The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 98: The Girl with the Umbrella

“I don’t want to do it,” Lu Li said, shaking his head slightly at his desk in the glow of the oil lamp.

“But we have no choice. O’Connor is decaying more with each passing day. He might already be someone else by tomorrow, and then we won’t be able to find him.”

Anna wanted to find O’Connor before he could claim another victim, but that was an impossible task.

“I know, but... it’s still difficult,” the ghost girl pouted. Her kindness was enough to put most people to shame.

Lu Li recalled the significant look Gades had given him. The man was clearly dead set against any ghost growing more powerful. Lu Li decided he would ask him why when he had the chance—perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

Silence settled over the room. Lu Li began to think about how to track down Richard. Richard’s plan was now completely exposed; all Lu Li had to do was find O’Connor and learn Richard’s whereabouts from him.

He already knew what O’Connor intended to do next, and now all that remained was to wait.

However, to be on the safe side, Lu Li paused for a moment before pulling a slip of paper from his pocket. Valentine, the deputy sheriff of the Sentry Post, had given him the note as he was leaving the station. It contained Valentine’s personal contact number.

Of course, this didn't mean Valentine had taken a personal interest in Lu Li. He simply wanted to keep in touch, a gesture of goodwill.

And just as Valentine saw potential in Lu Li, Lu Li saw an opportunity in Valentine. He called the deputy and explained what he needed.“Please pay close attention to any recent disappearances in the Sentry Post, as well as the discovery of any badly decomposed bodies. If anything like that happens, contact me as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let my men know.”

After hanging up, Lu Li leaned back calmly in his chair. The nets were cast; all that remained was to wait for O’Connor to fall into them.

It was deep into the night when a knock sounded at the door. Anna, who was dusting a sculpture, turned her head in surprise. Setting the towel aside, she quickly hid herself.

On the doorstep stood Stephen, the delivery manager Lu Li had seen not long ago. He was bringing Lu Li an unexpected windfall: 963 shillings.

The flowers had been returned to the florist via Stephen’s service, but the shop had only agreed to take back half, since cut flowers only last two or three days at most. Stephen’s service then took the remaining half to other florists, but only managed to sell half of that amount.

After deducting the promised thirty percent service fee, the remaining seventy percent—963 shillings—now lay on the table. The last quarter of the tulips sat on the street in front of the agency.

As the manager was about to leave, Lu Li stopped him. He counted out twenty shillings from the pile and handed them over. “Keep one tulip, and give the rest to the residents on our street.”

This time, the manager didn’t refuse. From his point of view, earning twenty shillings for a simple stroll down the street was a fine bargain. He smiled, bowed, and said, “I imagine the residents of Sailor Street will be grateful for your generosity.”

The manager stepped out of the detective agency, but returned a moment later with a single tulip before backing out the door and leaving for good.

“This is for you,” Lu Li said, offering the flower to Anna, who had been surreptitiously watching them.

Anna accepted the flower bashfully and asked with a hint of embarrassment, “Do you know what tulips signify?”

Lu Li, the very embodiment of rationality, glanced at her and replied, “It’s irrelevant. Just a marketing ploy by florists.”

Her smile frozen on her face, Anna drifted away.

The next day, 9:30 a.m.

Lu Li woke up slumped over his desk. The oil lamp was still burning dimly, and on the bookshelf, the elegant form of Anna was perched atop her portrait. Lu Li extinguished the lamp, and the room, which had been cast in a mix of warm and cool tones, instantly grew cold and lifeless. His gaze fell to the window, where the single tulip sat in a glass of water.

Checking the time, he remembered he had to return the carriage by ten o’clock. It seemed unlikely he’d make it if he went to see Gades first.

Fortunately, the rental office was only a block from Gades’s agency, so it wasn’t too far out of the way.

Slipping on his black coat, Lu Li headed outside. Perhaps it was because he’d seen tulips on every door that morning, but all the residents greeted him with exceptional warmth. Children clutching golden tulips ran past, squealing with joy and leaving cheerful calls of “thank you” in their wake.

Climbing into the carriage, Lu Li headed for the rental office. Fifteen minutes later, as he approached, he noticed a cordon around the shop next door. Familiar uniformed police officers stood beneath umbrellas, speaking in low voices.

He could hear snippets of conversation over the sound of the rain. It seemed someone had found a body near the shop’s trash bins—only the lower half. The wound was ragged with what looked like teeth marks, as if the torso had been gnawed off by some animal. The upper half was missing, and likely wouldn’t be found.

Lu Li drove past the scene, returned the carriage, and then stood under an awning, silently watching the flurry of police activity in the rain. They were trying to determine if the incident was connected to the victim being caught without a light source after nightfall.

At that moment, his surroundings suddenly grew dark, and a figure appeared beside him, holding a pale gray umbrella that seemed far too large for her delicate frame.

“Sir, do you need an umbrella?” came a melodic voice, like the chiming of silver bells.

The gray umbrella was tilted low, obscuring most of her face, leaving only a small, pale chin and bright red lips visible. She wore a white lace dress. Lu Li’s body tensed in an instant.

“I have an umbrella,” he replied.

The girl beneath the umbrella murmured, “It would be better if you let me accompany you. You see how large my umbrella is.”

“...Thank you,” Lu Li said after a brief pause, stepping under the umbrella. “I need to go to 36 Star Street.”

His right hand never strayed from the seam of his trousers, near his holster.

He turned his head to look at the girl’s profile. Her snow-white face was stunningly beautiful, as if she had stepped out of a painting.

“You’re welcome. But please, whatever you do, don’t look up,” the girl said softly, covering her scarlet lips with her delicate, pale fingers.

“And what happens if I do?” Lu Li asked.

The lips hidden behind her fingers curved into a captivating smile.

“You might be eaten,” she whispered.

Lu Li said nothing more and continued walking beside the girl. A fine rain veiled everything around them. Beneath the umbrella, the man and the girl walked past the cordoned-off shop, shoulder to shoulder, pressing onward.

To an outside observer, it might have seemed romantic, but neither of the participants in this stroll felt that way.

From time to time, faint, wet chewing sounds, like the grinding of teeth, drifted down from above. At these moments, the girl would remind him, “Don’t look up.”

“I know,” Lu Li would reply.

The one-block walk should have taken only a few minutes. Fifteen minutes later, they found themselves at the door of Gades’s detective agency. Lu Li took a step, emerging from beneath the wide gray umbrella.

“Thank you,” Lu Li said calmly, turning to face her.

Lifting the hem of her dress, the girl gave a small curtsy with a faint smile.

She lifted her face and watched as Lu Li turned, opened the door, and stepped into the dark room. The door’s bell tinkled, and as it closed, he vanished from sight.

“He’s gone,” a slightly disappointed voice murmured. The lips beneath the umbrella stirred.

“A pity. I was hoping for a proper meal.”

A rumbling sound, like rolling thunder, echoed from under the umbrella, as if in response to her words. The massive set of jaws filling the entire space beneath the fabric stirred, and a dark green slime began to drip from it.