Part 41: Investigation Duty

[BGM: Silence]


It took a moment to process what that meant.

So... I guess Dog is alive then?

We do not know that for sure. Once someone is dead, others can operate their tablet without cause for concern. If he was killed, their killer could have disguised that death with this, at least for a turn.

Interesting how that's where your mind first jumps, and not the idea that he might've just input his move before he got killed.

That would break from the pattern we had previously established, would it not? Earlier, we had decided it best to input moves at the end of the round, in case something came up.

Although, since we are seemingly so set in our strategy of running until we have the needed Trinkets, the need for such a routine becomes increasingly unclear.

Always gotta have the last word, huh?

I was simply answering your question.

[BGM: Rat's Awakening]


Um, guys?

Sheep piped up from the back of the room.

Pig's still missing.

Now this is getting ridiculous.

You don't think something happened to her, do you?

What? No way!



Actually, we can't dismiss such possibilities so quickly anymore. Things have become tense and dangerous.

Before further discussion, we should look around the nearby rooms and try and find her.

Alright! She couldn't have gone far.

Once again, the group spread out. It was starting to feel like every time this happened, one fewer person returned. Still, Ox was right. Pig's disappearance was a cause of concern for all of us. I went down the right hallway to see if she had entered a room in this direction. I didn't see her coming down this way, but I could've just missed her.

It wasn't long, however, before I heard a scream.

[BGM: Silence]


I ran back into the cafeteria, and I saw Tiger and Bunny looking horrified at the side of one of the pillars. What were they looking at? I ran around, and quickly realized what was leaning against the other side of the pillar.

Pig's bloody body.

I didn't physically black out, but I immediately needed to sit down. Horse's body was one thing, but I was able to get through that thanks to the adrenaline. But Pig's body marked that Horse was no fluke accident. There was a killer among us. A killer who wouldn't stop until each and every one of us was dead. And that was a little much for me to deal with at the moment.

While I recuperated, Ox, Tiger, Bunny, Snake, Sheep, and Rooster all gathered around the body. They all donned expressions of shock and horror. Who could say if they were all genuine?

[BGM: Weak Pig]


Disastrous! Monstrous! Soul crushing! We are all both actors and audience of life's greatest tragedy.

Sleep peacefully, dear Pig, for now the woes of the world worry you not.

Hey, could you not mock this woman's death with your bullshit soliloquies? Are you even actually sad?

Of course my heart aches! Who would not mourn the death of any potential fan? I feel like we bonded then, even if she wouldn't admit it.

I'd gladly give up my time to speak at her funeral when all is said and done.

I don't even know why I bother.



Why is this happening? Why would someone kill her?

It's not much of a mystery. Clearly, one of our personalities is determined. This person found the Butcher's Knife, and found an out. They killed Horse, they killed Pig, and they might have killed Dog.

But why? They didn't use the knife on Horse, so what's the point?

Not yet. But remember, the rules didn't specify that the person must have been killed with the knife, just that the corpse must be slashed by it.

Our assailant is waiting until there are enough targets, at which point they shall run about the place, claiming the spaces as rewards.

No way!



But when was she killed? Before or after the round change?

She was killed right in this cafeteria, but we were walking all around here! How terrifying...

Bunny, you were the one to find her when you were walking back to the cafeteria, right?

Yeah.

Is it possible you didn't see her when you walked this way?

It's totally possible she was already there when we went out to look for her. The pillar blocked my view and I could've ju st ignored her and moved forwards.



But after I input my move for last round, I walked back down that hallway, and I didn't see her then.

So she was killed sometime after we first returned from inputting our moves but before just now.

That's a lot of time...

You know what, forget this. If we just start tunneling on this, none of us are going to escape in time. Based on my last count, we should have 6 Minor Trinkets among us.

Horse and Pig are dead, and Tiger has already accepted her fate. It's possible Dog is dead, so we might need as little as 8 Minor Trinkets before we have enough for everybody.

The moment that happens, we can all stay as a single group together, with each person making the same choice every time and people making their moves one at a time.

There'll be no chance for the killer to make a move, especially with Tiger guarding those weapons.



