𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒

file 003 | suzume's first case

"Well, actually a strange young girl has been hanging around," one of the attendants told him.

"A strange young girl?" he repeated, having a dreadful feeling that he knew who it was. Ran was here, so why wouldn't she be here as well?

Inside the bathroom, Suzume had a pair of gloves on while moving some of the victim's hair to the side to reveal a small hole with blood around it. "Well, looks like the cause of death is suffocation due to damage to the cervical pith," she muttered. "The murder weapon is probably something with a sharp point, like an ice pick or something." She checked the garbage pin, seeing a small glass bottle and cloth on top of all the napkins. "Before the victim was stabbed, there's a possibility he was forced to inhale something that knocked him unconscious."

"Who would do such a thing?" an attendant asked.

"We don't know yet," Suzume replied. She turned and smiled at Megure, whose eyes widened when he saw her. "But we have capable police aboard this plane, so don't worry about it too much, okay, ma'am?"

She nodded and Megure snapped out of his stupor. "Kudo-chan?"

"Inspector Megure," she said in greeting before holding up her gloved hands. "You don't have to worry about my fingerprints. I wore these the whole time."

Megure sighed. "Even so, you shouldn't be in here."

She smiled. "I know, but I couldn't help myself, you know? Shinigami and all."

His eye twitched at the nickname and mentally cursed the detective who thought it up. Now Suzume thought of herself as some sort of bad omen. "Never mind that, get out of there."

Suzume did as he asked and stepped out of the bathroom, pulling off her gloves since they were no longer needed. "I took photos while I was in there if you want them," she said, pulling her camera from her pocket.

"Also, we did as she asked and kept a close eye on what she did, but..." One of the attendants trailed off.

"We didn't notice her hide or wipe anything or do anything at least a bit suspicious," another added.

Megure was thankful for Suzume's thoughtfulness, but nonetheless... "Still, you shouldn't have handled the body..."

She smiled. "Based on the condition of the death spots and the fact that the jaw had started stiffening, he's been dead about 1-2 hours." She sighed and held up three fingers. "Three things stood out to me. First, a few drops of blood had flown onto the wall the victim was leaning on, but the clothing pressed against it wasn't stained. Second, the scratch-like marks to the lower right of the fatal wound. And third, the inside of his left pants pocket was soaked, but his hands were dry. Even if he stuck his wet hands inside his pockets, they wouldn't get as wet as that."

"Which means, someone for some reason wet it deliberately," Megure said. He sighed. "Listen, please stay out of this, Kudo-chan." He turned to the attendants. "Excuse me, please go wake that fellow who's sleeping next to my seat. He's with the police too."

"Yes, sir."

Ran moved over to Suzume's side. "You okay?" she asked. "You kind of disappeared at the scream earlier."

Suzume nodded. "Of course," she assured her. "It's been a while since I've done something like that, you know? Felt good helping the police even if it was just a little."

Ran hummed with a smile. "Just tell me where you're going next time. I honestly thought you were the victim for a second."

"Ah, don't have that little faith in me," Suzume pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "If someone went after me like that, I'd certainly make some noise."