Masashi took a look at all the evidence that he had found. Hopefully, it was enough to root out the killer hiding among them.
List of Truth Bullets
Monokuma File #2 - The victim is Futaba Inoshishi, the Ultimate Figure Skater. The body was discovered in the Memory Bank, and the victim was killed in that same place. The cause of death was a blow to the head with a blunt instrument. No other injuries have been found.
Futaba's Note - "The deputy is hiding something important from you. Go to the Memory Bank tonight to find out what it is. The password is 'Magdalena Engracia Pinto'. But do not go there if you see any boats on the other side. It means that someone is there." This note was found in Futaba's pocket, and of course, one cannot tell from the handwriting who the writer is.
No Swimming Rule - It is forbidden to swim in the river.
Bloody Message - On the other side of the note in Futaba's left hand is a message written in blood. Unfortunately, Masashi unwittingly caused some of the characters to be unreadable, so what the original message was is now unknown. The remaining characters that could be read are "SU YUKA". It seems that Futaba wrote it in her last moments, given the blood on her left index finger.
Memory Bank Pods - The pod's lid can only be shut if one wears the headset and accesses the program, and such an action is then recorded on the History section. Also, the pods are not soundproof.
Futaba's History - Futaba's History - All the information recorded on the History section of Futaba's pod. The memories began to be watched at 10:35 PM, but the watching of Memory 7 was abruptly ended at 12:59 AM. The time of exiting the pod is recorded as 1:00 AM. Other than on the day of the memory theft, this pod had not been accessed at all until last night. Also, Futaba's pod was the only pod used last night.
Pod Access - All it takes to open a pod is type in the password, even if one is not the pod's owner.
Ventilation System - The Memory Bank and the first exhibit room are both connected by a vent. Each side of the vent starts as a five-foot horizontal passageway, and they are both connected at the end by a vertical passageway about twenty feet high.
Vent Rule - It is forbidden to crawl through the vents in the palace.
Monopad Name - Whenever one turns on a Monopad, the Monopad displays the owner's name.
Sorao's Account - Sorao felt a bit sick after dinner at seven o'clock, after which point he rested alone in his room.
Murphy's Account - Murphy headed down to the fourth deck around 9:00 PM and stayed there until around 10:30 PM. Afterwards, as he was heading back, he encountered Maiha, and they both headed back to their rooms.
River Boats - There are four boats available for going through the river. To get a boat to start moving, one must simply press the power button in front of the front left seat. The boat's movements and speed are all set, and it takes about a minute and a half to get from one side to the other. The boats appear to be the only way to go from one side of the river to the other.
Maiha's Account - Maiha was enjoying a drink in the dining room after nighttime began. After she was done, she was about to take a walk around the palace when she stumbled upon Murphy, after which she changed her mind, and they both headed back to their rooms.
Spotting Futaba - Maiha saw Futaba going to the main deck around 10:25 PM. Afterwards, around 10:30 PM, Murphy happened to encounter Futaba at the palace's fourth deck. He saw her sail to the Memory Bank on one of the boats. At the time, before Futaba's arrival, all four boats had been on Murphy's side of the river.
Sayua's Account - At exactly 1:00 AM, while in the arts and crafts room, Sayua and Tanjiro saw Red Mask running through the third deck's hallway and going up the stairs.
Bumper Car Games - Masashi, Mari, Kumi, Tanjiro, Sayua, and Arashi were all in the bumper car room from 8:20 PM to 9:30 PM. Haruyuki was there the whole time as well, but not once did he participate in the game.
Lockpicks - Red Mask has been hiding ten lockpicks from the group. However, she has lost two of them over the last few days. Maiha and Haruyuki found them at some point, and they both had the lockpicks last night.
Silver Thread - A significant amount of silver thread is missing from one of the cans in the arts and crafts room. The thread is apparently very strong and durable.
Metal Bat - A metal bat was found in the second exhibit room during the investigation. It is hard, sturdy, and easy to use, but its size makes it impossible to hide on one's person. There is a slight amount of blood on it.
Light Orb - Each exhibit room has four light orbs (meaning that there are eight light orbs in total), and besides the lighting they can provide, they also have the function of playing music and having the music change if someone leaves or enters the room. The light orbs are rather durable, but if dropped from great heights, they are very likely to suffer some damage.
Nightly Inspection - Around 7 PM, Abraham and Faye did their nightly inspection of the second exhibit room and found nothing out of the ordinary. After they left the exhibit rooms, Abraham had Faye unlock the door, claiming that he had left a pen inside. While Abraham was inside the exhibit rooms, Faye stood outside in the hallway for about five minutes. After Abraham came out of the exhibit rooms, Faye used her metal detector on him and found nothing suspicious on his person.
Metal Inspector - Faye carries around a small metal detector on her person.
Morning Duty - Abraham and Faye came to the exhibit rooms around 7 AM, each holding a basket of fifteen cans of food. For about a minute, Faye was occupied with turning on the first exhibit room's light orbs, while Abraham had gone to the second exhibit room and turned on the light orbs there. After he had lit up the room and unpacked his basket, however, he noticed that there were ten cans missing from the pile of yesterday's columns of canned food.
Hikari's Account - A few days ago, before dinner began, Hikari saw Futaba give Red Mask her Monopad, which the phantom thief had lost a few hours ago. After getting it back, however, Red Mask looked unusually uneasy.
Was-scepter - A long scepter that is more than six feet long and is held by one of the statues in the lounge. One of its ends is shaped like a hook and is made to resemble a certain Egyptian figure. Though not easily breakable, because of its length, it is incredibly unwieldy as a weapon.
"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma began. "During the class trial, you are to present your arguments for who you think the killer is, and in the end, you will vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished. But if you vote incorrectly—"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it already!" Sayua said, raising her right hand in anger. "Now come on! Let's find the damn bastard already!"
"Easy enough to say," Sorao said, "but where do you suggest we begin?"
"The time of death seems like a good choice to begin with," Haruyuki said, raising a finger calmly. "I found it rather telling that it was left out in the Monokuma File."
"Ah, that's right!" Kumi said, who had set Sir Teddybane and his book of tales on the stand like last time. "I didn't notice that at all! I'm not of the kind to think a lot about that kind of thing!"
"Oh, don't worry, man. We've already figured that part out," Sorao remarked, a few others looking to be in agreement with his critical judgment, even though they said nothing. Kumi, on the other hand, seemed unwitting of what Sorao had truly meant.
"Anyway... what information is included in the Monokuma File, anyway?" Murphy asked.
"The Monokuma File's meant to help us find the blackened," Abraham said, rubbing his chin, "but it seems to leave out anything that'll directly lead us to the blackened."
"So in other words, what's left out of the file must be pretty weighty, important, and monumental to the case!" Faye added, nodding along. "If we pinpoint when Futaba must have died, we'll be one step closer to the killer!"
"That sounds about right," Tanjiro said.
"Y-Yeah, whatever you say…" Hikari said, who appeared as skittish as usual.
"Then let's get started," Mari said, who seemed rather calm insofar as she even looked a bit bored, as if these proceedings hardly worried her. "Let's see whether we can determine what the time of death is."
Nonstop Debate
"Lady Inoshishi was killed sometime during nighttime, wasn't she?" Sorao began.
"It seems so," Sister Hikari said. "After all, a few of us saw her before nighttime began."
"But the question is: did anyone see her during nighttime?" Abraham asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Sayua said. "We were all sleeping, weren't we? So it's only natural that no one saw her!"
"So she could've been killed at any point in nighttime, then," Faye said, nodding along.
"Well, that didn't really help much…" Hikari said.
"In that case, perhaps we should talk about something else, then," Abraham said.
Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Spotting Futaba
No, that's wrong!
"Wait, that's not true!" Masashi said. "Two of us actually saw Futaba last night. More specifically, Maiha and Murphy each spotted her on different occasions after nighttime."
"What? You two did?" Abraham said, eyeing them incredulously.
"That's right," Maiha said. "While in the dining room, I saw Futaba heading up to the main deck. I believe that the time was around 10:25 PM."
"That's not so far from when I saw her," Murphy said. "I saw her on the fourth deck around 10:30 PM. She boarded one of the four boats there to go to the Memory Bank."
"What?!" Arashi exclaimed. "Wh-Why in the world would she go to that place at that time of night?!"
"Yeah! I mean, I don't think there's anything noteworthy in the Memory Bank, anyway!" Red Mask said.
"Well, there is one reason that I can think of, and it's in a particular note that we found on her body." Masashi then took out the note and showed everyone the contents. "See, take a look at the first part."
"'The deputy is hiding something important from you. Go to the Memory Bank tonight to find out what it is.'" Faye read. "'The password is 'Magdelena Engracia Pinto'. But do not go there if you see any boats on the other side. It means that someone is there.'
"Huh, that's pretty weird…" the pastry cook said once done. "It reminds me a lot of the note that Atsushi had."
"Then it's highly likely that the killer was the one who wrote her that," Tanjiro said.
"Well… That's to be determined," Mari said. "Maybe it was someone else who wrote it. After all, the writer seemed pretty worried about Futaba's safety."
"Huh, that's a good point there, Mari!" Sorao remarked, showing a slight smirk. "It's perfectly possible someone else wrote that, and it's unrelated to the murderer. We can't go ahead and make rash judgments like that, right, Tanjiro?"
"Uh, yeah, thanks for the tip..." Tanjiro sighed as he glanced away from the musician.
