Chapter 120: The Hound of the Baskervilles (8)


    <i>- Ssshhh...</i>


    "............"


    Charlotte Holmes, who had been watching the storm sweep over the Baskerville estate from the window in utter silence, suddenly turned her gaze to the side.


    "Has there been any contact from the police station?"


    "... Due to the sudden storm, it seems it will take some time for the investigative team to arrive."


    "Have you heard any estimate on when they would be able to arrive?"


    "At the earliest, tomorrow evening, I’m afraid. They mentioned that the bridge leading to this area has been flooded, rendering it unusable temporarily."


    Gia Lestrade, having hung her wet police hat on a coat rack, reported the situation to Charlotte in a concise manner.


    "Sounds like a typical situation.""... But, there''s something more important than that right now."


    Charlotte continued to mutter to herself, meanwhile, Lestrade, who had momentarily tilted her head to the side, suddenly held out something that she had been clutching in her hands all this time.


    "This is..."


    "I''ve just been to the basement where Isaac Adler is locked up, and this sole note was left there in the empty room."


    A doodle of Adler, baring fangs while posing like an angry cat, was drawn squarely in the middle of the note.


    "... Sigh."


    Charlotte looked down at the childish note silently for a moment, then sighed deeply while shaking her head.


    "That''s Adler for you."


    "... Should we just let him go?"


    "Diverting my attention is Adler''s aim. So let''s postpone giving him a thrashing and focus on the case at hand."


    "Well, I agree with your opinion, but... is there really a need to focus on this case anymore?"


    Lestrade, staring at her, asked with a perplexed gaze.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Hasn''t the case been solved already?"


    Charlotte began to stare intently at the clueless Inspector.


    "What are you saying?"


    "Weren''t you the one who said to arrest Isaac Adler on suspicion of murder..."


    "That was a lie to borrow the force of the police."


    "Pardon?"


    "Isaac Adler is not the perpetrator of this case."


    As Charlotte stepped forward, leaving a bewildered Lestrade behind, she quietly bit her nails and murmured in a low voice.


    "I don’t understand just whatpelled him to behave like this, but he’s been continuously meddling and obstructing the investigation process of this case…”


    "Then... who exactly is the culprit?"


    "... Who do you think?"


    Charlotte nced at her and threw the question back at her in an inquisitive tone.


    "Hmm... If Adler isn''t the culprit, then it has to be that being."


    Lestrade, after a moment of thought, opened her mouth with her eyes shing intensely as though she had found the correct answer.


    "... The demonic hound. I''m talking about that monstrous creature we saw at dawn."


    "I knew you would give that answer, Inspector."


    "So, you''re saying it''s not? Of course, I, myself, didn''t believe it when I first heard about the legend. But you saw it with your own two eyes that day, didn''t you?"


    At those words, Charlotte quietly closed her mouth and then turned her gaze toward Lestrade.


    "The Baskerville family''s demonic hound does exist, Miss Holmes."


    "........"


    "I felt for certain that my curse reacted to that monstrous being that day. It''s not just a mere giant hunting dog or wolf, I’m sure of it."


    "... It seems you are misunderstanding something."


    With a serious expression, she began to exin to Inspector Lestrade, who wasying out her thoughts, sighing deeply.


    "I never said that the demonic hound doesn''t exist, nor that it''s not a mysterious creature of supernatural origins."


    "Then...?"


    "I merely argued that it wasn''t the culprit in this case."


    At those words, the inspector began to tilt her head quizzically with a slightly dull expression.


    "While I do detest needless supernatural elements creeping into a case, I''m not so foolish as to deny what I''ve seen with my own eyes."


    "........."


    "Rather, it''s precisely because I witnessed it myself that I can be so certain the hound isn''t the culprit in this case."


    However, as Lestrade still wore a puzzled look, Charlotte narrowed her eyes and whispered to exin her reasoning further.


    "Even you saw the bloody scene and the gleaming eyes of the dog, Inspector. Are you still unable to piece it together?"


    "Ah...! Now that I think of it...!"


    Lestrade, finally hitting upon some sort of realization, pped her knee with her hand.


