Part 23: Process of Elimination

[BGM: A Bite That Persists]


Tiger!

Woah, seriously?

Bunny ran forward and checked her pulse.

She's dead too.

Why? Why does this shit have to keep happening?!

Calm down. I think this one's different.

Huh?



I mean, there's no origami cat by her body this time, right?

Bunny was right. There wasn't that signature calling card.

That is strange.

This also isn't some weird locked room situation, which was the case with all the previous victims.

Then do you think this is a different killer?

It would have to be, considering Tiger was most likely the first killer. Maybe someone else realized Tiger had to be the one behind the other murders and decided to get to her first.

But we didn't know that for sure! We still hadn't figured out what the deal with Dragon's murder was. It's too soon to pin the blame of the origami cat murders on Tiger.



I'm more interested in how someone was able to kill Tiger.

It's not another injection case?

No, look, she was strangled.

Bunny gestured to Tiger's neck, which indeed had a mark around it.

Someone used something like a wire to choke her to death.

How horrible.

But I mean, who could do something like that? Tiger was on high alert and she's super athletic.



Strangling someone, even with a wire, is a slow method of murder that she should've been able to fight back against. The only person I could see being able to kill her would be Horse.

So what, you think Horse did this?

He did seem awfully close to Sheep before. You didn't see it because you were too busy investigating the murder, but he was super angry when she was found dead.

If he had reason to believe Tiger was the killer, I could see him trying to take revenge.

I don't know. At the very least I would have thought he'd talk to us about it.

Do you have any other ideas then? You think someone like Pig or Monkey could've strangled her to death?

…



Agh, I just wish I could know if Tiger really was the one behind the first murders.

Right as he said that, I received a flash of inspiration.

Maybe we can. Let me see her tablet.

Her tablet?

Yeah, her tablet. I know it's against the rules for someone else to use it, but she's already dead, right?

Yeah, and?

Let's assume that the murderer was either the person who got the 'ambitious' personality or the person who got the 'hateful' personality. I don't think there are any other likely motives.

Okay, I can buy that.



Well with this tablet, we can check to see what Tiger's personality is!

Oh, that works!

I started operating the tablet, but a bit after I interacted with it I heard a sound.

What was that?

I believe the knives just shot out of Tiger's collar.

What? Even though she's already dead?

The execution system is blind to that sort of thing. I looked at Dog's corpse again before you called me over to look at Dragon's corpse, and the knives went into his body as well.

Probably because he never input any actions that round.

What a brutal system.



Yeah, but forget that for now. What's her personality?

Looking... Why isn't there anything on the screen?

I tried tapping it, and a voice came on.

Information. Run. Ability. Confess. Item.

What is this?

Is the tablet voice operated?

You might be right. That's weird. Is yours?

No, mine is just touch operated.

Mine too. Weird. Um... 'Information'.



Personality. Ability.

Personality.

Your personality is 'Selfless'.

'Selfless'!

So she wasn't ambitious or hateful, huh?

That means she probably didn't kill anyone!

But if that's the case, how the hell did Sheep die?

Neither of us had any good answers.

[BGM: Silence]


At this point, we were lost.

So what should we do now?

We need to tell everyone about this, right?

I thought you were against telling others about the deaths.

At this point they need to know.

We're going to meet up at the start of Round 8 anyways, right? Let's try gathering everyone to meet up in the cafeteria. We haven't had a good group meeting in a while, and I think that might be useful.

Good idea.



Plus, we need one less Trinket now!

...You could say that a little less joyfully.

Sorry, sorry, you're right.

But you're right as well. We only need 8 Trinkets, and we had 7 not too long ago, right? It's very likely we have everything we need.

Right. If we don't need to search for Trinkets, we can all stay in one place and stick to a plan. Then we should be safe.

...Probably.

Then let's get to finding everyone.

[BGM: Final Squeal]


Okay.

And just like that, Bunny and I began searching through the whole school for others. We told them all to meet in the cafeteria. Luckily, we didn't come across any more dead bodies. When all was said and done, 8 of us were gathered in the cafeteria.



Look, I'm not dying until I get into the 'In Memoriam' section. Please tell me this nightmare is over.

Luckily, I have had the good fortune not to stare upon a corpse directly yet, for if I do it will most certainly triple the trauma this experience imparts on me.

As a therapist, I really can't afford to be psychologically compromised. Therefore, I second Rooster's plea that we end things.

You two seem awfully eager to get out of here. Could you be feeling... guilty?

To feel guilty, you must first sin. And, it's sad to say, but angels are sin-free!

Your point being?



Horse, I'm aware you're in a fragile state after seeing all this death, but please do not make hasty accusations. The fragile camaraderie we currently possess will shatter if the atmosphere gets any worse.

How could it get worse? Four of us are dead!

What if I'm next? Oh god, I don't want to be murdered! Please, just let me have a heart attack right now, that'd be way better!

Would you all shut up? Christ. Look, everyone who currently has a Minor Trinket, throw it in this pile. Let's see how many we have.

Everyone complied, and those with Trinkets put them in the center.

Seven, huh. So no one has found a single other Trinket since we last counted?



That's not necessarily true.

Snake chimed in from nearby the chess table, where he had just moved a piece.

If any of the victims found a Trinket, they would likely have it confiscated by the killer. And of course, if the ambitious or the hateful one found one, they'd also hide it.

