Ch.84

May 26, 1929. 12:05 PM

Lorelei Farm

Kingsport

The address of the New Southern Confederation’s Kingsport branch was written at the bottom of the poster. It was a large ranch located in the northern part of the city. A two-story mansion with a beautiful blend of red and white stood there, with two trucks and five cars gleaming in front of the entrance. A Confederate flag fluttered at the front door.

“We’re going to meet white supremacists, right? I’ll stay in the car. I don’t think I can control my temper.”

Aurora declared in advance.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s go together.”

Abashina and I got out of the car and walked to the entrance. She still looked cold toward me. I was very curious about why she was angry, but asking now seemed awkward. So I was quite surprised when Abashina took my arm.

“Someone’s watching us. Second floor. Don’t look up.”

Abashina whispered in a low voice. I moved a little closer to her. I knocked on the front door confidently. A medium-built man wearing a yellow checkered shirt and brown suspenders opened the door.

“What can I do for you?”

I explained that I had seen a poster in town about a street march next week, and being interested in the content, I had taken the time to visit while passing by. The man looked at Abashina and me alternately with displeasure. I added that I didn’t need to come inside; I was just a citizen who wanted to hear about plans for a better America.

“We’re very interested in politics!”

Abashina shouted cheerfully. The man was startled and leaned back, but after looking Abashina up and down, he grinned and opened the door wide.

“Then you’ve come to the right place. Please come in. There’s a meeting on the second floor, so let’s go to the reception room on the first floor.”

There were many rooms along the long corridor. It seemed more like a converted school or facility rather than a simple mansion. Each room was full of people. A woman crouched on the floor writing “Guarantee Jobs for White People,” a man clearing his throat and reading a prepared speech facing the wall. From a radio installed in a room further down came baseball commentary, and light jokes were exchanged among the people.

The man scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

“It’s a bit chaotic, I’m afraid.”

I said it was fine. The man eventually led me to a room at the far right. It seemed to be used as a study, with many books and albums in the closet. A Confederate flag hung on the wall, with its corners worn and fallen off, stained with dark red marks.

“Beautiful flag, isn’t it? It’s a treasured item in our family. Please, have a seat over there.”

The man went into the adjoining room and brought out pieces of bread spread with cranberry jam and tea, placing them on the table.

“Since you’re guests, I should treat you properly. My name is Emmanuel Asa. I’m the branch director of the New Southern Confederation in Kingsport.”

Asa. A name I’d heard before. The man whose upper body was shattered at the brick house scene. The same surname as Forrest Asa. The car smelled of old dust and straw, which blended well with the cheap cranberry jam.

“So.”

Emmanuel put down his teacup.

“What are you curious about?”

Snap.

Abashina snapped her fingers. Emmanuel’s eyes moved erratically for a moment. This must be the technique she had mentioned before—”enchantment.”

“Now, Mr. Emmanuel. Answer the questions I’m going to ask.”

“I’ll tell you. Anything. What would you like to know?”

Emmanuel couldn’t take his eyes off Abashina.

“Next week’s rally. Is it really a peaceful gathering?”

“Of course, miss.”

Drool dripped from Emmanuel’s mouth.

“Hmm. I don’t believe you. Is walking down the street really all you’re planning?”

“Oh no, that can’t be all. We’ll be giving out gifts and candy too. Various events are also planned.”

“Gifts?”

Emmanuel leaned forward.

“Yes, yes. Gifts. We’re making them on the second floor right now. It will be an unforgettable present. A very cute teddy bear that talks when you wind it up.”

“What’s the slogan?”

Emmanuel stared blankly at Abashina. Abashina urged him on.

“You know, the thing you say at every rally. The thing you only shout at rallies and nowhere else.”

“Ah, of course we have one. Deo Vindice, God is our vindicator!”

Emmanuel stood up. He waved his arms strangely as if dancing merrily.

“Deo Vindice! Deo Vindice! It’s a truly sacred slogan.”

“What do you get when you shout that?”

“Unfortunately, I get nothing. But…”

Emmanuel’s body swayed back and forth like a fluttering flag. He seemed unable to keep his balance. Yet he still couldn’t take his eyes off Abashina.

“But. Since someone with great ambition has come to us. We will finally be victorious. Yes. Victory. Victory…”

Emmanuel’s knees buckled. I caught him before his head hit the wall. After sitting him in a chair, he fell asleep snoring. I looked at Abashina.

“When the enchantment wears off, they pass out. How exhausting must it be to spill words against your will that you don’t even mean?”

Abashina picked up a letter opener from the desk. The sharp edge gleamed coldly. She lightly scratched Emmanuel’s arm, and three drops of blood flowed from the cut. Abashina waved her finger, and the drops were absorbed into her palm.

