Digital Clue
VII: How it was all done
madjack89: Alright, time to bring this mystery to a close!
Henry: Then we're finally going to figure out who did it in this chapter?
madjack89: Maybe…
Takuya: That's not a good sign, Henry.
Henry: I'm beginning to get that.
madjack89: Review time!
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blackandblood: Don't we all? Well, you're about to find out!
Dawn of Glory: Little old me? Why, what would give you that idea? (Kouji: Gee, I don't know.) Go away, Kouji, you already know who it is! Okay, thanks for reviewing!
fg1fg: Head for the safe zone, accomplice! (lol) Aw, that's a nice thought for Kouichi and Zoe! If they weren't dead, I'm sure they'd think so, too! I'm sorry that I pick on Jeri so much, but I always thought she was a bit…insane. No offense, of course! Alright, thanks for reviewing!
hazeleyedharmony: YES, YES I DO! (twitches)
Oh, I won't kill them ALL off, just those six! Though it is quite efficient…
Ha, she got you there, Taki! (Takuya: Jeri did it too!) And that redeems you how? (Takuya: …Shut up!)
Yes, Crispin will be missed. Luckily, he's still in F2R!
Like I said, I REALLY REALLY just want to finish this story and be done with it! (Heh, shlubs.) Thanks for reviewing!
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madjack89: Alright, time for the seventh chapter of Digital Clue! ominous music plays
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The others stared at Kouji as he walked past them into the hallway, amazed by his last statement. While they crowded around him, Kouji glanced around the wreckage left by the chandelier. "Just as I thought; no gun," he muttered to himself. "Zoe dropped it here."
"Okay, back up," Takuya said, feeling confused. "Did you just say you know who the murderer is?"
"Yup," Kouji replied, turning and smirking at Takuya. "And I'm going to explain how it was done, step by step."
"Why?" JP asked.
"Because," Kouji said, shrugging. He then walked over to the study, the others on his tail. When everyone had entered the study, Kouji began, "Alright, this evening all started here, with me and Zoe. Zoe was dusting stuff and I was in the hall, waiting for you guys to arrive."
As Kouji said this he moved into the hall, acting out what he said. "I went to the kitchen," Kouji continued, leading everyone to the kitchen, "and Sora was here, sharpening knifes. Then I went back into the hallway."
Kouji turned and rushed back into the hallway, having spent only a short moment in the kitchen. The others glanced confusedly at each other, but followed Kouji to the front door.
"I opened the door for Takuya and led him to the study," Kouji said, running over to the study. The others followed, but had to quickly turn around when Kouji ran back to the front door.
"Then I opened the door for Jeri and led her to the study." Once again, Kouji ran to the study, the others following at a more leisurely pace than before.
"When I brought her in here, Jeri and Zoe were SUPPOSED to flinch," Kouji explained, glaring at Jeri.
"Sorry," Jeri muttered, crossing her arms.
"Then, to make a long story short," Kouji began.
"Too late," everyone said sarcastically.
"One by one, you all arrived," Kouji finished, running across the hall to the dining room.
The others groaned, but followed. "Where the hell is he getting this energy?" Takuya muttered to himself as he joined the others in the dining room.
"When Sora struck the gong, you were all seated in here," Kouji said, standing at the head of the table. "This seat was empty."
"For Matt," Yoshi said, hoping to speed things along.
"Right," Kouji agreed, nodding. "At dinner, you realized you'd all received a letter to come here."
"Okay, what is the point of this stupid recap!" Takuya cried, exasperated.
"The point is blackmail!" Kouji yelled back, running back to the study. Everyone ran after him, including a sullen-looking Takuya.
In the study, Kouji continued, "After confessing your secrets—"
"More like you revealing our secrets," Mimi accused.
"Confessing, revealing, same difference," Kouji muttered, rolling his eyes at Mimi. "Anyway, after all that, Matt got his presents from the hall, and you all opened them."
