"Your watch, pal."

Begrudgingly, I pick myself up and drag myself outside, watching Gumshoe disappear into the shelter before I look around.

The last of the fire is dying, and I'm too sluggish to think of helping it out before it's gone altogether. Oh, well. I've survived nights without it. Even if these jackets barely provide any protection from the wind.

It's hard to wake up when it's still so dark outside... And I'm still weary... from all of it. Maybe Miles's death is the rawest wound, but WP is still dead, and Penny, and Dustin, and... how many others now? We have to be halfway through the field by now. It's bizarre, and... I really think it's taking more of a toll on me than the lack of food and such. I haven't figured out any deaths but Polly's, Cindy's, and Frank's. Maybe it's not as important when everyone on the outside knows exactly what happened, but... I hate not knowing who the murderers are. Not knowing what happened to make my friends die. It's... It's just...

With a sigh, I try to rub my eyes awake. All I do is blur what little vision I have in this light.

Maybe I should start a fire... Wake myself up, try to figure out some of the jabberjay notes... But I'm too tired...

I do my best to stay awake as I sit here partially reclined. I've got to keep an eye out... There are hostile tributes out there...

I've nearly dozed off when I think I hear footsteps. Shaking myself, I squint at the shadows—tree roots, stones, grasses, small plants—

Something cold and metal slams into the side of my head, and white flashes blur out the details as I cry out and tumble sideways.

Ow—Ow—What's...?

Tumbling sounds. Wood? The shelter? What...?

"Aah!" One of the girls.

I have to get up. Something's—Okay, I can't get up. Not getting up. Ow...

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, pal?"

A half-clunk, half-whap, then a gasp.

"I-I-I am but drifting! Thank you for asking! G-goodbye, now!"

"Hey! You—!"

More footsteps crunching. Getting softer. Although that could be my hearing... I can feel myself starting to drift...

"Hold it...! Shoot—Maggey! Are you okay?"

"Y-yes, sir. He didn't hit me. But Phoenix...!"

"Phoenix!"

"W-what...? Nick...? What's going on...?"

I wake up in sunlight. Although the trees above me only let jagged patches through, I'm still pretty warm. And my head really hurts. I think there might be an injury on the left side, but my whole skull is pounding so hard I can't say for sure.

"Hey! I think he's waking up!"

"Oh!"

Groaning, I try to look around a little more and dare to start sitting up. Aside from the wave of nausea, it's not a bad idea. Now I can see the faces of the three sitting before me.

Right in front of me is a girl with bent-up glasses. "Sir! How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" I stare at her, trying to figure out who she is. She's wearing the same outfit as me, minus the jacket—actually, the other two are also wearing it. And—hang on—the unfamiliar environment, the injuries all around, the odd sadness in the back of my head... Is this the Hunger Games? That—that sounds right? Am I...

Who am I...?

The other three—surely my allies—seem worried by my lack of response, so I swallow. If this is that dire a situation, there's no need to panic them, more, right?

"Uh, I'm doing okay, thanks. My head hurts, but... But that's all."

"Ah, all right." Crooked Glasses leans back a little. "It looked like you got hit pretty hard, sir."

"Yeah—you don't think you have a concussion or anything, pal?" The one on her right, a big guy with a square jaw and a pencil behind his ear, frowns at me.

"Uh... I don't really know?" I rub the back of my neck. "I just woke up, and all I know for sure is that I have a pretty bad headache." And I really do mean that that's all I know...

"Well, let's just not move around too much today, all right?" The last one, a girl with... Chief's necklace...? says. "We could all use a little rest, anyway." She pauses. "Nick? Is something wrong?"

I don't ask her about the necklace. I feel like I'm already supposed to know about it. "No. Sorry."

So, my name is Nick...? Okay... It doesn't ring any bells, but I guess I shouldn't expect it to...

"Here!" Necklace Girl claps her hands together and gets up. "I'll run to the pond and get some water for you."

"Huh?! Wait—" she doesn't look like that much of a fighter—"I don't think you should go by yourself."

"It's not that far, you know." She grins at me.

"Here, I'll come with you." Crooked Glasses pushes herself up.

"Uh—" Square Jaw reaches after her for a second but glances at me. "A-all right. Be careful."

"We will, sir."

With that, the girls pick up their bags and head out. I watch after them for a second before turning back ahead. It makes my neck hurt a little less, although it doesn't make much of a difference for my head.

Just beyond Square Jaw's shoulder is a haphazard, curved stack of branches, dirt and leaves all over it.

"Yeah, whoever attacked last night wrecked the shelter pretty bad, pal." Square Jaw turns his head to look at the mess. "You were probably already unconscious by then."

