Sera Masumi was caught off guard and was stunned for a moment: “If you really want me to say this, then I think it’s all fine. It depends on what you think, mom.”

“Oh, really?”

The British girl smiled meaningfully, but it made the girl with tiger teeth’s heart skip a beat.

By the way, what does that smile of my mother mean? Why does it feel like, “Once I change back, you won’t have anything to do with me anymore”?

Uh, how about just asking mom not to change back?

Sera Masumi blinked.

She didn’t want the happy parent-child interaction time in the evening to end up with her just watching from the side. That would be too uncomfortable.

……

Since the body was found on the beach, in order to facilitate the collection of clues without disturbing the scene, the police officers of Izu Police Station made preparations as soon as they received the alarm. They brought large pieces of cardboard and laid them along the way. Anyone who wanted to enter the crime scene had to step on the cardboard to avoid leaving footprints that would disrupt the search.

When Serabel and the other two followed the police to the body, they saw Kaishiro Imaoka kneeling on the ground crying in a circle of cardboard surrounding the body.

“Xiao Ting… Xiao Ting, why is this happening…”

“Uncle Imaoka…”

It feels good to join in the fun, but when you really join in, you realize that you came at the wrong time.

Looking at the middle-aged uncle in front of him whose eyes were red from crying, Sera Masumi could only open his mouth cautiously and tentatively call out.

Hearing the voice of the girl beside him, Imaoka Kaishiro’s body trembled slightly. He barely stopped crying and raised his head, his voice still trembling.

“Yes…you guys, you’re here to borrow surfing equipment, right? But I’m sorry, I’m temporarily closed today…”

Not to mention that his wife died, he even lost his surfing coach, so of course he had to close the business.

“Ah no, we…”

Sera Masumi waved his hands and was about to explain that he was not so inconsiderate and only came over out of concern, but Imaoka Kaishiro had already bent down again and hugged the cold Imaoka Ting and started crying.

Serabelle tilted her head to take a closer look. In the center of the cardboard circle where they were standing, Imaoka Ting, who had become a corpse, was still wearing a cold-weather surfing suit, with a surf rope wrapped around his neck to secure his body and surfboard.

And there is an obvious mark of strangulation on the neck… huh?

As if she had discovered something magical, Serabelle hissed softly.

At the same time, Mary Akai, who was standing next to him, also had a slight flicker in her eyes.

But before Serabelle could say anything, a police officer in charge of the investigation came over, passed by them and went to a man who looked like a sheriff in the back, holding a pen and paper for taking notes in his hand.

“Reporting to the police, the cause of death is probably strangulation by the surf rope. Considering that there were no footprints on the beach when the body was found, it is likely that he fell into the sea accidentally due to strong winds and waves while surfing last night and died in the turbulent sea water. He was not found until this morning…”

Before he finished speaking, Akai Mari’s voice sounded faintly.

“I admire you too. You can come to such a conclusion with your eyes open. You must have wasted your time in police school.”

Chapter 888 Bell: Fortunately, I am surrounded by rich women

Eh?

I was scolded suddenly without any warning, and the person I scolded looked like a little girl who had just entered elementary school.

Did I hear it wrong?

For a moment, not only the Izu police officers around, but even Serabell and Sera Masumi were stunned.

Although it is indeed outrageous that the policeman could come to such a conclusion, when has my mother (Sister Mary) ever been such a nosy person?

But there was no time to think too much, as the police officer nearby was looking over here, obviously noticing what had just been said.

There was no other way, so Serabelle could only cough lightly and was forced to start the performance.

“Although I don’t mean to interfere with the way your Izu police handle cases, it is obviously impossible to say that this was an accident.”

Eh? It wasn’t an accident?

That means…it was premeditated murder?

This sentence directly overturned the policeman’s previous search conclusion, causing him to frown and walk straight towards the boy.

“It wasn’t an accident? Then what do you think it was? There were no footprints on the beach when we came here, which means there was no murderer. Since there was no murderer, it could only be an accident or suicide. But how could someone strangle himself to death without any external force?”

“…Is that all?”

The policeman rambled on with a long rebuttal. Serabelle waited until he completely shut up before speaking again. Her simple words left the other party speechless in an instant.

