Jodie had used the High School Detective's sense of shame to send him away, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she turned to the two high school girls, intending to wrap up this so-called farewell party as quickly as possible and send them home.
Just then, Mouri Ran's phone suddenly vibrated.
It seemed perfectly normal for a young girl to receive a call.
Yet for some reason, Jodie's heart skipped a beat. She had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
Under her wary gaze, Mouri Ran answered the call.
Then a word Jodie did not want to hear came out of the student's mouth. "A pajama party? Today's just an ordinary party... What? Teacher Jodie told you?"
Jodie: "!!!"
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Xia said to Mouri Ran, "On my way to the Convenience Store, I happened to run into Uncle Mouri heading to the Pachinko parlor. On the way back, I ran into him again—he hadn't brought enough money and was about to go home to get some. He asked why you hadn't come back with him, so I explained for you. If I remember right, a pajama party means staying over at a friend's house, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, that's how it is, but..." Mouri Ran had always thought that she and Sonoko were simply having dinner at Teacher Jodie's place and going home afterward. That counted as a party, didn't it?
But now, it seemed... they were actually having such a proper party?
...Well, considering Teacher Jodie was American, this did seem normal.
As she thought that, Mouri Ran looked toward Jodie for confirmation.
Teacher Jodie gave a somewhat forced smile, then nodded at her.
Mouri Ran: "..."
Before, when she had not thought of it that way, nothing