Part 110: Hear No Evil

[BGM: Constriction]


It has to do with you because he was your partner in crime in setting up the Zodiac Race. Perhaps he was the original impetus for it all.

Oh? It wasn't Brian's idea?

Not initially.

And why did Rooster set up such a laborious incident?

I can think of a number of reasons. For one, Rooster's career had been flagging, hadn't it? He was on the cusp edge of irrelevance. Something was needed to revitalize his career. Some major incident that would thrust him into the limelight as a hero.

I think the Zodiac Race certainly qualifies.



There were also some people Rooster would certainly appreciate being dead. However, as already seen, Rooster is a paranoid perfectionist. Just to kill one man, he came up with a thoroughly elaborate plan to divert all suspicion, and even that wasn't enough.

After all, there were three people who threatened to ruin everything for him, weren't there?

First up, there was the local gang leader who directly saw him the night he stole Bowen's master card. Maybe in an attempt to not have eyewitnesses identify him, Rooster left the restroom through the window or something. And in doing so, Dragon got a very good look at Rooster. And he knew that.

But... he didn't know that Dragon was entirely wasted at the time, and wouldn't remember the incident in the slightest.

Wait, something like that happened?

There was also the issue of Amadeus' son, who had proved to be incredibly unstable. He was investigating the case on his own, convinced of his Dad's innocence. Worse, perhaps Rooster's stalking revealed that he was bouncing theories off of Snake, the other person who could ruin it all.



After all, Snake was the one who could attest to the weight of the statue. Could attest to the out of place cardboard under it. He must've been so confused why Snake never brought something like that up beforehand. He didn't know that Snake was so out of it at the time he barely noticed these details.

But at this point, Snake was the only one who knew such details. So long as he was alive, he posed a threat.

You're saying this was done to kill three people? That seems incredibly elaborate. Why would Rooster go to such lengths?

Well, first off, it's worth noting that Rooster planned on being a super famous star. If that were ever to be the case, a case like Bowen's hanging in his past would be a glaring weakness.

If a sliver of proof remained, his stardom could attract reporters who would dig into matters, and might find witnesses like Dragon, like Snake, like Brian. But you're right – were that it, this whole thing would be incredibly unreasonable.

I'm not going to claim to know all the answers, Monkey. But I would guess he was influenced, just like Brian was influenced into starting this killing game, by you.



I thought you said Rooster came up with the killing game.

Rooster came up with the need for one, but like I said, the reason this whole thing would work would be because you'd lure someone else to do all the dirty work for you. You were Brian's therapist, right? It was no mistake that he wound up the way he did... was it?

You led him there. You didn't discourage fantasies like the Zodiac Race; in fact, you were his accomplice in setting all that up, weren't you? And once he had gone so far as to prepare things like the collars, the coding for it all, you knew it was time to strike.

The reason why a bunch of more deserving people weren't thrown in the death game was because you needed to leave room for five people. Yourself, Rooster, Snake, Dragon, and me.

And you?

And me. For whatever reason, you had decided I was also someone that needed to be involved in all of this. For whatever reason, you also decided I would be another person you'd have to clean up after.

You know your logic is strong when you have to start it with 'for whatever reason'. And surely Brian would have objected to this, no?

He would have.

[BGM: Stampede of Truth]


Which was why, before you could hold your own personal voir dire, you actually killed Brian long before the actual Zodiac Race could start. Through poison, perhaps?

Ah, yes, with poison. You caught me!

But in all seriousness, you expect anyone to believe this? In case you forgot, Rooster and I were participants. How could we be hosting a game like that?

In case you forgot, the majority of the game was automated, with many messages pre-recorded.

Perhaps the trickiest part was during the big speech at the beginning, with everyone crowded together. It was critical you established early that this thing was being puppeteered by someone else, someone who was alive.



