MFM | Chapter 2.7

“I lingered in front of the locked basement door for a long time. At some point, terrible laughter and screams kept coming from inside. My husband’s voice was mixed in, but there was a chilling sound that seemed out of this world, speaking in an unknown language…”

She stopped speaking and shook her head quickly, as if her memories had been distorted by fear, and telling such irrational stories was utterly shameful.

“My husband must have been hallucinating from fatigue and excitement. The reason he was so worn out was probably because he was taking some kind of drug. I laid my collapsed husband on the bed and went back to the basement. And then…”

Madam Krem clutched her necklace.

“I realized my husband had committed murder. But I couldn’t send him to prison or a mental hospital. So I buried the child with my own hands and packed the ground. From that day on, neither of us could sleep peacefully.”

“Was your husband’s cause of death suicide?”

Klaus asked. Madam Krem nodded faintly.

“Until the end, he never told me where he buried William’s bones. Instead, he repeatedly begged me never to go down to the basement, saying it was his only wish. Then one day, he was found dead in bed with pill bottles scattered around.”

“…”

“By then, it felt like everything that was going to happen had happened, and I didn’t even have the mental capacity to grieve more. Every day felt like atonement. Even while donating most of our wealth, it was only painful.”

Madam Krem’s eyes drifted into the void.

“Every night, I think of that cart. If I had lifted the cloth, that child might not have died. If I had gone into the basement, that child might not have died…”

Her cracked lips were now stained with blood. Madam Krem wiped away the tears in her eyes and straightened her back.

“Now that I’ve confessed everything, you can take me away. I’ve already written my will and have no intention of calling a lawyer.”

“Madam, that’s not our role. We’re only here from the insurance company.”

Klaus took out a business card holder from his pocket and held it up to Madam Krem’s face.

“The police will visit soon. Please cooperate with them when they come to arrest you.”

Leaving Madam Krem with a dazed look in the drawing room, Gabriel and Klaus stepped out of the house. Gabriel habitually pressed his temples. The throbbing headache was gradually intensifying.

“Mind if I smoke a cigarette before we go?”

When Gabriel asked, Klaus nodded without hesitation. As Gabriel took out a cigarette and placed it between his fingers, Klaus pulled out a matchbox from his pocket and lit it.

However, Klaus himself didn’t have a cigarette. Gabriel, experiencing this situation for the first time, looked up at Klaus.

“Don’t you smoke?”

“Nope.”

Instead of explaining further, Klaus gestured for Gabriel to go ahead. Gabriel felt both puzzled and hesitant. He had lent a light to others before, but never had someone served him like this. Usually, it’s something a subordinate does for a superior.

Meanwhile, the match was steadily burning down.

In the end, Gabriel leaned forward to the burning flame. As he inhaled, the flame caught the cigarette. Half-closing his eyes, he exhaled deeply, and Klaus immediately waved his hand to extinguish the match.

“You’re good at it.”

Gabriel wasn’t sure what he was supposedly good at. He turned his head away from Klaus.

“I just did as you signaled. When are the police coming?”

“In less than an hour. The trial will take a few months, and it’ll be held privately. It’s still under our investigation.”

Even so, a heavy sentence wouldn’t be given. The crime of concealing a criminal doesn’t apply between direct family members or spouses. Gabriel slowly exhaled the smoke he had inhaled.

“Did you not believe the Madam’s words from the start?”

“I was a bit suspicious. Avoiding eye contact, hiding expressions, constantly clutching the necklace. She was detailed in her testimony until the basement topic came up, then she suddenly wrapped it up vaguely. Unless you’re a seasoned con artist, you can’t fabricate lies on the spot, especially when cornered. So she just shut her mouth.”

Klaus leaned against the wall, meeting Gabriel’s gaze.

“Above all, the conclusion was strange. A mother who loves her child that much wouldn’t leave the child’s body in someone else’s cold basement. Even if they moved, they would have kept ownership. They would have found a way to relocate the remains.”

Gabriel agreed with his words. Even if it doesn’t matter to the deceased, the living are bound by such things. Especially ordinary people.

Ordinary parents who love their child dearly.

“Do you not think Madam Krem is still lying? If she lied once, she could lie twice. What if…”

Gabriel took a short drag from his cigarette and quickly exhaled.

“What if she was the one who knew and led the ritual, and Krem was just the executor?”

“Good thought, but probably not.”

Klaus gently refuted.

