The Wheel Of Fortune
Chapter 25-Attempt

Hmmm, Hmmm...Hmmm

I remove my sneakers, put them on the shoe rack, and walk inside bare feet. Or rather than walk should I say skip inside. Finlay looks away from the television as I pass from behind the sofa and make my way to the back garden. He glances at me, looking over the sofa, and I wave at him without stopping skipping.

“You look happy,” Finlay comments before I could walk any further. I stop skipping and face him, “I am just in good mood.”

Though it is not something to feel good about, I feel free and light after completing all my assignments and dealing with Isra. With my conversation with Isra, now I can figure out the reaching culprit from her side will result in a dead-end as by now I can be sure that he already cleaned up whatever traces he left behind. He must be prepared from the start since he used the phonebooth deliberately.

And on Ryou’s side, the man we captured at Luella’s house had already committed suicide by taking cyanide while Saul was taking him where Ryou asked him to. I wonder what will Ada say when she gets to know the situation. The case will be closed will be the most likely outcome.

“And...is Ryou back from the date?”

I glance at his room’s closed-door before looking back at Finlay. Finlay puts his arm on the back of the sofa and turns his body to face me. “Date? What date?” I pause at his confused expression. “He was going on a date?”

Doesn’t he know about Ryou’s date? Wasn’t he going on a date with Kaia today? Did Ryou not tell him? I thought Finlay knew.

Maybe, I got the date wrong?

Ding

Finlay moves to get up but I motion him to stop and jog back to the front door. Who is it now? Is Ryou back from his date? I want to know how it went.

As soon as I pull open the door, I blink.

Why is she here at this time?

I look at her from top to bottom, ignoring her smile which slipped away once she saw me. A straw hat, yellow square neck puff sleeves short dress, and wedge heels. Wow, she is all ready. But why is she here? She should be with Ryou by now as far as I know.

Kaira lowers her half-raised hand and she neutralizes her expression. “Why are you the one who came out?” I look at her like she is an idiot. Why can’t I come out? I live here, of course, I will come out. Is there a rule written that I can’t come out?

I shallow back the sarcastic remark which was almost on the tip of my tongue, ignore her question, and ask, “How can I help you?”

“Call Ryouhei, we are getting late. We are going on a date.”

He is still at home? I thought he left already. I leave the front door open and go back inside to call Ryou. “Who was it?” Finlay asks as I enter the hall.

“Someone is asking for Ryou,” I answer while passing him and going into Ryou’s room corridor. I knock at the door and it opens half a minute later, Ryou looks over me before looking behind my shoulder. “Yes?”

I follow his gaze to replace Finlay standing near the entrance of the corridor and listening to our conversation, when did he come here? I turn back around, “I talked to Isra but there was nothing of use so we might have to stop investigating and your date, I mean Kaira is waiting for you.”

For some reason, Ryou looks at me somewhat confused but doesn’t choose to say anything and goes out to meet Kaira. Finlay and I watch his back disappear as he makes a turn before exchanging a glance. While he was walking out, I notice how he is still wearing his home clothes. Shouldn’t he change if he is going out?

Suddenly, Finlay grabs my arm and pulls me into the kitchen. “What is going on? What date are you and Ryouhei talking about?” He must have not known about Kaira and Ryou.

I explain to him what happened when I went out to eat a few days ago and about the call, I heard accidentally. He settles back into a chair facing the kitchen counter with a loose smile. “Nadya, then did you hear the conversation till the end?”

I think back to the day before yesterday and shake my head. “No, I didn’t want to feel like I was eavesdropping so I left. Why? Did something happen at the end?” Did I miss something out?

“If you had stayed till the end, you would have heard him declining the date. In fact, it’s the first time he has ever directly rejected a date set up by the Cabinet. Though he tries to stop them in his own way since he can not directly go against His Majesty but I feel relieved after seeing him trying.”

I sit beside him and put my arm on the counter, “Why is His Majesty trying to set him up when he chooses to go against The Cabinet to marry Ryou’s mother? It’s not fair. He should allow Ryou to choose his own partner.” I don’t get what he is thinking. Shouldn’t he knows the best how it feels to be forced to be with someone you don’t want to?

“Who knows what he is thinking. Ryouhei has tried to ask him but all he says is that it is for his own good. And he did say if he founds someone he really loves, he will let him be with her but till then he has to cooperate with His Majesty.” Hearing the sound of footsteps, I watch as Ryou pass by the kitchen before a small distant thud is heard.

“You have not touched the blood, right?” Ryou questions Felicia. I run my gloved fingers across the table and throw my gaze around the whole room. Everything is a mess. The books from the bookshelves are scattered on the floor, the lamp is toppled over and black blood is occupying a large portion of the floor near the office desk.

The leg of the table has a splatter of black blood but the most surprising thing is the droplets of human blood drenching the carpet on the other side of the table. Thought it was difficult to notice at first glance but anyone will take note of it if they take a closer look. Click, click

Click. I glance at Ryou to replace him taking pictures of the scene. Once he is done taking the pictures, he goes off to inspect the window right behind where the office desk is placed. I crouch down and look over the toppled lamp. Dried black blood is covering almost most of the stand of the lamp. I put my hand on the stand to put it back at its place only to stop at the sensation. Huh, what is this?

