'Joe?' Cleo asked.

'Yeah?'

'Do you think anyone was filming Jevin's base with any of the technology we make timelapses on?' Joe glanced at Cleo, thinking for a moment, before returning to exploring Jevin's base for clues.

'Why would they be?'

'Spying? I sometimes just spy on other hermits.'

'Well... If they did, they would've told Xisuma, surely. And they would've caught the murderer by now. I know mine was filming the steady destruction of Doc's creativity drowning my entire base, but we could still ask.'

'I'll just put it in general chat.'

'Good plan.'

ZombieCleo: thought: was anyone recording, or happened to record, Jevin's base the night he was killed?

'There. If anyone has anything, they can check and find out. And in the meantime, we can continue the job of tampering with evidence and telling Xisuma our findings,' Joe stared out, with more contentment than most, at the crime scene he was wandering through. 'And discussing our latest theories.'

'I'd think Doc, except for the fact he's always like this.' Cleo replied.

'I told Xisuma I thought he was suspicious. Mainly for spite reasons.'

'Because he thinks it's you?'

'No, because he has no reason to think it's me. If he had a valid reason, like... he saw me near Jevin's base, or he knew I was the last person to see him, that's perfectly fine. I'd probably tell Xisuma I was suspicious. But he doesn't have evidence, he just found the lowest common denominator. And I don't like being the lowest common denominator, because that's math, and fractions, and if we're working in terms of fractions, soon we'll all be divided.'

As much as Cleo clearly wanted at to laugh at the Joe-ism, she sighed instead.

'I mean.. I guess you were found to be the ore-snatcher?'

'Stealing diamonds and killing hermits are completely different crimes... And besides, I wouldn't think of drowning Jevin. I'd probably suffocate him, or find a way to use his slime against him... I wouldn't be at the crime scene, certainly...'

'Morbid.' Was Cleo's only reply.

'Anyway...' Joe continued following the bare footprints he'd found along the riverbank until he reached the fences Xisuma left around the main crimescene and their initial meeting spot, 'If you don't think it's Doc, who's your best guess?'

'Hypno,' Cleo replied, to a confused look from Joe.

'Really? Why?'

'His first reaction to seeing his friend dead was 'Oh, that's not what I expected.'.'

'Maybe he was just processing. I know I wasn't super emotional.'

'You're Joe though.'

'We do have the Joe Hills Difference to contend with here... But Hypno's been really aggressive about catching the murderer.'

'Only later...' Cleo's attention drifted. 'Wait, is that...'

'Where?' Joe scanned the area they'd noticed, until he spotted a barrel hidden under a leaf block. 'Wait, is that evidence? Or just Jevin's?' He ran over, breaking the leaf and opening the barrel to find...

'Empty potion bottles.'

'Who knows the most about potions?'

'Probably Cub... is there anything left in there?'

Joe peered closer at the bottle he was holding, gathering the drops left into the corner until he recognised the pale turquoise potion.

'Water breathing.'

'Fingerprints?'

Joe returned the bottle to the barrel.

'I wouldn't be able to tell. Could Xisuma work out who held it previously?'

'Maybe? I don't know how any of that works...'

'Hmm... well, I've left it there so Xisuma can share our excitement at finding such a wonderful clue... is the water bluer over here?'

'...bluer?'

'More... blue?'

Cleo stared out into the river.

'Based on the blueness of the rest of the river... I'd think that's a stretch.'

'Does Jevin have blood?'

Cleo's bewildered frown only grew.

'Maybe? I mean... he's still... got a heart, right? He still needs blood?'

'I'll ask Xisuma. If this really is bluer water then... there's the potential for it to be the particularly blue blood of our late friend iJevin...'

You whispered to Xisuma: Random question, was Jevin injured at all? Or bleeding?

Xisuma whispered to you: Let me check my pictures

'He's checking.'

'Good.' Cleo began pacing the river edge. 'That's... very good. I didn't see any blood when I pulled Jevin ashore, but I also didn't see much Jevin because the water was a very similar- shit, he was bleeding wasn't he?'

'I believe so.'

Xisuma whispered to you: Yes.

'Jevin was bleeding. We're right.'

'That's... oh my goodness. That's evidence, Joe. We found evidence.'

'Xisuma's not saying how he was injured... but I'd imagine it was an accident. No one would intentionally leave evidence, unless they wanted to frame someone.''

'Should we tell the other hermits? That we found evidence?'

'Only hermits we trust .' Joe decided. 'We're certainly not going to go and tell, for instance, the blame-Cub-and-Scar group.'

'Oh absolutely not... didn't know you'd be invited.'

'They want as many hermits as they can to blame the magical hermits who are unfairly associated with every bit of chaos, even when proven innocent.'

'Proven innocent?' Cleo repeated. 'I don't know if they're proven innocent anymore. Beef reckons he has enough information to do a full trial. He just needs one more person to vote in favour.'

'Really? Last I saw it was just Tango and Bdubs arguing again. What so-called information do you think he has?'

'Well, I saw that Joel was willing to talk about the Life Series, and the ways a high-pressure death game where Scar's already treated worse than most of us causes influence from the supernatural beings he's normally incredibly good at controlling. Andd Doc's going to argue about the tunnel bore he can't get over, probably mention the ore-snatcher.' Cleo counted off the hermits on her fingers. 'And Bdubs will talk about their magic because he never trusted it after his disappearance back in Season 5. And I'll reply that he also believes Herobrine is real, and is scared of him, so how is actual evidence. But I don't know what Beef's got.'

'An agenda?'

'What's Cub or Scar ever done to Beef? Aside from harmless pranks?'

'I don't know, but Beef's certainly staying true to his name and has beef with them.'

'Apparently so...' Cleo sighed. 'I told Cub about it as soon as I could.  And Cub would tell Scar... So hopefully they know, and have time to prepare.'

'What if they don't think it would happen?'

'Cub's too smart and Scar's too paranoid for that.'

Their communicators buzzed. Joe looked down, grimacing as he saw the message.

DocM77: Ren accepted the trial. We've got enough hermits. Time to take those freaks down.

This has taken a while to write.

But the next few chapters are good.