Ch.53Chapter 53 – The Mystery of Lygate (2)

The collision between Sharlotte Holmes and Professor Jane Moriarty was temporarily halted by the intervention of Colonel Hayter, who had returned late to the mansion the previous day.

“So… you say you know me?”

“To be precise, I was acquainted with Colonel Julia Moriarty, my sister.”

Colonel Hayter, who had come to the mansion he had lent to Sharlotte early this morning to resolve yesterday’s dispute, scratches his head quietly at Professor Moriarty’s explanation, who had also arrived early.

“I don’t know such a person…?”

Eventually, the Colonel asks with a suspicious look.

“But you would know Colonel Sebastian?”

“Ah, you mean the one who was active in Afghanistan?”

At Professor Moriarty’s subsequent question, his eyes widen.

“He was once my superior.”

“Not just a superior, but I understand you were quite close.”

“That’s true. We were like brothers until I was promoted…”

As he mumbles while scratching his head, Jane Moriarty smiles and takes out a letter from her bosom.

“My late sister was quite close to him.”

“Ah…”

“They were so close that even I, who often received my sister’s letters, knew about it.”

As the Colonel takes the letter, Professor Moriarty continues her explanation.

“As you can see, the letter I handed you is one exchanged between Colonel Sebastian and my sister.”

“…….”

“According to that letter, their dream around the end of the war was to go on vacation near Lygate, your hometown.”

“Ah…”

“From that, it seems your superior and my sister were quite close.”

Not missing the slight trembling of the Colonel’s hands as he reads the letter, she adds in a slightly sorrowful voice.

“Well, it’s now an unfulfillable promise, as they’ve both passed away.”

“……….”

“So, as a sister, shouldn’t I fulfill their dream on their behalf?”

“That’s… certainly…”

Just as the Colonel was about to nod with a slightly convinced expression.

“That’s quite a forced connection.”

Sharlotte, who had been quietly standing behind with her arms crossed, begins to cut into the conversation with a sharp voice.

“Or perhaps fabricated.”

“Are you insulting my blood relation?”

“Compared to such a vague reason, I have a definite cause.”

Ignoring Professor Moriarty’s uncharacteristically sharp response, Sharlotte looks directly at Colonel Hayter.

“Rachel Watson is your lifesaver, isn’t she?”

“…That’s right. She, as a military doctor, saved my life when I was in critical condition.”

“And she is my dearest friend.”

Glancing sideways at Moriarty, who had previously mocked her for having no friends, Sharlotte quietly concludes.

“Between a request from a lifesaver and an unreasonable demand from an uninvited guest whose claims aren’t even clear, which should you listen to?”

And then silence falls.

“I’m willing to pay.”

“…Pardon?”

At Moriarty’s statement, made while casually wiggling her fingers in the silence, the Colonel makes a bewildered expression.

“I noticed this mansion is on the market. You must be troubled by an uninvited guest rudely settling in. If you let me stay here for a few weeks, I’ll pay the rent.”

“I can pay too.”

“I’ll pay twice what that little one offers.”

“…I’ll pay twice that amount.”

Just as the fight between the two women was about to heat up again.

“Um, excuse me…”

Suddenly, the door of the mansion opens.

“I heard that Miss Sharlotte Holmes of the Baker family is here…”

“…What is it?”

At the appearance of someone clearly an inspector from the police department judging by his attire, Sharlotte’s gaze sharpens.

“It’s a murder case.”

And the next moment, the inspector’s voice echoes through the mansion.

– Zing…!

At that very moment, as if by agreement, golden letters began to appear on the palms of both women.

[It’s a new mystery.]

“If you’re willing, could you lend us your help…”

Sharlotte and Professor Moriarty simultaneously rose from their seats, their eyes gleaming.

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“…Adler.”

“Mr. Adler?”

The two women, who had arrived at the crime scene under the inspector’s guidance, one as an investigative consultant and the other as a teacher from the Auguste Detective Academy.

“Hello.”

They stare blankly at Issac Adler, who for some reason is handcuffed and detained inside the Cunningham mansion, the crime scene.

“Well, they say I’m a suspect in the murder case that occurred in this mansion.”

“…A suspect?”

