Part 107: Grim Discoveries

[BGM: Hear No Evil]


Despite concentrating quite a bit, I couldn't come up with it. I decided to look for Ox. He was a good person to bounce ideas off of. After a bit of a search, I found Ox sitting in a classroom on the second floor.



So, have you 'thought' enough?

I doubt I'd be able to 'think' enough given a few hours, much less a few minutes. Basically, the issue I keep running into is the fact that we don't know who the traitor is.

It also looks like the traitor intends to sink us, no matter the cost. If you also factor in the fact that Snake's theory about The Cat relaying the right moves to the traitor, and combine it with the fact that The Cat is specifically sending us the cards needed to mess with us?

The possibility of a no-winner situation is a lot more likely than I'd like to admit.

I think the best course of action is to, as I said, focus solely on checking each other. This will make it incredibly difficult for the traitor to do much of anything. As the rounds go on, there will be more and more cards on the communal table.

[BGM: Silence]


Eventually, when they're only adding 2 cards at a time, we'll regroup and try to come up with a better plan.

I think that's a pretty reasonable idea.

I think so, too.

But I don't particularly feel that great about it.

Yeah, I can see that. Say, do you think–

To be honest, I don't quite know what I planned on asking Ox. That train of thought was interrupted when I heard a loud scream. The scream of a woman. It came from a nearby classroom, somewhere on the same floor. Immediately, Ox and I ran out to try and identify the source of the noise. Outside, we saw Bunny and Monkey also running out from the nearby library. We didn't have time to talk, we just made our way to where the noise came from.

...To the classroom where Dog's exploded body lay.



Ox tried to push open the door, but something was blocking the way. He shoved the door again, and it made but an inch's progress. Just then, Bunny pushed Ox out of the way, and began to slam against the door. With Bunny's efforts, it began to crack open. It appeared that the door was blocked off by that bookshelf I had seen in the room earlier. Once there was enough room to enter, Bunny made his way in, as did the rest of us.

Entering, we were immediately struck by the realization that this place was pitch black. Not just 'lights off' black, but pitch black. As our group slowly, blindly made our way into the room, I suddenly felt a body crashing into mine. I fell to the floor and landed squarely on my ass. Ow. By the commotion, it sounded like I wasn't the only person knocked into. In the tussle, we heard the door slam shut. What the hell??

Just as I was getting to my feet, the lights turned on. It appeared Ox had found the light switch by blindly patting the wall. Once the light was on, Bunny ran over to the door. He tried to open it, but he struggled to actually get it open.

Damn it... Someone's holding it shut!

His determination to open the door was understandable. He wanted to see who had fled from the room. But... it struck me as rather odd.

[BGM: Weak Pig]


After all, in the other corner of the room, Pig was lying dead in a chair right by Dog's computer. Her neck was slashed by some sort of bladed instrument. Blood was all over the place. Pig... No...! How on earth... why would... I was struggling to stay on my feet. Once again, someone who was alive but half an hour ago lay dead in front of my eyes. ….Not just dead. Murdered.

Finally, Bunny pried the door open. He made his way outside, and Monkey, Ox, and I immediately followed him. However, outside the room, there was nobody to be seen. Then, moments later, Tiger came running in from the left staircase.



Hey, I heard commotion, what's going on?

Right after that, Sheep ran in from the right staircase.

Uh, I thought I heard a lot of sh-shouting...

...Before long, everyone was gathered in the classroom. That gathering process had given me plenty of time to digest Pig's death. And it wasn't sitting right with me. It felt cold, like a stone sitting in the bottom of my stomach. She didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve it at all. And yet... she died. Just like anyone might, she died. Murdered. By somebody. Somebody still in this school, most likely.

I hated this. I hated this, I hated this, I hated this... No no no, no, focus. Flip the switch. Let go of the fear... I shouldn't be scared. I should be... angry. I should be livid. I should be determined to find the culprit.

[BGM: That Pesky Rodent]


So, uh, tell me if I'm getting this wrong.

Mouse, Ox, Bunny, Monkey, you all heard Pig scream out, probably from the whole 'being murdered' thing. You run over to the scene of the crime, you try to get in, but the criminal's knocked over this bookcase to buy time. But still, you make your way in, determined to catch them.

