Investigation pt.2
After checking the rest of the Laundry Room, Cody and Lily Belle exited the room. The small bean had also showed Cody one of the E-Handbook's features to log Evidence, which he hadn't before noticed. Their feet led the duo towards the Cafeteria, and in turn towards the Kitchen. Where they hopped to find more conclusive evidence.
Wordlessly the pair entered the Cafeteria, and made their way to the grey double hinged kitchen door. Gathering his strength, as well as his resolve, Cody led the way into the kitchen. His smaller companion following. "I guess Emma never got a chance to clean up before we found Lyric..." Lily Belle noted, her eyes scanning the plates filled with what would have surly been a delectable breakfast.
He tried to ignore the food laid out on the counters, and did his best to focus on their goal. The food was beginning to remind his stomach that he hadn't eaten yet today. None of them had in fact. "I guess not..I hope she turned off the stoves or whatever." Cody agreed, the concern having arisen moments earlier.
"If there even are any fire alarms in here, they would have been going off already if they were...Or the smell of smoke would have alerted us." Lily Belle dismissively said, walking farther into the kitchen. She passed a few stovetop ovens, as well as a sink as she went.
Cody couldn't help but be drawn to the knives, due to the circumstances of the murder. As well as Lyric's attack. They were presented in a neat row, and arranged from largest to smallest. Carefully he ran his hand across the flat end of the blades, looking for any dents or specks of blood. On the medium sized knife he discovered that the blade was somewhat damp, and two conclusions slowly began to dawn on him.
Either Emma had used this knife in making breakfast this morning, and had washed it off before he had sent Andrew to fetch everyone once they had found Lyric, or the blackened had stolen it and used it to stab Lyric and possibly Joshua. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that the knife would cause the wounds displayed on Joshua, but it would certainly fit for Lyric's.
This meant that Lyric or Joshua couldn't have been in the attack and defend scenario. Because neither of them could have washed or put up the knife in the first place. "Lily Belle, I think I found the knife that caused Lyric's wounds." Cody called, glancing over at the shorter cinnamon brown haired girl.
Without acknowledging his words, she joined him next to the stand of knives. She then somewhat hesitantly reached out and felt the blade that Cody's hands had been on moments before. "Your right.." She agreed, letting her hand fall back to her side. "So whoever attacked Lyric must have stolen the knife, and then returned it...I don't think we'll find anything else in here, so I'm gonna go try and find Marik. You can keep looking if you want of course. Thanks for helping me." Lily Belle commented, before giving a small wave of farewell and exiting the Kitchen.
Lily Belle mentioning that she was going to find her friend arose the notion that he should perhaps go and see if Andrew had found anything before he headed back to the crime scene. So after one more quick overlook of the Kitchen, he two turned towards the grey door and exited.
As he walked down the hall towards the computer lab, where he assumed Andrew might be seeing how comfortable he was around computers, he began to think over the information that he'd gathered. A piece of Lyric's blouse was found on Joshua, which made it seem like the murder was connected to her attack. Or that a attacked and defended scenario went down. However the wet knife and the semi-bloody kitchen towel make that scenario impossible. Unless someone else messed with the crime scene before they got to it, and threw the towel in the washing machine while also cleaning the knife.
He sighed and drew a hand from his hoodie pockets, running it through his brown locks. "Andrew? You in here?" Cody called, having reached the Computer Lab.
"I'm in here!" The Ultimate Gamer responded. Andrew was sitting at his Computer, since they'd all been assigned one and it took the student's E-Handbook to even turn them on, and was fiddling with what appeared to be a CD case.
His eyes were instinctively drawn to the CD, and the question was out before he could truly process anything. "Is that your motive?" Cody inquired, nodding at the CD.
Andrew shook his head, "No, it has Lyric's name on it. I've...I've been debating weither I should watch it or not, you know? I don't want to invade her privacy or anything but I think it might help clear her name you know?" Andrew explained, flipping the CD case over so that Monokuma's Handwriting could be shown. Sure enough 'Lyric Clef Chambers' was printed upon it in sharpie.
As most questions do, Cody's just brought more to mind. "Where did you find that?" Cody asked, walking over and plopping down at the computer next to him. Which coincidentally was his own.
