Hello! Been a while since I updated this one. I'm back with a new chapter, and I hope you'll appreciate it.
The "man" in white, actually a woman, simply smiled at them. A really charming smile, yet there was something dark about it. Too many teeth were shown. And her eyes looked gleeful, which in the current situation made her look unstable. Helena remained in front of Clay, protective.
"Blanchard...you are actually a woman?" Clay asked.
"Um, why so surprised? I never said I was a man. Are you disappointed? Do you perhaps have a crush on me? Worry not, love knows no barrier, gender is not a problem for me," Blanchard replied in a seductive way.
"But you said you were a gentleman," Clay insisted.
"And? Women can be gentlemen too, no discrimination. Many people told me I should act like a lady, but I knew it wasn't for me. I was born to be a gentleman."
"Pretty sure gentlemen don't kill women," Helena suddenly intervened.
Blanchard suddenly stopped smiling and she looked at the fresh corpse. For a brief moment, Clay thought she was sadness in her eyes until it was replaced by was appeared to be...excitement? A twisted smile appeared on the albino's face, ruining her image as a gentleman.
"Hehe, but I haven't kill her, I swear. Hahaha!"
"Somehow, given your behaviour, I find it strange to believe you," Clay replied.
"Sorry, I'm just getting too excited when beautiful women die. Death is such a beautiful thing, don't you think?" Blanchard replied, slightly blushing.
"I can relate to that and I am not sure I like it," Helena said.
Suddenly, Blanchard made a white hat appeared and put it on her head. She smiled happily, with an insane look in her eyes.
"I think I should probably introduce myself properly. My name is actually Blanche, nice to meet you, young lady," she said with a seductive voice, before looking with despise at Helena. "and the thing over there."
Clay found her reaction to Helena stranged. Blanchard, or rather Blanche, seemed to treat all women with respect, then why calling Helena a thing? Unless she knew about her real identity, but how? Clay decided that there was more important things to think about, like the case.
"Enough with the useless talk, you killed that woman don't you?" Clay accused.
As a response, Blanche giggled madly. It only made her seemed more suspicious to Clay's eyes. But then, she noticed that a detail didn't add up.
"Milady, would you like me to take care of this...gentleman?" Helena proposed.
"Wait...something is odd. The corpse...is all bloody. A lot of blood must have splashed. And Blanche...she's dressed all in white. Yet she had no blood stain on her, and neither on her weapon! It means... it does not make sense for her to be the culprit," Clay concluded.
Blanche chuckled at this, but she seemed less crazy than before.
"Pretty smart, young lady. As I say, I am not the culprit."
"I am a detective after all, of course, I would notice that type of details. But still, your presence here is suspicious, as well as the strange weapon you are carrying. Care to tell us what are you doing here?" Clay asked.
Blanche didn't answer. She was just smiling, much to Clay's annoyance. She didn't like when people don't answer her question. She then noticed something. The albino's eyes...weren't completely red anymore. Part of them were chartreuse phosphorescent, while the center remained red.
"Blanche...what are you?" Clay asked.
"Hehehe, I'm pretty sure the thing next to you can answer this," the albino replied with an enigmnatic smile.
Clay turned to Helena, hoping to have an explanation from her.
"I met some of your kind in the past. It never went well. You are a shinigami, don't you?" Helena said.
"Shinigami?" Clay asked.
"Grim Reaper. They reap the soul of humans when they die. And they record their life like a bunch of voyeurs...They use a scythe do to so. I suppose those big scissors are your scythe, right?"
Blanche grinned as she showed them her scissors, opening them and closing them multiple time.
"Um, you are right. I am a shinigami, and this is my scythe. Pretty isn't it? I have always been fond of scissoring, if you know what I mean, hahaha!"
If felt so weird for Clay to see Blanche act like such a madwoman, considering her previous gentlemanly attitude. Was it just an act? Or was she acting right now? Which one was the real Blanche? But she considered it wasn't that important. She had to understand what her presence on the crime scene and her connection with the past victims meant.
"Blanche, you reap souls, don't you? What does it mean? Why all the victims met you before dying?" Clay asked.
"Um, are you not suppose to be a detective? I am sure you can figure it out yourself," the shinigami replied with a smirk.
Clay didn't like her tone of voice. It felt like she was mocking her. The detective had the urge to prove her she was smart enough to get it. So she thought about it, forcing her brain cells to cooperate. A shinigami reaped souls...the victims all saw her before dying...then it meant…
"The victims all saw you because they were meant to die, isn't? You were simply waiting for them to get killed so you could reap their soul. And that woman who died in an accident...she was not murdered, but she was still fated to die, so you went after her. You are not the culprit, but you witness all the murder of whoever killed those women," Clay concluded.
"People close to death are able to see shinigami," Helena explained. "You are able to see her because you have made a deal with a demon."
"This is why I was so surprised when this young lady came to see me at that bar. Her name was not on my list, yet she was able to see me. Then I understood when I saw you with that thing. What a shame, we will not be able to reap your soul, it will be eaten by some dirty demon," Blanche said with disgust before she smiled dreamily. "Yet, I am kind of envious of you, demon. Eating souls seem fun. I always wondered what a human soul taste like."
"Awful. I hate it," Helena replied coldly.
"Aww, from all demon I could have met, I met one who does not like human souls. How unlucky I am. Well, I guess I will just have to keep doing my job. Reaping women's soul is my guilty pleasure. I like to witness their death, so beautiful. And then the feeling of reaping their soul, so wonderful. And when I record it, I can see their life. I feel like I am being one with them, it is truly marvellous."
