Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q characters belong to their creator.
34. The Rosary of Dragon's Tears
"Do you wish to call the police?" the harried-looking wedding planner asked. "Perhaps we should postpone…" The groom had carried Judith over to a lounge chair. A warm cup of tea soon restored the colour to her face.
"No, I do not wish to postpone it…" Judith insisted. "My family, they took the trouble to fly here… I do not wish to trouble them. Call the police after the wedding…" she paused and looked at her concerned family and friends. "You need something to cover those bruises…" Aunt Pearl volunteered, offering her own pearl choker. "You could return it after the reception…" Megumi noticed an old scar around the woman's neck as she passed the pearls to her niece.
Kinta and Kazuma entered the room after walking around the house once to check for signs of entry. They had found none. The house was surrounded by flowerbeds and shrubs, none of which showed signs of disturbance. "Kinta and I were on the front porch. Between the time Judith was left alone by the bridesmaids and the time Ryu found her… about fifteen minutes, I think, no one else besides that model entered the house. We also questioned se Silva and Rev Remington. Both were in the kitchen for about fifteen minutes before Judith was found. She was still alright when the bridesmaids left her, about five minutes after Ryu did," Kazuma summarised. "The thief was someone in the house."
Class Q looked at each other and their suspects. The groom was speaking with the justice of the peace, requesting for a delay of half an hour to allow his bride to recover fully. Ryu's father was definitely in the clear without any motive or opportunity. The reverend and his niece Rosa de Silva were each other's alibis. The sexy Salome whose real name was Delilah Remington admitted speaking briefly to the bride. Both bridesmaids were unable to confirm when the poisoned bouquet had replaced the original one. They had prepared two bouquets for use during the ceremony and reception.
"The lilies are white in one bouquet and pink in the other… we wanted both with lilies at first but the first bouquet wilted in the car, so I got Josh to fetch some pink lilies from the florist," Hikami explained. "I was putting it together in the study with Josh's help." The bridesmaid chewed on a fingernail. "I placed it in the room…"
"It's better this way. Those rubies are a curse. No woman should wear those ever," a quavering voice insisted. Leaning heavily on the arm of her caregiver, Grandmother Neeves had entered the room.
"The Remington Rubies, better known as the Rosary of Dragon's Tears, has been cursed since that day. Many of its owners died violent deaths," the caretaker explained nervously. "I'm Marguerite de Silva…" She sat the grandmother in an arm chair and sat in the chair next to her with her hands folded in her lap demurely.
"Aunt Marguerite, I have heard of the legend… I don't believe in it…" Judith was visibly pale.
"Child, your mother died because of the curse!" the old woman snapped. Awkwardly, the others were starting to leave. Ryu assisted his father in helping Judith to her feet. The ceremony would proceed.
The lone figure separated from the others and lit a cigarette. Things had started faster than he expected. He needed to act sooner than he had planned. He dialled a number on his cell phone…
"Excuse me, Ma'am, could you tell me about the legend?" Kazuma asked. The sombre-looking woman nodded.
"The necklace was given as a wedding gift by a Romanian nobleman to his beautiful wife. This nobleman was known by his people as the Dragon for his fierce temper and prowess in war. He left for the Crusades soon after their wedding. He was gone eighteen years and his wife bore him a daughter. The lady remarried in his absence, believing him to be dead. He returned from the wars victorious, but when he discovered what his wife had done, his joy turned to rage and he sliced off her head. The lady's blood soaked into the gems. The Dragon wept bitterly for he loved his lady dearly. Taking his sword, he stabbed himself in the heart. Since that day, the necklace has been called the Rosary of Dragon's Tears. It was passed to the Dragon's daughter, who passed it to her daughter… finally ending up in the hands of the Remington family and Judith's mother."
