The Case of Norin’s Mixed- Up Journey

のの @karimama12

@dustjacketdiva @Norin_76 @Akko1454 @mimi_summer_ @Zurappe @mimimi_run #23 After reading the note, Norin was stunned into silence, still trembling. What’s this about? Was her father not who she thought he was?! Norin felt like everything she believed was shattered into pieces! All the memories appeared and disappeared. “I have to go to America!”

のの @karimama12

@dustjacketdiva @Norin_76 @Akko1454 @mimi_summer_ @Zurappe @mimimi_run #24 “But before that,” she thought, “what should I do with the body? I cannot leave her here like this.” Norin looked around the hut to find the shovel on the floor right in front of her. “Of course. This is what put me in this terrible mess in the first place.” Picking it up,

Satomi Ｋ @Zurappe

@karimama12 @dustjacketdiva @Norin_76 @Akko1454 @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #25 and looked around briskly, then stepped out of the hut to see if anyone is around. Fortunately the hut is secluded in the woods. Nobody knows , Norin thought. She stepped back in the hut and erased all the traces of her being there, and decided to fled the scene.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Zurappe @karimama12 @dustjacketdiva @Akko1454 @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #26 As soon as she thought she was in the clear, Norin rummaged through the bag which was in the possession of the dead woman, took out the phone and punched in the number to make a phone call. "Hello? Andrea? It's me. Norin. Guess what's just happened... I'm in a hot mess!"

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Zurappe @karimama12 @dustjacketdiva @Akko1454 @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #27 "What? Stop shouting, you're hurting my eardrum... uh-uh. WHAT??? Did you... seriously?? Okay, I'll meet you at the cafe down on the corner in 30... Yes, I'll have Nick come with me, he's good at that kinda stuff. Okay, see you later. Make sure you are not being followed."

🍩🍩Akko🍩🍩 @Akko1454

@Norin_76 @Zurappe @karimama12 @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #28 "OK." Norin hanged up. She looked at the phone. She knew it would be risky to take the woman's belongings from the site, but she needed to know who the woman was and what her intention was. Suddenly the phone rang. Norin saw the screen. It was not from her friends...

のの @karimama12

@Akko1454 @Norin_76 @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #29 Norin hesitated for a moment but decided to answer. “Um..hello?” “Did you do it?” a low suppressed voice of a woman asked. “What?” “I said ‘did you successfully KILL HER?’” Feeling dizzy, Norin dropped the phone. When she picked it up, all she heard was a beeping sound.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@karimama12 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #30 She promptly checked the caller ID but to no avail. "Tough luck!" She murmured under her breath. Either way, she's just had a mysterious, ominous call supposedly from 'the mastermind' behind all this, who apparently had a clear intention of killing her!! Shaking her head...

actiboo @ykfukurou

@Norin_76 @karimama12 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #31 she put down the phone and suddenly she had the feeling that she heard the voice from somewhere. Does that mean I know the plotter? That made sense since the perpetrator chose to disguise herself as Norin’s grandmother.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@yukofukurou @karimama12 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #32 Half an hour later, Norin, Andrea, and Nick were at the table deep in the back of the cafe that escapes other customers' eyes, feverishly discussing what actions to take next. "I think the plotter is someone close to my family." clasping a steaming mug of coffee, Norin said.

のの @karimama12

@Norin_76 @yukofukurou @Akko1454 @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #33 “Look at this note I found from the woman’s diary,” Norin took out a piece of paper and showed it to her friends. It read, “I’ll never forgive you for taking Norin from me!! She’s my baby! My life!! You shall return her at once!! Or else..!” They fell silent for a long time.

🍩🍩Akko🍩🍩 @Akko1454

@karimama12 @Norin_76 @yukofukurou @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #34 "First and foremost, what brought you to the hut?" Andrea asked. "Uh...I was asked to write a book about secrets of my success," Norin replied. "By whom?" Nick said. "Actually, I got a letter from an anonymous person. Oh! Everything was all planned? Was I lured to the place?"

