“Must be going through some hard times, aren’t you?”
Chairman Peterson sneered immediately.
“If you’re having trouble maintaining your lifestyle on a policeman’s salary alone, would you like to shine my shoes?”
Chairman Peterson himself was a man who had reached the top after starting as a shoeshine boy and enduring all sorts of hardships. Normally, he did not like to disparage the value of labor like this, but he could not suppress his sarcasm in front of this detective.
‘Detective Baron, Detective Baron!’
Even if he was wearing a mask, how could he not recognize him? He was the very policeman who had handled Allen’s case! He was a lackey of the corrupt power that tried to cover up his son’s death as an accident, so why would he show him any kindness?
“Unless you’ve quit the police force and changed careers to become a waiter…”
Abandoning his usual rounded tone, the Chairman spoke sharply toward the silent detective.
“Did you sneak in? To Madame Moss’s Party?”
He had some nerve. Of all the places to be. Madame Moss was not the type to leave a policeman who had infiltrated her party alone. If this infiltration were discovered, the detective would surely face a dire situation.
Just as the Chairman puffed out his chest to call out Madame Moss’s name.
“Wait, wait!” Detective Baron shouted urgently. “I am working with Master Hayes right now!”
“…Master Hayes, and you?”
The Chairman narrowed his eyes and scanned Detective Baron. Of course, Master Hayes was a detective. It was possible for him to investigate a case with the police. However…
“Are you saying the police are collaborating with Master Hayes on an investigation related to Madame Moss?”
Madame Moss’s Party was a gathering only for the specially invited. If it were a case that required sneaking in here, it would be no small matter.
“The police wouldn’t have included the still-unknown Master Hayes in a case of this scale, would they?”
“…It is not police business, but a personal investigation. One that Master Hayes and I are conducting together.”
“A personal investigation?”
At first, he didn’t want to believe it. But then, a possibility occurred to him.
“Could it be… that Master Hayes asked you to investigate his enemy?”
“…! How did you know that?”
The detective looked startled, then quickly spoke. “In fact, I did receive a similar request.”
‘As expected of Master Hayes.’
The Chairman marveled quietly.
‘He must have realized the truth about Madame Moss as well.’
Thus, he must have sent Detective Baron to dig up more detailed information about his enemy.
“Tch.”
The Chairman clicked his tongue briefly.
“If it’s Master Hayes’s business, I suppose it can’t be helped. Follow me.”
The Chairman changed his mind about reporting the detective. Instead, he led the masked detective around the party venue, acting as a guide. He did this to teach him things that only someone who had visited this venue many times would know.
“Not many people use this back path. However, the inside of the party venue is visible at a glance from here.”
“If you go straight down the back path, you’ll find the prop room. Actually, that’s right below the secret room on the second floor. It’ll be useful if you want to eavesdrop.”
“If you happen to arouse someone’s suspicion, escape to the terrace and close the curtains. They won’t be able to follow you easily.”
“Be careful of the woman wearing the daisy mask. She is the one in charge of this party.”
After giving various pieces of advice, the Chairman turned around.
“I trust you can handle the rest on your own.”
“…Thank you, Chairman.”
As the Chairman was about to leave without a response, the detective added one more thing.
“About Allen… I am sorry. As the one who was in charge of the case, I have nothing to say.”
“Then keep your mouth shut. I have no desire to hear anything from a policeman who couldn’t save my son.”
He needed neither regrets nor apologies. Would that bring Allen back to life? The Chairman replied coldly and finally left the spot.
***
“That was the last time I saw Detective Baron.”
“I see…”
I nodded with a heavy heart.
“I am truly grateful that you helped Detective Baron for my sake.”
Truly. It must not have been an easy decision for the Chairman.
‘Of course, Detective Baron isn’t someone who deserves that kind of criticism…’
But it was a criticism that Detective Baron had chosen to accept. Making excuses for him would go against his wishes. Detective Baron was someone who wanted to fulfill his responsibility as a policeman and atone for the police’s sins.
‘Anyway, was Detective Baron investigating Madame Moss because of me?’
According to Chairman Peterson’s story, it seemed so. Come to think of it, before I left for the Northern Region, I had asked the detective to look into my past in exchange for cooperating with his investigation. And the detective had accepted with great enthusiasm.
‘If he was investigating my past, it makes sense why he didn’t share the status of the investigation with Charlie.’
Because he would have considered it a personal matter.
‘To summarize…’
After his own independent investigation, Detective Baron found out that Madame Moss was involved in my past. Thus, he participated in Madame Moss’s suspicious party and has been missing for ten days since then.
‘From this flow, Madame Moss is certainly suspicious.’
The detective must have approached Madame Moss. In the process, he might have become unluckily involved with my past, or witnessed something he shouldn’t have at the party. Could that be why he was taken somewhere and went missing?
“But the detective is not what’s important right now!”
Chairman Peterson spoke in a lively voice. Not knowing anything, Chairman Peterson was beaming from ear to ear for some reason.
“The conversation with Madame Moss went very smoothly.”
“You spoke with her?”
“Of course I did. That was the purpose of attending the party. And then, goodness!”
The Chairman burst into laughter as if it were absurd.
“Madame Moss said that she had the wrong person!”
“What? A mistake?”
What was that about?
“Yes. She looked genuinely embarrassed. She said that while it’s true she blocked the articles related to Master Hayes, the person she was trying to control was not an unknown detective.”
“She was targeting someone else?”
“Yes. She said it was someone who looked exactly like you, from their build to their features. A person so similar that she couldn’t even suspect they were different people.”
My mind became even more complicated at those words.
‘Wait, isn’t she talking about the “me” before I possessed this body?’
I had expected as much from the beginning. That anyone blocking my path would surely have a connection to my past before the possession. But having it confirmed made my head spin.