“It’s quite troublesome. A murder committed by a law-abiding citizen like me? Preposterous.”

Adler speaks nonchalantly, even winking at them.

“”……….””

The Cunningham sisters standing behind him were looking at each other with anxious expressions.

“Here’s an overview of the case.”

Meanwhile, the inspector clears his throat and begins his explanation.

“Last night, the two sisters sleeping in the mansion heard a strange noise from the garden.”

“A strange noise?”

“Yes. The sisters recently lost their parents, and the butler, the only adult in the house, didn’t respond, so they reluctantly relied on each other and went outside with a lamp to check.”

Sharlotte and Moriarty’s eyes begin to quietly shine.

“Then, they saw a figure hastily climbing over the fence to escape and the butler’s body lying in the garden.”

“”……….””

“The cause of the butler’s death was a gunshot wound. He was shot right in the middle of his head, dying instantly.”

Their gazes were directed at the younger Cunningham sister, whose complexion had notably worsened as the butler’s condition was described.

“The two sisters, trembling with fear, went back into the mansion and only reported it early this morning.”

“Only then?”

“It couldn’t be helped. There were no adults in the mansion, and they didn’t know when the culprit might return.”

The atmosphere became slightly awkward, but the inspector, failing to notice this, continued his explanation.

“Responding to the report, I urgently arrested this suspicious boy who was lurking around the mansion. He’s currently in temporary custody.”

“Look, I’m not a suspicious person.”

When the inspector pokes Adler’s head, Adler grumbles in a disgruntled voice.

“I was just conducting a personal investigation…”

“Quiet, boy.”

After watching this scene quietly, Sharlotte asks in a low voice.

“Any other notable details?”

“The living room of the mansion was slightly messy.”

The inspector, who had been reporting with a salute, takes out a torn note from his pocket.

“And this note was found in the butler’s hand.”

[1:45… will teach… maybe…]

And then silence fell.

“…Hmm?”

Unlike Sharlotte, who was quietly looking at the note, Professor Moriarty frowned and slightly turned her head.

“Based on our investigation so far, we suspect a connection with the recent theft at the Acton mansion.”

As the silence continued, the inspector quietly added his personal opinion.

“Perhaps the thief from that day broke into the more vulnerable Cunningham mansion this time, was discovered by the butler, killed him, and fled…”

“…Excuse me, then why was I arrested?”

“Aren’t you that thief?”

He looks at the handcuffed Adler with a frown.

“Why would I need to resort to such petty theft?”

“…Who are you?”

At his question, Adler shakes his head with a casual laugh.

“You seem quite unfamiliar with the ways of the world.”

“…….?”

“…Inspector Forest.”

Just as the inspector, unusually among Englishmen, was looking puzzled, not knowing who Issac Adler was, Professor Moriarty stepped forward and began to whisper with a smile on her lips.

“We’ll take it from here.”

“Ah, yes!”

Hearing this, the inspector salutes again with a formal posture.

“Could you focus on finding any missed evidence?”

“Understood!”

As he enthusiastically exclaims and leaves the room, Professor Moriarty’s gaze briefly turns to Adler.

“You two.”

And shortly after, her gaze shifts to the Cunningham sisters who were standing awkwardly behind him.

“Come with me for a moment.”

“What?”

“W-why…”

“It won’t take long.”

The elder sister, who had been wearing a slightly rebellious expression, and the younger one, who was about to ask a question with a timid look, both closed their mouths and quietly nodded at the professor’s chilling atmosphere.

“I’ll be back soon.”

As Moriarty quietly leads them out of the living room, a heavy silence begins to flow in the room.

“…Miss Holmes.”

In that silence, Issac Adler began to whisper to Sharlotte in a gentle voice.

“I’m truly disappointed.”

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“I never thought you would do such a bad thing to me.”

“……..”

“You’re quite a beast.”

As Adler’s cold accusation flies in, Sharlotte’s eyes quietly tremble.

“But if I had let you go, you would have disappeared somewhere to do more bad things, wouldn’t you?”

Eventually, clenching both fists, Sharlotte explains.

“I had no choice because I was worried Professor Moriarty might come looking for you.”

“………”

“And she actually did.”

With that, she heads toward the room where Moriarty had taken the Cunningham sisters.

