Chapter 1 - Part 15
...
Hey, Mahiru... check out the table over there.
Eh?
Chiaki pointed to the table in the middle of the room.
M-My camera!?
Would you look at that? You must have placed it there and forgotten about it.
I-I'd know better than to abandon my stuff at a busy party!
Saying that, I ran over to the table and picked up my camera.
Is it working?
Um, it’s turned off.
What’s going on? I was right by this table when my camera went missing!
You said the camera was clipped to the strap...
Y-Yeah, the strap has a quick release lock.
It’s a tough lock, too. There’s no way the camera was accidentally detached!
So you think it’s intentional?
I mean, that’s the only option... but how could someone think to unclip it? I never told anyone about this lock.
You know... if someone went out of their way to unclip your camera, they probably wanted to use it.
Maybe there's something on the camera that could help explain what happened.
...You’ve got a point. Let me turn it on.
I quickly located the camera’s photo gallery, but what I found inside...
...were my own photos.
There’s nothing here...
Nothing? That’s annoying. They must have deleted whatever photos they took.
Are we sure the thief even took photos?
It’s not like there’s much other reason to steal a camera, but...
If we don’t have physical evidence, we’ll have to rely on circumstantial evidence.
Meaning...?
Do you recall anyone acting suspicious before your camera vanished?
Um, not really...
I had the camera on me before Mikan's fall, so someone must have taken it during.
But I was surrounded by a bunch of people when Mikan fell... more than half of us here, I think.
If I didn’t notice my own camera getting swiped, there's no way I could guess who did it...
...Neither can the others, it seems. Otherwise, they'd have said something.
Under this table... Byakuya...
...
I might check what’s on top of the table first...
Um... but the only thing of note...
...is this tabletop lamp.
The power cord is connected to an outlet in the wall, so it would have been affected by the blackout.
That’s about it. Nothing else stands out.
...
Everything was telling me not to look under.
The lump in my throat... The way my hands shook...
...Mahiru, are you alright?
I-I’m sorry, I’m just nervous.
That’s okay. I’m here if you need me.
...
Could... you hold my hand?
Sure.
As Nagito took my hand in his, I turned back towards the table.
Preparing myself, I finally looked under.
A metallic scent clung to the air, drawing out the tears I’d been trying to hold down.
Byakuya... He annoyed me at first, but...
There was a good person underneath that hubris... and I sort of came to respect him as our leader.
And now...
...
I hastily wiped my eyes.
I need to keep going...!
Before we get any closer to the body, let’s start small and isolate the murder weapon first.
It’s clearly the knife, isn’t it...?
Look, it’s covered in blood.
At least, there’s blood on the blade. On the handle...
Um... what is this weird paint?
It’s mixed in with some of the blood. It’s almost... luminous?
Ah, that looks like glow-in-the-dark paint.
...I guess that would explain it, but... where did glow-in-the-dark paint come from?
Probably the supermarket. I didn’t see it, but then again, my mind was on other things.
That place comes with a lot of strange stuff...
There’s something else that’s bothering me about this knife...
How did the killer bring it inside the hall?
Byakuya gave everyone body checks, including the girls. Shouldn’t this have been confiscated?
Perhaps... someone swiped it from the case.
Or it was hidden somewhere Byakuya didn’t see?
...
I had no idea. It was too soon to decide anything.
Still... this was a step forward.
Eh? What’s this?
They look like... binoculars?
What are a pair of binoculars doing under the table?
Mahiru, those aren’t binoculars.
Are you sure?
Those are probably...night-vision goggles.
I've seen them at the supermarket on this island. They also stock self-defense kits too.
So... how did one end up here?
Did the culprit use night-vision goggles to stab Byakuya during the blackout?
Eyehhh... I must... I must investigate my classmate's body...!
Y-Yes! I'm the one who has medical knowledge!
Th-Th-That's why...I need to do it...!
T-T-To...do...it, somehow...
I-It’s okay, just take a deep breath...
You're right...I-I need to calm down first...
Yeah, here... Why don’t we do it together?
I gently took Mikan’s hand in mine.
Together, we slowly breathed in and out.
...
O...Okay...
In a bit... I can look at Byakuya...
Take your time.
Mahiru... Before the blackout occurred, Byakuya was in the dining hall with the rest of us, right?
Y-Yeah, he was.
And if Byakuya's dead body was discovered after the blackout...
Then, don't you think he died during the blackout?
That’s what I figured...
But...why was Byakuya's body under a table?
Even if the killer tried to hide him, it's not like he would have stayed hidden forever...
Isn't it confusing?
It seems...finding out what exactly happened during the blackout is key to solving the mystery.
It was complete darkness, there’s no way anyone could have seen anything.
Right. Seeing would have been impossible... but what if someone heard something?
...Heard?
I...think I might know who he’s talking about.
...
U-Um... is something wrong?
