Despairful Music

The True Killer

"It was Ena."

"..."

"What?" Shizuki asks, "You saw Ena?"

"An hour before her murder?" Ichika points out.

"Well that just makes her even more suspicious!" Saki shouts.

"Wait!" Kanade exclaims as she makes a realization, "Airi. You said you two were together until 9:30. But Mafuyu saw Ena a little after 9, a time when you should've still been together."

"What? You think I'm the one lying? It's obviously Mafuyu who's lying! She just wants to start trouble!" Airi argues.

Kanade looks stumped so I decide I'll pitch in, "Actually, I have reason to believe Mafuyu."

"And why is that?" Airi asks angrily.

"Mafuyu, do you mind sharing where exactly you were when you saw Ena?"

"Hmm, sure," Mafuyu answers, "I found this room full of flowers."

I watch as I see Airi's expression change to horror at the mention of flowers and think back to her reaction when Kanade found the flower in Ena's shirt. I think we've hit a jackpot.

"And Airi, I believe you should know exactly what Kanade found in Ena's shirt. Right?" I point out to her.

"I-" Airi starts but goes silent.

"What did she find?" Emu asks.

"A flower," Kanade answers.

"I think that proves that Ena was there," I conclude, "So why did you lie, Airi?"

"I- I didn't! All this is riding on Mafuyu's word! Maybe she planted the flower to frame me! She must be the one! She's too suspicious! Why would Ena go there anyway?!" Airi defends.

"Wait!" Shizuku shouts, "I Just remembered!"

All of us stare waiting for what she has to say.

"This morning Ena came to me during breakfast. She asked me what Airi's favorite flower is since we're close. I told her it was a pink rose," Shizuku tells us.

"A pink rose? That's the flower we found in Ena's shirt!" Kanade answers.

Shizuku continues, "I believe she had found an empty vase and it gave her the idea to get some for Airi to make her feel better."

"Wait!" I shout.

"Emu! Kanade! Show us your hand and knee!" I yell.

"Hmm, this?" Emu asks as she swings her leg up on the podium in front of her. I forgot she was trained in acrobatics. How does one do that so easily?

"Yes! How did you get that exactly?" I ask.

"Oh! I was looking for Tsukasa's pencil under the table but cut myself on glass! It was super sharp and weird!" Emu tells us.

"You found something near the glass too, right?" I ask.

"Mhm! This rose petal!" She pulls it out of her pocket.

"And Kanade, where did you cut your hand?"

"In the closet where Ena's body was found," Kanade shares.

"So, Ena got pink rose flowers and put them in avse which she gave to Airi. Then, glass shards and pink rose petals were found with Ena's body," I recap.

"Well if you ask me, that sounds like someone hit her over the head with the vase," Minori says.

"Not just someone!" Kanade says, "Airi!"

"That- That isn't proof enough! It wasn't me! I wouldn't... I wouldn't do that..." Airi starts tearing up.

"I have one more piece of proof!" Kanade yells, "The whole reason I suspected you in the first place! When I found the body, I rushed to find the nearest person which happened to be you. I stressed the urgency but you insisted for no reason we find someone else. So we looked for Rui before going to the body. Why? Because of the rules! "Rule #11: The "Body Discovery Announcement" will play when two or more students discover a body, not including the killer." You knew that if we didn't find anyone, you'd be exposed since two people found the body but the announcement didn't go off meaning one of us must be the killer. Finding Rui was your only chance!"