Chapter 39
Let's put aside the question of whether she's delicate for now.
Lina asked, "Why do you doubt Durand?"
Anne stared at her curiously. "Are you trying to get revenge for Durand? I saw you two chatting and laughing in the hallway the other day, you seemed very close."
Rina: "This is the dignity of an adult."
Kurosawa Shiran seized the opportunity and asked, puzzled, "Why doesn't my sister maintain a proper relationship with me? My sister never jokes and laughs with me, and she never seems very close to me."
Rina: "Don't talk, you'll only make things worse."
Kurosawa Shiran shut her mouth and stood behind him like a wronged little wife.
Anne scrutinized her closely, her tone sharp: "Durand also invited you to his winery, and you accepted."
Rina: "Can I refuse my boss's arrangements?"
“The boss?” Annie gritted her teeth. “Who sent you?”
“Miss Mary, the founder of Cradle House, commissioned me to investigate those two cases,” Rina said. “You can call her to confirm if you don’t believe me.”
Anne said, "In the end, you're still a third-rate detective. Didn't you say you were a reporter?"
Rina raised an eyebrow. "I only told Kobayashi Wakaba about it. How do you know?"
The fact that the four of them were communicating with each other indicates that they had been in contact secretly all along.
Don't lie to a detective, even if she's a nobody.
Anne came to this conclusion, looked at her in silence, and after thinking and weighing the options, she finally spoke: "For the past three months, Vanilla has not been resting in the dormitory on Saturday nights. I can only see her the next morning."
“At first, I didn’t pay much attention. I just asked casually because people sometimes felt bored at the orphanage and would sneak out. Xiangcao said that she worked to earn pocket money and would bring back all kinds of candy to share with everyone every time she came back.”
"Everyone believed her, but as time went on, her emotions became increasingly erratic, and gradually, even the three little devils noticed."
“But Xiangcao wouldn’t budge until one day, when she came back at noon, she smelled of blood on her body, which was four days before the incident.”
Rina asked, "Didn't the caregiver notice anything unusual?"
Anne explained, "I'm very sensitive to the smell of blood. Vanilla used perfume to mask the scent, so I probably didn't notice it."
Kurosawa Shiran narrowed his eyes slightly.
Anne took a deep breath and continued, "That noon, I went to her to ask what happened. She couldn't take it anymore and told me, but she only revealed a little bit."
“When she leaves the orphanage at night, the driver will take her to a dark room with only candles lit. The man in the room wears a white mask, so you can’t see his face at all.”
"Vanilla said that the man she had sex with was a tall foreigner with a lot of hair. When I asked her who introduced her to the job, she stopped talking and there were some strong reasons for her to keep quiet."
"But just as she was about to tell the truth, she was murdered."
Rina looked at her with an inquiring gaze.
Anne knew what that meant. "I followed Durand, and he's nothing like what the newspapers say. He gambles, beats his wife, and is a complete hypocrite. Yes, I was the one who posted the body, and I was the one who spread the news. Some people say that people in the upper class and professionals are very vulnerable to public opinion."
If Durand's death is suspicious, the news will inevitably spread.
I haven't seen those three kids all morning; they're obviously hiding. They must have been involved.
If you were to find them, you would definitely find redness and swelling on their palms from being rubbed by nylon ropes.
Rina suddenly asked, "Is there anyone or anything that Vanilla cares about?"
Anne thought for a moment and said, "The old director, it might be the old director. Vanilla was picked up by the old director and he has always taken good care of her."
Rina: "The case has indeed blown up, but you've also made it more difficult to solve."
Anne sneered, "It's better than suicide, isn't it? Now that everyone knows about this, do you think the police will still dare to take money and do things for free?"
Lina leaned against the stone railing, staring at the lotus pond for a long time. She frowned, feeling a little irritated.
Undeniably, Rina Natsume possesses a gentle yet aggressive quality. Beneath her seemingly peaceful exterior lies an irresistible force of infiltration and control—an aggressiveness that is both silent and powerfully contradictory.
