Digital Clue
VIII: A red herring
madjack89: Alright, this time I promise we'll find out who the murderer is!
Henry: I've heard that before…
madjack89: I'm serious! Wait, let me answer reviews!
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fg1fg: Sorry, I had to do it, as you will soon see. Just keep hiding a little bit longer! (lol) Ah, TK. I had a tough time picking a character to play that part, but then I thought TK would be good! Thanks for reviewing!
Dawn of Glory: Sorry, but it's almost over, don't worry! Thanks for reviewing and saying I'm clever! (People usually just say I'm spacey and clumsy!)
blackandblood: Don't worry, the end is upon us! Wouldn't want the suspense to kill you! Thanks for reviewing!
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madjack89: Okay, watch this, Henry!
—
Kouji quickly turned the lights back on and walked back into the hallway. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare anybody," Kouji apologized.
"You're a bit late for that!" Takuya yelled hysterically.
"Alright, so after the lights went out, Zoe, Marcus, and Yolei were killed," Yoshi said, ticking them off on her fingers. "But who did it?"
"And who killed Matt and Sora?" Henry added.
"None of us killed Matt and Sora," Kouji said, finally coming to his conclusion. "There was one other person missing for most of the time in the kitchen: Zoe."
"Zoe?!" JP and Takuya exclaimed at once.
"Afraid so," Kouji said. "Just think about it. She was listening to our conversation in the study. When she heard us panicking over Matt, she crept into the study unnoticed, picked up the dagger that Mimi dropped, ran down the hall, and stabbed Sora. We didn't hear Sora scream because Mimi was screaming about being poisoned."
"By the way, I'm not really poisoned, am I?" Mimi asked nervously.
"Then she went back to the billiard room and started to scream, bringing us all into the hall," Kouji continued, ignoring Mimi. "When we all ran to check on Sora, Zoe quietly snuck back into the study, watched Matt's attempt at escape, hit him with the candlestick, and stuffed his body in the bathroom."
"Wait, wouldn't Mimi have seen that?" Jeri asked, confused.
"Actually," Mimi said, rubbing her head sheepishly, "I kind of passed out for a little bit, and rejoined you guys when I came to."
"Well, why would Zoe stuff his body in the bathroom?" Yoshi asked.
"To create confusion," Kouji replied, shrugging.
"It worked," JP muttered to himself.
"Wait, wait, wait," Takuya said, holding up his hands. "Why in the hell would Zoe commit all these murders anyway? It wouldn't really have benefited her, so why?"
Kouji's expression grew darker as he said, "Maybe she was working under orders from the person who killed her later. It could have been Takuya, her old client, or Jeri, a jealous wife—"
"Not jealous!" Jeri interjected.
"Or even JP, because women seem to go for him in this story," Kouji finished, glancing at JP.
"Hey, when you got it, you got it!" JP stated proudly.
Kouji rolled his eyes, then continued. "No, it wasn't any of them, which is surprising because Jeri was one of them. The person ordering Zoe was…Yoshi!"
"That's a lie!" Yoshi cried adamantly.
"Admit it!" Kouji retorted. "You used Zoe the way you always used her, and then you got rid of her when she finished what you told her to do."
Everyone stared at Yoshi suspiciously while Yoshi glared back defiantly. "So you're saying I killed Zoe. Then who killed Marcus, Yolei, and Kouichi?" she asked Kouji.
"You did," Kouji answered.
"How would I have known how to get into the lounge through the secret passageway?" Yoshi asked.
"Zoe told you," Kouji replied, glaring coldly at Yoshi.
"Wait, Zoe was actually involved with Kouichi's murder?" JP suddenly stated incredulously. "That is really messed up!"
"All is fair in love and war," Jeri said solemnly.
"Then you strangled Zoe and killed Marcus," Kouji continued. "And when the door rang and you answered it for Yolei, you recognized her from her photograph and killed her."
"You don't have any proof," Yoshi growled angrily.
"Alright then," Kouji said, turning to everyone else. "The gun is missing. Everybody turn out your pockets and girls open your purses. Whoever has the gun is the murderer."
Suddenly, Yoshi grabbed the gun from inside her purse and pointed it threateningly at the group. "Very impressive, Kouji," Yoshi said with a smirk. "I congratulate you."
"Me too!" Takuya added brightly.
"Shut up!" Yoshi snapped, backing everyone but Kouji against the wall. "Anyone that tries to run gets a bullet in the head!"
