"I see." Inspector Megure felt a little awkward, but his many past experiences had made him well accustomed to this sort of thing.
He quickly accepted Jiang Xia's line of thought and went along with it. "This killer really is cunning."
After taking photos and collecting evidence at the mountaintop, the group headed back down and temporarily used the spacious RV as an interrogation room.
Officer Takagi had been pondering the case all along when he suddenly realized something. He looked at the three college students sitting on the sofa, trembling like quails. "The killer was able to use the victim's personality to set up such a deception, and they were very familiar with your plans for tonight... The killer must have known the victim. More precisely, the killer should be one of the three of you."
"?!" The three of them were startled, then immediately became furious. "How could we possibly hurt our own companion?!"
Jiang Xia glanced at them. "Officer Takagi means that there was no one else on this mountain, so everyone present is a suspect—including me, and including you."
"That's right." Sato Miwako nudged Officer Takagi, sending him off to handle something else. She opened her notebook and spoke with the three suspects. "In short, to prove your innocence, tell us about your alibis first. Where were you, and what were you doing, between five and six in the evening?"
"..."
The three could not help exchanging glances. They could tell that the police still suspected them, but now that things had come to this, refusing to cooperate with the investigation would only make them look worse.
But...
Tendo Haruka said helplessly, "At that time, everyone was doing their own thing. Even if we tell you what we were doing, nobody can prove it."
Hanai