Kurosawa Shiran stared at her face, lost in thought. Then she moved closer to her and asked, "Sister, the person who killed Vanilla was from the orphanage, but the person who had relations with her wasn't from the orphanage. Does that mean they have a cooperative relationship?"
Rina: "Buy sex."
Kurosawa Shiran nodded: "But if Vanilla was killed because she discovered something, then what about Durand? Did he also discover something?"
"Perhaps it is, one of Eileen and Laura." Lina roughly knew what he was going to say.
Sure enough, Kurosawa Shiran stood there, pretended to think for a moment, and said, "Then I'll arrest him and interrogate him."
Rina's temples throbbed as she echoed, "Yeah, that's a great idea."
Kurosawa Shiran turned and left.
Rina sighed, reaching out but only managing to grab a corner of her clothes, and said, "In a society governed by law, don't you know your place?"
Kurosawa Shiran turned her head, looked down at the hand, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly, and finally fixed her gaze on Rina's face, "...I know."
How strange, my sister is tugging at his clothes...
“It’s a little red,” he said, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “His hands are red.”
This was left over from the arm wrestling match.
“It’s nothing,” Rina released his hand, not noticing the emotion in his eyes. “You only moved the body?”
Anne frowned as she looked at them: "Yes, around midnight."
Rina fell into deep thought for a long time.
Anne suddenly asked, "Are you two lovers?"
Having learned from her previous experience, Kurosawa Shiran dared not push her luck any further.
He glanced at Rina's expression and felt his mouth go dry. He rubbed his burning ear tips guiltily.
Rina said calmly, "Siblings."
"Really?" Annie clearly didn't believe it; the atmosphere in their room was too awkward. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Rina nodded.
Kurosawa Shiran blinked slowly: "Did something happen to you, sister?"
"No," Rina replied calmly as she walked, asking, "Five years ago, you lived with me?"
Kurosawa Shiran's heart tightened instantly, and she murmured aggrievedly.
Rina: "You left?"
Kurosawa Shiran felt even more wronged after being falsely accused. "It was my sister who sent me away. After that, I finally managed to find my way back, but my sister was no longer here."
Rina clicked her tongue. "Where was it sent?"
Kurosawa Tokiaki: "...Italy."
Rina paused, turned around, and looked at him in shock.
If Mrs. Kasuga saw him, wouldn't that mean...?
Kurosawa Shiran raised her hand, her pale fingers running through her wind-blown hair, and answered her question, "I came back illegally."
This scene has an indescribable tenderness and affection.
Lina hadn't even recovered from the feeling of that moment when she heard these words, and her eyes felt like they'd been pricked by a needle.
A child smuggled back? In those years, there were many news reports of smugglers being sold to illegal industrial parks or having their wrists cut off to feed sharks. It turns out that he was already a little madman back then.
"I want to find my sister," Kurosawa Shiran gently stroked the strands of hair in her hand, the blue veins on the back of her hand clearly visible.
After a long while, he slowly calmed his racing heart. "I never thought about being separated from my sister. Even when she bullied me, I never thought about leaving her. But in the end, it was my sister who didn't want me anymore..."
Rina tilted her head and pulled her hair out.
Kurosawa Shiran's voice grew lower and lower: "We searched many places, all the places my sister might have gone, and finally found the place where my sister worked in London."
Rina: "Where?"
Kurosawa Tokiaki: "A research institute."
Five years ago, Rina did study at a research institute, but her memories of that time are somewhat hazy.
Her colleagues, superiors, security personnel... their faces were all covered by a thin veil, making them impossible to see clearly.
Upon closer reflection, all her memories were just fragmented pieces that couldn't be pieced together.
Why?
If he wasn't lying, then who tampered with her memories?
She was hypnotized?
In an instant, a name suddenly popped into Rina's mind.
— Takizawa Nanase.
