The silence that followed Cedric's words was heavy enough to crush breath from the lungs.
"He was murdered."
The sentence hung in the air, stark and final.
Noel did not move at first.
His fingers were still curled against the fabric of his waistcoat, his body half-turned toward the door Arthur had just opened for him. The world seemed to tilt, with a slow, nauseating shift, as though reality itself had slipped a fraction out of alignment.
Dead.
The actor's face flashed through his mind... pale under theatre lights, sweat clinging to his brow, pain etched sharply around his eyes while he was being crushed under the stage light.
Noel's throat tightened.
Arthur, on the other hand, remained composed.
"I see," he said calmly.
Cedric then started explaining everything to his brothers in a flat voice.
"I was in charge of him."
Arthur raised one brow. "The actor?"
Cedric nodded once.