“Good heavens.”

Abashina covered her mouth. I asked what memory she had read.

“These people. They’re planning something terrible!”

A crashing sound followed by screams erupted. Busy footsteps, gunshots, and thumping collision sounds. The noise was coming from the second floor. I drew my gun.

“Wait!”

Abashina put her ear to the door. She seemed to be listening to the sounds outside.

“Just a moment. Let’s wait until everyone from the first floor goes up… Okay.”

Abashina opened the door. After making sure Emmanuel was sound asleep, she drew her gun and quickly pressed herself against the corridor wall. The noise from the second floor had stopped.

Creak.

Something was walking down from the second floor. Abashina and I hid our bodies between the open door. Peeking out, I saw a white-haired lady, Clarice Holmes, walking down the stairs. She carefully surveyed her surroundings. Then she walked toward us. She held long knives with wires attached in both hands. It was similar to the brick house, but with one difference.

This time, something dark and red was dripping from those knives. Clarice didn’t come any closer. Instead, she stopped in the middle of the corridor.

“Like ostriches. Stupid bird-brains who think they’re well hidden just because they’ve buried their heads in the ground. I don’t have time to play.”

As Abashina was about to come out, I shook my head. Instead, I gestured for her to go behind Clarice and hit her on the head. Abashina bit her lip slightly but soon hid herself in the darkness. I stepped out into the corridor.

Clarice readjusted the knives in both hands. Dark red droplets splattered on the wall. I asked if she thought she could get away with doing this.

“Like an ignorant one. Is your stupidity your shield?”

Clarice’s two knives danced brilliantly.

“Standing on the ground with your eyes open, yet not knowing what’s happening! Like a child refusing to go to the hospital because they don’t want an injection. I should praise you for arriving before me, but you can’t be a good student if you come with just your body, without textbooks or notebooks. Now. Receive my teaching.”

Clarice leaped toward me. I calmly waited until she pressed against the wall. Then I fired my gun.

“Ha!”

It narrowly missed. Clarice, who had hit the opposite wall, smiled.

“Indeed, experience is the best teacher? Unfortunately, some teachers you only meet once. There won’t be a second lesson for you.”

Before she finished speaking, Clarice threw the knife in her left hand. I barely twisted my body to avoid it. Just barely, with only a small tear in my clothes. Clarice threw the knife in her right hand as well. I avoided it without much difficulty. Clarice bared her teeth.

Anger? Confusion? No. Joy. Like when prey is caught…

Clarice swung her left hand wide. I could see the taut wire stretched out. She pulled her arm as if pulling a net. But,

“Ha.”

Clarice shook off both hands in disappointment. I could see the wire breaking.

“It won’t go your way.”

It was Abashina’s voice. Clarice’s left-hand knife was in her right hand. The right-hand knife was under her left foot. Clarice straightened her collar.

“A vampire. I thought your kind had perished long ago.”

“You know me?”

“Oh, ghost of old times. How long do you think you can defy the providence of death?”

Clarice sneered.

“I don’t care about your kind at all. I’m only interested in the bomber. You’re just an interference.”

“Interference. A word I heard often in London. From both the police and criminals. Unfortunately, you’re one step too late.”

Clarice looked toward the entrance.

“Another annoying one. Where do these worm-like creatures keep crawling out from?”

The lady turned around and walked to the landing. Abashina shouted for her to stop, but Clarice extended her right hand toward the ceiling. Something like a harpoon shot out from her palm and stuck into the ceiling. Clarice’s body whooshed upward. As soon as she disappeared, Aurora came running from the entrance.

“Are you both okay?”

We said we were fine. I added that Abashina had saved my life. Abashina’s lips moved slightly, but she soon turned her gaze to Aurora.

“That woman. She just spouted a bunch of strange words and left. Let’s go up to the second floor.”

When we went up to the second floor, we saw collapsed people. Aurora placed her hand on the neck of a woman lying nearby.

“She’s still alive.”

“But her eyes are open?”

Aurora carefully looked into her eyes. She slapped her cheeks a couple of times, then lit a lighter and waved it in front of her face.

“It’s a paralytic. Strong effect but short duration. Often used for kidnapping, ahem. Why? Is something wrong?”

When we turned the body over, we saw a small dart stuck in the back of her right arm. Everyone collapsed on the second floor was the same. We closed their eyes and repositioned them to lie more comfortably.

While doing so, we examined the rooms on the second floor. All machines and furniture were completely smashed. Fragments of gears covered the floor. Abashina picked up a teddy bear. It was about 15cm in size with its stomach split open.