のの @karimama12

@Akko1454 @Norin_76 @yukofukurou @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #35 “Come to think of it...well, I’m not really sure, but the writing of the letter looked familiar...I saw it...Oh my gosh! Yes, this is it! Look!” Norin snatched the diary of the woman out of her pocket. The three of them stared at the handwriting on a page. She exclaimed,

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@karimama12 @Akko1454 @yukofukurou @Zurappe @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #36 "Oh my God. They are identical!!" Andrea and Nick nodded in agreeement. "So," Andrea broke the silence. "This was a premeditated murder attempt. This particular woman approached you with a clear intention of killing you." "The question is," Nick chimed in. "why?"

Satomi Ｋ @Zurappe

@Norin_76 @karimama12 @Akko1454 @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #37 “Also, don’t forget that she dressed up like that fairy tales old lady and tried to killed with a poisoned apple!!” Norin exclaimed. “Yeah, it’s really odd...” Nick said.

🍩🍩Akko🍩🍩 @Akko1454

@Zurappe @Norin_76 @karimama12 @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #38 "I think," Norin said "asking me to write a book is just a bait. If their intention was to steal my secrets, they would kill me after I finish writing a book." "Then, what is their hidden agenda? Norin, did you say your grandfather lived in America?" Andrea asked.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Akko1454 @Zurappe @karimama12 @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #39 "To whom?" "To anybody. But I think this "someone" has to be in any way related, or close to your family. Otherwise, it's impossible that this impostor/murder suspect possessed your Grandma's ring, or the ring looks exactly like your Grandma's." Andrea pressed on.

のの @karimama12

@Norin_76 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #40 “Grandpa was an artist and he often went to America back and forth. On going there, he took his son along but left Grandma all alone in Japan,“ Norin explained, remembering bits and pieces of what she’d heard from her mother. “Something must’ve happened then!” Nick cut in.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@karimama12 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #41 "Chill, guys!" Andrea hold up her hands to halt the discussion. "I think we got carried away with our theories all over the place and it's getting messy and disoriented. We've got to slow down and think about why Norin has to be killed to begin with." "The motive." Nick said.

🍩🍩Akko🍩🍩 @Akko1454

@Norin_76 @karimama12 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #42 "Maybe someone didn't want me to write my secrets. So they had the old lady disguise as my grandma and follow me, trying to put me off my guard." Norin said. "What are you going to write?" Andrea asked. Norin hesitated for a moment, but confided everything to them.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Akko1454 @karimama12 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #43 "Long story short, you were about to write about tips on how to learn English which is unorthodox yet very effective in the long run." Nick said and Norin nodded. "But Norin, given what family you come from, doesn't that go against what your family claims?" Andrea asked.

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Akko1454 @karimama12 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #44 "Come to think of it, yes." Norin pondered and then gasped in shock. "Oh, my gosh. I think I got it!" "What do you mean?" Andrea pressed. "The motive!" Norin exclaimed. "Can't you see? It was a set-up by my paternal family! They didn't want me to write the book!"

のの @karimama12

@Norin_76 @Akko1454 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run “They’re your family! They wouldn’t do so cruel a thing!!” exclaimed Andrea totally in shock. Norin replied clenching her teeth, “but they would. And did.” So she started to talk about her childhood. “I was born and raised in this family, which thinks nothing but TOEIC and fame.

🍩🍩Akko🍩🍩 @Akko1454

@karimama12 @Norin_76 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #46 "My grandpa on father's side was a founder of TOEIC, but my dad fell in love with a woman who opposed to the test. And finally they married against opposition. After I was born, my grandpa separated mom from dad, sending her to Japan. Then I was raised as an avid TOEICer."

Noriko 🍒📚 @Bibliophile_n76

@Akko1454 @karimama12 @Zurappe @yukofukurou @dustjacketdiva @mimi_summer_ @mimimi_run #47 "Your Grandpa sounds like a callous man." "He is. The monopoly on the booming TOEIC business is his sole objective and he would slam everyone who goes against him. I'm certain this is his doing, he alluded me to the hut to execute me and put the brakes on my book."