"Damn that bitch! Who do you think she is!"
The two candidates that Anna encountered earlier are drinking at the bar counter. The area is bustling with people, with yellow and white lights matching the cozy and spacious atmosphere. Some of the people are sitting in lounge chairs and sofas chatting with each other, while others are sitting on the bar counter. The bartender in front of the girls is busy cleaning the glass with a white cloth in his hand, with numerous beverage bottles behind him, shelved in cabinets.
One of the girls slammed her glass of rum on the table. "Just because she is a bodyguard doesn't mean that she needs to be involved. I'm going to talk to her superior to get her fired!"
"Remember, we are not in our home country." The other girl sat beside her said in a calm tone while swirling her glass of whiskey with her hand. "And besides, are we here to wind down and relax after our swimwear photoshoot?"
The first girl only shrugged. "That doesn't bring my mood down." Then she turned her head and saw two men entering the store. One is a blue haired man wearing an all-black business suit while his companion is a man with long black hair tied to a high ponytail and wearing a black vest over his white shirt, black pants and black shoes. His black blazer is hanging on his shoulders. Behind them are two people wearing dark suits.
The girl looked at the two men with admiration. "That man in black hair is so hot. I hope he passes through us."
The other girl, curious at what her companion saw, turned her head and somehow blushed when she looked at one of the bodyguards behind the two men. She averted her gaze quickly and drowned her drink in one go.
*
- Kouga –
"What's wrong with that woman?" I heard Lena speaking on my back as I noticed the two women sitting at the bar counter looking at us. The woman is looking at me with some flirty look in her eyes, while the other girl behind her saw us, but turned away seconds later. I also noticed that her face is blushing hard.
Speaking of, I wonder what Anna is up to lately.
"I think she choked on her drink." Patrick said, then continued. "Why are we here, Lord Albert?"
"We are meeting with an old friend of mine." Lord Albert answered. "I leave Hernando behind in the headquarters in case because he will end up flirting with her."
Right, Lord Albert leave Hernando behind because he will only cause trouble. Because the person that Lord Albert will be meeting with is one of the prominent figures in the vampire world.
We stopped at a brown door, with a bodyguard in front of it. "We have been waiting for you, Lord Albert." He said as he bowed. "Lady Louisa is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you." Lord Albert said.
The bodyguard opened the door for us. Inside is a beige room that has two red lounging sofas facing each other, with a brown coffee table in the middle. Sitting in the middle of the sofa is a woman with wavy black hair and green eyes. She is wearing a simple black dress and minimal jewelry on her body. This woman is Duchess Louisa von Archald, former fiancée of the late vampire prince. Standing beside her is her female secretary wearing black suit.
"Lady Louisa." Lord Albert bowed before her, "Or should I call you by your current alias, Colleen Balderhearth von Archald XII?"
"My real name is fine, Albert." Lady Louisa replied in an elegant manner. "It's only us, General Igarashi," then she looked at both Lena and Patrick. "And some SECTA agents here, if I presume."
"Wait, so you're Ms. Colleen?" Lena asked, surprised. Lady Louisa nodded in response. "Wow! I only seen you on TV, and now I see you in the flesh!" She said in awe and squealed in excitement. "Ahh, I could die happy." She sighed happily.
"Then just die already." Patrick said in his monotone voice that made Lena stunned in shock. "Seriously, learn to read the room." He sighed.
"Patrick, you-"
"Ahem." I interrupted them. The two keep quiet. We sat down on the sofa that is facing Lady Louisa. "So, what brings you here?" Lord Albert asked.
"The same as you, Albert. Attending the Ms. Cosmos Pageant." She replied, "My organization is one of the sponsors, you know."
"But that will expose you to danger, Lady Louisa." I said, concern dripping in my voice. "Have you suggested bringing one of your representatives to attend the pageant?"
"I tried, but the organizers want me to be there in person." Lady Louisa answered. "I thank you for your concern, Kouga. And the other reason that I'm here," her secretary handed her a beige folder and placed it on the table. "Is this."
Lord Albert took the folder and opened it to look at the contents. His expression went from calm to shock as he scans it. "This is…" he said, shocked.
"Yes, it is." Lady Louisa said before Lord Albert could ask. "You have already heard about the legend of the mysterious 'Beauty Queen Killer', right?"
"Beauty Queen Killer?" Lena asked, "never heard of them." Patrick only shook his head, agreeing with Lena.
"The Beauty Queen Killer is a serial killer that killed dozens of beauty queen candidates for decades." Lady Louisa explained. "Rumors that this person had killed dozens of potential and winning beauty queens throughout her career. Their motivations for killing them appears to be out of spite and jealousy."
"Are they insensitive or are they sore losers?" Lena interjected. "But if you say that if they had killed beauty queens for decades, are they supposed to be a bitter old man, or old hag now?"
"That is the problem, Lena." Lord Albert said as he handed the folder to Lena. "Look."
Lena took the folder and opened it, with Patrick peeking beside her. Both of them are shocked as they see inside of the folder.
"What the heck?!" Lena shouted in shock.
"Look at the newspaper clips," Patrick said as he's pointed out to a specific section of the file. I peeked at the file on curiosity (Lena sat between me and Patrick) as I read an old newspaper clip that Patrick pointed out:
BREAKING NEWS:
COSMOS WINNER FOUND DEAD AFTER THE CORONATION NIGHT; FIRST AND SECOND RUNNERS UP ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION!
The article was thirty years ago. In the clip of the newspaper is the corpse of the winner of Ms. Cosmos at the time, with the faces of the two runners-up that are in the police's custody.
"This is considered a closed case, right?" Patrick asked. "From what I read in this article, the killer wasn't found, and the two runners-up are considered innocent."
"'Due to the lack of evidence and no witness came forward during the investigation, this case is ruled out as suicide.'" Lena read the final paragraph of the article. She flipped the pages and scanned the several articles found:
MS COSMOS WINNER AND FIRST RUNNER UP FOUND DEAD THREE DAYS AFTER CORONATION NIGHT! POLICE CONCLUDED AS A MURDER-SUICIDE CASE!
ONE OF MS COSMOS POTENTIAL WINNERS FOUND DEAD UNDER THE BRIDGE! FAMILY CRIES OUT FOR JUSTICE!
POTENTIAL MS COSMOS WINNER FOUND DEAD HOURS BEFORE THE CORONATION NIGHT! POLICE SUSPECTED FOUL PLAY.
"Most of the articles are from forty to fifty years ago," I said. "These cases here are ruled out as suicide to murder-suicide. And all the articles said that the 'Beauty Queen Killer' is nothing but a rumor and a hoax." I looked at both Lena and Patrick. "Did SECTA knows about this?"
"We ignored most of this case, to be precise." Patrick explained. "At first, we ruled this out as a work of a serial killer, and it is only handled by the authorities. But after what happened to the Gala recently,"
"There is a possibility that our 'Beauty Queen Killer' is a vampire." Lena concluded. "Let's tell Anna about this! She is at the hotel where the current Ms. Cosmos candidates are staying!"
"I advise you should not tell your companion about this." Lady Louisa objected.
We looked at her. "But why?" I asked.
Lord Albert looked at us with a serious expression written on his face. "Kouga, why do you think this mission was given by two teams?"
I paused and thought to myself. It is true that Lena and Patrick were given the same mission, but from a different angle. In fact, Anna's replacement stayed behind the headquarters to find some articles from the archives.
That is where I realize something. "This means-"
"That our 'Beauty Queen Killer' is either on the outside, or inside the pageant."