Unfortunately, it's too dark to see anything. And in this darkness, the killer makes their escape, knocking into the lot of you.

That appears to be the case, yes.

It's so frustrating. We had them!

And yet, in the darkness, the chaos, they somehow got away. ...I don't deserve to call myself a cop.



Don't say that like being a cop is some fuckin' badge of honor.

Still, I must ask – what was Pig doing here? By the looks of things, she'd sat down to use the computer. ...But I should note that this is Dog's computer, not hers. And the murder didn't even happen when the computers should've been usable.

No...

I think... I know what happened to her.

You do?

Pig said that she was going to try to hack into her computer, to try and help us. I pointed out that if she did that, the mastermind might notice, and explode her remotely.

...I guess... I guess she figured, if she tried hacking through Dog's computer, she'd be safer. The mastermind wouldn't know who was trying something fishy, and it's not like they'd just explode everyone.

...And it's true, she wasn't exploded. But...

Silence filled the room.



But th-then... if Pig was doing something that might expose the mastermind... doesn't that mean... the person who killed Pig was the mastermind?

I don't think that's possible. There are too many people in this school walking around. If they went inside, the chances that someone would stumble across them are pretty high.

I just don't see them taking a risk.

So then, Pig's killer is one of us? But then, why would any of us kill Pig?

We already discussed the possibility of a traitor, did we not? If Pig attempted something the mastermind would not like, it's reasonable to assume that a traitor may act on their behalf.

… No one knew what to say to that.

[BGM: Dance of the Snakes]


It's truly tragic. If only I had known what Pig was doing in this room when I tried to enter earlier, I wouldn't have left so early.

Wait, you came by here earlier Snake?

Yes. Unfortunately, the door was locked then.

Locked? Don't you mean it was blocked by a bookshelf?

No, I mean it was locked. I can tell the difference.

Oh.

Anyways, after discovering that it was locked, I left the area. Eventually, I ran into Bunny, who was interviewing Rooster in a classroom on the first floor.

I can confirm that.



Inspired by Mouse, I've been trying to get people's statements on various things, see if that'll help us sort anything else. After Snake enteered, I finished my interview with Rooster. I wandered for a bit until I found Monkey reading a book in the library.

Indeed, Bunny did catch me reading in the library. The two of us had an interesting chat from there, until we were interrupted by...

Monkey didn't feel like saying anything beyond that. We could fill in the gaps ourselves.

So, you know what that means?

What?

It means it wasn't me! After all, I was always with someone the entire round! Thus, I am cleared from suspicion.

Trust me Rooster, nobody thought you were behind this.

Now hey, what's that supposed to mean?



Are we done here? If so, I want to leave. I've no desire to be in a room with a murderer.

O-or a dead body.

Yeah, this place stinks.

And like that, one by one, everybody funneled out of the room... until eventually, it was just Ox and I in the room.

So, it appears the group's not going to even attempt to solve this case?

What do you expect? They're not a crime solving team, they're a bunch of scared strangers who have a really high possibility of dying very soon.

...I suppose. But the only way we can certainly put an end to this is to stop the traitor.

Ox, who do you even think the traitor is? Like, what are they getting out of it?



It could be any number of things. Perhaps the traitor is being blackmailed. Maybe they're doing it for money. Maybe they're in league with our captor.

Although in that last scenario, I would also have to try and figure out our captor's motive, another rather significant mystery.

You're right. Last time sucked, but I could get what the Jade Emperor was going for. It very clearly was a weird act of revenge... as well as a really roundabout way of testing our character?

But, this? It's as though it's being done for... I don't know how else to see it other than it being done for fun. Some twisted psychopath's version of fun, at any rate.

You're not incorrect. Still, it's probably a waste of time to try and solve such big picture things. Instead, let's try and do what we can here.

Do what we can, huh...? Yeah, that seems about right.

Pig... I didn't know you super well, but you seemed decent. At the very least, I'm convinced you risked your life trying to save us all. It might not have worked out... but I won't let your death be in vain. ...So then, time to begin investigating.

