May 17

Grand Hall Theater

9:30 AM

Deirdre Brigit

When we got closer to the person, they turned to face the wall. With a quick motion, they flicked on the backstage light switch, prompting yellow illumination to flood my vision. I cringed at the sudden change of scenery and held up my hands to block out the brightness at least a little bit. As much as it caught me by surprise, it did offer one noticeable positive, and that was that I could see the person that had been hiding backstage with much more clarity now.

It was a young man, I noticed, with a black hat that was pulled close over his eyes, leaving the upper half of his face in shadow. He wore all black as well, and a hoodie was thrown over his figure. The jacket barely fit him and seemed to be trying to fall off his slender frame, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought that the sweater was trying to swallow him whole.

"Who might you be?" Mr. Morix questioned, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

The young man cleared his throat before speaking up. "Stayge Crewe," he told us. He didn't bother to say anything else, and even as we watched him in anticipation of further words, he remained stubbornly silent.

I nodded after a brief period of awkward quiet. "I see... We are the defense team for Chrysalis. We're trying to learn more about this case. I'm Deirdre Brigit, and this is Yuri Rinko and Cotoli Morix," I explained. "Would you be willing to tell us more about the case?"

Mr. Crewe nodded, and once again, I was left waiting for him to say something, anything, else, but he stayed quiet just as he had before.

Yuri let out a sigh before breaking the veil of silence that had fallen on us. "So... What happened the night of the crime for you?" she questioned.

"Not much," Mr. Crewe said simply with a shrug. "I was trying to work on the show from behind the scenes, and that's it."

"That's why you're wearing all black, isn't it?" Mr. Morix questioned, gesturing to his outfit. "In order to keep from being seen on the stage, you wear dark clothing. That way, the audience won't be able to pick you apart from the scenery."

Mr. Crewe nodded once more. "You're smart," he said curtly. He didn't continue after that, and I was starting to get the feeling that if we wanted to get anything helpful out of him, we would have to drag it out. That wasn't exactly ideal, but what choice did we have? He was already proving himself to be far from conversational when it came to small talk. It was just as Satoki and Shane had told us before.

"Hm... Do you know anything about a missing prop?" Yuri inquired, tilting her head to one side. "It should be a knife. We heard that it went missing the night of the murder."

Mr. Crewe pointed over to a table off to the right of where we were standing. There was a lamp sitting on top of it, though the light was flicked off at that moment. On top of the stand was an open script, likely for the play, and a fake knife.

I gasped and walked over to it. I reached out to pick it up before deciding that might not be a great idea. After all, who could say for sure if that was the best plan? If the knife had evidence on it, such as traces of fingerprints, it wouldn't do if I wiped them off by accident.

"Where did you find this?" Mr. Morix asked. "We were under the impression that it had gone missing."

Mr. Crewe shrugged. "Someone just put it there. I guess somebody took it and then put it back when they were finished with whatever they had to do. I don't know what's so special about it though. The knife isn't real," he remarked.

Sure enough, he was right. The way the light overhead gleamed off the fake blade told me that it was likely plastic rather than actual metal. It was painted well enough to look realistic from an audience's perspective, but when you looked a bit closer, it became increasingly clear that the knife lacked any special qualities that would make it an actual weapon.

"Who uses the knife in the play?" Yuri asked next, walking closer to Mr. Crewe after she was done looking at the knife. "Maybe they were the one to pick it up."

"Chrysalis," Mr. Crewe answered bluntly. "She's the only one who needs it."

I cringed at the thought. If Chrysalis was the only one who used the knife, then it could be somehow manipulated to be used against her. Maybe the culprit wanted it to be used as some sort of evidence...

Mr. Morix frowned and reached out towards the knife's blade. He picked up the plastic carefully before yanking an empty plastic bag from his pocket. He dropped the knife into the bag before sealing it and taking it for himself. I didn't know why he was doing something like that, but I got the sneaking suspicion that I would be hearing more information on the matter soon enough.

"What do you know about the murder itself?" I inquired next. So far, we hadn't been able to get Mr. Crewe to speak about the actual crime, but I was going to change that.

Mr. Crewe paused before shrugging once more. "Not much. Chrysalis and Saya hated each other," he told us. "Maybe it was jealousy."

Mr. Morix glared at him for a moment at the idea before burying his emotions on the matter and letting out a sigh. "Did you happen to see anything the night of the crime? Anything at all?" he questioned.

