Clunk.
The coffin closed, and my vision went dark again.
‘Even more cramped than before.’
Lure was lying upside down in the coffin.
Since the hexagonal coffin narrowed toward the bottom, even breathing properly was a struggle in this position. It was only possible because Lure was small in stature; otherwise, it would have been impossible.
Still, it was fine.
All she had to do was endure a little longer like this.
“Oh dear, you’re already out.”
“Did you talk to the professor?”
Her friends’ voices came from outside the carriage.
It seemed the criminal had already finished their business and come out.
‘Good thing I didn’t run away right away.’
As Lure breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, she heard her friends’ awkwardly acted voices.
“You said you were looking for Lure, right? Now that I think about it, I think I know where Lure went.”
“Lure probably went to watch the New Year Festival preparations. You know, the place where they’re controlling the road. You can’t get inside, but you can watch what they’re doing from beyond it.”
“…I see.”
Fortunately, the criminal didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual.
The professor must have kept quiet, too.
Lure could be certain the carriage was moving according to her plan.
The area around the carriage was getting noisier.
‘Good. It’s going according to plan.’
Carefully, Lure unlocked the latch inside the coffin and slid it open to climb out.
A little noise was unavoidable, but it was fine.
The commotion outside the carriage was much louder.
“How long is this damn roadblock going to last?”
“There are so many people I can barely breathe.”
“Come in and have a hot mulled wine before you go!”
“Ah, damn! Why are all these carriages coming down this narrow street?”
‘I knew it would be like this.’
Lure smiled a victorious smile inwardly.
She had already known the road would be incredibly congested due to the festival restrictions.
Wasn’t that the very reason she couldn’t even enter the police station when she was being chased by the criminal earlier?
She was sure she could lose the criminal in this chaos and escape.
‘After entering the narrow alley, the criminal gave up on pursuing the teacher further.’
Because a carriage couldn’t enter an alley.
So it would be the same this time.
Just try getting a carriage through this crowded mass of people.
Lure hugged the evidence from the carriage in both arms, held her breath, and waited for the right moment.
“Get your herring! Fresh herring!”
“Hey, stop pushing! There’s no room here either!”
“Coming through~. Please move aside. Person coming through~.”
When the uproar reached its peak,
At the exact moment the narrow street merged with another packed with people,
Lure quickly opened the carriage door and jumped out.
‘Got it!’
Shelman had wedged a piece of paper into the gap of the carriage door earlier.
Thanks to that, the door slid open without a sound, and Lure darted into the crowd.
Using her small frame to her advantage, Lure’s figure was instantly swallowed by the crowd.
All she had to do now was run away with the evidence.
If she could just join up with the teacher…!
‘…! The police!’
Lure stopped dead.
This was not part of the plan.
The police were patrolling this cramped, crowded street.
She tried to duck down and stay out of sight, but it was no use.
“Hey, you!”
A gruff voice stopped Lure in her tracks.
“What’s that long thing you’re holding in your hands?”
The evidence she had stolen from the carriage had become a problem.
“Looks suspicious. Is that stolen property?”
“N-no, it’s not! This is mine!”
“A little brat like you carries something like this? You should at least make your lies believable!”
The police officer snorted.
“I can see you’re dragging it because it’s heavy!”
“Well, actually, it’s not mine. It belongs to my teacher. My teacher is a famous detective. You know him, right? Detective Hayes, the one everyone’s been talking about lately.”
“Hmph! I’ve heard of that detective, Hayes or whatever, but I’ve never heard of him having an assistant like you.”
The officer reached out his hand.
“Either way, it’s suspicious. Hand it over. I’ll check it out and give it back if there’s nothing wrong.”
‘What do I do?’
Lure hesitated.
What she was holding was evidence from a murder case.
It looked ordinary at a glance, but a close inspection would immediately reveal something suspicious.
If this item was taken by the police, not only would she never get it back, but she might even be suspected of being a criminal or murderer.
‘Damn it. The carriage the criminal was riding in didn’t get stopped for a single checkpoint. Why is it only me!’
Just as Lure was deep in thought about how to get out of this situation,
“Wait.”
A familiar voice rang out.
“Aren’t you that assistant girl? The one who goes around with Hayes.”
“Detective Beron!”
Lure’s face lit up brightly.
An ally she could trust, showing up in such a crisis.
‘The teacher said he was chasing Taylor John with Detective Beron!’
Besides, Detective Beron was a police officer.
A veteran who had served at the station for decades.
Surely he could save her from this crisis.
“Detective. Please help me! I’m on a very important errand as Detective Hayes’s assistant, but this man won’t let me go!”
Lure believed Detective Beron would understand the implication in her words and save her from this crisis.
“Hmm.”
Indeed, Detective Beron nodded.
“Let her go, Inspector. I’ll vouch for her identity.”
But the officer didn’t back down an inch.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the old has-been. How can I trust an old man like you and let a suspicious person go?”
