"How the… what is his body doing in here?" Blurr quickly muttered to himself. Counterpunch was a Decepticon, so he shouldn't have been able to even enter the area. How did he enter the place? "Concentrate, Blurr," he said to himself. "Get the others so you can hurry up and contain the area," he muttered, quickly making his way out of the Autobot storage area and into the courtyard area, quickly running into somebody.
"Who's dead?" Dead End asked him as soon as he stepped out, surprising.
"Um, it's Counterpunch," he told him, scratching his head worryingly. "What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously.
"Me and Wildrider were both in the book store here," Dead End told him. "He mentioned seeing you enter the storage area and the announcement went off. He's currently getting the others so we can begin our investigation," he finished.
"Oh, uh, okay," Blurr said.
"Who else is with you?" Dead End asked.
"Uh, no one. Why?" he asked. Dead End eyebrow went up at that.
"It takes three to set off a body discovery announcement," he reminded him.
"Your, it… does," Blurr murmured, thinking it through. "Me discovering it means I'm the third one."
"But who are the first and second?" Dead End asked him. The two stayed silent at that thought as Wildrider yelled at them from above.
"Alright guys. The cavalry is here," he told them and indeed, most of them followed Wildrider to the area. The only one absent were Mixmaster, Scavenger, Jazz, and the serial killer suspects.
"Okay, who was the wise guy who decided to discover a body after midnight," Skywarp complained as he finished the descent down the steps.
"Uh, I did," Blurr confessed.
"So, you, Dead End, and Wildrider discovered it," Hoist asked him.
"Actually, only Blurr found it and activated it," Dead End told them.
"Huh? But that's impossible," Perceptor said. "The rules clearly state that three people have to find the body before the murder can be announced."
7.1 A murder will be announced once three uninvolved teachers have found the body
"Oooo, a mystery. Don't you all love mysteries?!" Monobear asked everyone as he came out of nowhere.
"Dude, can you lower your decibels?" Beachcomber asked him, holding the side of his head. "I'm just barely coming out of my recharge sate right now."
"Did three non-culprits really found the body?" Hound asked the bear.
"Well, of course. You really don't think I would make a mistake like that, do you?" the bear asked him, insulted.
"Guys, what happen?" Jazz asked, coming down with the six serial killer suspects and a dent on his face.
"Someone's dead. What else?" Ratchet told him.
"It's Counterpunch," Blurr told him.
"Him?" Nightbeat asked, surprised.
"Who are we going to get to investigate this?" Rewind asked.
"That's actually why are brought these guys out of their isolation," Jazz told them.
"Huh?"
"Well, the door has been lock shut and they couldn't open it, therefore, none of them can be the murderer in this case," Jazz informed them.
"So, wait, you want the six of us to head the investigation?" Swindle asked him.
"It makes the most sense," Perceptor agreed. "With alibis as strong as theirs, I wouldn't consider them a suspect in the murder."
"And Blurr found the body, which means he couldn't possibly have done it," Chromedome told them.
"Well, looks like you got everything sorted out," Monobear complimented. "How nice to see you're getting used to this. The file has already been uploaded. Happy hunting," he finished, walking away before turning back to them. "Oh, also, both sides can enter the storage rooms. I figured it's only fair for investigative purposes," he quickly added, heading out. The first thing everybody did after he left was get there electroID out to look at the new file.
Ammo Gained: Monobear file #3
Victim: Counterpunch
Location: Autobot Storage Room
Cause of Death: Stab wound in the back. Death was nearly instantaneous.
Time of Death: 11:30 P.M.
Additional notes: Victim had trace amount of high-grade in his systems and has a few dents and scrape marks. Victim obtained multiple knife wounds to the back post-mortem.
"Everything here," Swindle immediately pointed out. "Much better than the last case."
"Yes, it does," Nightbeat murmured, looking into the crowd in front of him. One of them had murdered his ally, someone who was wondering about himself and struggling to figure it out. In the end, someone had ended his life before he could figure it out and it was up to him and several others to figure it out.
Investigation Start
Head Detective: Nightbeat
Assistant Detectives: Blast Off, Bludgeon, Blurr, Drift, Smokescreen, and Swindle
"Hmm," Bludgeon murmured.