"No." The word came out easily and bluntly. I got the feeling that there was more to it than that, but Mr. Crewe wasn't exactly intent on talking, and unless we had solid proof that he knew something, then we probably weren't going to be hearing much more than that.

Yuri suddenly let out a gasp and snapped her fingers. "Hey, I have a question... We heard from Satoki and Shane that there was supposed to be one other person working backstage with you during the show. I think her name was Hannah Blocker. She supposedly had to cancel, and she told you to tell everyone else about that," she told him. "Would you happen to know anything about her? Most of the other people involved with the show seem clueless on the matter, but if you communicated with her directly, then you have to be aware of something from that night."

Mr. Crewe was quiet at first. "I don't know anything," he said simply. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get going. The police said they wanted to see me around this time, and I don't want to keep them waiting."

Mr. Crewe walked away after that, and I frowned. Sure enough, he was a person of few words, and I got the feeling it would take a lot of persuasion to get him to open up. Still, he was at least speaking to us, so that was more than Satoki or Shane could say. However, Mr. Crewe seemed to be saying more to us, complete strangers, than to actual members of the cast that he was actively acquainted with. That had to be rather odd behavior, especially during a murder investigation. Nobody I knew would act that way.

"I think we should take this knife to the detective team," Mr. Morix suggested with a frown. "I don't know where Detective Umber is... Maybe there's someone else around here that we could talk to."

"Mr. Morix?"

I turned around upon hearing the voice of Detective Erikson. A smile appeared on my face. "It's good to see you, Detective Erikson," I declared. "How are you doing?"

Detective Erikson approached us with a light grin of his own. "I'm doing well. I had a sneaking suspicion you all would be on the case. It only makes sense given who the defendant is... How are you all coping with that, by the way? I doubt it's easy to deal with," he began.

"We're going to be fine," Mr. Morix told him, though it didn't take a genius to see that he was lying. "Is there anything you can tell us about the case?"

"You should go down to the detention center when you get the chance to," Detective Erikson suggested. "Your sister is out of questioning as far as I'm aware, and she's not doing all that well, I must admit... When I was talking to her earlier, she said that she had an awful headache. I suspect that it's because she didn't sleep much last night, but seeing you all there would certainly brighten her spirits."

"We'll head down to the detention center as soon as we're finished up here," Mr. Morix said firmly with a nod.

"What's that in your hand?" Detective Erikson questioned, gesturing to the knife in the plastic bag.

"Oh, right," Mr. Morix murmured, holding up the bag for him to see. "We found the prop knife that went missing at the time of the crime. According to one Stayge Crewe, it was returned to that stand over there at some point when he wasn't there. He doesn't know who could have taken it, but he said that Chrysalis is the main person who touches it during the show."

"I understand," Detective Erikson muttered. "Let me guess. You want me to take a look at the knife, don't you?"

"That would be great," Yuri beamed. "Seriously. If it went missing and then just miraculously showed up again after the crime, there has to be something weird going on with it. Of course, we would check it out ourselves, but it's not like we have a forensics team at our disposal."

Detective Erikson chuckled and gladly accepted the bag from Mr. Morix. "Of course I'll look at it. If the tests come back today, then I'll be sure to send you a call to say what the forensics team finds," he told us. "I bet that you're dying to hear the results already."

"You have no idea," Mr. Morix admitted with a light yet clearly falsified chuckle. "Is there anything else that you think we should know about?"

Detective Erikson paused before shaking his head. "No, not really... Ah, wait! Did you hear about the real crime scene?" he questioned.

I nodded. "We did, as a matter of fact. The crime was set in the girls' bathroom. The restroom set should have been accessible to the audience, but it was blocked off by a set of ropes for unknown reasons," I explained.

"Yeah, you get it... We've spoken with the director of the show to see if he understood it. However, the director wasn't here the night of the crime. He was out of town taking care of other business and just came in this morning. In his absence, Stayge Crewe was meant to handle business like that," Detective Erikson told us.

I frowned at the mention of Mr. Crewe. "Mr. Crewe was supposed to handle things of that nature...? That's rather odd... And yet, when we spoke to him just a moment ago, he didn't mention anything about shutting the bathrooms off from the audience. I wonder what could have motivated an action like that," I commented.

"If he had discovered the scene of the crime, then that would be rather problematic on a few levels," Yuri piped up. "I mean, he's a guy, so why would he go into the girls' restroom? Plus, if he had found the body, he wouldn't want the show to go on. He would have called for backup to have someone examine the body. You can't exactly have a performance if the leader of the show was found stabbed to death in the bathroom. That seems like a pretty obvious issue with that potential series of events."