So you showed a live feed of Brian's corpse, with his face covered in the mask, and with his butterfly tattoo meaningfully exposed. But in setting it up, you asked for us to do one key thing, one thing that was awfully unnecessary, and that never really came back up again.

We were all supposed to sit down, face the screen, and put back on our animal masks.

It is my belief, then, that you had custom rigged it so that once you put on your animal mask, Monkey, a small microphone inside the mask – or perhaps in your collar – would put on a voice filter and play on the speakers. That's why you set things up the way you did.

But if that was the case, you surely would've heard me speaking.

We might not have.

No, you definitely would have.

Um, I don't think so...

I wasn't sitting that far from the group.



Then you were whispering, weren't you? You whispered, but the program raised your volume. I had always thought the Jade Emperor's intonation was off.

Hmm. I wouldn't suppose you have any proof of this claim, Mouse?

Oh, of course I do. Isn't it odd that you were the only one not to speak a word during the Jade Emperor's speech?

Mouse, that isn't proof of anything. Apologies, but I wasn't feeling particularly chatty at the time.

Fine, it doesn't prove anything other than the possibility that I'm right. Still, that's enough.



Anyways, from there, you made sure that between you and Rooster, at least one of you was usually away from the group. You managed the game through the custom app, each of you having a phone. More to the point, a lot of the game was run automatically.

However, when you tried to set it up where you'd kill both Dragon and Snake, making it seem like they had operated each other's tablets, you were unable to make a move. That's because Dog had Bunny gather everybody, and put you both in constant surveillance.

I do find it funny that my co-conspirator, the one you think was equally behind of this, is now dead. Does that not act as some point in my favor?

Not really?



After all, he wasn't behind this game. Nor was Brian, or some other third party. You were.

Oh?

I can't claim to know why you did it, Monkey. If I had to guess... you had simply gotten a taste of hosting something like this, and you did it for some sick sort of enjoyment.

Whatever the case may be, you didn't inform Rooster of what you were doing beforehand, which is why he reacted so poorly. And you established that this was being run by a third party early on using the opposite trick than what you used last time.

In fact, this time, you were the only person to interact with The Cat. Because The Cat warmed up the device strapped around your chest, and threatened everyone else to be silent.

Of course she made everyone else be silent. You couldn't reveal that there was nobody on the other end of the microphone. That little interaction you had with The Cat? Pure theater, recorded and rehearsed.

And what next? Are you going to claim that I used my position as mastermind to rig the game?



You didn't explicitly break the rules. But, like Snake said, you definitely played a rigged game. You grabbed the Tiger of Clubs. And Rooster took the Tiger of Spades. He didn't know that he had actually gotten it at the time, though.

But some point in Round 2, you secretly told him to give his card to Dog. Scared of being revealed, he complied. Meanwhile, you discarded your Tiger of Clubs back onto the communal table.

That's the only way the actions of the game could be explained. The deception of a pair of traitors. After all, the rest of us clearly all did what we said, or else Tiger wouldn't have had 6 points at the end of Round 2.

[BGM: That Pesky Rodent]


Mouse, I thought we agreed that the traitor killed Pig. But Bunny can attest for my whereabouts when Pig was killed – can't you, Bunny?

I can, but...

So you see? You're mistaken, Mouse!

You might be accounted for when we heard a scream. But that wasn't Pig's scream. It was just some recording on a timer, right?

Pig's body was in front of a computer. Being the mastermind, it should've been possible to exit the program, access the internet, get a random 'scream' sound effect, and set it to play in a number of minutes.

I think Pig's death was a tragic accident. She could've saved us all, but while she was hacking the computer you happened to notice what she was doing.

I 'noticed what she was doing'? Wouldn't she have locked the door before getting to work?



She might've just not known the door had a thumblock. I mean, I would've missed that!

Exactly. Pig was surprisingly smart, but... she was also kinda dumb in some ways, too. I think she just started hacking without thinking to lock the door – perhaps without even thinking to close it.

