Speaking of disguise techniques, Mouri Ran said, "I heard from Aunt Yukiko that Aunt Sharon's disguise skills are even better than hers."
Suzuki Sonoko was surprised. "Aunt Yukiko isn't the modest type. If she admits that, it must be true. But her disguises are already so lifelike—someone even better than her..." How skilled would that have to be?
Jiang Xia finally finished peeling the orange and popped a segment into his mouth. "..." Probably skilled enough to pass for the real thing—for example, infiltrating among them as Dr. Araide, then becoming even more popular with female students than the original Dr. Araide.
Suzuki Sonoko imagined it for a while but couldn't picture it, so she had to give up. With a sigh, she said, "Forget it. Miss Sharon has been dead for a year already. What's the point of discussing this now?"
Mouri Ran looked somewhat regretful. "She seemed like a very pessimistic person. Last year in New York, when I first met her, I casually said, 'To think I'd meet such a famous actress—it must be heaven's blessing.'
"Who knew her expression would suddenly turn sorrowful? She said things like, 'Are there really gods in this world? If there were, those struggling desperately to live wouldn't suffer misfortune,' and, 'At least one thing is certain: no Angel has ever smiled upon me. Never.'"
Suzuki Sonoko crunched into the peeled apple. "Oh, I know about that. I saw one of her interviews. She said her entire life had been a history of suffering, with one misfortune following another—when she first appeared on screen, her parents died in a fire. The day after she won an Academy Award, her husband passed away.
"She also said that she sometimes envied her daughter—Chris Vineyard had debuted effortlessly and enjoyed a smooth path all