Part 123: Slip Slide

*gasp!*

Father... Why do you know Monophanie's cycle...?

Never mind that... Perhaps this lack of motivation is due to a lack of hibernation.

Lack of hibernation...?

Yeah... I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I haven't really been able to hibernate...

That's awful... What could be causing it?

Is it cuz you have a lot on your mind?

Hmm...

Is it cuz the graveyard shift pays a better hourly wage?

Hmmmm...

Is it cuz you don't want them to think you're just goofing around?

Hmmmmmm...

Is it cuz you wanna stay friends?

Hmmmmmmmm...

Is it cuz you wanna watch it in real-time?

......

...Father?

He's gone into hibernation... We should let him be...

Yeah, you're right... Night, night.

VIDEO: Post-Intermission





I-I feel like I'm forgetting someone important to me, but...ugh...I-I just can't...

Ugh! M-My head!



...If you've forgotten, maybe that's for the best.

From this point forward, let's start a new life for ourselves.

After all...our baby is excited to meet his daddy, y'know?





More importantly...let's continue the conversation where we left off.

We understand Miu plotted the murder, but we need to find out who killed her.

And in order to figure that out, we need to understand Miu's actions...



I know that's important, but hearing you lead the conversation really pisses me off.

Let's see, Miu manipulated the Virtual World to use it as part of her murder plan...

Don't just ignore me and start anyway...



and then—WHAM!—murdered me on the roof with the hammer.

She would make the murder seem like it happened in the real world, and then pin it on Kaito.

As for Miu's alibi in the real world, she could say she was logged into the Virtual World...

And in the Virtual World, she could say she was near the chapel the entire time.





Whoops, my hand slipped.



KOKICHI: She dropped the bridge on purpose, so she could separate the chapel from the mansion...





KOKICHI: Oh yeah...Kaito was probably logged out around that time, too.

TSUMUGI: That's when I saw Miu...



She was killed on the roof, right?

Kokichi told us the roof door was locked, and that he couldn't get through.

Maybe...that when culprit kill her?



Did the culprit lock the door to the roof?

Perhaps. I don't think Miu did it.

If Miu did lock it, she would have done it when she called Kokichi to the roof.

Even if someone came up, I don't believe she would change the target of her plan.



Well, it's possible she didn't even think that far ahead...

She was smart... But she was also really, really dumb.

N-No say such mean things.

Killing game bad, not Miu.



That...might've been difficult. Even without this killing game.

That wouldn't happen.

Nuh-uh. No way, Jose.

Huh?



The culprit must have moved Miu's avatar to the chapel after killing her, right?

So the next thing we should talk about is how they moved her avatar.



HIMIKO: But the problem is the wall between them.

KEEBO: Only Miu was able to go through that wall. The culprit wouldn't have been able to...



TSUMUGI: Yeah, that's the only way, right?



I mean, it's not like they coulda thrown her.



We know. You couldn't because the avatars' physical strength was equalized.

Physical strength...equalized?



Geez, keep up with us. We're already in the second half of the class trial.

Hmmm... How did they send Miu's avatar to the other side of the wall?





SHUICHI: Ah!?

TSUMUGI: Wh-What!? What was that sound!?



That's when you found the dead Miu there, riiiiight?

If so, then I think that sound and her avatar being by the chapel are related...

Yes, there's no doubt in my mind that the noise is related to this case. We need to figure out what that sound could have been...



So what was it? It sounded like something slamming hard into something else... So what were those two things? It could be...









SHUICHI: Ruling those out, the only other explanation is that the sound was Miu colliding with the wall.



We felt the impact all the way from the inside of the chapel.

Yeah, that's the real question.

Miu's avatar probably hit the chapel's wall with pretty considerable force...

But why did it hit the wall with such force? Can you guys figure it out?





...Let's not worry about that right now.

More importantly, we gotta solve the mystery! Fighting among friends is a waste of time.



Anyway...can we talk about that after we figure this problem out?

A way of transporting Miu's avatar that would cause it to crash into the chapel...

Getting Miu's avatar to crash into the chapel from the mansion's roof...

There's only one way I can think of how to do that.



...You'll what?



KOKICHI: Past the brick handrail, the roof was at a pretty steep slope... And the slope faced the chapel wall. On top of that, there was snow on the roof.



...



But I can't let him distract me. I need to solve the case. How to make Miu hit the chapel wall from the roof of the mansion...



MUSIC: Hangman's Gambit Ver3.0

VIDEO: Hangman's Gambit #2















Nah, man. Even with the slope and the snow, Miu's body wouldn't have slid—

Wrong. It would slide.

But the avatars can generate friction. We wouldn't have been able to walk, otherwise.

So I doubt that it would have had *that* much momentum.



It wouldn't slide! Just like Maki Roll said!







I'm positive that that's how Miu's avatar was moved. But... Maybe the culprit used something else as well to help her body slide.

MUSIC: V3 Argument -PERJURY-

VIDEO: Nonstop Debate #7







Would it slide off that quickly?



If it made that much noise...

it must have built up a lot of speed.



but not frozen solid, right?



In the real world, it might be difficult...

but in the Virtual World, perhaps not.

That's not the issue...

Sliding down snow is easy to do!







There was something left at the crime scene that would help...



Why else would the lattice be where it was?









SHUICHI: The culprit laid her on top of that, then used it as a sled on the roof.













KOKICHI: ...and slid her down the roof's steep slope!





SHUICHI: glided through the wall only objects could pass through, and hit the chapel.





Just like that hedgehog who loses all his rings whenever he crashes into stuff...



Daddy...I'm glad you're feeling motivated again, but you shouldn't be so hateful.

You...gotta be an example to our new family.

Yeah, Father. Or should I start calling you "Grandfather" now?

...





...

The culprit...

Y-Yeah... In the end, we'll still need to guess the culprit, huh?

But...Gonta can't believe one of us killed Miu.



Meaning, the culprit must be someone who was investigating the mansion.

Aside from Miu, the people at the chapel could not go through the wall or cross the river.

So that means...the suspects are Kaito, Tsumugi, Shuichi, and Gonta...



Nee-heehee... Oh, you got me.

That's right, five suspects... Me, Tsumugi, Gonta, Kokichi and Kaito. We don't know enough to name the culprit yet, but one of them is suspicious... When we were talking about the rooftop, they clearly lied...



I'll need to press them for information before making any judgments.



We could have asked this question anytime, really.





Hm? What do you need to know?

Why did you lie just now?

Which lie are you talking about, Shuichi? I lie a lot, so you'll need to jog my memory.

Fine. I'll expose your lie right now...







It was that testimony that bothered me.

Next time, I'd like to see ol' Kokichi Oma wriggle his way out of THIS jam!