Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 16 [Parts 1 to 2] by Mai Mochizuki

Author:Mai Mochizuki
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 1: The Mount Funaoka Project and the Black Tortoise’s Prayer

1

It was November now, and Holmes had returned to work at the antique store Kura. His training period at the Komatsu Detective Agency wasn’t over, but business there was essentially on hold because the boss, Katsuya Komatsu, was overwhelmed with programming work. So Holmes had come back to Kura, promising that he’d rush to the office if an important case came in. Personally, I was happy to be able to take care of the store with him like we used to.

This is a story of a small incident that happened during these peaceful days.

*

“I want you to find out if he’s cheating.”

They were words you wouldn’t expect to hear in an antique store. Behind the counter, Holmes and I looked at each other and then at the two people sitting in front of us.

One of them was a beautiful woman in her early fifties wearing a kimono. Her name was Atsuko Tadokoro, and she ran a flower arranging school that had a secret club in the basement. Holmes had met her during his work at the Komatsu Detective Agency.

Next to her was a woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a dress. She had tears in her eyes—she was the one who had made the request just now. She was pretty too, and at first glance, the two looked like mother and daughter, but that wasn’t the case. Her name was Tomoka Asai, and she was a student at Atsuko’s school.

Holmes and I had already introduced ourselves.

“Kiyotaka, could you take on Tomoka’s request?” asked Atsuko, looking up at him as she wrapped her arm around her student’s shoulders.

Holmes silently pressed his hand to his forehead. He was wearing his usual Kura attire: a black vest over a white shirt with sleeve garters around his upper arms. In other words, although he was a trainee at the Komatsu Detective Agency, he was currently an appraiser in an antique store. He certainly wouldn’t be in the mood to investigate someone’s life.

My face stiffened slightly as I realized what he was thinking.

Holmes paused for a second before smiling and saying, “Atsuko, if you’re in need of a detective, why not pay Komatsu a visit?”

“I don’t want to,” the older woman said. “We did go to his office, but I asked about you and he said you were here. Besides, isn’t he busy with his computer work right now? Even if we asked him for help, the request would end up going to you. And we’d rather have you do it anyway.” She raised her hand to her mouth and laughed.

There’s no winning against a Kyoto woman, huh?

“You have a point,” Holmes said with a small sigh. “The Komatsu Detective Agency does do infidelity investigations. We charge market rate. The cost varies depending on the situation, but it’ll be about this much per hour.” He tapped a few buttons on the calculator and showed them the number.

“Huh?” Tomoka looked up, startled. “It costs that much?”

“Yes, which

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