“NO, THAT’S WRONG!”

Trail of Blood <> in the corridor

< Argument Break >

“Yoko couldn’t have been in the corridor when he was sprung upon. That may have been where he ended up, but the attack must have begun in the rec room.”

“Wait, really?” Reph remarked.

“There was a very prominent trail of blood leading from the doorway of the rec room to the spot just outside Reph’s door. Since levitation isn’t permitted for use on the living, we can cross off the idea that a unicorn simply carried him in an injured state, leaving the trail of blood behind. Rather, Yoko was forced to flee the rec room after his initial attack, and took to battering down Reph’s door, losing his leg in the process.”

“I see,” Reph replied, looking pensively at the floor. “I didn’t really stick around to see what else was around the body. B-but this at least proves my innocence, doesn’t it? Yoko was attacked and came to me for help!”

“Possibly,” I said, catching a glimpse of Mesmer’s gaze. “It fits the scenario so far, but we can’t say for certain just yet.”

Reph sighed unhappily. “Fine. Carry on.”

“What are you so bitter about?” Dish Panner asked. “You should be worried about finding the culprit, not whether you’re under suspicion.”

“Just leave him,” Copper said. “We’re getting off topic. If Yoko was first attacked in the rec room, the question is, how? And what injuries did he sustain? We’ve crossed off the severed leg, but there’s so much else.”

“No, no, no,” Button muttered aloud, shaking his head. “I don’t buy this at all. Yoko wasn’t just injured, he was pulverized! Ain’t nothin’ could do something like that other than the machine gun cameras on the third floor!”

“Double negatives aside,” Sanscript began, “I think that to be a wild assumption. If Yoko was injured by the machine guns as you say, we would’ve seen the signs. There was no blood leading from his body to the upper floor, as we all saw.”

“But what else could do it!?” Button cried. “You’re gonna tell me it was done with the knife? I don’t think so!”

“I agree,” Lancet said. “It seems nonsensical to me that the killer would focus their efforts on his hind when they ended up finishing him off with a few swift stabs to the throat.”

“More importantly,” Dopple said, “we need to think about the state of the rec room and how it relates to Yoko.”

“Yeah, that room was messed up!” Inky exclaimed. “All covered in screws and nails and stuff in the walls, the sofas torn to shreds, the table nothing but a pile of splinters. My first thought was, Elsie’s been redecorating!”

“How rude!” Elsie chided. “I’ll have you know I am completely insurmountable in my field!” She looked around for a moment before softening her voice. “A-and of course, your joke is rather insensitive considering Yoko’s tragic passing and the nature of this trial.” She coughed meekly.

“Insurmountable?” Inky parroted, tilting her head. “Doesn’t that mean something that can’t be mounted? Can’t say I’m surprised, but it sure explains a lot about your attitude.”

“Shut it!” Mesmer bellowed before Elsie could get the next word in, her jaw clenched. “This is pathetic!” He took a deep breath and continued more quietly. “Now, the rec room. That should be our next point of interest.”

“I didn’t step inside,” Sanscript said, “but I did see the devastation.”

“As did I,” Lancet said in agreement. “What’s most peculiar is that, when looking at the shrapnel embedded in the walls, they are remarkably similar to those found embedded in Yoko’s torso. There’s no doubt that this was the cause of his most horrific injuries.”

“That much was obvious from the beginning,” Dish Panner muttered. “We can pretty much tell what happened, so we should move on to something else.”

“No,” Dopple said, shaking her head. “We can’t pass over any facet of this murder or we risk missing out on a vital detail. What might seem obvious at first may in fact hold a deeper truth.”

“Right,” I agreed. I could feel certain answers fluttering within reach, yet the secret behind the overarching mystery eluded me. Each piece had to fit, no stone left unturned. The stage spun once again.

Truth Bullets

White Powder

Broken Window

Pieces of Metal and Glass

Piece of Rope

Service Bell

Dopple: Yoko was attacked while in the rec room. The question is, how did the killer go about it?

Lancet: Given the damage it could have been a prolonged attack.

Copper: But would Yoko really have taken such a beating?

Inky: I think it was one quick attack that took him by surprise!

Mesmer: We can probably assume the shrapnel embedded in Yoko’s torso is the same as that which is scattered around the rec room.

Sanscript: Could the killer have struck him with a container of nails and screws?

Elsie: He would’ve needed to be struck hard to tear him apart like that.

Maribelle: A unicorn could have taken control of the shards easily. Nobody else could have done so.

Elsie: What is with you and your racism against unicorns!?

Button: I know! The killer could’ve made an explosive!

Sanscript: But could such a thing have been constructed? I don’t think the MonoMart supplies any kinds of explosives.

Inky: I don’t know. Maybe the metal in the walls and stuff was put there to throw us off the scent? What if it was just there for show and the killer attacked Yoko some other way?

Copper: That’s surely a lot of effort just for a red herring.

Dish Panner: Like I said, the answer is obvious.

I need to think about this carefully. What makes the most sense considering the evidence? How did this murder take place? I need to figure it out!

Author's Note

Pretty much everyone went with the idea of the trail of blood proving Yoko sought help from Reph. The point I'd wanted to make was that the attack on Yoko had been launched somewhere other than the corridor, and the current evidence doesn't quite prove that he sought help from Reph. In hindsight, there was a slight issue with my wording which made the solution a little ambiguous.

The upcoming puzzles should hopefully be a bit more logical. After all, there's still a lot of ground to cover...