The Detective Is Already Dead, Vol. 2

“I’m…”

The girl frowned for a moment.

“…Alicia?”

“Why’d you say it like a question? Did you come from Wonderland or something?”

“I’m hungry.”

“This is barely a conversation.”

I handed her one of the apples I’d just bought. Would this make her Snow White? As Alicia nibbled on the crisp red fruit, she finally began looking around curiously.

“So, where are we?”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you pick this place to sleep?”

“……”

Once again, I got a bad feeling—and a few seconds later, that feeling proved to be right on the money.

“…I dunno.”

Figures. Apparently, she wasn’t just lost or a street kid.

“Amnesia,” I said.

For the first time, the girl’s gaze wandered, uneasily.

I asked about her parents’ names. Where she was from. Her birthday. Her friends. What she’d had for dinner last night. I asked plenty of other questions, too, but the girl shook her head at everything.

“All I remember is that I’m seventeen this year.”

“You’re definitely wrong about that, so forget it ASAP.”

“…Where are you looking?”

“It’s all right. When the time comes, they’ll grow.”

But this was no time for bantering. I needed to hurry up and get to work on this problem.

“Once you’re done eating, we’re going to the police.”

Alicia reached for a third apple (guess she was really hungry), and just then—

“Hey, c’mon, really? Just my luck.”

Although the sky had been clear just a minute ago, rain suddenly began pelting down. Great. Well, just gotta roll with it.

“Let’s run.”

“Huh?”

Pulling Alicia by the hand, I made for the apartment where Siesta was waiting.

“Listen, keep it down, all right?”

As I turned the doorknob, I gave Alicia a warning.

“Is there somebody here besides you, Wolf?”

“Don’t treat people like animals. I’m Kimizuka, Kimihiko Kimizuka.”

I had no idea what Siesta would say if she found out I’d picked up an unidentified little girl.

For now, I’d let her shower, and I’d dry her wet clothes while she was in there. I could take her to the police after that. I tiptoed down the hall, showing Alicia to the bathroom.

“Man, did we get soaked.”

“We certainly did. This is awful.”

In the changing room, I took off my shirt, and just as I was about to pull Alicia’s dress off over her head—

“??!! Why are you acting like you’re coming in with me?!”

“Are you dumb?! I told you not to yell.”

“Things were happening so naturally, I almost fell for it!”

“I told you, I don’t mess around with little kids like you.”

“Wha—…?!” Alicia’s face turned as red as a boiled octopus.

“Assistant, are you back?”

Just then, I heard Siesta’s voice from the living room. Yeesh, I guess I should back down here.

“Okay, Alicia. Once you get out, change into some of the spare clothes over there.”

With that, I headed for the living room by myself, drying my head off with a towel as I went.

“Welcome back. It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” she said.

“Yeah, it just hit out of nowhere… What are you doing?”

In the kitchen, which opened onto the living room, Siesta was sitting in a wheelchair and mixing some sort of dough in a bowl. She was good at housework, but I’d almost never seen her cook before. That apron was a novel look on her.

“I thought I’d make an apple pie. You’d said you were going to the trouble of buying some apples, so…”

Siesta’s hands moved cheerfully.

“……Oh.”

I’d completely forgotten. I’d let Alicia eat all the apples.

“Umm, look. Siesta, uh…”

“Heh-heh! I mean, you know, you seem to have taken quite a liking to me, after all. I suppose this is my way of taking responsibility for being the object of someone’s affections; I thought I could do this much for you, at least.”

Oh geez. It’s even harder to bring up now. Why does she seem genuinely happy, of all things? Ordinarily she gives me about as much thought as the average flea…

“But you came back at just the right time. Well? Where are the apples?”

“Uh, the thing is…”

“Kimizukaaaa.”

That was when the voice of a third party broke in. I could think of only one other person who was in this apartment.

“Are there any small towels?” Alicia, wrapped in a bath towel, peeked in around the door frame.

I see. I see, I see.

I stole a glance at Siesta, and our eyes met. There was a silence that seemed to stretch on forever. Then, finally, she hit me with the four-letter word I’d been anticipating.

“—Pedo.”

Looks like this might be my last day as her assistant.

A new case opens with a scene straight from hell

“I understand the situation.”

Siesta spoke from her perch on the bed, where she was sipping tea. However, even as she said it, she was eyeing me contemptuously.

“Darjeeling, huh? That smells nice.”

“Mm-hmm. It goes very well with apple pie.”

I’d been trying to put her in a good mood, and instead I’d ended up digging my own grave. This was just not my day.

“It’s safe to assume you’ll never see me in an apron again.”

“No way—you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s all I’ve been looking forward to my whole life. This is tragic.”

“…And now I’m quite angry. Apparently, even an individual of such noble character as myself has room to grow as a person.”

“One of an assistant’s jobs is fostering the emotional growth of his employer… Okay, okay, I overstepped, just please put that musket away! I’m sorry!”

I knelt by the bed, swearing I’d make it up to her someday and bowing my head to the muzzle of the gun she’d shoved at me.

“I didn’t realize you had a girlfriend, Kimizuka,” commented Alicia, the girl who’d caused all this trouble. Thanks for that.

She was sitting at the table, munching on apple pie (without the apples). You think I’d date a girl who would turn a gun on me?

“Actually, there was no need to be so roundabout. You should have just brought her to me in the first place.” Finally putting her weapon away, Siesta gestured for me to raise my head. “She’s a lost girl with amnesia. Doesn’t that sound like a job for a detective?”

…True. Now that she mentions it, she’s right.

“You said you were Alicia?” Siesta called from the bed to the girl at the table. “You really don’t know your actual name or anything?”

“…Uh-uh. Just that I’m seventeen this year.”

“Seven, okay.”

“Seventeen!”

Alicia smacked the table, standing up. She must have been at that age where she wanted to be seen as an adult.

“Well, in reality, she’s probably about twelve or thirteen. You can tell from her calves.”

“Assistant, this isn’t the time to show off your peculiar habits. Normal people can’t tell how old a person is by the growth of their calves.”

“—! So back there in the alley, you were looking at my calves, not my chest?!”

“No, that time, it was your chest. I saw it and thought, ‘Nah, there’s no way she’s seventeen.’”

“O-oh, phew, you had me worried. My chest, huh? Thank goodness… —Wait, no, that’s not okay!”

“Assistant, if you must sexually harass someone, limit yourself to Charlie, all right?”

In a distant foreign country, I heard a beautiful blond girl deliver a very colorful retort.

…But now wasn’t the time for that.

“Alicia, we’ll take on the task of identifying you.” Resuming the main topic, Siesta turned to Alicia. “But not for free.”

“Hey, Siesta, you’re going to take money from a kid?”

“What does her age have to do with it? Children are people, too,” Siesta retorted. “Besides, I doubt there’s anything less trustworthy than good deeds done for free.”

