Not a detective

Page 17

Mo Yue, completely oblivious to romance, had been quietly sipping her coffee when she abruptly interrupted the conversation, her face turned away.

"I'm a victim too! My daughter is missing too...!" Ms. Takagi seemed offended, glaring at her and shouting, "I'm heartbroken too! Why am I able to recover, but Ichiro has to become like this? We're both victims, so why are you blaming me!"

"No one can fully understand another person's feelings, not even a married couple. Only the couple themselves know the full extent of their feelings for their children."

Mo Yue was not intimidated by the imposing manner. Instead, she coldly stated her opinion: "If all parents in the world were model parents, I wouldn't have so many cases to handle."

"You...you mean I don't love Yumiko? What makes you say that?"

“I didn’t say that, but you keep emphasizing your hard work. But hard work without results is a waste. Effort doesn’t always pay off, and effort without results is useless. You haven’t been able to find your daughter, nor have you been able to cure your husband. What have you done in the past six months, madam?”

"What kind of talk is that... That's really going too far..."

Ms. Takagi bit her lower lip and glared at Shinonome Suezuki: "I came here because of your father's recommendation, to do favors for my business partners. It turns out it was just child's play. I shouldn't have come if I had known."

The situation suddenly became confrontational.

In fact, Riku Asakawa can understand Shinonome Suetsuki's statement and Ms. Takagi's feelings.

This isn't about making excuses. If Ms. Takagi had taken her husband to see a psychologist instead of keeping him isolated at home, his symptoms might have been alleviated long ago. In other words, because of the loss of her beloved daughter, Ms. Takagi's behavior was not very mature or rational, which is understandable from an emotional perspective and cannot be blamed. Both sides are in a helpless situation.

Ultimately... in his mind, all the blame was placed on the kidnapper.

He wanted to say something to ease the tension, but he didn't know what to say.

Looking at Xingyu beside him, that guy was also standing there dumbfounded, at a loss for what to do.

It seems that such awkward scenes are commonplace in this firm.

The detective acts entirely on his own whim, disregarding the client's feelings, which is certainly unacceptable to the client, but some of his actions do hit the nail on the head.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Mo Yue put down her empty coffee cup and continued, “that kind of thing doesn’t matter at all. Your husband’s infidelity has nothing to do with your hard work, right? If you’re not here to brag about your hard work, you should get to the point.”

Oh, and the key point is, an investigation into infidelity.

This is what the client entrusted; after listening to her say so much, I've forgotten the most important thing.

Now, Ms. Takagi had no choice but to swallow her pent-up emotions and reluctantly spoke again: "I can't believe what you're saying... but you're right, those words were indeed superfluous. In short, I discovered his infidelity six months ago."

"Is there any evidence?"

Riku Asakawa was finally able to get back to the topic.

"Six months ago, his symptoms suddenly improved. Sometimes you could hear him talking to himself in his room, and you could even find him laughing to himself."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

“Yes, at first I thought my efforts had finally paid off, but I soon realized that wasn’t the case.” Disgust appeared on Ms. Takagi’s face: “He was still indifferent to me and ignored me, but that laughter would come out of the room from time to time, and I realized that it was another woman who made him laugh.”

"Um……"

"Don't look at me with such distrust. You must think I'm being overly suspicious, right? Let me tell you, the reason I waited six months to hire a detective is because I must have done a lot of investigation during those six months. I have plenty of evidence, and I will never wrong him." Ms. Takagi sneered, "I secretly watched him once and discovered that he wasn't just laughing to himself in his room, but was staring at a computer screen. What did you call that guy again...?"

"Online dating?"

"Yes, online dating. He must have secretly contacted some young girl online. That woman was eyeing the Takagi family's wealth and took advantage of the situation to capture his heart. Even his wife's comfort couldn't make him happy. He must have completely changed his mind. He's shameless."

Is there any more evidence?

Rather than subjective speculation, Asakawa Riku wanted to see something tangible.

"Of course, for example, rings."

Ms. Takagi raised her left hand, a dazzling diamond ring hanging on her ring finger.

