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Chapter Twenty-Six: Blue Innocence:

Anna paced around in the graveyard. Already, she regretted this job. No one knew she was out here. She looked at her cell phone. It would be better to get this over with before anyone caught wind of this job. Her attention turned to her ringing cell phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"I just arrived at the graveyard," Detective Okamoto said. "Where are you?" Anna looked at the nearest headstone beside her.

"I'm at the family's tombstone," she replied. "It's in the very back." She stood on her tip-toes, looking out with the phone to her ear. "Keep talking as you walk towards me."

"Alright," he replied. Anna tapped her foot.

"I could get in trouble for this," she said.

"But this will be worth it."

"You say that now." Anna's eyes shifted among the gravestones. "This is a one-time deal, you know?"

"I understand."

"You say that now, but about the future? I don't want to draw attention."

"You'll be fine, I promise."

"How can you guarantee that? Are you even alone?"

"Yes, I am."

Anna turned around to see Detective Okamoto standing in front of her with his phone to his ear.

"Hello there," he said. Anna hung up her phone.

"Let's get something clear here," she spoke up. "I do not normally do this. I shouldn't be doing this."

"I really need you to help free an innocent woman," the detective said.

"We don't know what condition the soul is in. Mori-chan could be a vengeful spirit."

"She's only a child."

"That makes it worse." Anna placed her hand on her forehead, sighing. "Look, I already think this is a bad idea."

"This will benefit in the long run."

"So you say. Do you have her photo?"

"Yes, I do. Hang on." Okamoto-san reached into his coat and pulled out a photograph. Anna saw a six-year-old little girl with long dark hair and fat rosy cheeks. The child smiled with her black back bag and yellow hat. Okamoto-san tilted his head.

"Why did you need her picture?" he asked.

"I need her image in my head when I call for her soul," Anna explained. "Otherwise, I would be here all day long summoning souls until I got the right one."

"I see," the detective said, shoving his hands into his pockets. Anna handed back the photo.

"Okay, thank you," she said. Anna turned to the headstone. /I'll be in, out, and done/, she thought. She drew in a breath and held out her hand.

"I beseech the twelve gods before me. Bring forth your innocent to me," she chanted. High winds blew around her body as shocks hit her spine. The detective gasped as a light appeared before Anna.

"It worked!" he said as the soul took form of a little girl. The child looked around.

"Where am I?" Mori asked. Anna cleared her throat.

"Hello, Mori-chan," she said. The little girl looked up with big, confused eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Uh… I'm Niwa Midori," Anna lied. "And this new man is Detective Okamoto."

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"This nice man would like to ask you some questions," Anna said. Okamoto stepped forward.

"Do you know who killed you?" he asked. Mori-chan pondered the question.

"I was sick at home that day like I had been," she replied. "My nanny came in with a bowl of soup. She insisted that I eat it again."

"Again?" Okamoto asked. The little girl nodded.

"How long had this been going on?" Anna asked.

"Eight weeks, maybe," Mori said.

"How horrible," Anna said.

"And you're sure it was the nanny?" Okamoto asked.

"Yes!" Mori said. "Mama wasn't home while I was sick."

"I knew it!" Okamoto said.

"Thank you for your help," Anna said. "Is there anything else before I send you back?" Mori looked at her with big eyes.

"I have to go back?" she whimpered.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Anna said. "You are dead and can't stay in this world anymore." Mori's eyes welled up with tears.

"Listen," Anna said. "You have to go back, but I can give your family a message before you leave." Mori wiped away her tears.

"Okay," she whimpered. "I miss Daddy and Mama and I love them."

"Alight," Anna said. "I will tell them." She held up her hand. "Oh soul of the fallen, ravished by grief, woo onto me, become liberated from your suffering and return in peace!" Mori-chan's soul vanished in a light of butterflies.

Turns out, the nanny was infatuated with Mori's father for years. When he remarried a younger woman, she went off the deep end. The nanny took revenge by murdering his little daughter. Despite getting the satisfaction from the nanny being taken away from the mansion in handcuffs on the news, there still had to be some unseen consequences awaiting Anna and everyone in Ju-Oh-Cho.