I rub my finger harder on the surface to feel the same thing again. Something is struck at the end. I lower my head to take a look and freeze. What is that? It’s so small. With caution and care, I pinch the black thing from the end and pull it out. As soon as I stand up, the light from the window pours in giving me a clearer idea about the item.

“Ryou, can you come here for a second?”

A second later, sunlight is blocked and I raise my hand to show him. “I found it under the lampstand....it looks like tuhu’s flesh.” He takes the piece in his fingertips and moves towards the window. I shake my head because of the feeling of the skin lingering in my hand. That was an odd sight.

“It is. It is tuhu’s flesh.” He turns around, “Seeing the blood and how it was struck at the corner of the lampstand, the lamp must have been used to hit or attack the tuhu.”

“And looking at the state of the room, a fight must have broken out. So they were kidnapped really.” Ryou pauses at my words and thinks of something before facing Felicia, who is standing at the doorway. “Why did feel your husband and son were kidnapped? What if they ran away on their own?”

“Why would my husband and son run away from their own house?” She asks somewhat offended, “Your Grace, look at the blood and condition of the room, Peter and Daniel were really kidnapped, otherwise how would such a thing happen?”

“Was there no in the room other than Peter and Dannis at that time? Where were you and Daniel?” I interrupted,

“I was making dinner downstairs while Daniel was out with his friends. And Peter and Daniel were discussing their work alone as always. It was 9 pm and no one else was at home. Peter and Daniel usually come downstairs once I call them for dinner but I only found something was wrong when they didn’t come down for an hour.”

At a glance, I know what Ryou is going to ask next so I put my hand on his arm. He looks down at my hand on his arm before looking at my face. He must have recognized the meaning of my look so he doesn’t question her further. I face Felicia after removing my hand. “May I ask why you didn’t bother to check on them when they didn’t come down?”

“It was not the first time they were so later, there many times they only come down till 10 or 10:30, which is why I never suspected such a thing would happen. When I came to look, everything was already a mess and the window was open.”

I immediately take note of how she especially mentioned the window, “This window is always closed, right?”

“..yes, how did you know?” She looks slightly confused since she didn’t mention it till now. Anyone can guess if they take a look at the rusted window and focus on her words. “Any for how long were they in the study? The exact time, I mean.”

“Three hours.”

“That’s more than enough time for anything to take place.” Ryou whispers to himself before raising his voice to continue questioning, “And you didn’t hear anything the whole time? How come the room was turned upside down but didn’t even hear a thing the whole time?”

She flinches under Ryou’s gaze and fidgets at her place, “Actually...I went out for half an hour, I went next door to meet my friend before dinner but I can assure you that no one came home during that time.”

Ryou presses his eyes with his palm before running his hand through his hair and lets out an exasperated sigh, “How can you be sure of that? What if someone came at that time? How can you be sure that your husband didn’t let anyone in while you were outside?”

“I am sure, I am really sure. I sat near the window when I went to her house so I could watch the front door. I would have hurried back if someone came but no one came the whole time.”

“Are you really sure?” I ask back. Her answer will greatly affect the direction of the investigation so she has to be sure otherwise we have too many other considerations. I hope she is sure of what she is saying.

“Yes, I am sure.” She answers more firmly than before.

“Okay, if she is sure then the only way to go in is through the window.” I immediately say as soon as I notice Ryou’s distrusting expression to stop him from saying anything more. Ryou glances down from the window to observe the pipeline. “There is no sign of forced entry. The window must be open when the tuhu broke in.” I comment.

Ryou stares at the pipeline for two minutes ad removes his black blazer. He passes me the blazer without a glance and folds his sleeves before climbing on the window sill and gripping the pipeline beside the window. I watch as he searches the wall for traces and starts climbing down the pipeline.

I keep looking at him till he puts his foot down at the alley. By the time, I descend the stairs and reach him after running around the house, I replace him looking at the window opposite Peter’s study window. The window is fully open and the curtains are drawn. I huff and dust his shoulder and sleeve once I notice how dirty they have become.

Instead of saying something, he throws his gaze at the lamp post at the end of the alley. “There is only one CCTV camera...Do you think a tuhu can pipeline?”

“Why are you asking me? You know about them much better than me. Can’t they climb the pipeline?” I ask while stepping back.

“A low level one, may not be possible but a middle level turned human usually have human-like consciousness...it might be possible with them.”

“...But,” As he states this, I realize something and continue, “Why would a middle-level tuhu kidnap someone especially? Why go through all the trouble if he was just choosing the victim at random like they always do?” If the tuhu wanted, he could have chosen anyone, there are so many houses around and I bet windows of many would-be open as well. “Did you replace something while climbing down?”

“...There were some blood marks.”

Then they were brought down from the window. But the strangest part is how can two people be brought down through the window without anyone noticing? “....Maybe there was more than one person...tuhu?”

“That’s for sure. And I think we need to talk to the neighbors.”