Part 72: Super High-school Level Update #65

I am having some problems with Youtube (the picture comes up garbled on videos I upload), so this update uses dailymotion instead, for the time being. I'm going to try re-encoding the videos to see if it helps soon.

Get ready for a long recap of things we already know.





This morning, four people gathered in the cafeteria. Me, Naegi, Asahina and Kirigiri.
We waited, but no one else showed up. We then decided to go searching for the others.
The time was around 8 o'clock...



Right after we split up, Kirigiri-chan went missing...



A short while later, Asahina found Celes at the third floor recreation room, and called Naegi and me there.



I lost my consciousness for about an hour after being assaulted by that suspicious person.
That is, the time I was attacked was about an hour before you discovered me... Around 7 o'clock.



That was when we learned from the photo Celes took that the suspicious person was wearing a strange costume.
Justice Robo... was it?
Furthermore, it was clear that Yamada was taken away by that same Justice Robo.



We started looking for the suspicious person and ran into Fukawa and Togami. We then found Yamada wounded at the second floor library.
We took him to the first floor infirmary, and started our search for the suspicious person once more.
And then, just after we left the infirmary...



...!!
...What's wrong?
I saw a shadow... There was a shadow moving at the top of the stairs over there!



After Celes told us she saw the culprit, we decided to split up and search the second floor.
And then, right after that...



I saw that suspicious person again on the third floor. I raised my voice to let everyone know.



Celes-chan, what happened!?
That was sure an unexpectedly loud yell, coming from you...
I found him... That cosplaying suspicious person...
He ran away when he heard me yell.
The stairs were behind me, so he ran the other way, and turned at the end of the corridor to the left.



And just then, this happened...



"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

...Eh!?



W...what was that...!?
It came from down the stairs. Which means, that scream just now was...!
Yamada-kun... in the infirmary...?
That sounded really bad! Let's go back!!



We decided to split up again.
Me, Celes-san and Asahina-san returned to the first floor infirmary...
Oogami-san, Togami-kun and Fukawa-san chased the suspicious person on the third floor.



When we got back to the infirmary, we found Yamada-kun's dead body lying on the floor...
...that's when the body discovery announcement was broadcast throughout the school.



I left Celes-san and Asahina-san behind and went back to the third floor to let the others know about our discovery.



But, at that time, the rest of us discovered Ishimaru's dead body in the physics lab.
I believe we discovered both Yamada's and Ishimaru's bodies around the same time...
We also heard that body discovery announcement just after we found the body, you see.



I told Oogami-san and Togami-kun that Yamada-kun was killed.
then, the three of us decided to go back to the infirmary.



But just as we left the physics lab...
Celes-san came running and told us a shocking story.



Yamada-kun’s body disappeared!



We hurried back to the infirmary, but Yamada-kun wasn't there anymore...



After that, we suddenly realized we left Fukawa unconcious back at the lab, and so we hurried back there, but...



How did...?
Is this all a dream?



This time, it was Ishimaru's body that was gone...
We quickly embarked on a search for the two missing bodies.
And after a while...



We heard from Celes that she found the bodies, and gathered at the art storage room...
We discovered both bodies a second time over there...





And that's how things went.





I see. This is indeed a complicated case.



If we think of it as a simple chain of murders, we will make little progress...



So... what should we do?



Let's stop thinking of it as single continuing incident, and start thinking about each case separately.
That's the only way to find contradictions this time.
Let's start. We'll begin with Ishimaru-kun's case...



A hidden contradiction in Ishimaru-kun's case...

In order to get closer to the truth, I must find one...!

Phase 4 (dailymotion)



DISCUSSION START



Evidence Bullets: Broken wristwatch, Monobear File 3, Hagakure's message



When was Ishimaru-kun killed in the first place?



Was it before Yamada-kun was killed?



Or maybe after?



The order of their deaths is totally clear!



Ishimaru died second!



Why do you think so?



It's the order of the Justice Hammers.



