Chapter 29 The Chaotic Duo Part 3

Having finished recording the testimonies, the guards went down, and we quickly followed.

All the guards and witnesses were gathered, “Ms. and Mr. Schleckermaul, we are done here for now. If we catch the culprit, we will notify you. Till then-” Before the guard could finish their sentence and leave, the guard who did the questioning yawned, “I… feel so tiered… somehow…” and slumped down, his back resting on the wall, “z…Z…Z…”

“What!?” Everyone’s attention was directed at the now-sleeping guard.

“Nox- Umm, Mr. Wolmes, what did you do just now, and where did that red bow tie come from?”

“Well well, my curious assistant, let me answer your question! I used a sleep-inducing magic item called “Der Schlafbringer 4000!” on them, and this fabulous bow tie is yet another one called “Stimmenversteller,” and well, it does exactly what the name might suggest!” I proudly finished my explanation.

“Umm, and what do we do now?” Fay, confused, asked me as she flew around the sleeping guard.

“Wait and see~” I excitedly walked over to the guard and activated the bow tie.

“Before we go, I, the great detective Mogoro Kouri, have something to say!”

“What?! Mr. Wolmes, your voice sounds exactly like the guards!” Fay looked at me shocked.

“W-What is going on?”

“What!? Wache, are you sleep talking?” Another one of the guards said in confusion, but I ignored them all and quickly continued.

“Listen to me, then one of you is a traitor, and the great I shall reveal them now!”

“Wache, what are you talking about?” The guard walked towards us but got stopped by the receptionist, “Let them talk; I want to hear what they have to say.”

The manager woman and her husband also agreed, “If you already have any leads, we want to hear them!”

“Ahem, good good! Then let me continue. Let’s make this quick and painless, like ripping off a plaster! Did you not question yourselves how the thief knew exactly when to strike, and that is when Mr. Baker would get the secret recipe to prepare the dough?”

They all looked at each other, not having noticed before. “Is that why you think there is a traitor?”

“Ha! I knew it!” the receptionist exclaimed.

“Anyway, without further ado! The traitor is…!”

All looked at the sleeping guard with anticipation.

“The traitor gets revealed after a short commercial break! So stay tuned for the breath-taking, tear-jerking reveal!” My tail moved in satisfaction while I mentally crossed yet another sentence today from my list of “Sentences that I want to say at least ones~”.

All looked at me in speechless confusion. “…”

“I’m joking~ The traitor is the waiter; he sold you out.” I said calmly.

“What!” All loudly exclaimed.

“I would never do such a thing!” The waiter screamed angrily at the sleeping guard.

“Right, isn’t Lea the traitor?!” The receptionist started to scream…

“What! Daniel, how can you say that? I would never-”

A heated debate started between the two, quickly escalating into a fight, but nothing my “Schlafbringer 4000!” couldn’t handle. They both slumped to the ground, sleeping while hugging each other. “That’s how you solve a fight~” I thought before quickly returning to the topic at hand.

“Wache, do you have any evidence for your claim?” One guard asked, ignoring the sleeping duo.

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“Right! Show me some evidence!” The waiter, still angry, screamed.

“Mr. Wolmes, I’m curious too!” Fay said while poking the sleeping guard’s face.

“Mr. Waiter, let me ask you a question: Where did you say again the thief might have entered the building?”

“From the front, of course! From where else?! What does this have to do with you accusing me?!” He stared aggressively at the peacefully sleeping guard.

“As you have heard, Mr. Waiter wants to shift our attention from where the thief actually entered; after all, from where they actually entered, it would have been impossible without the help of an insider!”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

I ignored the waiter and continued, “Ms. Manager, can you repeat what you said to me before, what you heard before you found your husband?”

“Of course, I heard the back door closing.”

“So the culprit escaped from the back door; do you suggest that they entered through it as well?” The assistant manager said, thinking about something.

“That is correct!” I said in a posh tone.

“Ha! This can’t be though!” The angry waiter exclaimed confidently, “You might not know, but the back door has a magical look that can only be opened by Mr. and Ms. Schleckermaul and the employees! Are you suggesting that one of us attacked Mr. Schleckermaul and escaped through the back door, even though we were all together the whole time and are standing before you right now?! It’s impossible!”

