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The Girl in the Painting – Part 02

The next morning.

There were only a few days left until the end of the long summer break. In the lonely campus of St. Marguerite Academy…

“Stop acting like a child, Victorique.”

The sun had softened, and Victorique, in her frilly dress, was curled up on the cozy grass, lying on her stomach.

“Hey…”

Kazuya, still in his indigo kimono and geta, was standing by her side with a look of disbelief. The frilly parasol in his hand cast a round shadow on the lawn, preventing the small, milky-skinned Victorique from getting sunburned.

Victorique, on the other hand, stubbornly refused to acknowledge him; she was putting all her attention on the book before her. The white, feather-like ribbon on her round back swayed gently in the dry summer breeze.

“It’s only morning, and you’re already sulking. At least say something.”

Victorique gave a faint groan, looking like her pride was wounded. Her small face, tinged with boredom and weariness, showed almost no expression. But there was something, some hint of embarrassment.

“You were up in the tree all day yesterday. We didn’t even get to talk. And today you’re sulky. Let’s talk about something. I know. How about one of your incredibly obscure trivia? I’ll listen until the end.”

“…”

“So…”

“…”

“Turn around and get up. Look, the wind is blowing your dress.”

“I’m…”

“It’s flipping your dress. I can see your bloomers! Isn’t that your underwear?! Though I’m not exactly familiar with your attire. Get your act… toge… ther… Did you say something?”

Victorique lifted herself up with a frown, and with her small pudgy hands, she fixed the hem of her disheveled dress, bloomers with rose embroidery at the buttocks, and the petticoat, made of rounded whalebone to puff out the skirt. She sat down in the round shadow created by Kazuya’s parasol and stared up at him.

“Wh-What is it?” Kazuya asked.

“I’m hungry.”

“I-I see…”

“Get me something tasty.”

“Okay. Where from?”

“The village should have something.”

Victorique rolled over again, swinging her legs clad in ribboned boots, and opened her book.

“What are you waiting for? Go. Buy me something quick.”

“Hmm… Tsk. Fine, you little snot,” Kazuya grumbled.

He set the parasol down on the grass, straightened his back, and wearing a serious look, started walking down the pathway.

---

Meanwhile, along the biggest street in the village, there was a bit of a commotion.

In front of the village hall, the custodian was shouting at the top of his lungs, his gray beard quivering.

“Help! Someone stole the precious painting! The Portrait of the Lady in Ribbons is gone!”

His urgent screams drew people from all over the place. Village girls walking down the main street, the staff and customers of the store across, and even a lady carrying a load of laundry.

“Help! This one right here stole it!”

The custodian had restrained an elegant young woman. She did not look like she was from the village, and her white dress and white shoes looked quite expensive. Her long, straw-colored hair was parted and tied in two, and and her waist was adorned with several layers of marbled-patterned white ribbons.

The custodian grabbed the woman’s arm and shook her. “When this woman appeared, the painting was gone!” he cried. “It was definitely there just a moment ago. It disappeared in an instant. Shameless thief!”

Panic seized the woman’s throat. Her face was pale as a sheet. “I-I didn’t do it,” she mumbled, shaking her head.

“What’s going on?” the village mayor asked as he stepped in, eyeing them both.

The custodian shrank a little. “The Portrait of the Lady in Ribbons, which we borrowed from a museum in Saubreme for the exhibition, was stolen!”

“Wh-What?” The village mayor’s face darkened. “But it was there when I peeked into the gallery half an hour ago.”

“Exactly! This outsider came in, took a look around, and then tried to leave. When I looked up, the painting was gone.”

“I just happened to be here on a summer holiday,” the woman mumbled on the verge of tears. “I’m staying at a nearby inn. I was going to take the train back this morning, so I thought I’d go in for a quick look. Besides…”

The woman held out her hands. The village chief, the custodian, and the crowd of villagers watching the whole situation, let out a collective gasp.

The woman had nothing. Teary-eyed, she looked around at the faces of the villagers.

A villager pointed at the woman. “But you entered, and when you were about to leave, the painting was gone.”

“Actually, I didn’t see her come in,” the custodian said. “I just saw her inside. I thought she must have come in through the open door since the exhibition’s started already. I didn’t hear any footsteps, though. And then when she was leaving, I looked back at the painting, and it was gone. No, wait. It wasn’t gone, exactly.”

The custodian glanced back at the gallery. In the most conspicuous spot in the center of the room, there was a blank, white canvas. He pointed at it, horrified.

“The painting reverted back to a white canvas. It was blank.”

“Doesn’t she look exactly like the lady in the portrait?” said another villager, studying the woman.

The villagers looked at the woman in the white dress and ribbons eerily.