"Anyway, that note must've been why Futaba was there when Murphy met her last night!" Arashi replied, eyes widened.
"But I still don't get it!" Kumi said. "What about the Memory Bank made Lady Futaba go there?"
"Well, given the note's contents," Maiha answered, "I think it obvious that she went to examine the contents of her pod. It is where the memories of her darling are stored, after all, and it requires a password."
"Then it's pretty clear who the killer is!"
It was Arashi, who raised his right hand while looking at the others with a keen expression.
"Huh? How is it clear in any way?" Sorao asked, staring bemusedly at him.
"If you think about it, the killer couldn't have simply guessed when Futaba would go to the Memory Bank!" Arashi answered, his tone full of excitement. "The note only said 'tonight', so for all the killer knew, it could be any point at nighttime, right?"
"Yes, that sounds right," Sister Hikari said.
"So the killer needed to see for certain that she went to the Memory Bank," Faye said, "and to do that, they must've gone to the fourth deck and waited for her to come…" Faye then paused, her expression waxing fearful. "Wait a minute… Arashi, are you saying that the killer is…?"
Arashi nodded. "I am! The killer was the very same one who claimed to have stumbled upon her!" He then pointed at a certain person. "It was none other than you, Murphy O'Hagan!"
"Wh-What?! You accuse me?!" the Irishman exclaimed as many of the others gazed at him with wariness now. "But why?!"
"I find it very fishy that you happened to be on the fourth deck at that particular time!" Arashi explained. "You said you were painting, but I bet you were actually waiting for Futaba! Then after you saw her… you must've followed her and killed her!"
"That's your reason for thinking me guilty?" Murphy said incredulously.
"Well, in his defense, as far as we know, you're the last one to see her alive…" Tanjiro said. "So you had ample opportunity to do such a thing."
"Th-That's a good point there…" Hikari said.
Murphy ground his teeth as he snarled. "What a load of crock! All I did was say that I'd seen her, and all of a sudden, I'm the bad guy here!"
Nonetheless, as the farmer had no good defense against this accusation, many of the class looked to be in agreement with Arashi, who appeared rather pleased with himself.
Still, are there any holes in his argument? Masashi thought. I should think about this one carefully…
Nonstop Debate
"It's pretty clear you could've done it!" Arashi began. "You must've been waiting there for her to come!"
"What? No, I was doing no such thing!" Murphy countered. "I was only painting, you see!"
"What exactly were you painting, anyway?" Sorao said blithely, showing a slight smile.
"How the fuck is that important?" Abraham said.
"Anyway, you saw her go to the Memory Bank," Faye said. "And then you headed there as well and killed her!"
"I-It makes sense…" Hikari said. "N-No one was with Murphy at that point, right? And a-after he did the d-dirty deed… h-he simply left and w-went back to his r-room."
"That must've been when we stumbled upon each other," Maiha said.
"What ridiculous nonsense this all is," Murphy scoffed. "I won't acknowledge any of it."
Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Futaba's History
No, that's wrong!
"No, Hikari, that's not right. He couldn't have simply left after spotting her and then killing her," Masashi said. "After all, it wouldn't explain Futaba's history log."
"Futaba's… h-history log?" Hikari said, slightly bewildered. "Wh-What are you t-talking about?"
"The pod actually has a history log that keeps track of its use," Masashi responded. "And Monokuma told us that last night, it was only Futaba's pod that was used."
He then took out the history log that Monokuma had given him, though very few of the others looked less confused about last night's events than before.
"If what that says is right, then it seems that Futaba started using it at 10:35 PM," Sister Hikari said, "but left the pod at 1:00 AM."
"That means that she must've been killed after that time, right?" Sayua said. "After all, didn't that bear say we'd be safe inside the pod?"
"Aah!" Arashi exclaimed.
"That's right!" Monokuma answered blithely. "Try as you might, the pod's utterly indestructible! Only something on a bomb's scale could get through that thing!"
"Oh, I know!" Arashi countered, having quickly regained his confidence. "Maybe Murphy killed Futaba before she had the chance of going into the pod! Then maybe it was him that entered the pod and faked the whole history thing!"
"Well, there is no limitation on who can enter the pod," Mari said. "All it requires is that the user know the password, that's all."
Masashi shook his head, however. "But that's the problem. If that's true, then it means Murphy must've stayed in the Memory Bank pretending to be Futaba until 1:00 AM. But that can't be the case. After all, Maiha herself saw Murphy later that night."
"Indeed," Maiha replied. "I saw Murphy a few minutes after I saw Futaba. It is certain that he was not at the Memory Bank at 10:35 PM, so he could not have been the one using the pod."
"Then it's clear that Murphy couldn't have killed Futaba around 10:35 PM and then pretended to be her to fool us with the history log," Tanjiro concluded.
"Is it still possible that she was killed around that time, though?" Sorao asked, looking more serious than usual. "Perhaps the killer was waiting in the Memory Bank and ambushed her."
"Well, now that you mention it… Murphy, was anyone at the Memory Bank at the time?" Sister Hikari asked.
Murphy shrugged. "I went to the the fourth deck around 9:00 PM to do my painting. Since I stayed on the same side of the river the whole time, though, I never went to the Memory Bank, so for all I know, someone could've been there."
Hmm… So I guess that's possible… Masashi thought, unable to think of anything that could gainsay Sorao's guess. Maybe the killer truly was hiding there to catch her unawares.
"In that case," Haruyuki said, "let me ask you: how many boats did you see on that side of the river?"
Murphy scratched his head. "Well, I saw none, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Haruyuki clicked his tongue. "Take a look at the note again. Notice the latter half: 'But do not go there if you see any boats on the other side. It means that someone is there.'
"In short, since the only way to go to the Memory Bank is by boat, one could use the boats as an indicator of whether someone is at the Memory Bank," the art critic continued as he raised a finger. "Since you saw no boats, no one must have gone there before Futaba."
"Ah, then, the killer wasn't hiding in the Memory Bank…" Sorao sighed, lowering his eyes. "Man, and here I was thinking that I figured it all out…"
"Wait a minute!" Arashi cried out, his eyes still full of fieriness. "Maybe the killer was hiding in one of the nearby rooms and then followed after her after Murphy left!"
Murphy shook his head, however. "No, that can't be it. Before going back to my room, I took a quick glance at each room, since I wondered whether there was anyone else still up at night. But the only one I saw afterwards was Maiha, I can tell you that."
"Huh, so that possibility's out," Sorao said. "Then around 10:35 PM, the only one who was at the Memory Bank appears to have been Lady Inoshishi…"
"So Futaba must've been the one that used the pod," Faye concluded. "And since the memory pods can't be broken through, she must've then been killed sometime around 1:00 AM, when she left the pod!"
"Gah…" Arashi looked down at his podium with a defeated look. For what it was worth, Masashi appreciated that he had tried to help them figure out the culprit's identity, even if his theory had ended up being shown to be wrong.
"All right, then… Now what?" Sayua said, looking as frustrated as before. "We're still getting goddamn nowhere with this whole thing, you know!"
Abraham rubbed his chin once more. "Well, the next obvious topic to talk about is what the killer used to kill Futaba."
"Ah, yes, a good choice for discussion," Haruyuki said. "It was another oddity that I spotted in the Monokuma File. All it said was that she was killed with a blunt instrument, and yet no such thing was found at the crime scene."
"Ooh, ooh, I've just thought of something!" Drawing a few groans from his peers, Kumi raised his hand excitedly. "Maybe the evil warlock used a spell—"
"Shut up," Maiha said while staring at him coldly.
"H-Huh? But I didn't even finish…" Kumi said, his glee quickly fleeting.
"I don't need you to finish. I could already tell that you were about to spew nothing but rank hogwash," Maiha retorted, many others looking to be in agreement with the sentiment. "Last time, you also wasted our precious time, so it is beyond clear to even your fellow commoners that your mind is bereft of all its vital functions."
"H-Huh? What are you saying?" Kumi asked, confused.
"What, you don't get it? She's calling you a dumbass, you dumbass!" Sayua answered.
Gasping, Kumi shrank back with a sad and sheepish countenance, holding fast to his teddy bear. "Um… A-All right… I'll, um, be quiet, then… Sorry, I only wanted to help."
"Oh, don't pay them any mind, Kumi!" Sister Hikari said energetically, as she was among the few that could handle Kumi's fantastic thinking. "Even if your ideas aren't correct, I still appreciate your efforts to help us! So feel free to say whatever's on your mind!"
"Th-That's the worst thing you've s-said so far…" Hikari said, glowering. "Wh-Why would you e-encourage him to k-keep telling us his st-stupid ideas?"
"Anyway…" Faye said, looking a bit annoyed by the chatter. "Abraham and I tried to look for the murder weapon, but the only place that had anything usable as a blunt instrument was, well…" She scratched her cheek. "It was the second exhibit room. It was only natural, since a few days ago, we two had put away all items deemed dangerous in that room. Things like knives and ropes are stowed in there now."
"And what item was the likeliest to be the murder weapon?" Haruyuki asked.
Masashi thought for a few seconds. "We found a metal bat that had a bit of blood on it. And when I held the bat, I found it rather easy to use as a weapon."
"Then it's pretty obvious that the killer used that bat as the murder weapon!" Arashi declared.
"Yes, that's what I think as well," Abraham said. "It's fucking surprising, really, that there are so few good blunt instruments on the ship."
