"Unlike Sakura though," Celeste said "there's hardly any evidence to indicate who killed Hifumi OR how they did it..."
"Well, actually, I do have an idea as to how we could maybe figure that out," Makoto said "assuming Hifumi died in the trash room, the culprit would have to be able to get to the incinerator. And the only person who would be able to do that is..."
Makoto is suggesting that the person who could have accessed the trash room must have been...
1 - The person on cleaning duty.🔫
2 - Sakura.
3 - The hall monitor.
"The only person who could have accessed the trash room was the one with the key, right?" Chihiro asked.
"Yeah, so the only person who could have got in..." Makoto said, "was the person on cleaning duty, right?"
"Um...well..." Monokuma suddenly spoke up "there may have been an insy-winsy little detail that I forgot to mention..."
"And?" Byakuya inquired "that is?"
"The person on cleaning duty, as of the time of this murder..." Monokuma admitted "is still Hifumi Yamada..."
"What!?" Makoto exclaimed "Hifumi was the janitor!?"
"He was never NOT the janitor!" Monokuma snapped "no one wanted to take over his job, so he decided to keep going at it. He didn't complain, so I never took action!"
"So he's been taking care of all our trash the entire time we've been here?" Junko asked "damn...had I known, I would've appreciated him a lot more...
"You realize you've just given away a major detail that we should have figured out, right?" Kyoko asked with a wry smile.
"Wh-Whatever!" Monokuma snapped, realizing that she was right "it's a stupid theory anyway! I don't mind debunking it!"
"What...should we talk about now...?" Mondo asked, "that theory's out the fucking window, so now what?"
"I think the biggest problem," Celeste said "is that we don't know what time either of them were killed. The time of death could lead to a breakthrough in the case."
"When was the last time any of us saw Sakura or Hifumi alive?" Makoto asked.
"I was out late last night, and I overheard Hifumi talking with someone," Mondo explained "had no clue who though..."
"Which means Hifumi was still alive during the nighttime, so he either died then, or during the morning," Celeste said "what about Sakura?"
"Well, I saw Sakura yesterday, just before nighttime," Junko admitted "she went in her room and I think she stayed there all night..."
"Wait a second!" Chihiro exclaimed suddenly "that's it! I got it!"
"Got what!?" Mondo exclaimed.
"Sakura died up at the lab, right?" Chihiro asked "then, all we have to do, is figure out why she was there in the first place, and the time she was killed should become clear to us!"
I really hope I'm right about this...Chihiro thought the reason why Sakura was up at the lab should reveal, at least, the time in which she was killed.
[Non-Stop Debate]
🔫State of Sakura's Body
🔫Open wiring
🔫Empty Bucket
🔫Sakura's arrangement with Taka
🔫Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Makoto: Why Sakura was up at the lab...
Makoto: ⌖will reveal when she was killed? ⌖
Makoto: I'm failing to see the connection...
Yasuhiro: ⌖She was probably lured out by her killer! ⌖
Yasuhiro: Like how Leon and Hina were!
Junko: Don't you think we'd have learned by now not to trust anonymous notes?
Junko: Besides, we didn't find any
The contradiction is obvious, but I need to find the right evidence to refute it with...
Makoto: Why Sakura was up at the lab...
Makoto: ⌖will reveal when she was killed? ⌖
Makoto: I'm failing to see the connection...
Yasuhiro: ⌖She was probably lured out by her killer! ⌖
NO! THAT'S WRONG!
"There's nothing to indicate that Sakura was lured out," Chihiro said "so it's more likely that...she went to the lab of her own accord!"
"She went to the lab willingly then?" Byakuya asked "why would she do that?"
"You missed it Byakuya, because you weren't in the dining hall yesterday," Chihiro explained "but Taka came in looking exhausted, and that's when Sakura told him..."
"Very well. I assume you're going on another shift tonight," Sakura said "but tomorrow morning, after it's over, meet me up at the bio lab on the third floor. I want to discuss possibly joining you and lending you a hand on the shifts, so we can cover more floors."
"I...I suppose I would like that...if you do not mind..." Taka considered.
"That's right!" Makoto remembered "Sakura was going to ask Taka if she could help him with his night shift!"
"What a fool..." Celeste snarked "now that I look back, she basically told everyone exactly where she would be that morning...She set herself up to be attacked..."
"Celeste, could you at least show SOME tact?" Junko frowned.
"If that's the case, Sakura would have been up at the lab the earliest she could in the morning..." Kyoko thought "it's likely she planned to meet Taka there for their conversation..."
"Which would mean...Sakura was killed during the morning before breakfast..." Chihiro thought... When I was supposed to be meeting up with Hiro...She wasn't too far away from me, and I could have saved her...
"But wait...by that logic..." Byakuya suddenly spoke up "that answers another one of our many questions...And only brings us another one..."
"What does?" Mondo asked.
"If it was during the morning that the plan was put into action," Byakuya explained "realistically, if Taka arrived late to the meeting, Sakura would likely become worried and go to look for him...By that time though, Taka would already have been attacked...So here's the question...How would the killer have been able to prevent Sakura, or anyone else, finding Taka while they went to kill her?"
"Ah, that's right...!" Junko realized "before Taka's body was discovered, the storage room where he was got locked. From the inside as a matter of fact."
