Jiang Xia and Mouri Ran walked around the Film Crew Building, gaining quite a lot.
Time passed without them noticing, and the group met up again before heading out to find somewhere to have dinner.
For different reasons, they were all looking forward to the upcoming performance.
Even Haibara Ai had become somewhat interested. She often watched historical stage plays to begin with, and this performance even included a beautiful surprise: "They're actually using a gemstone like that as a prop. It seems they really did prepare carefully. I hope they'll put on something fresh."
"Haha, of course! And it'll definitely be incredibly fresh!" Suzuki Sonoko was looking forward to something entirely different. "Did you forget? Inspector Nakamori said that the 'Magician Under the Moonlight' will appear when the audience applauds and become part of the play! I always feel like that old man isn't very reliable, but what if he really guessed right?"
After dinner, each occupied with their own thoughts, they returned to the Film Crew Building.
By then, quite a few audience members had arrived and were lining up to enter.
Jiang Xia led the others in through the side door. As soon as they entered, they spotted a somewhat familiar woman with long straight black hair standing behind a corridor pillar—it was Maki Juri's assistant.
The assistant seemed to be waiting for someone. She looked somewhat introverted, quietly watching the stream of people passing by.
When she suddenly saw Jiang Xia, the assistant breathed a sigh of relief and approached him. "Miss Maki Juri was just asking about you—the performance is about to begin, so go to her dressing room first."
Although Maki Juri's intentions in asking a Detective to protect the gemstone were somewhat beside the point, since she had said she would hire