Author Note:

Leave your last minute predictions here.

_____

Once everyone had gotten to their podiums, I took a look around the group. A small part of me still doubted that one of them killed Skyler.

The podiums were arranged in a circle, each having a unique flower on them. A grayscale portrait of Skyler with 'error' painted on in pink over in. The flower on their podium also appeared have wilted, despite it being fake.

I felt lucky having Fawn's podium right beside me. That way I could cross reference our notes if needed. On the other side of me was Quartz's podium.

"Everyone found their podiums? Good." Tiger asked but didn't wait for an answer. "Allow to explain the class trial. You'll present the evidence you found during your investigation, assuming your not a lazy bum, and you actually investigated, and discuss who you think killer is. Once you ready to vote, the screens on your podiums will turn on and you can vote for you who think the killer is."

That's a lot to remember...

"Oh, and another thing." The robot sounded far top excited. "The killer doesn't have a vote."

"The killer doesn't get a vote?" Minerva questioned, making a note.

"Why doesn't the killer get a vote?" Curiously asked Vanessa.

"To make the killer work extra hard to win the trial." Tiger jumped up into a flower chair. "And for the record, Nora doesn't have one either since she already knows who the killer is but no one really cares about her."

"Hey! That's not true!" Nora pouted. "I'm a fan favorite!"

"In your dreams." Tiger the Dog shook its head, disappointed. "Anyways, class trial in session."

"I have a question." Zenith spoke up, his voice sounding off due to the amount of crying he had done.

"Uughh," It groaned. "We literally just fucking started. What's your question, overpaid taxi driver?"

"Why is there that picture of them over there?" Questioned the chauffeur, on the verge of tears. He was referring to the portrait at Skyler's podium.

"Attendance to the class trial is mandatory." She simply said. "Even if your dead."

Zenith didn't say anymore. I figured he wouldn't say much for the entire trial with how this is effecting him.

I say that like it hasn't effect me at all...

"Where do we start?" Quartz finally spoke up for the group.

"We should go over what we already know and build our way up from there." Isaiah suggested.

"Skyler is dead." Nikolas started off.

"Found 'em in the storage closet." Hunter added on.

"The BDA went off after Zenith, Felix, and I saw the body." Minerva stated. "I think it's safe to assume that we triggered the announcement."

"That's means the killer can't be one of you three, right?" Rory asked.

"Correct." Amelia answered. "We're down to 12 suspects now."

"Pfft! This is gonna be a breeze!" Tabitha laughed, not looking away from her phone.

"I doubt it will be as simple narrowing down the list further." The coroner commented.

"Huh? How so?" The blonde girl asked.

"The murder took place at night." She told everyone. "It's much harder to track our whereabouts at that time in opposition to daytime."

"We should go back to stating what we already know for sure about the murder." I suggested. "There's still some things that haven't been brought up yet."

"There's more?!" Rory gasped.

"The body." My sister quietly said. "We sh-should t-t-talk about that."

"What is there to say about?" Quartz genuinely asked.

"Wouldn't knowing how Skyler died help us find their killer?" Minerva guessed.

"I suppose it would..." The white haired woman concluded. "How do we find that out?"

"We already know how Skyler was killed." Amelia intervened. "It's quiet obvious if you looked at the body."

"We all looked at the body..." Rory said aloud. "So we know exactly how Skyler died?!"

"That's what she just said, Rory," Tabitha looked up from her phone for a second. "You should really pay more attraction."

"Oh really?" The food tester grumbled. "I need to pay more attention?"

"Uh, anyways..." I brought everything back on track. "Skyler had a wound in their abdomen. There was also a lot of blood from that area, so I'm pretty sure they were stabbed there."

"Also, we found a bloody knife hidden in the kitchen cabinets." Isaiah added to my statement.

"So if Skyler was stabbed to death," Quartz began to say. "All we need to do is find out who did it, yes?"