"In any case, the weapon is certain to have come from the second exhibit room," Sorao said.
"Aha! I've got it!" Sayua then faced one of the others, showing a keen and excited expression. "Since the killer must've been able to go to the second exhibit room, it was none other than you, Abraham!"
Abraham grimaced as the others now directed their suspicion at him. "Y-You fucking maggot! What the fuck do you think you're saying?! I'm the culprit?!"
"You have the key to the second exhibit room, don't you?" Sayua said plainly. "So only you have access to that room!"
"Y-Yeah, that's right!" Arashi said, gaping. "He could've grabbed the bat at any point and killed Futaba with it!"
"A-And I can definitely see him k-kill her like that…" Hikari said.
The waiter merely gave the others a sidelong glance as he frowned. "It becomes pretty fucking clear that I'm not the killer if you use even a thousandth of your brain, fucking dumbasses. To get to the second exhibit room, I would have had to go through the first exhibit room."
"But I'm the only one that has the key to the first exhibit room," Faye said, glancing elsewhere as well. "That's why we two had to do the nightly inspection together."
"And for your information," Abraham continued, "last night, when we two did our inspection, the bat and the other items were still there. Nothing was missing. Even when I was alone in the exhibit rooms for a few minutes, I couldn't have done it."
"Wait, you were alone?" Murphy said.
"Yeah, come to think of it…" Tanjiro said. "Faye, during the investigation, I think you told us that Abraham was by himself in the room for a short while."
Faye nodded, giving her co-worker an uneasy glance. "After we finished our inspection, we left the exhibit rooms. But Abraham then said that he had left his pen inside, so he asked for my key and went back by himself to get it while I waited outside in the hallway."
"And how long was he there?" Haruyuki asked.
Faye eyed Abraham uneasily again before answering. "About five minutes, I think."
"Sounds to me like a golden opportunity to sneak something out!" Red Mask said blithely.
No, I don't think so, Masashi thought. Abraham couldn't have sneaked the bat out, and I can prove why.
"Well, besides the impracticality of sneaking a bat of that size out," Masashi said, "Faye actually could verify that he hadn't hidden anything on his body. After all, when he left the room, she used her metal detector on him."
Abraham sneered. "And she found nothing from the room, which proves that I hadn't tried to smuggle anything out."
Faye sighed. "Yeah… That's right. Nothing besides his usual tools and his Monopad."
Masashi nodded. "Even though Abraham had the key to the second exhibit room, I think it's pretty clear that he couldn't have—"
"Not so fast, blockhead!"
It was none other than Sayua, who pointed at him with such forcefulness that Masashi nearly started.
"You think he's innocent because of that?" Sayua said. "Well, I don't think so! That guy may have fooled you, but I'll have you know that there's more than one way to skin a cat!"
"I… don't know what you're talking about," Masashi looked at her bemusedly. "The nightly inspection was the only opportunity for Abraham to sneak something out, wasn't it? But Faye herself showed that he couldn't have done it."
Sayua sneered as she flicked her hand. "You think that was what I had in mind when I said he was the culprit? Well, think again, pal, and get ready to be enlightened!"
Rebuttal Showdown: Sayua Tomi
"Well, sure, he couldn't have smuggled anything out during the inspection," Sayua said.
"But who's to say that he had no other opportunity?
"He had no alibi after the inspection, right?
"So it means he could've gone into the room after he left that pastry cook!
"He could've then grabbed the bat and made off with it!"
"But there's a big flaw in your argument!" Masashi pointed out. "Sure, he had the time to do so later, but more importantly, without Faye's key, he couldn't get into the first exhibit room. So he couldn't have gone into the second exhibit room!"
"Who says that he needed to go through the door?" Sayua countered.
"After all, there's a vent in the first exhibit room, isn't there?
"And it's pretty low on the wall, so there's no problem getting in or out of it!
"He must've gone to the room that it's connected to!
"Then he climbed through the vent and got inside!
"I bet he had some kind of tool to help him go up the vent!
"You know, like what those climbers use!
"Afterwards, he got the bat and left through the same way!
"And he could've done it without anyone spotting him!"
Truth Bullet Chosen: Vent Rule
I'll cut through your words!
"Sorry, Sayua, but you're wrong," Masashi said. "Abraham couldn't have climbed through the vent after the inspection. After all, on the same day we got the motive, Monokuma made it forbidden to do so."
"Wh-What?!" Sayua said, scowling. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Nope, he's not!" Monokuma said. "Indeed, no one could have sneaked through the vent. After all, my special edition ratsbane hasn't come yet! After I kill off all those pesky rats, I can let you guys crawl through them to your hearts' content!"
"Uh, yeah, I'll pass up on that," Sorao remarked.
"Anyway, it's clear that Abraham couldn't have stealthily tried to get the bat," Mari said. "Since he couldn't crawl through the vent, he couldn't access the second exhibit room after the nightly inspection was over."
"No fucking way!" Sayua exclaimed in protest. "Are you saying I'm wrong?"
"Well, with all due respect, none of us have to say you're wrong," Tanjiro said meekly. "The logic speaks for itself, I'm afraid."
"By the way," Sister Hikari, "to what room exactly does the vent connect?"
Monokuma chortled. "What, you still don't know? It's connected to the Memory Bank! Theoretically, if there were no such rule, you guys could go from the second deck to the fourth deck in a jiffy by using the vent. But, hey, enough with theoretical stuff! What's important is that if someone had tried to crawl through it, that same person would've been punished!"
"Well, I guess we can rule out sneaking into the first exhibit room from the Memory Bank," Sorao said. "So it appears that for Abraham, it was impossible to sneak into the room after the inspection was over."
"Exactly!" Abraham said, nodding pridefully. "And besides, even if I had somehow smuggled the bat out without using the vent, I would have needed to put it back in the second exhibit room. After all, when Faye and I went to the room this morning as part of our duty of stowing the emergency supplies there, we found the bat there. I would've needed to put the bat there after the murder."
"And to put the bat back, you would've needed Faye's key…" Tanjiro said. "After all, you couldn't have very well climbed up the vent after the deed was done."
Kumi raised his hand. "Um, excuse me, but just to be safe… are we sure there aren't any hidden passageways to the exhibit rooms?"
Abraham let out a short laugh. "That'd certainly make things much easier for you, wouldn't it? But to answer your question: no, you dumbass, there are no hidden passageways."
"Oh… Well, then, maybe the evil warlock could've used teleportation magic—"
"Back to important matters..." Sorao said, not at all caring about how shocked Kumi looked from being interrupted again, "It appears that Abraham can't be the killer."
Abraham let out a sigh of relief before letting out a haughty sneer. "I told you fucking maggots that I was innocent."
"All right, then… Now what?" Arashi said. "If Abraham can't be the killer, then who is?"
Sorao thought for a few seconds. "It's clear that to get the bat, the killer must have had access to both exhibit rooms. Neither Abraham nor Faye had both keys, so they should both be innocent. But somehow, someone got inside… Perhaps that person used a tool of some kind. Get what I mean, Masashi?"
Ah, I see! Masashi thought. By "tool", he's clearly referring to this!
"Are you talking about... lockpicks?" Masashi asked.
"Sure am. Nothing too complicated, as you can see, and I remember seeing one a while ago," Sorao said with a hint of playfulness. "Isn't that right, Red Mask?"
At once, all the others gazed at the phantom thief, who looked back with a slightly startled expression.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Red Mask said a few seconds later, her voice composed but unable to hide her slight shock. "I-I don't see how this has anything to do with me!"
"Enough with your pissing around!" Abraham said, glaring at her. "You have a lockpick on you, don't you? I saw you pick one up a few days ago."
"Yeah, I saw you pick one up as well!" Arashi yelled.
"And during the investigation, you even told me that you owned ten of them," Masashi replied. "That means you could've sneaked into the exhibit rooms and stolen the bat."
"Wait, but if Red Mask had picked the locks," Kumi said, "wouldn't the locks have stayed unlocked?"
Sorao shook his head. "No, man, if it's easy to unlock a door with a lockpick, then it's just as easy to re-lock it with the same tool. At least, that's what I've heard."
"Well... you've heard right," Monokuma said, hanging his head. "Trust me, I learned that the hard way. I once stowed my salmon in my treasure chest, but since it was always locked, I simply assumed they were still inside. Imagine how shocked I was to see them all gone one day!"
"Uh, I think there was a much greater problem if you were keeping your food in a treasure chest of all things," Faye remarked.
"Well, Red Mask? What do you have to say for yourself?" Sorao asked. "The spotlight's on you, so if you want to defend yourself, now's the time to do it, you know."
The thief merely set her right hand on her mask as she glanced upwards. "W-Well... All right, it's true that I have lockpicks! But that doesn't mean that it was me that broke into the exhibit room and took the bat! After all, I had lost two of the lockpicks by the time the murder happened!"
"What?" Abraham said, scowling as he clenched a fist, greatened loathing in his eyes. "Are you bullshitting us right now? That sounds like a rather fucking convenient defense to make!"
"Actually, no, she's not," Masashi said, recalling what he had heard. "She actually had lost two of her lockpicks. I know because two of us now have them. Maiha and Haruyuki told me themselves during the investigation."
"Wh-What?! No way!" Arashi exclaimed.
"Is this true?" Sister Hikari asked, she and the others looking uneasily at them.