…She had a point. Human relationships really were ninety-nine percent trust and one percent self-interest. That was how Siesta and I had gotten by during our journey, too.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

Alicia probably couldn’t pay us with money. She didn’t even have food, clothing, or shelter. How could she compensate an ace detective?

“I want you to be my proxy, Alicia. If you do, I promise to provide you with food, clothes, and a place to stay.”

“So I’m gonna work as a detective…?” Alicia cocked her head somewhat melodramatically.

“…Siesta, isn’t that going to be too much for her? I don’t see how this would work.”

“Yes, but…”

Siesta pointed to her own injured legs. Ah, right. The ace detective’s on leave right now, huh?

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better if I was the detective, and Alicia was my assistant?”

“No, but, well… Oh, you know what I mean. You just look like an assistant.”

“That wasn’t fair.”

“You want me to become a detective out of nowhere?” said Alicia. “I’m not sure I even can…”

“If you’re a detective, you’ll have my assistant at your beck and call.”

“Woohoo! I’ll do it! Sign me up!”

“This transaction officially sucks.”

Correction: With Siesta and me, the relationship is one percent trust and ninety-nine percent self-interest.

“So what should I do, specifically?” Alicia asked Siesta.

And with perfect timing—

“Jack the Ripper has revived again.”

The voice of a third party broke in, and a chill ran through me. I hastily turned around, and—

“Ms. Fuubi? What’re you…? Didn’t you go back to Japan already?”

Ms. Fuubi, our police officer acquaintance, was sitting on the sofa with a cigarette.

“Oh, well, I remembered I had to see a man about a dog. Anyway, when did you two make a kid?” Ms. Fuubi glanced between me and Siesta, then at Alicia.

“Are you blind?”

“You’re blind.”

Siesta and I retorted in unison. How could anybody possibly think Siesta and I were in that kind of relationship? Geez… And she hasn’t even quit smoking.

“So, what did you need? You said something about Jack the Ripper coming back to life.”

“Right. A new heart-hunt victim turned up yesterday. The M.O.’s similar to the earlier incidents.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

I mean, it wasn’t even possible. After all, Hel had killed Cerberus—the real Jack the Ripper.

“Hel.” On the bed, Siesta narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, that’s what’s going on…”

Hel had taken up the heart-hunt in Cerberus’s place. She was planning to revive that biological weapon again.

“It looks like you’ve got an idea about what this is. Well, that’s perfect. I’ve actually got some information that might be useful in cornering our perp,” said Ms. Fuubi. “This involves the young lady over there, too.”

Maybe she’d heard us talking about letting Alicia handle the job. And then she’d brought us an incident that might end up being part of that job.

“This is still just a rumor, but it sounds like there’s something here in London that may help us bring down SPES.”

Oh-ho. Well, isn’t that convenient…? My eyes met Siesta’s. Then, when we wordlessly signaled for Ms. Fuubi to go on, she told us what it was called.

“From what I’m told, people call it ‘the sapphire eye.’”

The daily routine of proxy detective Alicia

The next day.

“All right, let’s go!”

A young girl pointed briskly down a broad downtown avenue, then set off.

Meanwhile, I followed my new employer, my shoulders hunched from awkwardness.

“Come on, step lively!”

“You’re stepping too lively.”

“Huh?”

Don’t ‘Huh?’ me. And don’t tilt your head and look adorably confused.

“That outfit.”

Alicia was dressed in a costume that screamed “ace detective”: an austere trench coat and deerstalker hat. In addition, she had a traditional Japanese kiseru pipe between her lips…well, really a candy with a long, thin stick that she was using as a substitute.

“I know they say to dress for the job you want, but this is ridiculous.”

“But these are hand-me-downs from Siesta.”

Et tu, Siesta? Didn’t know the ace detective had a past.

“You’re really going for this proxy detective thing, huh?”

“Of course!” Alicia planted her hands on her hips triumphantly.

After we’d talked things over yesterday, Alicia had ultimately agreed to take over as detective for the injured Siesta in exchange for clothing, room, and board.

For the moment, we were looking for the “sapphire eye” Ms. Fuubi had told us about. We didn’t know any of the details, but the two of us had decided to start by putting in some legwork and conducting a field investigation.

“Let’s move out!” Alicia declared, then immediately vanished.

“Huh? …Hey, wait!”

The next thing I knew, Alicia was sprinting over the pavement for all she was worth. I hastily took off after her and ended up running more than a hundred meters before I finally caught up with her.

“…Hff…hff, why were you sprinting…?”

Alicia didn’t care about my problems. “Running is fun!”

She was as hyper as a kid on her first trip to the beach. Her smile was as dazzling as the summer sun, and that was great and all…but can’t she spare a thought for the guy who has to keep up with her?

“Listen, you don’t even remember who you are. You’re basically from Wonderland. Being curious is fine, but listen to what I tell you, too.” I couldn’t even pretend to smile as I dropped a hand lightly onto Alicia’s head. “Besides, remember what that red-headed police officer said? This area isn’t very safe right now. No wandering around by yourself.”

According to Siesta’s deduction, Hel was probably still here in London, covertly attacking its residents in Cerberus’s place. There was no telling when she’d target Siesta and me again. If Alicia was going around with us, she needed to be careful.

“All right, I get it! Don’t treat me like a kid.”

That is exactly what a stereotypical kid would say. “Okay. Good girl. Let’s go, then.”

“Uh-huh… Hey, why did you take my hand?! You were so smooth about it that you almost tricked me again!”

“Come on, Alicia, raise your hand while we’re in the crosswalk.”

“What exactly do you picture when you think ‘thirteen-year-old’?! I mean, seventeen! …Probably.” She sounded less and less certain, most likely because of the memory loss.

“Hmm, I’m pretty sure I was about that age, but…”

When we’d finished crossing at the light, Alicia ran up to a show window and examined her reflection in it. She pulled at her marshmallow-soft cheeks, then tilted her head in puzzlement.

“C’mon, let’s go. If she finds out we’ve been dawdling, Siesta’s going to take my butt again and…… Uh.”

“…What about your butt? ‘Again’? What exactly do you two do, normally?”

As we enjoyed our little conversation, the first destination we reached was, for some reason, a jewelry shop.

It hadn’t been my idea, of course. According to our new ace detective, this was the only possible place to find sapphires. Elementary, indeed.

The second we entered the shop, Alicia was off. The way she pounced on shiny things reminded me of a cat.

“Kimizuka! I found it!” Alicia shouted to me excitedly. I really wished she wouldn’t; people were giggling at us.

“…Oh. Yeah.”

The jewel, which shone as blue as the ocean, cost a whole two zeroes more than I’d thought it would.