It might feel like we're turning a blind eye to what's happening, but I honestly think we should still focus on finding Minor Trinkets.

That makes sense.

By the way, aren't we missing some people?

Oh, Monkey went looking for Pig on the third floor. She said she thought Pig might've decided to just flee from the group.

Have no fear, I shall inform her of the proceedings.

Rooster left to go talk to Monkey.

[BGM: Silence]


Well, for the rest of you, stay alert. There's likely a killer among us. Don't let them get you.

Ox was just saying to ignore Pig's murder? I got his point, we needed to find Trinkets, but...

Actually, I want to investigate Pig's death.

What?

I don't like the idea of just ignoring the killer and putting all our eggs in the 'Trinket Finding' basket. The killer might pull something again, and if they do, it'd be best if we could identify them.

Surprisingly, I had an advocate.



I agree! Someone just... killed Horse. Killed Pig. It's not right.

I don't want to just ignore that.

This seems like a waste of time.

But it'd be more wasteful to argue it.

[BGM: See No Evil]


Sheep, Mouse, you can be on investigation duty if you want. Tiger, keep guarding those weapons. And the rest of us will look for Trinkets. Does that sound fairer to you?

Yes, it does.

Great.

With that, the rest of the group started to split up. That just left Sheep and myself standing by the body.

Well, I guess that's that.

Are you going to start investigating now?

I don't really know how to, but yeah, I guess I will.



Do you mind if I join in? I feel like I haven't done anything helpful so far, and... and I want to know who killed Horse. ...I at least owe him that much.

Hey, helping's why you're here with me. Why wouldn't I want the extra hands?

I just don't know how useful I'm going to be.

Don't worry, it's not like you have to be useful to be useful.

Um... what?

Well, for one, it's always good to have a witness around in case someone tries to off the detective. You're like a form of protection!

Oh, well, that's nice. But you know, I could try and also solve things too.

Sure, you can also try.



You... you know I'm older than you, right?

Right.

...Okay. Please start your investigation.

Great. Now, let's begin by examining the body.

It wasn't going to be pretty, but I needed to steel my nerves. I walked over to Pig's body and started looking at it. Looking closer, I could see that she was stabbed in the heart with a knife.

So this one was killed by a knife, huh?



Do you think it was the Butcher's Knife?

It would certainly appear that way. If that's the case, we could just wait to the end of the round again, and we'd get our answer then.

But... That seems a little too easy. I don't like the idea of putting things off with the assurance that things'll be solved if we do nothing but wait a bit longer.

You're right. The killer might kill again while we wait for that.

Gosh, this is a really gross sight. The blood's all over her.

Hey, isn't that a big clue?

Hm?



If Pig was killed with a knife, the killer must've gotten blood on their hands, right? But I didn't see anyone with blood on their hands. So either we haven't seen the killer after they've killed, or the killer had a chance to use a restroom.

Hey, that's some great thinking, Sheep! There are only 3 restrooms on this floor. We should figure out who would have had a chance to go to any of them, and when.

How would we do that?

After we're done here, we should ask other people about their movements, both when they went to input their moves and when we split up to look for Pig.

Got it. That makes sense.

But...

There's a lot of blood on Pig. So why hasn't a drop gotten on the floor surrounding her?

[BGM: Dog Days]


So she was definitely killed by the knife?

Was she? Against my better judgment, I examined Pig's body closer. To my surprise, this investigation actually turned up something useful.

Her neck's been bruised. Hey, doesn't this mean she was strangled?

Really?

Yeah, these are definitely someone's hands.

Wow, so she was actually strangled, huh?

Probably. If she was already dead, it'd probably be easier for the killer to not spill as much blood on themselves. Though, with what we can see from the splatter on her shirt, it's still impossible for none of it to have gotten on the killer.



Isn't it pretty difficult to strangle someone to death? I know I couldn't do something like that.

Me neither. But if you were going to, Pig was probably an easier target. I think probably anyone but us two, Monkey, and Snake could've choked her to death.

Probably.

I think that's all we're going to get from this scene. But let's look around the cafeteria some more, just in case.