Ch.BONUSSide Story – Clarice Holmes, The Leaden Study (7)

“Yes. Please do.”

Clarisse hung up the public telephone. She considered filling her pipe with tobacco, but put it back. She could smoke after everything was finished.

The moon was hazy. Visibility was poor. But she didn’t see it as entirely negative. On days like this, true light and false light become more distinguishable.

She turned the corner. She raised her coat collar and checked her equipment again. Perfect as always. She steadied her breathing and pressed the doorbell. There was a clattering sound, and then the door opened.

“You’re here?”

Isabel opened the door with a beaming smile. She was wearing an evening dress that revealed her thighs. Judging by her voluminous curly blonde hair, she had put considerable effort into her appearance.

The apartment was small but neat and uncluttered. Soft classical music played from the radio. After lighting candles throughout the house and turning off the lights, a gentle glow filled the room.

“Would you like to sit here for a moment? I’ll bring some tea. The mirror is upstairs. You can hang your coat on the rack over there. No, give it to me.”

Before Isabel’s hand could touch her shoulder, Clarisse removed her coat and handed it over. The hand wandered briefly, then quickly took the coat. After hanging it up, Isabel deliberately brushed past Clarisse. Her perfume was strong.

The living room was narrow and elongated. The stairs were suitable for one person at a time. In contrast, the windows were quite large. The upstairs layout probably wasn’t much different. Fortunately, only the floor appeared to be wooden, while the walls and ceiling seemed to be a mixture of brick and cement. They would hold up well enough if she needed to insert wires.

Isabel returned with a tray. With each step she took, her smooth right leg was revealed. The black satin fabric was so thin that her barely-there underwear was visible underneath. Clarisse smiled.

“Is this tea safe to drink?”

“Of course. It’s premium Indian tea.”

“I heard there was a severe drought that killed many people. The harvest must have been poor, yet you managed to find some.”

“That makes it more valuable. Tea leaves that overcame thirst. When you think about it, it’s a bit cruel. Picking the thirsty leaves one by one. Roasting them with heat. Perhaps their eagerness to absorb even the slightest drop of water comes from that longing?”

It seemed she wasn’t the only thirsty one. Clarisse leaned back and unbuttoned one button of her shirt. The tea was fragrant and subtle, but a bit strong due to using too many leaves. Not ideal for drinking at night.

“What about your thirst?”

Clarisse unbuttoned another button on her shirt. As her chest was revealed, Isabel’s breathing quickened. She looked like she wanted to throw the teacup aside and pounce immediately.

“Senior, you’re the best. You’ve been the best for a very long time. To become the best myself, I need to surpass you. Honestly, I didn’t like being assigned to secretly monitor you.”

“Is that so?”

Clarisse crossed her legs. Her right foot dangled in the air like a curious snake. Isabel’s lips moistened.

“Yes. Because I know you’re not that kind of person. You love this empire. More than anyone else who admires you could possibly understand. The idea that someone like you would secretly leak information to foreign countries is absurd.”

“So am I cleared of suspicion?”

Isabel put down her teacup. As she leaned forward, her ample bosom pushed through the evening dress.

“As I’ve told you before, the judgment comes from above. That’s beyond my control. All I can do is write my report in a very, very, very negative and malicious way.

Whatever you do, if I write it that way, we’ll have to spend more time together. We might even have to live in the same house. But.”

The rookie leaned back. Her large breasts heaved in protest, but she made no effort to cover them.

“I don’t want that. You’ve done so much, and I need to make a fair judgment. I’m going to write an excellent report. You’ll probably be cleared of spy charges soon.”

“That’s kind of you. But is it appropriate for a monitor to tell me all this?”

“That’s my decision. I love you, senior. I want to know more about you. I want to see how your logical circuits work, how your wrist twists when your arm is bent, how your face contorts when arms wrap around your waist. You despise weakness, don’t you? And stupidity, cowardice, and inferiority. It was an insult to me.”

“Then is this hospitality your way of returning insult with kindness?”

“I just wanted to show you that I don’t return insult with insult. You insult and ignore me, but I can decide my own response. Because I want to be stronger than you, I don’t want to respond with insult just because you insulted me. Instead.”

Isabel drained the last cup. The empty teacup made an eerie click as she set it down on the saucer.

“I wanted to show you my ‘loyalty.’ Insult me all you want. I don’t mind. I’ll love you more than yesterday.”

“Medal.”

Clarisse said in a sing-song voice. Isabel’s body stiffened.

“Pardon?”

“If you had to choose between a medal and me, which would you choose?”

“You, senior.”

“Really? That’s unexpected. Why?”

“Because there’s no medal greater to me than your heart.”

Isabel stood up. She crossed the sea of candlelight to reach Clarisse.

“Take the knife handle.”

