dmims Chapter 198: The Five Orange Pips (4)
Chapter 198: The Five Orange Pips (4)
- Knock, knock, knock...
Several days had passed since Isaac Adler left the hospital with an expression that could chill anyone to the bones.
“... I don’t know who it is, but come in.”
As someone knocked on the door of the boarding house at 221B Baker Street, where a chilling atmosphere lingered unlike usual, Charlotte, sitting quietly in an armchair, spoke in a low voice.
- Creak...
“It was you who called me here, wasn’t it...”
Then, as the door opened and someone entered, Gia Lestrade replied in an equally subdued voice.
“... That aside, it’s unexpected.”
“What is?”
“It’s quite surprising that even after such a big event, no syringes are rolling around on the desk, nor is there even a hint of tobacco smell.”
“... There’s a reason for that.”
Hearing her words, Charlotte, worn out, slightly lifted the corners of her mouth while gently stroking her stomach.
“Drugs and tobacco are harmful to the child.”
- Grind...
At her nonchalant reply, Inspector Lestrade gritted her teeth, unable to hide the momentary killing intent that had sneaked into her eyes.
“... Why are you making that face?”
“Because I find it lamentable that London’s hope, the greatest detective in the world, is committing adultery.”
“What are you talking about...”
“Currently, Adler’s legal wife is me. Are you aware of that?”
Unable to manage her expression, she stepped forward with a menacing look, while Charlotte watched Lestrade quietly and sighed.
“You’re a contract couple.”
“You might not know this, but all marriages are formed by contract. As far as I know, no such contracts were made between you and Adler.”
“Ah, I meant an actual contractual marriage devoid of any love, only formed out of necessity.”
At those words, Lestrade stopped walking and her expression hardened as her eyes grew several orders of magnitude colder than before.
“On what grounds are you saying such blasphemous things...”
“Why are you acting this way all of a sudden, Inspector? I really don’t understand you.”
“Do you like Adler?”
Charlotte, throwing a direct question, quietly tilted her head to the side.
“... No.”
Then, after hesitating for a moment, the inspector gave an answer that was quite different from what she once used to say.
“That’s strange...”
“... What is strange?”
“That you used to always say you liked him, but now you are suddenly saying that you don’t.”
Hearing that, Charlotte narrowed her eyes and looked drowsily at the inspector while muttering.
“It’s as if there’s been a change of heart.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions... Huh?”
Lestrade, who’d been raising his voice in irritation at that comment, suddenly wore a puzzled expression and shook her head.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Hmm...”
Charlotte had risen from her seat and abruptly leaned in close to observe her face intently.
“... Hah.”
Soon after, a sneer appeared on Charlotte’s lips.
At her sneer, Lestrade’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“What on earth is it?”
“Let’s drop this conversation.”
“Everything always has to be your way, huh...”
“I didn’t call you here to fight.”
As the situation seemed to grow tenser, Charlotte spoke in a low voice and sat down again.
“... Adulteress.”
“... What did you just say?”
“Nothing. I’m not here to fight either, so please speak your mind.”
Looking down at her, Lestrade murmured in a low voice and then cracked a slight smile.
And then, a very brief silence ensued.
“... Getting angry isn’t good for the fetus.”
Charlotte, staring intently back at the inspector’s eyes, sighed and began organising some papers scattered on the desk.
“Anyway, let’s get to the point. Could you perhaps tell me in detail about the situation during the explosion accident that occurred that day?”
“... It was just a few days ago.”
At her increasingly polite tone, Lestrade quietly began the explanation.
“So, any updates?”
Lestrade hesitated under Charlotte’s persistent questioning, then spoke in a low voice.
“According to Watson, who is in charge of Silver Blaze, there’s an initial that seemed to have been burnt into her shoulder. Seems like it was made during the attack.”
“... Unfortunately, that’s not new to me.”
“But now that I think about it... I ignored it at the time due to the circumstances, but the envelope I received had something similar drawn on it.”
“What was it? It was an initial made of alphabets...”
As she tried hard to recall a memory she wished to erase, gripping her hands tightly, it was exactly that moment,
“... K.K.K”
“Ah, yes! There were definitely three Ks...”
The initials she had been desperately trying to recall spilt out of Charlotte’s mouth in a chilling voice.
“How do you know that...?”
“Specifically, the Ku Klux Klan. A secret society from America known for its human supremacy, anti-minority, anti-Christianity, anti-Catholicism tendencies.”
“... Most of its members are mana users, especially the leader is said to be an Archmage.”
As she continued, Lestrade’s complexion grew even darker.
“And interestingly, they send warnings using oak branches, melon seeds, or orange seeds...”
“... You can guess where things are going, right?”
Charlotte stared intently at her, then quietly stood up.
“Now it’s time to find who’s behind moving these fellows.”
“Behind them...?”
“Well, according to my mind palace, which is a collection of random data I have gathered over the years and neatly filed away to optimize my brain activity, the Ku Klux Klan was already disbanded once.”
“If such an organization is operating so systematically in a foreign country...”
A gleam flashed in her eyes as she spoke.
“... Surely, there must be someone else behind it, right?”
And that was also evident to Lestrade, who was silently listening.
“What should I do?”
.
.
.
.
.
A few minutes later,
“... I’ll move as you instructed.”
- Creak...
“Well, please take care of yourself.”
As Gia Lestrade was about to leave the boarding house at Charlotte’s request, she looked back slightly and muttered in a soft voice before disappearing into the streets.
“..... Haaaaah.”
In the ensuing silence, Charlotte let out a deep sigh.
“You think I can’t tell that you’ve hidden the colour of your eyes with coloured lenses?”
Soon after, she got up from her seat, put on her coat, and began preparations to leave the house.
“... There are more and more obstacles.”
- Crack... Crackle...
“Isn’t that right, Adler?”
Wrapped in black mana everywhere but her abdomen, she murmured in a cold voice.
“Eavesdropping is quite fun, isn’t it?”
.
.
.
.
.
“... Busted.”
After Charlotte’s final words, her voice abruptly cut off. I scratched my head for a moment, then quietly sighed and began focusing on the situation in front of me.
“Mmph, mmph...”
“... At this rate, we’ll need to move faster.”
The culprits behind the attack on Silver Blaze, secretly spirited away from the police station to our hidden stronghold, were looking at me with pale faces.
“Then let’s start with the shoulders, Moran.”
“... Yes.”