He turns back around. "I was just waking up from you yelling, so I don't know firsthand, but the attacker had already ruined the shelter when I noticed him. Maggey was already up, I guess—I heard her shouting and got up as quickly as I could. There wasn't enough light for me to see the attacker's face, but he gasped and swung what looked like a fire extinguisher at me. I caught it, and then he kind of panicked and ran. I, uh, didn't catch him, but I did check on Maggey. She said she wasn't hurt and then pointed me to you, and, by then, everybody was waking up, so we just all kept an eye out. Nobody came, and then, well, you woke up not too long after sunrise."

"Huh." I look over the area from where I sit.

So... One of the girls is named Maggey. Crooked Glasses seemed pretty injured to me, but that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't her. Hmm... Well, I'll just keep winging it, I guess.

"Hey," I start, pointing over to a glint near the shelter. Although some supplies are near what likely used to be the mouth of the lean-to, they're all organized, in bags. But this is over there by its lonesome. "What's that?"

Square Jaw looks over. "Oh—the glasses?" Getting up for a second, he fetches them and presents them to me. "Yeah, I saw them earlier, pal. The attacker must have lost them. You remember anyone who was wearing glasses before?"

"Uh... The only one I can think of is in our alliance."

"Hmm." He looks over the glasses. "They're in pretty good shape—I wonder if Maggey could use them?"

Okay, so Crooked Glasses is definitely Maggey. Wonder who the rest of these guys are...

"What are the odds that they'd be the right strength?"

"Good point, pal. We'll just have to see."

Necklace Girl sits next to me as we go through some of our water. "So, are you feeling a little better today? Well, not in the head, but about... Edgeworth?"

E-Edgeworth!? How does she know about him? What does he have to do with any of this? If I'm sad about him, something must have happened to him, but... I haven't seen him in years. And he can't be in the Hunger Games, if I'm the tribute from my district. Unless he moved all the way to another district, but...

No. No, no, no. That can't be right. That couldn't happen.

Necklace Girl takes my silence for an answer and sighs. "I guess it's still only been two days, after all. Sorry."

"No, it's all right..." I fold my arms and watch the ground.

How could... No... This doesn't make sense...

Across from me, Square Jaw sighs, expression glum. "It still feels like it was just this morning, pal. Even if he wasn't really thinking straight, he... trusted me to get him out of the way. We trusted each other with our lives, you know—it's hard not to, after spending a night out there and after I—I—" Blanching, he flicks his gaze to the side. "A-after Yanni tried to attack him."

"Yanni?" Maggey blinks. "Why would he want to attack Edgeworth?"

Necklace Girl looks down. "It's a long story, but... he had a reason. Not a good one, but a reason."

What kind of reason? Do I already know this? Who's Yanni?

A-and—Miles is dead?

"Ah." Maggey looks back at Square Jaw. "So you saved Edgeworth from him?"

"U-uh, yeah. Anyway, uh... who wants to... find food?"

"Wait a second!" Necklace Girl leans forward. "What exactly was Yanni like when he attacked?"

Square Jaw stammers. "What? Why would we need to...? I mean—hey! We're talking about getting food, pal! Don't change the subject!"

"Gumshoe! You're the one who's changing the subject!" She looks at me. "Yanni was there when Penny was killed. What he acted like could give us clues into what happened then. Right, Nick?"

I have no idea what's going on, who anyone is, what happened to Edgeworth—who might be dead—and... I... Maybe I should just tell them...

"I..." Look at her, though... She's really counting on me... Maybe I can at least piece together something. "I think you're right. Let's hear it, Gumshoe."

He frowns, hunching his shoulders. "I-I don't want to talk about it, pal!"

"Why not, sir?" Maggey watches him, frowning with her eyebrows raised.

Gumshoe looks around at us for a second before he slumps. Head tilted down and sad eyes looking up at us, he says, "B-because... I killed Yanni. And unlike Mr. Edgeworth, I have hard evidence that I really did it."

"Whaaaat!?" Maggey and the other girl both cringe in shock, while I can only stare dumbly at the confessing killer. I guess he's not the kind of guy we'd expect to kill someone.

No... He's not...

Gumshoe...?

Just a glimpse of memory niggles at the back of my mind, but it's gone before I can really grasp it. Still... there's something wrong here.

I put my hands on my knees. "Well, we have to hear your account now. If you're able to give it."

Gumshoe swallows, still giving us that kicked-puppy look. "O-okay, pal..."

He straightens up a little, although he still looks far from happy. "It was late afternoon, on the second day. I had only run into Mr. Edgeworth maybe two hours before then. He had been doing pretty well, but in the last half hour or so, he started slipping. And then, before I knew it, Yanni was on us. He was real angry, and he barely even looked at me before he charged at Mr. Edgeworth. I knocked Yanni out of the way, but he got up and tried to get past me again, so I whacked him with the baton. But... he still didn't stop. I ended up hitting him in the head before he finally started backing up. He was bleeding pretty bad when he disappeared into the trees. A couple minutes later, a cannon blew, and the hovercraft picked him up not too far away."

Hunched up again, he looks at the ground.

