Back inside Chris's house in Minakami, Alice waited until everyone she invited had arrived to explain everything. "Thanks for coming on short notice, everyone. I asked you all you to come here today because I'm going to explain how both Anubias and Sellon died."

"I heard they were both alone in locked rooms when they were killed," Jack commented.

"That's exactly what the killer wanted everyone to think. After killing Anubias, the killer locked the door after exiting and used a unique method to transport the key back into the storage room, creating the illusion that Anubias locked himself inside. As for Sellon, we all assumed that someone else killed her, but she actually died as a result of opened the refrigerator."

"The freezer door might be broken, but how would it kill anyone?" Chris asked.

"Watch closely," replied Shun as he opened the freezer door while stepping away from its line of sight. Some cutlery knives flew out immediately as white mist drifted all over the refrigerator unit. "This is how and where Sellon died."

"But all she did was open the freezer like you did. How exactly can ice kill someone? I'm pretty sure the freezer didn't contain cutlery knives that you used in your demonstration at all."

"Plain ice cubes wouldn't kill anyone, but if someone deliberately froze tap water to be as sharp as icicles, then that's a different story."

Alice put on an oven mitt and reached inside the freezer. "The police found traces of dry ice in the freezer. When Sellon opened the freezer door, the change in air temperature made the dry ice sublime into carbon dioxide. This overflow of gas forced the sharp ice pieces to fly out and cut deeply into Sellon's entire face and neck. Nobody found any murder weapons because the sharp ice pieces that killed her already melted into water by then, hence the puddle on the floor from the crime scene photos."

"Imagine what would've happened if Chris went home first before Sellon did," Baron murmured. "What an awful accident."

"But this was no accident, because Sellon was the intended target the whole time. Soon said that Sellon went home to grab ice because the convenience store ran out. The killer purposely threw away or didn't replenish the ice at the store to force Sellon into coming home and opening this faulty freezer door. There were other pieces of ice that had fish scales and chicken feathers frozen inside, which the killer used to mislead us into thinking that a gyojin committed both murders. However, there's only one person who knows both Anubias and Sellon's daily habits well enough to set both traps." The assistant professor pointed at the amethyst-eyed blonde in the audience. "Chris Barlow, would you like to explain yourself?"

Soon and Jack stared at their friend with wide eyes. "No way..."

"Chris, you used to wear your down feather jacket all the time every time we saw you... until you stopped wearing it after Anubias died and began wearing a cardigan instead. You must've ripped your jacket in an altercation. Since you're technically his next of kin, the police would've suspected you and your jacket after seeing the down feathers on the floor. You planted chicken feathers and fish scales to mislead everyone into thinking that a gyojin killed him, all to cover up your jacket's missing down feathers."

Dan walked up with another report in his hands. "After more thorough forensic analysis, we did find some down feathers among the chicken feathers at Anubias's crime scene. What do you have to say about that?"

The auburn-haired student couldn't believe her professor's words. "Chris, why would you do something crazy like this?"

"You already know why!" screamed the amethyst-eyed blonde as she stood up and away from her best friend. "I need the entire world to know that Anubias and Sellon aren't my uncle and aunt, but kidnappers who took me away from the family and life that I once had! Remember when we were talking at the pier, and I fell into the water just when I said I had to go home? I suddenly regained all my memories from my childhood again. I am Marie Lazar, daughter of Graeme Lazar and younger sister of Gunz Lazar. I recalled the night at the playground when Anubias kidnapped me. Even though I was blindfolded, I heard him call Sellon frequently saying that he was bringing me into Minakami to hide because my dad called the police. Once we arrived, I escaped when he didn't notice, but then I fell into the water at the pier where I first met Soon."

"So that's how you suddenly appeared in Minakami as Chris Barlow..."

"And I've been eavesdropping on what Anubias and Sellon talked about recently to make sure that I didn't get anything wrong. Graeme Lazar is super rich and owns GML Enterprises, you know. Anubias said he killed Gunz so that I would be the only beneficiary to my dad's will, but who knows what might happen to me after I inherit everything? They kidnapped me and kept me in this fishing district for over a decade when I should've been with my own loving family in central Bayview! I wanted to attend a real four-year college after high school like Soon is doing right now, but Anubias and Sellon told me that higher education doesn't matter and that operating our convenience store is already a stable source of income. I bet you they didn't want me leaving Minakami to avoid being seen by people. But you know what really makes me angry?"

"So I was right about why Anubias and Sellon kept you alive all this time," Shun sighed. "You still can't believe that the past ten-something years of your life was a lie."

