Curious, Monet and Nicole followed the police and the woman with glasses to the nearby alley. There, they found the actress they had just seen earlier, lying on the ground with a knife wound to her chest. She was clearly lifeless, and nearby lay a large firework that had recently been lit.
Seeing this scene, the woman with glasses rushed forward and exclaimed, "Vera, Vera, what happened to you? Who could be so heartless as to kill you?!"
Inspector Klein allowed her to cry for a moment before asking, "Ma'am, please introduce yourself and explain why you were meeting with this Vera today."
"I am Grizé-Bella. Vera and I have been good friends for many years. Yesterday, she sent me a telegram, asking me to meet her here today. It seemed she wanted to borrow money from me because she owed someone for a long time, and if she didn't pay back soon, that person would kill her." Bella said with a sniffle.
"I see, so if that's the case, then the murderer is likely the person Vera owed money to," Inspector Klein pondered thoughtfully.
At that moment, Monet leaned in and whispered a few words to Inspector Klein. However, the inspector looked incredulous and asked, "Tony, are you sure about this?"
"About 80%, but checking her bag shouldn't be too much trouble, right?" Monet shrugged and replied.
Inspector Klein thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "True."
He turned to Bella and said, "Miss Bella, could you open your bag for me to inspect?"
"Why, why do you want to look inside my bag?" Bella asked nervously.
Initially, Inspector Klein wasn't entirely convinced by Monet's suspicion, but seeing Bella's reaction, he became serious. He urged sternly, "Miss Bella, please cooperate with our investigation!" He signaled to a nearby officer, who promptly seized the large bag from Bella's side.
"Inspector, there's really nothing in this bag, just some spare clothes!" Bella struggled in her defense.
"That's right, there might indeed be clothes in here, but they're not ordinary clothes. They're an exact match for the outfit the deceased was wearing," suddenly interjected Tony Monet.
"You, you're making things up!" Bella argued.
"Whether Mr. Monet is making things up or not, you'll find out when you open your bag!" Inspector Klein retorted. With that, he personally opened the bag, revealing an outfit identical to what the deceased was wearing. At that moment, Klein's tone turned cold as he asked, "Miss Bella, do you have anything to say now?"
"This, this isn't my fault. She, she owed me a lot of money and just wouldn't pay me back. My child fell ill, and she still didn't repay me. Besides, she even seduced my husband, so I had to kill her! Kill her!" Bella shouted hoarsely, her voice breaking.
"No matter the circumstances, you shouldn't have taken a life. Randall, take her away!" Inspector Klein commanded firmly.
Then, turning to Monet, he asked in a hushed voice, "Tony, how did you figure it out?"
Monet gestured towards Nicole by his side, "Actually, the true hero in this case is Nicole. Before anyone discovered the body, she already noticed that the same person had entered and exited the café from both the front and the back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to entertain such a major speculation!"
"Because I used to be an actress as well, I'm particularly sensitive to women's makeup. Coincidentally, she was sitting quite close to us, and her makeup wasn't entirely removed. That's how I could see it!" Nicole modestly replied.
"You two are like real-life Holmes and Watson, oh no, both Holmes – one male Holmes and one female Holmes!" Inspector Klein praised.
Feeling elated for solving the case, Nicole and Monet initially wanted to go home and celebrate with a bottle of wine. However, as soon as they arrived home, Casey approached them, "Sir, Dr. Thompson has been waiting for you in the reception room for quite a while!"
"Dr. Thompson? I don't even know this person!" Monet furrowed his brow.
"Maybe you should go and see what he wants!" Nicole suggested.
So, Monet agreed and entered the reception room, where he found a tall middle-aged man standing up, introducing himself, "Hello, Mr. Monet, I'm Dr. Thompson from Bellevue Hospital. It might seem impolite to disturb you so late."
"Dr. Thompson, hello. May I ask what brings you to me?" Monet inquired curiously.
"Well, you see, I heard that you used Coca-Cola to cure Mrs. Olsen's stomach stones. I wanted to ask if there's any scientific basis behind it?" Thompson asked seriously.
Monet shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, I don't know about that. After all, I'm not a doctor."
"You don't even know the principles behind it and yet you dared to treat Mrs. Olsen? That's quite irresponsible, isn't it?" Thompson asked, somewhat annoyed.
While Thompson's tone wasn't the best, Monet realized that this guy was just a bookworm, so there was no need to get upset. He patiently explained, "Even though I don't know the principles, I don't think giving someone Coca-Cola, even if it doesn't work, would worsen their condition. As for the scientific basis, if Dr. Thompson is genuinely curious, you could always conduct tests and experiments!"
"Tests and experiments? How do I go about that?" Dr. Thompson asked curiously.
"It's quite simple. Analyze the components of Coca-Cola, then analyze the components of these plant-based stomach stones. Find out where the chemical reaction occurs. That way, you'll discover the scientific basis behind it!" Monet explained.
"Analyzing the components of Coca-Cola might be simple, but where am I supposed to analyze these stomach stones? I can't just perform surgery on a patient to extract the stones, right? While that's a method, if there's a simpler treatment, patients probably wouldn't be willing to undergo surgery." Thompson furrowed his brow, muttering to himself.
"Of course patients wouldn't want that, but you could find patients who are willing, or even try it on a chimpanzee by feeding them a lot of persimmons, hawthorns, and dates. Then, afterward, dissect the pig and take out its stomach stones for analysis! If chimpanzees are hard to come by, find a pig!" Monet suggested.