[BGM: Ox's Logic]


This final investigation is basically a long, long callback to the first scene when 'Mouse' wakes up with 'Ox', and the two put their heads together to sort out what they know about their immediate situation; in that first scene, it's mostly Ox that's leading things, but here... it's time for Mouse to lead the train of thought.

You couldn't do an investigation without examining a dead body, right? As disgusting as it was, I had to take a look. Sure enough, Pig's body was collapsed onto the seat, facing towards the computer. The computer just had the same waiting screen all of the computers did. If Pig had hacked the computer, it sure didn't show it. Her neck was slit with a bladed object, and she probably bled to death very quickly after that. Sitting on the desk next to the computer was that damn golden knife from Dog, covered in blood.

So then, Pig was killed with the golden knife?

One would assume.

That seems weird to me.

Oh? And why is that?

I mean, think about it. Where did they get the knife?

From Dog's exploded body, I'd imagine. I mean, the explosion wasn't that big, it mostly affected the stomach. See, look, the bottom half of his legs are mostly fine. Surely the culprit could've gotten the knife from Dog's boot.



Okay, first up – disgusting. Secondly, that's my point. Someone just grabs a knife from Dog's corpse, and Pig just keeps on hacking away?

She might not have noticed, if she was focused enough on her hacking.

But would she just keep on obliviously hacking if anyone was in the room with her? I mean, we were on high alert thinking there was a traitor among us.

It must've been someone Pig trusted.

But it's Pig we're talking about. Given the situation, do you think there was anybody among us she would trust?

...I suppose not.



In my opinion, from the state of the crime, I think the most likely situation is that the culprit walked into the room and slit Pig's neck without her even noticing. But that's why the weapon is messing with me – there's no way the killer could have collected it without Pig noticing!

So then what are you saying? What does this mean?

What if Pig's neck was slit with something else? Then, after the fact, the killer grabbed the golden knife from Dog's corpse and made it look like the murder weapon.

Well, without a forensics team, it's impossible to disprove that theory. But in that case, why make it look like the golden knife was the real weapon? What was the killer trying to hide?

That... I don't know.

It was a confusing situation. But surely it meant something, right? I tucked that information in the back of my mind, and kept going.



The windows definitely drew attention. The blinds were covering them, but it wasn't just that. The blinds were taped down onto the wall, to completely seal out all potential light. The duct tape used to do it was sitting conspicuously on a student's desk.

So the killer taped down the window blinds... I guess they really didn't want us seeing them. Which, makes sense, of course.

But Ox, when did they have the time to do this?

Hm?

I mean, there's two windows on the South wall there, and they're both taped up. After killing Pig, did the killer really have time for something like that?

Well, it's not like we got to the scene instantly. Plus, the door was blocked, so that surely bought some time.

So you're saying that the murder went something like... The killer slashes Pig, she cries out in pain. Immediately, the killer runs over to the bookshelf and topples it to buy time. Then, they grab some duct tape and quickly tape the blinds over the windows.



Finally they turn off the lights and wait, presumably right as we're finally getting in.

That's what the scene would suggest.

Sure, but for the killer to immediately spring into action like that, it seems unbelievable.

Well, we're not dealing with an amateur, that's for sure. Whoever the killer is, they're intelligent, determined, and dangerous. It's frightening, to be sure.

It sure is, Ox. It sure is.

I decided to take a look at the bookshelf that had blocked our way earlier. It was still toppled on the floor, pushed away from the northern wall by the door opening. A bunch of books were all piled on the floor next to it. And with all those books on the floor, I noticed something.

...This is weird.

What's weird?



All of the books are out of the bookshelf.

That tends to happen when it's shoved over and pushed away, Mouse.

No no, I mean all of the books have fallen out. I get spillage, but surely there'd still be some books inside the bookshelf. But instead, they're all on the floor around it.

Huh. You're right. It's as though the books were thrown onto the floor before the bookcase toppled.

But why would anyone do that?

Don't ask me. While we're noting oddities, I think I've found something strange as well.

Hit me with it.



Looking at the marks on the floor, it appears that the bookcase was pushed towards the eastern wall before even being toppled.