"How do we go about finding that out?" Rory questioned. "All us were asleep during their time of death. Other than the killer, obviously."

Rory has a point. How do we go about finding out who killed Skyler? Obviously, the last people to see them are suspicious.

Wait...

"I think I know!" I announced much louder than I would have liked.

"You do?!" Vanessa gasped. "How?"

"Well, we should start by questioning the last people to have seen them." I stated. "Zenith, Tabitha, and I had a video game session with Skyler last night. However, they left the game room early. I don't know the exact time, but was some time before 10 pm."

"D-Didn't we already say that Felix or Zenith can't the k-k-killer b-because they discovered the b-body?" Blane reminded.

"We did...!" Rory realized. They swiftly turned towards the blonde influencer. "Tabitha!"

"What?" The blonde cluelessly looked up from her phone.

"You have some explaining to do!" The food tester angrily shouted.

"Tabitha," Quartz shook as she spoke. "D-Did you kill Skyler?"

"Huh?!" The blonde finally glanced up from here phone. "I didn't kill anyone!"

"It surely looks like you have." Nikolas said. "How do we know you didn't plan the game night to kill Skyler?"

"I swear, I didn't kill them!" Tabitha struggled to defend herself. "K-Killing someone is way too hard for me!"

Tabitha certainly looks pretty suspicious right now. But could she have killed Skyler?

...I have my doubts.

There's got to be something that can help me prove her innocent.

Fawn showed me our notes, in hopes to jog my memory.

That's it!

"I got it!" I announced. "Tabitha's not the killer."

"She's not?" Vanessa tilted her in confusion. "But she at the game party. How is she not guilty?"

"I don't know for sure if she's not guilty," I sheepishly admitted.

"I am totally innocent!" Tabitha shouted.

"But I do know that she couldn't have planned on killing Skyler that night." I ignored her and kept on with my explanation. "The game night was planned by Skyler and Zenith. Tabitha wasn't invited until later on."

"That doesn't mean she couldn't have committed the murder, though." Isaiah adjusted his glasses. "Even if she didn't plan the event, she still could have used it to her to advantage."

"I guess you have a point, Isaiah." I said. "Zenith and I stayed behind to clean, so I guess that could given her an interval to kill..."

Sorry, Tabitha.

"What?!" Tabitha's eyes widen in shock. "Why would you tell them that, bestie?!"

"Tabitha could have planned on killing someone after the game night." Isaiah added onto what said. "It wouldn't have been that hard for her to hold someone back and then kill them when the other two are out of sight. Or in this case, for her to follow Skyler and kill them in the storage closet."

"That makes sense, I guess," Rory spoke up. "But she doesn't seem smart enough to plan something like that."

"Exactly!" The blonde agreed. "Rory's actually right for once! I'm not smart

enough to do something like that!"

"You could be putting up a facade," Nora injected. "That's what you influencers do, isn't it?"

"N-No," She shook her head. She began pull at the roots of her hair. "No I-I'm not! Everything about me is 100% genuine...!"

I doubt that's true, but...

Mere minutes ago Tabitha was paying no attention to anything that was going on during the trial. She was perfectly content with looking at her phone the entire time, had she not been accused. Now she crying at her podium with her only defense being a reminder of her lack of intelligence that technically couldn't be proven or disproven.

I don't think Tabitha is the killer. I can't seem to wrap my head around why, but I know that she didn't do it.

"Hey, Fawn." I whispered to my sister. "Can you should be the notes on the knife?"

"Yeah." She nodded, pulling them up for me.

I quickly looked over them before it hit me like a bus. I could prove how she wasn't the killer.

"I'm sorry, Tabitha," I apologized, my eyes on the frantic blonde girl. "I never should have said anything that would incriminate you."

"Wh-What?" She blinked a few times, before drying her tears.

"Tabitha can't the killer." I stated. "Isaiah had a point, but that couldn't have been the case."

"Why not?" Vanessa asked. "It makes perfect sense to me. She stabbed Skyler after she left the game room."

