"It's over. Let's head back." Lynn returned after speaking with Talim's parents. Yesterday, he had helped the poor elderly couple liquidate Talim's investments so they could weather the relatively difficult period ahead.
Sifa could find no reason to stay any longer either and nodded. Just then, he saw a lady in a heavy black dress and a face-concealing veil approach Talim's grave, holding a bouquet of white flowers.
The woman bent down to lay down the flowers, revealing her left hand in its black gauze glove. On her little finger was a ring set with a blue gemstone.
There was nothing remarkable about that, but Sifa noticed a subtle change in the expression of the private detective who had been talking to Doctor Aaron.
He seemed to have discovered something horrifying. His face and body trembled slightly, but the odd reaction soon vanished as though it had never happened.
Did that private detective know the lady in black? No, his gaze had been focused more on the sapphire on her finger.
Sifa couldn't help taking another look at the lady, then found himself puzzled. Although her veil concealed her features, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her somewhere before. He simply couldn't remember where.
The lady in black with the sapphire ring on her left little finger straightened up. After looking around, she quietly departed with two maids accompanying her, gradually disappearing into the distance.
Saint Samuel Church, North Borough, Backlund.
Inside a spire housing a large bell, an old man with a pale, clean-shaven face, deep eyes, and an exceptionally neat appearance stood alone. He wore an Archbishop's black robes with red accents. Even standing in the tower's shadows, he gave no impression of gloom.
The elderly man's deep eyes would occasionally turn