“Case closed!” Alicia flashed a peace sign pose, then spoke to one of the clerks: “This one! Cash, one payment.”

“Whoa, whoa! Are you planning to make me buy that?!”

“You won’t?”

“I can’t!”

“…Are you poor, Kimizuka?”

Shut up, all right? And don’t give me that pitying look.

“Besides, this is just a jewel. What we’re looking for is more… Probably something more ‘underground,’ say.”

“Underground… Okay, got it!”

Alicia flew out of the shop, pulling me by the hand.

“You don’t get it! I’m positive you don’t get it, so stop, please…”

After another round of involuntary sprinting (at least for me), we reached a shop that was literally underground, in the basement of an old mixed-use building that stood in an alley. I sensed something sketchy about the place, but I pushed open the heavy door anyway. Inside, the store’s steel shelves held an array of dried plants and colorful incense. At the back of the store, a male clerk with several facial piercings was smoking a pipe.

“This is the place! There’s no mistake!”

“Except for all the ones in your head.”

…Seriously, why are you so energetic? Do you understand the situation you’re in?

Yesterday, when you learned you’d lost your memory, you were shaken. That I can understand. But now you’re in full “ace detective” mode. You’ve thrown yourself into your new identity. I mean, maybe that’s better for your mental health than staying depressed, but still.

“Hmm, this looks sweet.”

“Are you an idiot?! You’ll never kick the habit!”

Hastily, I pulled her out and back up to street level. Felt like we’d been holding hands this whole time…

“Haaah, I’m exhausted.”

This wasn’t fieldwork; it was babysitting. But Alicia stalked forward confidently, completely oblivious to the stress I was under.

“You look like you’re having fun.”

“Yes, I am.” She was beaming so bright that sarcasm seem pointless. “After all, it’s been a long time since I got to go outside.”

“Is that right?”

…A long time? What does she mean?

“Huh?” Alicia noticed the strangeness of her own remark and paused, frowning. “Wait, what made me think that?”

“Did you spend a whole lot of time in a room somewhere? Don’t tell me it was a hospital…” Maybe she’d been hospitalized, then slipped out of her room and went wandering around the city until she collapsed?

If that was true, it would change the situation. Should we take her to see a doctor after all?

“Mm, I don’t know… Whenever I try to think, my head starts to…”

She didn’t seem to be lying. Maybe it would be better to just keep an eye on the situation for now.

“You don’t have to force yourself to remember,” I said.

In some cases, time resolved this sort of thing naturally. Besides, once her injuries were healed, Siesta would probably do a little investigating anyway.

“Oh!” Alicia trotted off to another point of interest, apparently headache-free again.

“What’s up?”

It seemed to be a street stall. There was a mat spread on the paving stones, with handmade accessories displayed on it.

“This.”

She was pointing at a ring set with a sapphire…well, a blue stone that loosely resembled one.

“It looks similar, but it’s not quite the same thing.”

I couldn’t exactly say the word fake in front of the shop owner, so I vagued it up instead.

“I see. So it’s not it…”

Alicia’s shoulders drooped with obvious dejection. This girl didn’t just wear her heart on her sleeve; she waved it on a flag.

“Well, you don’t usually find these things right off the bat.” I consoled her with a cliché remark.

But it was probably true: We wouldn’t find the sapphire eye. More accurately, we didn’t really need to find it in the first place.

Then why had Siesta assigned Alicia this job, you ask? To build a relationship based on that one percent of self-interest. So that Alicia would be able to depend on us without feeling like she was imposing. She’d probably just used the information Ms. Fuubi had brought in order to set up an equivalent exchange: Alicia would be provided with food, clothing, and shelter in return for searching for the sapphire eye. Siesta seemed unsympathetic, but she was considerate of others.

“We should probably head back soon… Wait, huh?”

Yet again, Alicia had vanished as soon as I took my eye off her.

“Forget the sapphire. Finding her is gonna be a job and a half…”

When I glanced at the shop owner questioningly, they pointed toward my left.

“…Argh, I forgot.”

It was just one damn thing after another. Apparently, this busy day wasn’t over yet.

Underage alcohol and tobacco use is strictly prohibited by law

“All right, a toast to Siesta’s full recovery. Cheers!”

Siesta, Alicia, and I clinked our glasses together in a pub full of lively music.

It had already been two weeks since our battle with Hel and our meeting with Alicia. The casts had been removed from Siesta’s legs, and now, she could walk without any trouble. Today, we’d been partying since this afternoon, ostensibly to celebrate her recovery.

“…I don’t even remember how many toasts that makes.”

I was pretty sure this was the fourth place we’d been to since noon. My stomach was already filled to capacity, but the ace detectives still hadn’t had enough to eat and were scrutinizing the menu seriously. I’d just assumed we were on our last drink, but maybe not.

“There’s something I think you’d like, though, Kimi.”

“Oh yeah? Okay, just get me that, then.”

Without even glancing at the menu, I left my order to Siesta, who was sitting across from me.

“Hmm, it’s already nine, though… Don’t get anything spicy, Siesta.”

“Oh, you’re right. Don’t want to give myself a stomachache so that I can’t sleep again.”

“Spicy stuff always gives you the runs about three hours after.”

“Huh, I never noticed until you mentioned it to me. That’s so weird.”

“Look, just take some antacids. You’re not done eating yet, right?”

“All right. I’ll do that.”

Nodding in agreement, Siesta swallowed the medicine. In the meantime, I raised a hand, calling a waiter.

“Um, you’re synched so well, it’s kinda scary.” For reasons unknown, Alicia was glowering at me across the table. “What’s this telepathy thing you’ve got going? You let Siesta decide everything for you, and when you’re the one who tells her something, she listens…”

I see. To a bystander, that exchange had looked peculiar. But I mean, we’d spent a full three years together. We naturally let the other person set the criteria for whether or not we were going to do something. In other words—

“We each trust the other more than we trust ourselves,” I murmured absently.

“…So basically, you’re one of those sappy coup—”

“Excuse me, I’d like to place an additional order.”

Siesta clapped a hand sharply over Alicia’s mouth. Alicia kept on mumbling unintelligibly (and in pain) while Siesta coolly told the waiter what she wanted. That’s an ace detective for you: Even with kids, she shows no mercy.

Before long, Siesta finished her order and released Alicia.

“Haah.” Alicia panted. “That hurt… I thought I was going to die…”

“It’s your own fault for making fun of adults.”

“For an adult, you’re really bad at adulting! …Haah, I’m thirsty.” Alicia drained the glass that was closest to her and opened the drink menu. Guess she was still thirsty. “Hey, Kimizuka? What’s this ‘Cinderella’ thing?”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s a cocktail. It’s non-alcoholic, so even kids can have it.”

“Except I’m seventeen, not a kid.”

“Seventeen-year-olds aren’t allowed to drink, either.”

