Free Web NovelChapter 6: Chapter 6 - Strange Detective
The old wooden stairs squeezed and made a heart chilling noise under the pressure of his foot. He grabbed the railing and felt something in his hand.
Vincent looked down at his hand and noticed that it was covered in slimy substance.
"Eww." He formed a disgusted face and searched for a place to wipe his hand. It was a futile effort as everywhere he saw, it was the same. Some were even worse than the railing.
"Yuck."
"Here." Hera turned around and gave him a fresh towel from her pocket.
He gladly took it and thanked her.
"I know it is going to happen so I prepared." Hera said in a proud manner, putting up her chest.
Vincent sighed, wiping the wet slime off his hand. "If you know about this, you should warn me."
"It slipped my mind."
Vincent squinted his eyes. "Really?"
He shrugged his shoulders and continued to ask. "His office is on the second floor?"
"Yeah, he owns the building but his office is in the second." Hera said.
"Then, is there a reason he never cleaned his building? Money problem? Guess it makes sense looking at the building. It is better to destroy and build a new one."
Hera thought for a moment and shook her head. "He got plenty of words from my knowledge. Anyway, you can ask the man directly in a few minutes."
Vincent nodded.
After climbing up the stairs, they arrived at the second floor. The entire floor was used for the office. As there was only a single door appeared on the floor.
Hera knocked on the door lightly and waited.
Vincent scanned at the door. It was nothing special. At least, it wasn’t out of place, the door was made of wood and eluded the cold sensation.
He noticed the dragon head coming out from the wall beside the door. He reached out his hand in reflex and patted the dragon. Its head suddenly lifted up and revealed a panel of numbers and one empty button.
It stood out very much from the old exterior of the building.
"What are you doing?" Hera asked.
"Nothing." He replied, thinking about the password.
From the look of it, it was most likely a 4 number password.
He got the potential two numbers by deduction. The first was number 2 which he got from the location of this place. The second floor.
The next number was the room number. Since there was only one room there, it was simple enough. 1.
As for the rest, he didn’t know.
Hera knocked on the door again. This time, a voice came out.
"Cna you wait for a few minutes? I am sleeping." The voice was lazy and tired.
Before Hera could say another word, the connection cut off.
Vincent smiled and tapped on the panel.
2112.
The password was wrong. He would give it another 2 tries.
’Oh, yeah, there is also the dragon head. In the west, it is associated with the number 666 but in the east, the number was 9 as it was symbolized as power.’
2169.
The door opened with a thud sound.
Hera looked at him with a surprise. Vincent ignored her gaze and grabbed the handle, turning to her.
"Wow, how thoughtful. He wanted us to stay inside and wait for him."
"Maybe we should just wait in the cafe." Hera said with concern.
When the door fully opened, they noticed a person standing behind the door. It was a woman, dressed in business attire. Her legs were cladded with pantyhose.
Her hair reached to her shoulder and wore rather thick glasses that covered most of her face.
But beneath those glasses, her face was soft and carried a hint of rose color on the cheeks.
"Greetings." She nodded at the two and said in monotone. "I will take you to meet with the detective."
She spoke directly to Vincent. It was a bit surprising since Hera was the one who made the appointment.
He nodded and followed behind her.
"I am Vincent by the way." He introduced himself.
"I know." She answered coldly. There was no hostility behind her tone but she also wasn’t warm either.
A tough egg to crack but nevertheless, it was an egg.
Vincent nodded and smiled. "I don’t know your name yet."
"It said on my pin." She replied.
"I know but I think it is better to hear from you."
"Hmm.. I don’t want to."
"Then, I will call you Katie."
She frowned and looked at him.
Hera nudged him from the side. He ignored the jab and continued smiling.
"Just call me Katherine." She answered finally with a sigh.
Vincent nodded. "It is a mouthful but I will do as you request."
After walking for a minute, Katherine pointed to the door nearby and said to Hera. "You can stay in this room. It is a waiting room for guests."
Hera opened the door and looked inside. Surprisingly, it was clean. Chairs scattered across the room with a round table stood strangely in the middle.
There was a teapot on the table with no cups. He saw books embedded on the wall.
Hera nodded and entered, closing the door.
"The detective is waiting for you in his office." Katherine said and guided toward the office.
They arrived at the door with the name tag on it.
Nathan Harlow.
Katherine opened the door and revealed inside. The interior was what you expected from the 90s detective era with books stacked up to the ceiling.
And papers placed on the table.
The walls were covered in bookshelves and a few human skulls used as a decoration. He also saw smoke pipes placed all over the place.
"Wait a second. I will wake him up." Katherine said and walked over to the table, disappearing into the tower of papers. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Then, he heard a book hitting flesh and a soft groan.
Afterward, she came back and nodded at Vincent and left the room with a loud bam.
He then heard a groan behind the paper wall and a man came out. Vincent observed the new man.
He appeared to be much younger than Hera but he acted like an old person. Nathan glanced at him and walked over to the table in the middle.
He picked up the pipe and put it in his mouth, pointing at him to sit down.
"Come. Come. Don’t mind the room."
Vincent laughed. ’I really mind the room.’
He walked over to the table and sat down, books scattered all around him. He felt a bit weird to step onto then so he just jumped.
"Good physique." Nathan commented, lighting up the pipe. "Tell me about yourself. It is an interview after all."
"My name is Vincent Reed. I am 22 and graduate from Gale university in literature." Vincent cited the standard resume of his.
He carefully chose words and didn’t share any of his personal information.
Nathan stared at him and sat down, he inhaled a smoke and nodded slowly.
Then, the door behind Vincent opened and Katherine entered with tea. She placed the two cups on the table and some plates of dessert.
"He solved your weird puzzle." She said in the same monotone voice.
"Puzzle." Nathan repeated the word, tilting his head to the side, almost confused. He snapped his finger and nodded.
"Oh yeah that." He smacked his head and laughed. "I forget about that."
"I told you to change that a thousand times." Katherine recalled with a sharp look.
Nathan just smiled and enjoyed the tea.
"I can see that you are smart."
"Thanks for a weird compliment." Vincent laughed.
"Forget about the formality. I am suited for that."
"I can see. You are more of an old school."
"Yeah. That is right. Tell me your quirk. The things you are good at. Don’t worry, you will get the job no matter what. The quirk will allow me to place where I should put you in." Nathan explained in a hurry.
Katherine already left the room and closed the door, this time slowly. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"I am good at putting things together." Vincent said slowly. "And I can maintain the information for a long time and absorb it quickly as well."
Nathan nodded, taking out a small notebook from his pocket and scratching.
"And good at the psychology of women." Nathan added.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Interesting. You don’t deny it." Nathan smiled. "You must be proud of that. Of course if you don’t use your knowledge for bad things, I am not judging."
"I won’t say I am good at understanding psychology but I can guess what the person is thinking."
Nathan shut the book and stood up, holding the pipe in another hand. He looked down at Vincent and smiled.
"Welcome to my detective office. Your job will be a junior detective. Man, I always wanted one." Nathan exclaimed. "Stay here for a night, you don’t have a place right?"
Vincent nodded.
"Hera filled me with the details already. Go to Katherine and go pick the clothes and things you need. She will tell you the budget and help you. Now, excuse me, I got an appointment to go." Nathan said and left, leaving Vincent alone.
He stared at the books and let out a sigh. That was an interesting interview. He didn’t know whether he should thank Hera or his own intelligence.
He squinted his eyes and smiled. "He thinks I am sus. But why and for what reason?"
