Chapter 978

This woman is already dead.

The time of death was likely a few hours ago, and the cause of death was dehydration—she was trapped in a place like this and died of thirst.

It's a pity; if she had held on for just a little longer, she could have been saved.

However, because she was trapped and died here, her soul did not follow the murderer.

Those carvings, however, very likely provide information about the murderer.

"How pitiful," Haibara Ai says sadly, looking at the woman's corpse. "She must have accidentally gotten trapped here. And since this is the Dragon Horn Rock where ships supposedly sink, no one ever comes here."

Akaso Kaze turns his head and curls his lip. "Didn't I tell you not to come over? Aren't you scared, Ayumi?"

Ayumi shakes her head. "Big Brother Akaso is here, so Ayumi isn't scared."

Akaso Kaze picks up Ayumi and says, "It wasn't an accident. I'm afraid she was intentionally abandoned here by someone. Let's call the police first."

"Eh?" Haibara Ai looks over in surprise.

Akaso Kaze says, "Usually, one doesn't wear lipstick when diving, otherwise it would dirty the mouthpiece. But the mouthpiece of this oxygen tank is very clean and not stained with lipstick... Someone must have come here after she died and swapped the oxygen tank for some purpose."

The group of diving enthusiasts he saw earlier flashes through Akaso Kaze's mind.

Those guys are highly suspicious.

Honestly, he thought it would be a peaceful day, but even as they were about to leave, they still managed to run into a murder case in the sea.

Regardless, the possibility of murder is quite high—not just because of the oxygen tank mouthpiece, but also the carvings on the other side of the Dragon Horn Rock and the fins stuffed into the rock crevices.

There is one in a different rock crevice on each side, and they should both belong to this barefoot young woman.

There are also traces of the woman walking barefoot on the soles of her feet. The reason for these arrangements must be that she knew the culprit would come back to check later, and she wanted to warn others who might discover her while avoiding the culprit's suspicion.

At the very least, if the police come, they might be able to tell it wasn't an accident.

His gaze sweeps over the mark on the woman's left wrist where a watch had been worn. Akaso Kaze searches the vicinity, and because the area is small, he quickly finds a hidden diving watch.

The edges of the diving watch are heavily worn, and its width matches the carvings of the words perfectly.

On the back of the watch are the initials "HA," surrounded by the English words "AKAMINEANGEL... CLUB." The letters after "ANGEL" are worn away and unclear, but one can barely tell it's likely some diving club, and very possibly the companions of those diving enthusiasts from earlier.

Seeing those people on the yacht rushing back and forth as if looking for something, could it be that they were looking for this woman?

"She should be the only daughter of President Akamine, the chairman of a financial company that recently expanded to Shennaichuan County,"

the captain says, coming over. "She often brought a few young men to dive nearby. Her name is Akamine Hikari, and her initials are HA." ===== CHAPTER 980 =====