Chapter 107: Last Resort
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: Last Resort
“Please, both of you. You shouldn’t be fighting in a hospital.”
“………”
“It’s common sense.”
Adler—cold sweat beading on his forehead—stepped between Celestia Moran and Lestrade, whose heads were practically pressed together in a heated standoff, and forced them apart.
“You heard him, you hot-tempered hag.”
“Haah…”
Of course, these two women, both contenders for the title of London’s strongest combatant, wouldn’t have been moved by Adler’s physical strength alone. Yet, surprisingly, as soon as Adler intervened to de-escalate the situation, they drifted apart without him having to exert any real force.
“No fighting.”
“……..”
The icy glares of the two women crossed for a fleeting second.
“Inspector. Please, calm yourself. I’ll go with you…”
As the atmosphere grew more tense by the second, Adler hurried to walk alongside Lestrade as she had demanded.
“…Dad.”
“……..!”
Adler froze. The voice coming from behind him was Moran’s, but it sounded eerily similar to Professor Moriarty’s, sending a chill down his spine.
“There’s somewhere you need to go first.”
Celestia Moran looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes, extending her hand toward him as she always did.
“Dad…?”
“Inspector. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but…”
Adler caught the expression of utter disbelief and shock on Lestrade’s face and hastily began to explain himself.
“It’s just a title. As you know, she’s a child I’m raising, so…”
“Are you going to leave me again?”
“…Oh, dear…”
Moran toddled over to his side, taking his hand and gazing into his eyes as she spoke. Looking at her, Adler finally gave up on his excuses. A look of liberation washed over his face, as if he had finally come to terms with his fate.
“……….”
An awkward silence descended upon the trio.
“To start, as Miss Moran said, there is somewhere I must go urgently.”
“………”
“I’ll stop there first and then accompany you. Is that acceptable, Inspector?”
Heaving a deep, weary sigh, Adler broke the silence and began to lead the way.
“Savage old woman.”
Moran’s voice, as petite as her stature, drifted toward Lestrade as she followed behind Adler.
“Watch your back at night, okay?”
Lestrade turned her head to see the girl baring her teeth, her eyes brimming with raw murderous intent. Seeing this side of her—so utterly different from the one she showed Adler—Lestrade couldn’t help but let out a faint, dry chuckle.
“And just so you know. If you try to mess with Dad, I’ll kill you without warning.”
“…Hmm.”
Honestly, Gia Lestrade felt she would have done the exact same thing if she were in little Moran’s shoes.
“You talk big for a runt.”
Grind…
“You’re a bit too short, though. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear half of what you said.”
Having walked ahead only to leave the two volatile women in direct contact, Isaac Adler was forced to jump back into the fray to break them up again. It had only been a few seconds, but the quiet hospital hallway was once again on the verge of a riot.
*
“Is this ‘business’ of yours… meeting a patient admitted here?”
“…There is someone I need to see personally.”
Sandwiched between the two unruly women, Isaac Adler walked with uneasy steps until he finally stopped in front of a specific hospital room. Gia Lestrade tilted her head, her curiosity piqued.
“Could you please wait outside, Inspector?”
To Adler’s surprise, Lestrade nodded in agreement without a single word of protest.
“Thank you, Inspector.”
“What about me, Dad?”
“…You may come in with me, Miss Moran.”
As Adler prepared to enter the room quietly, he flinched slightly at Moran’s question. Ultimately, he took the girl’s hand and stepped inside.
Creeeak…
Thankfully, they entered without further incident. It was a relief to have separated the two violent women, if only for a moment.
“It’s you.”
As they approached the bed, a visitor sitting in a chair bowed his head and spoke in a low voice.
“Mr. Nathan Garrideb. I apologize for the complications regarding your request.”
“………”
“I must admit, we never anticipated such a dreadful situation unfolding within the mansion.”
“I have no comment on that matter.”
Nathan Garrideb looked at his sister, Neria Garrideb, who lay motionless in a hospital gown. His face was pale as he nodded in response to Adler’s apology.
“And who is this child?”
“She is with us. You can rest easy.”
“Then, may I ask what will become of my request? If there’s a breach of contract…”
“There’s no need to worry.”
As Nathan looked at Adler with trembling eyes, Adler offered a reassuring smile.
“The plan will proceed without a hitch.”
“Does that mean…”
“It’s practically over already. With your mother, Dr. Frankenstein, under arrest, your sister won’t be living much longer.”
“……..”
“She will likely pass away before she is even discharged. After all, there is no one left to recharge the essence of life within her. This is what you’d call a perfect crime, isn’t it? Haha.”
Upon hearing those words, Nathan Garrideb bowed his head once more.
“So, how do you feel now?”
Adler looked down at his client, his voice soft and probing.
“How does it feel to be free of your loathsome mother and sister?”
Nathan flinched, his voice trembling as he murmured.
“It’s the best…”
“………”
“It’s like… finally shaking off parasites that have infested my body my entire life. It’s incredibly refreshing.”
In the eyes of the client, there was no longer any hint of the hesitation or reluctance he had shown when he first entered Adler’s back-alley hideout.
“I should have done this sooner. Heh. Heheh, hehehehehahaha!”
What remained was only a chilling, sinister aura that could make one’s blood run cold. A single choice had been enough to steep the man in a world of endless darkness.
“You’ll make sure the cleanup is thorough, right? I want to sever all ties with you now.”
