"So..." Inspector Otaki understood. "The bride didn't die after the groom. She died in that wooden cabin immediately after leaving the wedding banquet!"
With that point grasped, the clues suddenly fell into place.
Inspector Otaki was in high spirits. He turned to the bride's younger brother. "When you took her back, did you see anyone suspicious?"
"...Uncle Otaki." Hattori Heiji rubbed his face helplessly. "You might as well ask, 'When you took her back, did you kill her yourself?'"
Everyone in the room: "!"
The bride's younger brother: "?!"
Jiang Xia looked at him. "I remember that you're carrying a huge debt. That money was your motive for murder, wasn't it? As long as the groom died first, your sister would inherit most of his assets—and since your sister had only you as family, if she died right afterward, those assets would naturally all become yours."
Cold sweat poured down the bride's younger brother's face. He gritted his teeth. "I only borrowed some money from outside! How long are you going to harp on about such a trivial matter?! Use your brains! My sister married into a wealthy family. Would I be short on money? After the wedding, she could just let a little money slip through her fingers, and I'd be able to pay off those loans. Why would I kill them over that?!"
Jiang Xia said, "What you just described was probably your original plan. But unfortunately, your sister knew your character well and had no intention of using the groom's money to repay your debts.
"Your calculations fell through, and in your anger, you had no choice but to think of another way to repay the money—as long as the groom died first and your sister followed soon after, the couple's vast fortune would fall into your