As she spoke, the long-haired woman could not help but shudder in retrospect. "Good thing I changed my mind at the last minute and went to watch the fireworks today. Otherwise, if I'd followed my usual habit and stayed away, who knows whose scapegoat I'd be by now."
It sounded like nothing more than casual chatter, but Inspector Megure, standing behind them, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Wait, could the murderer be Mr. Oda Kunitomo?"
"?" The dark-skinned man stared at him. "What are you thinking? How could I possibly be the murderer?"
Inspector Megure stroked his chin.
"Out of the four hunting rifles, the murderer deliberately chose Miss Sano's gun. Then he wrote the misleading letter 'S' beside the body—his purpose was obvious: to frame Miss Sano, who often argued with the victim.
"Miss Sano did not usually watch fireworks. You thought that by committing the murder at this time, you could separate her from the group, leave her without an alibi, and successfully frame her.
"But unfortunately, Miss Sano happened to break from her usual habits and go to the viewing area. She even ran into someone who knew her, so your scheme naturally failed."
At that, Inspector Megure put on an inscrutable expression and concluded, "Jiang Xia was right last time: people's actions are unpredictable. If you want to use her as a tool to clear your own name, you'd better be prepared for it to backfire!"
Vermouth: "..."
Whenever she remembered that speech Uzo had made in front of the media, she felt an eerie sense of dissonance. And now she was hearing the same words from a police officer...
Vermouth's feelings were too complicated to put into words.
Oda Kunitomo's feelings were even more complicated than hers. He looked at the police. "First, I