Chapter 37
The next morning, the gates of Cradle House were packed with people.
Media reporters crowded the entrance, and police officers' attempts to disperse them were unsuccessful.
However, there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, Cradle House, as a charity organization for more than 20 years, had helped more than 200 children. Now, the deputy director of the welfare home, Durand, had been murdered and his body hung on the wall as a warning.
This case will undoubtedly have a very negative impact on society.
Sato stood on the lawn downstairs, looking up at the corpse hanging from the second-floor window, his face extremely grim.
The deceased was tall and overweight; hanging such a person outside would require exceptional arm strength.
The perpetrator is likely a male who regularly works out, but the possibility of multiple people committing the crime cannot be ruled out.
The police officer rushed over and gave a brief self-introduction.
Sato waved his hand and said, "Report the situation first."
Before he arrived, the police officers had already conducted a preliminary investigation of the scene.
The deceased was Duland, the deputy director of the welfare home, 35 years old, male, 1.82 meters tall and weighing 85 kilograms.
There were no signs of a struggle in the office. The fatal wound was to the abdomen. The murder weapon was a fruit knife, on which only Durand's fingerprints were found.
Preliminary estimates suggest the time of death was around 10:10 p.m. last night, after which the person was hung outside the window by a nylon rope.
Sato: "What about the time of death?"
The officer flipped through his notebook: "The watch on the deceased's wrist was probably bumped during the moving process. The time was 10:10. We'll have to wait for the autopsy results for more details."
Sato was silent for a minute or two, and then he heard a woman run over and let out a scream.
Laura saw the body being slowly raised, stumbled, and fell to the ground.
Sato led a policewoman over, helped her up, and looked her up and down.
She was wearing a blue dress like the one worn by the Virgin Mary, and she looked frail and delicate.
It doesn't seem like it can drag a corpse.
The policewoman asked softly, "Can you answer a few questions?"
Laura struggled to look away, her face turning quite pale. It took her a while to recover before she nodded.
The policewoman asked, "Where were you at 10:10 last night?"
Laura said, "I'm staying with the kids in the dorms."
Female police officer: "Have you seen Mr. Durand before this?"
“I have,” Laura said. “At 8:30, I went to the cafeteria with a new colleague to have lunch with everyone, but as soon as we got there, Mr. Durand called me to his office, and then I left around 9 o’clock.”
Sato: "Did you have a conflict?"
“No,” Laura covered her face with her hands, crying in a hoarse voice, “Mr. Durand was an excellent and responsible man, everyone respected him, how could such a person suffer like this…”
Sato: "Did you notice anything unusual about him?"
Laura looked up. "After me, Eileen went to the office..."
Sato glanced at the policewoman, who quickly summoned Eileen over.
He asked, "What were you doing in the office last night at ten o'clock?"
“Actually, I had a big argument with Mr. Durand in the cafeteria. The reason we argued was that someone told me the children were being bullied at their workplace. I applied to go to the textile factory to check on the situation, but Mr. Durand thought I was being unreasonable. At my insistence, we started arguing again in the office,” Eileen said, taking a deep breath. “But after the argument, I left there, around 9:50.”
Sato: "Can anyone prove this?"
This time, his tone was somewhat serious.
Eileen: "I spent some time alone on the roof, and no one can vouch for that."
Sato: "Is there anything unusual about him?"
Eileen: "No."
Sato didn't ask any more questions and turned to go to the crime scene.
Miyako happened to come out of the room. "Yesterday was the weekend, and most of the staff at the orphanage were on holiday. The cooks in the canteen can corroborate each other, as can the caregivers. At the time of the incident, everyone was eating in the canteen. These people have basically been ruled out as suspects. However, they said there was one more person who left before the meal was served. He was a new colleague."
Sato asked warily, "What's your name?"
The caregiver said, "Her name is Arisu Kazumi."
Sato thought for a moment, then thought to himself, "It sounds familiar, and it's also suspicious."
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and there weren't many people on the streets at this time.
Rina walked through the dirty alley, the dirt road under her feet gradually becoming uneven and potholed. In the dark corners, the water left after the rain mixed with some kind of liquid, and the smell permeated the alley, making it unbearable.
She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
Wearing a pink and white long dress, black Martin boots with the shoelaces tied neatly around her ankles three times, and a black denim jacket over them, she was quite eye-catching.
However, her aura is so striking that even in a crowd, she is hard to look away from.
The thugs squatting by the roadside followed her with their eyes, and when they realized she was alone, they stood up and followed her.
Rina hugged her coat tightly, stopped at an antique shop, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed the doorbell.
The thug left as soon as he saw her standing in the antique shop.
There are several mafia members there, and they're not to be trifled with.
Soon, a commotion came from the antique shop, and a scarred man with a bare upper body opened the door for her.
He said with a grim face, "What?"
Rina sniffed, looked at him pleadingly, and whispered, "I was introduced by Guren."
The number plate was something Vanilla got from a woman named Red Lotus, but for some reason, the antique shop couldn't take it back, and Vanilla kept it with her.
She found this place by following this clue.
The scarred man looked her up and down, then stepped back. "Come in."
The shop was filthy and messy, infested with rats and cockroaches, and was no different from a garbage dump. The plastic ceramic bottles on the cabinets were covered in dust.
As Rina was leaving, she accidentally kicked a wine bottle, and Scarface turned around and glared at her fiercely.
Now that abortion is legal, pregnant women under 22 weeks of gestation can have abortions in hospitals. However, despite this, some people still choose illegal medical institutions to have abortions, and such medical environments obviously carry great risks.
Rina followed Scarface through the so-called antique shop and into a narrow alley. They turned left and right, stumbling forward as if navigating a maze.
