I'm too engrossed in the fingerprinting to keep an eye on Klavier. I'm sure Trucy will warn me if he tries anything. As for Ema, she's as invested in the science as I am. She's explaining some sort of chemical binding process as we powder the first print, but she's lost me. I'm sure the theory is sound. Let's see where it leads us.

"Here, you can blow off the excess... We should be able to see the print once you do." She carefully hands the knife back to me. I wrap my fingers around the covered blade and blow at the patch of white powder. It only takes one puff to reveal a clear print among the smudges.

"Great!" I show it to Ema, who has to blink her eyes open to look. She nods, wobbling for a second before getting out the profiles.

"That close to the hilt means it's probably an index finger..." She straightens up the stack of papers and starts comparing the prints of Ted Tonate, District 1. Neither the left- nor the right-hand prints match well. So, not him.

His district partner isn't a suspect, either. No District 2, or 3... No Careers at all. But who else...? Who on earth else would ever kill him, let alone in the bloodbath?!

"Apollo? I think this one's yours."

"Huh?" I scoot closer and check over her shoulder. A few glances between the print and my paper, and I have to agree. "Great... Sorry, I wasn't really... worrying about preserving prints at the time I got this." A shiver goes through my arms, and I pull back a little bit. "Let's try a different spot."

We go over the entire handle, but all we can find are my prints, smears that also look like my prints, and one little fragment of slightly curved lines that could pretty much belong to anyone.

Ema collapses back against the cave wall with a groan, the sound a mix of disappointment and pain. "Shoot... Maybe we could I.D. some of the smears if we had the right tech." She folds her arms, her eyes shut. "You'd think if they went through all of the trouble to give us this much, they'd go ahead and provide a full system for analysis... Then again, I guess they don't put computers in here much." She sighs, reaching into the small cross-body bag at her waist and munching on some of the contents.

Klavier rolls his shoulders back with a grin. "They also put the most expensive equipment inside the Cornucopia itself."

"You think there might be one in there?" She bolts up in excitement but seems to calm down once she realized her district partner was the speaker. "Or are you trying to send me to my death?"

"Nein." He leans in towards her, his hands on his hips. "If I wanted you dead, I could have left you at the foot of the mountain."

Turning her head away from him, she grumbles, "I would have survived fine without you."

I scratch an itch on my hand to find some of the powder has spilled onto it. I sweep it off and stare at the white-ridged prints on the knife. All of them mine. I can't blame myself for erasing whatever was already there, given the circumstances... But I still hate that it turned out this way.

What would I do with that information, though? What if I knew that it was, say, Sasha who killed him? What then? Would I rest happy knowing the answer I've sought? Or would I... try to...

I won't kill anyone! But there are other ways to get justice... Even for taking an innocent person's life. I...!

Darn it, I want to know!

"Ema?" I slip my gaze back to her. "What else is in that box?"

"Hmm?" She takes a moment to orient herself before smirking at me. "Interested in more scientific inquiry, eh?" Leaning forward, she replaces the fingerprinting kit and pulls out a pair of glasses similar to hers.

"Is that... cleaning fluid?" I squint at the bottle in her hands as she waves the glasses at me.

"Luminol." She slides her glasses over her eyes with a smile. "It reacts to traces of blood, but you can't see the difference unless you're wearing these."

"Ooh." Trucy swipes a pair from the box and offers the last one to Klavier, who declines.

Ema laughs in an odd tone, spritzing the air above her with the Luminol. "I'm gonna... spray this on everything." Slumping, she stares at a spot above her head. Frowning, I try the glasses, but they only tint the world a dark pink. Except...!

"Your hand."

"Huh?" Ema sets down the bottle and holds both her swaying hands in front of her. I can't be imagining the specks of blue glowing on her left hand. "Oh!" She picks up the Luminol with her right and sprays the stuff on her fingers, which glow brighter as she goes on.

Trucy gasps. "Where did that come from?"