"But she couldn't have stabbed them," I corrected.

"And why is that?" Nikolas questioned.

"Before I confirm anything, I need to ask you a question, Rory." I explained, turning to the food tester. "You've helped make every meal while we've been here, right?"

"Yeah." The cyanette replied. "What does that have to do with the trial, Felix?"

"If the knife was from the kitchen, then it would be a kitchen knife." I pointed out.

"Um, yeah? I think we can all figure that out." They insulted me in the nicest way possible.

"Where the fuck are you going with this, Felix?" Nikolas followed up.

"Let him finish." Gabriel came to my defense.

"Everytime Tabitha has been in the kitchen she's done absolutely nothing or been kicked out because she was getting in the way." I told them. "How would she have been able to take a knife if she wasn't able to get to them?"

"She could have grabbed grabbed the knife during a time where people weren't cooking in the kitchen." Isaiah pointed out. "Then she wouldn't have to worry about potential witnesses."

"But that's also impossible." I corrected him.

"How ?" Minerva questioned me. "Isaiah's theory seems possible."

"It does, but we would have known if Tabitha had a knife on her." I began to explain. "We all wore looser clothes for the game and I don't think she had any pockets."

"Someone would have noticed if she was hiding a knife under her shirt." Fawn added on, much quieter than when I spoke.

"If she didn't get the knife before game night, then she must have gotten it afterwards." Assumed the boy with glasses.

"The time gap is too big for Tabitha to do that." I added.

I may not know the exact time, but a little white lie never hurt anyone.

"Skyler would have already been back inside their room by that point." I said.

"I see." Isaiah sighed, giving up. "Sorry for dragging that out."

"Yeah! What was that even for?!" Tabitha yelled at him. "What have I ever done to you, lover boy?"

"You called me lover boy." He frowned. "I was accusing you because I have something against you. I just don't want to get punished."

"What? Why would you get punished?" The influencer dropped all of her anger to be confused.

"According to the rules, if we do not select the correct culprit we will receive a group punishment." Amelia refreshed.

"And by punishment, it means execution." Nora cheerfully said.

"What?!" Vanessa screamed. "Execution?!"

"Your going to kill the killer?" Rory asked in a shakey voice.

"I don't think I can take another death today..." Quartz covered her face, crying.

"Oh great job, Nora." Tiger the Dog crossed her arms. "You ruined the surprise!"

"Oops." The bluenette covered mouth, much like a child would when they accidentally spill their friend's secret.

"If the punishment's execution then we need to make sure we've got the right person 'fore we vote!" Hunter said in a panic.

"Indeed." The coroner nodded. "That's why we need to make sure our conclusion is as accurate as possible."

Right... I need to make that whoever we vote for is the person who killed Skyler.

"Okay, if Tabitha isn't the killer then who killed Skyler?" Vanessa asked.

"The timin' doesn't quite add up," Hunter expressed his concerns. "The killer would have needed to have the knife on 'em in order to kill Skyler. When did they get the knife?"

"Maybe they got it after dinner?" Quartz suggested.

"Vanessa and were cleaning up after dinner." Rory informed. "It took us a while because the 16 of us make a lot of dishes."

"We would have seen if the killer grabbed the knife then." The former track star added on.

This knife thing is really frustrating. I have no idea who could have taken it or when it was taken.

"Perhaps we should go back to the topic of the body." The pink haired coroner suggested.

"What for? What else can we gather from the scene?" Nikolas asked, pulled back on his gloves. "We already know how Skyler died."

Wait...

I thought back to the scene. Skyler had an obvious wound in their abdomen, but they also had some less noticeable markings on their neck. According to Amelia, this was rope burn.

"I think we've been going about finding the murder weapon all wrong." I confidently announced to everyone.

"What are you sayin', Felix?" The ginger in a cowboy questioned.

"I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I looked at the body there was this red area on Skyler's neck." I explained. "Amelia said this was the result of rope burn."