I can feel Necklace Girl looking at me unhappily. "Well? Find anything fishy?"

I take a deep breath. There are a few things I'd like to press on... "Yeah..." I turn to Gumshoe. "Can you go through that once more?"

He nods, looking at the corners of his eyes as his mind goes back. "It was late afternoon, on the second day."

Well, if no one has a watch, I can't ask him to be more specific than that.

"I had only run into Mr. Edgeworth maybe two hours before then."

"Hold it!" I let my hands fall by my hips. "How exactly was... Edgeworth doing when you first saw him?"

"He was all right. Not injured, and in his right mind, but he definitely looked tired."

I rub my chin. "How did he react to running into you?"

"Uh... Mostly he glared at me, but he seemed all right with sharing some water and walking together some."

Necklace Girl looks at me. "I don't see what this has to do with anything, Nick..."

I rub the back of my neck. "S-sorry..." I'm just trying to get as much information as I can here.

There's just a bit of a pause before Gumshoe continues. "He had been doing pretty well, but in the last half hour or so, he started slipping."

"Hold it! What do you mean by 'slipping'?"

"You know, pal. The poison was acting up again, and he was sorta in a daze."

Poison... acting up again...? Something that went in cycles, I guess? "So you didn't walk any farther after that?"

"That's right." He looks to the side. "And then, before I knew it, Yanni was on us. He was real angry, and he barely even looked at me before he charged at Mr. Edgeworth."

"Hold it! You say he charged? Did he have any weapons?"

"No. He..." Gumshoe slumps. "...probably would have been able to defend himself a little better if he did."

"Nick!" Necklace Girl holds her fists in front of her. "Don't you know what that means?"

"...Huh?" He was crazy...?

"He didn't have the knife! If he had picked it up and killed Penny with it, don't you think he would have kept something like that?"

"Y-yeah."

The knife... The knife that Edgeworth had...!

And... they were both hit by a poison spray trap... And...

And...

No, that's all I can think of right now. Darn it...

Gumshoe sighs. " I knocked Yanni out of the way, but he got up and tried to get past me again, so I whacked him with the baton. But... he still didn't stop."

Nothing to pick on there.

"I ended up hitting him in the head before he finally started backing up."

I guess I would want to start backing away, too, at that point...

"He was bleeding pretty bad when he disappeared into the trees."

"Hold it! From the head wound?"

Gumshoe slouches. "Yeah, pal."

I put a hand to my chin. "But don't head wounds always bleed a lot?"

"Do they?" He looks up, an eyebrow arched. "I guess..."

That still doesn't prove it wasn't lethal, though...

"A couple minutes later, a cannon blew, and the hovercraft picked him up not too far away."

"Hold it!" I inhale. "So he was able to walk some distance before he died?"

"That's what it looked like."

"And you didn't actually see the moment of death?"

"No." Gumshoe looks to the side. "But it's pretty clear he bled to death from the head wound, pal."

...That's everything. But... something still doesn't seem right...

Wait...! I think I remembered something!

"Objection!" I shout before pausing.

What... What's come over me...? Without thinking, I just blurted out, "Objection!"... And I yelled it at the top of my lungs, finger outstretched, ready to take on my opponent! What a rush!

"Gumshoe." I slam my hands on my knees. "You say the last you saw of Yanni, he was bleeding from a head wound you gave him and stumbling away, correct?"

He frowns, his other eyebrow raised. "Yes."

"But he was able to walk around for a few minutes before he died! The injury couldn't have been that bad! Something else killed him!"

Suddenly panting, Gumshoe frowns at me, teeth bared. "Like what? Don't make claims you can't back up, pal!"

Arms akimbo, I grin. "Oh, I can back it up. Take that!" I point at the crucial piece of evidence.

Gumshoe blinks. "Maggey's burn...?"

Hands on my hips again, I tilt my head down a bit and look at him. "Do you remember how she got that, Gumshoe?"

"Huh?" He thinks for a second. "From a trap, right?"

"That's right." Oh, yeah. I've got this. "This whole arena is riddled with traps, isn't it?"

"Yeah...?"

"So, tell me...!" I lean in. "How is hitting Yanni before he walked off into an area full of traps 'hard evidence' that you killed him?"

Gumshoe stammers. "H-hard evidence? Did... did I say that? Me?"

"I heard you say it!"

Necklace Girl nods. "You did say it."

"You said it, sir."

"W-well..." He blinks. "I... I guess it's not really solid proof..."

"It can't be." I slam my hands on my knees. "Because you didn't kill him, Gumshoe. And you can't prove something that didn't happen!"

He leans back a little, still looking awed. I guess I can have that effect on people.

"Maybe... I didn't kill him, then?"

"O-of course you didn't, sir!" Maggey leans towards him. "We know you didn't!"

"That's right!" Necklace Girl smiles at him, and then me. "Good job, Nick!"

"Thanks."

...Now if I could only figure out what else has been going on...