“If that were the case, her lies would have been completely different. She would have said, ‘I just followed what someone told me,’ ‘I didn’t know the child would be used as a sacrifice,’ ‘I tried to stop but was threatened.’ She would have avoided responsibility. Then the blame would fall on someone else, not her or her husband. By testifying about that person, she could lessen her own guilt.”

“You’re really knowledgeable.”

“People often want to escape. So you have to open the path well. Then they’ll run away along that path. And you catch them at the crossroads.”

Klaus mimicked grabbing something swiftly.

“They’ll struggle until the moment they’re caught, but there’s nothing they can do then.”

“About that struggle.”

Gabriel paused for a moment. Like sediment in a jar of specimens, there was still lingering doubt. Even at this moment when the case was wrapping up.

“Did Madam really believe it was a piglet?”

When he said that, it felt like the cigarette smoke was choking him a bit. Gabriel lowered his head and flicked the ash off his cigarette. The bright red cigarette ember shed ash and glowed pointlessly.

Klaus, with a slight smirk, loosened his tie a bit more.

“Maybe she wanted to believe it.”

The acrid scent dispersed around them. Anyway, it was a fact that no longer held any meaning. She would be judged for her actions instead of her conscience.

“How will the investigation proceed from here?”

“They’ll investigate the remaining things in the 3rd District. Albert Krem’s belongings, his relationships before he died, traces of money transactions. Then we’ll find out who whispered in his ear.”

“Is that the end?”

“Yeah.”

“Then…”

Gabriel felt the urge to bite the end of his cigarette.

“You’re not investigating who the dead child was.”

There’s no need to know such things. Whether sold or kidnapped, it wouldn’t be a child from a noble family. Probably a child from the slums or an orphanage. One that no one would care about if they disappeared.

A bitter taste lingered in his mouth. Klaus quietly watched Gabriel and then crossed his arms.

“You say you want to know in a really strange way.”

When did he ever say that? Gabriel removed the cigarette from his mouth and glared at him.

“I was just trying to clarify the scope of work.”

Despite Gabriel’s denial, Klaus grinned.

“Shy, aren’t you? We can investigate.”

“We?”

“Yeah, we. You and me.”

He alternately pointed at Gabriel and himself with his finger.

“It was probably a child from the 5th District, so it’s our jurisdiction. We might find out more about the mastermind as we dig deeper.”

“Do you really expect to find such evidence?”

“No. But if the higher-ups ask, that’s what I’ll say.”

Klaus said shamelessly.

“I’m working hard on the tasks assigned to me, and I’m even taking on tasks that weren’t assigned. Aren’t I an excellent talent? What do you think, Gabriel?”

“There’s no need for the District Chief to take on this task. You can leave it to me.”

“You think you’re the only one curious? I’m curious too.”

Why would he be curious? It’s something that doesn’t concern him. There’s a much higher chance of going through all the trouble and gaining nothing.

Setting aside the mastermind, there might not even be a birth record for the child. If that’s the case, it would be like floundering to catch a non-existent ghost. It would be an inefficient and worthless waste of time. At least that’s how the officers Gabriel had seen usually judged it.

So Gabriel couldn’t add anything to them. Once they barely distinguished between suicide and homicide, the bodies were quickly loaded onto wagons and disappeared from sight. Those bodies were invariably donated for dissection to nearby medical universities.

Before he knew it, the cigarette had burned down to the end. Gabriel slowly extinguished the cigarette by rubbing it against the cigarette case. Perhaps because he had just smoked, his pulse was slightly quickening. His heart was pounding, uncertain if it was anxiety or not.

Klaus, who had already boarded the carriage, reached out a hand towards him. He had a relaxed and amused expression, as if he was sure Gabriel would take his hand.

Even though it was nothing, seeing that face twisted his mood. Gabriel approached him with his hands behind his back. Instead of taking his hand, he grabbed the handle of the carriage.

“What the…!”

Before he could step on the footboard, his body was lifted into the air. Klaus had plucked Gabriel from the ground like pulling out a needle and placed him in the carriage.

It was a way of boarding he hadn’t used since he was five. Before he could even protest, the carriage started moving. Freed from Klaus’s embrace, Gabriel plopped down on the seat opposite him. He was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even speak.

“Am I a child?”

“I’m hungry. Let’s hurry and get lunch.”

Klaus smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling. As if he had lifted Gabriel just to start the carriage a few seconds earlier because he was hungry.

Gabriel pressed his temples, trying to suppress the frown that kept forming. Despite having smoked, his head was throbbing.

Klaus Rapendell, he was truly a peculiar human being.