Chapter 11
"Sister, I'd like to take a shower first, and then..." Kurosawa Shiran knelt on the carpet, looking up at her, "Is that alright?"
The disheveled black shirt made the boy's features appear even more refined, almost demonic.
Moreover, his speech is also sticky and he draws out the last syllable.
Rina's temples throbbed twice, and a hundred thoughts flashed through her mind about how to silence the person.
She said with a forced smile, "What a load of rubbish!"
Kurosawa Shiran was slightly surprised, then leaned closer to speak to her, "Isn't that what you meant, sister?"
"That's truly astounding," Rina said coldly, shifting her gaze and frowning. "I don't like idiots."
"Ah," Kurosawa Shiran leaned on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa, then lay down on her side and said dejectedly, "I'll be very sad if you say that, sister."
Rina's expression was complicated, and she blinked slowly: "Why are you following me?"
Kurosawa Shiran said earnestly, "Because my older sister is my idol."
"An idol?" Rina seemed to have heard the biggest joke and couldn't help but sneer.
Kurosawa Shiran explained calmly, "Sister, I've loved being a detective since I was little, and I still aspire to be one as an adult. However, due to some objective reasons, I can only do those incredibly boring jobs. But although the work is troublesome, it's still quite lucrative, and supporting you is no problem at all!"
"Aren't you just a chicken feeder?" Rina narrowed her eyes, feeling the need to correct him. "Your dream may be shattered. I'm not a detective; I'm a chemist."
She studied medicinal chemistry in college.
"I'm not a chicken feeder, I'm not a chicken feeder, I'm not a chicken feeder... Sister!" Kurosawa Shiran was devastated, going from fierce protest to finally giving in.
I just hope she won't bring it up again.
He already knew about Natsume Rina; he had overheard the plan by that moth-like creature to recruit her at headquarters.
It's likely that they valued her talent in pharmacy and hoped to use her to develop some kind of drug.
That insatiable woman.
Rina seemed to recall something for a moment, then continued to criticize, "I heard it was Vietnamese Dong Tao chicken..."
"Ah, sister! Don't mention this again." Kurosawa Shiran picked up a cushion, buried her head in it as if trying to escape, and remained motionless, already somewhat withdrawn.
Rina thought for a moment, then continued, "Didn't you already see the second-rate detective in the newspaper?"
Kurosawa Shiran said in a muffled voice, "Trash tabloids, it's a waste of life to even glance at them."
“The content written by the publisher’s editor is indeed terrible, but there is one thing that is correct,” Rina said, her gaze lingering on her for a few seconds before she fell silent for a moment. “The sinking of the Alice a year ago was indeed related to me.”
"No, I think my sister is amazing. As for this shipwreck, it's obviously a conspiracy!" Kurosawa Shiran rolled over and asked with his innate curiosity, "What's the relationship between my sister and Mr. Takizawa?"
Rina said expressionlessly, "Scum of society."
Kurosawa Shiran exclaimed in shock, "He's actually that kind of person?"
Rina suddenly narrowed her eyes warily, scrutinizing the face repeatedly. After confirming that it was extremely irritating, she pointed to the door and said, "I'm talking about you. You can leave now."
She simply didn't have the energy to communicate with this idiot who was spouting nonsense.
Moreover, she hates liars the most.
"..." Kurosawa Shiran sat up and said pitifully, "Sister, it's so dark, it will take more than two hours to get back to the ranch."
Rina: "Then let's stay in the guest room downstairs."
Kurosawa Shiran lowered her head and muttered softly, "It's not packed..."
Rina frowned almost imperceptibly. "So, where would you like to stay?"
Seeing that there was still room, Kurosawa Shiran put her bottom back down steadily, saying, "Sister's sofa, lying on the sofa is enough."
Rina: "Wouldn't that be too unfair to myself?"
Kurosawa Shiran shook her head: "No!"
"You really know how to push your luck! I don't want to have anything to do with someone like you." Lina completely lost her patience and grabbed him by the collar.
As he spoke, he dragged the person to the door.
Just then, as she placed her hand on the doorknob, the door suddenly rang.
The two of them stood there, stunned, and the room suddenly became quiet.
"Madam, are you asleep?" Takase hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to knock twice at the door.