The exquisite craftsmanship and size are unlike anything I've ever seen before. No wonder it's from a wealthy family; this wedding ring must be incredibly expensive.

“I secretly saw him a few times that he took off our wedding rings and put on another ring that I didn’t know about. The ring didn’t have diamonds, it seemed to be made of silver, and the style was very fashionable, the kind of jewelry that young girls would like. I knew it as soon as I saw it. The next day when I wanted to confirm it again, he changed it back as if nothing had happened.”

"Um……"

Asakawa Riku's expression turned serious. He considered a possibility and asked:

"Ms. Takagi, is it possible that your husband is just missing your daughter? For example, the computer is playing videos of Yumiko from when she was alive, so he smiles unconsciously when he sees them. The ring that the little girl liked was also Yumiko's jewelry, or a gift she gave to her father, so he took it out and put it on?"

“Absolutely impossible!” Ms. Takagi shook her head firmly. “Mr. Assistant, I know you want to think of things in a positive light, but this situation is impossible.”

She stared at Asakawa Riku and said:

"Because I also discovered the existence of the [love letter]."

Do you really think our daughter Yumiko would write love letters to her father?

Earth Spider's Spring: Chapter Thirty - Infidelity Investigation

love letter?

In that instant, Asakawa Riku knew he couldn't hide his expression anymore; he was so surprised he almost jumped off his chair.

But what I heard next seemed to be a different story:

"Mr. Assistant, besides that ring, I also found a love letter. It was in his desk in his room. It was a very beautifully wrapped love letter, the paper was even sprayed with perfume, and it was full of ambiguous words that shouldn't be said to a married man, such as 'Please keep looking at me,' 'I have received your feelings,' 'Let our relationship last forever,' and other such things. It was truly disgusting!"

Ms. Takagi said angrily.

Ok?

Asakawa Riku sat down again.

He had just thought that this "love letter" was the same as any other "love letter" he knew, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

They had initially thought that the love letter might have been left by their daughter, evidence left by the perpetrator of last year's incident.

Just like the one he found in the shoe cabinet.

However, "Tsuchigumo's Love Letter" (for clarity, we'll use this term) isn't actually a love letter at all; it contains a murder threat: "I will kill you in seven days." The "Cheating Love Letter," on the other hand, is the real love letter...

As Ms. Takagi said, it is filled with ambiguous love words.

He then realized that he had been prejudiced and that the two events were not the same thing at all.

If Yumiko received a love letter from Tsuchigumo back then, it should be kept as evidence at the police station now... or it might have disappeared and wouldn't still be in their house.

Yes, that makes sense.

“That is indeed infidelity…” Xingyu murmured from the side.

Yes, that's exactly it!

Ms. Takagi seemed to have finally found a supporter, and raised her voice, saying, "Therefore, I need to ask the detective to help me further confirm this fact."

"Love letters should have a signature, right? If we follow the name, we can find out who the lover is, right?"

Riku Asakawa asked.

"...That woman's signature was too fancy, all twists and turns. I couldn't recognize the pseudonyms inside, and I couldn't think of any acquaintances with similar names."

Hmm... If it's an online relationship, then the search scope expands. It might not be someone you know well; they might be using a screen name.

Even so, Asakawa Riku still asked:

"So, do you have a photo of that love letter? We might be able to identify the name through handwriting analysis."

Even if it's a pseudonym, searching online might lead to social media accounts, which could provide a breakthrough.

"..."

After that, Ms. Takagi remained silent for a while. Just when everyone thought she had something difficult to say, she reluctantly spoke:

“I didn’t take any photos. I’m not very good at using smartphones. My secretary usually does this for me, but I can’t let anyone in the company know about this.”

Ah, that’s it.

It's already 2024, and it sounds quite unbelievable that someone wouldn't use a smartphone in this day and age. Ms. Takagi isn't an elderly person, but she seems to be a young lady who received a traditional education and grew up in a wealthy family. Perhaps she was raised with strict discipline, so she didn't have much contact with electronic products.

No wonder I seemed completely clueless when it came to "the Internet" and "online dating" before.

The reason they couldn't let the company know was probably because they were worried it would cause business instability, since Mr. Takagi Ichiro was nominally still the company's president.