“I don’t know whether it was an accident or suicide, but at least I know it was a storm last night. Who would go out surfing in that condition?”

“No, it is possible…”

At this moment, Imaoka Kaishiro, who had been crying, suddenly stood up, shook his head with red eyes.

“Xiao Ting likes surfing very much. Although she works part-time as a surfing coach in my shop, she doesn’t think of this as a job so much as a hobby. Her biggest interest is to conquer the sea, so the stormier the weather, the more she can’t resist the desire to surf.”

“Yes, we also learned about this from Mr. Kaishiro before.”

As if they had found someone who could speak for their conclusion, the Izu police instantly became confident again.

“It is obvious that the deceased was in a state of excitement during the extreme weather last night, so she secretly went out to surf regardless of the risk to her life, but she did not expect the accident to happen. In addition, there will be high tides every time there is low pressure at the Izu coast. When the tide receded, Ms. Imaoka’s body was left on the beach.”

“secretly?”

Serabelle glanced down at Imaoka Kaishiro.

Sensing the suspicion in the boy’s eyes, Imaoka Kaishiro explained helplessly, “Because I have never supported her surfing in such extreme weather, Xiaoting didn’t wear her own winter clothes last night. Instead, she secretly took the winter clothes sold in the store and sent me a text message to lie that she went to sing karaoke all night with her friends. I still have her text messages saved in my phone, but who knew she was actually…”

Serabelle lowered her eyes slightly, and settled on the hand of Ms. Imaoka Ting, who had turned into a corpse.

“So you’re saying this is what a person who’s been in the ocean all night should look like?”

Although surfing suits are designed to prevent seawater from entering the clothes, they have excellent sealing properties. However, they are not deep-sea diving suits after all, and the hands, feet and parts above the neck are still exposed.

If a dead person soaks in cold sea water for a whole night, even if he doesn’t turn into a giant, he will definitely swell up.

How is it possible that the skin color just changes slightly?

“This one……”

The police, who was confident and calm the last second, was instantly embarrassed after the loophole in the search work was exposed by this remark.

Then Serabelle leaned over and pointed at the marks on the corpse’s neck.

“And look here, the mark extends directly into the winter clothing. Logically speaking, if the surf rope was really wrapped around the neck by the sea water while surfing, it should at least be above the collar.”

“In other words, the cause of death of Ms. Imaoka was indeed strangulation, but she was not strangled after putting on the surfing suit, but was strangled before putting on the suit, and someone put the suit on her.”

“This……”

Hearing this, Detective Izu realized something and instinctively glanced at Imaoka Kaishiro who was still kneeling on the ground.

After all, it was the other party who said that the winter clothing that Ms. Imaoka Ting was wearing was hung on the shelf in their own store for sale, and their store is a classic commercial and residential complex…

“If we sort it out a little bit more, the whole process will become like this—”

Serabelle organized her words and took a deep breath.

“First, someone strangled Ms. Imaotan with a surf rope in Mr. Kaishiro’s store last night. Then, they dressed Ms. Imaotan in the store’s winter clothing, and then used Ms. Imaotan’s phone to forge a text message to Mr. Kaishiro saying that she was going to karaoke and would be back late. They also hid Ms. Imaotan’s body overnight, and only dumped it on the beach outside the store this morning and left without leaving any trace.”

“And in this whole process, the person with the greatest suspicion is… Mr. Imaoka Kaishiro, that is you.”

It was indeed an unexpected result. No one could have imagined that the suspect at the end of the reasoning would be Imaoka Kaishiro, who seemed to be crying the most sadly.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense. If the above procedures are to be implemented, the only person who can do it easily is Mr. Imaoka Kaishiro, who lives in this store with Ms. Imaoka Ting.

“But then again, if Mr. Kaishiro really intended to disguise Ms. Imaoka Ting’s death as a surfing accident from the beginning, then there is a high probability that Ms. Imaoka Ting’s phone is still in the store. Mr. Kaishiro’s fingerprints may still be left on the screen of the phone, or it may have been wiped clean along with Ms. Imaoka Ting’s own fingerprints. You can pay attention to it and search it.”

Serabelle shrugged at the Izu police officer standing by.

The policeman was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned to his colleagues and waved vigorously.