I’ve been thinking... you took some photos before the blackout, didn’t you?
Yeah, I did. Why do you want to know?
They should have captured everyone’s positions before the blackout, right?
Right...
In that case, can I take a look?
Um, sure... It’s a digital camera, so we can look at them straight away.
There’s this photo...
..and this one
I took them a minute or two before the blackout, right before Mikan fell over...
Eh?
What’s wrong?
Take a look at where Byakuya is standing in this photo...
He’s pretty far away from the table we found him under, isn’t he?
I mean, that table’s directly below the air conditioner.
Yeah...
Well, look here. He’s clearly standing on the opposite side of the room!
You’re right. That is pretty far away...
Something isn’t right here...
Maybe... we should figure out where exactly everyone was standing before the blackout.
Hey, can we tell where everyone was standing from these pictures?
Ah, well...
It’s a little difficult to tell just by looking at them, but we should be able to figure it out if we’re careful.
I don’t know if this will even be useful, but it couldn’t hurt.
Yeah. I can go ahead and take a better look at the pictures...
Ah, but you’ve got the camera!
I can just give it to you.
Really? After losing it like that?
I can’t act stingy in a situation like this, can I?
I guess not...
I pulled the camera strap over my head and handed my camera to Hajime.
Do you want me to tell you how it works?
I think I'm okay. It’s just a camera.
Alright, good... I fully expect you to help us find the culprit, got it?
Yeah, I got it...
Oh, Hell Hound Earring... Answer my call!
...
Tch! ...Is this effort futile, as well...!?
Are you *still* looking for that earring you dropped?
It is not a mere earring! It is the Hell Hound Earring!
...
Long ago... in a faraway land, a beast known as the Hell Hound was feared by all, even by he who summoned it...
Oh for god’s sake...
When I tamed that diabolic beast, I received an earring to commemorate that event...
...the Hell Hound Earring.
So that I may never forget the night I battled that fearsome beast, I wear that earring at all times...
Who cares about that? One of our friends has just been...
...I mean, you shouldn’t act this way around Byakuya.
Where is it!? Where did it disappear to!?
...
Maybe it... fell under the floor?
The carpet doesn’t extend to the corners of the hall, so it might have fallen through one of those gaps.
Fuhahaha! So that's what transpired! Such a clever little bauble...!
Gundham laughed loudly and walked to the corner of the room.
There, he crouched down and pushed his face toward a gap in the floor.
Ah... there it is...
I have found it! Truly, that is the Hell Hound Earring!
Fuhaha...fuhahahahaha! It seems God exists for my benefit!
...
...However, how do I recover it?
My hand will not fit through this gap, and it seems no tool can reach far enough in...
Ooh, too bad. I guess you have to give up.
Give up on the world!?
The earring, stupid.
Bah! Do you not know!?
Should this earring ever be lost to mankind, this world will end in an instant...!
You *humans*...forever satisfied with your fabricated wisdom!
Hey! Don’t get mad at me over some stupid earring!
So *loudly* you brandish your ignorance. The wellbeing of this world falls once again into my hands...
This guy is a lost cause...
The duralumin case... it’s been opened.
I walked over and looked inside, expecting to see the spoils of Byakuya’s crackdown.
But... instead of cutlery and a portable stove, there was a nightstick, pepper spray... Things I'd never seen before.
...Of course. The case with the confiscated items is in the office.
This case... Byakuya was carrying it before the blackout.
I’m an idiot...
Not just that, there was a key.
It must be for the other duralumin case.... Since it’s here, it stands to reason the other case hasn’t been opened.
Meaning the weapons in that other case mustn’t have anything to do with Byakuya’s murder...
So, what’s going on with this case?
It’s filled with all sorts of defense goods... Why did Byakuya want to carry this around?
His security measures were already pretty drastic, but this? Just what did he think was going to happen?
Hey! Why can't you all act a little more responsibly...?
*Beep beep!*
...Hm? What was that sound just now?
* ka-chack! *
That was the beep of a machine, I’m sure of it.
And... the air conditioner is the only machine in the hall.
In fact, on closer inspection....
The timer of the remote control... is set to 11:30?
That’s around the time Byakuya was killed!
I see... the beep must have been the air conditioner turning on!
Mahiru, have you finished investigating the hall yet?
I think so. Why?
I’m planning to leave and talk to the others. Do you want to join?
...
This is a big building I still have to investigate, and two people can cover more ground than one...
Okay... we can do that.
...
Well?
Can I ask what happened to your camera?
...Hajime has it.
We were discussing the photos I took at the party. I gave him the camera so he could take a closer look.
I didn’t expect the Ultimate Photographer to hand over her camera so easily.
He’s not going to make a run with it...
...How about we get going?
Jeez, why is he acting like the camera belongs to him?
Whatever... Right now, we need to investigate the rest of the building.