When you discovered what she was doing, you knew she needed to be stopped. So you silently approached her from behind, rolled up your sleeves, and slit her throat. You covered her mouth, to stop her from making a noise.

Of course, you could've just stopped there. But as I've shown, you're really not the type to just leave good enough alone. Why have a clean murder, when you can create a mystery?

First, you made the murder weapon look like the golden knife from Dog's boot, perhaps to disguise the murder weapon. Was it possible that the actual thing that killed her was not Dog's golden knife, but Amadeus'? I don't know.

What I do know is that you then set up the scene we were to discover.

You started by taping down the windows and shutting off the light. Then you emptied the bookshelf and moved it. And then, most importantly, you leaned it against a yardstick you stuck through the crack between the door and its hinges.

A yardstick?

Yeah, a yardstick. Tons of classes have them.



You couldn't hold it there yourself while moving from inside the room to outside, so you glued it there. That's what the residue was about.

Normally, the bookshelf would've been too heavy. Normally, the angle wouldn't have allowed you to lean it on that yardstick. But with the books removed, and the bookshelf moved, it was possible.

Once you exited the classroom, you removed the yardstick from its glued position, and the bookshelf fell into place. Then you went to the first floor, washed the blood off your hands, and returned to the library to wait.

Bunny happening upon you was a lucky coincidence. What you were really counting on was Ox's presence in the nearby room. When the scream occurred you ran out, and a small group formed around the door.

Being the last to enter into the room, you were able to apply glue to it as you entered. And in that darkness, you were able to shove me to the side and frame it on 'somebody already inside'.



I do have an observation, Mouse. This is a very good method of murder you've invented.

However, could Bunny not have used it in my stead? He has the same opportunity as me.

Nah. Dude may be a douche, but he's not the killer. I was listening when Snake was talking earlier. Something 'bout the room being locked?

I'm guessing that was your doing, huh? You didn't want anyone stumbling across the scene while you were still setting it up. Only thing that makes any sense, at least.

Now here's where it gets good: Snake says that after he came across the locked door, he went down to see Rooster and Bunny. That's when Bunny leaves and has this 'window of opportunity' you're going off about.

Don't ya get it? He ain't even free until after the killer must've been in the room!

Oh my, Dragon. Believing in Bunny and listening to Snake?

How far you've come.

Hey fuck you!



Dragon explained it well. You're the one who could take advantage of this trick, Monkey. And that brings us to Rooster's murder.

He was probably sick of your shit, to be quite honest. He pulled you to the library to ask what the hell you had been thinking with this whole other death game– and now, killing Pig. You decided at this point he was more of a liability than anything else, so you struck at him with a nearby heavy book.

Rooster collapsed and fell down by the desk. Meanwhile, you were looking for an appropriate weapon. You landed on the pen. Gripping the pen, you leaned down and stabbed Rooster in the neck, twice. Then, before someone could find you, you left the library and went downstairs.

However, the incident had gotten blood on your right arm, so you made your way to the restroom and washed it off.

Ah, so that's your theory. It's a little sloppier than I would have liked, with some potential holes, but I suppose it works. Well, you've given a lot of reasons as to why I'm some big bad villain.

Anything else you want to tack on?

Oh, right.



Just now, I figured out what Dog's dying message was.

His dying message?

What he did with his hands. When he covered his mouth, he was referencing 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil'. He was trying to signal 'Monkey' to me.

Ah, I see. And the other hand, the one that was showing three fingers?

That wasn't three fingers, that was an M.

M for Monkey. Very clever. Alright then.

[BGM: Silence]


Your work was a little sloppy, relying entirely too much on guesswork and simply being wrong on a number of matters.

However, you also managed to reach a conclusion about two rounds sooner than I thought you would have. So I guess I'd give this a passing grade, if I were to evaluate it. It was fun enough to watch someone break my work down like that.

Then this means...

Oh, have you all not gathered it by now?

Mouse was largely accurate in her hypotheses.