Instead, he dropped his half-hearted attitude and began to pressure Lure.
“The way you’re trying so hard to hide what you’re holding is extremely suspicious. What is that thing you’re so desperate to conceal? It looks like you need to be properly interrogated at the station.”
“Inspector!”
“Can’t you see I’m working right now? Old man, you’ve submitted your long-term leave form, so why don’t you just go enjoy your vacation? Better yet, retire for good. Stop getting in everyone’s way by stubbornly sticking around.”
The officer roughly grabbed Lure by the wrist.
‘Ah, seriously. Why do I have to be the sacrificial lamb in some police station power game!’
As Lure wiped away internal tears and thought about her next move,
“Enough. Let’s stop here.”
Another voice cut in.
It was a middle-aged man who had been standing near Detective Beron from the start.
He must have been with Detective Beron.
“If Detective Beron can’t do it, I’ll vouch for this young lady’s identity.”
“And who the hell are you?!”
“I am someone like this.”
The mysterious man showed something to the uncooperative officer.
He was standing with his back to Lure, so she couldn’t see what it was.
“Th-this is?”
The officer gasped.
“Is there any problem with me vouching for her identity?”
“N-no, sir! Of course not! My apologies! I’ll take my leave now!”
Lure still didn’t fully understand the situation.
She had no idea who this man was, suddenly showing up to vouch for her identity.
Or how high-ranking he must be to make the officer so submissive.
Two things were certain.
One: this man was currently claiming to be her ally.
Two: he had the power to exert influence over the police.
“Wait! I have a request!”
Lure had no intention of letting this opportunity slip.
“There should be a black carriage somewhere inside that congested road right now. It’s pretending to be a hearse to avoid police checkpoints, but the coachman is actually a murderer! There must be more murder evidence hidden inside the carriage! So, you need to go after it right now and search that carriage thoroughly!”
The man, who had been standing with his back to Lure, turned around and looked down at her.
He was so tall she had to crane her neck, and his face was expressionless, impossible to read.
Feeling a certain pressure from him, Lure swallowed hard.
“I thought it was just a clever disguise, but…”
“Pardon?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just that the person who hired you seems more serious about detective work than I thought.”
Lure couldn’t understand his words at all.
Detective Hayes was a detective. Wasn’t it only natural for a detective to be serious about detective work?
Was there some other identity behind Hayes aside from being a detective?
“Officer there. Could you please do as this young lady just said?”
The man, leaving behind his cryptic words, turned his head and spoke to the officer.
It sounded like a suggestion, but it was practically an order.
“Of course! I’ll move immediately! I’ll call the other officers on patrol with me!”
The officer moved swiftly and disappeared into the crowd.
Lure was just bewildered.
Even though she had made the request herself, she hadn’t expected it to be resolved so easily.
‘Who… just who is that person?’
“Arthur Sterling.”
The answer to her question came from Detective Beron.
“The first Great Detective, Arthur Sterling. That’s who that man is.”
“Arthur Sterling…”
Of course, Lure knew the name.
As a student of the Department of Investigation, it was a name she simply couldn’t not know.
But recently, she had also heard that name through a different channel.
“Isn’t he the one you were supposed to be tailing, Detective Beron? One of the suspects for Taylor John!”
“Ahem, ahem…”
Detective Beron averted his gaze, looking embarrassed, and coughed.
She knew it immediately.
“You got caught while tailing him! And since you’re still together now… he got all the info out of you about why you were tailing him, didn’t he? Including everything about Taylor John!”
“…I’ll only say this: I didn’t reveal a single secret. He just deduced everything on his own and got it all right. There was no way to withstand it.”
“So, when exactly did you get caught on the tail?”
“Well… probably on the first day…”
Lure was speechless.
He had set out so confidently, and he got caught on the very first day?
But on the other hand, it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.
‘Right. After all, it’s Arthur Sterling.’
The first Great Detective.
The man who received that glorious title from the Emperor.
The current era of great detectives had started with him.
He was one of only twenty Great Detectives in this empire, and the foremost among them.
A plan to tail someone like Arthur Sterling without being seen was doomed from the start.
‘Well… it’s fine. It seems Arthur Sterling isn’t the serial killer.’
In the end, Taylor John’s identity was confirmed to be Grand Duke Wilhelm Eduard’s son, wasn’t it?
If so, the situation where Arthur Sterling had obtained information might actually be a good thing.
It would help the investigation into Taylor John, not hinder it.
“So, what exactly is that thing you’re holding?”
Detective Beron’s voice was filled with curiosity.
There was also a hint of expectation in his voice.
“If I interpreted your meaning correctly just now, that item is important evidence linked to the Taylor John case. Am I right?”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Lure grinned widely and lifted the evidence high with both hands.
Her arms trembled from the weight, but it was worth it.
“This is none other than…”
“The murder weapon. The weapon Taylor John has been using in all his killings so far.”
In the Black Garden, Lure’s voice rang out clearly.