"Ms. Takagi, you want to hire our firm to investigate evidence of infidelity, is it because you want to file for divorce from your husband?"

At this moment, Xingyu chimed in from the side.

"Yes." Ms. Takagi nodded, a hint of malice flashing in her eyes: "I want to reclaim the meaning of my twenty years of youth, I want to find a reward for the hard work and comfort I've put in over the past six months. I treated him so well, I was devoted to him wholeheartedly, and yet he dared to betray me like this. I will make him leave with nothing, lose all his reputation, and pay the price!"

"Then, I'll get you paper and pen. Please try your best to recall what the [ring] and [love letter] looked like, and then draw them, okay?"

"sure……!"

Ms. Takagi was surprised by the quick wit of the blonde girl and her eyes lit up.

Yes, even if you haven't taken a photo, you can still draw it using sketching techniques to recreate it.

"please wait."

Hoshino ran to the front desk to get paper and pen, while Asakawa Riku didn't sit idle. He took the opportunity to ask Ms. Takagi a few more questions related to the investigation.

　For example, you can recognize Mr. Ichiro's appearance by searching his company's name on the official website or related news online.

Or perhaps Ichiro sneaks out to meet with his lover during the time Ms. Takagi usually goes out, since they've already exchanged rings, so they should have met in private.

Their address, Ichiro's preferences, schedule, recent suspicious movements, whether he's let anything slip...

He asked very detailed questions, covering every aspect of the issue.

Even Ms. Takagi, who was initially rude, improved her opinion of this "assistant".

"Although you look young, you're quite professional, at least... better than that detective."

As Ms. Takagi sketched on the paper, she praised Riku Asakawa.

Could this sentence be a plus in an interview? Asakawa Riku didn't know, but the following remarks, which were clearly sarcastic and mocking of the boss, didn't seem like a good thing.

...

Ten minutes later, Ms. Takagi put down her pencil:

"That's about it."

Asakawa Riku took the two A4 sheets of paper.

As expected of someone who studied fashion design, Ms. Takagi's sketching skills are quite impressive. With just a few strokes, she drew the structure of the ring with remarkable precision.

He wasn't very knowledgeable about jewelry, but it was clearly not a traditional wedding ring; it had a fresh and fashionable design with ornate patterns on its surface.

Is it something "young girls would like"? Probably.

Asakawa Riku put the sketch of the ring aside and looked at the second sheet of paper.

That was a copied love letter.

The opening line reads "TO: Mr. Takagi Ichiro," and the middle section contains the sweet words that Ms. Takagi just said, such as "Please keep looking at me," "I have received your feelings," and "Let our relationship last a lifetime." However, her memory may not be complete, so she omits the parts she doesn't remember.

It is indeed something different from the "murder threat" that Asakawa Riku received, without a doubt.

The final signature was an indistinguishable scribble, with abstract lines intersecting together, resembling a totem inside a circle, leaving its meaning perplexing.

Perhaps Ms. Takagi doesn't remember and can't recreate it, or perhaps it was always like this. It's really strange.

"So……"

Asakawa Riku raised his head and glanced to the side.

The detective was lying comfortably in a chair, dozing off without caring about being seen, seemingly completely unconcerned about the matter.

So he made the decision, put away the two sheets of paper, and said, "We'll take on this commission."

Earth Spider Spring: Chapter Thirty-One - Only Dogs, Detectives, and Perverts

Before leaving the firm, Ms. Takagi seemed very concerned about how much compensation she would receive.

But Xingyu answered all of these questions:

"Including the necessary operating expenses, everything will be calculated after the event. We will discuss it with you then. Please rest assured, we will not charge too much."

This is where she gets professional; she skillfully leaves her contact information: "We'll contact you as soon as the investigation makes any progress."

She even bowed respectfully as she saw the client off; I really don't know if she's suddenly become competitive.

Ms. Takagi looked like she hadn't said enough; perhaps she still had a lot to say. She gave a hesitant bow.

When she looked up at Asakawa Riku at the end, Asakawa Riku cheerfully said goodbye to her and then went back.