Part 177: Smooth Criminal

VIDEO: The Eleventh-to-Last Trial Video













Here the blocks bob up and down in a wave. I have to predict which one will be in reach by the time I get there.









Now they're popping out of the road like groundhogs! That's a bit ridiculous, but I can't think of any other way to make this minigame harder.











Other than a line of blocks oscillating into the road in a wide swathe.



And a car blockade that only gives you one lane to pass.













The mastermind!?

The Survivor Perk Monopad was found in the library's hidden room.

And only the mastermind would have been able to enter that room, correct?

Between the time Rantaro died and when we found him, they put that Monopad in the hidden room?



Impossible? Why?

Huh? You don't know? Why, even my cute little cubs have already figured it out.



Y-Yeah. So...I'll let Monotaro explain.

Huh? I've already forgotten what we're even talking about...

...

Oh crap, he's gonna push it! It's gonna be Monokid all over again!



Huh?

Oh, that's true...



TSUMUGI: But Shuichi and Kaede set up those hidden cameras, so... If the mastermind was using that door, they would've been caught on camera.

But none of the pictures showed anyone like that.

THEN...THAT-REASONING-IS-WRONG...

Amazing, Monodam! Well done!

Hold on. The hidden cameras in the library had interval timers.



Cuz I redesigned the cameras to auto-roll the film instead of havin' to do it manually.



I see. So the mastermind hid in the hidden room, waited for the right timing...

...grabbed the Monopad from the library, and then returned to the hidden room!



What!? What flaw!?

Huh? Don't ask me—the Monokubs are gonna explain it.

What!? Again!?

Reject your logic without explaining why! That's the Monokuma debate style!







What are we arguing about again!?





Unless they used the interval between shots.



That's enough time to take the monopad from the body.

THEN-WHERE-WAS-THE-MASTERMIND-HIDING?



IF-THEY-WERE-STILL-INSIDE-THE-HIDDEN-ROOM...



If you dunno when the camera went off...

how would you know the interval timing!?

Bravo Monodam! Wonderful objection!



I know the mastermind was trying to time it... And of course the mastermind would be able to hit the right timing!



Deploy the tiny bugs!







...SURVEILLANCE-CAMERAS?

Wh-What...? Where would...somethin' like that be?

...You don't know, even though they're Monokubs just like you?

Eh? Monokubs?



Ohhh... So cute and tiny.

...Aren't they? They're your siblings, too.

That's a big reveal to drop so casually!



HOW-DO-YOU-KNOW-THAT...?

Oh, Father told me! He said to make sure I told everyone!

I had completely forgotten about it. Good thing I just remembered!





All the footage they record is wirelessly transmitted through Motherkuma...and then sent to Monokuma.

Yes, via Motherkuma. That's an important point.



SHUICHI: They would know about the situation in the library and the hidden room.

HIMIKO: I see! Motherkuma can tell them the interval timers for the cameras!



But why would they steal the Monopad?

The mastermind was probably terrified by the idea of us picking up Rantaro's perk.



...What?

I wasn't necessarily afraid...



MONOKUMA: But that's not the same as getting the info directly from the Monopad. Cuz then, you can't say it was a Survivor Perk for Rantaro's eyes only, right?





Hm? How do you figure?

You look calm now...but at the time, you must have been pretty desperate.

The Monopad clearly stated that there was a mastermind in the academy. If we knew then that a mastermind was behind everything, we would have worked together.



...

Either way, you admit the mastermind stole the Monopad, right?

Well, yes... But only reluctantly.



If they wanted to retrieve the Monopad, they shoulda used Monokuma to do it!

Nope, that's impossible.





If you're so strict about following the rules, does that mean that someone is watching? If that's the case—



If only he lived a little longer, then this info would've made things interesting!



I still don't have the whole picture...but it seems that we're all being watched. In that case...this plan should go well. If I ruin this killing game by proving that it doesn't follow its own rules...

I should be able to end the whole thing!

It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for him.



The mastermind stealing his Survivor Perk shouldn't affect it whatsoever.



Yeah, yeah!

One truth prevails!

No, that's not the truth. I'm certain of that.



...Me? Lie?

That's right! Kaede wasn't the one who killed Rantaro! The true culprit is...







The mastermind is the culprit!?

Geez... And you call yourself the Ultimate Detective? Tryin' to overturn the results of the first class trial...