"Grabbed my wound, I guess?" Ema curls her fingers a few times and laughs quietly.

Frowning, Klavier sits next to her. "You... seem unwell."

"Buzz off." She makes a clear effort to spray Luminol in his face, but she's too slow to realize he's dodging.

She does seem less alert. Her wound hasn't reopened or anything, has it? I'm not sure which of the two of them found bandages, but I have some if they're out.

"Klavier...?"

I look back at Trucy before her mouth has quite closed. Hands together, she's close to biting her lip as she stares straight ahead.

I only have to glance at Klavier to see the blue glow coming off his chains.

With a cry, I jump in front of Trucy and grab my sword hilt.

I knew it! I knew I couldn't trust him! What was I thinking, messing around when he's standing right there in front of us?

He draws back, startled, and checks the cave wall around him before frowning at me. "Something wrong, Herr Forehead?"

"First of all, my name is Apollo!" My hands are already shaking from the adrenaline. "Second, can you explain to me why something you could use as a weapon has blood on it?"

His hand goes to the chain immediately. I think he knows perfectly well why there's blood on it, and why he felt the need to hide it. But will he care to tell me?

I take off the Luminol glasses as he frowns. He looks just like Kristoph when he frowns...!

I shouldn't have challenged him. I... I-it's too hard to run far here, there's not much opportunity to hide, outside isn't great for running, either, but... I have my sword! I-I can...

His face softens. "You'll have to stop being so jumpy if you want anyone to stop calling you 'Surprised Boy.' "

What...?

"I can assure you I had this with me before Fräulein Scientist's wound was patched up. Do you have any reason to believe it isn't her blood?"

Exhaling, I rub my wrist just under the bracelet. "As a matter of fact, I do."

He slams the side of his fist into the wall behind him. "Fascinating. What's your reasoning, then? How do you plan to prove that it isn't hers?"

Proof? Well, that's a reasonable request... Maybe there's something in the kit that can help?

I turn to Ema to find her slumped halfway onto the ground, her eyes closed.

"Ema!" I grab Trucy's arm to keep her behind me as I hurry over. Klavier still gets to his district partner first, seizing her wrist and frowning as he concentrates. After a few seconds, he sets her hand back on her the ground.

"Her pulse is fine. Strong and steady as a drumbeat. She'll be back with us yet."

I take a second to check it myself, but he's right. Her pulse is a little fast, but not enough to suggest shock.

"Shall we resume our discussion, then?" Klavier takes a seat by her shoes.

I shoot him a glance before looking through the kit. I don't see anything for testing DNA, but there is a stack of cards for blood typing. It only takes a quick glance through the instructions to see that it requires fresh blood. That's not going to do it.

That and the Luminol are the only things dealing with blood, so I have no way to identify what's on that chain after all. All I can do is see where the blood is, or was.

"Okay." Seating myself on the other side of the gadget box, I meet Klavier's gaze. "You say the blood got there when you were helping Ema. Care to elaborate on that?"

He eyes the red-tinted glasses I'm spinning in my hand and thinks for a moment. "All right."

Trucy scoots up to my right side as Klavier hooks his thumbs under his waistband and begins.

"As I said, I had already picked up the chains, and some other supplies, at the bloodbath. I was apparently some distance away from Ema when the gong sounded; I didn't run into her until reaching this mountain. She was half-collapsed against a large rock, her stash of supplies by her feet. She had taken her jacket off and applied some gauze to a wound in her back, but it clearly hadn't stopped the bleeding. The rest of the bandage had fallen on top of the forensics bin, so I took it and continued where she had left off. That wasn't until after I had set some of my own supplies on the ground, including the chains. When I picked them up afterward, I wiped off the blood so it wouldn't corrode the metal."

"Hmm." I cross my legs, resting my hands on my knees. I know that can't be the truth if the blood isn't Ema's, as my bracelet suggested. I just have to figure out how to take his story apart and prove to him that no one's buying it. Maybe then he'll be willing to tell us what really happened. "Let's go through that again, shall we?"