“Then I’ll have the Cinderella! Excuse me!” Alicia called, waving a waiter over again… Sheesh, her emotions were a roller coaster.

For the past two weeks, I’d gone all over London with proxy detective Alicia, taking a variety of cases. None of the incidents had been anything major, but I’d been partnered with Alicia, who did whatever her emotions dictated. The work had been littered with hardships that were nothing like what I ran into when Siesta was my partner. Looking back over these two weeks, it felt as if we’d spent every day causing a hundred issues in order to solve one problem.

“What’s the matter?” Before long, Alicia noticed me watching her and tilted her head.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how glad I am we found you a place to go home to for a bit.”

The trials and tribulations of these two weeks had not been completely fruitless—we’d decided that Alicia would leave the apartment where Siesta and I lived and stay at a certain church. The church ran a charity that took in orphans, and since Alicia had no relatives, they’d agreed to accept her.

“Well, it’s only a temporary measure. Until we know about Alicia’s memories and identity, we haven’t fundamentally resolved the issue,” said Siesta, her knife and fork pausing over her roast.

Apparently the fact that she hadn’t actually completed the job yet bothered her, but she’d been too injured to do much. She’d negotiated with the church behind the scenes; that was more than enough.

“I went to the church yesterday, and it was a lot of fun,” Alicia said to Siesta, maybe sensing her discomfort. “I got to play with some other kids who didn’t have families there. It kinda felt like school.” Alicia grinned and flashed a peace sign at us.

Apparently even Siesta couldn’t argue with a face like that; her lips softened. “School, huh? …I haven’t been there in quite a while, either.”

My last memory of it was that cultural festival, back in the second year of junior high. Come to think of it, Siesta had yanked me around quite a lot back then, too.

“And why are you looking at me?” Siesta asked, narrowing her eyes unhappily. “The crepes and the takoyaki were delicious, weren’t they?”

“All I remember is my stomachache.”

“Yes, you did hole up in the bathroom, didn’t you.”

“Come to think of it, you peeped on me…”

“And you got scared in the haunted house.”

Some memories are better left buried, okay? Also, what was it… If I remembered right, we’d ended up cosplaying a wedding ceremony… No, that wasn’t something I wanted to actively remember, either. My dark past.

“Well, the ribbon did look good on you, I guess.” I recalled that red-ribbon headband and how it had looked on Siesta.

“You certainly did seem captivated.”

“I wasn’t captivated. I was just…a little captivated, that’s all.”

“Assistant. English,” Siesta retorted and dabbed at her lips briskly with a napkin.

Hmm? Had I said something weird?

“A ribbon. Lucky…” Alicia was swinging her legs lazily. Apparently, the girl from Wonderland was at an age where she wanted to dress up.

“I’ll give you one later,” said Siesta.

“Really?! Yay!”

Alicia kicked her legs harder, as if she couldn’t contain her excitement, and then—

“I want to wear that, too, and—!” Her voice suddenly lowered. “…And go to a real school,” she said with a lonely smile.

Alicia claimed she’d lost her old memories, but that comment sounded as if she was subconsciously aware that she’d never been to school at all.

I couldn’t find anything tactful to say to her. Meanwhile, Siesta’s blue eyes were narrowed in thought.

“Kidding.” However, that shadow only lasted a moment before Alicia energetically drained the contents of her glass. “I don’t really care. I’ve got something else to do now.”

“You mean the detective job?”

“Yeah. I don’t have time to go to school.” Alicia nodded.

“And yet I hear you haven’t found the sapphire eye yet,” Siesta interjected with a slightly belligerent smile.

She was right. Over the past two weeks, Alicia and I had pulled off really simple requests, such as finding lost pets, but we still hadn’t made any headway with the hunt for the sapphire eye.

But Siesta probably wasn’t seriously trying to get Alicia to do anything about that. She’d only said that to lighten the mood before it could get too dark—or so I’d thought, but…

“—I—I know that. I just have to find it, right?” Alicia stood up, puffing out her cheeks indignantly. What are you, an instant water heater?

“Hey, whoa, you’re heading out now?”

“You don’t have to come, Kimizuka.”

“It’s dark outside. There’ll be monsters and stuff.”

“…Maybe I’ll go home first, then head out early tomorrow morning.”

Okay, that about-face was so quick that it was actually pretty cute.

“…Ahem. Anyway, I am most definitely going to find it by tomorrow!” Alicia pointed sharply at Siesta and me, then turned on her heel and left.

“She didn’t drink her cocktail.”

Well, there were bound to be all sorts of other opportunities. I finished what was left in my glass with some relief.

“She’s a pretty tricky girl to deal with, isn’t she?” Siesta held a fresh glass out to me; no telling when she’d ordered it. “These past two weeks must have been rough.”

“You said it… Even if you maybe shouldn’t be the one saying it.”

Siesta and Alicia’s personalities and stances were complete opposites, but they were definitely both tiring people to be with.

“What are we going to do about her from now on, though?” Now that Alicia wasn’t here, I chose that moment to ask. I kept the wording vague, but I knew Siesta would understand.

“Once I start a job, I never back out.”

“…I see.”

If Siesta’s injuries were healed, that meant we were ready to fight Hel again. In other words, parting ways with Alicia soon was inevitable.

However, Siesta had shaken her head. She’d chosen to help a lone girl in distress over defeating a great evil.

“I couldn’t possibly back down before we’ve managed to help her learn her age, or where she came from, or even what her real name is. No matter what, I won’t let a client’s request go unfulfilled.” Siesta smiled.

And so our hectic yet peaceful routine was going to last a little longer.

“Then we’ll be staying in London for a while?”

“Yes, probably. Just the two of us in the apartment again.” Siesta lifted her glass to her lips and swallowed audibly, her white throat working. The motion was rather bewitching.

“What?”

“…Nothing. I was just thinking this was kinda peaceful.”

For close to three years, Siesta and I had lived through some turbulent times, pursuing SPES or being pursued by them. We’d walked through deserts without water, we’d slept out in the open during a hurricane, and I didn’t have enough fingers to count all the times we’d had to do our business in a field. It had been a dizzying three years, sometimes fighting with pseudohumans, sometimes fighting the limits of human dignity. For me, those days were so—

“You’re getting sentimental.”

Siesta poked my cheek with a fingertip. She was wearing that expression that said she’d found prey that was worth teasing… I swear, she was as much of a mind-reader as ever. I really hate that side of you, you know.

“That’s not it.” I chugged the contents of the glass Siesta had set in front of me, and then—

“Bfft! —This is alcohol!”

Damn, it’s bitter… That was the first liquor I’d ever had.

“Hey, we’re minors!”

“You think minors carry one of those around?” Siesta shot a glance at my waist.