    "That demonic dog''s face had no blood on it..."


    "Exactly. Isn''t that strange? In a crime scene drenched in blood, the demonic hound, which has nothing but sharp teeth and ws on it, was without a single drop of blood."


    "But, but it was raining at the time, wasn''t it?"


    "The meagre drizzle back then was nothing like the downpour we’re experiencing now; it wasn''t even enough to necessitate the use of an umbre. It would hardly wash away blood soaked deeply into an animal''s fur."


    "Certainly, you do have a point there..."


    Lestrade, gaining a deeper understanding of the case from Charlotte''s exnation, nodded her head. But then, she suddenly asked with a stern face.


    "But if it truly wasn''t the monstrous creature, then who on earth killed Mrs Stapleton?"


    Charlotte fell silent for a moment after hearing her questionced with a hint of frustration.


    "Ande to think of it, weren''t there sharp teeth marks and scratch wounds that could only be left by ws on thedy''s neck and arms? There was even grey fur scattered about on the floor."


    "Indeed. Initially, even Watson, who was in denial, had to face reality when she found the anomalies during the autopsy and ended up holing herself under the covers."


    "ording to her findings, those wounds could not easily be faked by a human. If it wasn''t the demonic hound we saw back then, what other being could have left such marks?"


    Charlotte quietly mulled over Lestrade''s point, then started hastening her steps out of the blue.


    "... Miss Holmes?"


    "I was just about to show you the answer."


    Compelled by the confidence in her voice, Lestrade quietly followed her, however, there was still an expression of doubt lingering on her face.


    "Honestly, if it weren''t for those moments of brilliance you''ve shown right before my eyes on several asions, I might not have been able to trust you, Miss Holmes."


    "It seems to me that you still don''t trust me though."


    "Well, I''ve already been embarrassed enough by doubting you once or twice and learned my lesson. I''ll trust you."


    At her words, Charlotte showed an uncharacteristic shy smile, then cleared her throat softly as she halted her steps.


    "This is..."


    "The estate''s dining room. The servants are likely inside, busily preparing the room for breakfast."


    Saying so Charlotte opened the door leading to the dining room of the estate.


    ""..........""


    In the next moment, the young servants who were busily preparing the meal inside began staring at Charlotte and Lestrade with their exceedingly pale faces.


    "So, what are you trying to do here...?"


    <i>- Swoosh...</i>


    As Lestrade furrowed her brows at that unpleasant sight and posed a question, Charlotte reached into her pocket and pulled something out at that very moment.


    "Gasp…"


    With an indifferent expression, she threw something into the middle of the dining room, drawing the young servants'' attention upwards as they gazed at the object.


    <i>- Boom...!</i>


    Immediately after, a sizable explosion erupted in the dining room.


    "Is, is it something dangerous...?"


    Startled by the sudden unexpected event, a quizzical look soon appeared on Lestrade''s face as she assumed a defensive posture.


    <i>- Ssssss...</i>


    Although something had indeed exploded powerfully in the centre of the dining room, it was merely silver dust sparkling as it dispersed in all directions.


    "What is this even…?"


    "It''s an AOE anti-Adler bomb."


    Charlotte''s calm exnation flew into Lestrade''s ears as she looked on with a dazed expression on her face.


    "It''s a device that disperses a fog of finely powdered refined silver in every direction. I invented it myself, inspired by the case, to be exact."


    "Why, why silver of all things?"


    "He''s a vampire. The idea was to detonate it if Adler did anything foolish to neutralize him. Actually, I should have set it off sooner; that was my mistake."


    With an incredulous look, Lestrade turned her gaze forward, her eyes widening in shock.


    "Good heavens..."


    "But it was worth saving this item for this moment. Refined silver doesn''t just neutralize vampires, after all."


    All the pale-faced servants of the estate, who had gazed at them as they entered the room, nowy unconscious on the floor.


    "So all the servants in this estate were..."


    "Exceedingly pale, always moving in groups while working, drawing curtains not during the day but at night, and never stepping outside despite their master being murdered in the middle of the night; there''s only one possible identity for an individual with such traits."


