Why Did You Have to Provoke Him?

Leon, who had already turned halfway around, abruptly turned back at those words. At some point, that familiar, kindly smile had appeared on his face.

A bad feeling immediately rose in Klein's mind.

No! I still have a Tarot Club meeting to hold. Why did you have to provoke him?

Klein felt like crying but had no tears as he looked toward the voice. Madam Sharon had somehow slipped away from the police guarding her and was coming toward the stairs, her boots clattering against the floor.

She wore a long white dress with a low neckline, and her brown curls fell loose over her shoulders. Though she had touched up her makeup, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and her slightly swollen eyelids still betrayed last night's indulgence and her disheveled state moments ago.

"Mr. Detective!"

Her voice was quite soft, as though she had deliberately lowered it, yet it didn't feel affected.

Leon raised an eyebrow but didn't move.

Madam Sharon hurried up the stairs and stopped two steps below Leon, putting her gaze level with the solid chest of the young detective leaning against the banister.

"Mr. Kaspar," she said, catching her breath. The rise and fall of her chest was especially noticeable at the neckline of her long white dress. "I know you. You're the best private detective in Tingen. I need your help."

Klein stood half a step behind Leon, his gaze shifting between the two of them.

The words Leon had spoken before the ritual flashed frantically through his mind. It seemed Leon had once been badly burned by this woman.

Although Leon hadn't explained exactly why, his reaction now made it clear it wasn't something easily forgiven.

He noticed Madam Sharon's fingers trembling slightly, though he couldn't tell whether her fear was real or an act.

"You need my help?" Leon said lazily, with the easy air of someone watching a show. "Madam Sharon, shouldn't you be dealing with..."

He turned his head to glance at Madam Maynard, who was still roaring downstairs. She had now turned the same resentful glare on Leon, whom Madam Sharon had called "the best detective."

"I need you to help me clear my name." Madam Sharon lowered her voice, leaned closer, and placed a hand on Leon's shoulder.

A scent that mingled a delicate air with expensive perfume wafted over.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Leon asked teasingly.

"Investigate Maynard's death." Madam Sharon's lips trembled. "I didn't kill him. I really didn't. He just... he suddenly couldn't go on."

"But I'm afraid, Mr. Kaspar. I'm afraid someone wants to harm me."

"Someone wants to harm you?" Leon repeated. His eyelid twitched involuntarily, and a trace of mockery crept into his voice, too subtle for anyone to notice.

"So you're the victim? The police got it wrong?"

"Yes!" Madam Sharon gave a sob and nodded gently. "They want to pin it on me. It must be that old woman, Maynard's wife!"

"She's wanted to get rid of Maynard for ages, but she didn't want to lose his inheritance and status, so..."

"Madam Sharon!"

Klein, who had been standing to the side and sensing that the atmosphere was growing increasingly wrong, finally couldn't hold back. Before Madam Sharon could continue, he interjected, "You have quite an imagination."

"But we're police officers. Although Leon used to be a detective, we can only go by the evidence now."

As he spoke, he tried to pull Leon away. If this powder keg really exploded, he truly wouldn't be able to hold the Tarot Club meeting, and he feared he wouldn't even have time to notify the other members.

"I'll give you evidence!" Madam Sharon ignored Klein's hint and instead climbed another step, moving even closer to Leon and pressing herself directly against him.

She raised her head and brought her lips to Leon's ear.

"Mr. Detective,"

Her voice changed. It was no longer soft, but low and threatening. "Don't forget who it was that knelt and begged me back then, and even..."

Madam Sharon hadn't spoken quietly enough to keep her words from carrying. When Klein heard them, his heart sank.

I'm done for! I heard something I shouldn't have!

He looked at Leon, whose expression hadn't changed at all. He still wore that kindly smile.

From what Klein knew of Leon, the best thing he could do now was get away from here, lest he end up splattered with blood.

Just as Klein gave up on stopping any of this and was about to find a washroom to notify the others that the meeting was canceled,

Leon suddenly seized Madam Sharon by the shoulders and pinned her against the stairs, facing forward.

He called to Tolle, who had long since fled downstairs and hidden in a corner, "Madam Sharon just said she's willing to turn herself in."

Inspector Tolle poked his head out of the corner, his face full of bewilderment.

"Huh? What?"

"Turn herself in." Leon's voice wasn't loud, but it rang especially clear through the now-quiet residence. "Madam Sharon said she's willing to turn herself in."

Madam Sharon struggled desperately in his grip, leaving gray smudges on her long white dress as it scraped against the stairs.

"I didn't! You're talking nonsense! Let go of me!!!"

Leon didn't let go. Instead, he twisted her arm a little tighter behind her back.

"Madam Sharon," he said, his voice still gentle, as though comforting a frightened child, "didn't you just say you'd give me evidence? Then give it at the police station."

"You-!"

Madam Sharon turned her head and glared at Leon with her carefully made-up eyes, her lips trembling with anger.

"You think you can get rid of me this way? You think I don't know your background? You-"

"What about me?" Leon interrupted, his tone frighteningly calm. He too brought his lips close to Madam Sharon's ear.

"Madam Hoy, you'd better think carefully before you speak. It's not as though I know nothing about you."

Madam Sharon opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She said nothing more. All emotion vanished from her eyes, which were like a pool of stagnant water, or a bottomless pit. She simply stared at Leon, as though looking at a dead man.

"Inspector Tolle!" Leon paid no heed to that murderous gaze and raised his voice. "Sorry for the trouble, but could you come up here?"

Inspector Tolle hesitated, but still climbed the stairs.

He looked at Madam Sharon, whom Leon had restrained, then at Leon. His expression was extremely complicated.

"This is..."

"Madam Sharon just told me,"

Leon said, releasing her and taking a step back, the smile on his face turning kindly again, "that she doesn't think Councilor Maynard's death was an accident. She's willing to cooperate with the investigation and tell the police everything she knows."

With that, he gave Klein a lingering look. "You heard her too, didn't you, Klein?"

Klein met his eyes and fell silent for a second.

"Yes," he said.

Fifteen minutes later, a carriage arranged by the police station stopped on Daffodil Street.

Two figures in formal attire stepped out and walked side by side toward their homes.

Neither spoke along the way. Only when they reached their doors did Klein finally give in and ask Leon:

"You're not going to assassinate Madam Sharon in the middle of the night, are you?"

"Is that how you see me? As some bloodthirsty person?" Leon said irritably.

"When you're dealing with a woman who's trouble from head to toe, only a fool would take violent revenge in public. Isn't keeping her locked up in there for a few more days better than anything else?"

"Tomorrow I'll go to the captain and submit a report saying Madam Sharon might be a Beyonder who's lost control. That'll take care of everything."

With that, he pushed open his door and went inside.

Klein stood outside, looking at the closed door, with the persistent feeling that he had missed something.

But it was almost three o'clock. He fell silent for a few seconds, then finally turned and opened the door to his own home.

In the washroom, he locked the door, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.

Then the Gray Fog emerged.