Chapter 38

Sato sat frozen at an antique walnut desk, his hands stopping as he flipped through documents. "Arisu Kazumi?"

“Yes.” Rina stood at the office door, having changed out of her Doc Martens and coat. Her long hair, styled in a bun, and her pink dress made her look like a lady, with an air of frailty.

Sato raised an eyebrow, silently put down the documents in his hand, glanced at the police officers, and gestured for them to take Eileen and Laura away.

After closing the door, he asked, "Why are you here?"

Rina: "A murder occurred here a few days ago."

Two murders occurred in just a few days, and he noticed the child, but the information retrieved by the branch office indicated that the death was accidental.

"What did you find?" he asked.

“The body has been cremated and the scene has been disturbed,” Rina said, raising her chin slightly with an air of nonchalance. “But I still found a clue: this girl had an abortion just a few days before the incident. The police forensic doctor didn’t even notice that. They must have been drinking a lot of fake alcohol during the autopsy to prevent those scoundrels from taking advantage of the situation.”

The following sentence was written in a sarcastic and mocking tone.

Sato rubbed his temples, paced anxiously around the room a few times, calmed down, and then said, "This is serious. I'll report it to the Metropolitan Police Department. What else have they found?"

Rina: "Two years ago, there was another person named Bella who fell down the stairs. The precinct's conclusion was that she died accidentally."

Sato stopped, pondered for a moment, his expression becoming complicated, and asked, "Are the two cases related?"

Rina: "Both girls are equally pretty and cute, with gentle personalities, similar ages, and both like to wear floral dresses."

Sato: "This is not enough to connect the two cases."

"The only thing that can connect the two cases is the murderer." Rina thought with a cold expression. She walked around the room, then picked up the autopsy report from the table and quickly glanced at it.

That's absolutely true. The two cases were separated by so much time, and there were even corrupt officials in the police department.

Sato had no clue, so he casually flipped through the newspaper on the table. "I've heard rumors that Durand has a good reputation."

Rina tilted her head slightly. "These days, newspapers are all about getting paid to do their jobs. You can hardly find a simple and honest report anymore, especially those about kind-hearted entrepreneurs."

Sato put down the newspaper, nodded thoughtfully, and picked up the stack of IOUs again. "Hmm, what does this have to do with Durand's death?"

His mind was a complete mess, and he couldn't keep up with her train of thought at all.

Rina: "The autopsy report mentioned that Durand had traces of sedatives in his system. It's very strange that a murderer who needs to drug people to kill them would have the strength to hang him outside the window."

Sato gave a strange look: "Careful?"

“No, the office door was forcibly opened, and there were several IOUs on the desk, placed in the most conspicuous position. Bills, invoices, and overdue payment notices were placed below,” Rina said, standing in front of the window where the body was hanging, pushing and pulling the window several times. “Someone tried to use a huge gambling debt to fake Durand’s suicide in a locked room, but unfortunately, the murderer’s intentions were seen through. In order to make the case more serious, she not only destroyed the scene, but also hung her body outside, attracting reporters.”

“Thinking about it this way, the contradictions at the scene do make sense,” Sato said. “And the fact that the murderer could administer the drug suggests that the murderer was someone close to the victim.”

"I think she probably also knew that Vanilla's death was staged as an accident, out of resentment, or... personal grudges."

Rina quietly pushed open a crack in the door and peeked at the woman outside.

Eileen leaned against the wall, her hands tightly clasped together, her hair slightly disheveled, giving her a somewhat tragic and beautiful appearance.

Sato was silent for a moment before saying, "Before the incident, Eileen had an argument with him about the textile factory, and she is currently the prime suspect."

Rina: "You always manage to contribute to eliminating the real culprit."

Sato: "......"

Rina raised an eyebrow: "Do you think that girl's death was related to bullying?"

“It cannot be ruled out that, after all, the children who come here have more or less tragic family backgrounds and childhood experiences, which have a negative impact on their mental development,” Sato said. “When a child commits a crime, the family and guardians bear unavoidable responsibility, or even greater responsibility. This is based on my years of experience in investigating cases.”

As he spoke, he took out the information files of the children in the welfare home.

Rina looked at it carefully and took out Annie's file, which had a photo pinned to it with a paperclip.

What's that tattoo on her shoulder?

Sato walked over to her, took the photo and looked at it carefully for a while. "It looks like numbers. The first one is #. Hmm, it looks like a row of numbers. The photo is too blurry to see clearly."

Rina frowned and muttered, "Number?"

“Something’s not right. How could a little girl have tattoos? You know, tattoos are practically a standard feature of the mafia, and ordinary people avoid them like the plague.” Sato said, shuddering slightly.

Rina hesitated, then swallowed the words back.

She felt a sense of familiarity with the number, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

He could only manage a soft "hmm" through his nose.

The two locked eyes, and Sato whispered, "Is this kid connected to the mafia?"

Rina blinked, placed the photo in his hand, took a step back, and then left the room.

She realized what she had missed.

It is the death of vanilla.

Too much information distracted her from the killer's motive for murdering Vanilla.