"I agree," I nodded. "Perhaps there was something that required examination within the restrooms. It might not have even been an issue with the girls' room in particular. If a stall was out of order in the mens' room, then he could have had it cordoned off for that reason."

"But if a stall wasn't working, then why not just put a sign on that specific stall door to say that it was out of order? That would prevent long lines at the other sets of restrooms, something that's normally an issue when it comes to big performances like this," Mr. Morix pointed out. "If there was something wrong with the other room, then the cast should have been told about it too. That way, they would know for sure not to stray too far from the beaten path if they wanted to go somewhere outside of the dressing rooms."

"What I'm hearing here is that we need to figure out the reason that the restrooms were shut off. It seems to be a very important fact behind this case," Yuri concluded. "I'm not sure how we're supposed to figure something like that out, but it wouldn't hurt to have that information in our arsenal for the trial tomorrow."

"I'll leave you to ask around that if you wish to," Detective Erikson told us. "I want to go and get this knife tested as soon as possible. The forensics team won't be able to get results until I turn in this prop for them to check out."

"Thank you for taking it off our hands," Mr. Morix said with a smile. Once again, it was clearly forced, but nobody called him on it. "Will we be seeing you at the trial tomorrow?"

Detective Erikson shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not... You see, Detective Umber will be testifying, and instead, my job will be to look over the crime scene. It's best if one of us can stay here to keep the other updated on any new developments that take place," he told us. "I hope that you're able to learn more about the case in my absence though. I'd be happy to hear about anything new you learn after the trial draws to a close tomorrow."

"We'll tell you if things change," Mr. Morix assured him. "We'll see you later, Detective Erikson."

We waved as the detective walked away from the backstage area, the prop knife in his hand. He disappeared from view a few seconds later, and I turned to face the other two once he was gone. "What should we do next?" I questioned.

"We should talk to Chrysalis," Mr. Morix suggested. "She might be able to fill in a few of the holes in the case for us, and if what Detective Erikson said is true, then she hasn't been doing well since she departed from the theater last night. I would hate for her to be forced to suffer alone at the detention center for any longer than she has to."

"I hope she'll have something to tell us... The evidence so far is looking pretty incriminating," Yuri frowned. "I mean, we know for sure that she wouldn't do this, but not everyone else is as aware of that fact. We're going to have to really kick it into overdrive if we want to prove that she's innocent when this case goes to court."

"In other words, talking to her about what she knows is the best next step for us," I agreed with a nod. "Even if she doesn't have anything new to tell us, that could still be seen as helpful in the long term."

"What do you mean?" Yuri questioned, tilting her head to the side gently.

"If she can't tell us anything about the crime, then that means there's a reason that she doesn't know anything. She was seen covered in blood, and if she doesn't remember how that happened, then we can conclusively say that there was some extra meddling done," I explained. "Of course, we won't know that until after we go to see her, so we should go on and take care of that."

Mr. Morix nodded and led us away from the backstage area. A few seconds later, we were back on the main stage, and I looked over to the platform where the body had once been. Now, there was only tape outlining the place that the victim's corpse had been the night before. I assumed that there was nothing suspicious enough about it to merit leaving it there for any longer.

I shook off my thoughts about the victim's body and started walking away from the theater as a whole. We had more important things to concentrate in that moment, and I didn't want to get distracted now.

May 17

Detention Center

10:45 AM

Cotoli Morix

When we arrived at the detention center, Chrysalis was already waiting for us on the other side of the glass. She didn't seem to notice that we had arrived at first. Her cheek was pressed into her palm, and her other hand was being used to rub gently at the side of her temple.

"Chrysalis?" Yuri questioned, prompting her to look up at us.

Chrysalis took a moment to recognize us at first, and then relief washed across her features. "Hey," she said simply. "It's good to see you."

There was something oddly distant about her today, and it bothered me. I took a few steps closer to the glass. "Hey... Are you alright?" I questioned. "You look somewhat sickly."

Chrysalis shrugged. "I've been feeling awful ever since I got here, to be perfectly honest... I guess that's par for the course when you're being suspected for murder, but... Oh, you know what I mean," she told us, letting out a sigh. "I guess that you're here to ask me about the case... Go on. Ask away."