Helpful, Snake.

I try.

Do you have to be such a pessimist?

I'm a realist. And realistically speaking, our chances of making it out together have plummeted ever since you found Dragon's body in Mr. Golloday's room.

Mr. Golloday's?



That was the name written on the whiteboard, no?

So you went to check out the crime scene?

But of course. After hearing about the 'locked room' situation, I hoped to solve it again. Unfortunately, this puzzle was above my ability.

So what? Are we doomed?!

Of course not. Surely there's another way for us to survive, right?

...Right?

Calm down, will you? The Round's about to end. For now, let's make sure everything's on track, then we'll discuss future steps.

And just as Ox brought our attention to the screen, the speakers kicked on.

[BGM: Silence]



Round 7 has ended. Now, let us see how the race has progressed.

The Rat has RUN one space.

The Ox has RUN one space.

The Tiger has RUN one space.

The Bunny has RUN one space.

The Dragon has failed to make a move.

The Snake has RUN one space.

The Horse has RUN one space.

The Sheep has failed to make a move.

The Monkey has RUN one space.

The Rooster has RUN one space.

The Dog has failed to make a move.

The Pig has RUN one space.



Now, Round 8 has begun. Do your best, and choose wisely.

Sheep was on the 5th space. Dog was on the 6th space. Dragon was on the 7th. The rest of us were on the 8th space. Despite everything, we were still together in the race.

[BGM: Ox's Logic]


Good. So things aren't entirely off-track.

Not off track? Four of us are dead.

I'd say that's pretty 'off track'.

Adaptability is an important skill in life.

You're talking as if people haven't been murdered!

That is very unhealthy mental baggage, so I have decided to ignore it.

It's just that easy to you?



I wonder what exactly you think is easy.

What are we going to do?!

Keep it down, would you? For Christ's sake, you people are annoying.

S-Sorry!

No no, don't be. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I think the tension is starting to get to me.

People, there's nothing to question. Look at all these Trinkets we have right here. Seven of them.

One more and we can get out together. I think what we need to do is clear. Each one of you should hold on to one of these Trinkets. I'll stay without one for now. We just need to find one more of these things.



The moment we do, that person calls out and gathers everybody, and then we'll leave together. I know there aren't many left. It's even possible that the traitors have taken some.

But we just need one more. That's it – one more and we're clear. We can do this.

Now who's with me?

I am!!

As am I.

Yeah, we can do it guys!

Tch. Wasn't that good a speech. No pizzaz at all.

[BGM: Silence]


Ox somehow managed to turn back the public mood to a positive one. With that, everyone started splitting up to search with positive attitudes. As for me, I started heading to the school's front entrance with Ox.

[BGM: That Pesky Rodent]


Wow. Way to turn the group feeling around.

Yes, well, I just did my best Tiger impression.

It seems if that comes from someone you don't expect it from, it's more effective. ...That or people just desperately want to feel hopeful.

Tiger might've pumped them up better.

She might've.

She was kind of weird, but she was a good person.

She will be missed. They'll all be missed.



Whoever did this isn't going to get away with it.

I agree. It's unlikely they will.

Who do you think did it?

I think this is an awfully unhelpful conversation when we're supposed to be looking for Minor Trinkets.

You don't think it's worth figuring out who did it?

I think it doesn't really change our course of action. And I think it's impossible to say conclusively who it is with the information present.

But if you had to take a guess.



I told you, I'm not going to just accuse someone of a serial murder for the fun of it.

If I was going to say anything, I would examine the method in which the murders were committed.

You mean how were the locked room murders done?

That might be helpful, but that's not what I mean. I'm saying you should think about it process of elimination style. This person wants to kill people off one by one. What would that look like?

What about if this person wanted to? Or this person? When prosecuting, the trick is to tell the most believable story you can to the jury. Stories are all about characters doing things that make sense to them.



For whom would this situation make sense?

Ah... I get what you're saying.

But as I said, search for Trinkets first, mystery solve later.

Yeah, yeah...

With that, we quit our talk of who the killer might be and focused on methodically sweeping the area. Surely a Trinket would show up at some point, right? But from room to room, we weren't able to find anything. Eventually, Ox spoke up.

It's getting close to the end of the round, right? We should probably run now.

Should we try and gather everyone again for this?

No, no, we just need to keep searching for a Trinket. We find a Trinket and everything will be great. Just need a Trinket.

[BGM: Silence]


A small part of the back of my mind despaired at the realization that we had become so far gone for these stupid tokens with random numbers on them. But that part of my brain would have to shut up. For now, even if the game we were playing was dumb, we were playing it with our lives on the line.

Ox went into a separate room so we could make our moves. Obviously I clicked on RUN. We were so close to escaping, why would I betray now? Ox came back in, and then we continued our search. However, it wasn't very long before we had a visitor.



Ah, there you are.

Snake.

Does the fact that you're looking for us mean you've found the Trinket?

Very much not, I'm afraid.

Then why are you here?

I have... unfortunate news to deliver.

Oh no! Is someone else dead?

No, no, not that.

Then what is it?



I think you should come to the cafeteria and see for yourself.

Why the hell did Snake have to be coy at a time like this? Still, there wasn't much I could do but follow his lead into the cafeteria.

...

[BGM: Mousetrap]


What am I supposed to be seeing here?

Look at the race results.

Wait a minute... No way!