Hearing this, Haibara Ai had already vaguely guessed the outcome.
Sure enough, Jodie said quietly, "Sharon Vineyard's fingerprints were exactly the same as those of her daughter, Chris Vineyard.
"That old actress who had supposedly died, and her youthful, beautiful daughter, were actually the same person."
Although she had long anticipated this possibility, hearing the definite truth now still made Haibara Ai's heart tighten. Her fear of that Thousand-Faced Witch deepened even further.
But compared with meaningless fear, there was something more important at hand.
Haibara Ai took a deep breath and asked Jodie, "How long exactly did Vermouth impersonate you for? From what you just said, the FBI's investigation into her should have been quite thorough, but..."
But how had it ended with you, an FBI agent, being the one locked miserably in a Basement?
Jodie gave a bitter smile. "I can't say exactly how long I've been impersonated. There are no windows here, so I don't know how many days have passed...
"But Vermouth took me away on the night a case involving someone falling from a building happened at my home. That cunning woman must be working with Uzo. First, Uzo used the case to drain all my attention. Then, once everything was over, Vermouth disguised herself as that Osaka detective and came to visit.
"When I heard someone knocking, I thought that troublesome High School Detective had come back. But when I opened the door..."
Remembering her carelessness at the time, Jodie closed her eyes in frustration.
In front of her, Haibara Ai held her breath. "Uzo"... that was clearly the name of a liquor. Was he Vermouth's accomplice?
And what did "using a case to drain her attention" mean? Was that a tactic Uzo liked to use against his enemies?
In an instant, Haibara Ai's