Chapter 37: The Angry Lisa
Lisa had only come to the Lavender Villa on a whim. She had spotted the estate's name scrawled in a dusty ledger at the Beika Library, remembered it was where her sweet Noelle had taken up a part-time maid position, and decided to drop by for a surprise visit. She certainly hadn't expected to unearth a tragedy wrapped in a web of pathetic lies.
Noelle blinked, her large green eyes filled with confusion as the elderly butler shuffled out from the shadows of the hallway and into the parlor. "Miss Lisa, why did you call Mr. Kotani selfish?" She turned her gaze to the trembling man. "And... Mr. Kotani, why were you eavesdropping by the door?"
Renzo Kotani refused to meet her eyes. He stood rooted to the ornate carpet, his head bowed so low his chin nearly touched his chest. His gnarled hands clenched into tight, shaking fists at his sides. The silence stretching between them was heavy, suffocating.
"Oh, I can explain that," Lisa purred, a low, melodic chuckle escaping her lips. She leaned back against the edge of a mahogany table, elegantly crossing her arms beneath her chest. Her emerald eyes locked onto the butler, gleaming with a sharp, dangerous amusement. "You see, our dear Mr. Kotani here has known the truth about his Young Mistress's so-called 'murder' from the very beginning. He knew it was a suicide."
"Really?" Noelle gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. She stared at the elderly man in sheer disbelief. "But... then why didn't you tell the police, Mr. Kotani? Why hide the truth?"
"Because I couldn't!" Kotani finally snapped, his voice cracking under the weight of his long-held secret. He looked up, flinching under Noelle's rare, piercing glare of disappointment. "To protect my Young Mistress's reputation... how could I possibly tell the world that she took her own life? I had to protect her dignity!"
The confession tore out of him like a physical wound. The secret had been eating away at his soul for months, a festering rot of guilt and regret that kept him awake through the long, silent nights at the villa. Even now, the thought of his beloved mistress's name being dragged through the mud terrified him, but the dam had broken. He couldn't hide behind his silence any longer.
"But that doesn't make sense," Noelle pressed, her brow furrowing. Her usually gentle voice carried a hard edge of genuine distress. "I understand wanting to protect your mistress when the police first closed the case. But later... when Miss Kana was accused of murdering her? Why didn't you speak up then?"
"I just..." Kotani squeezed his eyes shut, his face twisting in agony. He turned his head away, utterly unable to bear the pure, unadulterated judgment in the young maid's eyes. "I thought the police would do their jobs! I thought their investigation would naturally clear her name. I... I never expected..."
"You didn't expect the police to be utterly incompetent," Lisa interrupted, her voice dropping the playful lilt, turning icy enough to freeze the room. "And you certainly didn't expect that poor Miss Kana would hang herself because she couldn't bear the weight of a false accusation. Isn't that right?"
"And even after that..." Noelle's voice trembled, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "After Miss Kana took her own life out of despair... why didn't you clear her name then? She spent her final days crying, desperately defending herself, begging anyone to believe she wasn't a murderer..."
Before the butler could stammer out another pathetic excuse, Lisa pushed off the table. "I'll tell you why, Noelle," she said, her heels clicking sharply against the hardwood floor as she closed the distance to the old man. "Because to him, a dead girl is a dead girl. Whether he speaks up or not, it won't bring her back. So why bother?"
She stopped right in front of Kotani, leaning down slightly to murmur directly into his ear. Her voice was soft, yet dripping with venom. "Speaking out serves no practical purpose other than clearing a dead maid's name. But doing so would permanently ruin your precious Young Mistress's pristine reputation. A simple calculation of worth. That is exactly what went through your mind, isn't it, Mr. Kotani?"
"No! No, of course not!" Kotani jerked his head up, his eyes wide with horror at the ugly truth laid bare before him. He stumbled back a step, shaking his head frantically. "I didn't—I never thought of it like that! I just... I just..." He gasped for air, his hands waving in a desperate, disjointed panic, but only broken, incoherent syllables spilled from his lips.
"How could you?" Noelle whispered, her shoulders slumping under the weight of deep disappointment. "Miss Kana must have been so terrified during those final days. Terrified that no one would believe her, terrified of being locked away as a murderer. That fear is what killed her. I always thought you defended her because you trusted her character, Mr. Kotani. I never imagined... you knew the truth the entire time, yet you did absolutely nothing to save her."
"I regret it!" Kotani sobbed, burying his face in his hands. "After she passed, the guilt nearly destroyed me. I walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department half a dozen times, fully intending to confess everything and clear her name. But every time I stood at those front steps... the image of my Young Mistress's lifeless body flashed in my mind. The thought of the media tearing her memory apart... it paralyzed me. I couldn't take a single step inside. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
"Save your tears. What's done is done," Lisa cut in, her expression utterly devoid of sympathy. She had zero patience for the self-pity of a man whose cowardice had indirectly put a noose around an innocent girl's neck. "No amount of crying will change the fact that you stood by and did nothing. Now, tell me about the detective. The one who supposedly 'passed by' and reopened this closed case. I am incredibly curious to know the name of this self-righteous amateur."
