"The reason our discussion stalled for so long is because we've failed to grasp the killers motives for their equipment," Chihiro said "but for the sake of discussion, I'll be blunt. I think the crime occurred at a much earlier time than we thought."
"You mean...Taeko died before 10:46?" Taka asked "does that mean the Monokuma File lied to us?"
"As if!" Monokuma snapped "the file might not always contain the best information, but it hasn't lied to you so far! Why doubt it now!?"
"You're misunderstanding me Taka," Chihiro told him "I said the CRIME happened at an earlier time, not the DEATH."
"I see!" Makoto said "you think Taeko was attacked first and then killed later?"
"It was something Mukuro said when we were talking about the possibility of Taeko committing suicide," Chihiro explained "if I recall...she said..."
"Taeko did what I did in my experiment. She sawed the leg off the Piano...and patched it up with super sticky tape. After a while, the tape lost its adhesiveness And Taeko was crushed when the leg gave way."
"Let's say that things go a little bit like this," Chihiro thought "the killer meets with Taeko at an earlier time, and possibly knocks her out. Then when she's out cold, that's when they position her body underneath the piano, just enough that her head is under the body. Prior to that, the killer used something to break the leg of the piano, then repaired it with the tape."
"Now that I think about it..." Byakuya thought aloud "the perimeter of the Piano leg added up to about 20cm. That's about how long the length of tape at the crime scene was, correct?"
"Exactly," Chihiro pointed out "now think about it this way. If the killer had all these things in place, left the scene, and simply waited for the tape to lose it's stickiness after a while, what would happen to the piano?"
"Well, it would collapse!" Taka said "and Taeko would...would be...Oh my lord...!"
"I see you finally understand what I'm saying..." Chihiro smiled confidently.
"Wait, so you're sayin' that the killer crushed Taeko usin' the tape as some sort of timer!?" Mondo exclaimed.
"If that theory is true," Kyoko said "that would then mean that the killer didn't need to be on the scene in order to kill Taeko. This was a trap that was designed to kill her remotely. All they'd have to do is knock her out and leave her there."
"Which means that all our previous alibis..." Byakuya smirked "have now been made redundant...So much for your innocence Ikusaba..."
He grinned as he glared in Mukuro's direction. Mukuro remained silent.
"That aside, in order for that to have happened, the killer would have had to have knocked Taeko out first..." Makoto chimed in "there were definitely signs of a struggle, but there was nothing on the scene aside from a few chairs that could be used as weapons."
"Hold on a second!" Taka cut in "one of the chairs in the room was broken! Could the killer have swung it at Taeko's head to knock her out, and it broke when it made contact?"
"No, I don't think that's the case..." Kyoko said "it's hard to say what the killer could have used to give Taeko blunt force trauma, considering her head was in a sorry state, but had they used the chair, she likely would have had other marks over her body from the other leg hitting her."
"But if it weren't used to attack her," Mondo thought "why was that chair broken? Did it break in the fight, or is it completely unrelated?"
"No, it probably didn't break in the fight. A few of the chairs are knocked over, but that's the only one that's actually broken," Makoto thought "the killer actually used it for a different purpose..."
What "purpose" is Makoto talking about...? Could it be...?
[Select a Truth Bullet]
🔫Monokuma File #4
🔫Search Squad
🔫Signs of a struggle
🔫Grand Piano
🔫 Blood on top of Piano
🔫The Boxes
🔫Who used the boxes
🔫Cut-off Supplies
🔫Length of Tape
🔫Mukuro's test with the tape
🔫Music Room Door
🔫Everyone's alibis
🔫Air Vent
"One similarity between this case and last case is that they both contain locked room mysteries," Chihiro detailed "in the last case, the door to the storage room was locked because Taeko attacked Taka in there, and blocked it from the inside until Hifumi arrived. However, it's clear that the killer couldn't have stayed and barred the door themselves this time around..."
"Ah, hold on...I get what you're sayin'," Mondo smirked "you're sayin' it broke when I busted the door down."
"Yes. Which means it must have been pressed up against the door before you got in," Chihiro explained "Mondo is the one who broke that chair when he tried to get in, because the killer used it to bar the door shut."
"Then what, pray tell, did the killer use to knock Taeko unconscious," Byakuya asked "is there any evidence that shows what it is?"
"There is actually," Kyoko said "there's something that's been bothering me about this case for a while now...and now that we're heading down this path, I think it's finally becoming clear to me what it is..."
Kyoko seems to already know what the answer to the case is...The evidence that was bothering her...could it be that...?
[Select a Truth Bullet]
🔫Monokuma File #4
🔫Search Squad
🔫Signs of a struggle
🔫Grand Piano
🔫 Blood on top of Piano
🔫The Boxes
🔫Who used the boxes
🔫Cut-off Supplies
🔫Length of Tape
🔫Mukuro's test with the tape
🔫Music Room Door
🔫Everyone's alibis
🔫Air Vent
"Yeah, now that I think about it, that did bother me too..." Chihiro said to himself.
"What did?" Taka asked.
"There was something weird about the piano Kyoko and I noticed," Chihiro said "obviously, where Taeko was crushed, there was a lot of blood that had splattered underneath the piano when it fell...But we also found a patch of blood ON TOP of the piano."
"Why was there blood up on there?" Mondo asked.