Haruyuki let out a wry chuckle. "Indeed, he has uttered no falsehood. I found a lockpick a few days ago, and I had kept it to myself up until the investigation."
Maiha crossed her arms and looked back at the others with disdainful eyes. "I found the lockpick a while ago, but that is not proof of wrongdoing, is it?"
"Well, this is troublesome…" Mari said. "It seems that any of them could've done it."
"But hey, at the very least, all this has made one thing clear," Sorao said before widening his smile. "Since the killer must've used a lockpick to access the second exhibit room, that narrows down the number of possible suspects from fifteen… to three."
It was then that the wariness in the gazes of many others greatened as they glanced at the three who had had the lockpicks last night. And they had good reason to be wary; Masashi could think of nothing wrong with Sorao's reasoning, given that he had proven that Abraham could not have accessed the room after the inspection.
"So the killer's one of you guys!" Arashi declared. "All right, which one of you is it?! I bet it was you, Red Mask! You're totally suspicious!"
"N-No! It wasn't me! I'm a thief, but my poor old self would never kill anyone! Truly!" the phantom thief replied, her smile looking more and more out of place. "I-It could've been one of the other two! They could've taken the weapon without a hitch!"
"Ah… I see that I am now under the spotlight," Haruyuki said calmly, as if the accusation had nothing to do with him. "I must admit, there is a certain discomfort within me right now… But this too shall pass. In the meantime, I shall relish the moment."
Clenching a fist, Maiha frowned greatly as she glared at the others with loathing eyes. "Addleheaded commoners! You dare suspect me again! What will it take to make you see that I would never do such a foul misdeed? If anything, we ought to suspect the thief, as she had hidden the lockpicks from the rest of us since the very beginning!"
The three denied the accusations once more, but the others still looked unsure about which one they ought to suspect, and so began the debate, more hectic than usual.
Nonstop Debate
"I didn't get the bat from the room!" Red Mask began. "After all, I'm not the only one that could've unlocked the door! After all, the other two had no solid alibis at nighttime as well!"
"I have done nothing wrong," Maiha said, raising a finger. "I simply found the lockpick on the floor a while ago. And I assure you, I have never used a lockpick before."
"Yes, and I found mine in the kitchen," Haruyuki added. "I admit, I have kept it hidden from the rest of you, but I assure you, I have done nothing with it."
"Really?" Sorao said. "Why should we believe you?"
"I'm a man of seeing, not of doing," Haruyuki replied. "And I prefer to keep things like that."
"By the way… none of you were up to anything last night, were you?" Faye asked.
"Of course I wasn't!" Red Mask said. "I didn't leave my room!"
"And as for me," Maiha said, "after I headed back to our rooms with Murphy, I went to bed."
"And I was sleeping in my room the whole night," Haruyuki said. "To think that a murder happened during my slumber... I wonder what spectacles I would have seen if I'd been a witness."
Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Sayua's Account
No, that's wrong!
"Sorry, Red Mask, but you're lying," Masashi began. "After all, you were at the palace last night, weren't you?"
Red Mask started before regaining her composure. "Wh-What are you talking about? Y-You can't just say that without any proof, you know!"
"Oh, but I have an eyewitness account to back me up," Masashi replied before facing the cheerleader. "Sayua, you and Tanjiro saw Red Mask running in the palace's third deck, didn't you?"
"Hah! You've got that right!" Sayua replied with a somewhat haughty expression. "Tanjiro and I were in the arts and crafts room, and we saw you at 1:00 AM!"
"Wh-What?!" Red Mask exclaimed. "Y-You two… saw me?"
"Whoa, hold the phone!" Sorao said, raising his right hand. "Tanjiro, what were you two doing there that late? Don't tell me that you two were... Nah, it can't be. You're not that daring."
Tanjiro sighed, as if repulsed by the unsightly implications of the remark. "For your information, Sayua and I went there—"
"Th-They were doing something bad to Sir Teddybane!" Kumi answered before giving the cheerleader a grumpy sidelong glance. "That wicked troll Sayua had stolen him!"
"Huh? She did what?" Faye said, confused, and meanwhile, Sayua looked not at all bothered by Kumi's anger toward her, whereas Tanjiro grew drearier in his expression.
Sorao scratched his head. "I… still don't get what you're talking about. But either way, Sayua and Tanjiro, you saw Red Mask at 1:00 AM, right? So that means that our friendly neighborhood thief was lying about not doing anything last night."
"Eep!" Red Mask squealed as she moved her hands nearer to her chest. "W-Well… Th-There's a good explanation for that, really!"
"So it's true?" Abraham said, eyes widened. "Those two happened to see you there that time of all times?"
Though the mask covered the upper half of her face, one could tell from her nervous smile that the revelation had bereft her of much calmness.
"Y-You see…" Red Mask began. "I… I wasn't doing anything funny, really! The truth is, I was…. I was only doing my nightly jogging!"
"Your… 'nightly jogging'," Sorao said plainly, eyeing her with a mix of shock and unbelief. "You jog at night?"
"Yeah! We phantom thieves often work late at night, so it's not unusual at all!" Red Mask answered, nodding along as confidence returned to her voice. "I like to do my exercises late at night to stay in shape, and I just happened to be jogging back to my room when Sayua and Tanjiro saw me!"
"What…? Really?" Masashi said, unsure as to whether he ought to believe her. On one hand, it sounded rather made-up, but on the other hand, given her eccentricity, it was not fully unbelievable that she had that kind of habit.
"That is the stupidest fucking thing that I have ever heard," Abraham said, glaring at her in an unfriendly way.
"Surely you won't expect us to believe that," Faye added. "I bet you were actually heading back from the Memory Bank after you had killed Futaba."
Red Mask shook her head profusely. "N-No way! I-I did no such thing, I swear! I mean, yeah, I didn't tell you guys about my jogging, but I didn't want you to suspect me, truly!"
"I don't know what to think… Maybe she's telling the truth," Tanjiro said. "It may be that her being spotted was just an instance of bad luck."
"If I were her, I wouldn't do any jogging at night," Murphy said. "There's no telling what may lurk in the nearby shadows."
"Well, thieves like to work in the shadows! That's how they can get away so easily with what they're doing! So maybe Red Mask just likes it that way!" Kumi said as he gave the cheerleader another dirty glance. Apparently, he would not let that go any time soon.
"Indeed," Haruyuki said. "I myself am aware of one instance when she was up and about at night."
Come to think of it, Red Mask had sneaked off to a certain part of the ship on the first night of the killing game. Her spotting of Atsushi had been the very cause of Masashi's investigation of the hidden room the next night.
Maybe it truly was just bad timing… Masashi thought. Still… she's hiding something, I know it. But how do I get her to say it…?
"Let's talk about something else, then."
It was Sorao, who stood there calmly, his face showing no signs of worry.
"I don't think it's a good idea to get hung up on whether Red Mask is the culprit without further evidence," Sorao explained. "In the meantime, maybe we should look at another part of the case and see whether that yields us anything."
"Then what do you suggest that we talk about next, commoner?" Maiha asked, among the few that were displeased with Sorao's suggestion. "I know of nothing else of greater importance."
Haruyuki let out a small chuckle as he touched his gray scarf. "Instead of thinking about whether she lies, maybe we should go over the evidence at the crime scene. Perhaps there is something that shows a connection to the culprit. Otherwise, we shall not be getting anywhere, shall we?"
"Hah! All right by me!" Red Mask said.
"I suppose it'll be good to go over the crime scene again," Mari said.
Maiha frowned as she shook her head. "Ridiculous. The thief is obviously suspicious, and yet you insist on wasting our time. We ought to interrogate her further instead."
"Hey, now, you seem pretty insistent that we not change the topic," Sorao remarked, scratching his cheek a little as a little smirk popped up on his face. "Is there any particular reason for that?"
The ballroom dancer said nothing as she shut her mouth, instead glaring at him with loathing eyes. With that out of the way, the class trial moved on to the next topic.
Nonstop Debate
"What was at the crime scene, anyway?" Tanjiro asked.
"Well, to begin with, there's the corpse," Mari said. "Futaba had the note telling her to go to the Memory Bank."
"I bet the thief chick wrote that!" Sayua said.
"Y-You don't have any proof for that!" Red Mask countered.
"Are we sure that's the only message Futaba left behind, though?" Sister Hikari said. "Maybe there's another clue like the pod history."
"But I don't think her pod history tells us anything," Faye said. "So I think that's it."
"But that means we haven't gotten anywhere!" Arashi said, shocked.
Truth Bullet Chosen (Agree): Strange Note
I agree with that!
"Sister Hikari, you're right about that part," Masashi said. "The note I showed you guys earlier is the only thing left by Futaba, but it also has a message written in blood on the other side."
"B-Blood?!" Kumi shuddered as he held his teddy bear up to the lower half of his face. "B-But why? Wh-Why would it be written in blood?'
"Perhaps it was Futaba's dying message," Mari suggested. "The Monokuma File never said that she had died instantly, so it's possible she wrote it in her last moments."
"And obviously, there was no ink available," Haruyuki said, "so she had to make do with the blood coming out of her wound."
"Well, uh…" Masashi chuckled nervously before figuring out a way to word this well. "You see… I, uh, accidentally dropped the note in the pool of blood, and part of the back got stained, so…"
"Thanks to your fucking clumsiness…. You've destroyed a potentially important piece of evidence," Abraham finished as he ground his teeth. From the sternness in his eyes, Masashi could tell that the waiter was trying to hold back his wrath.
