"Perfect ending?" Yukiko Kudo asked, blinking her big eyes.
Yusaku Kudo nodded. "That's right. Rather than a game of mutual deception where it's kill or be killed, this is a game of finding the manor's owner. As long as we recognize that, our next steps become much simpler."
Yukiko threw her arms open and cheered loudly. In fact, if the game did not truly have to end with someone dying, then it did not seem quite so terrifying after all.
She hurriedly grabbed Yusaku's hand. "Then, do you have someone in mind?"
Just as Yusaku understood her, she understood him as well. Under normal circumstances, once Yusaku began analyzing a case, he had already solved it.
Otherwise, given Yusaku's temperament, he would not have told her.
"Yes." Sure enough, Yusaku Kudo nodded.
"Who is it? Who is the owner of Diamond Manor?" Yukiko asked hurriedly.
"...That seemingly innocent little girl, Alice." After a brief moment of thought, Yusaku Kudo spoke the name.
Yukiko froze for a moment. "Why her? She probably isn't even twenty yet. How could it possibly be her?"
"Age and experience are not necessarily proportional. Many signs indicate that she is very likely the one who initiated this game."
Yusaku Kudo explained patiently.
"First, she was the first to discover the box used in the game. She could claim that she found it herself, but in truth, she could also have hidden it somewhere beforehand and taken it out this morning."
"Second, and most crucially, why do you think these rings ended up on our fingers?"
Yukiko tapped her chin with a finger, furrowing her brow. "Hmm... When we were about to open the box?"
"That's right. Since the manor's owner could not possibly put on a ring with a bomb herself, she would definitely be the