"Exactly! Before I regained my memories, I saw Gunz once when I was interviewing at GML's headquarters in central Bayview. He looked at me and spoke with me so cheerfully and kindly. I knew he never gave up on searching for me, but then he got killed while following a false lead. As for my dad... I took your advice and visited him. He had been in a coma for a few days, but when I held his hand at his bedside, he opened his eyes and immediately knew I was Marie. I finally saw my biological father again. But even though I regained my memories, my brother's already dead, and my dad doesn't have much time left to live. We couldn't even get a proper family reunion because of what Anubias and Sellon did. I hate those two so much to the point that I wanted them to disappear from earth." Chris faced her best friend and whispered, "I don't regret doing any of this."

After calling his supervisor and other colleagues to come help wrap up the case, Dan opened a set of handcuffs. "I'll let you explain that whole story again to my coworkers at the police station."

While watching the brunet take Chris away, Soon faced her professor and said, "This is all my fault."

"Is it because I told you to tell her that she's not the real Chris Barlow?"

"No, it has to do with the dry ice and magic trick thread instead. Toward the end of the school year, our high school graduating class held our senior picnic at an offsite camping venue. Some of the activities that I demonstrated with my chemistry classmates included generic magic tricks, such as using dry ice to create decorative explosions."

"Oh... you feel responsible for inadvertently teaching Chris how to commit murder without a trace using those to methods."

"You could put it that way."

"Well, killing for revenge is never an acceptable solution. As for you, here's my advice for the future—stay humble, and never forget your roots. If you need some time off from working on our research assignment, then let me know."

"Thank you, Professor Alice. I'll send you an email."

Once everyone else went home, Shun asked the redhead, "Do you have some time before we go back?"

"You want to talk? Sure."

The pair ended up walking along an isolated stretch of the harbor. "It doesn't feel that long ago that you asked me how I was doing."

"It really wasn't that long ago. Are you sure everything's alright?"

"After watching you figure out how the killer committed murders in three different cases, I can't help but worry that my mom is still out there somewhere. We don't know what her situation is at all. Did she encounter a kind person who offered her food and shelter? Did she get stuck on a stranded island by herself? Did she end up kidnapped and tortured by—"

"Shun, do you even realize what you're saying?" Alice stood in front of him and waved her hands around. "I have faith that she's still alive, but what makes this missing-persons case extremely difficult is the fact that there was absolutely no trace of her at the hiking trail that she said she was going to. I know we can't do much when have other work to do, but—"

"I'm sorry."

The redhead simply blinked. "For what?"

"I should never have to come to Bayview on an impulse decision and drag you into this, especially since you didn't anticipate managing your entire department all by yourself."

"But I'm not all by myself. You responded to the secretary opening so quickly—also on impulse, as you keep saying. I know you feel that you could and should be doing more to find Shiori-san, but you have a point too about our resources being limited. It's almost been three months since you moved to Bayview. You still have a few weeks to decide what you want to do before school closes for winter break."

"Winter break?! I can't believe fall semester is almost over already. In that case, I'm staying."

"That was a quick answer..."

"I can only imagine how disorganized you are without my mom overseeing. I admit that I was upset at first when she accepted the teaching position at BIU instead of asking the Wardington campus to keep their folklore program, but she always made up for the lost family time. Before I went to college, I've always been a STEM person and never quite understood liberal arts. Mom always told me to pursue what I like and never pressured me to apply for something that I didn't want. Seeing the way you lecture about folklore opened a whole new perspective for me."

"You really think so?"

"You're passionate about what you like and clearly worked hard to achieve where you are today."

"Well... I've encountered some mean people who said that liberal arts classes are useless, but I ignored them. I can tell you're at least learning something new while you're here. Having you here working on this incomplete anthology is definitely an honor. Honestly, a lot of things would've occurred differently or never occurred at all if Shiori-san didn't disappear. Since you decided to stay and finish your secretary duties through spring semester as well, then you should definitely spend the entire winter break at home and not worry about anything at school. Anyway, it's getting late." Alice suddenly held her hand out. "Would you like to go back to campus now?"

After a long silent stare, Shun grabbed the assistant professor's hand and took her down the boardwalk. "I want to stay in Minakami district a bit longer."

"I'm fine with that, but can you slow down?!"

"Absolutely not. Catch me if you can."

With that said, the pair stayed and walked around all of Minakami before returning to central Bayview just before sunset.

-x-x-x-x-x-

While at home on winter break, Shun spent one day dedicated to cleaning out old junk from the entire dojo. His grandfather saw several messes in different areas and yelled, "Why on earth are you throwing random items in the hallways? Have you finally decided to move back home?!"