"Yeah, Masashi, if that's Futaba's dying message," Faye said, looking irked as well, "then we could've figured out who the killer is in an instant!"
"Now, now!" Sister Hikari said. "Surely there's still something we can glean from the note, isn't there? After all, not all the note's been stained, right?"
"Right… some of it is still readable," Masashi answered, relieved to see Sister Hikari not upset about this. "As far as I can tell, the note says: 'SU YUKA'."
"Su… Yuka?" Murphy asked, he and many of the others looking stunned and confused.
"Wh-What, really? Th-That's pretty weird… Whatever does it mean?" Red Mask commented as she set a hand on her mask.
"I've never heard of that before," Sister Hikari said. "Still, if Futaba wrote it, then it must mean something."
"But it only says 'SU YUKA' on it!" Arashi said. "How the heck can we tell anything from that! That could be anything!"
"Hmm… I don't think so…" Mari said, looking as if staring off at those right before her. "I think we should ask ourselves what Futaba would think to write as a dying message. Then we may be able to figure out what it says."
"Well, if I'd been hit on the head, but still had some time before my death…" Murphy said. "I'd naturally want others to find out who killed me, so I'd write down the killer's name somewhere."
"Same for me," Sorao said. "Seems pretty likely that the name on that note belongs to one of us."
"B-But aren't we still stuck?" Kumi asked, cocking his head in confusion. "I-I mean... the other characters are now covered in that awful blood, so it could've been any of us!"
Abraham scoffed. "Well, normally, yes, but I suppose we should be fucking thankful Masashi didn't stupidly destroy the whole note. If the note has the killer's name on it, then the name has to have 'SU' and 'YUKA' in it, doesn't it?"
"Oh, that's right!" Sister Hikari said. "Assuming that 'SU' belongs to the first name, and 'YUKA' to the last name… We can see which of our names don't qualify for that! Thank you for pointing that out, Abraham."
The waiter sneered as he raised his head a little. "It was nothing too difficult to figure out, but in this kind of situation, your minds are a little addled, so naturally, I'm here to set things straight."
"You don't have to sound smug about it, you know…" Sorao remarked. "Anyway, whose names have those characters on the note?"
"I-I'm pretty sure mine doesn't!" Arashi said.
"Nor does mine," Mari said.
"Well… none of our names qualify, really…" Masashi said, having gone through everyone's names. Indeed, not a single one that he knew of had a "SU" or a "YUKA" in it. "But… there is still one name that I haven't checked yet."
Masashi then turned toward the thief, who had suddenly turned quiet as she bit her lip. "Hey, Red Mask."
Not replying, she glanced away from him, the calmness on her countenance obviously forced. It was all right, though; she would have to say something in a few seconds, anyway.
"I have only one question for you," Masashi continued, many of the others staring sternly at her. "What's your real name?"
The reality of the situation was now unavoidable. She suppressed a grunt as she turned back toward Masashi, covering the lower half of her face with both hands.
"Well? What's your real name?" Sorao asked, showing a smile as if taking delight in her situation.
For a while, the phantom thief said nothing, glancing downwards as she trembled. Eventually, however, she looked back up with a less uneasy expression.
"Well... if it's really that important, I guess I'll tell you..." She took a deep breath before continuing. "My real name's Nonoka Shiozawa. That's all you want from me, right?"
"Really? That's your name?" Masashi said.
"Yep, sure is!" the thief said, confidence reappearing in her face. "I didn't want to tell you guys, since as a phantom thief, I want to keep my true identity a secret! But since you guys keep suspecting me, I guess there's no point in keeping it up!"
"Well, I can't say I feel too bad about it, given your… shady profession," Sister Hikari replied. "But I suppose your name was still important to you, so on some level, I'm sorry that we forced you to reveal yourself."
Nonoka giggled. "Well, no worries! Anyway, it's clear that I'm innocent, right? I mean, look at my name! Not one 'SU' and 'YUKA' in it!"
Kumi gasped. "Then it means you can't be the one whose name Lady Futaba wrote on the note! But that means that none of our names could be on the note!"
"Then maybe the note doesn't actually have the killer's name on it," Faye suggested. "Maybe it's something else."
"Well, there's one possibility that you've fucking forgotten about," Abraham said before glancing at the phantom thief. "You say that your name's Nonoka Shiozawa, but how do we know that you're not bullshitting us?"
"Wh-What?" Nonoka stammered. "Wh-What makes you think I'd lie about it?"
Haruyuki chuckled. "Well, one reason comes to mind. Namely, that as a phantom thief, you think it paramount to hide your real name. You said so a few seconds ago, after all."
"Oh, yeah!" Arashi exclaimed as he clenched his fists. "There's no way we can tell whether you're lying to us!"
"But I'm not lying to you guys!" Nonoka said playfully. "I swear that 'Nonoka Shiozawa' is definitely my real name! You can trust my word!"
"But you were just lying about what you were doing last night, weren't you?" Murphy pointed out.
"Well, can't a girl have a sudden change of heart?" Nonoka retorted as she giggled once more. "And besides, even if you think I'm lying, how do you plan to prove it?"
"How about Monokuma?" Faye suggested. "He's the one that put us here in this in the first place, so he should know what your real name is!"
Monokuma chortled as everyone looked at him. "Hey, now, if I confirmed whether someone's lying during a class trial, that'd be rather biased of me! I will have no judicial corruption in this courtroom! I'll gladly answer your questions if it's about the rules or if my good name's been slandered, but that's it!"
"In short, you won't tell us a whit…" Tanjiro sighed.
Is there any way to find out what her real name is? Masashi thought, almost certain that "Nonoka Shiozawa" was nothing more than a fake name. Given that she wanted to hide her identity, she would naturally keep it secret from the rest of the group, and since Monokuma decided to be uncooperative now of all times, there was absolutely no one that could verify whether she was telling the truth. And Red Mask had every reason to hide her name, were it for hiding her identity or hiding the connection that she had to Futaba's murder, so anything coming out of her mouth was utterly useless.
Nonstop Debate
"I refuse to believe your bullshit," Abraham said angrily as he gave Red Mask the evil eye. "You're lying, I can tell that much."
"Say what you want, but your words mean nothing to me!" Red Mask giggled as she set her hand on her mask in a dramatic fashion. "And you can't prove I'm lying, can you?"
"Yeah, it's not as if Red Mask had told anyone about her name…" Sorao said, appearing to be in deep thought.
"And there's nothing else that can tell us as well," Murphy said.
"So it seems we're at a dead end here…" Tanjiro said.
"Yeah, well, my gut says her name's on the note!" Sayua said. "So we should just vote for her and get it over with!"
"N-No way I'm going to do that!" Arashi exclaimed, eyeing the cheerleader angrily.
Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Monopad Name
No, that's wrong!
"Actually, Murphy, there is one thing that can tell us Red Mask's name," Masashi said. "It's the Monopad."
"Ah!" the phantom thief let out as she winced.
"What?! Her Monopad?!" Arashi said. "But why?!"
Abraham sighed as he set his hand on his forehead. "You idiotic hothead… He's referring to the part where the Monopad shows our name whenever it's turned on."
"Huh?! Is that true?!" Arashi exclaimed, looking truly shocked before he got out his Monopad and checked it. "Th… That's right! It shows my name when I turn it on!"
"It's the same for the rest of us," Tanjiro said as he checked his as well.
"Huh, so it is…" Murphy said as he looked at his. "I haven't used the dang thing since I got it, so I utterly forgot about it."
"Well, with that, we don't need the thief chick to say any more!" Sayua said as she glared at Red Mask. "Your damn Monopad's got your real name on it!"
"E-Eep!" Red Mask squealed as everyone looked at her with wary eyes once more, her confidence quickly waning. "W-Well, I… I… see no need to look at it..."
"Well, Red Mask, you know what we want from you," Sorao said.
"Th-There's no need…" Red Mask giggled nervously, her lips quivering. "I-It's all a waste of time, don't you think?"
"Just take out your Monopad and show us your real name," Faye said.
"Y-You… You and y-your insistence on hearing my name… D-Don't you think it's pointless—"
"Red Mask," Masashi interrupted, looking at her sternly.
"Grk!" the phantom thief let out as she frowned.
"Please… Please don't make things any harder anymore," Masashi continued, softening his expression. "I know that you don't want to, but we need to see your Monopad."
"Gah… Y-You…"
"If your name fits the one on the note, then you'll have to explain yourself."
"Y-You… You… Can't you..."
"It's all for our sakes, so please, show us your Monopad—"
"Can't you shut up for even a second?!"
The phantom thief's exclamation startled nearly everyone, and she then looked back at the group, but this time, her face showed not quivering lips but a furious scowl.
"You can't stop yammering about my real name, can you?! Why do you have to be so goddamn persistent about it?!" the thief said, her tone full of fury and haughtiness, and this change from her usually happy and cheerful disposition made a few of the others gasp and look at her with great bewilderment.
"U-Um… are you all right?" Kumi asked shyly.
"Oh, what do you think?! Of course I'm not all right, moron!" Red Mask replied, her fist clenched.
"Eep! Sh-She sounds as bad as Sayua!" Kumi whimpered, hiding his face behind Sir Teddybane. "Th-That must be Red Mask's other self, which she wears her enchanted mask to hold back!"
