Nico Vale sits rigid in a wooden chair right beside the easel, his eyes darting nervously toward the body on the floor while Rhina paces around him. The interrogation room is the crime scene itself, and the tight space only amplifies his panic as Rhina points directly to his hands. Fresh blue and grey smudges are deeply embedded in the creases of his knuckles—pigments that perfectly match the ominous, hooded portrait looming just inches away. Nico stammers that he left the studio early, but his voice cracks when Rhina asks why the studio's security camera was violently smashed, and why a second signature is faintly visible under the master's smeared name.
Lady Corvina treats the blood-splattered mountain studio like an inconvenient waiting room, refusing to sit and instead leaning elegantly against a heavy work table. Even surrounded by forensic chaos, the wealthy patron projects absolute authority, though her composure slips when Rhina brings up her public fury over Revera's refusal to sell her the collection. She dismisses the questions with a sharp wave of her gloved hand, claiming she would never stoop to violence for a canvas. Yet, as she looks down at Revera's body, her cold, calculating gaze reveals a woman who is entirely used to taking what she wants by any means necessary.
Elara Sanz sits huddled in the corner of her late father's studio, the shadow of the hooded portrait falling directly over her face. The nineteen-year-old looks small against the backdrop of the crime scene, staring blankly at the single drop of red paint on Revera’s shirt that matches nothing on the active easel. When Rhina confronts her about arriving in town the exact night before the murder after two years of silence, Elara claims she wanted a reconciliation. However, her defense crumbles when Rhina pulls out the train ticket bought under Revera's name, forcing the estranged daughter to face the reality that her sudden presence is the most suspicious coincidence of all.
I take my notes and walked to the spacious living room shifting my gaze from each of the suspects. Nico, shivering with nervousness. Lady Corvina, Claiming she just doesn't have the time for this. Finally Elera Stanz, who is cowering with fear in the corner. One of them is the murderer and I don’t know who. Yet.