Chapter 10

Yes, he was prideful. His great pride believed that Marianne would stand by his side forever. He was confident that she would always look at him affectionately and call his name sweetly.

Therefore, he didn’t make any effort. As he knew Marianne would love him anyway. He never thought she wouldn’t love him.

However, now she wasn’t by Kristoff’s side. D*mn, he clenched his fist while swearing under his breath.

Why didn’t he listen to her? Why didn’t he comfort her through her sorrow?

Kristoff wanted to hit his dull head. No, when she asked for a divorce and he caught her so that she didn’t leave, he should have prioritized Marianne over meeting up with the judge.

Would that have made a difference? Would Marianne be by his side now?

All of it was just useless assumptions. Marianne had already left him, and regretting it now, was too late. No matter how early he knew about it, all that was left was to get her back, by any means.

“Martin.”

The restrained voice came out of Kristoff’s mouth. Martin, who was looking down at him sorrowfully, bowed.

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Call Oliver.”

The young aide’s face came into Martin’s mind. He listened quietly, waiting for the following remark from his master.

“Tell him to bring Veronica’s case report to me, right now.”

“……Yes, sir.”

Although bewildered by the name of an unexpected person, suddenly coming out of his master’s mouth, the old butler obeyed instead of asking questions.

“Oh, and also.”

Turning to face him, Kristoff added as if he just remembered. Martin stopped in his place and looked at his master again.

“Send people to watch for Marianne’s jewels that could be sold on the market. Since she didn’t take any cash, she would have no choice but to sell her jewelry. Sooner or later.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Martin somehow felt his throat was becoming dry at Kristoff’s meticulousness. He wanted Marianne to come back to his side as soon as possible.

Otherwise, he felt as if a ferocious storm would engulf the entire mansion soon.

Where are you, Lady Schneider?

***

Objectively, Marianne was on the clever side. Indeed, no one could say that she was stupid because she graduated from law school.

Moreover, she thought she was pretty good at her job. She was also competent, even if  she was not as good as Kristoff, she quickly got the hang of her first task.

Therefore, she couldn’t help but sigh after eyeing the messy pile of documents. Reports and lists of evidence in various cases were all mixed up.

“Before this happens, shouldn’t they just keep the documents separate  from the beginning?”

Marianne rolled up her sleeves and began to sort the documents by case. She took quite a while to finish doing that.

There were eight cases in total. There were also various types of crimes such as robbery, assault, and fraud. After that, she organized the documents again by date.

The time she used wasn’t meaningless at all. Marianne was able to understand the rough process of how the investigation was conducted by looking through the written documents.

She also read carefully on how they collected evidence and witness testimony. She also paid attention to the format in which the report is used.

“Huh?”

Then, a thin sheet of paper fell from the pile of documents. Marianne picked it up inadvertently and her eyes were slightly wide open.

There was a painting of a man’s face. He looked pretty anxious with a skinny face and red cheekbones. The wart under his left eyebrow was unusually impressive. His folded ears which looked like dumplings were also unusual.

“He’s a suspect in a jeweler’s robbery. It’s been more than a month since the incident occurred, but he hasn’t been caught yet.”

Marianne looked up at the voice coming from above her head. Nicholas scanned the desk while rubbing his bearded chin.

“Have you already sorted these out? You’re fast.”

His voice reflected neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. It was as dull as telling the truth the way it was.

He turned his eyes carefully and stared straight at Marianne.

“I don’t intend to give you special treatment just because you’re a woman.”

“I don’t want it either, Inspector.”

“Even if you’re a widow who lost her husband.”

“……”

Marianne didn’t say anything for a moment. She looked at Nicholas with bewildered eyes. Marianne never told him she was married. That was a fact that even the Commissioner Chief didn’t know about.

Where did they see information about me?

Her expression hardened. Nicholas continued in an emotionless voice.

“Do you have to work for a living? Then, you wouldn’t have had to be a policeman. Wouldn’t a cafe or a flower shop be suitable for you?”

Marianne rolled her eyes slowly when she saw his eyes lingered on her fingers. There was a white mark on her ring finger.

That was where she used to wear her wedding ring.

She felt around her nape. The ring was attached to the necklace and hidden under the dress.

It wasn’t just because it was expensive jewelry that prevented her from throwing away the wedding ring. It was more because of the lingering feelings that remained carelessly in her heart.

Marianne lifted her calm eyes and looked at NIcholas.

“If I cause you any inconvenience, I’ll go out on my own. However, I think it’s unfair that I’m not given a chance.”

She had work to do here. Not only to search for her life, but to find out who killed Veronica.

She didn’t think about what would happen after that. Whether to bring him to face justice or wield the sword of justice with her own hands.

Then he nodded. Nicholas opened his eyes slightly wide upon Marianne’s reply.

“Alright. Then, after you finish your work, you can organize the documents on the desk over there. I hope you do your best not to lose your chance.”

Marianne, who was turning her head after seeing his gaze, groaned lowly after spotting another pile of documents.

While thinking about whether this was a territorial attitude that she had only heard of, Nicholas disappeared from her sight.