"She's still wearing the mask, though…" Murphy pointed out.
"Bwahahaha!" Monokuma said as he clutched his belly. "Who would've thought that the overly friendly girl ended up having a nasty side to her! She definitely reminds me of my second ex-wife!"
"Wait, 'second'?" Sorao said as if it were actually important.
"W-Wow… She sounds pretty different now!" Arashi said, as if amazed that someone could sound even angrier than he.
"Ah… This unleashing of pent-up emotions… To see the Ultimate Phantom Thief's blithesome image crumble… To witness such a dramatic change as she is backed into a corner... How wonderful!"
Of all people, it was Haruyuki, who embraced himself with his own arms as he seemed not at all taken back by her change in attitude. On the contrary, he showed a far more interested expression than his usual blank yet critical expression, looking at the phantom thief with glinting eyes as if he were a child given his favorite dessert.
Oh, God, this wasn't what I was expecting... Masashi thought, dismayed by his reaction.
"Shut up! Just shut up, art weirdo!" Red Mask bade as she angrily raised her hand. "Even if my real name's on my Monopad, there's a very good reason why my Monopad doesn't need to be checked!"
"You're still going to hide it from us?" Masashi said incredulously.
"I'm not the kind to give up easily, you know!" the shrewish thief said. "You seem to have forgotten one very important thing, so I guess I'll have to spell it out to you!"
Rebuttal Showdown: "Red Mask"
"There's a good reason why you don't need to check my Monopad!" Red Mask began.
"If you say that Futaba wrote my name down on the note...
"Then Futaba must've known what my name is!
"Otherwise, how could she write down a name she didn't know?!
"As a phantom thief, I would never let her find out what my true identity is!
"So I'd have no reason to show her my Monopad!
"Sure, you may not have given her your Monopad," Masashi countered, "but what if she somehow managed to take a look at it?"
"'Take a look at it?' Don't be stupid!" Red Mask replied.
"I would never lend her my Monopad!
"So at no point did she ever have her hands on it!
"Nor would I ever lend anyone else it!
"So she couldn't have found out what it was!
"Now just shut up about my real name and talk about something else!"
Truth Bullet Chosen: Hikari's Account
I'll cut through your words!
"Nice try, Red Mask, but there was one opportunity when Futaba could've found out your name from the Monopad," Masashi said.
"Wh-Wh-What?!" Red Mask said, trembling a little as her snarl lessened in its wrath. "Wh-What are you talking about?! I'd never let Futaba have my Monopad!"
"Well, yes, you'd never give her your Monopad," Masashi replied, "but what about when she found your Monopad after you somehow lost it?"
"Ah!" Red Mask exclaimed as it became clear what he was talking about. "W-Well.. I…!"
"Hikari told me that a few days ago, before dinner, Futaba had given you your Monopad, having found it," Masashi continued, finding Red Mask's shock to be telling enough. "Futaba certainly must've turned on the Monopad to see whose it is, and she must've deduced that a Monopad with a name she didn't recognize must be yours."
"Ah… Ah… Aaaaaah!" Red Mask said as her frown deepened.
"And one more thing," Masashi said. "Hikari noted that you looked rather uneasy after getting it back. I reckon that you realized that Futaba knew about your real name!"
"Gah!" Red Mask exclaimed. It seemed that his guess was right on the mark.
"So Futaba definitely knew what Red Mask's name was!" Arashi said.
"Yes, and she could've written it down on the note," Abraham said.
Masashi pointed right at the thief, who started upon meeting his gaze. "Well, Red Mask? Since you won't say it with your own mouth, will you show us your Monopad instead?"
"Ah... Ah... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..."
For a few seconds, the phantom thief struggled to say anything as everyone looked at her with bated breath. Masashi wondered whether he had gone too far with the pressure on her; it was important that she tell them her real name, and yet, as Sister Hikari had said earlier, it was a secret dear to her, and so in a way, it felt a bit wrong to make her do so.
No… It has to be done… Masashi thought in the end. If I want to go back to how things usually are, then it has to be done.
"Aah… I can't believe it… To be put on this crappy ship and be forced to give up my name…" Red Mask grumbled. "Guess my lameass excuses won't work anymore."
"Excuses…? Then you admit your deception at last," Maiha said, staring coldly at her.
"Heh heh… yeah… it was worth a try, right? Guess I might as well give it up... There's nothing else I can do..." Red Mask mumbled before she set her left hand on her mask. "Heh heh… heh heh heh…"
Just as Masashi, startled by her giggling, was about to ask her whether she was all right, she opened up her arms, and on her countenance was nothing but a winsome smile, as if she had somehow erased all the anger that she had shown the group only a few minutes ago.
"Good day, good men and women! I see that you're all so keen to learn of the Ultimate Phantom Thief's true identity!" she said blithely, ignoring the befuddled faces of her audience. "After all the deception, I can see that I've put it off long enough! Well, I promise you, there'll be no more of that!
"Now, pay attention, as I shall do this only once! I go by Red Mask, but that's only my professional name! My real name is..."
She then took out her Monopad with a flashy hand movement and then turned it on.
"Ah… So… that's your name..." Sister Hikari murmured as she and the others looked at the screen with awe.
Her real name was none other than Kasumi Ayukawa.
For a moment, the others too had been made silent, letting this important piece of information take root in their minds. The name of the phantom thief that could steal many of the world's treasures and had evaded capture all this time was now known to a few strangers that had no connection to her.
"So after long last, you've revealed it!" Haruyuki said, still looking weirdly delighted. "Well, Kasumi, it's swell to make your acquaintance. Once this is all over, I'd like to talk with you some more, if you don't mind."
The girl now known as Kasumi Ayukawa sneered. "You want to do that, even though my true identity is now compromised, and my seemingly ordinary school life will never be the same? You sure are weird!"
"Wh-What is up with your attitude right now?" Faye asked, eyeing her uneasily. "You were angry only a few seconds ago, and now you're acting all cheerily!"
"Oh, that little outburst? Sorry about that! I, uh, get a little restless every now and then!" Kasumi answered as she waved her hand blithely, though her reassurance seemed to put very few at ease.
I don't know why, but there's something odd going on with her… Masashi thought, stupefied. She sounds so different now, and it sounds pretty fake… At the very least, she seems willing to cooperate with us, so I shouldn't complain about this...
"Moreover, Red Mask—I mean, Kasumi, now that we know your real name," Masashi said, thinking to set that weird part aside for now, "we can see that your name fits the one on the note perfectly! Your name has 'SU' and 'YUKA' in it!"
"Th-Then… If your name's on the note, then you must be the killer!" Arashi exclaimed as he angrily pointed at her.
"It sure seems that way, doesn't it! Well, I admit, it's my name that's on the note," Kasumi replied, keeping up her smile. "But I guess if you don't know the full picture, you'll think I'm the killer, so I guess it's time to own up to everything!"
"Wh-What?" Masashi stared at her, dumbstruck. "What are you talking about? 'Full picture'?"
"Well, I haven't told you guys what I was truly doing last night, have I?"
"You… were at the Memory Bank last night, weren't you?" Abraham said sternly, who looked as if trying to keep a calm face before the ridiculous girl.
"Hey, you've got it! The whole night jogging thing I said earlier was nothing more than an excuse, so sorry about that!" Kasumi answered as she snapped her fingers. "But all I did was discover the dead body, and that's it!"
"Uh, I think we need far more than that as an answer!" Tanjiro said, eyeing her warily. "Why were you there in the first place?"
"For your information… I got a weird letter yesterday morning," Kasumi answered, who, though sounding a bit serious now, still came off as rather blithe and gleeful. "The letter told me to go to the Memory Bank at 1:00 AM."
"And you followed the letter faithfully, I see," Haruyuki replied.
"Believe you me, I didn't want to go," she said. "But you know, if you were in my shoes and saw your real name on the note, you'd do the same thing, right?"
"Ah… So that's why you were there last night!" Masashi said, beginning to have a fuller picture of last night's events. "Since the writer knew your name, you couldn't very well disobey their bidding. Otherwise, there was the risk that they might reveal your name to the rest of us."
Kasumi nodded. "Anyway… around the given time, I rode one of the boats to the Memory Bank, and I saw only one boat there, which must've been Futaba's. And sure enough, she was the only one there when I headed in! Too bad she'd already been killed, though…"
"What? She was… already dead?" Faye said, eyes widened.
"Yep. And let me tell you, I was very, very spooked!" Kasumi continued, keeping up her oddly blithe tone, even though the subject had become grim. "The weird music playing didn't help at all!"
"Wait… weird music?" Masashi raised his brow.
"Well, I say it's weird, since when I opened the door, it was playing a light piano piece. But when I actually stepped into the room, it suddenly changed into a jazz piece!"
"Huh… I'm pretty sure the Memory Bank doesn't play music," Sorao replied, looking somewhat surprised. "Did you see where it was coming from?"
"Yeah! It was coming from a smallish orb lying nearby," Kasumi answered. "The orb had a fair amount of blood on it, so I guess it must have gotten on the orb when the killing happened!"
An orb playing music that seems to change for some reason? Masashi thought. That description… sounds familiar… Ah!
"The orb had to be one of the light orbs from the exhibit rooms!" Masashi said. "The orbs definitely had that weird music function!"
"What? That orb was there?" Faye said, giving a confused glance. "That's… rather strange."