Rina quickly lifted her skirt and ran downstairs.

Kurosawa Shiran stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes lighting up instantly, "Sister."

Why is this cleaner randomly claiming relatives?

Rina stepped forward, her expression slightly changing. "Didn't I tell you to wait outside?"

"Doesn't my sister miss me?" Kurosawa Shiran sighed, her voice filled with sorrow. "I miss my sister so much. I've lost weight since I haven't seen her for half a month."

She has indeed lost weight, but that's not the key point.

Rina gave a vague reply, looked away, and turned to head towards the lotus pond.

Kurosawa Shiran clung to her from behind, her gaze sharp as knives: "Sister, you can't run around while pregnant, right?"

Rina: "...Yes."

“I’ve found a few hospitals that perform the surgery. Now that the case is closed, shall I take my sister there?” Kurosawa Shiran paused for a moment, “Sister, should we also tell you the name of that person?”

"It's no trouble for you," Rina said.

"Sister, please do me a favor." Kurosawa Shiran looked worried and haggard.

But because he is so tall, he has to look down at everyone, which is somewhat intimidating.

Clearly, he took this matter very seriously, to the point that Rina began to doubt her own actions.

Since you already know she's investigating a case, shouldn't you be able to tell that it's a lie?

What exactly is in his head?

The other party kept giving evasive answers, and Kurosawa Shiran withdrew her gaze without any emotion, lowered her long eyelashes, and said innocently, "Keeping that thing is useless, it's just a burden when it's born."

Rina: "......"

This is a failure for a fake person.

The two walked one after the other, around the garden, along a path, until they reached a lotus pond in full bloom.

Anne stood there as if she had been waiting for her. Hearing footsteps, she asked, "Who are you?"

Rina suddenly stopped, intending to remain calm and pretend nothing was wrong, but the person behind her was close enough that he probably didn't have time to steady himself and bumped into her.

The boy had a body full of solid muscles, as hard as iron. Rina stumbled and almost fell face-to-face, but luckily the culprit caught her.

"......."

Anne: "You're not a cleaner at the orphanage."

Lina steadied herself and pushed him away by placing one hand against his chest.

For some reason, Kurosawa Shiran also became well-behaved, but her eyes, like a venomous snake, were observing a rabbit, her dreamlike blue eyes shining brightly.

Rina asked, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

Anne scrutinized her very cautiously, then said sarcastically, "A detective?"

Rina rested one hand on the stone railing and rubbed it a couple of times: "You overestimated me."

“They don’t look like it either.” Anne stared at her for a moment. “But at first, I thought we were the same kind of people.”

Rina didn't react much to these words, only her dark eyes darted around, "The Mafia?"

Anne: "No."

Rina: "What were you doing at 10 PM last night?"

Annie: "Go to sleep."

Rina: "You and Vanilla get along well."

Anne said nonchalantly, "Nobody here dares to talk to me."

"Really?" Rina said. "Then what happened to your hand?"

Upon hearing this, Anne put her hands into her pockets.

Rina pondered for a moment, "Are you aware that Vanilla was being bullied?"

Anne: "I don't know."

Rina: "If we can't catch the culprit, there will be a third victim."

Annie clicked her tongue and looked at her indifferently. "What's it to me?"

“You came to me to confirm who killed Vanilla,” Rina said. “You think it was Durand.”

Anne said, "A hypocritical, lewd old man."

Rina: "Vanilla was pregnant."

Kurosawa Shiran was particularly sensitive to those two words, and her expression instantly darkened.

Annie coldly interrupted her: "You think Vanilla seduced him?"

“That’s not what I meant,” Lina paused, “It’s that Durand has hypogonadism.”

Annie frowned. "What's that?"

Rina: "In short, he wasn't the one who forced Vanilla to get pregnant."

"Explain yourself clearly," Annie's voice suddenly rose considerably.

Rina: "Impotence."

Annie paused for a moment, fighting off the nausea, and grabbed her wrist. "How is this possible? How did you know?"

“I just saw his body,” Rina said, her face expressionless, without even lifting her eyelids. “He did have these symptoms.”

“That vanilla…” Annie’s expression was very complicated, and she remained silent for a long time.

She said, "Durand was already dead when I got there."

Rina raised an eyebrow: "You think the police will believe you moving a body by yourself?"

Anne: "Hold out your hand."

Rina hesitated for a moment, then casually raised one hand.

Anne said coldly, "I advise you to switch to your other hand. I won't be responsible if it breaks again."

That's right, my left hand hasn't fully recovered from the fall at the manor.

Kurosawa Shiran leaned forward and habitually rested her chin on Rina's shoulder.

Her boyfriend also likes to lean on her shoulder.

The difference between the two species is probably that she can feel Kurosawa Shiran's breath so close to hers.

Rina switched hands with her and asked, "Why did you suspect Durand?"

Before she could even gather her strength, the other party suddenly increased the force.

Lina instantly felt like that hand was about to break; the area between her thumb and forefinger was burning with pain. She couldn't even resist. "Let go! Let go!"

"..." Annie was speechless. "I haven't even used any force yet, how can you be so delicate?"