"Grandpa, I need to do winter cleaning while I have time."

"There's only spring cleaning!"

"I won't be home for 'spring' cleaning, so let me do what I need to do."

The elderly man saw the laptop and other electronics in his grandson's room. "You brought everything back. Did you make any progress while you were gone for almost four months?"

"Winter break is four weeks long, so of course I brought everything back for now. Unfortunately, the police don't have much to work with, so we didn't make as much progress as I expected. By the way, you should visit Bayview someday. Unlike what you told me about the cost of living in Bayview, the city isn't as expensive as you think as long as you visit the right places. The people are nice, and there are many different districts that each have its own distinct culture."

"Are you suggesting that I'm old-school?"

"I mean... No one's ever too old to travel. Just keep an open mind and keep your options open. If you do visit Bayview, then I'm definitely showing you around campus. Anyway, I need to move these plastic boxes to the storage shed."

"Beware of spiders."

"I have no problem eradicating unwanted bugs." Shun grabbed the storage shed keys from a drawer and carried some boxes to the backyard. He opened the shed door and was about to put stuff inside when he saw some cardboard boxes with the letters BIU written on each of them. "Is this all Mom's stuff? How come you never told me about this?"

"Because you never asked!"

"You're just still upset that I temporarily moved to Bayview for this school year without discussing with you." The raven-haired secretary propped the door open with one of his plastic containers and turned on the lights. If the boxes say BIU on them, then they must have something to do with the Department of Folklore. Should I show them to Alice after winter break? Heput his boxes inside the storage shed and took all the BIU boxes back inside the dojo for investigation. Most of these are just books and typical school supplies.

Shun lifted the lid off another cardboard box too quickly and inadvertently created a dust cloud at the same time that his grandfather walked by. "Why are you mishandling old boxes? Are you trying to suffocate me?!"

"That was an accident! Stop jumping to conclusions!"

The elderly man saw a piece of blue fabric stuck under the lid that his grandson had lifted too quickly. "Why on earth did your mother keep such a dusty and ragged piece of cloth? I might as well use this as a floor towel in the kitchen."

The raven-haired secretary continued searching through the BIU boxes until he saw an orange folder that caught his attention. What's a lab analysis report doing here mixed in with the books and binder paper? He took out the report and read some of the text out loud. "Radiometric dating confirms that this piece of blue fabric originated from the eighteenth century... which was the 1700s?!" Then he sprinted to the kitchen where he saw his grandfather about to use the blue fabric to dry up spilled water on the floor. "Grandpa, stop! That piece of fabric might be an artifact from the past!"

"How on earth is this ugly piece of fish scale fabric an actual artifact? If it was something valuable, then your mother would've taken it to the museum instead of letting it collect dust at home."

"I'm not making this up." Shun continued reading the rest of the lab report. "This triangular piece of blue fabric has a high concentration of sodium chloride and is hypothesized to have been constantly exposed to seawater... But why would any type of fabric be out in the ocean in the first place?"

"Back in the olden days, traditional ships relied on sails to harness wind power, unlike modern ships that have engines now. Wealthier shipowners also displayed one or several flags on their ships simply because they could afford the supplies and wanted to show off."

"Either way, I should bring all this information backto Bayview... Actually, I can't fit all this on a motorcycle. How was I supposed to know that Mom stashed all this at home? Now I need to sort everything." Just as Shun took out his keys from his jacket, he dropped something that caught his grandfather's attention. "Can I have that—"

"What is this? Or should I ask, who is this?"

The item that fell out was a printout of a selfie that Dan had taken at Joe's bubble tea bar and shared with everyone else. "Grandpa, those are just my friends and coworkers at BIU. They invited me out for dessert because I was new to the area."

"Who's this girl that you're sitting awfully close to?"

"Alice is just a professor from—" Realizing that he said too much, Shun snatched the photo from his grandfather's hands. "Is there anything else I can help you with before I—"

"Are you finally dating?!"

The disappointed grandson shook his head as he put headphones on. "I'm going to continue cleaning."

"Can I visit Bayview International University with you when spring semester starts?"

"Absolutely not." I should never have advertised to him how great Bayview is. Shun closed the door behind him and stared at the photo in his hands. Why did I even print this? Maybe I was influenced by all the framed photos on Alice's desk. I ended up sitting next to her for this photo to accommodate Dan's camera angle.

Then he scrolled through his phone's voice recording app and began playing audio recordings from Alice's lectures, in which most featured her speaking while occasionally answering students' questions. She's just my supervisor. Once I actually find Mom again, then I'll be done with everything in Bayview and move back to Wardington for good... right?