"Noticed something," Blast Off asked him.
"Correct me if I am wrong, but Counterpunch was a Decepticon, correct?" he asked him.
"Yes he was," Blast Off answered.
"Then why is he located in the Autobot's storage area," Bludgeon asked them.
"Huh," Smokescreen muttered, looking at it, "we should probably look at the area to find answers."
Ammo Gained: Location of Body
Counterpunch, despite being a Decepticon, was located in the Autobot's storage area.
"To go along with that, I managed to set off the body discovery announcement by myself," Blurr told them. "Monobear confirmed I was the third one to find it."
"Huh...?" Nightbeat wondered to himself.
Ammo Gained: Body Discovery Announcemnt
Blurr discover the body by himself, meaning two other people had to have found the body before him.
"Alright," Nightbeat agreed, turning to Jazz. "Keep everyone together while we search the area," he told him.
"Understand," Jazz agreed with a nod, and Nightbeat turned and entered the storage area. The doors to both side were opened, ready for investigation, and the turret was offline. He, along with the others, went in to the Autobot's storage room.
"Okay, not really much here," Drift said upon first examination of the room.
"Well, we should start with the obvious," Nightbeat said, walking up to the body and staring at the knife in it. "Looks like the probable murder weapon."
"Well, I think even an idiot can see that," Blast Off murmured as he looked at the knife with him. "Swindle, correct me, but this is a kitchen knife, right?"
"It looks like it," Swindle said, getting closer. "Can I take the knife out?" he asked Nightbeat.
"Sure," Nightbeat agreed, and Swindle did so, taking it out and examining it. "Yep, definitely a kitchen knife, although something seems a bit off."
"What makes you say that?" Nightbeat asked him.
"It doesn't match the knives in the kitchen at out dorms, so it has to come from somewhere else," he told him.
"Why would they use a kitchen knife not from the dorms?" Drift asked the group. "I mean, they're pretty easy to hide on yourself. Why do you need a different one?"
"Also," Nightbeat murmured, "the amount of energon on the blood is a bit low for a stabbing." Indeed, the energon was only as far as the blade was in the body.
Ammo Gained: Kitchen Knife
Knife found embedded in the body. Does not come from the dorm rooms and lacks the amount of energon on it associated with a stabbing.
"Speaking of energon, is it me or is there a significant lack of energon in the area?" he asked them. The energon from Counterpunch's body only covered his back and barely pooled at the sides of the body.
"He's been dead for over an hour. There should be a large pool of it around him," Bludgeon agreed.
Ammo Gained: Lack of Energon
There was a lack of energon found at the body.
"The monobear file mentioned a few scrapes and dents he had," Blurr said, looking at it and looking back at Counterpunch. "It definitely looks like he got in a fight before he died."
"Agreed," Blast Off said, looking at the body. "Which means the killer and hi got in a fight before he died."
"Most likely," Nightbeat agreed.
Ammo Gained: Signs of a Fight
Scraps and dents suggest Counterpunch got in a fight before he died.
"Okay, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not seeing any other evidence in this room," Drift said, looking around.
"Yeah, it seems suspiciously empty of evidence," Blast Off agreed, looking around, "especially since he was in a fight."
"Perhaps that in itself is a clue," Nightbeat said, looking around.
"If you think so, go ahead. We need any clue we can get," he told him.
Ammo Gained: Lack of evidence.
Location of body lacked any signs of a fight.
"So, are we done here," Swindle asked them.
"Yeah, there isn't much to go on here. If we want to find evidence of a killer, we have to retrace Counterpunch's steps to find out how he ended up here," Nightbeat told them.
"I'll go search the bar," Swindle told them.
"Is now the time for a drink?" Drift asked him.
"No, the file mentioned he had traces of high-grade in his system. I think he might've went there for some," Swindle told them.
"Hmm, then I'll go with you," Blast Off told him.
"Right, go and while you're going there, tell Ratchet and Knock Out to come examine the body," Nightbeat told them.
"You got it," Swindle agreed, he and Blast Off heading out.
"Right, what else can we do," Smokescreen asked the group.
"Let's investigate the Decepticon storage area. He was a Decepticons so he had to have use that as well," Drift told them.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Nightbeat agreed as he hurried inside to look at the scene. Inside, they immediately noticed something suspicious.