"I think I get it!" Makoto exclaimed "Taeko was obviously killed when the piano crushed her, but if the top of the piano was caked in blood, wouldn't that mean someone was hurt there?"
"I see...So not only did the killer use the piano to kill Taeko..." Byakuya contemplated "but they might have also forcefully smashed her head into the top of it in order to knock her out..."
"No..."
The courtroom suddenly became very quiet, as someone suddenly spoke up with a quiet refutation. Surprisingly, it was from Mukuro, who had remained quiet most of the trial spare her bringing up the suicide possibility.
"No...That isn't the case...It can't be..." she said "your logic is extremely flawed...!"
"M-Mukuro, what are you saying?" Chihiro trembled. The deathly gaze of the Fenrir mercenary was practically crushing the tiny programmer.
"You persist with your silence the entire trial, and then when you finally speak...that is what you have to say?" Byakuya raised a snide eyebrow.
"Mukuro, what are you talking about?" Makoto asked "the killer knocking the victim out by hitting them into the piano can pretty much be proven with the evidence at the-"
"I'm not talking about that...!" Mukuro majorly cut the Lucky Student off "there's a big issue with this whole "timed setup" thing that you're talking about."
"What the hell're you sayin'!?" Mondo leered "YOU'RE the one who brought up a time delay first!"
"I did...but that theory doesn't hold water..." Mukuro leered back "you're forgetting one crucial detail."
"And what's that?" Kyoko asked.
"If what your theory states is to be believed," Mukuro scoffed "the killer removed the piano's leg, then used the tape to reattach it. They then left the scene, and all they had to do was wait for the adhesiveness to run it's course, leaving Taeko's unconscious body to be crushed under it, right?"
"That's right..." Chihiro said.
"How?"
"How what?"
"How did they remove the piano's leg?" Mukuro asked "they didn't have any tools at their disposal that allowed them to do such a thing. And if they couldn't remove or break the leg, then how did they repair it?"
"That's..." Taka stammered.
"If a tool was used, then it's unlikely the killer got it from the boxes. It would have been easily noticeable, be it at the crime scene, or hidden on a person. The killer would not have had any sure-fire way of disposing of such a tool...!"
"They mighta' snapped it off!" Mondo exclaimed "no one said they HAD to have sawed it off!"
"The piano is far too heavy to just break so easily," Mukuro sighed "I doubt even you or I could pull that off...If you can't think of an answer to this, then I'm afraid your line of thinking simply isn't correct...You should concede now...!"
"What's got you so heated!?" Makoto exclaimed "you're acting way too serious!"
"So this is what heated and excited looks like on Mukuro...?" Taka said to himself quietly.
"I am merely stating the facts. The true events. I will not acknowledge anything but that," Mukuro snapped "if you really think that your scheme went the way it did...then prove it...!"
Alright Mukuro... Chihiro thought I'm honestly kind of scared of you, especially when you get like this...but if you adamantly oppose my theories...let's play ball!
[Bullet Time Battle]
{Be silent...!}
{Nothing is clear...!}
TEMPO UP!
{Cease your whining!}
{Nothing is clear...!}
{You're jumping to conclusions...!}
{My logic is infallible...!}
{Cease your whining!}
{Be silent...!}
{You're jumping to conclusions...!}
TEMPO UP!
{Cease your whining!}
{My logic is infallible...!}
{You're jumping to conclusions...!}
{Be silent...!}
{My logic is infallible...!}
FINAL SHOT!
⌖It would have been impossible for the killer to saw the legs of the piano off...! ⌖
🔫Cut-off Supplies
THIS SHOULD PROVE IT!
"Hmph! I think I've solved your little problem Mukuro!" Chihiro puffed out his chest confidently.
"Wh-What...?" Mukuro sweated "no...you're bluffing...! You must be...! I won't fall for it!"
"No, I'm not!" Chihiro proclaimed "you made one oversight. When Monokuma provided us with the boxes, he stated that all of the storage rooms in the school building had been locked...However, that wasn't completely true. Other than the kitchen and cafeteria, all of the storage rooms WERE locked...Except one..."
"Of course...!" Makoto exclaimed "the art room repository!"
"Ngh...!" Mukuro grit her teeth.
"Now, it's been a while since I went to the art room," Chihiro said "but in truth, Monokuma left that room open without telling us. I know because Kyoko went to check it before now."
"I should note that despite it being unlocked, the art room repository had most of it's equipment taken out," Kyoko explained "the only things remaining were tools that could potentially be used as part of a murder."
"Indeed I did!" Monokuma smirked "I left all sorts of things like files and saws inside there! A killer could definitely use one of those to crack a plan of action!"
"Pardon me, but isn't revealing that sort of information disadvantageous for the blackened killer?" Taka asked.
"Maybe so," Monokuma sighed "but I don't see much of an issue. The blackened killer this time around seemed perfectly content with digging their own grave..."
"It disgusts me how you sound so bored..." Mondo grimaced. However, his grimace was suddenly replaced with tension, as Byakuya suddenly started to chuckle.
"Hehehe...so that's it...? I must say, I had expected them to try a little harder...we've been chasing our tails this whole trial, but now it's time I finally ended things..."
"Ended things?" Chihiro repeated. However, as he did, Byakuya thrust a confident finger across the courtroom from him.
"Mukuro Ikusaba...!" he said "your time is up! You can't hid from your guilt any longer!"