"Hello?" Kerberos answered his phone. The wedding planner sat next to him on a bench in the garden. "You need to move the plan forward?" Kerberos frowned. This was unexpected. They weren't expecting a robbery presumably using the name of Lady Hel's father. "Allow me," the wedding planner held out her hand for the phone. Kerberos passed the phone to his mistress…
Delilah carefully walked to the bathroom and locked the door. The plan had worked exceptionally well. Everyone would blame Master Loki as the thief, the same Loki whose name was splashed over the news headlines ten years ago when she was just a student. She held up the necklace and fastened it around her neck. The rubies shone a bloody red. It would be a pain to sell it but her debts needed to be paid off…
She did not hear the door click open. The lock was faulty and the trespasser knew it.
A sharp pain shot through her neck. Instinctively she reached up to her neck and looked into the mirror. Blood was gushing out. She choked, gasped and died. The killer rammed the knife into her heart for good measure and exited, carefully shutting the door.
Ryu stood stoically beside his father as the bride was escorted by her uncle down the short path towards them. The bridesmaids followed, scattering flower petals. Kyu and Megumi sat near the front. Kazuma and Kinta had been forced to find a place at the back of the tent as they arrived late. Strains of Ave Maria filled the air. Touched, Megumi dabbed at her tears with her hanky. "Megu, what's wrong?" a puzzled Kyu asked.
"Nothing. It is just… the wedding… The music, the flowers, everything… It's so romantic…" she sniffled.
"So you like it?" Kyu asked seriously and took her hand in his. .
"It's like a fairytale wedding…" Megumi blinked.
"If you like it, I guess I'll have to start saving for ours…" Kyu blurted out and turned away. Megumi looked at him. "You say what?" Kyu turned red. She turned red and looked away awkwardly. Still, the pair continued holding hands throughout the ceremony.
Ryunosuke faxed some medical information to his mother and Kagome for that mysterious death case and emailed some historical data to Yukihira for her case. "Hey, Wheels, the principal has solved the artefact smuggling case. The local police have arrested about six suspects involved," Erik's image popped up on his PC. Ryunosuke smiled, glad his data on the cargo shipments and museum artefact catalogues had helped crack the smuggling case.
"Glad to be of help."
"We're catching the next flight back at 11," Erik glanced at his watch. "Which gives me a seven-hour shopping trip with Meiling…" Ryunosuke could hear Meiling's voice in the background urging Erik to hurry up. "Why do girls like shopping so much?" Erik made a face. "See ya, then. We'll get you souvenirs." The image vanished as Erik logged off. Ryunosuke's mobile rang.
"Hey, Ryunosuke, something happened…" Kazuma whispered into his phone. "Need your help, my laptop battery's flat…" In hushed whispers, he related what had happened.
"My father will never do such a thing!" Ryunosuke replied. "My father would never hurt a woman, child or the elderly…" His voice trembled. His father was dead… Someone must be using his name to… could it be Nee-sama? But Hel will not do that…Hel adored their father as much, if not more than him. Ryunosuke took a deep breath to steady his emotions. "I have some news for you and the others. Ryu's stepmother was a schoolmate of my sister's at the music academy. It may mean nothing at all, but…"
"Wow!" Kinta exclaimed and whacked Kazuma on the back. "Look at those!" A swarm of colourful butterflies emerged suddenly and soared above the wedding party. "Where did they come from?" Kazuma asked. A butterfly swarm of this size was not natural. Kinta pointed to the small box all the guests were given on taking their seats. It was open and empty. "Open yours, Kazu-kun."
"Wah! I think I squished mine," Kazuma leapt to his feet.
"How romantic…" Megumi gasped at the sight of her butterfly joining the others soaring into the autumn sky. "Er, I think mine may be dead…" Kyu prodded his butterfly. Finally, it flapped its wings and joined the last stragglers.
Author's Notes:
The first death in this case. What skeletons lurk in the Remington and Neeves household?
A butterfly wedding sounds kinda romantic, but I believe there will be a big problem actually getting it to work…