Part 119: Super High-school Level Update #107

Trial 5 (Youtube via Polsy)



W...What are you saying...? Is this a trial for the mastermind's murder...?



Of course not. It means our presupposition that Mukuro Ikusaba is the mastermind was wrong.



But, she's "Super High-school Level Despair"... That really sounds like something you'd call a mastermind...



No, it's strange that we called Mukuro Ikusaba "Super High-school Level Despair" in the first place.



No such thing was written in the profile I saw...
All it said was that Mukuro Ikusaba is a "Super High-school Level Soldier".



Where did that "Despair" name come from, anyway...?



Kyouko Kirigiri... It was you who told that to Naegi, wasn't it?



............



So, did Kirigiri-chi had her information wrong?



Also, who was that Mukuro Ikusaba person anyway?
We've never even seen her, and as soon as she's about to appear she just turns up dead...



U...Usually, when an important character dies, their death scene is much more carefully depicted...



Which means, she wasn't an important character after all.
Mukuro Ikusaba was just like us. A simple participant in this game...



So, who is the mastermind, if not her...?



It must be Hope's Peak Academy's headmaster, after all..!



No, the headmaster has nothing to do with it.



You've been wrong about Mukuro Ikusaba. You could be wrong about that too.



My information... is not wrong.



Hey, hey! Get it over with! We're in the middle of a trial! You should concentrate on the culprit behind Mukuro Ikusaba's murder!
Please refrain from any more private conversations!!



...Fine. We'll leave the mastermind's identity for later. But, please remember.



I will, without fail, reveal who you really are. I swear it on the Togami family name!



My motto is never to take such cheap provocation to heart.
Well, then. Let me make one thing clear again, so you bastards don't get confused.
This school trial is conducted when a murder takes place between students at this school!



I advise you bastards to hammer down this fact into your heads!



In other words, both the victim and the culprit are students.



So, does that mean one of us killed Mukuro Ikusaba...?



No, it's possible there's a seventeenth student still in hiding...!



There isn't. There are only sixteen high school students participating in this game.



Seriously?! So, is Mukuro Ikusaba's killer really among us...?!



W...W...Who is it?! Who killed her...?!



...Don't get excited. We've narrowed down the suspect list already.



Eh...?



Naegi, you must know by now who I'm talking about...

There are only two suspects who fit the circumstances surrounding this case...



Fukawa and Genocider Syo / Naegi and Kirigiri / Ikusaba and the headmaster





You're talking about me and Kirigiri-san, aren't you.



...And why is that?



Fine, I will explain.
Yesterday, just after Night Time began, I visited the garden. I know one thing for certain.
At that time, there was no dead body over there.



In other words, the murder took place after I left the garden.



But, after I left, I've been with Hagakure and Fukawa and Asahina at the gymnasium the entire time.



The gymnasium...?



The four of us were busy taking apart Monobear over there.
For caution's sake, we all avoided being alone the entire night. We even went to the bathroom in pairs.
In other words, the four of us have an alibi. A perfect alibi.



On the other hand, me and Naegi-kun have no alibi, and that's why we've been shortlisted as suspects.



...Exactly.



Me and Kirigiri-san are the only suspects...

Shit... this can turn bad... I must somehow clear away the suspicion...



...Um, can I say something? It's about my alibi...



...Do you have some kind of objection?



Before I object... I want to confirm the time period the murder took place at...
I think we might find a clue there...



Do as you please. Someone, lend him a hand.



I'm with Togami-chi. I can also confirm there was no dead body at the garden last night...
I also checked right after Night Time began last evening, which was around 10pm!



In other words, the murder took place after 10 o'clock last night.



That means the murder happened sometime between then and the time we discovered the body, right?



...Um, at what time did we discover the body, anyway?



The first person to discover the body was Fukawa-chi, when she went to the garden to bring us the pickaxe...

That means the body was discovered around...



9 o'clock / 10 o'clock / 11 o'clock





It was 9 o'clock when we discovered the body. Fukawa-san said so herself when she went to bring the pickaxe...



By the way, Fukawa. What time is it?
Um... We left the gym just before 9 o'clock.... S...So it's probably exactly 9 now...
Excellent. Come back here with the pickaxe by 9:01.



Y...Yeah... It was around 9am...



To summarize, we can conclude the murder took place between yesterday evening at 10 and this morning at 9...



I... was already asleep when Night Time began last night. That's why I have no alibi for after 10pm...
But, I was with everyone else this morning before 9, wasn't I?



I met you at the cafeteria, didn't I? When was that...?



That's it! It was around 7:30! I checked the time when I entered the cafeteria, so I'm sure that's right!



That means Naegi-chi doesn't have an alibi between 10 last night and this morning at 7:30...



The murder took place between 10pm and 9am... I don't have an alibi between 10pm and 7:30am...
...That's it. My battle starts here.

I can't deny my lack of alibi, but...

...But I may be able to prove the murder didn't take place when I didn't have one...!

Phase 4 (Youtube via Polsy)



DISCUSSION START!



Evidence bullets: Shards next to the body, Sprinklers, Condition of the body after the explosion, Clip-on nails, Tattoo on the right hand



The murder must have taken place...



Between 10pm...



...and 9am.



On the other hand, Naegi-chi doesn't have an alibi...



