"Alright, then," Naoko said. "I guess now we need to discuss why Haru and Hoshi would meet in the physical activity room."
"You know, it seems to me that we've thus far been speaking in hypotheticals more than meaningful evidence," Bankei said with apparent concern. "I only hope this change in topic will be able to rectify this issue."
"You say that like you've been contributing to our conversation," Kimi responded dismissively.
Bankei's expression shifted into a scowl near-instantly upon her saying that. "I must say, Kimi, that's a very terrible thing to say to someone. Not to mention hypocritical, since I can't recall you contributing much yourself."
"Excuse me?" Kimi asked angrily. "You think I'M the dead weight here?"
"Well, if you think I'm being too harsh to you, by all means, prove me wrong," Bankei offered, as if challenging her.
"Like I have anything to prove to you," Kimi dismissed her again.
Bankei sighed heavily. "Even after all this time, you still haven't improved," she muttered, dropping it only to speak aloud once more. "Very well. If you will not prove to be an asset to our discussion, then I suppose I will."
It seemed like things hadn't changed between the two of them, even after spending days apart from one another. Perhaps that wasn't really surprising, given how disgusted Kimi seemed with Bankei and how Bankei, in turn, found Kimi to be rather annoying. That seemed to have been the case for quite some time. At least they were putting their mutual bickering aside long enough to keep things going.
"It's clear that the two of them couldn't have met by chance," Bankei reasoned. "After all, they both were outside of their personal dwellings at dead of night, both clearly fearing for their safety. Wouldn't that imply that they planned to meet?"
"That appears to have been the case," Mareo agreed. "When they could have done so is a tad unclear, however."
"They hypothetically could have planned to meet at any point, so long as they were able to do so privately," Yori said.
"I'm assuming by 'privately', you mean 'without getting caught'," Eryu replied. "The safest bet in that case would be to do so at night. That way, nobody would be around to spot Hoshi as he went to the holding cell room."
"If Hoshi went into the holding cell room for them to talk to Haru about it, wouldn't that mean that it was Hoshi's idea?" Takeshi asked.
"Well, if he did meet with him secretly to discuss it, then perhaps that's just the simple truth," Bankei supposed. "Haru couldn't exactly have told him to go there. After all, they had no way to communicate with each other."
"No, that's wrong," Naoko interjected. "Even if Hoshi did visit Haru in the holding cell room to discuss meeting with each other in the physical activity room, that doesn't mean that Haru couldn't have asked him to do so."
"What do you mean by that, Naoko?" Mine asked curiously.
"It's simple," Naoko replied. "Both of them had transceivers on them. We know that they have great range, and they don't have much in the way of limits on who you can communicate with, so long as who you're trying to communicate with has one."
"So, they could have kept in touch with their transceivers," Yori gathered.
"Exactly," Naoko said.
"Would that really be private?" Mariko asked. "I'm sorry, I just don't really know how those transceivers work, since I don't have one."
"That's fine," Yori replied. "We who were involved in the distribution of transceivers devised a system in order to have them be used. I believe those with transceivers should know it well enough."
"I don't have a transceiver myself, but I remember it well enough," Eryu weighed in. "Basically, for everyone that doesn't know, these transceivers have numbered frequencies that the user can switch between to talk to those on the same numbered frequency as them. Those helping take care of either Haru or Bankei had their transceivers set to a specific frequency that whoever they were helping take care of could switch to their frequency and ask for their help."
"So, there wasn't anything stopping Haru from changing from whatever frequency he was on to whatever one Hoshi was on?" Kimi surmised.
"Sure," Takeshi replied. "Or vice versa, I guess."
"So, if Haru talked to Hoshi on his transceiver, then he'd just have to figure out what frequency he was on, right?" Mine asked. "Or did he already know?"
"That depends. Did anyone tell him?" Eryu asked. "Did either of them even know how to get in contact with each other?"
"If it means anything, I only remember being told how to contact my own caretakers," Bankei said. "I stayed on frequency one most of the time, just in case they needed to contact me, but otherwise, I knew that Mine was on frequency two, Hoshi was on frequency three, and Mareo was on frequency four."
