Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-6

 Jasper and the blonde lady left the nightclub, Claire and Eliza rapidly changed into their spies outfit and followed.

Playmobil Custom Figures: Aug26-Vietnamese Girl 摩比人偶改造：26.8-越南女生

Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-5

 Upon the spies' entrance to the nightclub, they were immediately stopped by a security guard by the door, who was dressed in a formal suit and tie, with a French moustache and gelled, combed-back hair. 

"Ladies, I need your IDs," said the guard with a French accent. Only after Claire and Eliza presented their IDs were they granted entry into the nightclub. 

"Seriously, do we look like minors?" hissed Eliza angrily. "Hello! We'll be juniors at college next week!"

"It's prolly just a routine inspection," responded Claire, shrugging.

They walked through glamorously decorated corridors before eventually arriving at the main hall of the nightclub.

Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-4

 After leaving the bakery, the spies entered a nearby cafe and started their investigation. 

"It seems like the woman back in the bakery wanted her boyfriend punished," said Eliza. "Whatever could Lyra mean by the God of Bread whatever-his-name-is 'punishing' someone?" 

"I have a hunch this is the key to solving the case," answered Claire. "Well, we could always start by tracking her boyfriend."

"But unfortunately we don't have his info," responded Eliza, shaking her head. "I only know the woman's name, she's called Minesha Leonard."

"Well, we can search her up on social network, which often tells us more than we need to know," said Claire as she began typing on her phone. "Bingo! It says here on Minesh Leonard's page that she's currently 'in a relationship' with someone called Jasper Williams."

"OMG Claire! You're an absolute genius!" exclaimed Eliza.

"You bet! And that's not all!" beamed Claire. "It seems like Jasper works as a bartender in a nighclub in Soho, called 'La Booze'!" 

"OMG! Looks like it's time for us to be on the move!" replied Eliza.

Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-3

Claire and Eliza spied from behind a shelf and eavesdropped the conversation between a black lady talking to a female chef with pink hair and extravagant makeup. 

"Are you sure this will work?" whispered the black lady.

"Yes, you need to believe in Deipneus, the holy God of Bread!" answered the chef in a Greek accent. "The Holy God Deipneus will punish your boyfriend for you for being unloyal to you during your relationship."

"But what do I have to do?" enquired the customer. 

"All you need to do is send me a picture of your boyfriend, then I will bake a bread in the shape of his face," elucidated the chef. "Before you eat the bread, you need to piously pray to the Holy God to punish your boyfriend for all his sins. After you have eaten the bread, your job is done and you can leave it to Deipneus to do His job."

Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-2

 After the hairdresser have finished doing their hair, Claire and Eliza paid at the counter. 

"I swear, this cost of living crisis is crazy!" muttered Eliza after they walked out of the beauty salon. "They've increased their prices again!"

"I know right!" answered Claire as she took out her phone to check the location that Tom sent them. "Guess what? The bakery is right across the road!"

"OMG! I knew it's close, but I didn't expect that it was that close!" exclaimed Eliza.

Playmobil Custom Figures: July26-Japanese White Kimono 摩比人偶改造：26.7-日本白色和服

Playmobil Spies: Avengers' Bakery-1

 One summer morning, Claire and Eliza, two university students met up at the beauty salon to get their hair done, ready for the upcoming academic year. 

"It's such a beautiful day!" exclaimed Eliza after perceiving her friend. 

"Yeah, but I can't believe we only have less than two weeks left until uni starts," replied Claire. 

Playmobil Custom Figures: Jun26-Cinderella 摩比人偶改造：26-6-灰姑娘

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-17 (Final Ending)

 Jeffrey, who has been possessed by the cunning yōkai, endeavoured to struggle out of Shaun's firm grasp. He started to pull his hair and scratch himself, in an attempt to harm the body which he possessed. Like a baby in a temper tantrum, Jeffrey kicked wildly and punched the air.

"I can't hold him much longer," shouted Shaun over the deafeningly shrill hisses of the yōkai. "Its strength is shockingly superhuman."

Taking out another one of the charms which her grandma gave her, as fast as lightning, Blythe stuck it on Jeffrey's forehead. Instantaneously, the yōkai let out a deep moaning roar and escaped Jeffrey's body, who fell down unconsciously onto the soft grass.

"Quick! Let's pull him back into the kekkai before the yōkai could start any more tricks," said Shaun as he and Blythe used all their might to drag their friend back into the safety zone. 

