Knock knock. Merla answered the door. "Who is it?"
It was officer Hirata. "Hi, I'm looking for Mr. Sakume."
"Oh alright, hold on."
"Mr. Sakume, one of your friends is looking for you."
"Be right there." Shikura replied. He came down the stairs. "Oh Officer Hirata, what's up?"
"Sakume, we've found the identities of the victims."
"Really? Come in." said Shikura.
Hirata came in and Merla closed the front door. "Would you guys like some tea?"
"That'd be great, thanks."
Sakume gestured Hirata to sit down on the couch, while he sat down opposite of him. "So, fill me in."
Hirata took out a bunch of documents from the folder he was holding, placing them on the coffee table. "Turns out the lady's name is Nabiki Murai, and the man is Furitsu Tatekawa. Ms. Murai is 23 years old, currently enrolled in college that's out of town. She is the daughter of a rich landowner named Haku Murai. And the man who died with her, Furitsu, is her butler."
"Anything else relevant?" asked Shikura.
"Yes. Ms. Murai is engaged to a man named Yokoyama...Sir Yokoyama. He's one of the most wealthy and influential man in this town. They were engaged about 4 months ago, this was an arranged marriage done by her parents. That's when she stopped attending college, and came back home in preparation for this marriage."
"I see." said the detective, fumbling through the documents. "Do you think we can get in touch with this Sir Yokoyama?"
"Well...we can. It might be difficult, though."
"I'm sure he will cooperate in the name of justice."
Merla came in with the tea in a tray, and puts it on the table. "Here you go."
"Thanks, Merla." said Shikura.
Just now, Uramaki entered the room. "So, any insights, sir?"
"Hmmm...very interesting. Hirata, you said Ms. Murai's marriage is an arranged one, correct?"
"Yes." replied he.
"I see. This is not a vampire case at all. Think about this, what is someone like Ms. Murai and Mr. Tatekawa doing in the cemetery...in the middle of the night?"
Hirata put on his thinking face. "Well...probably something they do not want other people to see."
"In other words, a secret."
"Wait, are you saying they are having an affair?"
"Definitely. Do you think they go to a cemetery at night to talk business? It's not surprising, considering that she is engaged to someone like Lord Yokoyamya. I've heard some bad rumors about him, and he's not that great of a guy...in his social life and personal life."
"But an affair...with her butcher?"
"Hey, it happens. People get desperate. You can't help who you fall in love with."
"That's true."
"So, Mr. Hirata, if you found out your wife cheated on you, how'd you feel?"
"I'd be pretty upset. I'll be angry enough to punch the guy in the face."
"Angry enough to kill them?"
"Are you saying it's Lord Yokoyama who's the murderer?"
"Well, he has the motive. If someone who's so high up there found out he lost to a mere butler, he just might go overboard and kill them. Let's say one day he finds out by accident his future wife is having an affair. He gets angry. He keeps it to himself, and that anger builds up. Factor in the pressure he has to deal with from critics and those people who don't like him. Eventually, he can't take it anymore, and one day, he just snaps. He follows her to the cemetery, where he waits for them to drop their guard. Suddenly, he kills the man first. It's natural to kill the man first, since he's the one who's taking away your woman. So he stabs Mr. Tatekawa a few times, as Ms. Murai screams and runs away. He chases after her. He beats her, rapes her, and then kills her."
"Hmmm, that's very logical and possible. But...what about the teeth marks?"
"He probably went crazy and bit her. Remember, at that point he's probably not in a normal state. So he sucks her blood, which kills her. Another possibility is that he takes a sharp object and stabs her on the neck with it."
Uramaki said, "That's very good intuition right there, sir. But even if Yokoyama is really the murderer, it will be hard to persecute him. He has the money and resources to get a good lawyer."
"There's no such thing as a good lawyer when you're guilty. So right now, our objective is to question Ms Murai's fiancé."
Knock knock. Merla opened the door and to her surprise, the visitor was a woman. Sakume did not have any girlfriends or even dates, so he rarely gets female visitors. Merla scanned her body from the bottom to the top. She was wearing toeless shoes. She was wearing a pink skirt and most of her legs were seen. Her legs had clear, smooth skin. She was wearing a pink blouse. And lastly, she looked at the woman's face. Faith had a face of a pretty young woman in her twenties, or possibly younger.
Merla already disliked her…she cannot help it when her womanly instincts flare up. "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Mr. Sakume." she said bashfully.
"Come in. We rarely get female visitors here."
Faith allowed herself to walk inside as Merla closed the door. "Wow, this place is so big." She walked over to the life-sized windows which give the view of the garden.
"So what business do you have with Mr. Sakume, miss…" asked the maid.
"I'm Faith Lin."
"And I'm Merla, Sakume's maid."
"Oh, he has a maid?"
"So what business do you have with Mr. Sakume?"
"Well, it's something I want to discuss with him. Can I see him?" [1]
"Unfortunately he is out right now. He is a busy detective, you know?" Merla said indignantly. "But you can wait here."
Faith shook her head. "No, it's alright. I don't want to intrude."