The group glanced at one another, befuddled as to what this meant. They had assumed that the killer had taken only the bat out, but it seemed that the orb had something to do with the crime as well.
"Oh, and there were two other things I saw! The note with the dying message, and the long staff lying nearby! It's the same scepter that those statues in the living room hold!" Red Mask said.
"You mean the was-scepter?" Mari said.
What…? The scepter… was there…? Masashi thought, he and many others looking bewildered at her account. As far as he knew, the only remarkable thing about the scepter was that it was about six feet long and that one of its ends was shaped like a hook. From his short experiment with Mari, it was clear that it could not have been wielded as a weapon, so why had it been taken to the Memory Bank?
"More importantly, if you saw the dying message," Abraham said, "why didn't you try to destroy it? It had your name on it, after all."
"W-Well… To be truthful, I was pretty shocked to see my name on it!" Kasumi replied. "I didn't know why Futaba wrote my name of all things. Maybe she thought that I was the killer for some weird reason! My instincts told me to leave the room at once, though."
"And you didn't pick up the note?" Haruyuki asked.
"I thought I had, but after I was back in my room, I realized I hadn't actually put it in my pocket!" Kasumi answered. "I must've been way out of my wits to make such a silly mistake! I didn't notice it at all while running back to my room!"
"And that must've been when Sayua and I saw you…" Tanjiro added.
"Pretty careless of you, don't you think?" Sorao asked relaxedly. "Not only did you fail to destroy the note when you could, but you also didn't notice Tanjiro and Sayua. Man, I've got to say, even though you're the Ultimate Phantom Thief, you're not so intelligent as I thought."
"And why didn't you use your fucking brain and tell us any of this earlier?" Abraham asked.
Kasumi raised her hand. "Well, duh! If I'd told you guys, you would've suspected that I had something to do with it! I didn't want to be connected to the crime in any way, especially since my true identity was involved! So the best thing to do was pretend that I had nothing to do with it! That's why I was hoping that you guys could solve the crime without having to delve into my name."
"That… was pretty spotty reasoning," Masashi said a bit chidingly. "You didn't want to be suspected, but in the end, we ended up figuring out you were connected to the crime. And what you've just revealed to us is very important information, to boot!"
"Important information? More like utter lies."
It was none other than Maiha, who had an incredibly apprehensive look in her eyes.
Maiha…? What are you…? Masashi thought.
"You still haven't proven that you're innocent," Maiha began, her voice lacking any willingness to believe her. "Your tale may sound persuasive to the witless commoners, but there's not a whit of evidence backing it up."
"Wh-What?" Kasumi exclaimed, suddenly losing her gladsome tone. "You don't believe me?"
"Of course not. You've been lying to us, so for all we know, this is yet another one of your lies, your tricks, your deceptions," Maiha said. "As expected from a foul thief."
The others silenced themselves as they looked at Kasumi, whose expression waxed in its unease. They had been taken in by her tale, but as Maiha pointed out, who was to say that it was true? The possibility now in mind, what little relief Masashi had felt from hearing her witness account was now gone.
"W-Well, how am I supposed to prove I'm not lying?" Kasumi said after a few seconds, trying her best to keep her smile and her cheerful voice.
Maiha, on the other hand, seemed rather unwilling to believe her. "If what you say is true, then you should still have the letter that told you to go to the Memory Bank."
"Y-Yeah, that's right," Faye said, nodding along. "I mean, you have it on you… right?"
Kasumi let out a small gasp as her gladsome expression started to break down. "A-Ah… There's one more thing I should tell you. When I got the letter, it also told me to destroy it as soon as I was done reading it. It said that it was 'dangerous' to keep around, since it needed to be hidden from Monokuma!"
"Hidden from me?" Monokuma chortled. "Let me assure you, there's nothing hidden on this ship from your dear captain! I can see everything you do in the bedroom! The dining room! And especially the bathroom!"
"So… did you destroy the note?" Faye asked.
"W-Well, of course I did! I didn't want to disobey the note's instructions!" Kasumi answered, whose voice noticeably had a bit of fear in it, however much her cheerful tone tried to hide it.
It was at that moment that Masashi saw the frown on Maiha's face twitch a bit. Though the ballroom dancer showed a blank expression, her clenched fists suggested that Kasumi's answer had kindled something within her.
"Oh… Well, that's not good," Sorao said, sounding hardly worried for Kasumi. "Looks to me like you don't have anything backing you up here."
"Looks like you shouldn't have done that, dumbass," Abraham said snidely.
"Still… I think Kasumi's telling the truth about what she did last night," Sister Hikari said. "Much as I object to her, well, activities, I feel that she's not lying here."
"Yeah! And besides, why would I kill Futaba, anyway?" Kasumi asked. "I-I didn't bear her any ill will!"
"Wrong! Absolutely wrong!"
Once again, it was Maiha, but her expression startled Masashi, as there was a noticeable trace of anger in her eyes, as if Kasumi had slighted her somehow, and yet Masashi also could sense as if she had been waiting for this moment.
"As we all know, you wish to keep your real identity a secret!" Maiha responded. "So you must've been panicking when you realized that Futaba must've found out what your real name is! And that's when you decided to take measures into your own hands!"
"E-Even so, I'd never kill her!" Kasumi said, her expression now a little panicky. "I-I'm the Ultimate Phantom Thief, not a killer! I make sure that no one ever dies in my heists! All I'm guilty of, truly, is theft—"
"Do you expect me to believe commoner scum like you?!" Maiha yelled as she pointed at the thief with great fierceness, and the sudden raise in loudness of her voice made a few of the others gasp. The ballroom dancer's eyes, fixed on the thief, glinted with utter wrath. "You and your ilk will do anything to satisfy your lowly desires and mindlessly badmouth those who work harder than you can ever imagine! And as if that weren't bad enough, you have been rewarded with that sham of a title for being nothing more than a glamorous lawbreaker! The only thing that you care about is you alone, and so murder is something to which you'd gladly resort so as to keep up your vicious lifestyle!"
"Wh-Whoa… M-Maiha's really angry!" Kumi said, hiding behind his teddy bear as if fearing that her voice could somehow hurt him.
"Y-Yeah, wh-what's up with her?" Hikari said.
Haruyuki chuckled as he covered his mouth with his gray scarf. "This one's not so interesting to witness, as it is only a greater showing of what I've already seen from her. Still… there is something about this that makes me but watch."
Wh-What in the world is going on…? Masashi thought, utterly bemused by Maiha's insistence that Kasumi was the killer. Most of the others were confused as well, unsure whether to agree with Maiha or Kasumi.
"Wh-What about you?!" Kasumi said, nervously pointing a finger at her. "You and Haruyuki had my lockpicks, so either of you could've done it!"
"Even so, the dying message has your name on it! You were seen fleeing the scene by two witnesses! You have no evidence to back up your account!" Maiha continued, looking down at her with loathing eyes. "At no point was either of us ever spotted there, so you warrant the most suspicion!"
"A-Ah! Th-That's a good point!" This time, it was Kumi, who had formerly looked unsure as to whom he ought to direct his suspicions at, but now, he looked almost certain that it was Kasumi. "I-I can't think of anyone else but her!"
"Hmm… I'm leaning toward believing she's the killer," Murphy said. "No offense, Kasumi, but you're not exactly trustworthy. You've lied to us a few times already."
"Come on! I'm not lying now!" Kasumi said, her voice slightly quivering. "I swear, this time, I'm telling the whole truth!"
Maiha shook her head, unwillingness to believe her all over her face. "No… I am certain that your tale is nothing but a web of lies that you spun to hide your crime!"
Nonstop Debate
"You killed her, didn't you?" Maiha said, pointing at the thief. "In preparation, you grabbed the bat from the exhibit rooms."
"I-I did no such thing!" Kasumi insisted, her right fist tightening. "All I did was find the body, and that's the truth!"
"Speaking of that," Sorao said, "when did Kasumi even find Lady Inoshishi's body, anyway?"
"Well, according to the history log," Sister Hikari said, "Futaba came out of the pod at 1:00 AM exactly."
"So she must've hit her right there and then!" Maiha said. "With how weak she was, the unfortunate lady stood no chance!"
"Th-Then Kasumi left the room and sailed across the river in no time!" Kumi said. "A-After all, Sayua and Tanjiro saw her at exactly 1:00 AM as well!"
"And unbeknown to her, Futaba was still alive at that time," Murphy said. "In her last moments, she wrote her name down to tell us who her killer is."
"N-No! You have it all wrong!" Kasumi said pathetically.
Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): River Boats
No, that's wrong!
"Wait a minute, Kumi. That can't be right," Masashi said. "There's a big problem in that one particular time interval."
Kumi looked confusedly at him. "Huh? What problem? I mean, Kasumi rode on that boat, right?"
"Well, yes, but therein lies the problem," Masashi replied. "I've tested the boats during the investigation, and I can say for certain one thing: the boats are all incredibly slow and take a while to get from one side to the other."
"You mean, there's no way to change the speed?" Faye asked.
Masashi shook his head. "Nope. No buttons at all other than the start button."
"Oh, yeah, the boats really are slow!" Arashi said. "I helped Masashi with his experiment, and I know they take about a minute and a half to get to the other side!"
"But that's the thing! We know that Futaba must've been killed at exactly 1:00 AM," Masashi said. "The history log shows that she left the pod at that time, after all.
