Classroom of The Elite : The Marionette

Chapter 38: Second Suspect

"Well, as you heard for yourself. Based on the previous assumption, someone followed Tanaka to the scaffolding then made him faint and left the ball so that we all thought that he fainted because of Shimada. It's clear that everything was planned, and you all have also heard that it was Tanaka who decided to meet Nanahara that day which means Nanahara couldn't be the culprit because there's no way she had time to plan all this."

Everyone listened to my explanation carefully. From their behavior, it seemed they all agreed with my explanation or at least thought it made sense. I mean there's no way she had time to find some baseball and put it near Tanaka.

"You have a point," to my surprise, Ishikawa was the first to voice agreement. "Your statement also reminded me of one thing...oi, Tanaka!"

Tanaka was a little stunned because he was called again. "What?"

"Why did you run to the scaffold? Isn't it a bit far from the building's entrance? At that time there were no workers, so if you wanted to hide there should be many places closer."

I also want to know myself. Nanahara didn't follow him because she was given false directions at the intersection, so why did he still have to hide? The answer was immediately explained by Tanaka. "That's because...I feel like I'm still being chased. I heard footsteps behind me so I panicked and kept running from the entrance gate until I couldn't hear the footsteps anymore, but I felt she was still looking for me so I decided to hide on the second floor through the scaffolding there..."

"So you were indeed followed?"

"It seems so..."

The testimony fits Shiraishi's theory that there is a third suspect. Are we now going to try to find that person? Apparently, we're not going to, because it turns out Ishikawa still wasn't willing to let us go. "Because you said that you were being followed while Nanahara over there said that she lost track of you at the intersection. I think one of them was definitely lying, and considering what happened to Tanaka afterward it felt like he was speaking the truth. That's why the one who lied must be Nanahara."

Hearing that Nanahara almost stood up. "What are you saying-"

Before Nanahara said anything I raised my hand in front of her face as a signal for her to be quiet. Ishikawa might sound like he was spouting nonsense, but things would get worse if she got provoked. We just need to break down the arguments one by one.

"What makes you think that Nanahara is lying? Isn't there a possibility that there is a third person following Tanaka?"

"Where did that third person even come from, huh?"

"I don't know, but at least we have witnesses who can prove that Nanahara didn't chase Tanaka after the intersection," I turned to Saionji-senpai and Teiichi. "Class C requests permission to present Yamada Kotaro as a witness."

Hearing my request Teiichi also turned towards Saionji-sanpai to ask for her approval. The woman answered in an authoritative voice. "Permitted, call the witness to come in."

"Okay," Teiichi then stood up from his chair and walked out of the room. He may have picked up a witness who was waiting in the next room. A few seconds later he returned with a second-year student and told him to sit in a chair in the middle of the room. Yes, the same place I sat the other day.

"Good afternoon, Yamada-kun. It seems like you've been free lately, are you bored of playing board games?"

"Good afternoon, Saionji-san. I just want to focus more on my club."

Because both of them came from the same year, they were quite familiar with each other. But I could feel a hint of irritation from Saionji-senpai's words and I understood why. The 'board game' she mentioned referred to the student council's suspicions of fraudulent activities carried out by several class C and D students from the second and third years some time ago. As one of Kasai's henchmen, of course, Yamada-senpai was involved in this.