Clay suddenly felt a deep antipathy for Blanche. What she was saying disgusted her. She understood the truth behind the fact all the victims saw her before dying.
"You...you knew they were going to die. And you decided to toy with them. You get close to them, just because you knew you would reap their soul. You have the ability to know when someone will die, yet you just watch them die and enjoy it. You are despicable!" Clay exclaimed.
"Well, it is not like I have a choice. This is my job. And there is nothing wrong with enjoying our work."
"Still, even me would not simply sit when I know someone is about to die, if I have the ability to prevent it I would. You shinigamis are...disgusting. You witnessed...every single death without doing anything. My mother...people like you let her died!"
Blanche stopped smiling. It looked like what Clay said reopened an old wound, her eyes looked so sad. But the detective didn't care. She was so mad at her that she couldn't care less about her feelings. To her, the shinigami was just a voyeur who enjoyed toying with human's lives. The type of people she hated.
"Death is natural. We cannot stop it. It is our duty to make sure the natural order is respected," Blanche replied stoically.
"I do not care. You are still despicable," Clay replied with animosity.
"Milady, would you like me to take her down?" Helena proposed, pulling out a hunting knife.
"Ohoh, wanna fight? I never fight a demon before, looks interesting. Usually, I do not hurt ladies, but you do not really count as a woman. So I will make an exception and cut you to pieces, demon!"
Blanche held her scissors like it was a sword. Helena took an offensive posture, ready to strike. Both looked at each other with hostility, ready to fight. But before they could, Clay got between them.
"It will not be necessary, Helena. This person is not the culprit. We should not lose enough precious time on that useless trash."
"Ouch, that hurt," Blanche replied with a smile that seemed sad.
"I suppose you know who the culprit is but will not tell us?" Clay added.
"Nope! After all, if they have to kill again, I cannot stop them. I am just here to reap the victims' souls."
"So you are really useless. Please do not appear in front of me ever again. You already made me lost too much time," Clay said coldly. "I would like to investigate the corpse without your unpleasant presence."
Blanche looked at her, again with this sad smile.
"Of course, young lady. I would not want to put you uncomfortable. I will leave. Sorry for the inconvenience," the albino said, regaining her original gentlemanly attitude. She then disappeared.
Clay felt frustrated by this encounter. She really disliked this person, but couldn't help to wonder why she looked so sad. She decided that it didn't matter. That woman was repulsive and she shouldn't think about her. What mattered was the corpse. Clay approached the recent victim and started to investigate her body, searching for any clue leading to the real culprit.
Clay was sipping her tea, thinking about her case. She lost her prime suspect, but she still felt excited about it. No matter how hard it is, she'll not give up. This case was her chance to finally make herself known as a detective, and she liked challenges. She was determined to find the culprit and stop them.
"Clay, is everything okay?"
The young girl put her cup on the table and turned back.
"Al, you are here. Um, everything is fine. I was just thinking about this case."
"About that murder who killed those women? Have you find anything new?" Alphonse asked.
"Not really. I had a potential suspect in mind but turns out she was innocent. I managed to investigate the latest victim's corpse but I found nothing. She was beaten to death like the previous one, she died of internal bleeding."
Sadness, as well as anger, could be read in the young man's eyes.
"The culprit...I'll never forgive him. Daring to beat a woman, how distasteful. If anything happens to you, or Helena, or even Estelle and Jackie, I wouldn't forgive myself. I will protect you."
Clay couldn't help but smile. She felt kind of moved by her half-brother desire to protect them, even if she knew it wasn't necessary. With a demon as a maid, Clay was already enough protected.
"Thanks Al. But no need to worry, we can take care of ourselves. Do not underestimate me."
"I am not. I am just worried for you. Especially after what happened at the bar with that man who was courting you."
"Um, yes, him...um…"
Clay felt like there was something important about that but before she could think about it, she heard voices approaching the dining room.
"Miss Clay, I have finished to reorganizing the library. I had to because someone messed with my classification….again," Estelle said as she entered the room.
"I just searched for a book and you weren't there, it's not that bad," Jackie said, following the secretary.
"Not that bad? You trashed the entire library! There were books everywhere on the floor!" Estelle exclaimed.
"Ah come one, you're exaggerating. There weren't that much."
"The floor was covered in books! And why were you looking for a book? Can you even read?"
"How rude! Of course...okay no I don't know. But it doesn't mean I can't appreciate the pictures."
"Estelle, Jackie, this is not good to fight. Especially not among comrade," Alphonse reprimanded.
"And Estelle, you love to organize stuff," Clay added.
The secretary blushed a little at this statement.
"You're right. I love that."
Jackie rolled her eyes and sighed. Helena came back, bringing the newspaper to Clay, who immediately start to read it, looking for something specific. When she found it she slightly smile.
"That's the last victim. Same modus operandi than the other victims. Probably the same killer. Due to the brutal way they are killed, I suppose the culprit has a personal grudge against those women, or women in general. Probably a man. Young or middle-aged. Unpopular with women. This is his way to get revenge on them for rejecting him. So there is a high chance he knew those women and they rejected him," Clay theorized.
"Oh, impressive. You know all that just by analyzing the murders?" Alphonse exclaimed.
"Obviously. I'm a detective after all."
"So we're looking for some loser, gotcha," Jackie replied. "Reminds me of that guy who tried to hit on you at the bar."
"Such man disgusts me. No wonder he's unpopular with women," Estelle commented.
Suddenly, something clicked inside Clay's head, thanks to one of her employees. She may have found a new lead regarding this case, and she knew where to look for.
What Clay had understood? Please let me know your thought!