...Between 10pm...



...and 7:30am, right?



That's a very long time. Murder is certainly possible.



Naegi, if you have an objection, say it now.

Wait, the murder took place at the botanical garden, didn't it?
Doesn't something happens there at a certain time every day..?

Yes, something does, as we've been reminded again and again.



Evidence bullet: Sprinklers
Between 10pm...





YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!





Trial 6 (Youtube via Polsy)



No, the murder didn't take place after 10pm. It was actually much later.



...Why do you think so?



It's the sprinklers at the garden...



Those sprinklers are programmed to water the plants every morning at 7:30, aren't they?
In other words, if the body was at the garden before 7:30am...



...Then it's strange that it wasn't completely wet!



W...Wait a second...! I...I remember it very well...!



I...I remember the body being wet... I...It was dripping wet...!



Fukawa-san, you've got that wrong.



W...Wrong...? W...Why am I wrong...?



A...Are you going to say it's not the body but my lower mouth that's dripping wet?! I...I won't acknowledge such a dirty insult...!



That's not it...! What I'm saying is that the body wasn't wet because of the sprinklers...



Not because of the sprinklers...?



A...Are you trying to deny my very existence by denying the sprinklers...?!



Whoa... She seriously has a screw loose...



I...If you're saying the sprinklers have nothing to do with it...



T..T...T...Try proving it!!



A proof that the body wasn't wet because of the sprinklers...



I just have to knock Fukawa-san down with one, don't I...?

Phase 5 (Youtube via Polsy)



MACHINE GUN TALK BATTLE START!





W...Where's your proof that the sprinklers have nothing to do with it?!



Evidence bullets: State of the body before the explosion, Condition of the body after the explosion, Shards next to the body















Trial 7 (Youtube via Polsy)



If we study the state of the body after the explosion, it's obvious it didn't get wet from the sprinklers...



Only the top of the body was wet. The bottom was completely dry, wasn't it?



If the body had gotten wet because of the sprinklers, it should have been drenched from top to bottom.



A...A wet top... and a dry bottom...?! What kind of a savage maniac would...!!



That's it. I can't take her anymore.



Let me... continue my explanation.



The reason only the top of the body was wet is...



When the body was burning, I threw water at it. I threw the water only at the top half of the body, which was on fire.



So... you weren't lying when you said it wasn't the sprinklers that got the body wet...



Therefore, if the body didn't get wet from the sprinklers, the murder at the botanical garden must have taken place...



...sometime after 7:30 in the morning, when the sprinklers turn on!



That narrows down the time the murder took place to between 7:30 and 9 o'clock, when we discovered the body.



But, the time Naegi doesn't have an alibi is between 10pm and 7:30am, isn't it?



Which means Naegi-chi couldn't possibly have committed the murder! His alibi is now as good as ours!



In that case, the only person remaining without an alibi is Kirigiri...



............



Kirigiri is the only one without an alibi now.

Does that mean the culprit who murdered Mukuro Ikusaba is...?



No, that's just foolish...

Kirigiri-san can't possibly be the culprit. That's just...



...Can I say one thing?
If I am executed now, this school's mystery will remain unsolved.



I cannot let that happen...!



Eh...?



In other words, you're pleading not guilty, aren't you?



Of course. There's no way... I'd ever be a culprit...



That's just the mastermind's trap!



The mastermind's trap...?



Ahahahahaha! Are you thinking of pushing the blame on to me?



Oh, that's painful! Do you think anyone will listen to your petty excuses?!



Shut up, you...!



Okay, shutting up!



That said, Kirigiri... You also had a motive for killing Mukuro Ikusaba.



...Eh? A motive?



Kirigiri said Mukuro Ikusaba was "Super High-school Level Despair". In other words, she thought she was the mastermind.
She could have killed Mukuro Ikusaba thinking she's putting an end to everything, couldn't she?
But she was wrong... Mukuro Ikusaba was never the mastermind. That was not according to her plan.



And now... against her expectations, this school trial is taking place.



T...That was Kirigiri's motive...?



She has a motive and no alibi... It really does look like Kirigiri-chi is the culprit...



............



I'm not the only one without an alibi. Naegi-kun's alibi also has a hole in it.



Eh...?



The fact that the body didn't get wet from the sprinklers doesn't necessarily mean the murder took place after 7:30am.



...W...Why?!



There was a way to keep the body safe from the sprinklers.



...Interesting. Let's hear it.



If the body was covered with a certain thing that I saw at the crime scene, it wouldn't have gotten wet.

Something at the crime scene covering the body...? Could it be...



Evidence bullet: Tarp





Are you talking about the tarp?



It seems you've noticed it...



That's right... if the body was covered with a tarp, it was possible to keep it dry despite the sprinklers.
In fact, the culprit probably did exactly that.
The way that tarp got dirty can tell us that.



The tarp is only dirty on one side because that side was exposed to the sprinklers.



On the other hand, the side facing the body is not dirty or wet from the sprinklers' water...



In other words, the culprit used the tarp to avoid the sprinklers and keep the body dry.



What reason could the culprit possibly have to do such a thing just to keep the body from becoming wet?



Most likely, it was to fake the time the murder took place...



Just so someone can make excuses, like Naegi-kun just did.



............