Trucy leans in to listen more closely as Klavier nods and repeats his story.

"I had already picked up the chains, and some other supplies, at the bloodbath."

"Hold it!" I set the glasses down and fist my hands. "Why would you go after a length of chain, anyway?"

"Because it was right there." He smiles. "I suppose they put it close to my starting plate for the sake of my little costume motif."

The Gamemakers' reasoning makes enough sense, I guess. But what about his? Would he really pick up something that heavy just because it was in front of him?

...I'll back off for now. I don't think I'm getting the whole story here, but pressing more wouldn't help me. I can't prove anything about how his mind works. I need to focus on a part of his speech I can disprove with evidence.

"I was apparently some distance away from Ema when the gong sounded; I didn't run into her until reaching this mountain. She was half-collapsed against a large rock, her stash of supplies by her feet." Doesn't sound too fishy, especially after hearing them talk earlier.

"She had taken her jacket off and applied some gauze to a wound in her back, but it clearly hadn't stopped the bleeding."

"Hold it!" I point at him. "What do you mean, 'clearly'?!"

He flips his bangs with a shake of the head and grins. "I mean she was still bleeding. There was a small pool of blood on the ground, and it was widening."

"Er... right." Why did I even bother with that? "Go on."

"The rest of the bandage had fallen on top of the forensics bin, so I took it and continued where she had left off. That wasn't until after I had set some of my own supplies on the ground, including the chains."

"Hold it! Why did you have to set them down, anyway?"

"They're rather heavy."

I slam my fists down. "Then why are you still carrying them right now?!"

He chuckles. "You didn't let me finish, Herr Forehead. You realize I had to wrap the dressings all the way around Ema's stomach, ja? It's difficult to manage a wad of bandage and a limp body with one's arms full."

Well... That seems reasonable.

"When I picked them up afterward, I wiped off the blood so it wouldn't corrode the metal."

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, either. But that's all he told me. Did I miss something...?

Trucy puts her arms behind her back and throws me a few glances.

"What?" I try to whisper. "Did you catch something?"

"Not really." She scans over the forensics kit. "Maybe we just don't have the evidence we need?"

My eyes rest on the Luminol. We did only get one squirt on the chains. There's probably a lot more to examine than that.

I slide the glasses back on and take a step towards Klavier. "Shut your eyes for a minute."

He glances at the bottle in my hand. "You don't intend to spray that on my face, do you? Should it have any side effects, I wouldn't be very happy with you."

I sweat. "I'm just going to go over the chains for now." I'll try not to ruin your precious pretty face, okay?

He shuffles them off his shoulder surprisingly quietly, and I start to spray more Luminol. The glow seems a little weak for lying in a pool of blood, but he may have just cleaned it off well. There's a bit more blood on some other sections of the chain, but if he coiled it a bit tighter, they would match up. Nothing peculiar there.

I catch a glow on his fingertips, but that's not a contradiction, either. If Ema's blood was still soaking through the bandages when he started fixing her up, he could have gotten some on his fingers. It may have come from wiping the chain clean, too.

This isn't getting me anywhere. He did seem kind of protective of his face... although there's no reason he wouldn't be.

So, is this it...? Do I have to buy his story?

"Polly." Trucy grabs my arm, and I'm startled out of my focus. "His jacket."

"What?" I look at his coat. There aren't any big bloodstains—but I pick out a small cluster of droplets. Then another. It's not much blood, but it's definitely a spatter. His shoulder doesn't glow perceptibly, so it can't be from slapping the bloody chains against his jacket. The glowing spots are high on his chest, too, so they can't be a splash from dropping anything in Ema's blood, either.

"Are you satisfied?" Klavier places his palm on the ground like he's about to stand up. "My account of things is irrefutable, don't you think?"

Oh, no, it isn't. And I know exactly what to say to that.

"Objection!"