"But if Kasumi had killed Futaba at 1:00 AM," Masashi continued, "it would've been 1:01 AM that Sayua and Tanjiro saw her! But they saw her at 1:00 AM exactly!"
"What have you just said?!" Maiha exclaimed, having winced. "They saw her at that exact time?! Sure you jest!"
"Even I can't fucking believe that!" Abraham said before directing his gaze at the two eyewitnesses. "Are you sure you got the time right?"
"Yeah, the clock's minute hand was definitely still at that minute mark!" Tanjiro replied, looking a bit uneasy from the sudden attention on him. "Even when we looked at the clock again after seeing her... it was still 1:00 AM!"
"Aah!" Sister Hikari widened her eyes. "Then… Kasumi couldn't have killed Futaba!"
Maiha, shock rushing through her face, raised a hand. "Do not be taken in by this false line of logic! It is perfectly possible that she swam through the river to make the trip faster for her!"
"S-Swim through the river?" For some reason, Kasumi grew a little fearful in her expression and her tone. "N-No way! No way I would've swum! No way, no way, no way!"
"Besides, I don't think Kasumi could've done this, even if she had wanted to," Mari said, nodding along with an oddly blank expression. "Remember, it's against the rules to swim in the river. Monokuma told us that a few days ago."
"Yep! If she'd tried to swim in the river," Monokuma said, "an alarm would've gone off, and everyone would've heard it!"
"So Kasumi must've crossed the river on the boat, then!" Arashi said.
"Then the clock must've been slow by a minute!" Maiha said, scowling even more. "It would neatly explain away the so-called impossibility!"
"Nope! Sorry to break it to you, but all the clocks here run accurately!" Monokuma replied. "There's no way anyone looking at a clock would get the wrong time!"
Abraham scowled, grinding his teeth and crossing his arms. "But if that's true… then are you saying the fucking dumbass thief is innocent?!"
"It may be hard to believe, but I believe so," Masashi concluded. "Thanks to Sayua's and Tanjiro's presence there last night, we can prove that there's a time discrepancy in her actions if she really is the killer."
"Wow… you must be extraordinarily lucky to have those two prove you innocent," Sorao remarked. "Even I can't believe that Tanjiro's useful for once."
"Ugh… Did you really have to say that…?" Tanjiro mumbled as he sighed.
"Hah! You see?!" Kasumi said, smiling as she spoke in her normal merry voice. "I'm innocent! What I told you guys was nothing but the truth!"
"So Futaba really was dead when you found her?!" Arashi said.
"Yep! And since I didn't stay there that long," Kasumi said, "I'd say that I arrived there and left around 12:59 AM."
"And with the one-minute boat ride," Tanjiro said, "we would then see you at 1:00 AM. So it all makes sense."
"But what about the dying message with your name on it?" Faye asked. "Why would Futaba write your name, then, if you're not the killer?"
"Well, the possibility that the dying message is actually a fake has always been there, but at the time, we had to trust the evidence," Sorao replied. "Now that we know Kasumi's innocent, though, it confirms the message is a fake. Lady Inoshishi never wrote anything down after being struck.
"And I feel sure enough to say that the killer was the one that wrote Kasumi the letter to go to the Memory Bank as well," Sorao continued. "It was all part of their scheme to frame her."
"You mean like how Haruka tried to frame Kumi with the glitter?!" Arashi exclaimed, looking utterly aghast.
"Yep. And don't forget, the killer could've found out Kasumi's name as well," Sorao said. "Lady Inoshishi might've told them, but I think it's likelier that the killer found her Monopad and saw her name. After all, the Monopad was lost for a few hours, right? Any one of us could've discovered the Monopad before Lady Inoshishi."
"So the dying message and the letter to Kasumi were both written by the killer…" Sister Hikari said.
The others were stupefied as well, having realized that they had almost fallen into the same kind of trap twice. Maiha in particular, however, looked more and more upset, her right fist clenched as she scowled, speechless.
But that's odd… Why Kasumi of all people, then? Masashi thought as he thought about the possibility. I'm pretty certain Sorao's not wrong, but still, I wonder why the killer chose her rather than anyone else…
"But why bother telling Kasumi to go there?" Mari asked. "Couldn't they have just framed Kasumi without having her go to the Memory Bank?"
Sorao chuckled as he crossed his arms, smiling. "This is only a theory of mine, mind you, but I believe that the killer wanted Kasumi to be aware of her connection to the crime. By inviting her to the Memory Bank and making her see the body and the fake dying message... Kasumi then became aware that her true identity was involved in the case somehow. She'd do anything to hide the connection, since you know, as the Ultimate Phantom Thief, she wouldn't want us to find out who the girl behind the mask is."
"So by actively trying to deny her role in the murder... she unwittingly fell for the killer's trap," Haruyuki added. "She ended up looking incredibly suspicious. If the killer had not bidden her go to the Memory Bank, and had simply put the note with the dying message on the scene, she would appear less suspicious."
"Th-That sure is a pretty complicated way to make me look bad!" Kasumi commented, her expression full of shock at how she had been manipulated.
And unlike Kumi in the last case, Kasumi actually did something behind our backs... Masashi thought. The killer sneakingly pushed her to hide that fact, just to make us suspect her more...
"Anyway, I can't say that this was all a waste of time, though," Sorao added, smiling and speaking with a calm voice as he gently raised his hands. "Kasumi saw a few important things, but she wasn't going to tell us it because her true identity was connected to the crime. So in a way, the fake dying message helped us figure out what truly happened last night."
"Well, now that you mention it… yeah, that's right!" Arashi said before he beamed giddily. "It wasn't a waste of time after all!"
Haruyuki let out a short chuckle before he raised a finger. "I don't mean to spoil the celebration, but it appears that we have another problem on our hands. You see, if Kasumi truly is innocent, then according to her account, Futaba had already been killed. But how would you explain the history log, then? It shows that her pod was used from 10:35 PM to 1:00 AM."
"Then it must've been the killer or something!" Sayua said. "After all, there's no requirement that it be the owner that could use it, right?"
Monokuma nodded. "All it takes to open up a pod is the password and nothing else! Since I know all your passwords, theoretically, I can go into any of your pods! But I'm not that kind of bear, so you can trust me to leave you alone."
"But Kasumi saw only Futaba's boat as she went there, so the killer was not at the Memory Bank at that time, it seems," Haruyuki responded. "But we know that the killer must've been in the pod, since Futaba was long dead, and so someone had to be inside pretending to be her. How can this be explained?"
"Ah, I've got it!" Kasumi said, smiling. "I see through the killer's trick!"
"Oh? And what is this so-called trick?" Sorao asked.
"Well, if Futaba wasn't killed at 1:00 AM, there was only one time she could've been killed!" she answered with a blithe voice. "She must've been killed around 10:35 PM! The killer was waiting in the Memory Bank, ready to ambush her! After that, the killer went into the pod and pretended to be Futaba!"
"Wait, but haven't we already confirmed there was no one in the Memory Bank before Lady Inoshishi arrived there?" Sorao responded, not at all surprised as if he had expected such a response. "After all, Murphy said all four boats were on his side of the river during his painting session on the fourth deck. That means no boat was on the Memory Bank side, and so no one had to be there, right?"
"And as I said earlier, after I saw her, no one could've followed after her," Murphy added. "So that possibility out, too."
"Exactly! It looks as if the killer hadn't been at the Memory Bank!" Kasumi said. "But the killer managed to find a way to go there and create that illusion! And it has something to do with the boat!"
"The boat? What do you mean?" Mari asked.
"It's simple! The boats all move automatically, right?" Kasumi replied as she raised a finger. "So once the killer arrived at the Memory Bank, all they needed to do… was press the button and jump back onto the platform! That way, the boat would sail back to the other side on its own!"
"Huh, that certainly would fool me!" Murphy said. "I sure wasn't thinking about how the boats were all automatic."
"But… there's one problem," Masashi said. "Arashi and I thought about that as well, but we concluded it wouldn't have worked. The boat moves way too quickly in the beginning to make a steady jump to the platform. I'm pretty sure the killer would've fallen into the water."
"Really? If you ask me, I can definitely make that jump without a hitch!" Kasumi said with a haughty voice.
"Uh, yeah, but what about us normal folk?" Sorao said. "We can't be as nimble as you, you know."
"Couldn't the killer have simply pressed the button while standing on the platform, then?" Tanjiro asked. "All the killer needed to do was reach out their hand and press the button."
"Sorry, but we tried that as well," Masashi replied. "The button's way too far from reach."
"Really?" Mari said. "Hey, Captain Monokuma. What are the dimensions of the boat, anyway?"
"Well, for your information, all the boats are about fifteen feet long and have a beam width of about six feet," Monokuma answered. "Now, while I'm at it, let me tell you about my dimensions—"
"Yeah, six feet is too much," Sorao interrupted, looking keen to ignore Monokuma's off-topic talk. "None of us can reach out to the button with our hands while standing on the platform."
Wait a minute... Six feet? Masashi thought upon realizing something. Could it be…?
Here it is! The first half of the trial! Sorry for the longer than usual wait, but I had a few things to take care of in my life. Also, I have to admit, it took me a long time to finish it, since I had trouble deciding how things would run and how the pacing ought to go. This part of the trial ended up being a bit longer than I had originally thought, so hopefully, this isn't too much to handle!
Anyway, with what you've seen so far, you've definitely been given enough information to figure everything out. Which character do you think is the killer, and how exactly do you think that character pulled it off?
