Toyama Kazuha, who was following Hattori Heiji, showed a suspicious expression. She knew that Heiji was very smart, but she didn't think that as a junior high school student, Heiji could independently solve cases that even the police found difficult.
So she quietly approached Takashi Sosuke, stood on tiptoe and asked in a low voice:
"Mr. Takashi, could it be that you secretly revealed your reasoning process to Heiji?"
Fujiwara Yuu raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. He had not expected Toyama to be skeptical of Hattori's reasoning. He shook his head slightly and praised him generously:
"I only gave him a few hints. He, like another junior high student, has a great talent for reasoning... By the way, that camera in your hand belongs to Mrs. Hattori, right?"
"I just ran into Heiji's mom and she asked me to take the video I recorded for Heiji."
"Let's do it on another occasion. Case-related content cannot be recorded."
Hattori Heiji, who is unaware that he is being "looked down upon" by his childhood sweetheart, is now explaining his reasoning process. His reasoning is different from that of Takashi Sosuke, because he did not see the victim Minowa Shobei skiing, so he naturally cannot infer who the murderer is based on the fact that the hand holding the backpack is not his dominant hand.
Hattori Heiji took out a marker and drew a simple seating chart on a piece of white paper, explaining as he drew:
"The order of those who took the cable car just now was Oyama Morizo, Minowa Shohei, Katashina Rikuto, and me. Ms. Tateishi and Mr. Mimata were both farther away from the crime scene, and they were riding together."
Pianpin Lu Ren couldn't help but half-jokingly said when he heard this:
"Kid, you don't think a former detective like me could shoot Minowa in the temple in this blizzard with extremely low visibility, do you? Even without the blizzard, he wouldn't have been able to point his temple at me and let me shoot him."
"Uncle Detective, I never said anything like that."
The filmmaker Lu Ren, who doesn't have a girlfriend yet, instantly shut off his microphone after hearing the word "uncle". It was inexplicably heartbreaking.
Seeing that no one spoke, Hattori Heiji continued to explain his reasoning:
"A snowstorm can indeed reduce visibility, but if the victim and the murderer were riding in the same cable car, there would be no need to worry. So according to the murderer's idea, he would definitely create a time-delay device to make the gunshot sound and create a perfect alibi."
Delay device?
Pianpin Lu Ren squeezed the cigarette box in his hand. After hearing this word, a possibility gradually emerged in his mind. Because he knew that he was not the murderer, he was the only one who was most likely to have completed this set of operations.
"Am I right? Miss Tateishi, Mr. Mimata." Hattori Heiji looked at the two people with surprised expressions with his sharp eyes. To be precise, his eyes only fell on one person. He wanted to see the murderer's reaction.
"What nonsense are you talking about, little boy? Have you watched too many science fiction movies and think that Mitsumata can shoot Minowa thousands of miles away in front of me? Do you think my eyes are just decorations?" Tateishi Shizuku showed dissatisfaction. She just thought that the junior high school student in front of her was a little whimsical, and she was not blind.
"Ms. Tateishi, you misunderstood. What I meant was—if Mr. Minowa really took the cable car alone."
"What did you say?!"
Hattori Heiji didn't expect that Officer Takano, who was chatting on the phone, would suddenly say such a thing. He didn't think that the other party had the ability to flatter. Could it be that the person on the other end of the phone was the junior high school student who he had never met before and whose level of support was comparable to his?
"Come on, you don't think that ski bag filled with snow can fit another person?" Inspector Goto glanced at the silent Sosuke Takashi with some suspicion. He couldn't help but complain in his heart: What a joke, even if there is no snow, a bag of that size can't fit an adult male.
Hattori Heiji, who had been about to ask Officer Takano a question, had to swallow his doubts. He reached out and took the large ski bag from Toyama Kazuha's hand, explaining with a smile:
"A ski bag of that size wouldn't fit a person. We've already asked at the hotel's sales department, and they've heard some people are looking for bags of this size... but since there are so few buyers, the store manager remembers one of them was the victim, Mr. Minowa."
"Wait a minute, you mean the shoulder bag was bought by the victim himself? Are you kidding me? Would Mr. Minowa be so stupid as to buy the shoulder bag himself and let the murderer hide it, and then get on the cable car together?" Inspector Goto felt that the junior high school student in front of him would be a shame for his rich imagination if he didn't write a novel. Even a puppy on the street wouldn't believe such a thing.
Fujiwara Yu raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. He now began to wonder if there were often wrongful convictions in Iwate Prefecture. Inspector Goto's logical reasoning ability was really poor. Even after saying this, he still hadn't figured out the murderer's method.
But fortunately, there are still normal and smart people.
After analyzing the junior high student's words, the silent Katana Rikuto came to a surprising conclusion. He glanced at someone to his right before slowly speaking:
"Little friend, you're not thinking... that the person in the bag isn't the murderer, but the victim, are you?"
"That's right!" Hattori Heiji smiled, put down his bag, and gestured with his hands: "You should remember the scene when Mr. Minowa performed skiing for his fans? His upper face was covered by his hair and goggles, and only the outline of the lower half was visible."
"But Minowa was interacting with fans at that time. Officer Takashi was there too, so you heard it, right?" Mimata Kosuke clenched his fists and retorted.
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