If it was shoved down from where it initially stood, it would've completely blocked off the doorway, hell, it might've hit the western wall. But this bookcase was shoved away from that wall, and then toppled over.

Huh.

Well, I can actually think of an explanation for that. As I said, if it was shoved where it was already standing, it could've impacted the western wall. If the bookcase was just leaning against the wall, it would've been a lot easier to shove out of the way.

Maybe the culprit thought of that ahead of time, and moved the bookshelf a bit before shoving it down. In fact, that might explain the books as well. With all the books out of the bookshelf, it'd be a lot lighter and easier to move.

Hmm...

If that was the case, the killer sure had their wits about them. To notice that the bookshelf was too close to the wall, and then to empty the bookshelf just to move it slightly before shoving it over... was that a reasonable explanation? Was that a reasonable sequence of events?



I decided to give the actual door to the room a look. The doorway was right by the western wall. Snake mentioned the room being locked earlier. After looking at it, sure enough, from inside the room the door handle had a turnable lock on it.

Weird. Really weird.

I guess Snake was telling the truth.

Probably. But doesn't that bring up a whole new set of problems? I mean, why bother with knocking over the bookshelf if the door already had a lock on it?

Well, maybe the killer didn't know about the room's lock.

In that case, how did the killer get in the room in the first place?

…

I mean, right? If Pig locked the room to hide her hacking, which, you know, fair enough, then how did the killer get access?

I don't know, Mouse. It's certainly odd.



I kept looking at the door, looking for anything out of place. ...And that's when I saw it.

Is this... glue?

Let me see.

Ox moved closer to inspect what I was looking at. Sure enough, there seemed to be traces of glue on the side of the door and the inside of the doorway.

This actually makes a certain amount of sense. There's surely a lot of glue around the school. There might've been some in this very room.

If the killer was manually holding the door so Bunny couldn't open it, then they'd be by the scene of the crime when he finally got it open. So instead, the killer must've glued the side of the door before fleeing, to hold us off.

Right, right...

For once, something was adding up at this crime scene. Just to be sure, I kept inspecting the door, looking for anything else out of place. I thought this was just a waste of time, until I noticed something else. High up in the crack between the door and its hinges, I saw more traces of glue. Now... what would glue be doing up there? I suppose it could also be there to try and keep the door locked, but it's certainly not where one would typically apply glue. I made sure to take a mental note of that.

…

[BGM: Stampede of Truth]


Well, I think that's about everything to look at here.

I have to agree. So, did you figure anything out?

To be honest, I couldn't say that I did. But, at the very least, I had figured out that something wasn't right...

This is just... really exhausting.

We don't have time to be exhausted, frankly.

Sad, but true. God, why does everything have to be so complicated?



Well, let's try to keep things simple. Let's think about who could have messed with the Tiger cards.

Horse and Tiger, Sheep and Snake, and Rooster and Monkey all couldn't have grabbed that spare card. Which leaves you, me, Dragon, Bunny, and Pig.

So then, the killer has to be someone from that list?

That would be my assumption. In that case, let's try and narrow things down a bit more. Pig's the victim, so she's out. You, me, and Bunny were all accounted for when the murder occurred, so we're out. Which leaves...

...Dragon? You think Dragon's the killer?

It's certainly what logic would dictate.

I couldn't argue with Ox's logic, but the idea that Dragon was behind this felt wrong. We had spent quite some time locked up together at Dog's. For her to be behind something like this... it didn't sit well in my stomach.

I don't know, Ox. We might be making some bad assumptions.

We might be. Which is why we'll confront her in private about this, next round. Although, for now... we should probably get going. This round's certainly almost over. And I think we've gotten all we can from this place.

Agreed.

[BGM: Silence]


With that, we left the crime scene and made our way back to our computers. On the way, we passed by the library, which had its doors completely shut.

Hey, the doors to the library weren't completely shut like this before, were they?

I turned around. Ox was right. They weren't.

...I don't like where this is going.

Despite saying that, I immediately walked right over to the doors and opened them. Don't be a corpse, don't be a corpse, don't be a corpse. … ...Damn it. Lying down, blood gushing from his neck, was the pitiful figure...



of Rooster.