Symphony

Chater 21: The Investigation II

Kaede Akamatsu's P.O.V

I left the library to find a secluded area.  That area was a dark corner. Once I found it, I sat down.

I wanted to recollect my thoughts. I wanted to have some peace from all the chaos. I wanted to see him one last time.

I hugged my knees to my chest and started to tear up. I know I need to keep moving forward, but it's not always easy. It's so hard to keep up this act of confidence before you break down. You can only hold it in so long before you eventually break. I started this damn killing game, I have to trick others, and last but not least I killed one of my closest friends. It was a burden I had to carry. This was my punishment.

"You know crying isn't going to get you anywhere, right?"

I picked up my head to see Maki leaning against the wall opposite to me.

"I know that losing someone important to all of us is a big deal, but I can't stand to see you moping over it. He wouldn't have wanted to see you wasting time crying, especially about his death. He would want you to keep moving forward, to find the truth. I'm definitely not the best when it comes to advice, but I can say this. Just keep moving forward. I understand that it might be hard, but, I know you can do it. It is okay to cry sometimes, but maybe save that for after we expose the guilty party, okay?"

Maki proceeded to give me a hand, which I accepted. I pulled her into a hug soon after.

"Thank you Harukawa."

"N-No problem Akamatsu."

I let go of her to find an embarrassed mess. I giggled at her, and we walked back to the library.

When we entered, I felt a stuffy and sad atmosphere. I lost track of what I was doing before I heard a voice call my name.

"Akamatsu! Are you going to help us investigate or not?! We don't have a lot of time y'know!" Kaito shouted from across the room.

With those words, I snapped out of my daze. I walked toward the pool of blood that replaced Shuichi's corpse.

I looked around to see if I could find any clues. Something that had caught my eye immediately was the faint trail of blood that seemed to lead to the hidden door. It wasn't painfully obvious, but there was a faint marking.

Then, a certain question came to my mind.

Why in hell would someone want to move the corpse if I did it?

It didn't make any sense to me. I decided that I would later figure that out in the class trial. Nothing else stood out to me near the blood, so I decided to look near the hidden door instead.

As I suspected, there were a few blood drops near the bookshelf obscuring the hidden door. The only real conclusion that I can think of is that the mastermind moved the body. I guess it was done to cause some problems and make this investigation more challenging.

I looked around a bit more to find anything. The cameras weren't of any help since they somehow didn't capture anything. In the end, I decided that I would just gather up some alibis to know where everyone else was during the murder.

I interrogated and wrote down everyone's alibi on a note pad I found in my backpack:

Maki and Himiko were originally near the girls' restroom before they split up.

Himiko had sprained her ankle causing her to go in the dining hall for Kirumi to check.

Maki was near the bathroom, but her exact whereabouts aren't certain.

The people in the dining hall were Kirumi, Himiko, Tenko, and Gonta at first. Korekiyo and Ryoma showed up later on.

Rantaro and Kaito were both at the library's entrance, so they could've kept watch of one another.

Shuichi and I were in the classroom near the basement stairs.

Kokichi was watching the stairs at first, but we didn't find him when we got the alarm from the remote. We grouped up with him later, but his whereabouts before then are unknown.

Miu and K1-B0 were at her lab. They hadn't left it until after the murder occurred.

Angie was supposedly walking around the courtyard.

Tsumugi had gone to the dining hall but left before Himiko arrived. She said that she had gone to use the restroom, then went to her room a bit after.

The alibis I find problematic are Kokichi's, Maki's, Angie's, and Tsumugi's. No one is able to confirm them.

The rest of the evidence uncovered were things that I had set up, like the book staircase or the flash from the cameras. Soon, our investigation came to an end.

"Alright! It's time for what you've all been waiting for- the class trial! Please assemble in front of the Shrine of Judgement in the courtyard! Remember that red door surrounded by plants? It's just on the other side. From there is where the trial will be held. Puhuhu, see you all there!"

The monitor shut off, leaving an eerie silence.

We all headed to the shrine. Once we were all there, the statue shown in the center of the shrine sunk below the fountain it stood on. It revealed a path leading to a gate.

One by one, we went through the gate leading to the class trial grounds.