"Oh-it was after I left the crime scene. I came back in here and saw it under a desk, I think it was in between Genevieve's and Samantha's. I wasn't paying to much attention at the time." He hastily explained, wanting to make sure Cody knew he hadn't stolen it or something. "I noticed it an hour or so after I came in here. Ever since Dylan kinda exploded I've been in here." Andrew added, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
The Ultimate Counselor nodded slowly as his mind worked with this new piece of information. "I think...I think we should watch it. But only us, and if nothing really worth mentioning appears, we'll just stay quiet about finding the CD. That seems like the best way to kinda keep Lyric's privacy anyhow." Cody said.
Andrew nodded, and wordlessly pulled out his E-Handbook. Inserting it into it's proper place in the computer. The pair quietly waited while the machine whirred to life. Sharing the somewhat tense mood that had befallen them.
Then again something like that had already enveloped them all the moment Lyric had been attacked. And then once again when Genevieve had announced that Joshua was dead.
With shaking hands Andrew took the CD from it's paper coffin, and inserted it into the disk drive. The machine accepted it, and after quickly processing it's contents a box popped up on the screen. With practiced hands, Andrew deftly moved the cursor over to the box, and clicked the option that said 'play video in Video Player'.
After a bit more loading, the video popped up. Displaying a play button in the center of an image of Lyric standing onstage. She wore her usual outfit of a white blouse with electric blue hems, along with her pure white medium length skirt with the same outlines. A passionate smile was displayed upon her lips, and a content glimmer in her honey brown eyes. Her violin was in hand, and held in playing position. Her fingers pressed against the strings, and her bow resting upon them. To her left was a piano. A boy, with a set of messy brown locks and grassy green eyes, sat at the stool. His fingers poised over the keys, as if eagerly awaiting the cue to play.
"Click play..." Cody softly urged, having stared at the frozen image for around a minute now.
His words snapped Andrew out of his little daze, and with a quick click the video began.
Lyric and her accompanist didn't move, staying perfectly posed. And then all of a sudden they sprang to life. Her accompanist's fingers nimbly came down upon the piano's keys, dancing across the white and black keys with practiced ease. Lyric on the other hand simply began to sway, moving in time with the constant quarter note beat. She silently counted in her head three measures in the time of four four. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four....Her arm sprang into motion, and with deft movements of her wrist her bow glided gracefully across her violin strings as she swayed. Her fingers all the while dancing across the fingerboard. Together the pair created such a wonderful harmony that the two boys were left speechless. Was this confident girl they were observing truly their friend?
Upon the stage she seemed so carefree and expressive. The way she swayed to the beat and smiled before the many people that must be seated in the crowd...It was incredible. Cody found it hard to imagine that Lyric could ever do something like what he was witnessing, even though she was in fact the Ultimate Musician.
Slowly the dreadful voice of Monokuma faded in over the display. "The constant support of family and friends has brought Lyric so very far!" He cooed. "But what if-that were all to disappear?" Monokuma hummed mischievously.
The scene was then plunged into darkness, and once the lights rose again it seemed like a whole different scene. The location appeared to be the same, and the piano was still there. However there were some new...additions. Four new people were onstage, at least it appeared that there were. There were four black silhouettes hanging from the proscenium arch, via a noose around their necks. "William Piers Chambers, the best father in the world." Monokuma said, cuing a spotlight to spring to life and shine upon one of the silhouettes.
A small throbbing pain emerged in the back of Cody's head as he watched with stunned silence. Being to engrossed in this horrible video, he simple raised a hand to his forehead and pressed it against his temple. He saw a middle aged man, with neat light brown locks. His eyes were closed, but he imagined that they were a humorous hazel. "Callie Nealson Chambers, the hardworking and supportive mother." Monokuma continued, and a second spotlight lit up. Revealing a simple yet bold appearing woman. It continued on like this, listing Lyric's family members and showing their body.
Yet they weren't the only possible casualties apparently. Her accompanist was strewn across the piano, unmoving. He could only image what she must feel.
"So much potential embedded in such a frail vessel. It would be so easy to snap and break. So what are you without your safety net, Lyric? You can still save them you know. All you have to do is kill someone! Ta-ta now!" Monokuma chirped, before the video footage darkened and eventually went completely black.