Well, if she was going to bring that up, I mean…

“This is my party, remember? You’re going to keep me company until I’m done,” said Siesta, swirling her glass as if she’d been drinking red wine all her life.

“That’s not something a minor should be saying.”

“What about you, Kimi? What are you having?”

“No, I’m already…”

“You’re going to make it up to me, aren’t you?” Siesta’s lips moved slightly.

Make what up to her? Is she talking about the apple pie incident?

“You’ll do what I say, won’t you?” Siesta tilted her head, delicately.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were faintly moist—maybe it was the alcohol. Somehow, she looked younger than usual.

“…Just one more drink.”

After all, I couldn’t say no to that, could I?

Later on, I’ll remember this day

“And so theeen, I was still little, so I got really nervous when I swallowed the watermelon seed. I thought it might sprout in my stomach, and then what would I do?”

After we’d returned from the pub, Siesta’s face was so red that her original skin tone was completely lost. She was sitting on the bed with her legs splayed out in an M-shape, bouncing up and down, even though she’d been injured just the other day. She was wearing a bathrobe, just like I was, and every time she bounced, certain other parts bounced dramatically, too.

…Or maybe they only seemed to because my head wasn’t really working, either.

I didn’t know. I couldn’t seem to figure it out. After all, I was drunk, too.

I was pretty sure that, at that restaurant with its view of the city lights, we’d promised “Just one more drink,” then promised again… About ten times, I think. For the last one, we might have pinky-sworn, linked our arms, and drained our glasses. Urgh, I can’t remember…

“Assistant? Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, I’m listening. You were talking about whether a watermelon was a vegetable or a fruit, right?”

“Mm-hmm. I asked for a melon, but then they brought me a lemon. I had no idea what was going on.”

Desperately forcing my sluggish brain to function, I sat in a chair facing Siesta, nodding along with her story.

Our conversation had been barely functional for a while now, and I kinda suspected she’d been telling me an extremely tedious story, but there was just no way Siesta—flawless, calm, cool, and collected Siesta, the greatest ace detective in history—would dribble on about anything pointless.

Probably just too high-minded for me, I thought, so I kept my eyes locked on hers and listened carefully. Siesta’s eyes drooped in a liquid, melting way, and there wasn’t a trace of her usual cool image to be seen.

“Say, why have you been so far away all this time?” Siesta pouted sulkily, and I felt as if I was doing something bad somehow. “Come over here.”

“…Into bed?”

“Yes. Let’s talk over here together, okay?”

I…wasn’t sure about that idea.

A young man and woman, getting into bed together… Couldn’t that, um, be a problem? In multiple ways?

I tried to harness what little solid thoughts and reason I had left, but—

“Is it not okay?” she asked.

“Nah, it’s fine.”

If that was the answer my brain had coughed up, then that was the answer I’d give. Obeying the results of my thought experiment, I slipped into the bed Siesta was sitting on.

…Did I actually need to get into bed? The thought crossed my mind, and then it promptly vanished.

“Heh-heh. This is the first time we’ve slept together like this, isn’t it?”

Then Siesta got under the covers beside me, and there we were. In the same bed, under the same blankets.

“You’re right here, Kimi. So close.” Siesta rolled onto her side, gazing at me.

The lights in the room were dim, but I could make out her face clearly.

“If I went two days without seeing you, I really would forget your face.”

“So that doesn’t change even when you’re drunk, huh?”

“Heh-heh. Well, picking on you is fun, Kimi.”

“There she is, the young sadist.”

“The truth is that you like it when I pick on you, though.”

“Don’t make up weird motivations for me!”

“Then would you rather I never teased you again, as long as we live?”

“……”

“Should I just not talk to you?”

“……”

“You really are funny, Kimi.”

“…Shove it.”

“That crabby face is kinda cute.”

“That’s not a compliment!”

“Well, I’ll forget it in two days, though.”

“So now we’re back to that?!” I rolled over toward Siesta.

“But…”

What I saw was her profile; she was gazing at the ceiling.

“I’ll never forget these three years I spent with you.”

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the bravery on her face as long as I live.

“Heh-heh. Whoops, I got a little serious, there.”

However, Siesta promptly reverted to her blind drunk expression and rolled over toward me.

“If they took seriousness away from you, what would you have left?” I asked.

I’d missed my chance to revert to my former position, and Siesta and I ended up lying there face-to-face.

“That’s so mean. Just what do you think I am anyway?”

Logic incarnate? The cerebral ace detective or something? Was that what I should say?

“Why don’t we…”

Smoothly, Siesta closed the distance between us.

Just a few more centimeters and our noses—and possibly our lips—would touch. Our bodies were already almost pressed together, and from the swell of Siesta’s ample bosom, I could hear the sound of her leaping heart.

“…do something silly for a change?”

My whole body grew hot.

Come to think of it, we’d discussed her three great drives at one point.

“Siesta, I’m…” The next thing I knew, I was leaning over Siesta.

“…Assistant.” Siesta shut her eyes, tightly.

Making up my mind, I brought my face, my lips, closer to her, closer—

Most late-night moments of weakness make you want to die in the morning

“Phew, someone kill me, please.”

When I woke up the next morning, after a minute or so of attempting to think, that was the first comment that came to mind.

First things first—my head hurt like a bitch; last night’s alcohol was definitely still in my system. And that headache was figurative and literal, thanks to the ace detective fast asleep next to me, breathing peacefully.

I’d heard that when you drank enough liquor to fill a bathtub, you forgot everything by the next morning…but unfortunately, my cerebral cortex remembered yesterday’s sorry display with devastating clarity.

“Uu, ghk, kill me noooow…”

My first-ever drinking binge had combined with the late-night mood to create a mortifying exchange. What the hell had I been thinking yesterday? What had made me get into bed with Siesta? And after that…

“Bluuurgh.”

Various emotions and the contents of my stomach forced their way up in a wave of nausea. Clapping a hand over my mouth, I started to get out of bed, and just then—

“……”

Siesta’s eyes opened, and we made eye contact. We gazed at each other, blinking, for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever.

“…Good morning.”

“……”

I greeted her tentatively, but there was no response.

Instead, Siesta ducked under the covers, checking on something. Then she poked her head out again. Her expression was unreadable. That part was fairly normal…but for some reason, I could nearly sense something like menace in it.

“Good morning,” Siesta answered after an eternity. Firmly securing her bathrobe around her, she took a small silver attaché case out of the suitcase she always used.

I couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, since she was facing away, but I assumed she was taking something out of the case. Just as I thought that, Siesta turned back to me.

“Assistant, I want you to hold out your arm.”

“Maybe after you put the huge needle away!”

Siesta was holding a syringe in her right hand; there was liquid leaking out of its tip. “It’s fine. It’ll only hurt for a second.”

“Hell no! When I said I wanted to die, I wasn’t being serious!”

