We entered the party venue with high spirits.
That was all well and good, but an unexpected parting awaited us at the entrance.
“Mr. Hayes. You have been confirmed. Please, head inside.”
Unlike me, who received a polite invitation from the guard.
“Officer Charlie? Ah, I see the police badge. Very well. Identification confirmed… and that box in your hands, is it for the fireworks inspection? Good. I will permit you to bring it in.”
After Charlie went through a rigorous identification process.
“The facility inspection is this way. Please follow me.”
He was guided toward the back of the venue.
Charlie sent me a pleading look as he was led away.
It was a pity, but what could I do?
‘I should try to meet up with him later when I find an opening.’
Ignoring Charlie’s gaze, I stepped inside the party venue.
Still, thanks to Charlie’s sacrifice, I thought I understood why Detective Baron had gone undercover.
‘He couldn’t come in openly as a policeman. He had business with someone inside the party.’
To find Detective Baron, I had to follow in his footsteps.
It was time to meet Madame Moss.
***
*Step, step, step.*
As I walked three steps into the venue, magic unfolded.
— Love is like a spiteful cat ♪ ♫
The first thing that caught my ears was the singing.
It was a beautiful voice, unlike anything I had ever heard in my life.
However, no matter where I looked, I couldn’t see the singer.
‘What is it?’
Looking closer, I spotted a stage.
On a special stage on the second floor, separated from the massive hall on the first floor, a singer was performing.
It was a distance so far that it was hard to believe her voice could be heard so clearly.
“…Is that a microphone?”
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a microphone. I saw a device that looked like a large brass funnel.
It seemed to be a type of sound amplifier.
These devices, installed throughout the venue, were filling every corner of the space with the beautiful song.
People wearing masks were surrendering themselves to the singing and instrumental music, dancing gracefully.
The next things to catch my eye were the chandeliers.
They were brighter and more sparkling than usual.
Instead of dull brass, they were made of glittering crystal, and on top of them sat transparent glass spheres emitting light instead of candles.
‘Light bulbs…’
It was the first time I had seen such objects since falling into this world.
Even though I was only a few steps away from the outside, the interior was like a completely different world.
Twinkling lights, beautiful music, festive decorations everywhere, and people dancing.
Even the new technologies, which looked classical to me but would be considered cutting-edge by this world’s standards.
Everything was so brilliant that I found myself dazed without realizing it.
‘No. I need to focus. I came here to find Detective Baron.’
I held my breath and listened to the conversations of the people passing by. I hoped to catch a clue about Detective Baron’s whereabouts or Madame Moss’s location.
“Isn’t her voice truly beautiful? I’d bet anything that she’s Christine.”
“Who knows? She hasn’t taken off that mask the entire time.”
“But it’s such a magnificent voice. No one but Christine could hit those clear, high notes. Besides, that stature, that voluminous hair. It’s like her beauty is leaking out from behind that butterfly mask, isn’t it? That woman is definitely Christine!”
“I didn’t know you were interested in a mere street singer.”
“That’s only because you don’t know Christine! I’m sure you’ll fall for her too!”
Singer talk. Pass.
“How on earth did they get that giant pumpkin decoration in here? It couldn’t have fit through the door.”
“Who knows? There must have been a way. It’s Madame Moss, after all.”
“Maybe she grew the pumpkin inside? And carved it in the hall, too.”
“No way. That pumpkin decoration wasn’t there yesterday.”
“You really lack imagination.”
Pumpkin decoration talk. Pass.
“Ugh! I feel like I’m going to throw up every time I make eye contact with that pumpkin.”
“Tell me about it. Even if it’s for Pharmakos, is there really a need to install such a repulsive statue? Madame Moss must be really determined.”
“It’s so big that it’s even creepier. It looks like the severed head of a hideous giant on display.”
“How can you guys be so squeamish? I actually like it. Don’t you think it’ll feel amazing when we burn it tonight?”
More pumpkin decoration talk. Pass.
“Would Miss Fox bet on that singer being Christine, or that she isn’t?”
“I don’t think it’s her. After all, this is Madame Moss’s party, isn’t it?”
Singer talk again. Pass.
…Wait. Madame Moss?
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know Madame Moss hates having the spotlight stolen? Not to mention her obsession with appearance. Mr. Rabbit, you’ve seen Madame Moss’s secretary, haven’t you? Ugh, she’s truly awful. There’s no way a person like that would invite Christine.”
“Well, I think the opposite of Miss Fox. She invited Christine because she wants her party to be the best, but she didn’t want the spotlight stolen, so she made her wear that massive mask, didn’t she? Meanwhile, she’s walking around without a mask, showing off. Even though this is a Pharmakos festival party!”
Good. I obtained information that Madame Moss wasn’t wearing a mask. Additionally, I learned that she has a very boastful personality.
‘I don’t know how much I should trust gossip from a party.’
Still, it was better than having no information at all.
I wandered the hall again, hoping to hear more useful talk, but nothing else of value came my way.
All of it was just superficial chatter.
‘It seems like the conversations in the open hall aren’t that useful…’
However, there were still hints.
“This next topic isn’t really appropriate for a place like this.”
“Let’s move. To the terrace? Or upstairs?”
“Let’s go upstairs. We agreed to share information, not our bodies, didn’t we?”
It seemed that truly important stories were being shared in more private spaces.