Clarisse stood up. She grabbed Isabel’s waist and roughly bit her lips. Just as Isabel’s arms were about to embrace her, Clarisse tilted her body backward and supported her back with her arm.

“Hah. Ha.”

Isabel’s thighs pressed against Clarisse’s. Isabel pushed hers against Clarisse’s inner thigh and then pulled back outward.

“I want to see the mirror.”

Isabel panted.

“Please. It’s upstairs. Let’s go see it together. You’ll never forget it. Try to catch me.”

Isabel struck Clarisse’s cheek with the back of her hand. As Clarisse’s head tilted back, Isabel quickly slipped out of her grasp. Clarisse’s hand grabbed at the evening dress, but it was so thin that it tore away completely.

Isabel ran up the stairs with a strange laugh. Despite her speed, not a single footstep could be heard. Only the sound of torn fabric settling down was audible.

Clarisse, who was about to move forward, stopped. There wasn’t a single button left on her shirt. Isabel had torn them all off. Her bare body was exposed, and the ticking sound of her heart was clearly audible.

“Ha.”

She loosened her belt and tightly fastened it below her chest. Clarisse carefully climbed the stairs one by one. The door was half open.

Clarisse flung the door open.

The window that replaced an entire wall was firmly covered with curtains. A pungent and dizzying scent was burning. Isabel stood in a negligee in front of a large bed sprinkled with rose petals. If one could call clothing something that relied on a single thread thinner than silk.

“Would you like a candy?”

Isabel, with her hands behind her back, twisted her body slightly. A pointed tongue slipped between her lips.

“Is it poisoned?”

“It’s sweet and bitter. The aftertaste lingers. But I won’t unwrap it for you. That would ruin the flavor.”

There was no mirror. No mirror anywhere. Not on the walls, not on the floor. Then where could the mirror be…

Clarisse rushed at Isabel. She roughly grabbed her arms and pushed her onto the bed. Rose petals billowed like dust rising from a corpse dropped into a coffin.

Clarisse growled like a beast. Isabel, who had been smiling eerily, wrapped her legs around Clarisse’s waist. The tightening force was irresistible. Eventually, Clarisse’s body collapsed onto Isabel.

“Harder than you thought, isn’t it?”

“Just… this much.”

“You still have some composure. But you must have been in quite a hurry? Unbuttoning your shirt completely. Is the belt to emphasize your chest?”

“Some thief tore off all my buttons.”

“Then you could have covered yourself with different clothes.”

Isabel whispered. Clarisse’s body shook. It was laughter.

“I was wondering why you disliked being touched, but it seems you’re incredibly sensitive?”

Isabel’s hand crept inside Clarisse’s shirt. But Clarisse’s response was unexpected.

“Desiree.”

Isabel hesitated.

“…Are you serious? You want to talk about work here and now?”

“Desiree left a message. Even as his fingers were burning, he managed to write it on the wall. As I said before, he wrote it for his informant to see.”

“How unpleasant.”

Isabel lightly hit Clarisse’s waist. It was actually closer to her buttocks than her waist. But Clarisse remained triumphant.

“I told you, didn’t I? Desiree was a big shot. And we’ve been watching him for a very long time. The only reason we didn’t chop up his body and dump it in Dover was because we didn’t know who was receiving Desiree’s information and selling it to foreign countries.”

“That’s why you’re tracking Lestrade. And please stop talking about work. Am I that boring to you?”

“Really? How did Desiree know Lestrade was coming?”

A blade sprang from Isabel’s hand. She cut through the leather strap binding Clarisse’s shirt without hesitation. Without leaving a single scratch on her body. But with a slight flick of her finger, the blade retracted.

“The police who were there…”

“Oh. No. No. Isabel.”

Clarisse looked down at her with eyes full of madness. She seemed unconcerned that Isabel was toying with her chest.

“Desiree knew he was being watched. He also knew that if he died like this, someone from the circus would come. Someone who was in league with him. He knew it would be someone high-ranking.

And that’s not a job for someone like Lestrade. He’s like a dog. Dogs are stupid, but persistent, and they don’t bite the hand that feeds them. If they did, they would have been eliminated long ago.”

“What’s your point?”

Clarisse’s body was gradually being constricted. Isabel was skillfully tightening around her. But Clarisse’s gaze remained cold and stern.

“When did it start, Isabel?”

“Forget it.”

“Why did you pass information to France?”

“Are you pretending not to know just to make me anxious, senior?”

“First, there was no physical evidence. And you were created directly by Her Majesty the Queen. I couldn’t touch the Queen’s creation based on circumstantial evidence alone.

So the higher-ups at the circus assigned you as my monitor. You thought you were monitoring me. You were wrong. I was monitoring you.”

The hand that had been kneading Clarisse’s chest stopped.