“It won’t kill you. This injection temporarily erases human memories, that’s all.”

“You’re kidding, right?! Is that another one of your special Seven Tools?!”

“No, it’s not. Come on, don’t you remember? At the cultural festival, where we caught the Miss Hanakos. This has just a little of the same ingredient that was in that drug mixed into it.”

Th-this couldn’t be worse… That stuff’s guaranteed to work…

“It’s fine. I’ve run some experiments and made an improved version that won’t damage your health.”

“Wait just a minute, did you run those on me?! I thought I’d been more forgetful than usual lately; was that why?!”

If it was, this was no joke. Still in my bathrobe, I tried to bolt out of the apartment, but—

“I won’t let you get away.”

“Ghk, hah.” Siesta leaped onto my back, straddling me and pinning me to the floor.

“Now put out your arm. You’re going to forget everything about yesterday… About me yesterday.”

I was no match for a ticked-off Siesta, and the syringe bore down on my right arm—

Ding-dong. At the very last second, the doorbell rang, announcing a visitor.

“…Somebody’s here.”

“……”

“You’re sure you don’t need to get that?”

“Tch!”

“Don’t tsk at me; just…don’t.” It’s totally out of character for you.

Getting off me reluctantly, Siesta headed for the door. “Yes?”

When she opened it, standing on the other side was…

“It was really noisy in here. What were you doing?”

…Alicia, the proxy detective.

“Well, not like I care.” She put her hands on her hips and declared, “Mission accomplished.”

Alicia surveyed us triumphantly. She was holding a small bag.

Mission accomplished? She couldn’t actually have found the sapphire eye after that, could she?

Had Alicia—our Alicia—managed to find what Siesta had nearly given up on?

“Here.”

Alicia held the bag out to me. Inside was—

“An eye patch?”

It was a perfectly ordinary black eye patch, something that made no sense in the context of the conversation.

“The eye that’s actually important is that one, isn’t it?” Alicia boldly declared, pointing at my left eye. “Unless you wear an eye patch like you’re supposed to, it won’t heal up.”

Standing on tiptoe, Alicia tied the eye patch on.

“…So you noticed, huh?”

“Well, we were together for two whole weeks.”

I hadn’t intentionally been hiding it from Alicia, but my left eye had been wounded in that fight with Hel. As far as day-to-day life was concerned, it wasn’t much of a problem, but my visual impairment had caused me to lose track of Alicia in town several times.

“That phantom eye may not even exist—instead of relying on it, you should take good care of the one that’s already here.”

Apparently, I’d misread Alicia a bit as a person. The girl who openly expressed all her emotions was probably just the surface. Her true nature was bound to be—

“That’s my answer.” Alicia glanced at Siesta. “Is it the right one?”

Was that what it had been? Had this been the problem Siesta had set for Alicia all along? Had she wanted to see what sort of answer the girl would come up with, when given the impossible task of finding something that didn’t exist? After a short silence, Princess Kaguya of the Bamboo gave her long-awaited answer.

“J-just as I’d planned.”

Siesta’s gaze was wandering so dramatically it beggared belief.

“No, seriously, how bad at lying are you?”

Even if it was only for a moment, the proxy had outmatched the ace.

The turning point for everything

“I’m not terribly good at being clever in the moment.”

Siesta was walking beside me, her expression unusually bitter.

After the episode that morning, Siesta had accompanied me to the supermarket to do some shopping now that her legs were fully healed.

“I haven’t seen you like that in a long time,” I commented.

The ace detective seemed to be a perfect superhuman, but she had a surprising number of weak points.

“…Shut up.”

It was unusual for her to be this cranky, too. It wasn’t bad to flip the power dynamic once in a while, was it?

“Do you like your present from a girl that much?” Siesta shot a cold glance at the eye patch over my left eye.

But before I could make some kind of objection—

“…No, sorry. That’s not what I meant.” Siesta’s shoulders hunched just a little, and there was less confidence in her voice than usual. “I’m just embarrassed that I wasn’t as attentive about your eye.”

“Is that right?”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Well, you know. You’re human, too, I guess.” I chose something totally obvious. “I’m glad you’re human enough to get yanked around by petty emotions like that.”

“…Really.”

She smiled faintly, then nodded quietly two or three times.

After that, we walked on for a while, and then Siesta abruptly stopped. She was studying the sign for an underground live music venue. There was a poster for a performer pasted to the wall nearby—and although it didn’t give their name, it advertised an upcoming guest from Japan.

“Siesta?”

“…It’s nothing.” Siesta shook her head and started walking again. “Not yet.”

“…?”

Just as I was about to ask her what she meant, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. According to the screen, it was an international call. Wondering what was up, I hit the TALK button and heard a very familiar voice.

“Hey, you damn brat. It looks like you managed to survive somehow.”

She talked like a middle-aged man, which was probably why guys tended to avoid such an attractive woman. Telling her so was guaranteed to get me drawn and quartered, though.

“That’s what you should have said when we ran into each other earlier, Ms. Fuubi.”

Plus, Siesta and I both sustained major injuries because of that Jack the Ripper case you brought us. Earlier, when you randomly appeared in our apartment, you didn’t mention that at all.

As I thought back, it struck me as incredibly unfair, and I was planning to continue with a complaint or three, when—

“Huh? When did we run into each other?”

The voice from the phone wasn’t teasing. She sounded genuinely bewildered.

“Come on, what are you talking about? It was two weeks ago. You dropped in unannounced and told us something about a sapphire eye, remember?”

“Huh? I only visited you once, to discuss the Jack the Ripper incident with you. You confuse me with somebody?”

I broke out in goose bumps all over.

“I just heard that you two had a hell of a fight after that; this is the first time I’ve called.”

Whoa, wait, you’re kidding me. What was that, then? Two weeks ago, when we’d met Ms. Fuubi, or the individual who looked like her, for the second time— No, that’s right. Come to think of it, there was something weird. When she’d shown up then, she’d had her Zippo lighter, even though she’d given it to me earlier.

“Hello? Kimizuka? Hellooooo?”

The voice on the other end of the phone seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

My unpleasant hunch changed to certainty crawling all through me.

“Assistant.”

Siesta must have figured out what this conversation was about already. She nodded quietly, her expression grim.

The Ms. Fuubi we’d met in London that second time had been a fake.

There was only one being who could pull off that trick: Cerberus, the shape-shifter.

Ace detective vs. ace detective

It was the day after that phone call with the real Ms. Fuubi.

“But Hel definitely killed Cerberus in front of us. Didn’t she?” I said.

In a room of our detective office-and-residence…

As Siesta and I poked at our curry, I was trying to get the situation straight in my mind.

“The carrots are as hard as rocks,” she complained.

“Yeah, it was a mistake to make me cook, huh?”

“Why do you sound almost proud?”