"Rope burn?!" Rory gasped.

"They were strangled?!" Vanessa's eyes widened.

"That is what the crime scene tells us." Reiterated the coroner.

"Isn't a rope required for someone to get strangled?" Isaiah rhetorically asked, before asking a real question. "Where did the rope come from."

Was there a rope at the scene?

"My guess would be one of our rooms." Said Minerva. "All of us have special items in our rooms that correlate to our talents."

"Well, I don't have anything, but that's besides the point." I chuckled awkwardly.

"How d-did you kn-kn-know what's in our r-r-rooms?!" Blane upsettingly asked the journalists.

"I went through everyone's room during the investigation, since I felt bad for not being able to help investigate the crime scene." Explained the red haired journalist.

"You did what?!" A couple people all said at once, clearly unhappy with what the journalist had said.

"Did you find anyone with a rope of some kind?" Quartz asked, once the ensemble of voices died down.

"Yes." She replied.

"Then tell us!" Rory demanded.

"I'm waiting to see if they'll come forward and admit to their crime." She said, shooting a glance at Hunter.

"They probably aren't going to come forward if they're the killer." The food tester pointed out. "Just tell us so we can get this over with."

"Alright." She sighed. "Hunter has a lasso in his room."

"H-Hunter's the killer?!" Blane gasped, scared because his podium was beside the equestrian's.

"I'm not!" The equestrian pleaded. "I-I would never kill anyone!"

"Likely story." Tabitha huffed. "You killed Skyler and then had the audacity to frame me! I would never put that much effort into something that wasn't going to get me likes!"

"Hunter being the killer..." Nikolas was hesitant to believe it. "I have my doubts."

"If he had a lasso then he could have used it to strangle Skyler." Isaiah clarified. "The knife was probably an afterthought to remove suspicion."

"I didn't kill 'em!" Hunter repeated his previous defense. "I was asleep in my room all night!"

"Can you prove that?" Vanessa doubtfully asked. "I bet you can't because your the fucking killer!"

"Or because he was asleep!" Nikolas argued.

"I was!" The ginger cried out. "I was sleepin' last night. Not murderin' Skyler!"

Most of us think Hunter is the killer.

But...

I can't help but feel like there's something important I'm forgetting.

"Felix. The rope in the storage room." My sister conveniently reminded me in a whispered tone.

"Oh yeah." I remembered. "Hunter's not the killer!"

"What's your explanation this time?" Asked the romance novelist, pushed up his glasses to where the light reflected on them.

"Well, I don't know for sure that Hunter isn't the killer," I started off. "But, I don't think he should be our only suspect."

"Does someone else also have a lasso?" Quartz questioned, confused.

"There were ropes in the storage room. Anyone could have gotten one and used it." I said. "And I found one that was frayed, like it had been used."

"Thank ya, Felix." Hunter thanked me, letting out a relieved sigh. "See? I'm not the killer."

"Technically, you aren't off our suspect list completely." Amelia informed him.

"That's better than bein' singled out and havin' everyone yelling at ya for somethin' ya didn't do..." Replied the ginger.

"Okay, so, if Tabitha isn't the killer and everyone had access to a rope," The cyanette with long, thin pigtails began to inquire. "Who could have done it?"

Who could have done it? Nobody but use knew about our game night.

Unless...

"I think I know what will help us figure out who the killer is." I said.

"Oh? Do tell." Nora interjected.

"Supposedly, only the four us knew about our game night." I said. "I think the killer must have found out somehow, otherwise they wouldn't have been prepared to kill."

"Do you have an idea of what could have prompted them to kill?" Amelia interrogated. "You stated that Skyler's departure was unplanned, so something else much have prompted the killer."

What could have prompted the killer to kill someone at game night?

I glanced at Zenith, who was finally drying his tears and attempting to listen in on the trial.

That's it!

"Zenith." I said.

"What about him?" Nikolas requested more context.