It was clearly a suspicious situation, so she wanted to check for herself.

“I don’t care about that.”

But Issac Adler’s voice comes from behind her.

“You perverted detective.”

“……….”

“The wrong you’ve done to me this time will come back to you directly.”

His voice, somehow colder than usual, pierces her ears.

“The curse on me is no joke.”

‘…I had no choice.’

She stops in her tracks and closes her eyes, lost in thought.

‘Just seeing you with another woman now.’

– Tzzzzz…

‘My eyes are dyed with your color.’

The color of her eyes, which she had struggled for hours to return to normal, was helplessly turning golden again.

‘…No.’

Quietly accepting that now-familiar feeling, Sharlotte shakes her head from side to side and mutters to herself.

‘It’s still not love.’

Eventually, an empty voice echoes in her heart.

‘There’s no way I’ve fallen into such an inefficient emotion…’

As that voice gradually loses strength.

“This is just…”

“Miss Holmes.”

‘Just…’

“It’s okay, though.”

Once again, a gentle voice from behind.

“…Be quiet.”

But Sharlotte muttered with a hardened expression and walked forward.

“No matter how disappointed I am in you.”

It was just Issac Adler’s usual, soulless flirting, she told herself.

“No matter what mistakes you make toward me.”

Words without sincerity that he would surely whisper to other women besides her.

“I will love you until the end, Miss Holmes.”

So, she kept telling herself that she should change her thoughts about Issac Adler even now.

“I can handle whatever happens next.”

‘I won’t be fooled anymore, Adler.’

He was an enemy to be defeated.

‘So.’

He was someone a detective like her should not be tainted by.

‘With my own hands, I’ll…’

That was the final conclusion of Sharlotte, who had tied Adler to a chair and conversed with him for hours.

“Do you know?”

But her conclusion.

“When you truly love someone.”

– Crash…!

With the sound of something breaking, it quietly shatters into pieces.

“You can even give your life.”

“……..!”

What entered Sharlotte’s sight as she turned her head with wide eyes was.

“…I love you.”

Issac Adler, who collapsed on the floor with a pale face, muttering those words and coughing up blood.

“……..”

Just like that day at the racetrack.

“…You.”

And only then does Sharlotte Holmes realize.

“You said you wouldn’t.”

That the lifespan of Issac Adler, who had become terminally ill because of her a month ago.

“You said you wouldn’t die.”

Was now truly running out.

“You said you would devour me.”

Sharlotte Holmes’s eyes began to quietly tremble.

“…Of course.”

Because she had finally confirmed what curse he had been talking about.

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‘So, it was as I thought.’

The moment the mug cup on the table shattered into pieces and my body began to stagger, I could perfectly grasp the full story of this case.

‘Sharlotte could have died.’

However, I couldn’t let Sharlotte Holmes or Professor Moriarty discover this now.

So, putting on an awkward act, I collapsed from my seat, pretending to have broken the mug cup myself, and continued my act of being ill while sitting on the floor.

‘Surely, they wouldn’t confine a sick person?’

Operation Feigned Illness, as it were.

At the very least, I could avoid confinement while pretending to be sick.

That was the simple thought behind it.

“Ugh…..”

As I sat quietly on the floor, blood began to flow from my mouth as expected.

Of course, since this body doesn’t feel pain well now, it didn’t matter much.

Rather, it was optimal for feigning illness.

“Is it because of me?”

As I was coughing up blood with a satisfied smile, Sharlotte approaches me with a blank expression.

“Did this happen because of me?”

“……..?”

As she was saying something incomprehensible, I tilted my head, and she kneels in front of me and asks in a low voice.

“Was that your curse?”

“…What are you talking about?”

I didn’t understand at all, but I had to continue acting, so I smiled appropriately and muttered in a dying voice, and her eyes quietly lost their light.

– Drip…

“…Huh?”

The next moment, something unbelievable began to happen.

“Miss Holmes?”

Tears were flowing from her eyes, which had turned golden.

[Game Over Crisis!]

And simultaneously, a terrifying message appeared before my eyes.

‘…I didn’t mean to break her.’

[Sharlotte Holmes is falling into despair!]

“Oh no.”

This is really bad.