Everyone’s favorite deadpan detective is in full meitantei mode again this week, with the White Lady (or should I say white snake) firmly in her sights. It’s been clear for a while that she was a major part of the mystery underpinning this arc and possibly this entire split-cour season, but we’re only now starting to delve into just how and why (well, mostly the former at this point) that may be. It’s always entertaining to watch Maomao at work, even if there are times when her observations can be either too obvious or preternaturally brilliant to the point of sorcery.
There were no major surprises in this expose, but it was still quite fun to watch play out. It’s Lahan who invites her along to a performance by the White Lady (Ueda Reina) – one at which Jinshi and Basen will also be in the audience, though that seems purely coincidence. Lahan is in the company of Rikuson (Uchiyama Kouki), one of Lakan’s advisors. He’s still preoccupied by other things but has led his team to understand that something isn’t right with this strange albino sorceress causing a sensation in town.
Lahan has some of his father-uncle’s snark, but lacks his gravitas. Clearly he’d like Maomao to see him as a big brother but just as clearly, she wants no part of that. It’s obvious that Maomao is the one who’s expected to demystify the White Lady’s trickery, a measure of the respect she’s garnered for her intellect. The show is in a big theatre in the richest part of town, and has no problem filling all the tables. This is all about spectacle – whatever the reason behind it and the other things she’s done, the White Lady understands the importance of that.
In effect this is a magic show. Illusion, misdirection, visual and sound effects – it’s quite a production and wouldn’t seem out of place on the Las Vegas strip. The booze is seemingly spiked to make the audience fuzzy enough to accept more than they should. The ink is spiked with salt to make an impression on the board below the paper. The cabinet where papers are hidden acts as a flute. The “alchemy” is accomplished with thin plating on metal. Maomao figures all this out more or less easily, but the mechanics of the tricks aren’t really the mystery here.
The first thing I wonder is, was Maomao brought onstage intentionally – which would be easy enough it TWL was a good knife thrower – or was that a coincidence? And if indeed TWL was really drinking mercury, why – what purpose would that serve? Ultimately though, the question that matters is why she’s doing all this – and poisoning the destitute – in the first place. Is she an agent sowing dissent, a particular problem with a locust plague about to hit – and if so, who is she working for? She disappears soon after this performance but those are the questions Maomao is going to have to answer soon enough. And the ones which will matter to Jinshi.