The terrace. Or the rooms on the second floor.
‘The terrace sounds like it has that kind of atmosphere… The second floor seems like a better place to try my luck.’
But before that.
I wanted to check one place.
The large pumpkin carving on the first floor that everyone kept mentioning.
The carving was placed in a corner of the first-floor hall.
‘It really is huge. How did they even grow this?’
As if to boast that this was no ordinary party, the pumpkin carving was also extraordinary.
The pumpkin was as tall as a person, and its circumference was so large that even three people wouldn’t be able to wrap their arms around it.
The face carved into it was so intricate and ugly that it was hard to believe someone could carve soft pumpkin flesh so delicately.
However, the moment I approached the carving, I noticed its secret.
“What is this? It’s not a real pumpkin.”
Looking closely, the carving wasn’t a pumpkin at all.
It was wood, carved to look like a pumpkin’s texture and material.
“She didn’t carve a face into a pumpkin; she carved wood into a pumpkin with a face on it?”
Is this allowed?
Wasn’t the pumpkin carving the identity of this festival?
Well, I could understand it if it was like the sentiment of putting up a fake chimney for Christmas, but…
“It’s a bit disappointing. I thought it was truly amazing.”
Even so, knowing the truth didn’t change the fact that I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the carving.
As I stared blankly at the pumpkin carving, a wild thought entered my mind.
‘Is the detective inside this thing?’
No, surely not. How could a missing person come out of a pumpkin decoration in the middle of a party?
Of course, the statue was big enough to fit a person…
The inside was probably hollow…
But surely, they wouldn’t hide a person in here.
…Right?
I looked at the pumpkin carving once more.
The eyes were small, but the mouth at the bottom was quite large. Almost as if a person could go in and out.
However, the inside of the carving was blocked by a black cloth, making it impossible to see.
I poked the black cloth slightly.
— *Squish.*
The black cloth yielded to the shape of my finger, and a small gap formed between the cloth and the outer wall of the pumpkin carving.
‘If the resistance is this low, it doesn’t seem to be fixed very firmly.’
I quickly glanced around to check if anyone was watching, then swiftly pushed the black cloth inward.
— *Thud, rattle.*
The bottom hem of the black cloth fell away easily.
The interior was visible through the ragged gap at the bottom of the pumpkin carving.
“It’s too dark to see well… is that sawdust?”
It was sawdust. The inside of the pumpkin carving was filled with sawdust about as high as my shins.
Other than that, it seemed empty.
‘They said they were going to light this pumpkin on fire tonight, right? This must be the preparation.’
It was a carving made of wood to begin with.
With sawdust inside, it would surely burn brightly once lit.
It would certainly satisfy the festival participants.
One thing was for sure: Detective Baron was not inside.
‘I guess I was overthinking it.’
After all, the detective wasn’t an idiot who would crawl into a pumpkin head on his own.
And the kidnapper wouldn’t be stupid enough to put a person inside a pumpkin displayed in the middle of a party.
I pulled my hand away from the pumpkin carving and stepped back.
I decided to ignore the fact that the black cloth on the mouth of the statue was a bit tattered.
‘It’ll — it’ll be fine. They’re going to burn it tonight anyway.’
If someone asked why I tore the cloth on the mouth of the carving, I would argue that the mouth was originally an open space.
But the best thing would be to avoid meeting anyone who would question me in the first place. I quickly left the area before I could be caught and asked for compensation.
I saw the stairs leading to the second floor.
Now it was time to go up and find Madame Moss.
***
‘I heard there are several small rooms on the second floor.’
I climbed the stairs, racking my brain for a way to naturally enter one of the rooms.
Just then, a voice leaked through the crack of an open door above.
“Madame Moss! Are you leaving already?”
“I’m sorry, Angel, darling. I need to check if my secretary did her job properly.”
What? Madame Moss?
‘Madame Moss is in there?’
Was that voice I just heard Madame Moss?
‘What should I do? I’m not mentally prepared yet!’
Madame Moss would definitely recognize the past me.
What if she started demanding answers about a grudge I didn’t know about?
Or what if she realized I had no memory and asked who I was?
What if she suddenly stabbed me with a knife, thinking this was her chance?
Surely Madame Moss wasn’t the one who stabbed me in the back alley, right? I hoped that wasn’t the case.
And what if Madame Moss was the criminal who made the detective go missing? Would I see a black shadow?
Ah! The door is opening! How should I react?
Should I run? No, I have to find the detective!
There are too many things I need to say to run away!
But what on earth am I supposed to say?
In that short moment, my mind was a mess of various thoughts, and I couldn’t make a proper judgment.
I ended up freezing on the spot.
— *Creak.*
Finally, the door opened completely.
“…And you are?”
The person presumed to be Madame Moss appeared.
“…Madame Moss.”
Unable to do anything else, I only called her name.
However, Madame Moss’s subsequent reaction was quite unexpected.
“My goodness, darling!”
Her lips, painted with red lipstick, curved into a smile.
“How long has it been? I can’t believe you visited my party! I invited you, but I didn’t think you would actually come!”
“Pardon…?”
“This won’t do. Come here! I have so much to talk to you about, darling!”
As I was pulled along by her hand, I thought blankly.
‘What is this? Why is she being so friendly?’
Weren’t we supposed to be enemies?