Playmobil Taiwan Breakfast Shop 摩比台灣早餐店

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-16

 After arriving at the school yard, the monk drew a circle on the ground. 

"Stay inside this circle and do not leave it, whatever you might see or hear," warned the old monk in Japanese before he started chanting a Buddhist spell whilst walking around the circle. "I have drawn a kekkai, which will protect you from the yōkai. As long as you are inside it, the yōkai cannot do anything to you."

After making sure that Shaun, Jeffrey and Blythe were all safely inside his kekkai, the old monk took out a small foldable table, on top of which he placed some incense. Then, drawing a Buddhist symbol on the floor, he placed a doll and some toys in the center. After lighting the incense, he began to chant a spell in order to summon the fetus ghost. 

The instant the incense started burning, the detectives could sense the atmosphere around them changing, abruptly becoming chill and vibrant with rich tension. Suddenly, a gust of ghostly wind blew in their direction, picking up bits of fallen leaves on its way, as if toying with them. 

"It's coming," whispered Shaun as he sensed the fearful suspense of something approaching them. 

All this time, the monk never stopped chanting the spell under his breath. The closer the yōkai approached, the louder he chanted. As it approached, the yōkai encircled the doll, as if extremely reluctant to possess it. The monk chanted even louder, almost shouting in his booming voice.

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-15

"We should probably call grandma to ask her how to deal with this situation," suggested Shaun as he grabbed his phone and video-called his grandma, an old Taiwanese lady with snow-white hair tied into a bun, who seemed barely a day over sixty, despite her age being well over eighty. She was in her apartment in Taipei.

"Good morning, Shaun," said the benevolent, old lady in mandarin. "Is everything alright? You look agitated."

Shaun and Blythe explained their situation to their grandma.

"I'm afraid that, this time, you won't be able to handle everything by yourselves," replied the old lady gravely, after hearing their words. "You will have to seek professional assistance from a local monk or priest. Fetus ghosts are the most troublesome of all spirits. One can even classify them as yōkai, a demonic, monstrous creature common in Japanese folklore. Like yōkai, fetus spirits have no discernible shape because they died before they were born, so they were deprived of the right to have a body. That's why they could not go to heaven or reincarnate to their next life. Fetus spirits are more powerful than ordinary spirits, their only weakness is that they are extremely bonded to their mothers. However, if, like in your case, the spirit could not locate its mother, it would start a tantrum like a baby and cause massive destruction."

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-14

That evening, they all had nightmares. Tiffany woke up in the middle of the night feeling something extremely heavy on her chest, making her unable to breathe. Opening her eyes gradually, she discovered a doll standing on top of her duvet, which was advancing towards her with extended arms and bloodshot eyes, endeavouring to choke her. Tiffany wanted to sit up but she discovered that she was completely paralyzed, so she could neither move nor use her voice to scream and call for help. Nevertheless, the moment the evil doll touched Tiffany, an electric shock repulsed it away. Hissing angrily, the doll rolled onto the floor and jumped out of the window. 

"I must've been dreaming!" Tiffany thought to herself as she discovered that she could move again. She felt something warm on her wrist and discovered that it was the prayer beads radiating warmly. "No, this is too real to be a dream!"

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-13

Suddenly, Blythe noticed tiny footprints appearing on the floor. Shaun noticed them as well and they followed the footprints to the balcony. But they didn't see anything that could be producing these footprints.

Playmobil Custom Figures: May26-Nymphia Wind 摩比人偶改造：26-5-妮妃雅

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-12

Returning from their visit to the professor's home after dinnertime, the detectives returned to their hotel suite in Ginza and found Tiffany lying there on the sofa. 

"OMG! You guys are finally back!" exclaimed Tiffany. "Where've been been all day? I was so bored so that I went shopping in Shinjuku but there was legit nothing fun there! No one speaks English here and everyone has an obsession with queuing! Queues at the metro, queues on the escalator, queues at the vendor! OMG! And I'm so fed up of sushi and sashimi! By the way, how's your investigation going?"

"Well, we managed to exorcise the ghost, but....." answered Blythe. 

"Well, that's fantastic!" interrupted Tiffany before Blythe could finish off her sentence. "Now we can finally leave this country! Imma go take a shower!" 