Whaaat!? Us again!?

But we said we don't know!





If Rantaro's killer is the mastermind...

that means Kaede was the mastermind!

CAN-YOU-PROVE-THE-MASTERMIND-IS-THE-CULPRIT?









And then cracked his skull with the shot put ball!

Yep, yep! Kaede set up the whole thing...

Even the lethal shot put ball...





Why so interested in dead people...?



If I can just show that Kaede isn't the culprit, their argument falls apart! I should have evidence of that!



It sure is lucky that the fiber stuck to the shot put ball while it was rolling and the mastermind didn't brush it off, huh?











A different shot put ball? What do you mean?

I found a shot put ball in the trashcan in the hidden room.



SHUICHI: Rather...





Do you remember how Kaede was carrying the shot put ball?



Despite its weight, it would have been easy to carry in a backpack.



That would prevent the cameras you were carrying from being damaged.

...



It was wrapped in her spare vest.







That can only mean that the ball I found was the one that was in Kaede's backpack.



That shot put ball did not have blood on it, so it could not have been the murder weapon.



Th-Then...maybe they just washed off the blood!











I-If you found that shot put ball in the hidden room, then that means...

I found the shot put ball in the hidden room because...







The mastermind took it?

So they recovered the shot that missed Rantaro, and he was killed by a different one.





SHUICHI: They prepared their own shot to kill Rantaro and switched it with Kaede's shot. They took Kaede's shot put ball and stowed it in the hidden room.



What!

Did you!

Sayyyyy!?

EVERYONE, CALM-DOWN! FATHER-IS-GOING-TO-YELL—



What! Monodam, why!?

Whoops. I got too worked up and accidentally pressed the detonator.



The mastermind killed Rantaro...but why?

I believe the reason had something to do with the time limit motive.



then every student forced to participate in this killing game will die!



To break up the stalemate, the mastermind introduced that motive.

However, this was a gamble. They didn't want to cause total chaos, after all.

Because that would just end everything. They wanted an exciting killing game...

That motive put pressure on the mastermind as well as us.



However...her plan ultimately failed. The shot put ball that she rolled didn't hit Rantaro.

Because it missed, we would've been annihilated due to the time limit...

But the mastermind wanted to avoid that situation, so they took action.



So when her plan failed, they would already have another shot put ball prepared.

Then, the mastermind manipulated the scene to make it look like Kaede succeeded.

All they had to do was hide Kaede's shot in the hidden room that only they could enter.

S-So...Kaede was executed on false charges!?





SHUICHI: Because the mastermind framed her for Rantaro's murder!



We were all fooled, including Kaede. We thought she was the culprit until the very end.

And you want to tell us this game is fair? That there are rules? That's all bullshit!



If Monokuma twisted the truth for this case...

...then he could've twisted it for the other cases as well, making this killing game unfair.

Th-Then it's not even a killing game anymore. It's just...killing.

...











You're the one that blew him up! Don't pass the buck!

Anyway, we know the mastermind is also Rantaro's killer. Let's figure out who that is.

That is, if Monokuma still wants to continue this class trial...



No, Monokuma. I will end this.

I will reveal the identity of the mastermind and end the killing game!

U-Um... May I interject? You keep accusing this so-called mastermind, but...

..are you sure there's even a mastermind at all?



You guys are the ones hiding them!

It's possible the mastermind is still in this academy. The Survivor Perk said so.

If they were involved in Rantaro's murder, there's no doubt.

Then they must have snuck in during the Gofer Project and stayed hidden in the aca—



You just ah'd! What was that "ah" about?

I just realized something...

Say it! Or I'll cast my "All the Guys You Date Will Be Single Fathers" curse!



...Her what?

Younger...twin sister?



It seemed sorta weird to me. Junko Enoshima had a twin, too, right?

Are you saying those same circumstances apply here, as well?

This killing game was influenced a lot by the past one, right?



The mastermind who snuck into the academy and made us play this sick game...



...

M-Maybe... I guess that's a possibility...

Either way, there's no doubt that the mastermind is hiding somewhere in this school.



You're not allowed to leave while the trial's in session, so you can't search for them now.

You can't leave during a trial unless you gotta pee!

Oh! I gotta pee!

We're not falling for that one!



Is she really the mastermind? Is it really that simple?