Deirdre and Yuri pulled up their own chairs while I took over the one that was already sitting in front of the window into the other side of the room. "What do you know about the crime?" I questioned, starting things off without any further formalities.

Chrysalis hesitated before sighing once again. "To be honest, not much... Everything about last night is fuzzy. It's like I only remember half of it. When I first got to the theater, I started working to set up for the show like everyone else. Saya went missing during the preparations phase, and everyone was worried. I started to look around for her, and then I went to the restroom. After all, if she wasn't backstage, then perhaps she was elsewhere in the building."

"Let me guess... You went to the bathroom set that was cordoned off," Yuri piped in, frowning to herself as she spoke.

Chrysalis nodded. "Yeah, you got it. When I arrived, it was oddly empty, and it bothered me, to be honest. However, I shrugged that off and started looking for Saya. I... I don't remember anything after that. I walked into the restroom, and the rest of the night is a blur," she continued.

"That's rather strange..." Deirdre frowned. "I wonder what could have happened to make you feel as if you didn't know what was happening. Perhaps there was someone who knocked you unconscious or otherwise messed with your head to trigger such a response."

Chrysalis shrugged. "I don't know... The next time I was actually aware of what was happening, it was just before the start of the show. I was sitting on a chair backstage, and my head was pounding. I've had a wicked headache ever since then, and I feel like my skull is being pulled apart," she told us.

"You mean that you had the headache before you arrived here at the detention center?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Detective Erikson mentioned that you were feeling sickly before, but he suspected that it was because you didn't sleep well last night. After all, not getting enough rest can cause physical symptoms to show up..."

Chrysalis shook her head. "I mean, that didn't help, but... My head has been hurting since before I was arrested. I felt fine when I first arrived at the theater, but ever since I woke up backstage just before the show, I've felt awful. It's like my body is turning against me... It's a wicked feeling," she went on.

"What I'm hearing here is that something odd is going on here," Deirdre murmured. She looked down for a moment before concentrating her attention back on Chrysalis. "First of all, we heard that there was a knife prop backstage that you're meant to use during the show. It went missing around the time of the murder only to surface again later on. Did you happen to move the knife at all? Stayge Crewe mentioned that you were the only one to use it during the performance, so he suspected that you did something with it."

"Oh, the knife... No, I didn't touch it. In fact, I noticed that it was missing too. I said that I was looking for Saya, but I was also trying to find the knife. I didn't have any luck though. Whoever turned the knife back in must have done so after my memory went out, because I don't know what happened," Chrysalis replied with a shrug. "Everything that happened at the time of the crime is so hazy in my mind. In fact, I don't even remember seeing the body in the first place."

"What happened when you walked out onto the stage?" Yuri inquired. "We saw that you were covered in blood back then... Hey, you aren't wearing that costume anymore. What happened to it?"

I hadn't noticed it before, but Yuri was right. The bloodstained dress that Chrysalis had worn the night before was no longer present. Instead, she had on a simple t-shirt with baggy sweatpants. Her hair was still in the bun that she had worn the night of the show, meaning that she looked rather mismatched when viewed fully.

"I don't remember what happened for quite some time, but... I did wake up backstage shortly before the show was set to kick off. I was sitting on a chair in the backstage area, and Stayge was shaking me. He said that I had to head off onto the stage. I wasn't really thinking. If I had been, I would have known to go on and do that myself... Anyways, I walked out onto the stage, and that was when Saya was being lowered. The backstage area was dark enough that I didn't see the blood on my dress, and judging by the fact that nobody seemed to call me out on it, the others didn't notice it either," Chrysalis explained.

"What about the smell?" Deirdre questioned. "Surely you must have noticed the smell of blood while you were walking out onto the stage."

Chrysalis shook her head. "No, I didn't... I told you earlier that my head was hurting, right? Well, I was so focused on the pounding in my head and getting out onto the stage without causing problems for others that I didn't fully register it until I was outside and everyone could see me. That's not a good thing, I know, but... That's what happened," she told her. "I wish that I could offer you more information, but... That's about all I know, I'm afraid."

"What about something that's not related to the discovery of the body?" Yuri asked. "I want to know... Hannah Blocker. She was part of the crew, right? Do you know her at all?"

Chrysalis hesitated before nodding. "Unfortunately, I do... Hannah Blocker is a girl who I went to school with. We were in the same grade, and she hated me for a while. I suppose that she hated me for ignoring her most of the time. She loved having all the attention on herself, and I wasn't going to give her what she wanted, so she got bitter and spiteful when I was around," she went on. "I was surprised to see that Hannah was going to be part of this show as a backstage member. She didn't seem to want to be around. She was bitter and rude the whole time."

