At Least I’M Free
XIV

It took about 2 hours until Huga reached the port area where the victim's house was located. When out of the car, the wind that carries the distinctive aroma of the sea is welcoming. Different from protected forests, the atmosphere here feels warm and bright.

      Before proceeding up the stairs that lead directly to the door of the stilt house in front of him, Huga observed the surrounding area carefully. Although this house is isolated from the settlement, but the distance from the warehousing area is quite close as if it was built to be occupied by the warehouse guard.

     While wondering why the victim chose this house as his residence, Huga began to climb each step of the stairs. When he arrived at the door he turned back to 100 meters away to the port, where the fish storage warehouse was located. Aside from the difficult mobility access, the main problem of this place was those warehouses. Because the smell of rancid consistently blows every second. Besides of...

Clamps!

Huga turned the key. When he opened the door he was immediately greeted by a large room that each wall covered with bookshelves to touch the ceiling. While a set of work tables and chairs decorate the middle\-center of the room.

"A moist area like this is not suitable for books... as a collector he should understand, right?" Suga stepped in and closed the door behind him.

Previously this place has been investigated by the investigation team to reap clues and the complete identity of the victim who turned out to be just a widower who likes to collect classical literature published abroad. Until then people\-people are satisfied, but not for Huga. Too many irregularities and things\-groundless in this place.

While walking across, Huga put rubber gloves on both her hands. He began to observe each\ of the books on the shelf without being missed. Every gap and gap between the books he examined carefully. Even some books are checked on each sheet.

Asalan why Huga likes to look for everything himself is because he can freely visualize what has previously happened in a place, especially CTF. For example, this room. Based on the traces of dust on the shelf and the density of each sheet of paper, it can be imagined that the victim very rarely touched let alone read this book\-book.

     After believing there was nothing more to look for, Huga turned to chairs and a work desk in the middle of the room. Judging from the fade of varnish color in the seat, can be projected if the victim always sits for hours every day here. The guess was also reinforced by a pile of unfinished student textbooks and exam question papers from previous years. It looks like the victim also plans to compile new questions for this year's final semester exam based on previous referrals.

Further opening the drawers on both sides of the table, Huga found nothing interesting other than writing utensils and a number of low-sugar coffee candies.

Not giving up until there, Huga crouched down and examined the dusty table bottom surface. However, he also did not find anything\-nothing there.

He calmly removed the glove next to his hand, then took out a cigarette from his pocket and started lighting it with a lighter. While enjoying the slowly siphoning smoke, he observed the window opposite the workbench. The tray-sized square window featured the silhouette of a gloomy fish storage\-warehouse.

       Just as Suga lowered his cigarette, he suddenly realized something. This house was not built after the warehousing complex existed, but vice versa. Because the warehouse area was not there, the owner deliberately made a window to enjoy the view of the open sea. So even with the reason there are no other houses around here. It could happen because when the fishy-smelling warehouses were established, this area became a less livable industrial area.

"Family inheritance...?" Unknowingly, Huga muttered while she kept turning her brain in search of answers.

When sought out by the investigation team the other day, information about the ownership of this house is indeed confusing especially because there is no land letter found anywhere. It could be looking for home ownership data to government agencies, but that will take a while.

Even if this house is an inheritance, the problem is in the origin of the victim and all members of his family who came from outside the island, and there is no longer anything to contact. Even the victims themselves officially moved to this city about 20 years ago.

Huga threw a cigarette that half of his trunk had turned into ashes into an iron box that he had especially if\-if there were no trash bins around. He then looked back at the books on the shelf. The last thing that bothered him was the condition of the book\-book here. The thickness of the paper will quickly turn yellow and moldy if stored in this place of moisture for years\-years. But seeing the condition of the books\-books that are still very good, they seem to have just been placed a few months ago.

Although quite unsettling, the problem\-issue was Suga set aside first. He still had to investigate the other room. Accompanied by the creaking sound of each step down the wooden floor, he began to walk down the stairs at the back of the house to the kitchen and bathroom.

     Suga found many foodstuffs that had begun to rot in the cabinet and refrigerator. What's more in the refrigerator, because since the other day the electricity in this house has been turned off. Judging from the variety of types of food available, it can be concluded that the victim likes to cook and pay attention to his nutritional intake in such a way.

Next the bathroom. The place is arguably the most modern of the whole house. With a lot of signs of\-mark renovation, minimalist all-white interior here is able to utilize a small spece very effectively. Make the shower area, washtaple and toilet seat look neat and aesthetic.

Huga then looked up to check the ceiling of the bathroom\ceiling when her eyes caught a small bookcase attached to the top wall of the toilet.

Confusion, Huga wondered\, is it common to read a book while urinating? While the silly question was dancing\-nari in his mind, Huga's hand had already taken out some books to research.

     Compared to those in the workspace, these books show signs of being read frequently. Starting from the presence of creases in some pages and fibers arising from the frequent flipping of the paper. One more thing that Huga realized is that all the books by Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen are classic fiction editions with colored illustrations.

     Suga was about to pick up the rest of the books on the shelf, but his eyes caught a brown envelope-like object behind the lined book.