“It sounds like you stepped out of the painting,” a villager muttered. “That’s why the painting is blank.”

The woman shook her head repeatedly. The villagers exchanged glances.

---

Meanwhile…

On the third floor of the police station across the clamorous village hall, there were men standing by the window overlooking the street, holding hands.

Almond-eyed Ian and droopy-eyed Evan. Ian was holding a newspaper in his free hand, and Evan a candy bar. Ian pulled his eyes away from the newspaper, while Evan removed the candy from his mouth, both dumbfounded.

On the main street, the mayor and the custodian were arguing around a female outsider. The villagers joined in, shouting about who had stolen it, how expensive it was, what they were going to do now, and so on.

“I-Is that a case?” Ian said shakily.

Evan shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’re practicing for a play.”

“Right. The Fall Harvest Festival is coming up soon. No, wait. That’s still a long way off. Besides, practicing a play in the middle of the street so early? Would they really do that?”

“I don’t think so.”

“They wouldn’t.”

“…”

“…”

They exchanged looks.

The wall clock ticked by. It was growing louder and louder outside.

After staring at each other for several seconds, they sighed at the same time.

“Sounds like a case.”

“Ahuh.”

“What a pain.”

“A pain it is. Fine. Let’s go check it out.”

---

“I’ve been working on a theory for a while now,” Ian muttered as they walked down the stairs of the station, hand-in-hand.

“A theory?”

“Have you ever wondered if Inspector Blois is actually smart?”

Evan stopped in his tracks, halfway down the stairs. They exchanged looks.

“I have,” Evan said. “I mean, isn’t he weird?”

“He is.”

“Right?”

“You know how sometimes he can be so brilliant, he solves even the hardest cases?”

“Yeah.”

“I-Isn’t that suspicious?”

“…”

“At first it looks like he’s completely clueless. Then he goes out somewhere, and when he comes back, he solves the case with ease. We’ve seen him do that a few times, no?”

“Yeah. The Motorcycle Decapitation Case, Ciaran the Master Thief. There was one more before that. The kidnapping of a businessman’s kid. That one was a big deal. For some reason, he said that we had to do the devil’s bidding to solve the case, forcing us to hold hands. He didn’t say we could let go, so we’ve been like this ever since.”

“I don’t really mind. I’m used to it by now.”

They started down the stairs again.

“What I’m saying is,” Ian continued eagerly, “before he solves a case, he always goes to that place. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Evan tilted his head in thought, then exclaimed, “Ah!”

“You get it now?”

“The library tower!”

“Yup. Inspector Blois hurries to St. Marguerite Academy even though he has no business there. And every time he has this face like he really doesn’t want to go. He heads straight to the library tower and climbs up, while leaving us waiting down below. And when he comes back down, he’s in an even worse mood, yelling at us. And then…” Ian snapped his fingers. “He solves the case.”

“What do you mean?”

They reached the ground floor. They trotted down the hallway, hand in hand, toward the front door.

“So here’s what I think,” Ian went on. “There’s a great detective at the top of the library tower. You get it now?”

“I don’t think there’s anyone up there. There’s an old legend that that’s where Saubreme’s old king used to hide his mistress. It’s just a conservatory now, though.”

“Ah, but there is someone up there.” Ian grinned. “Think. You remember the student we used to take to the library tower at Inspector Blois’ orders? He’s no ordinary guy.”

Evan’s breath caught. Opening the double door, he said, “He’s the secret detective?”

“No doubt about it.”

They stepped out of the police station onto the main street, squinting at the brightness.

Ian took a deep breath. “Kazuya Kujou, the foreign student from the Orient! He’s the secret detective behind Inspector Blois!”

“Hmm? What did I do?” Kazuya, running down the street with his wallet in hand, geta clattering loudly, stopped in his tracks.

---

“Stop! Why are you pulling me?! I have to buy snacks!”

Ian and Evan dragged Kazuya with them, each grabbing one hand. He tried to shake them off, but their grips were firm. As he flailed about, his feet lifted off the ground. They had broken into a run.

“My geta! My geta are coming off! What’s going on? This is tyranny!”

“We need you to solve a case.”

“It’s just over there. I’m sure you won’t take long.”

“A case?”

The three arrived in front of the village hall, where a huge commotion had broken out. They listened as the mayor and the custodian took turns talking about the painting, the canvas, and the woman who looked just like the subject, while Evan took notes in the notebook Ian was holding. Wearing an earnest look, Kazuya paid close attention.

Ian and Evan took the woman to the police station.

Kazuya wondered what on earth was going on. Maybe I should talk to Victorique. Looks like they’re in a fix. And this should help stave off her boredom.

He walked back to the academy.