If his memory serves him correctly, he was previously a renowned psychology professor.
Lina was completely lost in a state of confusion. Before she knew it, blood vessels appeared in her eyes, and her body swayed.
Kurosawa Shiran sensed something was wrong and gently took her arm, "Sister..."
"Why is this bastard here?" Sato suddenly appeared in the backyard, looking at the man with a displeased expression.
Lina snapped out of her daze, a chill rising from her back.
A fleeting emotion crossed his eyes, and he sighed, "This matter... is a long story."
It's a long story.
This is probably because he is captivated by beauty and cannot resist.
The air seemed to freeze for a while, and Rina felt her eyes stinging again, so she sniffed.
Sato waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Arrest him."
Rina: "..."
She explained, "Wait, wait a minute, last time it was an accident, the gun went off accidentally, and he got scared and ran away."
The police officers surrounded them, each putting their hands behind their backs.
This is the action of touching a gun.
Sato stared at her incredulously, a multitude of thoughts flashing through his mind. "You actually believe that excuse?"
Rina nodded.
Kurosawa Shiran stretched her limbs slightly, then quietly tugged at Rina's hand, clearly provoking Sato: "Sister, believe me."
Sato stared at the two of them, lost in thought, and gritted his teeth: "You don't actually have a crush on this guy, do you?"
Rina coughed lightly: "He is my younger brother who has been missing for many years."
Sato asked cautiously, "A close relative?"
Rina: "The watch."
Kurosawa Shiran: "..."
Why does that sound so strange?
Sato gave the person next to him a look, signaling them to go down first.
Rina breathed a sigh of relief.
Sato walked over to her and said, "Be careful of the reporters outside. The situation is a bit chaotic right now. Don't get photographed."
Rina: "Of course, I don't like being in the newspaper."
“I have to go back now. Durand’s status is special, and the higher-ups have started putting pressure on him.” Sato paused. “His mother is Jewish.”
Rina: "..."
Nowadays, reports often include statements that Jews are the most intelligent.
Of course, Rina wouldn't fall into the trap of racial superiority, but it's an undeniable fact that they have close ties with the higher-ups.
Kurosawa Shiran couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
After Sato left, Rina had a slight doubt. She went to Eileen's office, observed her thoughtfully for a while, and then showed her the police ID she had casually picked up.
Eileen felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze and tugged at her sleeve. "...I didn't kill him."
Rina turned around and continued rummaging through the files in the cabinet: "Why did you two start arguing?"
Eileen took a deep breath, took the coffee Kurosawa Shiran handed her, took a small sip, and said, "Two days ago, a child wrote to me saying they weren't doing well at the factory..."
After Rina finished checking the documents in the cabinet, she noticed a small white medicine bottle sticking out of the trash can next to the table leg.
She didn't say anything.
Kurosawa Shiran asked, "Why isn't it going smoothly?"
“Extended working hours,” Eileen rubbed her temples, “They work twelve hours a day… Even though they’re paid, it’s still unreasonable.”
Kurosawa Shiran continued, "Where is the letter?"
Eileen pointed to the table, "Under the coaster."
Kurosawa Shiran took out the yellowed paper, the handwriting on it still had a childish feel to it.
However, he quickly put it down, looked at the clock next to him, and said, "Sister, it's time for us to have lunch."
He couldn't stay serious for more than three minutes before he revealed his true colors, but thankfully he didn't act coy in public.
“Wait a minute,” Rina pulled out a white medicine bottle from the trash can, unscrewed it, and poured out a few pills, “Sleeping pills.”
Eileen: "I've been under a lot of work pressure lately and often have insomnia, as you probably know. Even when you're so sleepy that your eyelids feel heavy, you toss and turn in bed and can't fall asleep. You probably feel the same way, with very noticeable dark circles under your eyes."
“Indeed,” Rina softened her tone, “If that’s the case, why did you throw it away?”
