Naegi supposed that he should have expected that Genocide Jill's reaction to a murder accusation would be laughter. She threw her head back and cackled like he'd told her a particularly hilarious joke.
"Good one, Makyutie," she said, grinning at him. "You're never boring, I'll say that for ya!"
"I'm not kidding," Naegi said, giving her a serious look. "Ogami only would have had access to her own sewing kit, Kirigiri wasn't in the room, and Asahina gave her sewing kit to me. You're the only one who could have done this."
"Oh, I see what you're getting at," Jill said, shrugging. "But I think you're forgetting just one little thing." She leaned forward over her podium. "I wasn't there, remember?"
"But Fukawa was," Naegi said.
"Her?" Jill put one hand on her hip as she stared at him. "Are you for real? You think Gloomy scraped up the guts to off someone?" She shook her head. "No way. If she had the nerve for that, you wouldn't have a fantastic murderer like me to show you how it's done!"
"Can you be sure about that?" Naegi asked, frowning. "I mean, you've never actually met her, right? You're never around at the same time, so how would you know for sure what she'd do?"
"You just don't get it, do you?" Jill shook her head. "Take a good long look past my charming demeanor and people-pleasing attitude and tell me – do Gloomy and I look like different people?"
"Huh?" Naegi blinked, puzzled. "Well – no, of course you don't."
"Exactly." Jill idly twirled a pair of scissors in one hand. "Because we aren't. I may not know the minute by minute details of what she does all day, but you'd better believe the important stuff comes through loud and clear."
"She said something to that effect to me during the investigation," Togami said, his eyes dark as he glared at Jill. "The two of you share emotions and feel the same way towards people."
"Got it in one, White Knight," Jill said, beaming at him. "Way to ride to the rescue of a damsel in distress!" She looked around the circle. "And before any of you ask another stupid question – I can tell you for sure that I never once wanted to kill that guy. The only boys I want to kill are so adorable you just want to make them scream – and there's nothing adorable about Hagakure."
"But – if Naegi's right, then there's no one else it could have been," Asahina said. "Maybe – maybe being trapped here got to be too much for her, and she just picked a random target."
"Random? Not on your life!" Jill snapped, jabbing her scissors in Asahina's direction. "You think killing is just a game for me? Something I do because I'm bored or because it seemed like a good idea at the time? Well, think again! Killing is my passion and my art, and I take it seriously."
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Kirigiri asked, studying Jill through narrowed eyes.
"I mean that I would never want the blood of some loser like Hagakure soiling my hands," Jill said, tossing her braids. "The only blood I want to see belongs to my darling White Knight!"
"Which we already knew," Asahina said, rolling her eyes.
But there was something about the way that Jill had said those last few words that had sent a chill of dread down Naegi's spine. "Wait, hang on. If what you just said is true, then – then are you saying that you think Fukawa being the culprit would make sense if –" He took a deep breath, bracing himself to say the words. "If Togami was the victim?"
Jill grinned at him. "Now you got it, Big Mac! Only thing I'd object to there would be that I didn't get to hear him scream myself."
Naegi's breath froze in his throat at the thought. He could almost see it laid out before his eyes – Togami's face slack and lifeless, his own blood dripping down his sides, his hands pinned to the wall with the scissors Jill was even now spinning in her fingers. The world spun dizzily around him at the vision, and he felt himself weaving on his feet as a silent roar of protest filled his ears. Before this, he would have said he didn't want to see anyone here dead – but he knew now that this was different. Togami was different.
"Naegi? Are you all right?"
Only one voice could have cut through the spinning and screaming in his head. Naegi looked up across the circle, and his eyes locked with Togami's. He clung to the shared gaze like a lifeline, taking in one shaky breath after another.
"I'm fine," he said at last, using both hands to brace himself against the wooden railing. "I just – got dizzy for a second."
"Aw, you didn't have to get so shaken up by it, Makyutie," Jill said. "It's not like I'm really going to kill my darling White Knight. Sure, I'd enjoy it and all, but that's a one-time deal! I'd rather follow him around and stay right up close at his side!"
"But what if you couldn't?" Kirigiri's calm question pierced across the circle. "What would you do if you felt that was no longer an option?"
Jill shrugged. "I guess that would be where plan B comes in!" She snipped her scissors through the air in demonstration. Naegi's stomach lurched at the sight, knowing just what she meant by it.
"As fascinating as this debate is, can I remind you all that I'm not actually dead?" Togami said, sending Kirigiri an irritated look. "We're talking about Hagakure's murder, not mine."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Kirigiri tapped one finger against her chin. "There's one thing about this murder that is very unusual – something we haven't seen before. And I think that it's something that can answer this question." She looked over at Naegi. "Do you know?"
Naegi gritted his teeth and tried to focus past the dizziness that still rocked his head. "Something we haven't seen before?" What was it that was unique about this particular killing?
He tried to think. She couldn't mean the locked door – they'd already answered that question. And Celeste's plan had centered around people falling unconscious. He supposed that they hadn't seen poison in any of the other trials, but he wasn't sure Kirigiri would consider poison to be very unusual – and anyway, that didn't have anything to do with the question of who had been murdered. Not unless…
He looked up at her. "You mean that this is the first death we've seen where the culprit didn't personally murder the victim, don't you?"
"Exactly." Kirigiri nodded. "The nature of the killer's trap means that she would have had to put it in place before the victim was present – and that means that we can't guarantee that the intended victim was the one who actually got killed."
"So you're saying that the culprit didn't mean to kill Hagakure?" Ogami asked.
"She said it herself," Kirigiri said, gesturing at Jill. "The only one she would try to kill is Togami. Any other victim must have been an accident."
"Sounds like someone's jumping to conclusions!" Jill retorted. "I can buy Gloomy screwing up a perfectly good murder plan – but even she would know better than to try to kill a guy who wasn't actually in the room!"
"Unless she thought that he was going to be," Naegi said. He looked over at Asahina. "You said that you brought the others to Ogami's room, right?"
"Yes," Asahina agreed. "Fukawa first, then Hagakure."
"And what did you say when you asked them to come?" Naegi asked. "Did you say exactly who else would be there?"
"I – I don't remember." Asahina frowned. "I think that I just said that I wanted everyone who didn't believe in Sakura to come listen to her."
"Which could reasonably be assumed to include Togami," Kirigiri pointed out. "On its own, that might not be enough to plan a murder – but there would have been one other reason for her to believe Togami would be involved."
Naegi nodded. "You mean the door, don't you?" He looked at Asahina. "The door must have been open already, right? Fukawa would have been able to see that from her room. And since she didn't know about the screwdriver, she naturally would have assumed that the door had been opened with the key – the one that had been in Togami's possession."
"So you think she set up a murder while she was in a room full of people?" Jill rolled her eyes. "Not even I would try that – no way Gloomy could pull it off!"
"She wouldn't need to," Ogami said, face grim. "The room would have been empty when she arrived. Hina went to speak to Hagakure instead of returning immediately, and I was in the bathroom disposing of Asahina's note. She would have had an opportunity, had she wished to use it."
"And what, she just pulled a bunch of poisoned needles out of thin air?" Jill laughed. "Is she a witch now? Because let me tell you, I can think of much better uses for a magic wand!"
"It wouldn't take magic," Kirigiri said. "Just planning." She looked over at Naegi. "You see it, don't you?"
And as much as Naegi hated to do it, he had to nod. "Yes. The only way this makes sense is if Fukawa already had the needles." He took a deep breath. "This wasn't a spur of the moment plan – she was planning to kill Togami already."