"And then she quit a few days before the show started," Deirdre commented. "That's rather peculiar... I wonder what could have made her back away when the production was so close to hitting the stage."

"I wish I could tell you, honestly. I don't know what she was thinking either, but she got out of there as soon as the show was about to start serious dress rehearsals. It left Stayge scrambling to try and figure things out without her. He was in a really bad position when she had to duck out," Chrysalis said.

"It sounds like something must have made her drop out... It must have been serious if she backed away so close to the show. Even if she hated being there, you would expect her to have some form of obligation to the production when it was so close to finally being put on for an audience," Yuri pointed out.

"I wish I had more answers for you, but... It's all really weird. Hannah must have done something about it, but... Ugh, I don't know what to say anymore. It's all so weird... Plus, Stayge has been quieter than usual. I mean, he didn't really talk to any of us on a regular basis before all of this, but he's gone from saying a handful of words to not speaking at all, and you notice a change that drastic, even when he was nearly silent before all of this," Chrysalis frowned.

"You're not the only one to point out his shift, as a matter of fact," I told her. "We spoke with Satoki Amaya and Shane Carmen. They said that Stayge was acting rather strangely as well, though they didn't have any ideas on why it was. I suppose that you're in the same boat."

"I am," Chrysalis nodded. "It's odd, but... I don't know if we're going to be able to get answers out of him. After all, when I asked what was wrong, he just clammed up and told me that it was nothing for me to worry about. Everyone else is getting worried too, but we can't force him to talk about it."

"What I'm hearing here is that there were a lot of odd things going on around the time of the murder, whether it be by a few days or a few hours," Yuri murmured. "I'm starting to wonder if this crime was pending for a while. I mean, odd things were happening for a few days before the body was discovering, and I don't know if we should just brush all of that off as coincidence when it could very easily be something far more serious."

"I can't say for sure... But I do know that whoever did this was most certainly malicious," Chrysalis said sternly. "After all, the knife that was used to kill the victim was brought in from elsewhere. The culprit was planning to commit a crime for at least a day before the body was discovered. The venue wouldn't have any weapons like that."

"In other words, this was premeditated," I whispered. "I don't know what to make of that, but I feel as if it's going to be a rather important fact. Is there anything else you think we should know?"

Chrysalis nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes... I believe that whoever committed the crime went out of their way to frame me specifically. Why else would I be the one covered in blood? This crime was not only premeditated in the way that the victim was going to die, but... They were planning on pinning it on me as well. There's far too much to suggest an elaborate setup here," she went on.

"I believe the best step for us to take next would be to figure out who would have a motive to commit a crime like this. We've heard already from multiple sources that the victim was not the easiest person to get along with, but that doesn't mean that she was destined for death from the start," Yuri remarked.

"I don't know who would have hated her that much either... I mean, Saya and I didn't get along, but I was probably the one she hated most out of the cast members. Nobody else called her out as much as I did, and I doubt that someone would randomly decide to kill her in a premeditated murder when they never had any bad blood with her before," Chrysalis said.

"We've got a lot of thinking to do about this," Deirdre concluded. "We should probably get going. We do have to think about what's next, even if we're likely finished with this investigation, and you deserve to rest a bit more after all of this if your headache is really as bad as you're making it sound."

"Thanks," Chrysalis sighed. "I do want to lay down... I feel dizzy. It's been like this ever since the crime took place, and I wish I knew why it was the case."

"Thank you for talking to us, Chrysalis," I told her. "We're going to find a way to get you out of here. That much I can promise. Until then, keep hanging on. We're here for you if you need anything, and we'll do what we can during the trial tomorrow."

Chrysalis gave me a warm yet forced smile. "Thanks, Cotoli... Be careful to not find trouble yourself, okay? It wouldn't do if this case was interrupted by something else, after all," she said. "I'll see you all tomorrow for the trial."

Chrysalis was escorted away not long afterwards, and I sighed as she left. I didn't know what we were going to have to do during the trial, but I already had a bad feeling about this case. The idea of the premeditated murder was starting to bother me, and I prayed that we found an explanation as soon as possible. Chrysalis was counting on it.

Honestly I was starting to lose my mojo for this story but this case singlehandedly revived it god I love this case

-Digital