“The thing is, I couldn’t find the usual kitchen knife anywhere.”

“…So that’s why the vegetables are in chunks. You broke them up with your hands.”

Okay, this isn’t the time to be arguing about the curry.

“Anyway, you’re right. Cerberus died. I doubt there’s any mistake about that.”

“Then what was that fake Ms. Fuubi? If that was a transformation ability, then Cerberus really can’t be…”

“Which view are you backing, Kimi?”

…Well, no matter which theory we went with, we’d have a contradiction on our hands. Cerberus had seemed to die right in front of us—but then there was no way to explain the fake Ms. Fuubi who’d shown up afterward.

“That means they’re either both true or both false.”

“What is that, a Zen riddle?”

“Don’t joke about this.” Siesta shoved a spoon with a chunk of potato on it into my mouth. Okay, yeah: This dish was a fail.

“What if our counterfeit cop was actually Hel?”

“Hel? But she didn’t have a transformation ability—”

“Here’s the thing about pseudohumans,” Siesta interrupted. “They’re created with a certain object as their core. If they inherit the core, they can inherit its special abilities as well.”

“Was that the black rock thing that Hel pulled out of Cerberus’s chest?”

“Exactly. It’s conceivable that she stealthily retrieved that and stole Cerberus’s abilities.”

“Then you’re saying Cerberus himself is already dead, and Hel inherited his ability, pretended to be Ms. Fuubi, and made contact with us?”

That would explain why the heart hunt was still going on, even though Cerberus had died.

In that case, why on earth had Hel visited us? It was a bold move, coming to talk to the two of us and Alicia.

On top of that, she’d gone out of her way to talk about the serial murders she was committing and tell us about the existence of the sapphire eye. A taunt…? No—from an ordinary perspective, it was more likely to have been a trap.

“We still don’t know what the truth is. But what we need to do hasn’t changed. We’ll put an end to these murders.”

Yeah, she was right. We’d defeat Hel for sure this time, full stop.

“By the way, do the victims of the current incidents have anything in common? Or are they random, like Cerberus’s were?”

“It looks as if they’re attacking passersby at random,” said Siesta. “Number four was killed last night.”

“So is she going around stealing hearts to revive the biological weapon?”

“I’m not sure. They might be for herself.”

“For herself? …Oh, I see.”

Right. In that last one-on-one fight with Siesta, Hel had pierced her own heart with her blade.

“That being the case, Hel may be going around searching for a replacement heart.”

“Can she pull off a dress-up doll trick like that one?”

“She can,” Siesta replied casually. “After all, the enemy is a pseudohuman.”

…True. We’d been fighting monsters this whole time.

“Still, I’m impressed you managed to find out that much in just a day.”

Yesterday, after I’d ended the phone call with Ms. Fuubi, Siesta had vanished into the city by herself. Finally, around dinnertime today, she’d come back with all this information.

“It wasn’t easy; they’ve muzzled the press. Besides, if I’d been at full capacity during those two weeks, I would have picked up on a few things sooner.”

“Don’t worry about it; rest while you’re injured, at least. If you don’t, I…”

I broke off. Siesta stole a glance at me.

“No, never mind.” I shoveled the nasty curry into my mouth instead of finishing the thought.

Sometimes I worry you might break. To her, my selfish worry would probably just be a nuisance.

“Tomorrow’s gonna be a hell of a day,” I said to bridge the gap in the conversation.

“True. But in that case…” Unusually, Siesta hesitated. But she didn’t have to say it for me to understand.

“Alicia, you mean?”

We’d found a place that would take Alicia in temporarily, but of course that didn’t completely resolve the issue. If we threw ourselves into battle with Hel, we’d end up kicking Alicia’s problem farther down the road. Siesta was probably concerned about that.

“If this is about me, I’m fine.”

Well, if Alicia said so, then we could probably keep our priorities the way they were, but…

“…! A-Alicia, when did you—!”

The next thing I knew, Alicia was on my left, crunching away on the curry I’d made.

“This is way too loud to be curry,” she commented.

That was when I finally remembered the eye patch over my left eye. Unless I thought about it, I forgot that my vision was limited.

“Did you wash your hands?”

“Don’t treat me like a child. I washed them until my fingerprints wore off.”

“What are you, a wanted criminal?”

“Anyway.” Alicia returned the conversation to the original topic. “You don’t have to worry about me. You should focus on the issue that’s killing people.”

With unexpected calm (although maybe that’s a rude way to put it), Alicia insisted that we should resolve the incidents that were occurring in this city before we dealt with her problem.

“Alicia, what’s your game here?” Siesta seemed vaguely skeptical as she observed Alicia. “You didn’t go to the trouble of coming here just to say something that sensible, did you?”

…Somehow, I felt like the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees.

Not to be outdone, Alicia leaned over the table, facing Siesta squarely. “I want you to let me help with this case, too.”

“I thought you’d say that. But no, absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s dangerous. Four people have died already.”

“I solved cases with Kimizuka, too. For two whole weeks.”

“You mean finding cats and delivering wallets to police boxes?”

“S-size doesn’t matter when it comes to cases!”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“But it’s still an argument!”

Their opinions stayed on parallel rails, never intersecting—but physically, the distance between their faces was closing, until they were so close that their noses nearly touched… Although Siesta hadn’t moved a millimeter from her original position.

“Calm down a little.” I caught Alicia’s small shoulder and returned her to her chair.

“…I’m a detective, too.” Alicia’s shoulders drooped conspicuously. She’d lost that round.

“Alicia, at best, you were a proxy detective.” However, Siesta didn’t ease up. She just stated the facts. “Now that I’ve recovered, you aren’t needed.”

“…Hey, Siesta. Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”

What she was saying was correct, but the correct answer wasn’t necessarily always the best solution.

“What? You’re taking her side, Kimi?”

“You know I didn’t say that.”

“Oh, so you really do like little girls… Huh, you’re right. The carving knife’s gone.”

“I told you, I don’t. Also, don’t go looking for sharp objects in the middle of this conversation.”

“Then what? You spent three years with me, and now you’d choose her after only two weeks playing detective…”

She cut herself off, apparently realizing she really had said too much this time.

“Siesta, what’s wrong?”

She was acting weird today.

…No, it wasn’t just today. She might have been like that all the time lately.

It was as if she was feeling anxious and impatient, for some reason. But then she’d abruptly turn open and honest, and start acting like she wanted me to baby her. Come to think of it, she’d been striking out on her own more often lately, attempting to get things done without telling me. Was she hiding something from me?

“It’s nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” Siesta replied indifferently from the kitchen.

She didn’t turn to look at me. And of course, she didn’t answer any of my questions… But that was the relationship we’d built. She wouldn’t die without telling me. The simple fact that she’d made that promise to me back then was more than enough progress.