Kouji stood next to the light switch and said, "Then Matt turned off the lights." The room went dark as he reenacted the earlier scene and switched off the lights. Everyone screamed simultaneously, terrified by the darkness.
"Hey, I found the light switch!" Mimi exclaimed after a moment, turning the lights back on. She then gasped when she saw Kouji lying facedown on the floor in front of her, unmoving.
"Well, I can't really say I didn't see this coming," Takuya said.
Suddenly, Kouji lifted himself to his knees, smiling cockily. Everyone jumped in surprise. "What the hell was that for?!" Yoshi cried angrily.
"Just messing with you," Kouji answered, smirking. "And I have to say I understand Madjack's constant teasing a little more now. It is pretty fun to pick on you." (Yay, I have a sidekick!) "Don't push it."
"Alright, so Matt was lying dead on the floor like that," Henry stated, getting back to business.
"Wrong," Kouji said, getting to his feet. "We found Matt later with brand new wounds. Why would someone want to kill him again unless he wasn't already dead?"
"He was dead!" JP exclaimed defensively. "I examined him, remember?"
"Then how do you explain his new wounds?" Kouji retorted.
JP paused, beaten by Kouji's logic. "Alright, maybe I made a mistake!"
"So then who killed Matt?" Jeri asked. "And for that matter, who killed everyone else?"
"I'm getting there," Kouji said reassuringly, continuing the recap. "After that, JP said, 'Maybe Matt was poisoned!' and Mimi screamed, and Henry slapped her." While he said this, he walked over to Mimi and slapped her in the face. "No, I didn't have to do that, I just wanted to, because frankly, I find you annoying. Moving on."
Kouji gestured for the others to follow him out of the hall, with Mimi glaring angrily at him. He stopped in front of the billiard room and continued, "Zoe was screaming, and we all rushed to help her. But, someone wasn't here."
"Hey, that's right," JP said, turning to look at Mimi. "You stayed in the study while we checked on Zoe!"
"I didn't do it!" Mimi cried, frustrated. "I thought he was already dead! And I joined you guys later!"
"Yeah, after you committed the dark deed," Takuya said accusingly.
"If I may continue," Kouji said loudly, quieting the others. "Someone could have been murdering the cook while we were here. It could have been Mimi…or someone could have snuck away unnoticed."
Kouji ran back to the study and grabbed a knife while the others watched from the billiard room door. "They could easily have grabbed the dagger, run down the hall," he explained, running toward the kitchen with the knife, "and stabbed the cook."
In the kitchen, Kouji stuck the knife in the counter to emphasize his point. "What's with all the running?" JP complained, joining everyone in the kitchen.
"Okay, fine, that could have happened," Yoshi said, conceding to Kouji's point. "But we could have seen them running back. How could they risk it?"
"Well," Kouji began, opening the meat cooler. "They could have used this secret passageway," he said, pulling on the handle and opening the passage up. "It leads right back to the study."
"Hey, how'd you know about that?" Takuya asked.
"How'd YOU know about that?" Jeri retorted, staring suspiciously at Takuya.
"We found the passage earlier," Yoshi explained, turning to Kouji. "More importantly, how did you know about it?"
"A friend of mine owns this house," Kouji replied. "I've known all along."
"Then you could be the murderer!" JP exclaimed, pointing at Kouji.
Kouji sighed. "JP, if I was the murderer, why would I reveal how I did it?"
"Good point," JP muttered, defeated.
"Alright, I'm still confused," Takuya stated suddenly.
"That's hard to believe," Kouji muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Takuya glared at Kouji before continuing, "What I don't get is why was Sora murdered, anyway? She had nothing to do with this."
"Wrong again," Kouji said. "Everyone here tonight was involved with Matt. The six that died were Matt's accomplices. They gave him his information about all of you. Sora knew a secret about one of you, as did Zoe, Marcus, and the others."
