Chapter Seventy: CASE FIVE. If You Light the Pumpkin’s Head (7)

“Ugh…”

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It was Detective Baron.

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He was curled up and groaning.

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His eyes were covered by a blindfold, and his arms and legs were tied with rope.

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A dirty cloth, like a gag, was stuffed into his mouth.

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“Detective!”

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Charlie rushed to the detective in a single bound.

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“What on earth happened?”

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As the blindfold and cloth were removed, the detective’s dry, cracked lips quivered.

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“W…”

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“What?”

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“Wa… water…”

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“Water! Oh, I see! Water right now!”

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Charlie looked around frantically and then dashed out of the props room.

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“Mr. Hayes! Please take good care of the detective!”

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I had already intended to do so, even without him saying it.

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“Get a hold of yourself. I’ll untie you soon.”

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I approached Detective Baron and untied the ropes holding him.

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Even though the ropes were gone, the detective could only manage to squirm slightly, unable to move properly.

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“I’ll help you sit up.”

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I helped the detective lean against the wall.

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Seeing Detective Baron’s condition up close, it was even more serious than I thought.

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I wondered how long he had been tied up; the skin below the ropes was raw, and his hands and feet were purple.

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His eyes were hollow, and his lips were so parched that I doubted he was even alive.

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Only the faint sound of groans indicated he was still breathing.

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“Detective Baron…”

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I couldn’t help but be shaken.

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After learning of the detective’s disappearance, I had tried my best not to think about his situation.

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Was Detective Baron dead or alive?

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Even if he were alive, would he be in one piece?

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Could the reason he ended up like this… perhaps be all because I gave him a dangerous request?

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If I delved into such pathetic thoughts, it would only hinder me from saving him.

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But seeing the detective in such a horrific state made my heart feel like it was sinking.

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“How did this happen?”

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I blurted it out before biting my lip hard.

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‘Is this a joke? Does it look like Detective Baron is in a state to answer properly?’

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Even if he could answer, now was not the right time for such questions.

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I had to remember the empty slot in the bomb inspection box I saw earlier.

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I mustn’t forget the priorities.

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I had to suppress the emotions I decided to keep at bay until the very end.

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“…Detective. From now on, if I’m right, blink once, and if I’m wrong, blink twice.”

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I crouched on the floor, met his eyes, and spoke calmly.

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Fortunately, he seemed to have enough consciousness left to understand me. The detective blinked once.

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“Good. First, do you know who did this to you?”

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Blink, blink.

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A sign of denial.

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‘At least I know one reason why the culprit revealed the detective’s location so easily.’

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Detective Baron hadn’t seen the culprit’s face.

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“Second. It seems explosives are involved in this case. Am I right?”

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Blink.

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“Is a bomb hidden in the party venue?”

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…Blink, blink, blink.

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‘Does he mean he doesn’t know?’

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It was true that explosives were involved, but he wasn’t sure if it was a bomb threat?

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“Detective! I brought water!”

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Just then, Charlie appeared with a glass of water.

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The detective moistened his dry lips and spoke with eyes that shone brightly despite being hollow.

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“Now is not the time… We have to find the one who stole the fireworks, the fireworks.”

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A hoarse voice accompanied by a rough cough broke out, but the detective did not stop talking.

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“Someone… replaced the fireworks with something else…!”

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***

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Ten days ago. Detective Baron intended to gather information by infiltrating Madame Moss’s party.

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A few hours later, the detective reached a conclusion.

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‘The information that can be obtained in the hall is limited.’

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He had to move.

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He needed to eavesdrop on the terrace or in the rooms on the second floor.

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The detective happened to have information he had obtained from Chairman Peterson.

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‘Did he say the props room was a good place to eavesdrop?’

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The detective secretly approached the props room along the back path of the party venue. The door was locked.

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[DO NOT ENTER]

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There was even a warning sign, but he didn’t care.

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‘This is nothing.’

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The detective used a secret technique he had learned directly from a pickpocket to pick the lock.

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— *Click.*

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The door to the props room opened with disappointing ease.

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‘It’s cramped.’

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The interior was filled with all sorts of junk.

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In particular, the giant pumpkin decoration placed in a corner of the props room was a sight to behold.

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‘Is this for use on the day of the festival? It’s huge.’

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And the carved face was hideous.

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Even the detective, who thought he had seen many unpleasant things in his life, found himself flinching instinctively.

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The detective sat with his back to the pumpkin decoration.

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His foot kicked a box full of fireworks.

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“There sure are a lot of them,” Detective Baron muttered.

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There wasn’t just one or two boxes full of fireworks.

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It seemed Madame Moss intended to firmly engrave her name into the minds of the citizens of the Imperial Capital this time.

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‘Hmph! Soon every newspaper will be abuzz with talk of Madame Moss’s party and the fireworks.’

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It would surely be a great show, but it lacked substance.

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What was with this firework management?

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‘I knew it from the moment I heard she left all the preparations to her secretary for such a big party.’

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To leave this many fireworks neglected like this.

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What if all these fireworks went off at once in this narrow space? Did she want to cause casualties?

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‘…Does she even know how to manage explosives properly?’

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Feeling uneasy for some reason, Detective Baron picked up one of the fireworks from the box.

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“Hmph! Even the packaging string isn’t the right kind.”

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He could tell by the touch.

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The string tying the firework was probably not twine.

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It was just a cheap cotton thread.

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“Look at this. I knew she’d just bring in cheap stuff. No doubt the wrapping paper is also… Huh?”

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The detective’s expression turned strange.

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“The paper is the real deal?”

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He had done more than one or two explosive inspections.

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The detective knew the difference between high-quality and low-quality fireworks.

