Jiang Xia looked at the resolute Ruri Ujo and suddenly asked, "Since you've never smoked, you rarely used lighters either, right?"
Ruri Ujo had intended to nod, but worried there might be some trap hidden behind the question. In the end, she only hesitated and said, "I-I have used them too."
Jiang Xia put on gloves, picked up the metal lighter left behind by the victim, and asked her, "If it were you, how would you hide Utility Knife blades inside this?"
Ruri Ujo examined it. "Obviously, I'd hide them in the lid."
Jiang Xia flipped open the lid. The space inside was almost entirely occupied by the ignition port, leaving little room to stuff in blades—and certainly none of the bloodstained blades they had imagined.
Ruri Ujo froze for a moment, then brightened in delight. "There are no blades hidden in there. Your deduction was wrong!"
But Inspector Megure had already spotted the clue. He walked over, took the lighter, and flicked it open with a click.
A tiny spark appeared from the lighter, but no flames surged up.
He suddenly understood and deftly dismantled the lighter. "This sort of lighter uses cotton or synthetic sponge as its fuel reservoir. In other words, once you remove that stuffing, there's quite a bit of space inside."
He opened the casing and tipped it over. With a clatter, countless snapped-off blade fragments fell from the lighter into his palm, still stained with patches of unwiped blood.
Jiang Xia looked at the blades, then at Ruri Ujo. "For someone who often uses this kind of lighter, it isn't hard to think of that storage compartment. But you've never used one, so you easily assumed the inside couldn't be opened and thought the blades could only be hidden in the lid."
Inspector Megure