"Wait, let me clear up one more thing before we discuss that," Mayumi interrupted.

"Can we assume the blackened is a female?"

Hitoshi blinked, "Where'd you get that from? Are you sexi-"

He was cut off by Sadako, whose podium was right next to his, smacking the back of his head.

"Nishioka, you know why I'm assuming that, right?"

Tamao blinked.

Select Evidence
Concealer on Neck

"I got it!"

"The girls have makeup in their bathrooms," Tamao remembered.

"They do?" Hoizumi asked.

Tamao nodded, "There was concealer on Daiki's neck covering up the cut. I don't think they were expecting anyone to wipe it away, and since they used concealer, they must be a girl as you can't break into the dorms and I'm guessing boys don't have makeup in their bathrooms."

"Yeah, we don't have makeup," Bunta confirmed.

"So the culprit is a girl," Riku mumbled.

Sadako shook her hand in the air, "Alright, so back to my question! How did she move the body from the gym to the dorms? If she just carried the body, than there would've been at least one trace of blood in the hallway, considering she missed the blood in the gym."

Tamao bit her lip.

Hoizumi turned to her, "Hey, do you think it's the thing we found?"

Tamao perked up, "Eh?"

"C'mon, don't you remember it?"

Tamao blinked.

Hangman's Gambit

What item was used to move Daiki's body?

_ _ R _

P R P A T R P

T _ R _

T R P A P T T

T A R _

P T A P R R T

T A R P

"That's it!"

"You're talking about the tarp in the Janitor's closet, right?" Tamao asked, breaking out of her daze.

Hoizumi nodded, "That would explain the blood on it."

Tamao thought for a moment, "I think it's safe to assume that the culprit used the tarp to move the body."

Hoizumi glanced off to the side, "But it wouldn't explain why there was a tear in it."

Tamao started thinking again.

Brain Drive
Start!

Where was Daiki killed?

Gym
His room

How was he transported?

Tarp
Just carried

Why does the tarp have a cut in it?

It was an accident

The killer did it on purpose

"That's it!"

"Would it be reasonable that the killer used the tarp while killing Daiki?" Tamao asked.

"We literally just said that she used the tarp to transport the body," Katsushi sighed.

"No, I mean like, while the blackened murdered him, they somehow used the tarp!" Tamao explained.

"How would they do that?" Bunta asked, tilting his head.

"Imagine, while slitting Daiki's neck, blood would've splattered everywhere, right?" Tamao shook her hands in the air.

Chiyo nodded, "So? They probably just cleaned it up."

Mayumi shook her head, "If they did clean the blood, then they wouldn't have left the note and blood Stain in the gym."

"So what I'm suggesting is that the blackened threw the tarp over Daiki's neck first, then slit his neck," Tamao suggested.

She noticed Hoizumi flinch again.

This trial's really hard for him...

"That makes sense," Riku added, "But you said that you found it in the Janitor's closet. Why would the blackened just leave it there?"

Tamao pressed a finger to her chin, "I'm guessing that she didn't mean to leave the tarp there. If anyhting, she was probably planning to hide the tarp or something like that but ran out of time because of the nighttime announcement."

"But the rules don't state you have to be in your dorms by the time the nighttime announcement plays," Hoizumi added.

"Wait, what?" Hitoshi blinked. "I thought it was a rule."

"The rule is that you can't sleep anywhere else besides the dorms, and the no one going outside during nighttime rule was made by Nishioka and therefore has no way of punishing you if you break it," Hoizumi explained.

"Oh," Hitoshi responded, "I'm guessing that the blackened didn't know that either."

Tamao nodded, "That seems to be the case here."

"One more question," Hoizumi interrupted, "How many girls here know how to sew?"

All the girls, excluding Tamao, raised their hands.

"I don't see how that has any importance," Ahiru commented.

Nonstop Debate
Start!

"Why are you asking?" Ahiru asked.

"I swear it's a piece of evidence!" Hoizumi snapped.

"But yeah, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the case!" Hikari added.

"It has nothing to do with the case," Shiori spoke up.

"No, that's wrong!"

BREAK

Tamao pulled up the picture of Daiki's neck again.

The TVS lowered again.

"Look at his neck closely," Tamao suggested, "You can see that someone stiched his neck together. Maybe so the cut wouldn't be so noticeable?"

Silence.

"So now what?" Katsushi asked, "We've gone over everything. All we've deduced is that the culprit is a girl and she isn't Tamao."

Tamao blinked, "Actually. Yeah, we're pretty much stuck."

Hoizumi clenched a hand, "I'm not gonna give up. Someone killed Daiki, my best friend, my only friend. I'm not just gonna sit by and let them go free."

"There's also the added bonus of not dying," Bunta added.

Hoizumi stared at his hands for a moment, before speaking, "Monokuma? Could you bring the tarp here?"

Huh? What is he doing?

Monokuma looked off the side, "Are you sure? I'd hate for you to leave in the middle of the trial!"

Hoizumi glared at him, "I'd like to check a piece of evidence."

Monokuma yawned, "Why should I?"

Hoizumi muttered, "Wouldn't be fun if everyone died in the first trial."

He's implying there's gonna be more...

Monokuma smiled, "Well then, you've convinced me!"

He pulled the tarp out from...

Actually, where did he pull it out from?

Monokuma threw it over to Hoizumi.

He flipped it over, "Just what I was expecting."

What?!

The tarp was actually a piece of flower patterned fabric.

"Hey, that's a piece of fabric!" Katsushi shouted, surprised.

"No, you don't say," Shiori muttered quietly, rolling her eyes.

"Oshima? Care to explain?" Mayumi raised an eyebrow.

Ahiru stayed silent.

"It's from my talent lab," Ahiru answered, after a moment.

Mayumi strolled away from her podium and walked over to Tamao, whispering something in her ear.

"When we were investigating, we also investigated the talent labs. Ahiru's lab has a storage closet containing fabrics and other materials. I remember seeing the same fabric in the storage closet. It can only be opened with a key."

Truth Bullet Obtained!
Ahiru's Talent Lab Storage Key

"So it's you!" Tamao shouted.

"Just because it was in my talent lab doesn't mean that I'm the one who took it!" Ahiru debated, "Anyone could've taken it from my lab! All of us were in our rooms, so anyone could've taken the fabric!"

Argument Armament
Start!

(Insert bad drawing)

"I'm not the culprit!"

"You can't prove it was me!"

"They're trying to set me up!"

"I'm trying to help you!"

"STOP TRYING TO ACCUSE ME!"

"Stop it!"

"It's not me!"

"I didn't kill Tsuchida-kun!"

"I'll never kill!"

Final Blow

"You can't say it was me just from the fabric!"

Lab
Storage
Talent
Key

Talent Lab Storage Key

"Got it!"

"The talent lab storage key!" Tamao shouted, "You're the only one who could've had that key!"

"Yes, I had the key! What does that even prove?!" Ahiru snarled at her, leaning over her podium.

"The fabric that Hoizumi found was from your storage room," Mayumi explained, "And you just proved you're the only one who had the key, so the culprit is you!"

The room started to agree with Ahiru taking multiple deep breaths rapidly.

"Let's go over the entire murder," Tamao stated.

Closing Argument

Start!