The store manager nodded. "That car acted up every few days. Tonight, after we finished enjoying the scenery in the Highlands and were getting ready to head back to the inn, it suddenly broke down. I wanted to fix it like usual, but this time the damage was especially bad, so I had no choice but to call Shinobu to pick me up."
Inspector Megure nodded. Neither of those statements sounded problematic, and then...
He looked around the room before finally turning back to Shiromoto Hidehiko's husband. All things considered, he was the only one without an alibi, and he had the strongest motive.
Shiromoto Hidehiko froze for a moment, then belatedly realized that he was in trouble. He hurriedly said, "At one thirty in the afternoon, I had already left the hotel and was heading to the beach—if you don't believe me, ask Mr. Haga, who was sitting in the lobby the whole time!"
Haga Kyosuke nodded fairly and objectively. "Mr. Shiromoto went upstairs at around 12:30, then came back down not long afterward. From then until nighttime, no one else went up or down the stairs. If this really was a murder, then the killer must have entered the victim's room through the window or the fire escape."
Inspector Megure asked the store manager, "Where is the fire escape located?"
"Outside," said the store manager. "The emergency exit is at the end of the corridor on every floor. Going out through that door leads directly to the outdoor stairs. But we installed automatic locks on the doors. They can be opened directly from inside the inn, but to open them from outside, you need a key."
"A key?" The agent relaxed even more. "Then the killer had to be someone from inside the inn!"
The female chef frowned.