“Don’t get hurt, he’s originally blunt.”

A timid voice came from behind her. Marianne turned around with a gloomy expression on her face.

A young man wearing suspenders was looking at her with twinkling eyes. His red curly hair gave off the impression of youth.

He reached out one hand to Marianne and raised his pointed chin.

“My name is Ian Weber. Your name is Ms…… Marianne Haveck?”

“Just call me Marianne.”

“All right, Marianne. So in other words, ehem. I’m your senior.”

His stuck-up eyes were sparkling as if expecting something. Aha, Marianne, who guessed what he was thinking, smiled and held Ian’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Senior Ian.”

“Senior Ian……”

Ian, who was looking up into the air with a dreamy gaze as if savoring the words, suddenly dragged a chair and sat down beside her.

Perhaps he was the youngest member of the team before she came around, and he seemed to start enjoying the resonating word of ‘senior’. His voice quickly became arrogant.

“Marianne. As a senior, I will give you some advice, so listen carefully.”

“Yes, Senior Ian.”

She nodded with a solemn face, swallowing the creeping smile on her mouth. The man was probably younger than her, but does it mean anything? Every word from her mouth doesn’t cost money anyway.

Moreover, she was desperate to be on his side at this moment.

“First of all, Inspector Nicholas is the leader of our team. He’s also the most competent detective in the Blauberg Police Agency.”

She somehow thought so. He was, indeed, a clever man who even found the white mark of the wedding ring on her fingers in just a short time.

“And, Lieutenant Maxim Frank…… Oh, it’s the one who hit the desk and left a moment ago. You’d better be careful not to get marked by him. He tends to hold a long grudge.”

Ian leaned his upper body slightly and whispered in her ear, as if telling a secret story. Marianne nodded with a gloomy look on her face.

“What should I do if I’m already marked by him?”

“Well……”

Ian scratched his head and swallowed awkwardly after recalling the situation earlier. Instead of answering, he gave her a mournful gaze.

“It’s easier to give up.”

“……Yes.”

Ian hurriedly changed the subject as if he didn’t want to talk about Maxim anymore.

“The other one is Sergeant Florian, Florian König.”

When he said that, Marianne was reminded of the pale complexion like a corpse. Her impression of him was that his name didn’t go well with his complexion. The dark shade under his eyes made it seem like he stayed up all night.

“These four people are one team.”

“There are five now.”

“That’s right. There are five people in the team including Marianne now.”

Ian, whose eyes opened wide for a moment when she responded, shook his head. But then.

“Ian! What are you waiting for? If you have time to fool around, why don’t you go on another patrol? Have you given up on the jewelry store robbery completely?”

In the distance, Maxim roared loudly. Ian, who flinched and shook his shoulders, got up from his seat and replied, “Yes, I’ll go now!”

Marianne, whose eyes met his, threw him a gaze of condolence this time.

“Get out now or I’ll kick your a*s! You little brat!”

“Thank you, Senior Ian. It was a big help for me.”

“Senior Ian……”

Ian, who was staring into the air with a dreamy expression as if savoring the word again, hurriedly went out after seeing Maxim’s fierce expression. Maxim stared at her with disapproving eyes.

“Please go ahead, Lieutenant Maxim.”

Marianne smiled at him and began sorting out the documents again. Bang, Maxim kicked the trash can as he couldn’t contain his anger.

An umbrella seemed to be necessary for Maxim, not Marianne. Of course, if he got it, Marianne’s head would be blown off first.

***

Knock, knock.

“Come on in.”

Martin breathed out a quiet sigh and opened the office door with a creak upon the sound of a formal and dry voice. Kristoff’s jawline has become even sharper after a few days passed.

The amount of food he had eaten recently has been less than usual. Moreover, the lights in the office didn’t go out until late at night. He didn’t take on a new case, nor because of work matters.

There was only one reason. Lady Schneider’s absence.

“How’s the progress?”

Marianne’s outing attire has been found in the department store lounge. At the same time, a maid informed him that mourning clothes had disappeared from the madam’s closet.

Now, the person they were going after was a mysterious widow, not Marianne.

“On the day Madam disappeared, we found a coachman in front of the department store who picked up a widow. According to him, he dropped the widow off in front of the train station.”

“Train station?”

Kristoff opened his eyes wide as if he just heard something unexpected.

He thought Marianne was somewhere in the capital city. He thought if he searched the capital city thoroughly, he would eventually find her.

But, a train station? Does it mean she left the capital city?

The expression slowly vanished from Kristoff’s face. He looked up blankly into the air like a man who had been hit in the nape with a hammer.

Searching the empire was different from searching the capital city. Finding Marianne in this vast land would be hopeless, like finding a needle in a haystack.

Perhaps, it was impossible.

Is he not going to find Marianne forever?

“Martin.”

At that moment, his voice, which lost its tone and feeling, came out of Kristoff’s mouth. Martin looked at him pitifully.

Not long ago, he was as dashing as a king who owned the entire world, but at this moment, he was like a gambler who lost everything.

“Yes.”