"Originally, Zenith had offered to clean up the game room after we finished." I explained. "But then I offered to help him when the time came."

"That must be it." Isaiah guessed. "The killer had planned on killing Zenith."

"But when Skyler left alone they killed them instead." I finished the thought.

"That's... horrible." Quartz commented.

"Wait," The biologist spoke up. "How d-did the k-killer know about your g-g-game night?"

"Yeah!" Tabitha agreed. "We were super duper secret about it and everything!"

"Not really," I corrected. "We talked about it during meals. Anyone could have eavesdropped on us."

"If you discussed your plans during meals, then that should lower our list of suspects." The coroner realized.

"People who doesn't stick around for meals can be eliminated." Minerva added. "Though, that's just Nora, Blane, and you, Amelia. Everyone else has stuck around at least once."

"Now we're down to 7?" The ice skater questioned.

"Correct." Replied the coroner.

"At this rate, we'll be lucky if we finish in time for dinner," Vanessa let out a long sigh, getting tired of the trial.

No. It should be easy now. Much easier.

I just need to remember who was around when Zenith talked about cleaning the game room.

That's right... It was...

It was...

...

"Vanessa." Zenith spoke, before clearing his throat.

"Yeah?" She tilted her head.

"I'm quite tired of this trial as well." The chauffeur admitted. "The longer it goes on, the l-longer I'm reminded of how I let my friend die..."

What is Zenith doing?

"Yeah..." She agreed, frowning. "We need to find out who killed them."

"Perhaps you would know." He added on.

"H-Huh?" Her eyes widened. "Why would I know?"

"W-Well..." Zenith's voice grew shaky.

"You took our plates at dinner last night." I refreshed he memory. "You could have heard us talking then."

"Are you accusing me of the fucking killer?!" The runner outraged.

"You're the only person I can think of to who would have heard it–" I began to say, before she quickly cut me off.

"Bullshit!" She argued. "You're running this case in circles!"

Is it Vanessa? I can't tell... I don't want to believe it's her, but she definitely overheard us talking.

There's still missing pieces that I need put together. Maybe some questioning will reveal if she's guilty or not.

"If we're wrong about you being the killer, can you tell us what we're wrong about?" I requested.

She nodded, before readying her argument.

"If I really did killer them, wouldn't I have gotten blood on my clothes from the stab wound?" Vanessa asked. "Minerva would have found my bloody clothes when she went through my room."

"Actually, you washed a load of laundry last night to prepare for your laundry duty today." I reminded her. "You could have washed your bloody clothes then."

"That's just a coincidence!" The brunette shouted. "What makes you think I'm even capable of killing Skyler?"

"You are an athlete." Quartz told her. "I have no doubt that you could overpower them."

"I'm not the only person here who was stranger than them!" The athlete countered. "Hunter's pretty strong! He could have strangled them with his lasso.

"But the rope in the storage room was obviously used to strangle them." Gabriel explained to her. "Hunter wouldn't need to use one of those ropes when he has his own."

"I didn't even know about the game night!" Vanessa frantically claimed. "How do I plan a murder around something I didn't know was happening?!"

"Didn't you listen to Felix, silly?" Tabitha chimed in. "You were eavesdropping on us when you took our dinner plates."

"I was helping Rory clean up in the kitchen after dinner." She explained in distress. "There's no way I could've gotten to the game room, killed Skyler, than ran back to the kitchen to get a knife, and then went to bed. You would have seen me when you left three the game room! It's impossible!"

"Maybe it's impossible for everyone else here," Rory joined in, sounding like they were holding back tears. "But you're the Ex Ultimate Track Star!"

"Y-You..." Vanessa stammered. "You can't fucking prove I ran to all those places!"

But I can.

"Your ankle is hurting today." I mentioned. "You said that you aren't supposed to be running much on it. But you ran everywhere, so it hurts like shit."

Everyone seemed to be coming to same conclusion, their faces frozen with shock.

