"This..." The white-haired manager hesitated for a long time before finally lowering his voice. "To tell you the truth, I overheard your conversation last night. I remember Mr. Sakonji saying that the 'living doll' was a magic trick created jointly by the four of them?"
Jiang Xia nodded. "Was he wrong?"
The hotel manager lowered his voice even further. "Actually, a long time ago, I heard the late former troupe leader—Ms. Kingu Reiko—mention it."
"It was late at night. Ms. Kingu was fiddling with a doll in the lounge. When she saw me passing by, she smiled and chatted with me, asking whether it wouldn't be very interesting if she cut all the puppet's strings, only for it to suddenly start moving on its own.
"Of course it would be interesting. I had nothing better to do, so I sat down and talked with her, just like today. As she spoke, she took out the notebook she carried with her and scribbled something down—she always kept a Magic Notebook on her, filled with her wild ideas.
"I originally thought it contained possible tricks for their Magic Troupe. But Ms. Kingu said she wouldn't perform those tricks herself. They were a gift for someone."
"Someone?" Jiang Xia seized on the key point like a proper detective and interrupted, "Who?"
"This..." The hotel manager shook his head. "I don't know either, but they should have been a beginner magician. Ms. Kingu said she hoped the notebook would come in handy when that person took the stage, and that this was all she could do for them.
"Not long after that, she fell to her death at Lake Heart Theater.
"It was midnight when her body was discovered. That night, I noticed that the theater was still lit up late at night, which