The Investigator in a Street That Lost Its Detective
I had no talent in anything else, so this was my lot in life.
I failed to ascend to the upper class, and was forced to dig for scraps at the bottom of the pyramid.
This is an order, Director Stapleton. We're discarding experiment B-102.
What's with that face? You know that progress comes at a price.
Or what, did you start feeling bad for the children?
Stop being ridiculous. Do you feel bad for the cows and pigs when you devour beef or pork for dinner?
You're no different from me. Don't act like you've grown a conscience overnight.
He was right. We were the same.
I didn't have the skill to live how I wanted, nor the guts to stand up to injustice.
So I took part in the abominable experiments.
Then I met you.
Are you the director, mister?
Yeah.
Nice to meet you. I'll try my best to endure everything.
Why?
Pauline's next if I don't last long enough, isn't she?
Marco, Tim, and Anne aren't too busy to write us back...
They can't write back, right? Because of what the injections did to them.
So I'll try my best.
I want to protect Pauline and everyone in the orphanage.
No one will recognize your sacrifice.
I was being a nasty old man, but you smiled.
You and I will know, though.
I wanted to ask her.
How she could sacrifice her so readily for others.
Please promise me that you won't do anything to the other kids as long as I hold out.
...You can't guarantee it? But I thought you were a genius.
I heard they brought in a talented magical scholar.
Nonsense. I'm no genius.
I'm the biggest fool there is.
One who didn't even know what he was doing.
Continuing the experiment with B-132.
It's too soon for Rach—I mean, B-132.
B-131 just died two days ago.
It's not stable enough to conduct tests—
That's all the more reason we have to rush it. How else do you expect to complete it?
Oh, I see. It'll be me tomorrow... Huh? No.
I'm not going to run away. I told you back then, didn't I?
We all swore to protect Pauline, no matter what.
But thank you, Director.
For caring about a girl that no one spared a second thought for.
And... thank you...
For helping me realize that there are good people in Baskerville too.
I'll try my best to endure everything, like I said.
Please... Protect Pauline and the others.
You're a really great magical scholar, right?
No. I'm just a failure and a fool.
But I'll become a genius.
I'll risk everything for you.
The day Charles died...
*Sigh* Success was almost in our grasp... How could this happen now, of all times?
I have no idea what to announce to the public.
Imagine if it gets out that the former family head was killed by a test subject gone berserk while conducting experiments to create the Hound of the Baskervilles.
We have to stop the experiments.
Then what about Rachel?
Rachel? Oh, experiment B-132?
We have to dispose of it alongside any trace of the Research Institute.
We're all ruined if someone investigates us and finds our experiments.
...Put the blame on me.
What?
Tell them it was my decision to create the Hound of the Baskervilles.
You can pin the blame for Master Charles's death on me as well.
Wait. Even if I tell people it was all you, they're going to blame me too anyway.
...Not if you become the man who put an end to his family's atrocities.
!
Are you telling me to take after that fool Samuel Baskerville?
He needed assistance in taking care of the Hound of the Baskervilles.
But you won't need any help in killing me.
Huh. Seems like your true talents lie in criminal activity rather than magicology.
It wraps things up quite nicely. I'll see if I can find someone to witness me dealing with you.
I'll do whatever it takes. So please, spare Rachel's life.
Hah. I get everything else, but that's quite odd.
Have you grown to feel bad for the child? Why are you putting your own life on the line for her?
...Does it matter?
No. It doesn't.
But I'm not sure. Someone with common sense would think...
Death is a mercy compared to living as a monster.
Perhaps something good might happen... as long as she's alive.
Hah! I didn't expect you to be so soft on the inside.
Very well. I'll come up with some kind of script, then.
If you're going to take the blame for everything...
How about this? You were spiteful because you couldn't take over the house.
So you created the Hound of the Baskervilles to bring the downfall of the House Baskerville, but I courageously stepped up to stop you.
I shall obtain both the reputation that Samuel Baskerville had in the light, and all the power that House Baskerville possessed in the shadows.
Well?
It's a brilliant plan, sir.
Oh, right. You no longer have to act so polite around me anymore.
I'm supposed to be the weak-willed, innocent head of the family that couldn't stop the Hound of the Baskervilles because I was afraid of the vile director.
Of course, sir—I mean, right.
Oh, but...
Don't do the act when it's just the two of us. It's annoying.
...Of course, sir.
Well, the Baskerville Research Institute is your kingdom until the script is completed.
Congratulations. Do whatever you'd like with it.
I have one more request, sir.
Please stop selecting children from the orphanage.
Hmph. Sure. Why not.
I can assure you those children will be safe, as long as you follow the plan.
But if you don't...
You'll find out who the true master of Baskerville is, and what he can do.
...I understand, sir.
I'll meet my demise soon.
I've committed unspeakable sins, so I find no injustice in my death.
However... I've arranged a way to save a child.
I thought about exposing the truth, but...
Doing so will endanger not only Rachel, but all the other children in the orphanage as well.
But once I am dead, they should rest easy and stop experimenting on children.
I'm putting the last cure required to treat Rachel in here.