Vanessa didn't say anything to defend herself anyone. She was desperately trying to think so something, but she couldn't.

"I have some questions." Isaiah stepped in. "If Vanessa brought the knife with her since she planned on killing, then she wouldn't need to worry about leaving the storage room before you three left the game room."

"It's really coming back to this knife, huh?" I concluded.

"I don't think it will change our conclusion, but an answer to this question will solidify our theory further." The pink haired coroner stated.

"Hey, Nora?" Fawn looked to Nora, before everyone else turned to my sister. "C-Can I use my hint now?"

"Of course!" The bluenette nodded.

"Hint?" Nikolas repeated. "How does she have a hint?"

"Remember when I was asking you guys to play my guessing game you all turned me down?" The game show host refreshed their brains. "You were going to be playing for the one per trial hint!"

"Can she even do that?!" Vanessa asked. "Is that cheating since she knows who the killer is?!"

"Nora can't tell you who the killer is." Tiger the Dog jumped in. "But she can answer things like times, details, etc. Anything that isn't the identity of the killer."

"What would you like to use your hint on, Fawn?" She asked with a smile.

"Did the killer get the knife before or after they strangled Skyler?" She nervously questioned.

"After." Nora said. "I even gave them the idea to make things more interesting!"

"You what?!" Rory demanded. "You were there?!"

"Mhm!" The bluenette nodded. "I encountered the killer after they ran away to the kitchen. I knew they had just killed them and suggested they also use a knife to throw everyone off in the trial. I even gave them the time to let them know when the three game room would be done."

I think that confirms it.

"V-Vanessa, you–" Quartz turned to the brunette in disbelief.

"I don't want to believe it either but..." Rory covered their mouth, tearing up. "It makes sense."

"I..." Vanessa started to cry. "I'm sorry."

"Felix." Amelia turned to me. "You should go over everything to make sure we didn't miss out on any details."

"Me?!" I gasped. "Why me?"

"You're the one who convinced everyone." The pinkette said. "You should be the one to convince them otherwise, if needed."

Alright... I'm going over the case one last time to make sure Vanessa really is the killer.

"Here's how everything played out." I began.

Act 1

"It all started when Skyler and Zenith planned a game night. They decided to invited Tabitha and I, the four us planning to play that night. However, since everyone was forced to attend a mandatory meeting where Wolf the Cat gave us a motive, our game night was delayed to tomorrow night. We discussed our plans at breakfast and then reviewed them at dinner. This was when the killer heard them and decided to take advantage of Zenith being alone at night."

Act 2

"Our game night happened and we had some playing together. After a dispute amongst the group, Skyler stormed out of the room with the request of being left alone. We obliged, unknowingly giving the killer an opportunity to strike. Tabitha, Zenith, and I continued to play until 10 pm when the nighttime announcements when off. This gave the killer time to to kill Skyler via strangulation before they could get to their room. The killer left their body in the storage room, hoping it would be out of sight for a while. They then fled to the kitchen in a panic, unbelieving that they had committed a murder."

Act 3

"In the kitchen, our killer ran into Nora. Nora, knowing exactly what the killer had done, gave them some advice to improve their crime and trick us during the trial. She also gave the killer the time until 10 pm, meaning they had to hurry before us three in the game room left. The killer took her advice, used the knife to stab Skyler, hid the knife in kitchen, and put their dirty clothes in the washing machine to wash the blood off. The killer managed to do all of this before 10 pm, due to their ability to run faster than anyone else here. This left them with a horrible pain in their ankle the next day, swiftly bring their doom. You did this, didn't you, Vanessa, the Ex Ultimate Track Star?"

Nobody spoke. Nobody needed to. I had cleared up any shred of doubt left amongst us.

"I assume you're all ready to vote?" Tiger the Dog gleefully bounced in her seat.

"We are." Zenith confirmed for the group.

_____

Author Note:

I completely forgot scrum debates were a thing, whoops. 

But I guess they really don't need one since the murder was so simple.