    Already, a fluffy silver tail had sprouted out of the unconscious servants and coiled around their defenceless bellies.


    "Werewolves..."


    "Probably the veryst of the living werewolves left in London, maybe even in all of Britain. After seeing nothing but fakes in thest few cases, we finally are face to face with the real deal.”


    "So, are these people the culprits...?"


    "... More precisely, <strong>aplices</strong>. The actual perpetrator is someone else."


    The inspector, who had been gaping at the unexpected scene, couldn’t help but sharpen her gaze, donning a grim countenance, as she heard those words.


    "What do you mean?"


    "It means that the hound of the Baskerville family, which killed Sir Charles Baskerville and Lady Julia Stapleton, is a separate entity."


    "... Then what is the identity of this <strong>hound</strong>*?"


    "It''s actually quite a simple elimination process, really."


    Charlotte exined in a low voice.


    "Excluding Isaac Adler, who was wandering around this locked room with excitement, you and Watson, and these wolves with fairly solid alibis, there are only two people left."


    "The butler and the heir, those two, right?"


    "Well, since the Baskerville family''s <strong>hound</strong> can''t be the heiress, Miss Helen Baskerville, it narrows down to only one person, in the end."


    Lestrade, who had been quietly listening, couldn’t help but ask with an exceedingly tense expression.


    "... The estate''s female butler, Gabrielle Mortimer. She''s the real culprit?"


    "You''re getting quicker at piecing things together for a mere Inspector, Miss Lestrade."


    Charlotte patted her on the shoulder as if tomend her for her growth and then turned on her feet.


    "Actually, I had some suspicions regarding her from the beginning."


    "Is that so?"


    "She’s an old acquaintance of mine, you see¹. I have some inkling of her motive for doing something like this."


    She then began to quicken her pace.


    "Shall we hurry along then?"


    "Huh?"


    "... Since we''ve made the first move, we need to strike her down before they wake up."


    She spoke, a face filled with a mix of unknown excitement, tension, and thrill.


    "Before Helen Baskerville and Isaac Adler, who have gone missing, are put in any more danger."


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Meanwhile, at that moment…


    "... Miss Mortimer."


    "Would you mind not calling me by my name, please, sir?"


    Adler and the estate''s butler, Mortimer, were walking through the wilderness, braving the raging storm.


    "Then, could you please retract the w you have pressed against my throat first?"


    "... I’m afraid that is quite difficult for me to do.”


    "If that''s the case, I won''t be able to help you with your revenge against the Baskerville family..."


    "I''m not sure how you know such things, but it would still be inconvenient."


    Mortimer, who had been pressing a partially transformed wolf w against Adler''s throat, began to whisper in a chilling voice.


    "Because you were one of my targets from the start."


    "... Excuse me?"


    "Why do you think that is so? Take a guess."


    Adler, after staring nkly at the female butler''s face for a while, was able to realize something.


    "Is that… human face mask?"


    "It''s a product imported from the Qing dynasty. Quite an effective product, if I say so myself. It seems that the detective couldn''t be fooled, but in the end, I seeded in deceiving you."


    "Uh, um..."


    As he showed a slightly flustered expression, Mortimer, who had been staring at him, finally took off the human face mask she had been wearing on her face.


    <i>- Squeak...</i>


    Upon seeing the revealed face, Adler stood frozen on the spot.


    "It''s been a long time, Isaac Adler."


    "Ah, haha..."


    The female butler, whom he had dismissed after the house burned down during the incident, was staring at him with a burning gaze.


    "... You used to despise intertwining with someone as lowly as me more than anything else in the world, right?"


    For some inexplicable reason, she bore evident signs of severe abuse on her body even though the previous him had neverid a hand on his women.


    "Are you ready?"


    "... No."


    As she asked with a bloody smile stered on her exceedingly pale face, Adler quickly shook his head.


    "That''s an excellent response."


    However, Mortimer, with a cold smile, began grasping his clothes.


    "..... Ahh!"


    Mere momentster, Adler''s muffled scream echoed across the /genesisforsaken