‘She might think it’s a mistake now, but won’t she change her mind once she sees my face?’
No, for her, it wouldn’t even be changing her mind. She would think that what she thought was a misunderstanding wasn’t a misunderstanding at all, and that she had been deceived. After all, she wouldn’t believe me if I talked about possession.
“Madame Moss said she wanted an opportunity to speak with Master Hayes. She said that if she meets Master Hayes in person and confirms it was a mistake, she will apologize sincerely. Of course, she won’t pull any more stunts with the media ever again.”
The Chairman took out a piece of high-quality paper from his pocket. It was a paper with a grumpy-looking pumpkin head engraved in gold foil, and the name ‘Madame Moss’ was written in elegant cursive at the bottom.
“The Madame gave this invitation to me. She told me to deliver it to Master Hayes.”
“To me…”
“Yes. She wants you to come to the party venue. It will be a good opportunity for Master Hayes as well. Since it’s a chance to meet the top celebrities of this society.”
The Chairman looked genuinely happy to be able to give me that invitation.
“The party is only ten days out of the year. I’m so glad Master Hayes arrived just in time. Today is the very last day of the party.”
I accepted the invitation the Chairman handed over.
“…Thank you, Chairman. I will put it to good use.”
I was reluctant to meet Madame Moss. In the worst-case scenario, she might swing a knife at me for some grudge I didn’t even know about. But for now, that invitation was the only clue that could lead me to Detective Baron. If the detective went missing while investigating my past at my request, I had a duty to find him.
“Ah, wait. Are you going just like that?”
Chairman Peterson caught me as I was about to leave.
“It’s true that there’s no identity check other than the invitation at Madame Moss’s Party, but… you’ll stand out too much if you go dressed like that.”
“Ah.”
I looked down at my outfit. A flat cap and a long coat. A pocket watch and a cane. I was dressed like a respectable gentleman of this neighborhood now, but it certainly wasn’t an outfit suitable for a party held in high society.
“Since the party is tonight, it won’t be easy to get new clothes right away. Why don’t you borrow some from me?”
There was no need to refuse his kindness. I bowed my head and expressed my gratitude to the Chairman.
***
Fortunately, there were many high-quality clothes in Chairman Peterson’s house that fit my body.
‘Since my measurements wouldn’t match Chairman Peterson’s, these probably belonged to Allen.’
“They suit you well. Allen was also quite tall for a young man, and it seems you are the same, Master Hayes.”
“…Thank you for the compliment. It’s an honor.”
Since the Chairman handed me the clothes as if it were nothing, I had no choice but to smile as if it were nothing as well.
“Do you have a mask prepared?”
“No.”
“Then, use this.”
The Chairman handed me a black jaguar mask.
‘Is this a mask? It looks more like glasses.’
The mask was a half-mask, barely covering the eyes and leaving the area below the nose completely exposed. It was completely different from the mask-like coverings the children were wearing on the street earlier.
‘This won’t hide my face at all.’
“Does everyone wear this kind of mask to the party?”
“Most do. The mask is just a formality.”
I suppose that was why transactions and such could take place inside the party.
‘Is the mask just a social agreement to pretend not to recognize each other while wearing it?’
Thanks to that, it didn’t seem like it would be too difficult to find Madame Moss. She would probably recognize me and approach me first.
“Thank you very much, Chairman. I will make sure to use these cleanly and return them.”
“Don’t worry about it. Allen wouldn’t mind either. He was a carefree fellow.”
With the Chairman’s full kindness, I left the mansion groomed from head to toe. Charlie, who had been silent all this time, started chattering as if he had been unsealed the moment we left the Chairman’s house.
“Master Hayes! Please let me into the party venue as well! Since the detective went missing at that party, he might still be there!”
“I’m sorry, but the invitation doesn’t say anything about companions. I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Guh!”
Charlie was frustrated, but he recovered quickly.
“Fine, I understand. Then I’ll try every method I can.”
‘What kind of method is he going to use?’
Charlie asked me to wait for a moment and went into the police station. Soon, he ran out with a bright face.
“Master Hayes! I did it! I successfully got dumped with a chore!”
“What? A chore?”
“I’ve decided to take over the explosives inspection at the party venue for another officer!”
“Explosives inspection? At a party?”
“Yes. Because fireworks are usually used at such parties.”
The materials used in fireworks were explosives that could be turned into bombs, so they were naturally subject to police inspection. It was usually a formal procedure, and most police officers welcomed such duties. This was because if they dallied while nitpicking that there was a problem with the explosives, they could earn a tidy bit of side income.
“But for a party of Madame Moss’s caliber, there’s no way they could do such a thing.”
In fact, the police had to walk on eggshells at the party. It was a job where they had to quickly check the status of the explosives in a corner while receiving uncomfortable glares from people who disliked the police, then leave as if they were being kicked out.
“It’s a job no one wants to do. That’s why it was originally Detective Baron’s job…”
“Since the detective is gone, another policeman must have taken it.”
“He looked like he wanted to die! I knew it. People as responsible as Detective Baron aren’t common.”
“So you snatched the job away?”
“Yes!”
Charlie nodded and proudly shook the heavy-looking box in his hand.
“I just have to take this explosives inspection equipment, show my police badge, and say I’m here for an inspection. Then I’ll naturally be able to enter the party venue!”
“That worked out well.”
“I knew the skill of getting dumped with chores that I learned from watching Detective Baron would be useful someday!”
Is that the kind of thing you learn from a role model? Is Detective Baron really a good role model? I had my doubts, but since what he learned was actually useful this time, I had nothing to say.
“Well, fine. Then let’s head in.”
It was time to participate in the party. To save Detective Baron. And to face my past.