“Let’s go! Let’s find our cell phone!”

“no need……”

Before he finished speaking, Imaoka Kaishiro, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly made a low sound and sighed softly.

“I did kill her. My fingerprints are still on her phone, but I really didn’t want to do this… It’s all her own fault!”

With the sudden outburst of emotions, the middle-aged man’s voice suddenly rose sharply.

But his body hunched over little by little, and he covered his face and knocked his forehead against the cheek of the corpse.

“I met Xiao Ting about two years ago. She came here to conquer the sea, but ended up with me by accident. At that time, I thought she really liked me, so I gave her everything from my heart and even opened this diving equipment store for her…”

“But I never expected that she only liked my money! After she emptied my money, she said she wanted to divorce me and be with other young men! This is all her own fault! She deserves it!!!”

Hearing the roar of this middle-aged man, everyone around him fell silent.

Serabelle didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help thinking.

So this is a serious pension fraud…

Fortunately, he is surrounded by wealthy women, each one richer than the other.

The finale lets the mothers be busy first

Serabel, Akai Mari, and Sera Masumi’s family trip to Izu continued until the end of summer.

The time came to the 29th of August.

Today is the third last day before the end of summer vacation, and it is also the first day of the Sunflower Exhibition held by the Suzuki Foundation.

The Sunflower Exhibition, as the name suggests, is an exhibition that collects all seven of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” paintings.

This is an unprecedented feat. Throughout history, most of Van Gogh’s sunflowers have been lost in wars and have never been collected until today.

So on this day, there was a sea of ​​people and colorful flags waving in front of the Tokyo Suzuki Museum.

Since it was the first day of the exhibition, most of the main guests were employees and executives of the Suzuki Group and their families.

The grand opening ceremony was held on the lawn in front of the main entrance of the art museum. On the stage under the sun, Miss Sonoko, dressed in bright clothes, accompanied her uncle Suzuki Jirokichi up the stairs and appeared in front of everyone in the audience.

“Well, first of all, thank you very much for coming to the ‘Sunflower Exhibition in Japan’ today…”

The girl held the microphone with ease, and her clear voice echoed throughout the square and could even be heard inside the art gallery.

On the other side, in the art gallery right behind the stage, a mature and well-proportioned figure stood in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling glass window, looking at her daughter on the stage with satisfaction and relief. She was still a little immature but not at all flustered.

“Really…Looking at Sonoko’s performance, she probably won’t have to wait until she graduates from college to take over my job.”

The lady moved the corners of her mouth gently as she talked to herself, her tone filled with genuine relief.

However, just as she finished her words, the boy’s indifferent voice came from the side without any warning.

“Isn’t that what you were expecting, Mrs. Suzuki?”

“Indeed…”

Suzuki Tomoko turned around when she heard the voice. Although she still had a smile on her face, the meaning she revealed was obviously different from before.

It was a love that overflowed like a tide and could not be concealed at all.

“You’re here, Bell.”

“Well, I’m here.”

Serabelle, who was already one meter in front of him, did not stop. Instead, she took another step forward, holding the lady’s hand with one hand and moving the other hand further behind her, invading the absolutely transgressive area.

“Well……”

The clear touch of the five fingers made Suzuki Tomoko bite her lower lip involuntarily, and two faint blushes quickly appeared on her mature and charming face.

“Okay, we agreed that I’d let you do whatever you want when we get upstairs, but why are you so restless downstairs? Luckily, all the people outside today are from our Suzuki Group. If there were reporters from small TV stations here and they were filmed, it would be a lot of trouble.”

“So the reporters from those small TV stations didn’t come today, right?”

Serabelle tilted her head, and instead of letting go, she slightly increased her strength.

Suzuki Tomoko blushed and spat at him softly: “Don’t use these twisted theories on me… By the way, where are your sister and those other young girls?”

“They’re still outside.” Serabelle turned her head and looked through the window towards the stage. “Masumi and Ran said they want to wait for Sonoko to come up together.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go up first. Everyone else is already here…”

Suzuki Tomoko said as she held the boy’s hand tightly, pulled him along and turned to walk towards the inside of the art museum.

Arriving at the inner side of the art museum, the two entered the elevator to go up.