Ch.43Chapter 43 – The Case of the Missing Silver Blaze (5)

“Holmes.”

“……….”

“Holmes?”

As usual, Adler and Sharlotte Holmes were walking down the street with their arms linked by handcuffs.

“Why have you been making that face for a while now?”

Issac Adler, who had been flinching alone at the blatant stares pouring in from around them, finally asks Sharlotte Holmes beside him.

“………”

Sharlotte quietly looks at Adler.

“…Do you prefer a body type like Professor Moriarty?”

At those words that flew out of her mouth, Adler responds with an expression that seemed to wonder what nonsense she was talking about.

“I just like you, Holmes.”

“Stop talking nonsense…”

“I’m serious, Holmes.”

She makes a disgusted expression looking at him, but trails off as Adler’s gaze becomes slightly serious.

“Look here.”

In her line of sight, Adler raises his left hand slightly, showing the back of his hand.

“…Hmm.”

After confirming that the engagement seal engraved on the back of his hand is damaged, she pouts and turns her head to the side.

– Rustle…

As Adler quietly interlocks his fingers with hers, Sharlotte pinches his hand hard, just like yesterday.

“What are you doing?”

“Showing affection.”

“…How vulgar.”

Of course, despite saying this, Sharlotte didn’t push Adler away.

“Step back.”

She merely touched his chest with barely enough force that not even an ant would fall off.

“……?”

But at that moment, Sharlotte’s gaze changes slightly.

“Holmes? This is actually sexual harassment, you know?”

Then, suddenly, she puts her hand inside Adler’s clothes.

“Stay still.”

“No, don’t, please stop…”

“Hmm.”

After gently stroking his chest for a moment, Sharlotte grabs something and pulls her hand out, revealing a red cat doll in her grasp.

“What is this?”

“…As you can see, it’s a doll.”

“Why are you carrying it inside your clothes?”

“I’m actually a doll enthusiast.”

Adler begins to sweat nervously as Sharlotte starts examining it carefully.

“…I see.”

As she stares intently at the doll’s eyes, she suddenly speaks with a dark smile.

“Today’s dolls are amazing. There’s blood on its mouth, and its eyes move.”

“…Meow.”

“It even makes sounds when I press its stomach hard. How fascinating.”

Her gaze was growing cold enough to devour the cat doll.

“Meow.”

“It’s a specially made doll. And please don’t press it so hard.”

Before she could actually devour it, Adler hurriedly snatches Joanne Clay from her hands and makes excuses.

“…Are you perhaps an animal lover, Mr. Adler?”

“Not at all. I just like you, Holmes.”

“Can’t you say anything but those superficial words?”

“Mmph.”

Sharlotte, who had been looking at him suspiciously, suddenly pushes her finger into his mouth.

– Crunch…

After staring at Sharlotte blankly, Adler closes his eyes and silently begins to suck her blood.

“Stop testing my patience…”

As the memory of yesterday’s roughness resurfaces due to this sudden action, Sharlotte blushes and mutters with her head down.

“…You couldn’t even live without me.”

“That goes for you too now, doesn’t it?”

Adler whispers in her ear with a languid voice and quietly leans on her shoulder.

“………”

There was no rebuttal.

“…Let me say it again, I don’t…”

“Love me. It’s one-sided love from me.”

“If you know that so well, would you stop making that expression?”

And so, the two began walking the streets of London in a way that anyone would mistake them for being in that kind of relationship.

“…There they go again?”

“Leave them be, it’s not like it’s the first time.”

“They’ve been showing up a lot lately…”

Though the two themselves didn’t realize it, their behavior had become something of a landmark in London.

There were enough sightings and reports steadily arriving at gossip-loving media and magazines.

However, according to rumors, because a woman who is the British government itself and the anonymous owner of a royal family are secretly applying pressure, those reports will never see the light of day.

Believe it or not.

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After walking for quite some time, the two finally arrived at the closed crime scene.

“Excuse me, but who is that person next to you…?”

“…Don’t mind him.”

The inspector, who had been welcoming her because they were struggling with the investigation, asks with a seemingly confused expression.

“He’s my assistant.”

“But why is he putting his finger in his mouth…?”

“Never mind that, just lend me your ear for a moment.”

Ignoring the question, she whispers something to the inspector and then leads Adler into the scene.

“It’s puzzle time, Holmes.”

“……….”

“By the way, how much do you know about the case?”

When Adler casually asks her this question, Sharlotte’s heart begins to quietly race.

“I’ve grasped most of the information.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m already close to reaching a conclusion.”

“Oh ho.”

As Adler makes an interested expression at her words, she shrugs her shoulders slightly.

For Sharlotte, solving puzzles with Adler had long become a more exciting stimulation than anything else in the world.

“Although I couldn’t move yesterday, I had Watson gather information about the case instead. I filled in the gaps with this morning’s newspaper.”

“I see.”

“So now, I just need to confirm a few crucial pieces of evidence to reach a conclusion.”

Adler looks at her bold expression as if finding it admirable, then asks as he steps forward.

“Then what are those crucial pieces of evidence?”

“The first one is, of course, last night’s curry.”

