Another Short Story: "Just As Always"

06:21 am
The corpse of the already grey turned baron lies in the woodshed, a knife between his shoulder blades.

11:06 am
The cook, who gets some garden shears from the woodshed to cut off some parsley in the herb garden, begins to scream. There she sees him lying, with limp features and bloodstained clothes. The servant, alarmed by the cook's screaming, arrives and freezes at the sight of the dead baron, his employer.
"For heaven's sake, call the police!"

11:46 am
"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention, please. If you please calm down..." A young uniformed policeman stands helpless at the entrance of the estate and tries to put the staff into order It takes a while until it is finally silent.
"Have you noticed anything conspicuous either last night or this morning?"
The silence is interrupted by screaming, talking and crying.
"Ladies and gentleman, please, one after the other!"
The muddle of voices gets louder. The shouts of the young policeman echo through the room, in vain. His older colleague pipes up.
"That's not going to work... SHUT UP, WILL YOU?
The staff falls silent immediately.
"I will, one after the other, ask you for a short conversation."

12:01 am
"You know, I, as the baron's closest confidant, am aware of many things here in this house. However, nothing, absolutely nothing has drawn my attention to it over the last few hours. The baron and I had a pleasant conversation last night. After three glasses of wine, I got tired and decided to go to sleep. The baron said to me, that he would stay a little longer. It was the last time I ever saw him..."

12:12 am
"I-i still c-can't believe that the b-baron is... I mean, he always w-was that... What I'd like t-to say is that I don't b-believe... Oh, I'm s-so sorry, I'm still so c-confused..."

12:23 am
"It was the secretaire, believe me. Take a close look at him!"

12:25 am
"Something suspicious? Not that I could recall. As every evening, I helped the cook to set up the breakfast table for the next morning. Not a very demanding task if you ask me. Be that as it may, I went to my room afterwards. This morning, everything was just as always. The cook and I prepared breakfast and then began to cook lunch. Actually it's the cook's assistant's job to get herbs from the garden. However, I was busy peeling potatoes, so the cook herself went to get some parsley. Everything else is familiar to you, I suppose."

12:31 am
"I was in the middle of cleaning the baron's bedroom, when I suddenly heard the cook's screaming. I ran to window, through which you can view the whole garden. At first, I couldn't see anything, but then the servant ran to the woodshed. That was when I realized something bad must had happened."

12:56 am
"I thank you for your collaboration. I am certain that we will find the culprit as soon as..." The young policeman is interrupted by one of the cleaning ladies.
"Exactly where is the gardener?"

6:21 am
The corpse of the already grey turned baron lies in the woodshed, a knife between his shoulder blades. Next to him, the gardener wipes blood from his hands. After all, it is always the gardener.