"This case is actually more complicated than I thought!" said Shaun pensively after Tiffany left for the bathroom. "I have a hunch that the reason why Yuki was reluctant to go to heaven is closely related to the baby's kimono found by the professor."

"But I don't see any possible link here!" retorted Jeffrey. "The story hadn't mentioned anything about babies. Could it've been Yuki's kimono when she was little?"

"You mean she's so attached to a dress which she wore as a baby such that she didn't want to leave this world?" answered Shaun. "That seems highly unlikely, unless......"

Before Shaun could finish his sentence, he heard a deafeningly shrill scream coming from Tiffany's room. Dashing inside, they discovered Tiffany trembling whilst wrapped in a white towel, with slippers and half-dried hair. 

"Gosh, Tiffany! What was that? What happened?" enquired Blythe.

"The...they're gone!" exclaimed Tiffany, her teeth chattering with fear.

"M....Ma snacks are gone!" answered Tiffany as she pointed to a white cabinet on the other side of the room, in which stored various belongings, including some empty packages of Japanese snacks.

"What's so scary about empty snack packages?" said Jeffrey, picking one up. "You've probably eaten them in the morning and forgotten all about it! Who else would make such a mess eating things other than you?"

"No! I swear, I didn't eat them!" exclaimed Tiffany. "It wasn't empty when I went to take a shower and when I left the bathroom, only the packaging is left!"

~To be Continued~

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-11

After successfully exorcising Yuki's spirit, the detectives returned to their hotel rooms and took a power nap of several hours. Waking up in the afternoon feeling much more refreshed, they decided that they would like to solve the final piece of the puzzle - understanding why the professor had broken the seal of Yuki's Hokoro and let her roam free. It was a Saturday, thus the university was closed. Nevertheless, Jeffrey managed to charm the professor's secretary into giving them his personal phone number.

"またお前か？What do you want? I've already told you everything I know!" shouted Professor Kiriyama angrily on the phone after picking up to realise that it was the detectives again.

"いいえ, professor, you didn't tell us everything you know," answered Shaun calmly. "You haven't told you why you released Yuki's spirit and what you were doing inside the school campus at night with a pickax!"

"なに？いい加減にしろよ！What are you talking about?" denied the professor. 

"If you don't tell us what happened, we'll have no choice but to inform the police that you have been trespassing and damaging other people's property," replied Shaun gravely. "I'm sure there will still be your handprints on the Hokora, which can be used as evidence against you."

"くそ！How did you know about this?" cursed the professor. "Please don't inform the police. Come to my house and I'll explain it all to you."

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-10

"We can investigate his motive later," said Jeffrey. "But the most important thing now is to get rid of the ghost so that it will stop its haunting. That's what Tiffany's father asked us to do, isn't it?"

"You're right!" answered Shaun. "The school cannot possibly return to normal if Yuki doesn't leave. Now the problem is: in what way are we going to remove the spirit? Do we want to do this peacefully, i.e. by persuading her to ascend to heaven by herself; or shall we do it forcefully?"

"I'd prefer if Yuki is willing to let go of her own resentment," replied Blythe. "That'd be the best method."

"I agree," said Shaun. "Let's go find her and see if we can persuade her. But where has she gone?"

"I saw her going up the stairs to the top floor," answered Jeffrey.

Nevertheless, Yuki's ghost was nowhere to be found when the detectives arrived at the top floor.

Playmobil Custom Figures: Apr26-Japanese Bride and Groom 摩比人偶改造：26.4-日本新郎新娘

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-9

As Shaun walked out of the bathroom, he abruptly caught a glimpse of the ghost on the stairs. Indeed, she appeared to be wearing a white kimono, however her face was indistinguishable as she had her back to the detectives. 

"Follow her!" signalled Shaun as they raced up the staircase onto the second floor.

When they reached the second floor, the detectives thought they had lost sight of the ghost. Nevertheless, it appeared again at the end of the corridor. Shaun raced through the corridor and placed his hand on the phantom's shoulder. In fact, in the previous mystery, Playmobil Detectives: The Demon's Jade, Shaun accidentally discovered his ability of probing through a spirit's memory by touching it. Therefore, he decided to use this method in order to discover the origin of the ghost in the white kimono. 