"If the person who attacked Sakura and Taka are the same person, then that would mean they'd have to keep the door locked while they went through with their plan," Byakuya elaborated "but since the door was locked from the inside, that would mean they would have been locked inside there too..."
"So then...how did they do it?" Makoto asked "did they set up some sort of trap? Like, to lock the door behind them?"
"If that were the case, we wouldn't have been able to get in," Kyoko explained "they probably unlocked the door when the murder was over."
"But how did they do that!?" Junko growled "it would have been impossible for one person to pull that...off..."
She trailed off majorly, as her face broke out into a sweat. This was caused by seeing Kyoko raise a curious eyebrow at her, as the weight of her words sank in.
"Maybe that's because..." Junko realized "it wasn't the work of one person..."
"Now that we've taken in account the reason for Sakura being at the lab," Byakuya thought "it's likely Sakura's death and the attack on Taka are related...However, one person by themselves could not pull a scheme like that off..."
"Which would mean..." Chihiro thought...
1 - The killer had some sort of superpower.
2 - The killer had an accomplice.
3 - There is no killer.
"Whoever killed Sakura...!" Chihiro declared "had an accomplice! While they killed Sakura, someone else who was working with OR for them, attacked Taka!"
"A-Are you serious!?" Makoto exclaimed
"Son of a bitch...!" Mondo growled "WHO!?"
"I don't know yet..." Chihiro thought "but we're officially on the hunt for two perpetrators who teamed up together now..."
"Actually, if you look at the case from a distance," Kyoko said "we already have the answer. It's just a long journey to get to it."
"Then by all means, let's go on this journey." Byakuya sneered.
[Non-Stop Debate]
🔫Empty Trash Room Bin
🔫Rubber Gloves
🔫Mondo's Account
🔫Sakura's arrangement with Taka
🔫Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Kyoko: From what we know, two people are responsible for the events of the case...
Kyoko: ⌖One who attacked Taka and locked him in the storage room...⌖
Kyoko: ⌖And another who went to the lab upstairs and killed Sakura...⌖
Makoto: ⌖The crime would have had to be set up beforehand, right? ⌖
Makoto: They couldn't just go to the lab with a bucket of water...
Makoto: So they'd have to have everything ready by the time Sakura arrived.
Byakuya: So the only sensible realm of time that they could have pulled this off as a duo...
Byakuya: ⌖Was last night...⌖
Yasuhiro: But the only people who were about at that time...
Yasuhiro: ⌖Was Taka and Mondo right? ⌖
Junko: Taka was on duty...
Junko: And Mondo went to check up on him, but couldn't find him...
Junko: So he probably was attacked just before morning...right?
Something isn't exactly right about what I've heard...I guess I'll have to make it clear to the others...
Kyoko: From what we know, two people are responsible for the events of the case...
Kyoko: ⌖One who attacked Taka and locked him in the storage room...⌖
Kyoko: ⌖And another who went to the lab upstairs and killed Sakura...⌖
Makoto: ⌖The crime would have had to be set up beforehand, right? ⌖
Makoto: They couldn't just go to the lab with a bucket of water...
Makoto: So they'd have to have everything ready by the time Sakura arrived.
Byakuya: So the only sensible realm of time that they could have pulled this off as a duo...
Byakuya: ⌖Was last night...⌖
Yasuhiro: But the only people who were about at that time...
Yasuhiro: ⌖Was Taka and Mondo right? ⌖
NO! THAT'S WRONG!
"No, wait a second," Chihiro said "it's true that Mondo was about at night, but he overheard two people having a conversation! You said so earlier, right Mondo?"
"Yeah, that's right," Mondo recalled "I didn't see anyone, but I overheard the conversation...I could tell one of 'em was Hifumi, but I didn't know who the other one was...But now that I think about it..."
"What? What!?" Junko was basically on the edge of her seat.
"I...I think it was a girl..." Mondo said "the voice sounded like a girl but...it was a voice I couldn't recognize..."
"Hm..." Kyoko paused for a moment "I see...thank you Mondo...you may have just helped me figure out the truth behind this mystery..."
"What!?" Mondo exclaimed "the hell do you mean!?"
"Yeah, Kyoko, what are you talking about?" Chihiro asked. Kyoko took a deep breath, before she began to explain her take on the matter.
"Tell me something..." she said "did you hear exactly what it was that Hifumi and this girl were talking about?"
"Not all of it," the biker admitted "but they were talking about setting something up...They didn't say what though..."
"Setting something up...?" Byakuya thought "could that have been..."
"Wait...don't tell me they were-!?" Makoto realized.
What Hifumi and the unknown figure were talking about...C-Could it be...!
1 - Planning a party.
2 - Planning a mission.
3 - Planning a murder.🔫
"It was late at night...and since few people were about...Whoever Hifumi met with..." Chihiro thought "the two of them...might have been planning a murder..."
"B-But that's crazy!" Junko exclaimed "I thought there wouldn't be a point to two killers!"
"Hifumi and his partner had no way of knowing about the culprit rule," Chihiro considered "and...if that's the case...yeah..."
"Mind speaking English Fuji-Bean?" Hiro asked "what's going on with you?"
"If this theory we have is true...and that Mondo overheard Hifumi planning a murder with someone..." Chihiro thought "I...I think I figured out who it was that killed Sakura..."
"What!?" Makoto "who!?"
The person who killed Sakura...that's pretty clear now...I can prove it with this piece of evidence...