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Per usual, your Puppy Pad screen boots up with a little chime and...
...
Neither mascot is on screen.
There's no sound.
A sinking feeling crawls in your stomach.
You probably need to look around.
...
You all approach the garden.
The first thing you notice is the gate is left open, askew.
In the mornings, they would be opened by one of the mascots by now, just as the rules said.
That's not the case here.
"The lily-livered folks may want to cover their eyes now. My magic senses something bad." Hatsuho shoved her way through the crowd and passed through the gate, getting the feeling that nothing in this bunker would ever be the same again.
She steps ahead, a good amount of the group trailing behind.
The environment around is unnerving, and she can't place your finger on it. There has to be something wrong, there has to-
...something catches on her foot and causes her to stumble.
Megumi startled, uneasy on her feet before she got her balance again. She backed up, then kneeled down to look at what she'd tripped over.
It's a small lump of dirt, and her foot managed to kick off some dirt to expose something brown underneath.
Whatever this was spelled trouble, louder than a gunshot and twice as gut-sinking.
Looks like she's gotta dig.
Levi's nose wrinkles. "Wait, you're telling me someone actually decided to bury one of them?"
"What the hell?! I'll use my hands to dig them out of there who knows th-they could be alive!?" Selena said, ready to get to work.
"What the-" Hatsuho kneels down and begins to dig whatever it is out.
Hatsuho's gotten her hands dirtier before. She stuck her hands into the dirt and began digging. "No time to be prissy about it, doll."
Selena helps out digging.
"..." Megumj looks around at the others. "I'm not touching that."
Levi winced. She's never been one for getting her hands dirty. So they just eat their apple. Well done for "helping".
If possible, his nose wrinkles further. "Yeah, I'm with Gumi on that one."
Nikko remained farther away, not feeling comfortable or confident enough to get close to the large conglomeration of people. From this distance, she could see another lump, further from where the trio were digging.
The trio continues to dig, their hands getting dirty, scooping out mounds and mounds-
Until you pull it up.
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Kitty Witty's head.
------
Autopsy Report - The discovered victim is Kitty Witty. Kitty's body was found in the Garden. The time of death was 9:59 PM.
Motive - If someone was able to kill a mascot and get away with it, the culprit would be able to leave the Underground. If caught, the culprit would be promptly executed.
Kitty's Body - Kitty's body was covered in dirt before being dug up from the ground. Her head is separated from the body and the fabric edges at the cutline are jagged. One of their ears and one of her legs are a bit wrinkled. Their expression is difficult to discern because she is a plush kitty, so it's the usual one you've been familiar with.
State of the Garden - In the patch of garden where Kitty was found, crumbling piles of dirt are eroded around the area. More of the greenery has been pushed down and has been trampled over, vague footprints all over the place.
State of the Storage - The cardboard boxes in the back are scattered much more haphazardly, two of them are open, one to a box full of raincoats and one to boxes of gloves. There's also a used shovel, specs of dirt sticking on the spade. ...
Footprints - There are footprints just at the entrance of the garden that walk out. The shoe print is not textured, bearing some sort of wide, flat heel.
Trash - There's a crumpled up sheet of paper in the kitchen trash alongside some stuffing, replicating Floor 1's map with an arrow drawn throughout the hallways. There's another arrow pointing at the garden, labelled with "checkmate!" in cursive. On the other side, there's a finished sudoku puzzle.
Knife - It's a standard kitchen knife that feels like it's been cleaned. There are no discernable features. There are no fingerprints on the knife.
Puppy Wuppy's Testimony - "Kitty usually patrols the nights, often to take care of the garden and even take care of people if they're up *super* late. Then bam! Someone had the gall to kill them!"
Plean's Testimony - "I ha~d drawn that up, but it wasn't like I actually planned to put it into action! Besides, I'm pretty sure I had chucked it away."
Selena's Testimony - "Talked with Plean-san the night before, and he was playing sudoku. Couldn't tell if he was working on a puzzle or doing that. ..."
Nikko's Testimony - "I saw a figure leave the garden at night! I didn't think much of it until I saw the time of death. When it should have been locked! You were that figure, right? It was a tall one after all."
Megumi's Testimony: "I was with Vi. We were in the common room playing the knife game!" pulls out a knife "I have all my fingers!! The knife goes chop chop chop!"