Yamada was indeed killed with hammer number 3...



And Ishimaru with hammer number 4.



See? It's obvious Ishimaru was killed later!

The numbers on the Justice Hammers we found...

Something... bothers me.

You might think we need to use the wristwatch bullet to show that Ishimaru was killed first, but unfortunately, there's no suitable weak point to shoot that at. Instead, remember our bullet memory ability that was introduced last chapter? It lets us make new Evidence Bullets out of weak points.



The order of their deaths is totally clear!

Like this.



Evidence bullet: Order of their deaths
It's the order of the Justice Hammers.





YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!









No, it's possible that the order they were killed is different from the numbers on the Justice Hammers!
I'd even go on to say it might be something the culprit came up with to confuse us.



So if the Justice Hammer numbers are just a fabrication...
The true order of the murders was Ishimaru first and Yamada second, isn't it.



If that's what you're suggesting, show us some proof.



Proof that Ishimaru-kun was killed before Yamada-kun...

I have a feeling... there was something......

Phase 5 (dailymotion)



FLASHING ANAGRAM START



_ A _ _ _




W A T C H











That's it! It's Ishimaru-kun's wristwatch!



See? It's broken, and the hands point to just after 6 o'clock.



That watch probably got broken when he was attacked by the culprit. After all, last evening...



Hey, you bastards! How long were you thinking to keep us waiting?!!

Ishimaru-kun raised an irritated voice at us as he checked his wristwatch.

It’s almost 10pm! Time for all good kids to be in bed!!



If the watch was still working last evening, there's no doubt the time it got broken was this morning just after 6 o'clock.



Which means that's the time Ishimaru-kun was killed.



That was a long time before Yamada's demise...



Not only that, it was also a while before Celes-san was attacked just after 7am...



That's right. Ishimaru-kun's murder was the very first thing that happened.



That means all of us made a big mistake...
We got confused by the Justice Hammers, and completely misjudged the order of the murders.



The culprit purposely numbered their weapons, and went as far as making them larger every time...
That was just to make us think the murders occurred in the wrong order, wasn't it.



Furthermore, if Ishimaru-kun's murder took place just after 6am, that means none of us has an alibi anymore.
I mean, that was before the four of us even gathered at the cafeteria...



I agree. That indeed seems to be the case for Ishimaru's murder, but...
But, for Yamada's murder, our alibis still stand.



She's right... after all, when Yamada was killed...



"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

...Eh!?



W...what was that...!?
It came from down the stairs. Which means, that scream just now was...!
Yamada-kun... in the infirmary...?
That sounded really bad! Let's go back!!



When we heard Yamada's dying scream from the infirmary, everyone here except Hagakure and Kirigiri-chan were together...



After that, when we arrived at the infirmary, we found Yamada's body there...



It's true! I'm innocent! I have a rock-solid alibi!!



I got it! That scream was recorded on a cassette and played back on a time delay!!



Where exactly are there any cassettes here?



No clue.



...Then don't just say stupid things!



In any case, we all have strong alibis for when we heard Yamada scream...
That means it was impossible for any of us who stood in that hallway to kill Yamada.



It isn't just Yamada-kun's murder that's impossible for any of us. There's also the disappearance of the bodies.



When Yamada-kun's body was taken from the infirmary...
Asahina-san and me were at the restroom together, and everyone else was at the physics lab.



Furthermore, when Ishimaru-kun's body disappeared from the physics lab, it was just the same...
At that time, we were all investigating the disappearance of Yamada-kun's body back at the infirmary.



And I missed all the fun because I was out cold on the floor of the physics lab through the entire thing!



In that case, couldn't it have been Genocider who carried Ishimaru-chi's body away!?



Even if she could have taken Ishimaru's body away, it was impossible for her to get to Yamada's body.
When Yamada's body disappeared, we all saw her collapsed on the physics lab floor.



Just as I said, I can't take credit for any of it!!