Although it may be presumptuous, there was indeed quite a bit of noise coming from inside the house, so the person must not have gone to sleep.
Kurosawa Shiran tilted her head, seemingly unable to understand, and asked, "Sister, why would other men be looking for you at this time?"
What do you mean by "other men"?
Why are these four words pronounced so heavily?
Rina looked around and decided to throw him out the window.
But this is the third floor; someone could die here.
She pulled the person to the window and thought for a few seconds before finally letting go out of kindness. "Go to the bedroom."
Kurosawa Shiran instantly became obedient: "Okay!"
How can someone be so difficult to deal with...?
Rina originally thought that her gloomy personality and her tendency to be sarcastic were already enough to make people feel vulnerable.
How could anyone be so shameless as to come closer?
“If he has any ill intentions, sister, call me, and I will protect you,” Kurosawa Shiran suddenly chimed in.
"........"
Who exactly harbors ill intentions?
A strange, indescribable emotion welled up inside Rina. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
When Takase saw her, he bowed awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry to disturb your rest so late."
Rina raised an eyebrow. "Come in."
After entering the house, Takase took off his shoes and put on men's slippers from the shoe cabinet. He couldn't help but add, "I'm so sorry to bother you so late."
It's already 2 a.m., and his appearance here makes no sense.
But he couldn't bear it. Miao Zi died so inexplicably, even though they were about to get engaged.
He really wanted to know the truth, and he needed to know the truth.
“I rushed over as soon as I finished up the party, thinking I’d ask tomorrow morning, but when I got out of the car I saw the light on in the bedroom on the second floor, so I couldn’t resist coming up.” Takase took a newspaper out of his suit pocket and unfolded it for her. “It’s very presumptuous of me, but I still want to ask, are you Ms. Rina? Your personality and your wife’s are completely different. If this continues, someone will find out soon.”
Rina sat on the sofa with her arms crossed, glanced at the black and white photo, and said nothing.
“I don’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask about Miaozi.” Takase took a deep breath. “I think this matter is too strange, so I would like to ask you to investigate it.”
Rina rubbed her fingertips, then deliberately asked cunningly, "I can tell you how that could be, but you have to answer one question for me first."
Takase's eyes were red-rimmed. "What?"
Rina: "Yuriko."
Upon hearing the name, Takase looked troubled and hesitated before saying, "The president and she don't have that kind of relationship."
He spoke vaguely, clearly not wanting to mention it.
Rina went straight to the point: "Kawashima Kazuha, I already know. You just need to add some details."
Takase was so shocked he couldn't speak. After a long pause, he finally said, "You even know this... Did the president tell you?"
How is that possible?
Rina sipped her coffee calmly: "What else?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just too shocked, because only the chairman and I know about this, and the old lady is the only other person who knows about it." Takase breathed a sigh of relief. "Miss Koya is the old chairman's fourth child. She was abducted and sold abroad when she was very young. Later, she ended up in a brothel. The chairman searched for her for more than ten years before finally finding her."
"The old lady was devastated when she learned of this, and even fell seriously ill as a result."
"She was only fourteen years old at the time."
"As you can imagine, Miss Heye has entertained many celebrities and nobles. If we were to acknowledge her, it would damage the reputation of the Kawashima family. So, we have been keeping her hidden away and putting her in a difficult position."
Rina: "Is that all?"
They had always been like that. She sensed it when she attended her sister's wedding; the Kawashima family looked down on their background.
In their eyes, someone from a family that doesn't even qualify as a middle-class family is not worthy of being the leader of their family.
They looked down on this marriage, which was between people of unequal social standing, and even the servants didn't give them a friendly look.
Takase continued, "After Miss Koya returned, I've been taking care of her. Over time, she may have developed a misconception, or perhaps a dependence. I can't explain it, but Miss Koya has been confined and has no way to interact with other people. Perhaps because I'm the only male among them, she developed feelings for a butler..."
Lina suddenly felt the urge to ask a question: "Did she tell you how she felt about you?"
"I rejected her and explained that the person I like is Myoko, I..." Takase began to sob as he spoke.
Rina asked, "Did she have any contact with Hideo Kawashima's two previous wives?"
The other person was too perceptive. Takase's mind was in a mess. He lowered his head to avoid her gaze and didn't answer.
