"..."
The sound of someone dropping to their knees with a thud.
Sure enough, there was a Sealed Bag perfectly sized for the purpose in Yamamoto Sakurako's trench coat pocket.
The material of the Sealed Bag easily retained fingerprints. They did not even need specialized extraction—when held up to the light, the spots bearing fingerprints were visible to the naked eye. Putting the victim's phone inside, they matched the buttons pressed while dialing exactly. There was even a small bloodstain near the seal that had been overlooked in the rush.
"It... it was all Naoko's fault!"
Yamamoto Sakurako sat kneeling on the floor, covering her face:
"The year we graduated from college, the top student could receive a place to study abroad and an internship opportunity at a well-known company in the industry—that place went to Naoko, and that was how she achieved what she has today.
"But actually, actually, that should have been mine! Naoko shamelessly sucked up to Professor Yamada, and only then did he give her the place—if Yamada, that old bastard, hadn't let it slip while drunk at a class reunion a few years ago, I'd still have been kept in the dark!"
Jiang Xia: "..."
...No wonder there was an old shikigami that had clearly been clinging to Yamamoto Sakurako for some time, in addition to Naoko's fresh shikigami.
And now, with the case solved, both shikigami fell away and were expertly bundled up by the Ghosts and carried back to Jiang Xia.
Izumi Kaori had not been an outstanding student in college, nor had she been especially ambitious.
She had paid no attention at all to that overseas placement, much less imagined there was such a story behind it.
Thinking of Professor Yamada's death not long ago, Izumi Kaori seemed to suddenly