"I suppose that makes sense," Naoko responded. "I only knew Mareo was on frequency four when I tried changing the frequency on my transceiver. Before then, all I really knew was that Haru was on frequency five, I was on frequency six, and Takeshi was on frequency seven."
"So it's doubtful that either of them knew the frequency the other was on," Yori said.
"Couldn't either of them just, like, trial-and-error it?" Ishi suggested. "Haru would just have to try frequencies 'til he found Hoshi's. Same with Hoshi finding Haru's."
"Actually, I believe Hoshi would have known the frequencies of those he worked with," Mareo replied. "He could potentially make an educated assumption that Haru's transceiver was on the fifth frequency. As for Haru…I don't believe he would have any way of knowing which frequency his transceiver was on."
"So he'd trial-and-error it, like I said," Ishi repeated, still seeming quite sure of what she was suggesting.
"Unless he randomly chose which frequency to try, and just so happened to guess correctly," Mareo countered, "he would have had to call someone else on his transceiver."
"Hm," Yori said ponderously. "During our investigation, we asked all those with transceivers if they had received any strange message or alert last night. Perhaps we should expand this question. Has anyone here received any strange messages on their transceiver at any point?"
After a few seconds of waiting, it appeared as though nobody had. The meaning of the silence was by no means lost on Naoko, as he promptly let out a sigh before speaking up.
"It seems like Haru either got really lucky, knew something he shouldn't have known, or didn't use his transceiver to contact Hoshi," he said in summary.
"Then how did the two of them plan their meeting in the physical activity room?" Bankei asked. "Are we really to assume it was as simple as Hoshi dropping by Haru's holding cell in the dead of night?"
Naoko thought about this for a moment, but ended up shaking his head. All this time they had been considering the idea that they planned to meet in person, or through speaking through their transceivers, but certainly, that couldn't have been the case, right? After all, there was some evidence that Naoko had that he had been mulling over. He hadn't brought it up yet, and he was getting a bit confused as to why Eryu, Yori, and Mareo were all keeping silent on it, too. Perhaps he had to be the one to introduce it to everyone. He did tend to be the one to steer things in the right direction.
"I don't know about that," he said. "We keep talking about them speaking about it in person, or with their transceivers. That makes sense, if Hoshi was the one that gave him the key, but it doesn't really line up with something we found at the scene of the crime."
"It doesn't?" Mine asked. "Then…wait, why were we talking about any of that, or about this transceiver stuff?"
"Way to waste our time," Kimi scoffed.
"I understand your frustration," Yori replied calmly. "Still, in my opinion, it was important to go over the possibilities in front of us. I'm sure you agreed with this sentiment, Naoko, given that you hadn't brought up the evidence earlier."
"I guess that was part of it," Naoko shrugged.
"I'll admit, I was actually interested in seeing Naoko present it myself," Mareo said. "I'm a tad surprised you waited to do so."
"I was in the same situation," Eryu admitted, worry clear in his voice. "Are…you alright, Naoko? Something about it's obviously bothering you, if you've waited this long to bring it out."
"It is bothering me," Naoko replied, bringing out the note they'd found. "You see, everyone, this was found on Hoshi's body. It doesn't say who wrote it, exactly, but the handwriting is rough, and someone definitely signed it, so maybe I should just read it."
Naoko began to read the note aloud for everyone. As they intently listened, it seemed like many of those who didn't know about it previously were very much intrigued by its contents, which Naoko certainly couldn't blame any of them for. As a possible side effect of this intrigue, after he was done reading, Mine piped up immediately.
"Wait, so, you said that Hoshi had this note on him?" Mine asked.
"Yeah, he did," Eryu replied.
"So, what? Does that mean Haru wrote it?" Kimi asked skeptically. "I guess if he wouldn't know what transceiver frequency he was on, I guess writing him a letter was as much an option as any, but…"
"So, you see why this confuses me so much?" Naoko asked. "Just considering what we know about the case, this just doesn't seem right."