While the butler's silence was despicable, he was merely a bystander who had withheld the truth. The true catalyst for this senseless tragedy was the detective who had arrogantly forced the case open with a flawed deduction, closely followed by the grossly negligent police force that had blindly accepted it.
Kotani wiped his eyes with a trembling hand and let out a ragged sigh. "I don't know his name."
"You don't know?" Lisa raised a skeptical brow, her gaze narrowing. "How could you possibly not know? He was the one who overturned a closed police investigation. Are you telling me he waltzed into this estate, conducted an inquiry, and never once introduced himself?"
"He was a high school detective," Kotani explained weakly. "He said he was traveling through Shikoku and had heard rumors about the case. He just wanted to take a look at the scene. I didn't think much of it at the time, so I let him in. The case had been closed for half a year. I assumed there was nothing left to find, that he would just poke around and leave. I never imagined he would suddenly declare that he had 'solved' the mystery of the Young Mistress's locked-room murder."
He swallowed hard, staring at the floor. "He didn't leave his name with the police or the media after he made his deduction. But... I do remember his manner of speaking was quite peculiar. He used an archaic tone, constantly referring to himself as 'Shousei' instead of a normal pronoun. I apologize, but that is truly all I know."
"Shousei, hm?" Lisa murmured, tapping a slender finger against her chin as she committed the detail to memory.
Given the toxic atmosphere and the dark history clinging to the walls of the Lavender Villa, Lisa made an executive decision. She was not about to let Noelle spend another minute working in this miserable place. She instructed the young maid to pack her things immediately.
Kotani offered no resistance. Broken and defeated, the elderly butler silently processed the termination of Noelle's employment contract, his shoulders sagging as if the last bit of life had been drained from him.
Standing by the grand entrance with her modest bag in hand, Noelle turned to offer a final, formal bow. "Mr. Kotani, thank you for your guidance during my time here," she said, her tone polite but firm. "However, I sincerely hope you find the courage to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Tell them the truth. Clear Miss Kana's name. Please... at least don't let her memory be forever stained as a murderer who took her own life out of guilt."
"I will," Kotani whispered, his voice thick with emotion. He looked incredibly frail, a hollow shell of a man, but he managed a weak, sorrowful smile as he gave the young maid his promise.
The walk down the winding mountain road away from the villa was quiet. The afternoon sun cast long, golden shadows through the trees, but the warmth did little to lift Noelle's spirits. She kept her gaze fixed on the asphalt, her usual boundless energy completely drained.
"Miss Lisa?" she asked softly, breaking the silence. "Do you think Mr. Kotani will actually go to the police and tell the truth?"
"He will," Lisa replied smoothly, her tone carrying a quiet certainty. "After all, the secret is out. There is absolutely no point in him hiding it anymore, is there?"
She glanced sideways at the despondent maid. Smiling softly, Lisa reached out and gently patted the top of Noelle's silver-ash hair, her touch warm and comforting. "Cheer up, sweetie. Don't look so sad. This isn't over yet. In fact, Big Sister Lisa has a very special task she needs your help with."
"Oh!" Noelle's head snapped up, her emerald eyes instantly regaining their familiar, determined sparkle. The mere mention of being useful was enough to banish her gloom. She placed a fist over her heart in a textbook knight's salute. "Whatever it is, Miss Lisa, you can leave it to me!"
"I need you to use your spare time to track down our mysterious high school detective," Lisa instructed, her lips curving into a sly smile. "The one with the archaic vocabulary. Big Sister is terribly busy managing the library during the day, you see, so I simply don't have the time to go running around Tokyo playing investigator."
"Understood! I will find him!" Noelle agreed without a second of hesitation. But as they continued walking, a thought occurred to her, and she tilted her head curiously. "But... Miss Lisa, what exactly are we going to do once we find him?"
Lisa paused, turning her gaze toward the distant Tokyo skyline. The warm, sisterly affection in her eyes vanished, replaced by a crackling, electric danger.
"Well, Noelle... Big Sister is actually feeling quite angry today," Lisa murmured, a dark, thrilling sweetness lacing her tone. "I think I want to teach that irresponsible little detective a slight lesson."
She placed heavy, deliberate emphasis on the word 'slight'.
Noelle looked up at the beautiful, terrifying smile blooming on the librarian's lips. Despite the warm afternoon sun, the dutiful maid couldn't stop a sudden, icy prickle of dread from racing down her back.
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