Jiang Xia shook his head. "Appearing suddenly like that would only make the victim scream in fright—there's something on the muzzle."
"Huh?" It took Officer Takagi a moment to react. He carefully lifted the hunting rifle and indeed spotted some strange traces on its muzzle. "This is..."
"Probably saliva and lipstick." Jiang Xia said, "Before the fireworks began, the killer had already met with the victim. The victim was forced to the innermost part of the stall by the shotgun, and while waiting for the fireworks, the killer used the barrel to block her mouth."
"I see!" Officer Takagi felt that he understood everything. "Once the fireworks began and the noise grew louder, the killer pulled out the gun and quickly fired a shot into the victim's chest. If the victim's reaction was even a beat too slow, she wouldn't have had time to speak."
"I see!"
The suspects understood as well. The long-haired woman said in delight, "If that's the case, then I definitely wasn't the killer—I arrived at the spot right as the fireworks began, and all these students can testify to that!"
Inspector Megure looked toward the high school students and reminded them not to be fooled. "With ice skates on, it only takes around thirty seconds to sprint from the restroom to where you were watching the fireworks."
Mouri Ran did the math and looked at the long-haired woman. "Ms. Sano arrived before the first firework went up."
Then she looked at the Steel Man and the knit-capped woman. "By the time Ms. Sano and I had exchanged a few words, Mr. Misawa and Ms. Komatsu had arrived one after the other. That was only a dozen or so seconds before the fireworks began, so they really weren't in the restroom then."
"Oh?" Inspector Megure brightened