold-hearted criminal "The Sergeant interrupted.

"We are currently tallying the traits and the conditions of this murder with all the known criminals registered in our database."Sergeant added with a hint of pride in his voice.
"I take it you had no luck finding a match." Marren commented whilst still examining the dead man's body intently.

"Well, yeah! But our team is very efficient.They would find the man soon enough.How do you even know that? "

"Well, this was the killer's first murder." Marren stated. "And as for the efficiency of your team, our presence very well explains that."

"How can you say that? The Duke of Windsor is no ordinary man who would just be killed by a novice. Even, a skilled killer would have to take extra precautions to murder such a man."Sergeant claimed.

"Well my dear Sergeant Marshall, the murderer clearly didn't have a lot practice.There has been a lot of stabbing, he was trying to kill him but didn't know how to.In fact, the jaggedness in the cuts indicates the nervousness."Marren explained, still analyzing the body.

"Well, any man would be nervous to commit such a sin"Marshall argued.

"But not someone skilled in the art of killing, and for what reason, do you think a skilled criminal would kill the duke? Clearly, there hasn't been an instance of a robbery." The dame intervened.

"Well, the Duke had some enemies."Marshall said sophisticatedly.

"Now, the Duke of Sussex and Earl of Arundel are hardly any enemies, Marshall. The men had a spat over a polo game; they wouldn't go as far as committing bloodshed."The dame tried to reason with the sergeant. Her voice had a tone of amusement.

"You are forgetting about his altercation with his brother." Sergeant Marshall debated.

"Well, a game of pool doesn't count either and if you are referring to the conflict the brothers had over their father's property decades ago, I'd consider it resolved from seeing the letters exchanged between them.Also, the fact that the murder happened twenty-nine years after the distribution of his estate doesn't help either."She explained while passing the letters to the sergeant.

Marshall scanned through the letters and after, figuring that the woman was in fact right, he turned hopelessly to Marren.

"The royal family has pressed that this case must be closed as quickly as possible.Incidences like these are bound to break people's spirit especially at such a time.We don't have much time Marren and people would soon know of the murder.We need a culprit, people will need a killer caught."Marshall said in despair, sensing the case to be more twisted than he intended it to be.