"Wait, I have a question," Henry said, staring curiously at Yoshi. "Why would you do all this? Lots of people knew what kind of business you were running and didn't care. You were in no real danger from the start!"
Yoshi chuckled, pointing the gun directly at Henry. "No one knows my real business: secrets. Zoe found them out for me. Takuya's working on a fusion bomb, Takato was a nuclear physicist, Mimi is a politician's wife, JP has UN contacts: your secrets are all so juicy."
"So you've been stealing the government secrets we possess," Henry muttered thoughtfully. "You're a communist!"
"No, Henry," Yoshi said with a smile. "Communism is just a red herring."
Yoshi backed up slowly as she continued. "I'm a good old-fashioned capitalist. I'm gonna sell your secrets to the highest bidder."
"No way are we giving you any more secrets!" Takuya exclaimed boldly.
"You will or I'll expose your dirty little secrets to the press, along with implicating you in six murders," Yoshi replied cockily.
Takuya hung his head, beaten by Yoshi's threat.
"Except you," Yoshi suddenly added, turning and pointing the gun at Kouji. "You're a butler and have no secrets worth mentioning, so I'm afraid your time has come."
"Not so fast," Kouji said, smirking. "There aren't any more bullets left in that gun."
"What?" Yoshi said, confused. "Yes there are!"
"There are six shots in a revolver," Kouji stated. "One shot was fired in the study, two were fired at the chandelier, two were fired at the lock on the lounge, and one was used to kill Yolei. That's one plus two plus two plus one."
"Wait, only one got the chandelier," Yoshi said. "That's one plus two plus ONE plus one."
"Even if you were correct, that would be one plus ONE plus two plus one," Kouji retorted.
"Fine, one plus two plus…shut up!" Yoshi yelled, pointing the gun to Kouji's head and putting her finger on the trigger. "There is still one shot left in this gun and guess who's gonna get it!"
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing Yoshi to glance up for a moment. Kouji used that moment to grab Yoshi's arms, forcing her to drop the gun. "Open the door!" Kouji ordered Henry.
Henry quickly ran to the door and opened it, letting in a flurry of cops. On closer inspection, the others realized that the cops were Tai, Joe, TK, Kari, and Davis (that's right, he's in the story). They also all held guns.
Mimi glanced at TK and said, "You're not really a convert, are you?"
"Nope!" he said with a smile. "I was just messing with you."
"Yay, I'm in the story!" Davis said excitedly.
"Uh…don't shoot?" Takuya said, confused.
"Where's the chief?" Kouji asked Kari, who pointed at the door as Ken entered the mansion.
"Ken?!" everyone exclaimed.
"Why are you here and how are you a chief?" Jeri asked.
"I'm a detective, according to the last episode of Digimon Adventure 02," Ken replied. "Sure, I'm not as well known as that L guy, but c'mon, he has cool hair!"
"That he does," Mimi said, swooning.
"Mimi," Joe muttered dejectedly to the side.
"Anyway," Ken continued, "good job Kouji. You caught the culprit."
"Oh, the phone call from Ken was for you after all!" Takuya said, excited that he'd figured it out.
"No duh, Taki," JP muttered, shaking his head.
"Alright, take her away," Ken ordered TK and Davis, who quickly grabbed Yoshi.
Before they dragged her off, though, Yoshi looked at Kouji and said, "You're not gonna hold a grudge because I tried to shoot you, are you?"
"Frankly, Yoshi, I don't give a damn," Kouji replied, smirking at his reference. "Besides," he added, picking the revolver up from the floor, "there were no more bullets in this gun."
To emphasize his point, he pointed the gun at the ceiling and squeezed the trigger. A bullet then hit the rope holding up the chandelier, weakening it to the point of falling.
Kouji stared wide-eyed at the chandelier, then at the gun. Yoshi just chuckled as Kouji muttered, "One plus two plus…"
"Wait," Takuya said, taking a step forward. "How the hell did the chandelier get back up there?"
Suddenly the chandelier's rope broke and it fell in the exact spot Takuya had been standing a moment before. Takuya paused, turning and glancing at the chandelier's wreckage. Then he cried exasperatedly, "How?!"
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Henry: Well, I guess you were right, Madjack. You gave us the end.
Takuya: So it was Zoe and Yoshi all along.
madjack89: That's how it COULD have happened.
Henry and Takuya: …Wait, what?