Stunned silence is what followed the video's conclusion. Cody was unsure of how to respond to such a thing, and Andrew appeared to be in the same boat. "That...That's awful." Andrew eventually managed, his voice soft.
He nodded in agreement. "This certainly gives her motive, but we need more evidence...H-Have you found anything else Andrew?" Cody slowly asked.
Andrew simply shook his head. "No. I've been in here since I left the Art Storage Closet, and there's nothing new in here. Sorry..." He answered.
"It's fine...I'm gonna head back to the crime scene. Can you do me a favor and check on Lyric for me?" Cody asked, running a hand through his hair.
For a moment Andrew seemed hesitant, before his eyes widened in realization. "Y-Yeah, sure-but Cody. There's something I forgot to tell you earlier. Lyric was in here last night, like pretty late. I-I know I broke the nighttime rule, but I kinda got to into playing Skyrim...Heh. Anyway! I left around one am, and on my way out I noticed her at her computer. I think I remember seeing this disk thingy in her hands." Andrew hastily spilled, looking somewhat sheepish.
'Already people are breaking the nighttime rule?' Cody thought, somewhat disappointed. However he quickly got his brain back on track. "So she was still in here when you left, which means that we lost track of her whereabouts after one am...Thanks Andrew, that should help somewhere." The Ultimate Counselor genuinely said, before turning and heading out the door.
He simply walked down the hallway towards the art room, his mind working away. Cody was beginning to build a mental timeline, starting from last night, and up until they all found Lyric, and then Joshua. With a sigh he entered the art room, and took no time to head into the storage closet. Cody found that Katlyn and Samantha were still in there. "H-Hey guys...Find anything while I was gone?" He inquired, leaning against the doorframe.
Samantha had had her back turned towards the door, so she hadn't noticed Cody approaching. So when he suddenly started talking, she freaked out a little bit. "What-who oh. It's just you Cody." She said, chuckling awkwardly.
Instead of answering his question, Katlyn just ignored it completely. "You were gone for an awful long time. Is Lyric alright?" She more or less demanded coolly, her gaze not shifting from the still body of Joshua.
"She's alive..." Cody began, before he averted his gaze with a look of disgust on his face. Why he hadn't told them the first thing he didn't know. It's something he felt like he normally would do, and he didn't like the change. "Someone tried to choke her, most likely whoever first attacked her came back and tried to finish the deed." He informed them.
The girls took Cody's look of utter disgust to mean that he was disgusted that someone would try to do such a thing. "You should have said something before, I shouldn't have had to prompt the answer from you. We all have a right to know about her condition. After all she's a key part to this case." Katlyn chided, her gazing finially rising from the corpse.
His eyes met her, and they stared off for a moment or two. Thankfully Samantha quickly drew their attention to something else. She'd moved over to the corner of the room, where a sort of large cabinet rested. "Cody, can you help me move this? Please?" Samantha asked, turning to look at him with pleading eyes.
The Counselor shrugged and walked over to aid her, filing away that he'd need to ask about what they found again soon. "Why are you trying to move it?" He inquired, taking up position on one side of the cabinet.
She took a moment to get into a better position to move the cabinet before responding. "I saw something, like a gleam, from behind it. Kinda...Kinda like a knife or something." Samantha explained, growing somewhat hesitant upon coming up with an example. "Anyway...On the count of three." Samantha said quickly, not wanting to dwell on it. "One. Two..Three!" She exclaimed.
They did their best and threw their might against the cabinet. Cody pulled whilst Samantha did her best to push with only one arm, since her other was broken. They failed miserably. The two took a moment to breathe, and tried to think of another way to move the cabinet. "Move." Katlyn softly said, causing Samantha and Cody to flinch somewhat. The two hadn't even heard or noticed her get up in fact. Samantha retreated back to the corpse, and Cody moved to join her. However he was quickly stopped by a sharp command. "Not you, I'll need your help. Get back in position." Katlyn ordered, setting her glaring gaze upon him.
He quickly did as he was told. Honestly her gaze could strike fear into anyone. At least that's what it felt like at times. Katlyn took Samantha's place by the cabinet. "Once more, on three." She said. Upon receiving a confirming nod from Cody, she began. "One, two, three." She monotony counted, before throwing her full strength against the cabinet.
