Mouri Ran: "..." Wait, looking on the bright side, maybe this meant the murders she had imagined wouldn't happen here after all, and what lay before them was just an ordinary dirty deal?
She was about to keep eavesdropping and call the police if anything seemed wrong.
But then, a voice suddenly came from behind them. "What's going on? What are you doing hiding here?"
Mouri Ran jumped. "!!"
Jiang Xia turned around and saw the assistant director who was about to get married.
"Nothing." He looked through the gaps in the branches at the dim yellow sky. "We were enjoying the scenery."
Mouri Ran hurriedly nodded along. "This little grove is very quiet, um... it makes you feel the sacred atmosphere of the shrine! So we couldn't help stopping to take a look."
"I see..." The assistant director clearly did not believe them, but he was a man of few words and seemed rather introverted, so he did not press further.
As she spoke, Mouri Ran guiltily glanced back.
Then she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
—Those two people just now seemed even more guilty than they were. They had probably hurried away when they heard something. Looking over now, there was no one left in that patch of woods.
After such an awkward incident, Mouri Ran was too embarrassed to ask Nachi Shingo for an autograph, so she got one from Kinoshita Yoko instead.
Kinoshita Yoko was highly famous, and her career was flourishing. Her autograph was enough to fulfill her classmate's request.
Toyama Kazuha and Suzuki Sonoko also successfully got their protective charms, leaving everyone happy.
"It's almost dark. Let's hurry up, finish dinner, and head back to the exhibition hall. I still think the time Inspector Nakamori cracked doesn't seem right." Hattori Heiji