“If left for more than a month, it can lead to drug dependence,” Eileen said. “In addition, these types of sleeping pills have extremely strong side effects, as you may have experienced firsthand.”
Rina smiled and glanced at the note on the table. "Is the textile factory owner, Winmeru, very close to Durand?"
“I think it’s just a partnership. Durand invited Mr. Winmeru several times before, but he didn’t come. The cooperation with the orphanage was only finalized after several rounds of discussions.” Eileen looked at her with suspicion. “Is this related to the murder case?”
Lina suddenly had a thought, "Have you ever been in contact with Winmeru?"
Eileen: "I haven't had much contact with him. It would be very difficult for me to even meet someone like him."
Rina: "Where's Laura?"
Eileen: "I don't know about that."
Rina: "What happened between Durand and Laura?"
Eileen: "They knew each other before I came here to work."
After a moment of silence, Rina continued, "But I overheard some veiled remarks suggesting that their relationship is more than just ordinary."
“No, they don’t communicate much,” Eileen paused and added, “It’s probably because Durand pursued Laura before, that’s all.”
As they were talking, a series of chaotic footsteps were heard on the stairs, and the office door was kicked open with a bang, with a group of people rushing in.
The lead officer demanded, "Who are you people?"
Rina met his gaze and explained, "Staff members of the orphanage."
The officer shouted, "Those not involved, get out of here immediately!"
"Okay." Rina gave an apologetic look, her expression meaningful.
However, before she could even leave the room...
The officer found something on the table. "Officer, we found a bottle of sleeping pills here!"
The officer flashed his badge and said sternly, "Ms. Eileen, you are suspected of murdering Mr. Durand. You need to come with us to the police station now."
Eileen shook her head in despair, broke free from the police officer, but was quickly subdued again.
As she was being led out of the room, she looked at Rina and said with grief and indignation, "I am innocent. I did not kill anyone. I did not kill Durand."
Junji Sato was transferred away in order to arrest Irene and close the case.
Rina thinks calmly and without emotion.
Kurosawa Shiran lowered her head and leaned closer, "Sister, it's time for us to eat. The baby in your belly will keep absorbing nutrients from you."
Rina: "......"
She strolled around casually for a few steps and asked him, "If you found something incriminating about someone that you could use to coerce them into doing something for your own benefit, what would you do?"
Kurosawa Shiran confirmed, "Me?"
Rina hummed in agreement.
Kurosawa Shiran: "I've had enough fun, kill him."
“They’re trying to squeeze every last drop of value out of her,” Rina laughed and playfully hit him. “They could make huge profits off Vanilla, but when things came to light, they chose to kill her to cover it up.”
She kept looking for traces of herbs by the lotus pond, but forgot that the cilantro had drowned in the pond.
"Sato left at a really bad time. We'll have to find someone ourselves." She said with a regretful look. "You should be willing to help me with this small favor, since I can't go into the water while pregnant."
To prove that she was a kind older sister, Rina paid for lunch and even treated him to a small cake.
However, the lotus pond was deep, and Lina was a little worried, so she held his clothes and stood by with an umbrella to watch over him.
It took about an hour in total.
Kurosawa Shiran found a button at the bottom of the water.
Rina bent down, grabbed his arm, and pulled him ashore. Kurosawa Shiran wrapped a towel around his arm and stood a little closer to her. "Sister, I'm so cold."
"There's jujube tea in the cup, warm yourself up." Rina casually wiped the water droplets from her hands onto the towel.
Kurosawa Shiran dried her hair, her gaze falling on the pink thermos. "My sister's thermos?"
Rina nodded. "I'm getting old, so I need to take care of my health."
"Old age?" Kurosawa Shiran smiled and lowered his eyes, placing the button from his pants pocket in her palm. "I only found this. Let's go down and take another look later."
“That’s enough.” Rina gave a captivating smile. “The high-end ones are white mother-of-pearl buttons, which are mostly used on the most expensive Italian classic style shirts. They are very expensive and shouldn’t be here.”
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