“Fine, then.” Alicia stood smoothly. She gazed at Siesta, and her eyes were determined. “I’ll do this my way.”

In a certain sense, that was her good-bye to Siesta; in another, it was the true birth of the new detective.

“I swear I’ll be the one to solve this case. Once I do, I’ll—” Alicia bit her lip.

“Alicia?” I said.

She shook her head. “Nothing.” Why wouldn’t either detective answer questions from her assistant? “Still, that’s how it is. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be counting on you, Kimizuka.”

The request had come out of nowhere, and I had no idea what I’d be helping with, but my employer had put me through a strict daily training regimen—

“Yeah, sure. Roger that; I’m on it.”

And so on reflex, I gave a response that wasn’t likely to cause offense.

“Hooray! You heard him: Kimizuka’s going to be my assistant from now on, too!”

“………Huh?”

The reaction had come from Siesta, who was turning back to look at me and Alicia.

I mean, a mental “Huh?” had gone through my head, too, but the one who’d actually said it aloud was Siesta.

“No, Assistant is my…my…”

She couldn’t get out the rest of that sentence. Her lips just moved a little, uselessly.

Right then…

“Sirens?”

A warning of major trouble passed the window.

That sound meant Hel had stolen the heart of a fifth victim.

People call it Jack the Devil

Up until now, the press had been restricted due to fears that attracting more attention to the crimes might escalate them. However, with the fifth victim in this chain of grotesque murders, the modern-day Jack the Ripper—now known as Jack the Devil—was finally exposed to the public eye.

The reason was that, while the first four victims had been killed late at night, this murder had happened at a fairly early hour, in the presence of multiple witnesses. Most importantly, the fifth victim had been a young female member of Parliament who’d been famous in this district.

A charismatic, beautiful politician had been murdered in a gruesome way—the media was scrambling over itself to cover the sensational incident.

“…And this is the result, huh?”

We’d come to the large house where that fifth victim was said to have lived with her mother, but it was already being mobbed by a throng of camera-wielding reporters. I knew I was here because I’d hoped to find a hint of some sort, too, but this was clearly crossing a line.

“Right in the middle of a tragedy…”

As she watched the media completely fail to consider the feelings of the victim’s bereaved family, Alicia clenched her small fists next to me.

The crew members banged on the door and leaned on the doorbell so hard, it was a wonder it didn’t break. Finally, the door swung open, as if it hadn’t been able to take the beating anymore, and a haggard-looking woman of around sixty emerged. The reporters hastily surrounded her.

“Kimizuka, that’s…”

“Yeah, it’s probably her mother.”

The woman shrank back before the mob of cameras on her doorstep.

“…I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can tell you…”

But the reporters kept badgering her until the questions almost sounded accusatory.

“Kimizuka…” Alicia tugged on my sleeve gently.

“Yeah, I know.”

Just as I was wondering if there was anything we could do to run that crowd off…

Bang! In the distance, I heard the crack of a gunshot.

After that, things moved fast. Scrambling over themselves again, the media crews dashed off in pursuit of fresher information. Less than a minute later, everyone but us was gone.

“Mercenary bunch, aren’t they?”

They were like vermin lunging at scattered bait. Blatantly using the instincts of dumb animals—our ace detective was a little different from the rest.

“I’m impressed, Siesta.”

“Do you feel like returning to me now?” she asked, coming up next to me. She shot me a cold glance.

I don’t remember ever dissolving our partnership in the first place, you know.

“…Thanks,” Alicia said quietly, temporarily shelving the weird awkwardness in their relationship.

“It’s not as if I did it for anyone in particular.”

“Oh, just say what you mean.”

That, right there. Siesta always said that kind of thing to me. I never thought I’d see her on the receiving end.

“Oh!”

Alicia gave a brief cry, as if she’d noticed something. However, by the time I turned around, she was over by the front door, supporting the woman who’d been attacked by the media.

“Hurry, you two!” Alicia called to us.

The woman had nearly collapsed from the sudden release of tension. Both Siesta and I let her lean on our shoulders as well, and together, we helped her into the house.

“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you,” the woman said.

We were in the living room now, and resting a little seemed to have helped her.

“I’ll go put on the kettle for—”

“No, please don’t bother.” Shakily, she tried to rise from the sofa.

“Are you okay?” Sitting next to her, Alicia slipped in to support her and lowered her to the sofa again. Siesta and I were sitting opposite them.

“I’m so sorry. It was very sudden, and I’m still shaken…”

The woman gazed at a framed photo that stood on a nearby shelf. In it, she and her daughter—the MP who’d died in this incident—were standing together and smiling.

“My husband died young in an accident, and for so long, I was never able to give that girl anything more than hardship… And yet she told me that one day, she’d be rich enough for her mum to live comfortably. And she did—she grew to be a splendid young woman, and she even built me this house. She was far too good for me, and I was so proud of—”

A sob escaped her, and Alicia rubbed her back gently.

“I want to ask you about the day of the incident,” Siesta interjected, even as the woman cried. “Did you notice anything unusual about your daughter?” Her phrasing was matter-of-fact, and her expression didn’t change in the slightest. As if she believed that was what she should be doing, Siesta did her job.

“…Siesta, listen…”

I saw how I’d misunderstood. She hadn’t gotten rid of the media in order to help this woman. She’d wanted to speak to her without anyone getting in the way.

That was how Siesta did things; I’d known that. The intellectual ace detective didn’t let fleeting emotions sway her.

“That day…? No. There was nothing particularly unusual before she left the house…”

Dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief, the mother seemed to find answering the question painful.

“In that case, when you saw your daughter’s body, was anything—”

“Siesta.”

I wouldn’t let her get any further. Siesta glanced at me, then closed her mouth.

“I wasn’t able to give her anything,” the woman said softly. “I only took what she gave me, and I couldn’t give her anything in return. Who’d have thought it would hurt this much? I never dreamed…”

The tears were streaming down her face now. There was nothing Siesta could say. I’d stopped her, but I couldn’t find anything to say, either.

“That’s not true.”

The voice was so tearful that I thought it belonged to the woman at first, but no—it had come from the person who was sitting beside her.

“No one ever only takes, or only gives. No relationship is that one-sided.”

Alicia stood up, tears trickling down her cheeks, and spoke to the woman earnestly.

“If you ‘only took’ something from your daughter—I’m sure it’s because you’d given her so much in the past! Isn’t that right?! People’s feelings always go both ways. That’s how it should be.”

She had no proof, and possibly not even a persuasive argument—but Alicia used the steady passion that blazed inside her to fuel her words.

Alicia extended a hand to the person she hoped to save. She was the polar opposite of Siesta; I probably couldn’t have pulled it off, either.

“…Thank you.”

The woman stood up, then gently pulled Alicia into an embrace.

“Somehow, it feels as though my daughter is telling me those things.”