"Mister Nakamura?" Ran froze, finding it unlikely. After all, as things stood, Yusuke Nakamura had had no chance to enter the lounge at the time of the murder—he had not borrowed the lounge key then.
But on second thought, since Jiang Xia had said it...
Ran quickly accepted the idea that "the killer was actually Yusuke Nakamura," feeling slightly shocked.
But the next second, another question surfaced in her mind:
...Why had Jiang Xia secretly told the truth to this Miss Takenaka?
It was understandable that he had not told the police—perhaps Jiang Xia had caught some suspicious details but lacked solid evidence. Based on what had happened before, Jiang Xia truly would not point out the killer until he had gathered a sufficiently complete chain of evidence.
Yet now, he had broken that principle and told Miss Takenaka in advance...
Ran touched her chin with slender fingers, faintly catching the scent of gossip:
Could Miss Takenaka be someone very special to Jiang Xia?
...Was Jiang Xia dating someone?!
Ran: "..." Um... Although Miss Takenaka did dress a little strangely, for some reason, Ran felt that she was a friendly, good person. She just liked drinking a little too much and liked urging others to drink too.
A string of pink-tinted speculations flashed through Ran's mind.
But soon, she became puzzled again. Looking at Jiang Xia's attitude, she felt that the truth did not seem quite like what she had just imagined. Jiang Xia did not seem especially close to Miss Takenaka...
Ran was so curious that it felt like cats were scratching at her heart. She wanted to ask, but felt a little embarrassed.
She held it in, but could not keep holding it. In the end, she leaned closer to Vermouth and cautiously probed in a mosquito-like whisper,