“Poor thing.”

The split stomach was full of white cotton. Abashina inserted her finger into the wound and pulled out a completely broken mechanical device. Clarice Holmes seemed quite thorough in her work. The rooms on the second floor were full of water-soaked gunpowder piles, small cans, and boxes of small metal pieces like razor blades. Abashina told Aurora what she had discovered.

“Real bastards. I’d like to kill them all myself. They were planning to give dolls to children and then blow them up.”

We reached the last room.

“What’s that?”

A doll was scattered on the floor. Human-sized, human-shaped. The skin looked very real, but the inside was full of machinery. It had the face of a young man with a somewhat mocking expression. Instead of blood, black liquid was splattered on the floor, which smelled like oil, suggesting it was some kind of lubricant.

There was a glass bottle inside the doll. I carefully reached out and pulled it out. Inside the transparent bottle was a note. The letters were so large and clear that I could read it without difficulty.

“Well, well, Holmes!”

* * * * *

5:32 PM

Detective Division, 2nd Floor, Kingsport Police Station

Kingsport

Massachusetts State Police Detective Hans offered his hand for a handshake. He was the man who had argued with Officer Woodrow in the Kingsport police station corridor.

“It was a rather bizarre affair, but well, all’s well that ends well. I thought these things were just conspiracy theorists’ nonsense, but who would have thought such treasonous crimes were taking place?”

Then he lightly tapped my arm and advised,

“So you. Be careful. It’s good to satisfy intellectual curiosity, but there’s no need to lurk around dens of evil. Sound and universal common sense. That’s what’s most important. Of course, it was very brave of a private detective to come to such a place.”

My companions and I had called the Kingsport police. Given the situation, state police, Federal Bureau agents, and Kingsport police all rushed in. They arrested Emmanuel, who was sleeping under the desk, and all the people who had been knocked out by darts on the second floor.

Meanwhile, we examined documents and records on both floors. In the process, detailed crime schedules, terror plans, and instructions were discovered. A membership ledger was also found, and although many pages were damaged, Max Ashton’s name was discovered in the remaining sections. Along with his handwritten oath and signature.

We prepared statements and told Hans and Officer Woodrow what we had seen.

“I hope this provides answers. Max Ashton seems to have been involved in radical ideology. He willingly agreed to turn his body into a bomb. And in return, he planned to give the money to his former fiancée at Arkham Mental Hospital. What love is, really.”

As Detective Hans sighed deeply, a Federal Bureau agent whispered something to him. Hans looked at me in surprise.

“You know Agent Catherine Scully?”

I said yes. Hans looked at me with renewed interest.

“Huh. Interesting. I wonder how a private detective from Pollard Island knows a federal agent. No, no need to explain. Anyway, since she’s coming to Kingsport tomorrow, I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here tonight. Do you have accommodations?”

I replied that I had been quite pleased with where I stayed yesterday. Detective Hans nodded. Then he shook hands with me, Aurora, and Abashina.

“You’re a tall gentleman! You’ve done a good deed. My, your hands are very soft!”

Detective Hans encouraged Aurora.

“It’s because of strong people like you that this country’s future is bright. Oh, what a spirited young lady. Who would call women weak? With brave ones like you standing firm! Your colored glasses are pretty.”

“You’re too kind.”

Abashina smiled. Hans finally shook my body and then walked with a gloomy face toward the bound criminals.

“A good deed indeed.”

All the way back to the hotel where we had stayed yesterday, Aurora muttered as if dumbfounded. Indeed, what mafia executive would ever be praised as a patriot by the police?

* * * * *

8:42 PM

Donald Burgess Hotel Lobby

Kingsport

After dinner, we returned to the hotel. An employee handed us the keys. I said I would take a separate room today, but the two women objected again.

“You’re saying that even after seeing wires coming out of that woman’s hands? She could easily climb up to the sixth floor. She was like a spider on steroids.”

Aurora scolded me. Then she looked at Abashina and me alternately with somewhat displeased eyes.

“I’d like to protect you again, but…”

“Go ahead.”

Abashina replied coldly. But Aurora shook her head.

“No. I want to be alone tonight. Please take care of him.”

“What’s this about?”

Abashina was genuinely surprised. Aurora stammered a bit.

“Just. I have some things to think about.”

Then she went up by herself. Abashina glared at me with a “hmph.” I asked why she was so angry.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

Then she headed toward the stairs, fuming. I thought she had quite a climb to the sixth floor. But I was frustrated because I had no idea why she was angry.

What would Crayfield do in this situation? Suddenly I remembered the advice he had given me last time. I turned my steps.

Indeed, tonight it would be better to buy some food and try to improve her mood.