"Before we get into that, I have a quick question," Takeshi said. "Is that alright?"
"Sure, I don't mind," Naoko replied.
"The note said that the person it was for didn't like Bankei, and so did the person who wrote it," Takeshi pointed out. "I get that Haru didn't, but what about Hoshi? Did he really hate her so much he'd want to meet up with someone just to conspire to 'get rid of her'?"
"I don't really know whether or not Hoshi liked Bankei," Ishi admitted. "He seemed pretty damn mad at her after the second trial, but he also agreed to help take care of her, so it's kinda, y'know, complicated."
"I know a bit about that, actually," Naoko responded. "According to Mariko, Hoshi seemed pretty bothered about having to do stuff for Bankei. I remember, Mariko, you speculated that he decided to volunteer anyway, and then regretted it."
"Uh huh," Mariko replied, forlorn. "I don't know how accurate that is, though. Maybe it had something to do with something else? Maybe something we don't know about?"
"I find it odd that you choose to speculate about my relationship with him, despite me being right in front of you," Bankei chimed in, seemingly confused. "I can't say for certain what he might have had against me, aside from that awful allegation he made against me. I had little doubt that he was hiding some of his true feelings during the time I spent under his care, but he never gave any clear indication that he was willing to - or even worse, actively plan to - have me gotten rid of. I hardly even considered the possibility until you, Naoko, read that note aloud."
"So, you noticed something, is what you're saying," Naoko gathered. "But you didn't suspect him of anything at first."
"That's the long and short of it, yes," Bankei replied.
"Hand on a second," Eryu interjected. He looked to have spotted something of a discrepancy in what she'd said. "You didn't think much of him hiding his true feelings from you, but you figured out that Yasuo was a killer just from noticing that he was acting a bit weird?"
"...Well, yes," Bankei replied simply, confusion obvious in her tone. "Is that specific moment of analysis on my part really comparable to this current case? In that case, I noticed how Yasuo had felt beforehand. It only made sense to me that he'd be devastated by the news that his one love had been brutally murdered, yet he flat-out described himself as 'conflicted'. That was what made me suspicious of him in the first place. By contrast, the emotions I was able to glean from my interactions with Hoshi did not indicate any nefarious intentions on his part. I never got the sense that he wanted to kill me. How is that strange?"
"It seems strange that you weren't able to notice anything," Eryu explained. "You said yourself you have the eyes of the Sphinx, or something like that."
"I was being hyperbolic," Bankei said, noticeably exasperated. "Look, Eryu, if it means anything, I'm sorry I didn't notice anything about him that was strange during our time together. Perhaps that could serve as some form of evidence? After all, if Hoshi didn't have any clear malicious intent, it's possible that Haru was the one who planned their meeting with malicious intent fresh in his mind, and that was the main point of contention between the two of them. Considering that one was much more civilized than the other, I think that's only a fair assumption."
"You're saying that Haru was the one who wrote the note in Hoshi's pocket, then," Yori gathered. "That seems on the surface like something that by no means needed to be said. After all, if that was how the plan to meet was communicated between them, it must have been delivered to its intended recipient."
"True," Naoko responded. "The problem is, I've thought about that, too, and even that doesn't make any sense to me. In fact, between the two of them, I think Haru would be the less likely suspect."
"I don't like the sound of that at all!" Mariko cut in suddenly. "Naoko, are you really saying that Hoshi was the one that wrote that letter?"
"Well, in a sense, yes," Naoko responded concernedly. "Like I said, between the two of them, Haru doesn't seem like he could've been the one to have written it."
"I'm sorry, Naoko, but I don't believe that," Mariko replied.
She obviously wasn't happy to say something like that to Naoko, and he felt similarly considering the fact that they were generally on great terms with each other. But at the very least, Naoko had a feeling he knew why she didn't want to believe Hoshi would have been the one to attempt to orchestrate some sort of sinister plot. She was much closer with Hoshi than she was with Haru, for one thing.
