The murder took place close to midnight, and the victim lived near the Mori Detective Agency.
However, the victim's company, where both suspects worked, was located all the way in Kanagawa—and Sugihito Enomoto's apartment was even farther away.
The photo itself showed something very ordinary, yet it proved that Sugihito Enomoto, the prime suspect, had been in his own apartment around the time of the crime.
"Snowy days aren't exactly suitable for traveling," Tangze said with a smile. "Are you accusing Mr. Enomoto of driving into the city through heavy snow in under an hour, murdering someone, and then fleeing again?"
"Huh? Huh?" Azusa Enomoto took back her phone and stared blankly at the photo on its screen.
It had indeed snowed before the murder three days earlier, but it stopped after only a short while, so the police had not considered it an environmental factor worth taking into account.
Yet that brief snowfall became Sugihito Enomoto's best alibi. He could not possibly have predicted the drastic change in weather, and he had indeed taken and sent that photo at the time.
"Besides, Miss Azusa's brother couldn't have been the murderer," Conan said, pushing up his glasses as he stepped beside Tangze. "Miss Azusa just said that he argued over the phone that he had only ever used shotguns and didn't know how to use a rifle. That means he had no idea how the victim had actually died, right?"
"What does that mean?" Azusa Enomoto lowered her head blankly, still clutching her phone and unable to keep up.
"The murder weapon was a rifle, but no one said the killer shot the victim dead." Conan pointed toward Mori Kogoro. "Didn't Uncle just mention the bloodstain issue? There was no gunshot spatter because..."
"Because the victim was beaten to death