"Is my olfactory senses screwing up, or do I smell cleaning fluids," Smokescreen asked everybody.
"That's what it is?" Blurr asked, covering his face. "It's overbearing."
"Now why were cleaning supplies used here?" Nightbeat asked to himself.
Ammo Gained: Smell of Cleaning Fluids.
The Decepticons' Storage area had an overwhelming smell of cleaning fluids.
"I'm not seeing anything else worth noticing here," Nightbeat told the group.
"The killer must have wiped this area down, but why?" Bludgeon asked the group.
"Obviously, something went down here and they hide it, but what?" Blurr asked them.
"We'll have to find more evidence to piece that together. So far, we haven't found much," Drift told them.
"Yes, that is true," Nightbeat agreed, heading out of the room. He could immediately hear Ratchet and Knock Out bickering in the Autobot's storage. "Less than two minutes and they are already fighting," Nightbeat muttered to himself , heading inside to see what they were arguing about.
"What are you doing? Arts-and-Crafts with the victim's blood?" Knock Out asked hi.
"Of a sort," Ratchet told him, wagging his finger at him that was stained with wet energon before getting back to it.
"Uh, what are you two complaining about?" Nightbeat asked him.
"Ratchet's playing connect the dots with the victim's knife wounds using the deceased energon," Knock Out told them.
"Ratchet, that's… kind of messed up," Drift told him with disgust.
"Well, we can talk later about it, because I think I may have just found a clue, wouldn't you said Knock Out?" Ratchet asked smugly. Knock Out glared down at the victim distastefully before noticing what Ratchet did.
"What the?! Was the killer sending us a message?" Knock Out asked him.
"Huh?" Nightbeat asked, him and the rest closing in to see what Ratchet did. Indeed, using all but one of the stab wounds, Ratchet connected them to write out the word "PUNCH" on them.
"So, the killer stabbed out a shorten version of the victim's name? What's the point?" Smokescreen asked them.
"I don't know, but it's obviously important somehow," Nightbeat said, looking intensely at the wounds.
Ammo Gained: Stab Wounds
They were placed to spell out 'PUNCH.'
"To go along with that, I check the victim for his personal effects and his electroID was missing," Knock Out told them.
"It is?" Bludgeon asked him.
"Yes, which meant your killer had some ulterior motive with it, although what, I don't quite know," Knock Out told them.
Ammo Gained: Missing ElectroID
Victim was missing his electroID
"I have a question," Bludgeon announced.
"Shoot," Ratchet told them.
"Why wasn't that stab wound part of the message?" Bludgeon pointed out, the wound being located center of mass.
"Well, that's the killing blow," Ratchet told him.
"It is?" Smokescreen asked.
"Yep. Went straight through his spark. Probably died nearly instantly," Ratchet told them.
"Doesn't that look a bit bigger than the others," Drift asked him.
"Yes, it does, although I don't particularly know why," he told them. "You need to give us some more time to examine the body."
Ammo Gained: Killing Blow
Stab wound went through the victim's spark.
Not part of the message.
Slightly larger than the other wounds.
"Alright, we'll leave you to it," Nightbeat agreed, walking out of the doorway.
"Good luck," Ratchet told him as Knock Out and him continued their examination.
"Well, I believe we're done with the storage rooms, aside from Ratchet and Knock Out's examination later," Blurr said, sounding a bit bitter. "I see absolutely nothing to indicate who his killer is."
"Which is why we need to spread our search for any evidence even farther," Nightbeat told him.
"You mean search the mall? In case you haven't noticed, this place is big," Blurr reminded him.
"Hasn't stopped us before," Nightbeat told them. "I would also like to visit his room as well, see if we can find anything in there to go along with our findings."
"What do you expect to find in there," Drift asked him.
"A motive," he explained.
"So, we should divide and conquer," Bludgeon told him.
"Correct," Nightbeat agreed.
"We'll also have to ask anybody if they've seen anything," Smokescreen told them.
"I think I could do that," Blurr said. I know at least a couple of people were up during a night, and they could offer a few more.
"So much to do, so little time," Smokescreen complained.
"Well than, let's get started," Nightbeat told them.