The instant Shaun touched the phantom, he temporarily lost his own consciousness and was plunged into the abyss of the ghost's memories before her death. Vivid images of her past life flashed through Shaun's mind. He saw Yuki's father, her childhood friend Haru and her husband Tatsuo. Exactly as Professor Kiriyama had said, since Yuki was deaf mute, all the images Shaun perceived were mute as well. In the end, the memories were so overwhelmingly melancholy that Shaun started weeping involuntarily. He could feel warm tears trickling down his cheeks, but he was unable to stop them flowing out of his eyes. He was experiencing the phantom's emotions as well as her thoughts. After seeing that her cousin was beginning to turn pale and weak from long contact with the phantom, Blythe quickly dragged Shaun away. The moment his hand lost contact with the phantom, the memories terminated and Shaun finally regained his own consciousness. 

"So, what did you see?" enquired Jeffrey eagerly.

"It's.....it's too tragic," stuttered Shaun as he struggled to find words to describe what he saw. His eyes were still flowing uncontrollably with tears despite his endeavours to free himself from the horrible memories of the phantom. "It was exactly as the professor said. Yuki's husband cheated on her with her maid and childhood friend and by whom she was cursed to death."

"So that old fox was right after all," mumbled Jeffrey. 

"But there's something more," continued Shaun, who had gradually become calmer. "I've also discovered who freed the spirit."

"Who?" questioned Blythe. 

"Professor Kiriyama," answered Shaun. "I saw him breaking the seal with a pickax."

"Wait, what! How is this connected with him?" exclaimed Jeffrey, awestricken. 

~To be Continued~

Playmobil Custom Figures: Mar26-Father Brown 摩比人偶改造：26.3-布朗神父

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-8

After finishing the story, the professor calmly sipped on his matcha. Only then did the detectives notice that he had finished almost all the food on the table. In fact, they were so concentrated on listening to his story, they did not realise that the professor had not stopped eating all this time whilst he was talking. 

"That's all I know about it," said Professor Kiriyama curtly as he wiped his mouth on a tissue. 

"So, would you say that this is a real story?" enquired Shaun.

"Well, it's just a folklore, after all. No one can prove whether it actually happened. As I mentioned earlier, there aren't enough reliable sources. ごちそうさま!" said the professor as he stood up to go. "失礼します, I have a lecture at 2, I have to be on my way."

"Damn, that was such a rip off!" complained Jeffrey after Professor Kiriyama left. "That old fox told us nothing useful, we have to pay for all the food he's eaten and he barely left us anything to eat as well!"

"Well, I won't say it's entirely useless," replied the optimistic Blythe. "At least we learnt more about the story of 'The Lover's Curse'."

"But we don't even know if it's true, let alone if it's actually related to our investigation!" exclaimed Jeffrey, frustrated. 

"I guess there's only one way to find out!" said Shaun pensively. 

Playmobil Custom: Taiwan Rechao Restaurant 摩比改造：台灣尚勇熱炒店

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-7

Caused by Haru's curse, Yuki grew thinner and uglier by the day due to a consumptive disease, which gnawed on her, bit by bit. Giant spots and warts began to grow on her formerly beautiful face. As a result, Tatsuo had another excuse to shun her society more and more.

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-6

On the following day, Yuki's father called her into the living room, saying that someone would like to meet her. Upon entering the room, Yuki was astonished to discover that it was no other than Tatsuo, the man whom she met on the street on the previous day. In fact, Tatsuo came from an aristocratic family which had gone bankrupt. Having heard about Yuki long ago, Tatsuo coveted her extreme wealth and was determined to marry her in order to save his family's financial condition. Even the encounter on the previous day was no coincidence, instead it was planned in advance. 

Yuki, who was oblivious of all this, was so surprised to see Tatsuo again that her heart almost skipped a beat, deeming that it must have been destiny which had joined their paths together. At the age of 18, Yuki still did not have any suitors despite her extraordinary beauty. Her father very well knew the cause to be his daughter's disability and, after sensing her affection for the young man, agreed on their marriage. Yuki was absolutely ecstatic on the night before her wedding. She could not have imagined in her wildest dreams that a man like Tatsuo would fall in love with a deaf mute like herself. Nevertheless, her ignorant bliss would soon end with painful realization.

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-5

"So, we'll get straight to the point. In fact, we are extremely interested in your story 'The Lover's Curse'. In your encyclopedia, it seemed like the story was extraordinarily brief and lacking in detail," said Shaun. "Is it possible that you could tell us a bit more about it?"

