A/N: Prepared to hibernate the entire winter in my cozy home, not just because of the cold, but also because COVID-19 cases are spiking up once again... :(

Chapter 10: Ichika Moreau

Consulting the list of names on his notepad, Inspector Etou drew a line through Yukimura Kaito. "Okay, our last suspect—Ichika Moreau, newly-wedded wife of that Frenchman."

They found Ichika in the superyacht's elegantly furnished lounge. Letting in natural light were three floor-to-ceiling windows, draped with blue velvet curtains and tied back with silver cording. At the back of the lounge was a modern gas fireplace with a strange Egyptian statuette placed on the mantlepiece. But what made Kanami's skin crawl was the large polar bear skin on the floor, its teeth still bared. The Minoseki Toji tore her eyes away, unwilling to look at the dead furry creature.

"You must be Ichika-sama, correct?" Inspector Etou asked, humbly with a bow.

Kanami's eyes widened in faint recognition at the woman seated on the plush sofa, drinking a cup of tea. Laying a shifty eye towards the inspector, Ichika laid down her teacup on the table beside her with careful precision.

"Yes, that's me. You wish to speak with me?"

Her voice was soft with a melodic lilt to it, uncharacteristic of the average Tokyoite. From a brief second, Kanami wondered if perhaps Ichika grew up in the Kansai region. With her lovely ivory complexion, petite red lips, and elegant kimono, Ichika almost looked rather like a geisha. With an open palm, she gestured to the two chairs across from her.

"Thank you, Ichika-sama. As you may have heard, I am Inspector Etou and this is my daughter, Kanami. We would just like to ask you a few questions."

"Do carry on then."

Inspector Etou was beaten first by Kanami, who said, "Ichika-sama, you came to my school once, didn't you? Minoseki Academy...for a presentation to the third-year high school students, right? Your maiden name—excuse me—was Natsukawa?"

Taking another sip of her tea, Ichika replied, "Well, yes. I am the CEO of my late mother's company. Its main line of business is helping students with preparing for university, hence why I give presentations to different schools."

The hesitation in her voice was caught by the two investigators, but she continued, "My business, Natsukawa Academia, helps graduating high school students prepare for their upcoming entrance exams. Typical stuff—interview questions, application processes—that sort of thing. I'd say I'm successful enough. Kids these days are clueless and need to be babied all the time. Compared to people in my generation and generations before that, most young adolescents need their hands held through the whole process. Just shows how overly-dependent they are.

"I blame technology, quite frankly. My daughter—born from my first husband—was always on that damn phone. What is it with kids being glued to their devices?"

As Ichika carried on ranting, Kanami could not help a smile from creeping up her face. In her head, she imagined the woman nagging an apathetic teenage girl. The Minoseki Toji surmised that Ichika used "It's because you're always on that damn phone!" to win every argument. When she was younger, the only thing Kanami was ever yelled at by her mother was to hold her kendo shinai properly, so as to avoid having the handle snap back at her wrist.

Interrupting Ichika before the entire day became like one of those long presentations she'd give, Inspector Etou asked, "Ichika-sama, could you please tell us what you were doing last night between half past midnight and one o'clock?"

"Well, I was here in the lounge with my husband and Ms. Chen. Ms. Chen had quite a lot to talk about the casinos in China and my husband was interested since he is in charge of an entertainment industry and owns a few casinos himself. Well, anyway, it was at about 12:40 when I started feeling a little tipsy—we had some wine, you see. Normally, I don't drink much as I have low-alcohol tolerance, but I still got very lightheaded. My husband and I were both tired anyway, so we went back to our bedroom and fell asleep. I vaguely remember Ms. Chen also leaving the lounge around that time—to get fresh air, I believe, for a smoke. And that was it. I was out like a light until Takanori came knocking on the door to tell us the news of that poor girl's death."

"Chisaki-sama was a third-year high school student. Have you possibly met her before?" Kanami asked.

Ichika shook her head. "No."

"You didn't give any presentations at Renpu Girls' School where she studied?"

"I did, but as I said, I never met her before," the woman replied. "Last night was my first time meeting Yanase Chisaki. Although she approached us once when my husband and I were talking. She seemed to have recognized Louis, although he had no clue who she was. That was probably around ten o'clock. She seemed a sweet girl...just something rather odd about her."

"What do you mean by that, Ichika-sama?" Kanami questioned.

"Well, to me, it appeared as though that innocent smiling face she was putting on was like a cover-up of some sort," Ichika answered. "All my friends agree that I am very intuitive. And I had a hunch about that girl when she came sauntering up to Louis and I. Just those dark lustrous eyes of hers and that scarlet dress, showing so much unnecessary skin—she was like those mythical sirens. Cunning, I should say. You know, I shouldn't be surprised if Yanase Chisaki was the type of girl to be involved in sordid situations—blackmail, thievery, and jealousy."

"Yes, she seemed to have given off that impression to a lot of people..." Inspector Etou muttered, as he took down his notes.

Ichika's delicately-painted lips were pursed together in a fastidious fashion. And following the awkward silence, a single word fastened itself onto Kanami's attention.

"Ichika-sama, you mentioned blackmail?"

"Well, yes. She just struck me as someone who would try to get money through corrupt gains."

"Hm. You are the first person to openly suggest she took part in blackmail," Kanami said. "So far, we have heard things such as simply persuasion and double-dipping, but blackmail—no."

Ichika shrugged. "As I said, she just seemed like the sort of person who would be."

"It is merely your speculation then, ma'am?"

Ichika grudgingly admitted she didn't know for certain. "That girl was bad through and through, I can swear it."

"But you had only just met her last night!" Kanami exclaimed.

"So what? People can make assumptions right away after meeting others. Whether they're true or not doesn't matter. It's just something called instinctive perception."

"You do not label it as prejudice, Ichika-sama?"

The glare Ichika gave Kanami seemed to abash the Minoseki Toji. For a split second, the younger girl looked as though she wanted to crawl underneath the polar bear skin rug. However, the redness in Kanami's cheeks dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

Unimpressed with his daughter's choice of words, Inspector Etou covertly gave her a dirty look. Sometimes he didn't know whether to be proud or annoyed about Kanami's willingness to speak frankly. The inspector recalled an event that happened last week. When he and Hiyori were both relaxing over coffee in the Origami Family Estate's library, she had told him about some sharp words Kanami said to her once. Hiyori had absorbed the great aradama, Tagitsuhime, and yet instead of comforting her straight away, Kanami had said, "Well, you're not going to be around anymore, right?" Words that seemed so cold-hearted...and yet were said with the best intention to snap Hiyori out of it.

"She has one big mouth that gets her in trouble a lot," Hiyori had told Inspector Etou, then with a chuckle, "Maybe that's why we suit each other."

With a sigh, Inspector Etou refocused his attention to the present. "Is there anything else you can tell us, Ichika-sama?"

"No, I am afraid that is all I can remember for now."

"If you do recall anything, please feel free to let us know."

"Willingly."

After the two investigators left the lounge, Inspector Etou said, "That's the last of the suspects. Hopefully, Tanaka and Hiyori-sama finished with theirs. I say that we find them, so we can all discuss what we learned so far."

Kanami did not answer. She was thinking back upon Ichika's account.

A/N: In the next chapter, all of our four favourite investigators will embark on the next part of their investigation. What secrets will they uncover about the suspects?