The Bizarre Detective Agency Chapter 43

The next day, a little earlier.

"This is the information service. The number you are trying to reach has been blocked due to a high volume of complaints. We recommend using an alternative method of contact. Do you have any further questions?" a choppy female voice crackled through the receiver. A thick fog had enveloped Belfast that day, interfering with communications.

"No," Lu Li said from his desk, and hung up the receiver.

It seemed he wouldn't be receiving the rest of his fee just yet.

Through the window, people could be seen walking down the foggy street. Anna, unusually, wasn't sitting by the window. She was hovering by the door, chin resting in her hand, staring intently at the sculpture. Lu Li had noticed her there as soon as he woke up.

"How long have you been staring at it?"

"Quite a while," Anna replied, nodding slowly as she spoke.

"And it hasn't moved at all?"

"No, it hasn't even blinked," Anna sighed with a hint of frustration.

"No," Anna shook her head, seeming to want to turn away but not daring to. "I was just bored, so I found something to do."

"And what was that?"

"I was having a staring contest with it."

Lu Li didn't know if sculptures could blink, but he was certain Anna was terribly bored. You could call it an attempt to find levity in a grim situation, or simply a way to kill time. The fact was that after awakening as a ghost, Anna had been confined to her painting, seeing the same scene day after day, with no one to talk to.

Things had improved slightly when Lu Li took her in, but the core problem remained. Just as in the gallery, she was confined to the cramped detective agency, unable to go outside.

For a girl who had died of an illness at eighteen but kept her eighteen-year-old spirit, this was a veritable prison. Perhaps he should find an opportunity to take her out for a walk?

A faint softness flickered in Lu Li's dark eyes. His voice, as calm as ever, said, "It's the taking part that counts, not the winning."

"If you're going to compete, you have to aim for first place!" Anna huffed, not turning around.

Lu Li remained silent.

The atmosphere became heavy. Silence and fog filled the quiet detective agency.

Knock, knock, knock.

Two gazes shot to the door at once, and one of them involuntarily blinked...

"Ah, it's ruined! I lost!" Anna groaned, her face etched with frustration.

"You can continue tomorrow. For now, go into the bedroom."

"Oh," Anna drifted dejectedly into the bedroom, making sure to close the door behind her with a thought.

Lu Li got up and opened the door. The young woman who entered was familiar. They had seen each other yesterday.

...

"My name is Daisy. We saw each other yesterday, you gave me your business card..." Daisy sat on the sofa by the wall. Usually spirited and self-assured, she now looked tense, her legs in their long trousers stretched out stiffly and pressed together.

"I remember," Lu Li said, settling into his armchair and studying Daisy for a few moments. When her smile began to look strained, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I... I have a case for you."

"Tell me about it." Lu Li gestured for her to continue, opening a desk drawer to pull out a notebook and pen.

"You are aware that this is a paranormal detective agency? Is your case related to such things?"

"Yes... I had a friend, and she recently died of an illness..."

"And you suspect her death wasn't natural?"

"Yes... It's not just me. Some of our fellow students think her death was strange, too..."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know... A gut feeling? I know that sounds... unbelievable, but please, hear me out."

"Continue."

"Thank you... My friend's name was Anna... We met in Himmfast, at the Deer..."

"Wait, I need to clarify something," Lu Li said, snapping his notebook shut and placing it on the desk with his pen.

Under Daisy's tense gaze, Lu Li turned his head slightly and called to the bedroom door, "Anna."

There was no reply, possibly because Lu Li hadn't spoken loudly enough, or perhaps because Anna didn't want to reveal herself to a stranger.

"Anna, I have a question for you."

After a few seconds, a quiet, childlike voice whispered from behind the door, "Shhh..."

Ignoring Anna's behavior, Lu Li asked, "You once told me you had a friend named Daisy. Where was she from?"

Distracted, Anna forgot her secrecy and replied automatically, "From Belfast. Why?"

"Nothing," Lu Li answered. He turned his gaze to the stunned Daisy and said, "Daisy, I'll take your case. How much are you prepared to pay?"

Daisy didn't answer. She shot to her feet, her eyes welling with tears and her face a storm of complex emotions. Her voice choked as she cried out toward the bedroom, "Anna, is that you?!"

"Daisy?!" A few seconds later, a joyful cry rang out, and a radiant Anna floated out from behind the door.

She looked incredibly happy and rushed toward Daisy, only to stop abruptly a few feet away. The joy on her face quickly gave way to fear and hesitation.

A thousand thoughts might have been racing through Anna's mind, but Daisy paid them no heed. With a girlish squeal, she threw herself at Anna and passed right through her. Only then did she seem to remember, and a flicker of sorrow crossed her eyes.

The girl and the ghost stared at one another. Tears glistened in Daisy's eyes, while Anna remained silent.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sudden knock shattered the still atmosphere. Anna and Daisy looked at the door, then their gazes shifted in unison to Lu Li, still seated at his desk.

"You can go into the bedroom for now," Lu Li said, pointing to the door.

Anna and Daisy exchanged a look, silently reining in their emotions, and went into the bedroom together. The door closed, and the office grew quiet once more.

"Come in," Lu Li called out.

The door creaked open, and Oliver slipped inside, glancing around the room. He thought he'd heard a woman's voice.

"Anna has a friend visiting," Lu Li explained.

Oliver froze, trying to place the name Anna. Then, with a shudder, he managed to say, "Oh. How... touching."

"So, what did you want?"

"I've returned the books. And... here."

"A letter? Another one?"

"Yeah..."

"What did Mrs. Slav mean by this?"

"You don't know?"

"I get parts of it, but not everything."

"She wants you to become Mr. Slav."

"Close the door. From the outside."