"I have to agree with what Bankei said," Mariko began. "I spent probably more time with him than he did with her. I don't think Hoshi would try to 'get rid of' Bankei, even if he didn't like her. That's just not something I think he'd do. Besides, like Yori said, the letter must've been given to whoever was supposed to receive it. And if it was Haru that got it, why would Hoshi have it?"
"I agree with what you're saying," Naoko explained. "The problem is, between the two of them, Hoshi was the only one of the two that could have given the other that letter. Haru couldn't have, because he was stuck in his cell."
"That doesn't mean that Hoshi couldn't have gone in there himself," Mariko countered. "Even if he didn't go in there to be given it, Haru could've given it to him when he was there. He'd just have to have written it in his cell at some point."
"Allow me to prove you wrong," Naoko said defiantly. "Haru couldn't have written it in his cell. And when I say that, I mean it literally."
"What do you mean he couldn't have?" Mariko asked bemusedly. "All he'd need is some paper and something to write with."
"Both of those things were absent from his cell," Yori revealed. "It was a surprisingly barren cell, lacking anything to write on or with. Even on his body, we couldn't find anything that suggested he was able to write anything down."
"Also, why the hell would he write down a note instead of just telling him if they met in there?" Kimi asked. "What, do I have to start making fat jokes and dumb jokes at your expense now?"
"I…would rather you make neither," Mariko replied.
"Okay, uh, moving on from that," Naoko said, trying to quickly redirect things. "So, to sum things up, it doesn't seem like Haru would have been able to write Hoshi that note, since there isn't anything in his cell to suggest he could."
"What about in his room?" Ishi asked.
"He was in his room for a time, but that didn't last very long after the third floor opened up to us," Yori pointed out. "It's not as though he somehow knew of the physical activity room before being taken there, since he didn't even know of the holding cells."
"So, comparatively, Hoshi having written the note is the only possibility that makes any sort of rational sense," Mareo said. "Even then, like we've said, there are many problems. First and foremost, what we've said already about the fact that he had it on him."
"Aside from that, there is something about the note that interests me," Naoko said.
"And what would that be?" Mareo asked.
"Well, like I said, the note's handwriting is pretty rough," Naoko explained. "That doesn't seem like that'd be the case for a seasoned writer."
"I'm not a writer myself, but that does make sense to me," Mine replied. "Well, okay, I guess since I'm not a writer, that doesn't mean much. But still!"
"Well, if we're unsure, we should be able to compare it to his other handwriting," Naoko suggested. "Mareo, do you still have that notebook?"
"Indeed I do," Mareo replied, bringing the notebook out and opening it. "Looking at some of his writing near the tail end of his entries, his handwriting seems fairly neat. In fact, if we were to compare this part here to the note itself…"
Naoko took this as his cue to slide the note across the table over to Mareo, who quickly grabbed it and placed it right next to one of the notebook's pages. He looked between the two a couple of times before coming to a conclusion.
"...This handwriting is indeed far too different from the handwriting found in his notebook."
"Weird," Takeshi responded. "If Hoshi wrote it, I'd imagine he'd write the same way he usually did. Or, maybe, there was some reason he'd write differently I don't know about. That might be the case, actually."
"He could have tried to write differently on purpose as a way to make sure it couldn't be easily traced back to him," Yori suggested. "The problem with that is, the letter is signed by someone going by 'H', and that would point to either him or Haru, who we've gone over already."
"Them, or someone whose surname starts with the letter H," Mareo pointed out. "Though, and perhaps I'm biased in this regard, I don't think that's the case here."
"So, if it doesn't make sense for either Haru or Hoshi to write the note we found, there's only one conclusion we can draw from this," Eryu said.
"Well, I would have to say that we seem to have discussed both possibilities for long enough to more or less debunk them," Yori replied. "As for the conclusion to draw from that…you're not exactly wrong. I think it's time to move on to the more troubling possibility at hand."
"More troubling?" Mariko asked. "More troubling than this already is?"
"Exactly," Yori replied. "It's time to stop speaking in hypothetical terms, treating this as an isolated incident between only the two of them. It's time to consider the very real possibility that another person here was involved…and if so, said person would have to be the true guilty party in this case."
INTERMISSION