Part 18: Chapter 1 Deadly Life, Part 3

: Let's start by talking to Mr. Non-believer over here.



: Ugh...no way. I seriously don't wanna die here!
: I'm begging you! God, Buddha, Mother Earth, God of Space, King Neptune! Help me! I don't care who it is, just get me outta here!

Hiro doesn't seem prepared to do any kind of investigating right now...





: Aren't you going to help investigate, Chihiro?
: But...I can't leave Junko here. I-I feel sorry for her... I...I have to stay with her.
: That's all we can do in the gym for now.



First of all, I should head to the scene of the crime--my room. We won't make any progress without investigating there.



So I headed to my room, where Sayaka's corpse still remained.



I'd better examine the state of my room a little closer. That might reveal something new.

: The bedroom sure is a mess. This means there are a lot of things to examine in here.





Huh? Looking at the lint roller, it looks like there's way less than there was before. Did Sayaka see how dirty my room was and decide to clean up a little...?





This is the replica sword I brought back for self-defense. Does this mean it was used in the attack somehow? And plus, it's been taken out of its sheath. I hadn't actually looked at the blade itself till now. I shouldn't be surprised it's coated in gold, too.

: On top of that...

Some of the gold coating has come off of parts of the blade, and the handle. Yeah, the handle especially is missing a lot of its coating. I remember the coating sticks to you even if you just touch it a little bit.







There's a key on the ground... It has my name on it, so this must be my room key. If I remember correctly...



: Ah, that's right. We'll have to trade keys.



When we switched rooms, we switched keys, too. So Sayaka would have had the key here in my room the entire time.

: But wait, if that's true, then how did the killer get into the room in the first place?

Could Sayaka have forgotten to lock the door? No, that seems impossible...



: The same goes for you, Sayaka. No matter who it is, don't open your door for anyone.
: Even if I'm sure it's you, I absolutely won't open it. Otherwise, what's the point of even switching?



After saying that, there's no way she would have forgotten to lock it, or opened it for any reason.

: Well, maybe she dropped the key somewhere, and someone else grabbed it or something.

No, that's not possible either. Sayaka was in here when we switched rooms. And with how scared she was, she wouldn't have gone walking around. So she couldn't have dropped it. So how did the killer...?







There are scratches and gouges on my walls and bed.

: Is that evidence of a struggle?

It looks like there must have been some kind of fight in my room...

: Dammit! I was right there in the other room! If only I'd heard something!



: That would not have been possible.
: Huh?



: Don't you remember? All of our rooms are completely soundproof. So something could happen in the room right next to you, and there's no way you could know.
: Perhaps this was another of Monokuma's strategies, creating an ideal setting for murder.
: ...





: Speaking of Sakura, let's see what she thinks about the situation.



: Sakura, do *you* think I'm guilty, too?



: I try not to make assumptions like that. I simply don't know whether or not you did this.
: Whatever decision the rest of you come up with, I will follow your lead.
: I see.





This is the replica sword I brought back for self-defense. Does this mean it was used in the attack somehow? And plus, the sword's been taken out, so it's just the sheath, but...

: Huh?

There's some scratches on the sheath. They must've been make with something sharp.

: But how'd the sheath get scratched up in the first place?

Even if someone used the sword during the struggle, it doesn't make sense for the sheath to be damaged. I mean, if you're gonna attack someone with a sword, the first thing you'd do is unsheathe it. A heavy sheath like this would only get in the way. It could just slide off in the middle of the fight. So why are there scratches on the sheath?







The toolkit is still inside the drawer. I don't see any evidence that it's been used at all.

: Which makes sense, I guess. I mean, it's mine, and I haven't had any reason to open it. I can't even imagine a situation where I'd need a toolkit like this.



: Yeah, seriously!
: Oh, Mondo...
: We ain't exactly in the mood to be buildin' fuckin' furniture, right?
: So you haven't used yours either, then?



: Not just me. Nobody's busted theirs out yet, far as I know. Actually, we were talkin' about it yesterday.
: None of the guys have opened their toolkits yet. Cuz like, why the hell would we?





: Mondo had some good information, let's see if he can think of anything else.



: Ya know, I realized something while I was on guard duty. The killer could've already destroyed some evidence, right? Before anyone found the body, I mean. There's a trash room here in the dorms, right? They coulda tossed some stuff in there.
: Y-Yeah, that's definitely possible.



: That dirty bastard!
: Anyone who raises their hand to a woman is scum that deserves death. That's what my brother taught me.
: So if I ever find the son of a bitch that did this, I'm gonna pound his goddamn face in.
: B-But what if it was a girl that did it?



: ...
: That'll all get sorted out when the time comes.
: The trash room, huh? We'll have to visit there later. For now, someone else is in the room too.





: Hey, Kyoko...

I quietly called her name while she was investigating the area. But...



: What are you doing?
: Isn't it obvious?
: N-No, not really.
: I'm searching.
: Searching?

She was down on her knees, carefully inspecting every inch of my room.

: Did you lose a contact or something?
: ...

I dunno what she's going exactly, but she seems to be concentrating pretty hard on it.



But a few seconds later, she suddenly stood up straight and said...

: Are you a clean freak?
: Huh? N-No, I don't think so. But what...?

Nodding, she glanced around my room one more time.



: Interesting...

What's interesting?

: Just as I suspected, there's something [very unusual] about your room.

> very unusual

: Unusual? What do you mean?



