Making it Bizarre and Weird - The Detective Girl

Chapter 08 - The Chase

"Well, his body is here, but if you meant in spirit, I'm afraid he's all gone," the blonde girl answered. "Meanwhile, the only one still missing would be Lady Gillium..."

"She would leave right after the masquerade though," Lucia told her. "We would stay another night before departing, but she wanted to leave right after. That could explain her absence."

Gaillard's eyes narrowed coldly. "I did not see her pass."

Lucia squeezed the hand of her husband. "Darling, the departure of the guests was chaotic... You have probably just missed her."

"I will look into it," the detective girl ensured them. "As well as into your alibis."

"Naturally," the man with the long, purple hair stoically answered.

"That only leaves your alibi, detective." The lady's eyes gazed down on the young adolescent. "I know where your assistant was... so where were you at the time of the murder? Can you tell us?"

The detective girl's lips stretched into an amused smile. "Of course not," she laughed.

Len frowned at her withdrawal of information. Analyzing the hardened expression of the cherry blossom-haired lady, he knew that Rin was making a mistake. She should have told her where she had been, so that she wouldn't make herself suspicious.

"That is your answer then?" Lucia coldly stated.

The different-colored eyes glistered at that moment and the writer noted how it radiated a wave of mystery around her. "Yes," she replied. "That is my answer."

The lady curtly nodded, but her husband shook his head at this. "Sweetheart, you cannot truly suspect a detective to invent their own murder case."

"Why not?" she protested. "She has allowed herself to run freely while tying the rest of us down. She was the one that inspected that chandelier and it nearly caused her second assistant's death!"

Len glanced at the detective girl and tensed at the change in her expression. At the crime scene, this person had not blinked twice at the horrific sight, but this time there was a clear shift in her composure... The amused smile had faded from her face and her eyes now held a dangerous spark.

The lady did not seem to comprehend the warning as she took a step towards the girl, continuing to provoke her. "Tell us what happened to that former assistant of yours: the truth. You owe that to Len at least, he almost died trying to solve this case for you!" Words spat with venom echoed through the room.

Gaillard tried to send the detective an apologetic glance, but she kept her gaze firmly on the woman in front of her. She hadn't moved from her spot, standing tall. Her expression was tense, heavy emotions residing in her eyes. She looked strangely calm when she parted her lips to give them her answer. "I refuse."

And with long steps echoing against the marble, she made her way out of the ballroom without even awaiting a response.

Widened eyes stared after her, surprised at the clear, simple statement. It took a few seconds after her disappearance, that Len let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Lady Lucia's dumbfounded expression, that betrayed that she had expected a different answer, finally turned into a heated glare. Gaillard merely sighed. Out of the three of them, he was most likely the least disappointed at the withdrawal of information.

The writer suddenly blinked, his cheeks flushing red. He flinched when he realized he should have gone after her. He felt incredibly embarrassed and stumbled out of the room without saying a word.

"Wait, please!" he called after her. He could see her at the end of the hallway and was relieved to see that she hadn't disappeared. She stopped at the sound of his voice, but didn't turn around. But that was fine by him and caught up with her quickly.