“Sigh,” As I sighted, he looked at me confidently, “I never said one of you is the culprit, I said you, Mr. Waiter, are a traitor. Before you left for the break room, you deliberately left the back door open so the culprit could enter!”

He looked more and more nervous, but tried to hide it.

“I have a question.” The assistant manager spoke up.

“Go ahead.”

“Why would he go through the trouble? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply enter through the front door?”

“That’s an excellent question! Mr. Guard, shouldn’t you be able to answer this with ease?” I said while I signaled Fay to lift the sleeping guard’s arm to point at him.

“Huh?” He thought for a moment before getting an epiphany, “Ah, of course, at the time of the attack, a patrol usually walks along this street!”

“So, if they wanted to get the timing right, they couldn’t wait till the guards finished their rounds; that’s why they had to enter from the back!” The assistant manager said.

“I always prepare the dough at the same time, and that is the only time I get the recipe out… The only ones who know that are my wife and our employees…” He looked at the waiter in utter disappointment and with a distraught voice asked. “How could you…? Why….?”

“Wait! How can you just assume that I did it?! I’m not the only one who could have done it!” He tried desperately to wiggle himself out of it.

“You were the last who came to the break room…” The manager said starting to doubt him as well.

“Right, you said you needed to do something, and I should go ahead.” The assistant manager stared at him sharply.

“Mr. Anthon, we will take you with us for further questioning.” One of the guards said, signaling the other two to take him away.

“Wait! No! I had no choice!” He screamed in desperation, trying to fend off the guards.

“So you admit it!” I said dramatically.

“I needed the money! I had no choice!” He screamed again as the guards pint him down.

“Then you shouldn’t gamble your money away!” I said, letting Fay point the guard’s arm at him judgingly.

“H-How did you know?” He made a surprised face.

“Right, how do you know; also with the door and the patrol?” Fay asked me confused, while holding up the arm.

“I am the great detective Mogoro Kouri; finding out such trivialities is but child’s play for the great I! Hahaha!” I turned off the bow tie and answered Fay while giving her an overly dramatic look, “Dr. Hatson, you still have a long way to go. You see, but you do not observe!”

I turned the bow tie on again and thought, “This is so much fun; I should do this more often~”

“Now tell me, scoundrel; who hired you?” I continued my questioning.

“Right, tell us!” The three, still in shock, asked.

“I-I can’t tell you! They will kill me if I do!” He started to cry in fear.

“Mr. and Ms. Baker, do you have any idea who might profit from this?” I asked, observing the waiter’s expression.

They both looked at each other, hesitating. “This…”

“Do you have someone in mind? If yes, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” The guard asked.

“The thing is…”

“If it was really him, then our business is done for, we could never go up against him…” The baker had a look of defeat in his eyes.

“Who are you referring to?” I asked curiously.

His wife answered, “The noble Heinz Dietrich von Schnabelwutz… He wanted to buy not just our shop but others in this street too, but we declined…”

“If I remember correctly, the other shops that got stolen from also declined his offer…” The assistant manager added.

The guard shook his head, “If what you say is true, this will indeed be difficult to proof; we would need incontestable evidence, and even then, someone as rich as him could bribe his way out…” He seemed all too familiar with this kind of injustice happening.

“Where is this noble’s house?” I asked having an idea~

“Wache, how can you not know that?” The guard looked up in surprise, “He lives on Stinkreich Street, in the biggest mansion; you practically can’t miss it.”

“Okay, thanks~” I turned off the bow tie for good and put it back in my storage along with our cosplays.

“Dr. Hatson- No, Fay!” I turned to her with sparkling eyes of excitement, “Enough of the detective game!”

She tilted her head with an innocent questioning expression before I continued. “Fay, don’t you want to let loose once in a while?~”

She looked at me, for once understanding my intentions, and she began to fly around excitedly. “Let’s do it!”

And so we left behind the scene of the crime, walking forth to confront the mastermind!

***

~Sometime after the cat left~

“Wache?” The guard gave them a gentle nudge, “Wake up!”

“…huh…” They slowly woke up, “W-What happened? Did I fall asleep?”

“Did you forget everything? You were incredible!” He gave them a pat on the shoulder, “How did you figure all that out?”

“Huh???”