: I've searched your floor from one corner to another and I didn't find one single strand of hair.
: Really?
: Not one hair from the victim, and not one hair from you, even though you've been living in here.
: You know, now that you mention it, I noticed something while I was looking around before. It looked like the lint roller in my room had been used, but I never touched it. Could someone have used it to...?
: Very interesting. Your room didn't have a single hair in it, and someone used your lint roller without your knowledge. In other words, someone other than you came in and scrubbed your room clean.
: Was it Sayaka? Or the killer?



: That's the question, isn't it?





: Now for the part Makoto doesn't want to see again.



The bathroom... And on the other side of this door...



: ...

No, I can't let it get to me! I can't afford to freeze up now! Forcing myself to push my panic down, I stepped into the bathroom.





Looking at her made it painfully clear it wasn't a dream, or an illusion. She had lost everything that made her "her"...

: Sayaka...

All at once I was overcome with dizziness, nausea, the urge to burst into tears... But I can't...I can't hesitate now. Why? Why did Sayaka have to die? I have to uncover the truth. I have to find out what happened!

I wanted to give up, I wanted to collapse. But that thought held me up and supported me.





I told myself I simply couldn't face what I saw, but...

: But now's no time to think like that!

I pulled out the Monokuma File to verify what it said about her body.



: Some sort of sharp object has been thrust into her stomach. That must've been the killing blow. But whatever they used to kill her, where'd they get it? That's definitely something I should look into later.
: Also according to the Monokuma File, Sayaka's right wrist is broken.



Her wrist does look swollen and bloody, that's for sure. But there's something sorta glittery there on her wrist, too.

: Right there, where he wrist is all swollen, there's something glittery. That definitely concerns me.

Another thing that concerns me is...



Huh? There's some blood on her left index finger, but that's it. The palms of both her hands are totally spotless, so how come only her left finger...?



The stab wound in her stomach is what killed her, so when she broke her wrist... That must have happened earlier on. I mean, how would her wrist get broken after she'd already been killed? So it's very possible she broke her wrist during the struggle. The killer attacked Sayaka in the main room, which is when her wrist got broken. After that, the killer cornered her in the bathroom where they inflicted the deadly wound.

: ...



I looked past Sayaka to the wall behind her. And there I saw...



: Wh--!?

Written in blood were the numbers 11037. Did Sayaka do this?

: That's all there is to check in the bathroom.



: It looks like you found it, right Makoto? The [bloody numbers]... That's most likely Sayaka's [dying message].

> bloody numbers

: I've never seen something written in blood before... It really was her final message... It's as if she wrote it with life itself.
: ...Do you often talk like an aspiring poet?
: But the numbers she wrote, what do they mean? 11037... I have no idea what that could possibly mean.
: The way she wrote the numbers makes me think she wanted to use her body to block them. If she wrote them in that location, while she was sitting the way we found her, it means she must have wrote them by turning only her hand toward the wall. If you were to write something in that position, do you know what the result would be?
: The result?



: Think about it.
: You're not gonna tell me?



: You need to uncover the mystery of this case yourself. Otherwise, the case will end and you'll remain unconvinced.

I have no idea what you're trying to say, but it's obvious you're not going to tell me.



It sounds like Kyoko knows what Sayaka's dying message means. But honestly, I have no idea... Oh, I know who I should talk to. When it comes to numbers, who better to ask than the Ultimate Programmer?



: There's one other thing I wanted to ask you about. Do you know how the door to your bathroom got broken?
: Broken? Oh, you mean how it gets stuck?



: Gets stuck?
: Yeah, I guess I'm the only one, but the door doesn't fit in the frame quite right. When I first tried to use it, I thought it was just locked. But once you learn the trick, it opens no problem.





: So the door doesn't quite fit the frame, huh? But actually, I'm referring to the broken doorknob.
: Huh? The doorknob?



: You didn't notice? Well, just try closing the bathroom door. I'm sure you'll see right away what I'm talking about.

I did what Kyoko said and shut the bathroom door.



: Huh?

The doorknob...



: Wh-What the heck!? The doorknob's practically about to fall off! Why is it like this...?



: Someone must have used a screwdriver or something similar to unscrew it. Whatever it was, it's obvious this was intentional.
: What!? It was intentional? Why would someone want to do that!?



: I guess maybe they were trying to get the door unlocked and ended up breaking the whole thing.
: But my bathroom doesn't have a lock on it. Only the girls' bathrooms can lock, right?

She stood there for a while, lost in thought. Then, apparently struck with a sudden realization, she shot a question at me...



: I have just one more question for you. You mentioned earlier that your bathroom door would get stuck, right? Did you tell anyone about that?
: Oh, umm... Well, I did tell Sayaka about it last night, when we switched rooms.
: So what you're saying is, only you and Sayaka knew about it. Hmm... Interesting...

She had the slightest hint of a smirk on her face. I got the sense that she was really starting to get into all this.



: Then that clears that up.
: Huh? What clears what up? I'm so lost...
: Well, see you later. *leaves*

As if forgetting I was ever even there, she suddenly turned and left the room.





I still don't really understand any of this, but I've already given my room a good once-over. Maybe I should look around somewhere else. I should start looking into where the murder weapon might have come from. And also, I should look into the DVD Sayaka got. With Sayaka dead, I have no choice but to see for myself what was in that video. And on top of that, I'm sure there are some other areas worth checking out, too. Maybe I should see what everyone else think. If they'll even talk to me, that is...



: Next time, Investigation Part 2.