"That's right." Akai Shuichi nodded. "Send two people to Himemiya Nobuko's residence immediately. Make sure they find that notebook before anyone else does—if Uzo really studied magic under Mr. Masakage, there may be clues in that sort of private notebook."
Jodie nodded gravely and contacted two relatively reliable colleagues.
After sending the message, she belatedly realized something. "It's rare to get a lead on that person, yet you're not going to handle it yourself?"
Akai Shuichi shook his head. Searching for hidden items was basic FBI work, and the house being searched belonged only to a Female Magician who did not have much vigilance—the task sounded urgent, but it was not actually difficult.
Compared to that...
"If this lead is correct, then Hashimoto Maya showing up here tonight was probably to silence that Female Magician."
Akai Shuichi recalled the organization's usual procedure. "I'll keep an eye on him first—if he reports to Uzo later, then without question, that will be a shortcut faster than the magic handbook."
Jodie: "!" Brilliant.
"Still... it's a pity you put that location-tracking Listening Device on Suzuki Sonoko instead of Hashimoto Maya." Jodie sighed. "Let's hope he hasn't gone too far by the time we get there."
As she spoke, she turned up the volume, hoping to catch Hashimoto Maya's next movements from the conversation on the other end.
Hashimoto Maya had indeed not gone far. He was still mixed in with the high school students.
—Although the case had already wrapped up, Jiang Xia seemed very interested in what he had been through lately and kept pulling him into small talk.
Hashimoto Maya had wanted to say goodbye and run several times, but then he reconsidered: the person before him was both his performance record and, publicly, his superior... Since he was already