Rina: "You didn't say it because Miss Kazuha is connected to both of those cases."
“No, Miss Koyo was already mentally unstable at that time and often hurt herself, so the chairman locked her up,” Takase clenched his left hand, falling into self-doubt. “However, the first wife believed some rumors and became curious about her. Then, not long after, she took advantage of the chairman’s business trip to stay at the villa for a while.”
"No one expected that the lady would be found unconscious in the garden tea room after only a few days of staying."
"He died of heart failure when he was taken to the hospital."
Rina frowned slightly: "What about the second one?"
Takase and she exchanged a glance, and Takase couldn't help but sigh again: "She was also curious about Miss Koyo's affairs, so she took the private detective she had hired with her to the villa, and then disappeared overnight."
"After the servants discovered it, they led people to search everywhere, looking all over the villa and the manor, and finally found it in the woods."
“I also participated in the search. When we found the lady, she was only wearing a red dress that barely covered her body, her hair was disheveled, her body was covered in scratches, and there was blood under her fingernails... She was completely insane. The doctor said that she had suffered a great shock, which caused her to be like this.”
"No matter who asked, she couldn't say what exactly happened that night, and then rumors of the villa being haunted spread."
Rina: "Whose decision was it to fake He Ye's suicide by hanging?"
“President, the president may have sensed something as well.” Takase paused. “At that time, the police also came to investigate, but they didn’t find anything.”
Rina glanced at him. "Where's that detective?"
"Him?" Takase shook his head. "He disappeared without a trace after that night."
Rina: "Do you still remember him? Do you have a photo?"
“I don’t have a photo. This person is quite mysterious, just like a detective on TV, appearing and disappearing without a trace,” Takase tried to recall. “But I still have some impression of him. He was over 1.8 meters tall, with a slender build, similar to the chairman when he was young, but he smelled strongly of cigarettes and would not take off his jacket even when the weather was extremely hot.”
Rina seemed lost in thought, her gaze still fixed on him.
Takase straightened up uncomfortably. "Ms. Rina, about Myoko's matter, I..."
“We’ll have an answer soon,” Rina picked up her phone from the coffee table and looked down to reply to a message. “It’s getting late, let’s go home.”
“Alright, Ms. Rina, please get some rest.” Takase stood up, then suddenly remembered something. “By the way, I know something about Junichi Takahashi.”
Rina looked up at him: "Go ahead and say it."
Takase thought for a moment and said, "She came here to work seven months ago, and she is in charge of cleaning the courtyard. She is very serious about her work and has hardly made any mistakes. But I learned from other servants that she has been secretly inquiring about a man. Miss Koyo also asked if any strange men have come to the manor recently. I think they were asking about the same person. Miss Koyo seems to think he is a troublesome problem."
Rina put down her phone and leaned back on the sofa: "Every time you go to the escape room, you tell her about what's happening outside?"
Takase took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and calmed himself down. "I'll tell her some interesting things that happened outside."
Rina lowered her head and continued replying to the message: "This is probably the first time I've met someone as considerate as you."
Takase was momentarily speechless. After a moment's hesitation, he said solemnly, "I'm very sorry. I was very rude to you before. That's all I know."
Rina blinked slowly, asking curiously, "Didn't you ever doubt He Ye's character?"
Takase was taken aback. "There are only two keys to the secret room, one with the chairman and one with me. She can't go out, and Miss Koya is a delicate woman with asthma; she'll have difficulty breathing if she does strenuous exercise..."
A tragic childhood, coupled with mental illness and asthma, sounds truly pitiful.
Rina didn't ask any more questions.
After everyone left, he went to the bedroom and stood there, stunned.
The house was quiet, and the person lay on the hard floor, his suit jacket slightly folded up to serve as a pillow, lying on his side with his body curled up.
Has she fallen asleep?
"......."
She took a deep breath and found a thin blanket in the closet to cover him.
Then her phone rang, and for some reason, she instinctively hung up.
Lina glanced at him guiltily, and after making sure she hadn't woken anyone up, she got up and left the house.
But after the footsteps faded away, Kurosawa Shiran sat up, staring blankly at the blanket, and the smile disappeared from her face.
"My sister has run away from home again..."
That's so unfair!
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