It won't fully change her back, but if she's been mutated to a monster...
This cure will help remove the monster part of her. So please use this cure after subduing the monster.
I hope you fake detectives find this before it's too late.
It was appalling how easily you fell for Henry's theatrics...
But at least you recognized that Rachel needed to be saved.
So I'm betting everything on that sliver of a chance.
Lastly, whoever you may be, if you've discovered this letter...
If she was saved...
Let Rachel know...
That everything that happened in Baskerville, including my existence, was just a nightmare.
That she should wake up and forget everything that happened.
Jack, who had written the letter, gently stroked Rachel's sweat-soaked forehead as she lay in bed, having screamed herself unconscious.
I'm sorry I couldn't do anything good for you.
It may sound foolish, but I hope meeting that fake detective that's trying to save you...
Ends with something good happening to you. Truly.
I hear the sound of doors breaking. They fall to the floor with a thud.
Henry's automatons aggressively rush in the room.
Henry claims they weren't specialized for combat, but they looked utterly threatening.
What's the rush? I'm coming.
...And that's what was in the letter that I found inside the doll.
It contained the cure to your mutation and the identity of the real culprit of the case.
He told you to forget it everything that happened to you... but I thought you should know.
I didn't want you to misunderstand the kind of man—
There was no misunderstanding.
Everything in the Research Institute was cold.
Except the director's hands.
He became my family, but...
I... I'm left all alone again... Why...?
Gwen gently patted Rachel's head as she wept.
Don't think that you were abandoned or that you have nothing left.
Meeting us was a good thing, right?
Rachel stopped crying.
If it's all right with you...
I will.
Hmm? You didn't even let me finish.
You want me to come with you, right?
Uh, yeah. That's it. You're one smart cookie.
I think our agency's going to be bustling after this case.
I'll do anything. Cleaning, laundry, whatever you want me to do!
N-no, we're supposed to split our chores.
We're just looking to hire another assistant. Would you like to... join us as that assistant?
Yes, I would.
Rachel wiped her tears and spoke in a determined tone.
I want to become a detective, just like you.
And I want to save people... like my father.
Do you think I can do it?
Gwen grinned.
Your dad called me a fake detective, and I still managed to solve the case. You'll do even better than me.
Get some rest for now.
Okay.
Gwen patted Rachel on the head and left the hospital room.
Lily and the Professor were waiting out by the door.
How's Rachel, Boss?
She's doing okay.
Given everything that's happened, she ended up crying a lot, but she's calmed down a bit now.
Thank goodness...
Good work solving the case, you two.
You did great work too, Professor.
Wow, the Professor actually praised us?
That doesn't count as praise. At least, not yet.
Oh.
Considering you were so focused on saving Miss Rachel over the truth of the incidents...
It's a miracle you even managed to find her cure.
You make it sound like we barely pulled through!
But it's true that you took such a roundabout path.
You knew that Director Stapleton was frequenting the black market in the back alleys.
You had records of mass purchases of chimera ingredients.
You saw the syringes and bottles littered all over the way to the secret research institute in the wastelands.
And you followed Director Stapleton as he fled there with Miss Rachel.
Considering all the clues you had at your disposal...
You really should have realized that Director Stapleton was preparing a cure of some kind.
The same goes for Miss Rachel's doll.
Why would a man on the run bother to pick it up, and keep it by him until he breathed his last?
At the very least, you should have realized that it wasn't just a simple doll to him.
...Wait.
Professor...?
Gwen and Lily stared at the Professor in sync.
Did you know this whole time?
But of course.
WHAT?!
Oh, to be precise, I wasn't completely certain what was inside the doll.
But I suspected the existence of a cure.
And I surmised the doll might contain something of significance.
Then why didn't you tell us?!
Yeah! It could've been dangerous for Rachel if we hadn't found it!
The Professor quietly looked over Gwen and Lily.
Yet, in the end, you did find it.
...What?
So, do tell. What clue drove you two to check inside the doll?
Well, um...
I guess you could say... a gut feeling?
A gut... feeling...
Fufu... Oh, I'm sure Detective H would be aghast to hear you say that.
Bah! I'm not Detective H.
Honestly, I just wanted to return the doll to Rachel at first.
But when we went to the hospital, she wasn't there... And that's when something kept bugging me, so...
Agh! Whatever! Next time something like this happens, just tell us instead of speaking in riddles!
We barely made it in time!
Yes, it would have been terrible if we'd been even a bit late to the roof.
Oh, but I gave you plenty of hints, didn't I?
"Be wary of the words you want to hear."
I even told you to find me on the roof once you discovered what you were missing.
How's that a hint?!
Boss is right. Your hints are too hard to follow.
Very well. I'll try to be a bit more lenient with my grading next time.
After grumbling a bit more, Gwen fell silent.
Still...
Hmm?
Thanks, Professor.
Where's that coming from, Miss Gwen?
Back on the roof...
You were waiting for us to arrive, weren't you?
At Gwen's words, Lily also turned her gaze to the Professor.
...
And the Professor wordlessly looked back at them...
Before smiling softly as she was prone to do.
Of course.
After all, I had trusted the two of you.