"Even Kouichi?" Takuya said, shocked. "God, you think you know a guy…"
"But someone would have to know they were all involved," Henry pointed out.
Kouji nodded, turning his attention to Jeri. "You knew Zoe, didn't you? Don't deny it."
"I'm not denying it," Jeri said, confused.
"Another denial," Kouji retorted.
"Alright, here's what the script says," Jeri said, taking out her script. "I knew Zoe because she had an affair with Takato."
"Nice," Takuya muttered.
"And we already knew Takuya was one of your clients," Kouji continued, turning to Yoshi and Takuya. "Not only that, but when he went to your 'establishment,' he and Zoe…"
"Alright, I think that's enough of this exposition!" Takuya said loudly, smiling nervously.
"Sicko," JP muttered, glaring at Takuya.
"Anyway," Kouji said, "the murderer went through the secret passageway to the study."
Everyone suddenly left the kitchen and ran to the study, preempting Kouji's next move. Kouji took the passage, jumping out as everyone entered the study.
"Matt lay on the floor, apparently dead," Kouji said, shoving Henry down for visual aid. "But, as he got up," here Kouji grabbed Henry and pulled him back to his feet, "the murderer crept out of the secret passage. Seeing his chance to escape after someone tried to kill him with the gun, Matt ran out into the hall, while the murderer grabbed the candlestick and followed him."
Kouji picked up the candlestick from the table and ran toward Henry, who ran away from Kouji and down the hall. Kouji followed, brandishing the candlestick. "The murderer hit Matt with the candlestick," Kouji said, pretending to hit Henry, "grabbed him," Kouji grabbed Henry, "and stuffed him in the bathroom."
Kouji threw Henry into the bathroom and shut the door. "It took less than half a minute," he finished.
"Can I come out now?" Henry asked from inside the bathroom.
"Then we went back to the study," Kouji said, ignoring Henry and running back to the study. Henry came out anyway, sighing.
"We locked the weapons in the cupboard, then went to throw out the key," Kouji said quickly, leaving the study just as Henry entered.
"Son of a bitch," Henry mumbled, following everyone to the front door.
"I took out the key and opened the door," Kouji began, lifting his arm and opening the door. "But I didn't throw the key out then because Kouichi was here. I put the key back in my pocket. Someone could easily have taken it from my pocket without my noticing."
"But we were all panicky, anyone could have done that," JP said despairingly.
"Wait a minute," Henry said, suddenly realizing something. "The script says that Takuya has a top secret Pentagon job and Takato was a nuclear physicist. Zoe's a link between them!"
"So this has turned into government crap?" JP asked incredulously. "Dang it, Madjack, that's a bit over the top, even for you!" (You ain't seen nothing yet, Shibayama.)
"Okay, so what's you're secret Pentagon job, goggle boy?" Yoshi asked Takuya.
"He's working on the next fusion bomb," Kouji replied before Takuya could.
"Wait, the Pentagon and fusion bombs? Are we in America?" Mimi asked, confused. (You of all the people here should know where this is, Mimi!) "You never told me this fanfiction was set in America!" (ARRRRGGGGHHHH!)
"Anyway," Kouji said, glancing warily at me, "I said earlier that everyone that died tonight informed Matt about all of your misdeeds."
"So who informed on you?" Yoshi asked, still addressing Takuya.
Takuya paused, and then sighed heavily. "It was Kouichi. He was my driver in the war."
"Hey, that means that you knew all along that Kouichi was gonna get involved in this story!" JP said accusingly.
"Well, I had a hunch when I saw it in the script, I just didn't know what would happen," Takuya said sheepishly. "Anyway, Kouichi blabbed that I was a war profiteer. I stole some parts for radios and sold them on the black market to make a quick buck. But that doesn't make me a murderer!"
"I never said that," Kouji said defensively. "I haven't revealed the murderer yet."
"So how's Marcus involved?" Henry asked.