"もちろん, I'm glad someone is still interested in this kind of things. Nowadays, people don't care about folklores anymore. They think science and technology is more important than culture and tradition," sighed Professor Kiriyama as he picked up a thick slice of taro sashimi with his chopsticks and slowly put it in his mouse. 

"すみません, I've wandered off topic," continued the professor. "The reason why I've left out some details is that they could not possibly be verified. The problem with folklore is that many things can't be cited, which means it can never go into published material. Anyways, here's how the story goes:

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-4

After having finished their talks, the detectives were invited in to the headmaster's office so they could discuss their findings together without being overheard by the students or other members of staff. Blythe communicated the details of what they heard in the canteen with Shaun and Jeffrey, and the detectives decided to do some further research. Inside the headmaster's office, there was a large bookshelf lined with documents, including the personal information of staff and students, as well as some old files detailing the history of this piece of land on which the school stood. Apparently, the land used to belong to a wealthy aristocratic family during the Edo period. However, it was later sold at an extraordinarily cheap price to the ancestor of the school's owner for unstated reasons. It had served as a local primary school since then for over a hundred years before the old buildings were knocked down about a decade ago and was recently rebuilt into a more modern campus. 

"Hmm, I wonder why this land was sold at such a cheap price," said Shaun pensively. 

Playmobil Custom Figures: Feb26-Alex Honnold at Taipei 101 摩比人偶改造：26.2-霍諾德@台北101

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-3

On the following morning, after a well-deserved rest at the 5-star hotel, the detectives set off to investigate further on the mystery of the haunted school. They hailed a cab at the hotel to drive them to the school, with Tiffany and Blythe entering the school first, acting as new students, and Shaun and Jeffrey followed a few hours later. The headmaster, a Japanese man in his mid-fifties whose name was Mr Enomoto, greeted the detectives at the entrance of the school.

"It is my absolute pleasure and honour to welcome you here, Mr Donovan and Mr Lee," said Mr Enomoto in Japanese-style exaggerated politeness. "I have heard from Mr Sanchez that you are private detectives looking into this case. On behalf of the school management team, we will do our utmost to assist and support you in your investigations. However, I have to ask you to kindly keep this whole investigation a secret. The last thing we want is for the students and parents to know and become alarmed since the financial situation of the school has only gone downhill after the rumour started to spread."

The detectives promised the headmaster that they will do their best to conceal their investigations to the public.

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-2

After around 14 hours of flight time, Shaun, Jeffrey and Blythe arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport at noon. They hailed a cab at the airport, which took them straight to their hotel at the city centre. When the cab halted at their destination, they were amazed to discover that the accommodation which Tiffany had booked for them was a luxurious 5-star hotel in a Georgian-style building located in Ginza. They checked-in at the hotel reception, placed their luggage in their respective rooms and refreshed themselves. At half past three, they received a SMS from Tiffany, inviting them to enjoy afternoon tea at her presidential suite. Immediately after Jeffrey knocked on the door, they were invited into the opulent suite by a waiter dressed in a smart tuxedo. 

"I'm glad I wore a suit," whispered Shaun to Jeffrey.

"This all seems a bit extra," replied Jeffrey.

Upon entering the living room, they perceived the familiar figure of their old acquaintance, Tiffany, wearing a lush gown, sitting on a Victorian-style long chaise. 

"Hiya, ma friends! How're ye doing?" greeted Tiffany. "OMG, Jeffie, you look especially handsome today in your smart suit." 

Playmobil Detectives: The White Kimono-1

One gloomy afternoon in London, Shaun Lee, a fourth-year PhD student doing research on astroparticle physics, was writing up his thesis in his office at university. Despite having achieved a lot during his three years of research, Shaun was still struggling to put everything together into a thesis. 

"I should've started the habit of writing up in detail as I went along," thought Shaun to himself. "The notes I made in my first year were far too brief to trigger my memory on exactly what I've done. I guess I'll just start with my most recent work and work my way back. Hopefully, it'll all come back by the time I get there."

Suddenly, a notification popped up on his screen. An email from Tiffany, the ex-high school classmate of Shaun's sister, Claire. 

"Wait, how did she find out about my email address? And what is she emailing me for?" wondered Shaun as he clicked open the attachment, revealing an electronic flight ticket to Tokyo.

Playmobil Custom Figures: Jan26-Japanese Lady (Purple) 摩比人偶改造：26.1-日本女士