Sharlotte answers as she opens the door to victim Straker’s room right in front of them.

“Hmm.”

After slightly tasting the cold curry dish placed on the desk in the room, she tilts her head and licks her finger.

“…It’s a highly concentrated stimulant.”

“Uh oh.”

At her words, Adler steps back with a surprised expression.

“It’s commonly used as a drug. Don’t worry, this amount doesn’t affect me at all.”

“…Really?”

“Probably.”

As Sharlotte grabs him with darkening eyes, Adler smiles and trembles slightly.

“Then why was there a drug component in the curry?”

When he asks this question, Sharlotte’s darkened eyes become bright again.

“Before answering that, we need to check the next piece of evidence.”

Then, she walks sideways excitedly.

‘…She’s really cute when she acts her age like this.’

“Just as I thought.”

As Adler follows her with a strange expression, Sharlotte proudly shows him something she pulled out of the trash can.

“What’s that?”

“A large number of receipts. The decisive evidence that the stupid police didn’t even glance at.”

“Why is that decisive evidence?”

Then comes her confident explanation.

“According to Watson, who met Mrs. Straker yesterday, the couple’s relationship had been distant recently. They barely even saw each other’s faces.”

“And?”

“Then why are there so many receipts from high-end clothing stores thrown in the trash?”

“…Maybe he bought gifts to reconcile with his wife?”

After carefully examining the receipts, she smirks and shakes her head.

“He’s been consistently buying for months.”

“Hmm.”

“And the buyer’s name is different. In other words, Mr. Straker used an alias while buying clothes in bulk.”

“Then…”

“An affair with an extravagant woman. There couldn’t be a more straightforward explanation, right?”

Looking at Sharlotte, Adler quietly reaches his hand toward her head.

“…Ahem.”

“Then, what relationship does Mr. Straker’s affair have with the drugs in the curry?”

“……..”

Sharlotte, who was about to accept his touch with a smile, gives a slightly cold look at Adler’s question mixed with a smile as his hand stops right in front of her.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Then, she takes a small step forward.

“Watson said that the guard dogs at the racetrack didn’t bark last night.”

“What’s strange about that?”

“If an unknown intruder had broken in to put drugs in the meal, wouldn’t the dogs have barked?”

Adler’s hand rests on top of her head as she steps forward.

“But what if it was someone familiar to the dogs?”

“……….”

“And what if that person was close enough to Mr. Straker to bring him a late dinner personally?”

Sharlotte tilts her head in that position, letting herself be petted by Adler.

“And you know what? The stimulant mixed in the food was so strong that it would have been detected immediately if it were in ordinary food.”

“Then…”

“Is it a coincidence that curry, one of the few foods that can hide such a strong taste, was served for dinner?”

Just as she pauses to catch her breath, the closed door opens slightly.

“I brought what you asked for…”

The officer, who was about to enter with something in his hand, trails off and stops in his tracks upon seeing the innocent scene before him.

“What Mr. Straker was clutching was a syringe, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right…”

“And the substance inside?”

“We’ll need to analyze it, but…”

“Then take it back and analyze it. It’s bound to be doping substances.”

After gesturing for him to leave, Sharlotte flashes a triumphant smile.

“To sum it up, it’s this.”

And then, she excitedly begins to organize her deductions.

“Someone who was Mr. Straker’s affair partner and who could walk around the racetrack late at night without anyone finding it suspicious. Someone with enough authority to arbitrarily decide the dinner menu.”

Walking around the room with her hands behind her back, she slightly raises her voice.

“If that person, after drugging Mr. Straker as planned, instructed him to dope Silver Blaze while he was under the influence?”

Then, she turns her head to look where Adler was.

“That person becomes the mastermind behind the case.”

She was about to declare the solution to the puzzle.

“And that person is…”

But before she could finish her words, she freezes in place.

“Mr. Adler?”

Adler, who had been stroking her head just a moment ago, had disappeared without a trace.

“…..He ran off on his own again?”

Her expression slowly cools as she blankly stares at the handcuffs dangling broken, just like yesterday.

“How rude.”

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Thinking it wasn’t good to end the puzzle too quickly, I quietly slipped away from Sharlotte’s side.

[Probability of being disciplined: 20%]

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

But as soon as I saw the terrifying message that appeared before me, I immediately lowered my tail and was about to hurry back to Sharlotte when.

“…Adler.”

Unfortunately, I ran into her.

“Just as you wanted back then, I got rid of Straker who kept hitting on me without knowing his place.”

The owner of this racetrack and the actual owner of the non-humans staying here, a cruel woman with quite a notorious reputation even in the underworld.

“Instead of firing him for misconduct as planned, I completely removed him from this world, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”

And simultaneously, the mastermind behind this case.

“Because I only need you.”

For some reason, with crazed eyes, Colonel Rose whispers in a trembling voice while pointing a gun at my side.

“You think so too, right?”

“…Do I know you?”

“Your jokes have improved, darling.”

At this point, it’s certain.

“Let’s leave for America right now. I’ve prepared everything for the business. I’ll make sure you live in luxury without lifting a finger for the rest of your life…”

“Please spare me.”

It seems I’m under a particularly nasty curse.