Eventually, she went to a private clinic.
Four young men were playing cards around a table near the entrance, shouting and yelling as if they were drunk.
Seeing her come in, he whistled at her and called her "little girl," which was typical hooligan behavior.
Rina's temper has improved a lot in recent years, so she ignored them.
Scarface went inside and said a few words to the people inside, then came out and said in a low voice, "You've come at a bad time. The boss has other plans for today. You can leave now."
Through the crack in the door, she could vaguely see a man in a long black trench coat. He was wearing black leather gloves, was very tall, and had his back to her, so she couldn't see his face.
He stood there in a quietness that seemed out of place with his surroundings, and at the same time, there was a certain hidden danger in it.
“No,” Rina said, “I’m pregnant, with a bastard, and I have to get rid of this child.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the air fell silent, and even the young men playing cards behind him stopped shouting.
Rina wasn't quite sure what the reason was either, but anyway, she felt she should say something more: "I'm getting married next month, so I have to abort this child."
Scarface was stunned and didn't dare to speak.
The man inside slowly turned around, revealing his handsome, delicate face.
Beneath his fine, black hair, a hint of contemplation and amusement flickered in his blue pupils.
"elder sister?"
At the same time, a slightly lazy, hoarse voice drifted into her ears.
Rina forced a heartbroken expression, but it instantly crumbled, giving her goosebumps.
She instinctively gripped the gun in her pocket.
Kurosawa Shiran walked out of the house, followed by a doctor in a white coat.
His eyelashes trembled, casting an uneasy shadow beneath his eyes.
"What did you just say, sister?"
It's absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.
Rina nervously swallowed, not wanting to answer him.
"I didn't even realize... my sister was pregnant." Kurosawa Shiran's lips curled up, but her smile was utterly bitter.
How could this happen?
For a moment, his mind was filled with rebellious and sinful thoughts, but he was actually extremely obedient and pitiful when he stood in front of Rina.
He was the one who fired the shot.
Lina's eyelashes trembled slightly as she recalled the moment the bullet grazed her cheek.
Kurosawa Shiran walked up to her and said, "Sister, let's find somewhere else to talk."
Rina: "I'm here to see a doctor."
Kurosawa Shiran: "Sister, do you think this kind of environment is suitable for performing surgery?"
The doctor interjected, "It's really not good; accidents can easily happen."
He wants to get rid of this plague god more than anyone else right now.
Rina: "I said, I came to see him."
Her voice was muffled, as if veiled by a thin gauze.
Kurosawa Shiran's chest heaved, and her breathing became somewhat heavy, but her gaze remained fixed on her.
Kelina remained unmoved, her face expressionless.
After a brief standoff, Kurosawa Shiran lowered her eyes, took a step back, and left the room.
Before finding her, he kept telling himself that he could not let her go no matter what.
Why abandon him? Why treat him like an experiment? Why could he only obtain an absurd truth?
He wanted an answer, but after seeing her, the words stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.
The instant he fired the gun, his heart ached as if it had been ripped open, the pain making it hard for him to breathe.
He didn't expect the gun to go off accidentally.
From beginning to end, it was only he who couldn't let go; he was the only one who didn't dare to ask. His sister didn't care at all and wouldn't even argue.
Rina breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief, turned her head to look at the doctor who was about to run away, and kicked the wine bottle at her feet hard.
Sharp fragments flew up.
The doctor was startled, his back was covered in sweat, he stopped and pleaded, "Young lady, why are you doing this? You know my situation here."
Rina took out a photo of Vanilla. "I'm asking you, did this girl have surgery here?"
The doctor put on his glasses, craned his neck to look for a while, and nodded. "I've been here before. This girl is only a teenager."
Rina: "How old is the baby?"
The doctor cautiously glanced at her face and said, "Three months."
Rina bit her lip and took the photo back.
The doctor said, "People these days have all sorts of strange habits, and this little girl has suffered a lot."
Rina looked him up and down. "Anything else?"
The doctor sighed helplessly: "Young lady, people who come to places like this are either those who can't afford to have an abortion at a proper hospital, or those who can't stand the light of day. There are all sorts of people here. I don't dare to ask or inquire. Once the surgery is over, the person must leave."
Rina: "Is there a back door?"
The doctor pointed out the window, "There's a path after you climb over that wall."
That man just came from over there.
Is she also avoiding that person?
Lina stepped on the iron box, climbed over the wall, and made sure no one was around before continuing down.
But Kurosawa Shiran had anticipated her actions, and Rina ran into him as soon as she stepped out of the alley.
Kurosawa Shiran: "Sister."
Rina squinted, pretending not to see, answered Eileen's call, and strode forward in a random direction.
Just as she was feeling uneasy, she suddenly received some news.
Durand is dead.
Kurosawa Shiran sighed silently and followed, "What is your sister doing?"
Lina had no choice but to stop, pausing for a moment before looking at him with a hint of inquiry. "Are you still going to follow me?"
More often than not, it's simply unbelievable.
Kurosawa Shiran: "I have nowhere to go, only my sister will take me in."
"Alright then." Rina tried her best to remain calm and thought for a while before speaking, "You can stay by my side, but everyone already knows that we broke up."
Break up? Is your sister joking with him?
After a brief moment of surprise, Kurosawa Shiran's expression turned subtly different, and a faint blush rose to her ears: "Sister..."
He wanted to move closer, but he didn't dare to get too close.
While replying to messages on her phone, Rina said rather gently, "Also, regarding the matter of you firing the gun, you'd better find an excuse."
Kurosawa Shiran's fingertips trembled slightly as she said, "...It went off the rails."
Rina: "It's alright."
That's a decent excuse.
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