With Cody's assistance they managed to move the cabinet over enough for one of the to slide in between it and the wall comfortably. "Thanks Katlyn." Cody awkwardly thanked, although his words were genuine.
She gave him a side glance as she made her way back over to Joshua's cold body. "Think nothing of it." Katlyn whispered as she passed. He had a feeling that she literally meant it. As in she didn't want him talking about it or really thinking about it. Probably something to do with appearances.
After that...interesting experience, Cody moved over to the space they'd created. He got onto his hands and knees and crawled to the back, before pressing his face against the cold floor to peer under the cabinet. It took him a moment to locate the gleaming object that Samantha had noticed, but eventually he found it. "Found it!" He simply called as he extracted it from among the dust bunnies.
Cody presented to them a pair of scissors. "It doesn't seem to significant to the case. Maybe the blackened used it as a distraction of sorts, by simply chunking it and causing a sound." Katlyn mused thoughtfully.
'Maybe..' He thought while looking over the sole pair of scissors. Cody held them in his open palm, but now he opened up the blades. Something about them seemed different, and he was going to test a theory of his. "What are you doing?" Samantha asked, looking at him with confusion. Instead of answering he simply brought his index finger against a blade, and slid it against the cutting bit.
A small crimson dot welled up on his finger when he drew it away. It also left a small bit of blood on the razor sharp scissors. "I think we've found our murder weapon." Cody announced.
Realization sparked in Samantha's eyes, and she carefully took the scissors from him. She then kneeled down besides Joshua and moved aside some of his clothing to reveal on of the many small cuts over his body. Samantha held the scissors up to a wound, and compared it's length. Sure enough it was a match.
The crackling of the loudspeakers startled them all, since they'd been concentrating on the scissors. "Hey ya bastards, guess what? It's timeeeee for your very first class trial! Proceed to the locked red door please, don't make me wait long." Monokuma cheerily chirped, before the distinct click of the loudspeakers turning off echoed through the school.
"Already? We haven't found near enough in here!" Samantha worriedly exclaimed as she rose to her feet. The scissors held loosely in her right hand.
Dread began to form once more in the pit of Cody's stomach. What if they really hadn't found enough evidence? "Don't worry Samantha, the others have been searching for evidence to. So when we all come together we should have enough to figure out who did it." Cody assured her while he followed Katlyn towards the door.
She sighed, but accepted his words. After a moment she followed after them, and they headed towards the door.
Soon they would begin their very first Class Trial, a game of truths and lies, of trust and deceit. Soon they would find out who among them had murdered Joshua Snow, the Ultimate Biologist, and injured Lyric. Or die trying.
He smiled.
It was like math, wasn't it? There was only one right answer to this conundrum. Cody could do numbers. "Hey guys, I'll catch up in a moment. I need to run to the bathroom." He said. They simply nodded and continued on.
Cody waited until they were out of sight, before he leaned against the hallway wall. Slowly he slid down the the floor, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. His hands, his hands that never shook, began to tremble ever so slightly. He buried his head in his hands and breathed. He needed to calm down and focus. He needed to be strong, right?
He stood after a minute or two. After all, he didn't want Monokuma coming and dragging him to the room like he did with Andrew...His footsteps on the flooring sounded solemn. At least he thought so.
Despite that, despite his fear and twisting emotions, something else just burned all the brighter. Cody was going to find out who killed Joshua. If not for himself then for everyone else who's lives rested upon the sole decision of who was guilty. He was also going to find out who hurt Lyric. Whoever laid their hands on her...Cody felt an unreasonable urge to protect her, as if they were close friends or something. He knew he had only met her a few days ago, when all of this craziness had began.
So why was this anger and determination welling up inside of him? 'Unimportant...I need to focus.' He reminded himself. And with that, he rejoined his friends.
He was ready, at least as ready as he was ever going to be, to find out who had done this.
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I hope everyone's been enjoying this so far! Critique's are welcome, as long as their not like 'you suck', because that doesn't help me improve.
Anyhow I have a question.
Who do you guys think killed Joshua, and hurt Lyric?
I won't tell you if your right or wrong, and you could guess one or two people. I'm simply curious.
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