In short, it was impossible for any of us to either murder Yamada-kun or to drag any of the bodies away.
Conversely, there are two people here who could have done that. Hagakure-kun and Kirigiri-san were both nowhere to be found at that time...



Kirigiri-san...? What should we do?



If we just continue asking "who did it" like we did so far, we will just go around in circles.





Therefore, we mustn't think about "who" did it, but about "how" it was done.
In particular, I think we must consider the way Yamada-kun's body was moved...



That's right... I tried figuring it out, but I could never understand how his body had been taken...
I mean, according to what Celes told me...



Yes. But we really were only gone for a minute or so.
So, the culprit managed to move Yamada-kun's body in just a single minute...?
So it seems.



His body disappeared during the single minute Celes-san and Asahina-san weren't watching it, but...



How could anyone move such a huge body from the first floor to the third floor in such a short time?



...It really is a mystery, 'right?



What if I told you there's a feasible method for that impossible act?



Eh!? What kind of method?





It's not impossible if the body moved itself.



Eh...?



T...the body moved on it own!?



G...g...g...g...ghosts again!!?



Don't worry, it isn't anything supernatural. What that woman is trying to say is...
It's possible that Yamada, who we all thought was dead, was in fact still alive.



H...he was alive...!?



Yamada was not carried away from the infirmary. He used his own legs and walked away?



So what was the deal with Yamada's body that we found at the infirmary?



He... just played dead, didn't he.



That's... impossible.



Yamada-kun was alive...?

Is such a thing... really possible...?

Phase 6 (dailymotion)



DISCUSSION START



Evidence bullets: Broken wristwatch, Blood traces in the physics lab, Celes' testimony



Yamada's body that we found at the infirmary...



Is it possible he was still alive?



No, that's impossible.



Yamada-kun was most certainly dead at that time.



How can you be so certain?



You must have heard that body discovery announcement too...



It's exactly because we found Yamada-kun's dead body...



...that the announcement was made in the first place.



Is that really so...?



I thought it was made to announce somebody else's body...

There was only one body discovery announcement at that time, which means...

What the hell, game? You're giving away the solution! I guess it's because they're trying to teach us a new trick: we need to memorize a weak point that comes after the one it's supposed to destroy. Then you use it when the debate replays. Like this:



I thought it was made to announce somebody else's body...



Evidence bullet: Somebody else's body
It's exactly because we found Yamada-kun's dead body...





YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!









Was that body discovery announcement really made because we found Yamada-kun's body?



Of course it was. Didn't we hear it just after we found it?



But, that was just about the time the others found Ishimaru-kun's body...



Exactly. We also heard that announcement just after we discovered the body.



That means... We made yet another mistake, didn't we...?



We mistook Ishimaru-kun's body discovery announcement for Yamada-kun's...



If two bodies were found, we should have heard two announcements, after all.



Monobear was probably just lazy and consolidated them into a single announcement...



...We can easily make that clear, can't we?



It's a very sensitive matter, so I can't speak openly about it, but...



Let me say this: my body discovery announcement is made...



...the first time a body is discovered by three people or more!



That's not an answer, 'right? We're asking if you consolidated them or not...!



No, that was a perfect answer.



Eh...?



The announcement is made "the first time a body is discovered"... That means...
Even if a single body is discovered several time, there will only be one announcement.



In that case, why was a body discovery announcement made at that time...?



Huh? What time!?



There was a second announcement made during today's events...

Two announcements...

The first one was when we discovered bodies at both the infirmary and the physics lab...
And the second one...



When we found Fukawa unconscious / When we found the two bodies again / Right after Yamada's revival





We heard the second announcement when we discovered the bodies again at the art room.



I didn't pay it much attention at the time, but doesn't it contradict what Monobear just said?



If the announcement is made only the first time a body is discovered, it shouldn't be made on rediscovery.



So, it's really true, after all...
When we discovered the two bodies again, one of them...



...was actually discovered for the very first time.