A Detective and a Middle School Student Work Together to Defeat Lupin

The peace I longed for after the last Lupin incident was apparently just a fleeting illusion. Several days had passed, and my life had returned to normal—or at least, as normal as I could feel. However, that calm was suddenly disturbed when my phone rang one afternoon. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" I answered hesitantly.

"Is this Arez Redzel?" The voice on the other end was tense and strained, a middle-aged man whose voice trembled.

"Yes, this is me. What is it?" I frowned.

"I... I got your number from Detective Rose Claret," the man whispered, as if afraid of being overheard. "She said you... and she... could help me. I'm in big trouble. Something very strange has happened."

I fell silent. Rose gave me a new case? And not Lupin? This must be serious.

"Can you explain?" I asked, feeling a strange surge of curiosity.

"Not on the phone," he replied quickly. "Too dangerous. Can you and Detective Rose come to my house tonight? I'll send you the address. It concerns... something that disappeared. Something unimaginable."

As soon as the call ended, Rose appeared out of nowhere, already lounging on my living room sofa. "Did you get the call?" she asked with a faint smile.

I glared at her. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"Of course," she answered casually. "I told you, your training is over. Now it's time to face bigger cases. This isn't Lupin. This is something far more... personal and dark."

Rose said she already knew the house address; it was quite far, and it seemed like a good time for me to use the detective trench coat Rose had given me—But, did I really have to wear it?

I admit it, I've changed a bit now. I've started to accept my own detective role, and this time, I prepared by wearing all the detective gear Rose had given me.

However, there was one thing I wanted to ask, "Rose, is this your real job?" Before we left, I wanted to ask this.

"Yes," she replied simply.

I was a bit surprised for a moment; her answer was short, with no visible emotion—But, she seemed to be hiding something, yet also not intending to hide it. It was like an illusion I felt, even though I didn't actually feel anything. I wanted to ask her more. But I also didn't want to get dragged deeper.

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That night, Rose and I arrived at a secluded old-style house, quite far from the city center of Southampton. The atmosphere there felt chilling. The house was surrounded by towering old trees, and the light from the streetlights couldn't penetrate the darkness of the night. A cold air enveloped us, as if feeling the tension that surrounded us.

The man who called me opened the door. His face was ashen, his eyes hollow with prominent dark circles. He wore a loose bathrobe, as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Thank you for coming," he said hoarsely. "My name is Bramantara. This is my wife, Daisy."

Another woman, Daisy, stood behind him. Her face was just as pale, her eyes empty, and she tightly clutched a worn cloth doll in her hands. I felt a strong wave of sadness and fear emanating from the couple.

Rose introduced us. "I am Detective Rose Claret, and this is my colleague, Arez Redzel. Please tell us what happened."

Bramantara led us to a dimly lit living room. The air in the room felt heavy, as if filled with despair. "Our daughter... Aruna... she disappeared."

I frowned. "Disappeared? Have you reported to the police?"

"Yes," Daisy whispered, her voice almost inaudible. "But the police... they found nothing. As if Aruna never existed."

Bramantara continued, his voice rising an octave. "She disappeared from her room. The door was locked from the inside. The windows were closed. No trace. Only... a riddle left behind."

He handed over a neatly folded piece of paper. The paper looked old, with beautiful but eerie handwriting:

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Between silent walls and empty mirrors,

You seek what never was.

Time spins, but never moves forward.

A soul imprisoned in illusion,

Can only hear the melody of darkness.

The door opens, yet there is no way out.

Shadows dance, where truth is silenced.

Three keys, one answer, within the whispers of a dream.

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"We found this on Aruna's desk," Bramantara explained, his eyes full of despair. "And... and this." He showed us a large oil painting hanging on the living room wall. The painting depicted a small girl with wide eyes, her face looking familiar. It must be Aruna. But something was strange. The girl's eyes in the painting looked very empty, and her hands held a small, tightly closed music box.

"This is Aruna's painting made by a local artist a few years ago," Daisy explained. "But that music box... Aruna never had a music box like that. And her eyes in the painting... they were never this empty."

I glanced at Rose. A changing painting? A music box that never existed? This wasn't a normal theft case. This was something related to the mind, to reality itself.

Bramantara pointed to the painting. "Since Aruna disappeared, that painting... it's as if it's alive. Sometimes, we hear whispers from it. A strange melody."

I tried to process all this information. A daughter disappearing without a trace, a room locked from the inside, a strange riddle, a changing painting, and whispers. This was severely straining my brain's capacity to quickly contain and analyze data.

I started to notice small details. "Silent walls and empty mirrors." That meant a room that held no secrets, or a mirror that didn't reflect the truth. "Time spins, but never moves forward." A cycle? Or an illusion of time?

I felt a surge of emotions from Bramantara and Daisy. Fear, despair, and confusion. I had to keep my emotions in check to stay focused. I couldn't let myself be swept away by their atmosphere. This was a test of my self-control and emotions.

"Three keys, one answer, within the whispers of a dream." This was a complex riddle. Was it a code? A location clue? Or something more abstract? I had to find patterns, connect symbols and metaphors to real events. This truly tested my ability to see unclear relationships.

I began to make assumptions based on very limited information. What could make someone disappear from a room locked from the inside? Was there a secret door? Or was this not a physical disappearance, but a mental one? Crazy ideas started to flash through my mind, something that seemed illogical but might have relevance in this context.

I had to start formulating a strategy. We couldn't just look for physical evidence. We had to delve into the minds of those involved, understand the "melody of darkness" they were experiencing. My plan had to be flexible, as this was a case full of uncertainties.

"May we see Aruna's room?" Rose asked.

Bramantara nodded, then led us to a room on the second floor. The room was neat, clean, but it felt cold and empty, as if never inhabited. The door was indeed locked from the inside. The windows were also locked. There were no signs of forced entry. I even checked under the carpet, behind the wardrobe, everywhere. There was nothing.

On her study desk, there were several children's storybooks, a small locked diary, and a worn-out bunny doll lying beside the bed.

"That doll... that's Aruna's favorite doll," Daisy whispered, her eyes full of sadness. "She never left it behind."

I looked at the locked diary. Was this one of the "three keys"? And what were "the whispers of a dream"? Did it have something to do with the changing painting?

This was a case far beyond Lupin's capabilities. This was about the mind, illusion, and perhaps, twisted reality. There was a mastermind behind this, someone playing with their victims' minds. Who was he? And what was his motive?

I had to start piecing together the story, filling in the blanks with assumptions. Perhaps someone made Aruna believe she was somewhere else, trapping her in some kind of illusion. Or perhaps there was a cult, or someone with strong hypnotic abilities?

I knew this would be a long and tense hunt. A journey into the labyrinth of the mind.