Suzuki Sonoko's thoughts had been a little sluggish at first, but the more she spoke, the more reasonable it seemed. She declared confidently:
"Around eight o'clock, after Ayumi watched the beginning of Kamen Rider and mistakenly thought it was only 7:30, you disguised Sleeping Pills as ordinary medicine to take after a tooth extraction and gave them to Ayumi, putting her to sleep.
"Once someone falls asleep, they lose all sense of time. You took the opportunity to fast-forward the videotape to the end, then shook Ayumi awake and showed her the ending of Kamen Rider, making her think she'd only slept for half an hour.
"That way, you successfully erased those thirty minutes and brought the timeline back on track.
"The alibi Ayumi gave you covered from 6:30 to after seven, the few minutes around 7:30, and eight o'clock, when Kamen Rider ended—but now, that alibi for the period around 7:30 never actually existed at all."
"In other words!" Suzuki Sonoko swept back her hair in style. Feeling as cool as a protagonist who had just earned an SS-rank evaluation, she thought gaming and making games really did come in handy. She stated with certainty:
"Your actual alibi only covers before seven and after eight—the hour in between was enough for you to rush here from the dental clinic, kill someone, and rush back!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the scene fell silent.
Officer Takagi froze for a moment, then looked at the high school girl in a new light. "I see!"
Just a few days ago, Officer Sato had warned him not to blindly trust Suzuki Sonoko's unreliable deductions just because she was Jiang Xia's classmate. But now... she had improved so much!
At this rate, Inspector Megure would have another female little brother. Once he was