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Low-quality fireworks were just fireworks filled with enough gunpowder to explode.

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Shoddy explosives wrapped in ordinary paper and weaving cotton thread.

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On the other hand, high-quality fireworks meant ones where a craftsman hand-made everything, stitch by stitch.

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Wrapped in resin-coated paper so the gunpowder wouldn’t get damp, and finished with linen twine.

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But now, the firework in the detective’s hand was off.

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‘What’s this? The paper is high-quality resin-coated, but the string is just ordinary cotton?’

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It was a top-tier product, even stamped with the workshop’s seal.

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It was a luxury item fitting for Madame Moss’s party.

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But the string wrapping it was cheap cotton?

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If it were completely cheap, he would have thought Madame Moss had been scammed, but what was this?

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How could one material be top-tier while the other was completely cheap?

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‘It’s very strange. It’s as if an amateur clumsily touched a firework made by a proper craftsman…’

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At that moment, an ominous suspicion crossed his mind.

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‘What if that’s really the case?’

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The firework had been a proper luxury item.

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But someone had cut the twine tying it and replaced the contents.

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Afterward, they brought new string and tied it back as if nothing had happened, but because they lacked knowledge about fireworks, they simply tied it with weaving string.

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If that really were the case…

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‘How can I be sure what’s inside?’

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Detective Baron was overwhelmed by a chilling sensation.

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In front of him now were many wooden boxes.

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Each wooden box was filled with a massive amount of fireworks, and they were all scheduled to go off at once in a few days.

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To put on a brilliant show in front of the citizens of the Imperial Capital.

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But what if what was inside wasn’t light fireworks, but something for mass slaughter?

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‘Distinguishing between a firework and a bomb is no simple matter.’

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The fact that gunpowder goes inside is the same anyway.

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If it flings iron fragments at people, it’s a bomb; if it flings metal pellets that produce beautiful colors in the sky, it’s a firework.

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It was hard to distinguish with the human eye.

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‘Damn it. Gathering information isn’t what’s important right now.’

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A massive number of casualties might occur if he wasn’t careful. The detective hurriedly left the props room.

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He intended to bring the necessary equipment.

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Unfortunately, the detective overlooked the fact that he had left traces in the props room.

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He failed to consider the possibility that the culprit, upon discovering the traces, might be monitoring the props room the entire time.

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Late that evening, the detective infiltrated the party venue again.

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“Alright. Let’s check this properly…”

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The detective opened the lid of the nitric acid reactor.

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Then he took out one firework from the props room and poured a small amount inside.

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If a greenish-yellow flame burned when the lamp’s lid was closed, it meant there was gunpowder inside.

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If other colors were expressed in succession, it would be a firework; if not, it would be a bomb made of pure gunpowder.

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Just as the detective took a deep breath and was closing the lid of the lamp —

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— *Clang!*

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Someone struck the back of the detective’s head.

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“Urgh!”

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When he regained consciousness, the detective was trapped somewhere.

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Tied up tightly from head to toe.

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***

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“It seems they didn’t intend to kill me. They occasionally moistened the cloth with water to let me wet my throat.”

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“They only kept you barely alive!”

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Charlie shouted in an uncharacteristically passionate tone.

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“I’ll find that bastard right now and just — !”

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“Now is not the time for that.”

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The detective coolly interrupted Charlie.

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Even as he coughed violently, his consciousness seemed clear.

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“Find the culprit later. More importantly, what about the fireworks? Where are the problematic fireworks now?”

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“Um.”

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I let out a low groan.

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The direction the detective was looking was empty.

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The fireworks were long gone.

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“*Cough! Cough!* Please… Tell me the fireworks didn’t go off while I was captured.”

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“They haven’t gone off yet.”

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“That’s a relief. I thought about it while I was held captive. Those fireworks were definitely planned to go off on the evening of the last day of the festival. We must recover them before then!”

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“Right now is the last day of the festival.”

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“What? What’s the time?”

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A lot of time had passed.

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I arrived at the Imperial Capital around 11:00 AM.

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I realized Detective Baron was missing and heard Chairman Peterson’s story at roughly 1:00 PM.

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I got dressed, stopped at the police station, and arrived at Madame Moss’s party around 3:00 PM.

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How long had I been wandering around the party after that?

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Therefore, the current time was…

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“It’s 6:30 PM.”

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I continued without stopping.

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“I think I also roughly know when the bomb will go off.”

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Madame Moss had asked me to catch the rat that had infiltrated the party before 7:00 PM if possible.

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The reason was that an important event was scheduled for then.

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“What? 7:00 PM?!”

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The detective let out a scream of shock at my words, then couldn’t stop coughing because he had overexerted himself.

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It was impossible to take the detective in that state.

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“I’ll go first and stop the fireworks from going off!”

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“Ugh… Please…!”

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“I’m counting on you, Mr. Hayes!”

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I left the two behind and ran frantically.

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I had to go back inside the party venue.

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However, something was strange.

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‘What is this? Wasn’t it usually very bright around this time?’

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Even though I had returned to the party venue, it was pitch black.

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The party venue, where bright chandeliers had been installed and were sparkling, was nowhere to be found.

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Just as I had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

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“KYAAAAAA!!!!”

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A scream was heard in the pitch-black darkness.

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For a moment, I thought it had already happened, but listening again, it wasn’t a scream of terror.

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It was a scream of delight and joy.

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In this pitch-black darkness, only the stage was shining brightly with the light of sparkling chandeliers.

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“That’s right, everyone! I am your diva! I am Christine!”

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“WOOOOOO!”

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“CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE!”

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“I LOVE YOU!”

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At this urgent moment.

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For some reason, the elegant banquet hall had transformed into a scene of a frenzied concert.