"I bribed him in order to keep my business going," Yoshi replied.
"Did you bribe him, or 'bribe him?'" Jeri asked suspiciously, making air quotes.
"Heck, I didn't even need to resort to that," Yoshi said, scoffing. "All I did was take him to a gourmet meal."
"Well, he did like to eat," Jeri muttered.
"And Yolei?" Henry asked, glancing at Yolei lying on the porch.
JP raised his hand. "Yolei was a patient of mine. Yes, she was the first Digimon character to realize she needed some counseling."
The others glared at JP as he continued. "Anyway, I had an affair with her. That's how I lost my license."
"You settled for Yolei?" Yoshi asked skeptically.
"She's not that bad, actually," JP mused.
"Okay, let's put her in the study with the others," Kouji said quickly, motioning for Takuya and Henry to help him move Yolei's body to the study.
"Okay, I think I'm beginning to get it," Mimi said slowly after Yolei's body had been moved. "Whoever killed Matt wanted his accomplices dead, too."
"But which of us knew that they were his accomplices?" Takuya asked. "I mean, I suspected Kouichi, but I didn't know about anyone else."
"I'm getting to that," Kouji said, getting back to his exposition. "So the murderer got at the weapons with the key they took from me. Then Takuya suggested we split up."
"Hey, that's right! That was Takuya's suggestion!" Jeri exclaimed, glaring accusingly at Takuya.
"Shut up, Jeri!" Takuya retorted angrily. "You're the last person here that should be accusing me of anything!"
Before Jeri could reply, Kouji continued, "Someone managed to sneak away from their partner and used the key to get the wrench. Not only that, but I noticed the evidence against you guys wasn't in the study. I'd bet anything that the murderer looked over it, then burned it in the fireplace."
"Then they would know about Matt's accomplices," JP stated.
Kouji nodded. "The murderer used the secret passage to get into the lounge, and killed Kouichi with the wrench."
"And Takuya and Yoshi were found in there," Henry said, staring at the two suspiciously. "They said they found the passage accidentally."
"We did!" Takuya cried.
"You did, you mean," Yoshi retorted. "You could have known about it all along."
"So could you!" Takuya said accusingly. "After all, you found the second passage!"
"Let me finish!" Kouji yelled, shutting the two up. "Yes, those two got trapped in the lounge, and my key was missing. Then Zoe hit the lock with the gun; bang!" Kouji pointed his finger like a gun at the door while he said this. "Then the chandelier fell, and the doorbell rang."
Suddenly (and ironically), the doorbell rang, making everyone jump in surprise. "Oh my god, whoever's there has to leave or they'll be killed!" Mimi cried, rushing to the door and opening it.
"Hello," TK said cheerfully, standing on the porch and holding up a pamphlet. "Has anyone here ever given any thought to the kingdom of God?"
"What?!" Mimi said incredulously, staring at TK with confusion. "You're not religious!"
"Sure I am!" TK replied. "Just repent; the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
"Did you brainwash TK, Madjack?" Takuya asked me. (No…)
"C'mon, Armageddon's at hand," TK said more forcefully.
"Let me tell you something, man, it's already here!" JP said sarcastically.
"Your souls are in danger!" TK said pleadingly.
"Our lives are in danger, you Gilligan wannabe!" Mimi yelled angrily, slamming the door in TK's face. Turning around, she added to Kouji, "Alright, what happened next?!"
"Uh…" Kouji muttered nervously, backing away from Mimi. "I locked Marcus in the library, and we continued our search."
Kouji walked to the space under the stairs and opened the door to the electricity switch. "Then someone turned off the lights," he said, switching the lights off. Like before, everyone screamed.
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Takuya: Wait, what? How can you end it here?!
Yoshi: We don't know who the murderer is yet!
madjack89: Calm down, you'll find out in the next chapter, which should come quickly!
Takuya and Yoshi: Good.