“Of course. No matter how diligently the police investigate, they won’t find a single link to you. And… since no murder was technically committed, even if someone uncovered the truth, you would avoid any legal punishment or moral condemnation.”
“Hmm…”
“Plus, even if you wanted to meet us again, you won’t be able to find us. Per our agreement, you will forget my identity within a few days.”
Garrideb nodded, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
“Excuse me, but… what about the payment? The manor is under investigation, so I can’t offer anything right now…”
“Oh, that’s not a problem…”
When the client asked with a troubled expression, Adler gently stroked Neria Garrideb’s cheek before replying.
“…since I’ve already received it.”
A brief, heavy silence filled the hospital room.
“Have I really made a deal with the devil?”
“If you truly want to know the details, I won’t stop you, but…”
“No, that’s quite alright.”
Nathan rose energetically and exchanged a brief handshake with Adler. He turned to leave, offering his parting words.
“Let’s never meet again.”
The door closed, and silence enveloped the room once more.
“Dad, I feel sorry for that girl.”
“Hmm?”
“Do we… do we really need to kill her?”
Left alone with Adler, Moran directed a sorrowful gaze toward Neria Garrideb. However, as soon as the words left her mouth, she clapped her hands over her lips in fright.
“………”
She watched Adler’s expression, her face turning pale as a sheet.
“I’m sorry, Dad…”
Swoosh…
“…Eeek!”
Seeing Adler reach toward her, Moran squeezed her eyes shut and gasped, bracing herself for a slap.
“…….?”
But instead of sharp pain, a gentle warmth settled on her head. Puzzled, she looked up at Adler as he held her arm.
“The pitiful one isn’t that girl, but the client who just left.”
“……..”
“He doesn’t even know that he, too, is one of Dr. Frankenstein’s test subjects. And… that he will no longer receive the cure for his rabies—the cure that was being extracted from his sister and administered to him while he slept.”
Adler patted Moran’s head gently, whispering with a benevolent expression.
“In a few months, he’ll likely regret today for the rest of his life. Of course, by then, it will be far too late…”
“Ah…”
“Shh.”
Adler placed a finger over Moran’s lips as her eyes widened in realization. Then, he shifted his gaze to Neria Garrideb, who lay peacefully on the bed.
“Isn’t that right, Miss Garrideb?”
“………”
“…I knew you were awake from the start.”
As the color drained from the girl’s face, Adler leaned in to whisper in her ear, his voice tinged with dark mirth.
“By the way, you’re quite lucky. Thanks to you consistently consuming my flesh over the past few days, the essence of life in your body—which was practically empty—has been fully recharged by my blood.”
“……..!”
“…Originally, I planned to kill you quietly to avoid any loose ends…”
Adler glanced at Moran, who was blinking innocently beside him.
“But, as you can see, my daughter pities you.”
“…Uh.”
“So, disappear from London. If you don’t, I will have no choice but to kill you.”
Adler pinched Moran’s soft cheek and pulled something from his pocket.
“It’s not your inheritance, but consider it a small parting gift.”
He placed a check—an amount sufficient for a woman to live comfortably for decades—on the bedside table and stood up.
“From this moment on, Neria Garrideb is dead. Live the rest of your life in freedom.”
“……Uuuh.”
“Goodbye.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Neria Garrideb began to sob silently as Adler and Moran left the room.
“Ahhhhhhh…..”
Thus, the official conclusion of the Three Garridebs case, later published by Watson, was reached.
Of course, the records did not mention the sudden decrease in organized attempts to kidnap Isaac Adler following the incident. Nor did they mention the rumors of a girl’s silhouette seen in the window of the house where Adler stayed on stormy nights.
Those in the know—excluding Isaac Adler, of course—called that shadow Adler’s Sentinel.
*
– Probability of being Kidnapped — 40% → 15%
Warning!
– Probability of being Stalked — 100%
“…Huh.”
Confronted with probabilities that were utterly contradictory, Isaac Adler wore a puzzled expression as he closed the hospital room door.
“………?”
He tilted his head as he saw Gia Lestrade, covered in dust, walking toward him from the direction of the window rather than the hallway.
“…By any chance, did you climb the exterior wall to eavesdrop?”
“………”
“How much did you hear, Inspector?”
Adler asked with a look of mild anticipation, but when he saw the disappointment and disgust in Lestrade’s eyes, he could only offer a bitter smirk.
“Well, I get the general picture.”
“Isaac Adler.”
“What did you expect? Your boyfriend is just that kind of man, Inspector.”
Watching her approach with an aura as frigid as her hair and eyes, Adler looked on with resignation. Reaching him, Lestrade pulled a paper from her pocket and thrust it toward him.
“What’s this?”
“…Sign it.”
“A consent form for the investigation, I assume?”
Adler reached into his pocket for a pen.
“Even so, you won’t be able to arrest me for this. There’s no physical evidence or victims left, rig—?”
His words trailed off as his eyes widened in shock.
“…I’ve realized that with my insignificant abilities alone, I cannot protect London from you.”
Lestrade pointed to the bottom corner of the paper, her voice calm and steady.
“So, I have no choice but to bet everything on my last resort.”
As she urged him to sign in that frigid tone, Adler’s thoughts came to a grinding halt.
“But this is…”
“Let’s get married, Isaac Adler.”
“…What!?”
What Gia Lestrade had handed him was not a consent form for an investigation… but a marriage registration form, already signed by her.