“That’s how we judged it. Also, the handwriting is different.”
“Certainly, this lettering does seem different from what I saw on the train.”
To Detective Octavia, with love. Those words, unbearably humiliating, were seared into Octavia’s eyes. Her shoulders fell.
“So, he isn’t coming after all...”
“You sound almost disappointed.”
“I want to be the one to catch Crow, the Phantom Thief. But if the man himself isn’t coming, this isn’t worth discussing.”
“Oh, and why do you want to catch him?”
“To make him take responsibility as a man!”
“Huh?” Ashton, was utterly engrossed, staring across at Octavia, his elbows on the table.
Atop Octavia’s head, Hat fretted, “Hold on and calm down, you useless girl,” but she paid him no mind. Clenching her fists, she said in a firm voice, “Of all things, that cad stole a kiss from my lips!”
“Huh?!”
“After he did that to me, I can’t let him get away, can I?! I swear, I will catch that man—”
“Octavia, calm down. You’ll only embarrass the inspector, talking about that,” Raven warned, sitting beside Octavia.
At his words, she managed to regain a modicum of composure. Perhaps her sense of caution was stimulated.
“Sorry. Those were my personal feelings.”
“Nah... Well, that was so, uh, personal, I suppose, that I can’t really comment.”
“We understand that this card is a fake. Certainly, the Phantom Thief had nicer handwriting than this.”
All of a sudden, Raven seemed to choke on something. Octavia turned to look at him in surprise.
“Are you all right?”
“N-Nnnn... S-Sorry. It seems that something got caught in my throat. Sh-Shall we return to the matter at hand?”
“Please do,” implored Ashton, with a sigh.
Octavia took another look at the fake letter. “So then, who was it who sent this letter? Are the police investigating that?”
“Well, after a fashion. By the way, I don’t suppose you two would know anything? Have you heard anything from Mrs. Smile or her daughter, maybe?”
“I haven’t heard anything,” said Octavia.
“I haven’t heard anything from Mrs. Smile, either,” said Raven, “except that I’ll have to marry her daughter as penance for selling her that troublesome doll.”
At Raven’s answer, Ashton wore a dumbfounded expression. “That’s going a bit far, isn’t it? I reckon I sympathize with you, just a bit. Miss Colette’s only six years old, ain’t she?”
“Thank you kindly. But if the doll was, in fact, switched, that’s a completely different story.”
“Right. There is that. I nearly forgot. You are sure about that?” His elbows still on the desk, Ashton leaned forward.
With a somewhat cool expression, Raven replied, “I’m sure. If we can find out who it was that brought that doll in, I’m sure we’ll also uncover the motive of whoever impersonated Crow, the Phantom Thief.”
“Can you trace the history of the doll?”
“It’s not as if I can’t, but it would take too much time. Crow’s announcement said tonight, didn’t it? If the article itself is taken, the people involved will be able to make any number of excuses. Right now, our most reliable strategy would be to catch whoever is impersonating Crow, or else make sure that the doll isn’t stolen.”
Ashton leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “After all this, that’s what it comes to. I’ve got to say, I’m not fond of waiting for my opponent to make his move.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do besides that, Raven? I’m sure you can think of something.”
At Octavia’s question, Raven blinked. He worked his jaw slightly, pondering it. “Right, yes. If we could find out whether or not Miss Colette and Mrs. Smile know that the doll was switched, it might provide us with a hint.”
“That’s right. It wouldn’t be strange if they’d noticed something when the doll was switched.”
“Of course, there is the possibility that those two are the main culprits.”
Octavia tilted her head, puzzled, but then caught on. “That’s right! The matter of Colette’s marriage to you.”
It would make sense as a motive. It would have been difficult for the six-year-old Colette to plot by herself, but it was not at all unthinkable for Mrs. Smile to have come up with it.
Raven nodded back at Octavia. “There must be some benefit to the fake Phantom Thief as well, for the doll to be worth stealing. If we’re suspecting anyone who might benefit from it, we must suspect Mrs. Smile. It would have been easy for her to swap out the doll.”
“In that case,” mused Ashton, “the doll wouldn’t be stolen because it’s a Demonic Heirloom, but to stop anyone finding out the channels by which it was obtained, innit?”
“In the first place, that doll was not valuable enough to go to the trouble of stealing. Perhaps the reason the culprit pretended to be Crow was to lend credibility to the rumor that the doll was an Heirloom.”
“Which would suddenly make Mrs. Smile look suspicious, right?”
At this inference from Ashton, Octavia looked up. “That may be a premature conclusion,” she put in, hesitant.
“Oh? D’you know somethin’?”
“Ah, well—while there is some benefit to Mrs. Smile, the rumor that she might have a Demonic Heirloom would naturally be a problem for her, right? The inquisition might come to investigate her.”
Mrs. Smile was responsible for a trading company. In business, the most important thing was trust. One would surely want to avoid scandal as much as possible.
Placing a finger on his chin, Raven pondered this.“I suppose that’s true. It would also involve her daughter in a scandal. In reality, Mrs. Smile has been trying to solve the doll’s mystery and prevent scandal. That’s why she hired you. That means that we should suspect anyone with a grudge against Mrs. Smile, instead. Or else, competitors of the Smile Trading Company.”
“The police have already thought of that. We tried making a list, at least.”
“Might we take a look at it? If anyone who might have been able to obtain that doll is on the list, I’ll know. It was handmade by a craftsman, so it’s not the kind of doll you can get your hands on easily. If you didn’t have the right contacts, I don’t think you could get it. Also, it must be someone familiar to Mrs. Smile, someone who could have seen the doll she gave her daughter.”
At Raven’s suggestion, Ashton sighed in resignation. “If that’s how it’s going to be, I guess I’ll accept your cooperation. I’m free until the Phantom Thief arrives anyway.”
“C-Could I be excused for a moment?” Octavia raised her hand, fidgeting a little. Ashton narrowed his eyes. Realizing that he was growing suspicious of her, Octavia hurriedly added, “I’d like to go and hear what Miss Colette has to say. I’ll let you know what she says. The two of you can investigate here. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Your meddling could put me in a difficult position.”
“But we’re running out of time. Splitting up is bound to be more effective.” Whatever it takes, I want to act alone. There’s something I want to confirm. As Octavia was trying to convince Ashton, Raven spoke up from beside her.