Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

3.21 - How to Show You the Truth

I appreciate the effort regardless of whatever objective he's trying to achieve, but if I've been able to get past all this, even if it was dumb luck, even if being targeted is the worst, I'll deal with it myself. I don't want the others to become targets like me. Besides, I still have a better chance of getting out of difficult situations than the others do because of my 'advantage', as Kokichi called it. Whether he actually knows what it is or not...

"Prairie, you said you put up the sign for me at two ten pm? You never removed it from the door, right?" Shuichi inquires, breaking into the conversation again less with the intention to stop us from getting distracted and more because he's clearly noticed some new connection. I blink up at him before it's suddenly clear to me, prompting a gasp of surprise to escape me.

"We've narrowed down Ryoma's possible time of death!" I state hopefully, making Shuichi nod. "If it was an ambush meant for me to walk into, that means both Ryoma and the murderer had to have entered my old room before I left a sign saying which room I was staying in. And if Ryoma was seen alive around twelve seven, that means he must have died within the two hours between those time frames! That's plenty of time to deal with the crime scene, isn't it?"

"That's right," Shuichi confirms, the two of us turning to face the rest of the group as they regard the two of us curiously.

"Prairie...you're oddly proficient at this sort of thing. Have you ever considered being a detective yourself?" Korekiyo asks, making me shake my head quickly in horror.

"N-No. I don't wanna risk the chance I'll have to look at bodies, that's too scary..." I answer, prompting a snort out of Kokichi.

"You held Ka-yay-day on her deathbed and you were willing to get grabby with Ryoma's corpse without a complaint before, but you're scared of seeing dead bodies?" Kokichi asks, to which I shoot him a sharp glare and scrunch my nose in distaste.

"Those were two different situations. For one, Kaede died as a result of Miu trying to defend me for an issue that was no longer a problem. In Ryoma's case, like I said before, we didn't really have a choice but to examine his body thoroughly in preparation for this trial. Just because I can try and stomach it doesn't mean gore doesn't scare me, I'm still going to have nightmares about it later, potato brains."

Kokichi looks amused by that, but doesn't say anything else on the topic.

"Okay, so now we know whoever doesn't have an alibi around twelve pm to two pm is the potential killer...but there's something that still doesn't make sense to me," Kiibo speaks up, tapping his fingers over his podium pensively. "Kokichi and I were around the courtyard at that time, right between the school and the hotel-casino area. Tsumugi and Gonta were searching the casino and they were around the exterior of the hotel area searching the path for the key around that time, yes?"

"Yeah, that's right," Tsumugi answers.

"Alright then. How would anyone manage to hide carrying a dead body across to the main academy building when we were all out there searching for Shuichi's key? They would have had to luck out and pass Gonta and Tsumugi while they searched the hotel area, they would have had to somehow avoid being spotted in an open area such as the courtyard in broad daylight while Kokichi and I were walking about, and then they would have had to dodge Shuichi and Kaito while they were searching the school building. That can't be possibly achieved, can it? On top of that, the murderer also couldn't have left the body behind in the hotel until later either, or they would have been shut out by the time we all called it quits when night hours hit. If it was left anywhere just outside the hotel, wouldn't we also have noticed?"

...

Shuichi looks away, meditating on Kiibo's well brought up points. He seems a little perplexed, like he's having a hard time trying to figure that point out. Two hours is enough time to set up a murder scene- if it didn't involve moving a physical dead body, even one as small as Ryoma's, from one location to another. It would be glaringly obvious if someone was seen carrying a large bag or something that a body could be stored in.