//Alena Agyros’s body lies on the floor of the sitting room. Her head and face are burnt very badly, and part of her head is very clearly caved in. Her face is turned to face the viewer. Her legs are arms are splayed awkwardly but her legs are oddly rigid and straight.

In stories, there’s a handful of ways people respond to seeing a corpse. People faint, or scream, or rage at the unfairness of it all. People react logically, and get down to business to solve the murder. There’s always something. A reaction, a response.

I just feel cold.

When Bo first approached us, something in me told me that a murder had happened and the world had felt slightly out of focus. I hadn’t wanted to believe it.

Seeing it now, undeniable, the world got its focus back. It’s like it’s too focused. People when they first get glasses always talk about how they didn’t know people could make out individual leaves on trees. It’s like that. Alena’s corpse is the leaves on the trees.

I guess I never wanted to see the leaves, anyway. I was okay with the world being a little out of focus.

Yui is in shock, perhaps worse than I am. She fumblingly gets to her knees next to Alena’s body and touches her wrist.

YUI: There’s no pulse.

KYO: Is that...Alena…?

I look at the body a little closer. I suppose it’s hard to tell, with her face so badly burnt. But it seems silly to think it would be someone else. Her sense of style and body proportions are distinct.

Is...silly the appropriate thing to call it? I feel distant from the room and the people in it.

//More people arrive: PV, Isei, Roxxy, and Noriko are notable.

PV: I can’t believe it really happened.

ISEI: Oh, fuck…

ROXXY: I’m gonna puke…

NORIKO: I didn’t protect her. I’m so sorry.

ROXXY: What do we do?

A moment of silence falls after Roxxy’s question. What do we do? What did it say in the rules?

A guest may take their leave of Our Mansion of Plenty if they kill one of their fellow guests. In order to take their leave, they must not be found out by their peers.

SHUJI: Um...does anyone know who...did it…?

The question feels like molasses from my lips.

BO: Was it The Fey?

PV: It doesn’t seem like that monster to do all this. It...I don’t know. It exploded. It didn’t throw someone in a fireplace.

ROXXY: Whoever it was is about to taste my foot! In a kicking way! Not like--whatever! I’m gonna fight ‘em!

NORIKO: They deserve punishment, to be sure.

SHUJI: If nobody knows...does it mean they got out? They left? In the rules it says they have to get away with it. And nobody knows.

That stops everyone in their tracks, for sure.

Before anyone can respond, a scream rings out through the mansion.

ISEI: Another one?!

Everyone in the room sprints off to the direction of the scream, hoping to prevent another murder I imagine. I stay behind, looking down at Alena.

Though, it’s not Alena anymore, is it? Not if you believe in souls. I read a book one, I think was originally French, that said that the body is just a shell. There’s nothing sad about old shells. I squat next to her, and touch her hand. It’s cold.

I don’t know what I expected.

I whisper an apology to her, hoping that...whatever is left of her, if it’s a soul or anything else, can hear me. I told her I’d protect her.

I walk to the kitchen, where almost everyone else has congregated. I push past the crowd numbly to see what everyone is looking at.

//The kitchen is a mess. The knife block has been knocked over, drawers have been ripped out with their contents scattered. Masanori is sitting in the middle of it all, looking worse for wear. He has scratches across his face, for starters.

SHUJI: What happened?

MASANORI: That bitch! That pretty boy asshole! He--he--[About to burst into tears.]

HEIJI: Hey, calm down. Who are you talking about?

MASANORI: Kata Ama! He attacked me and ran!

YUI: When, exactly, did this happen?

MASANORI: I--I’m not sure. He hit me over the head with something, I guess he thought I was dead. I just woke up.

KYO: So...did Ama-san kill Alena-chan? Did we solve it? Are we done?

THE FEY: You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

KYO: Not really, no.

ISEI: Hey, fuck off, will you? Give us an opportunity to mourn.

THE FEY: Oh boo hoo. You haven’t solved shit yet. Even if you had, this isn’t the way things are done! There’s a method to this madness, hee hee!

MIKI: Madness is right…

THE FEY: Someone among you killed poor Creepy-chan. She died knowing that all of you failed to protect her. She probably hated you in her final moments. But what can you do? It’s time to find her killer. You have an hour until the trial.

YUI: What? Trial?

ISEI: What do you mean by trial?

THE FEY: It sounds like someone should have paid attention in school! You’ll find out, won’t you? Be satisfied with that. If you’re not too busy flailing at each other in your special form of idiocy, you might want to check your tablets. The clock’s already ticking, losers.

//The Fey exits.

!! INVESTIGATION: START !!

Except...nobody knows where to start.

PV: Hey! Everybody! I have an idea.

MASANORI: Oh, the genius behind vaporwave is suddenly a fucking detective.

PV: That thing said there’s method to the madness. It gave me an idea for structure. None of us have done this before, so we might as well...Try, okay?

HEIJI: Don’t we already know who did it? It was Ama-san, right?

PV: We only have an hour! Let’s not waste it! We need to get people to guard to body to make sure nobody tampers with it. We shouldn’t have left it alone as long as we did. Noro-san, can I trust you?

NORIKO: Of course.

MIKI: How do we know she didn’t kill Creepy-san?

ROXXY: I’ll guard her too. I’m not good with puzzle games anyway.

PV: Okay, that’s settled. Everyone else should split into groups and investigate every room. We don’t know where evidence might be hidden.

AIKA: Isn’t Saji-san going to come in and ask the killer to confess right out?

SHUJI: …

PV: Not really the time for jokes, Akiyama. Agyros was his friend. Either way, let’s split up.

I silently follow Roxxy and Noriko back to the sitting room. I still feel numb, somehow, but I figure there’s always time to deal with that later. Right now, I have work to do. I have to do what I can to...avenge her? I guess. It sounds silly, even just thinking it, but I’ll do what I can regardless.

Alena is where we left her. I guess nobody had time between the attack on Masanori and The Fey’s announcement to come back here and mess with the crime scene somehow.

Where should I start?

[Roxxy and Noriko] / [Alena’s Body] / [Fireplace] / [Sitting Room Seating]

[SELECT: Roxxy and Noriko]

ROXXY: Are you okay?

SHUJI: [Smiling weakly] I’m alright. I mean, no, I’m really not, but...I’m functioning.

NORIKO: She thought of you as her friend. I’m sorry to the both of you that I failed to protect her.

SHUJI: Haha, oh, um, it’s okay. Do you mind if I take a look around?

NORIKO: Of course, go ahead.

[Alena’s Body] / [Fireplace] / [Sitting Room Seating]

[SELECT: Alena’s Body]

I kneel down to get a look at her. In stories there’s always some crucial clue in the autopsy. Scully does some stuff with a knife and proves that it’s the bash-head-in-alien at it again, and Mulder is satisfied. But...what do you do with a corpse?

I can hardly make out her face, it’s burnt so badly. At least her eyes are closed. The side of her head has been bashed in. If I looked, I could probably see skull and brain. I don’t look. Instead, I look at her arms and legs.

On her right arm, there’s a peculiar set of bruises. Under normal circumstances, I’d say that they look like finger marks, as if she’d been grabbed. Gingerly, I pick up her arm to look closer. There’s only 4 lines, including one that could be a thumb.

I don’t know what to make of it, but it seems important.

[EVIDENCE GET: Alena’s Bruises]

Click!

I look behind me to see Roxxy with her phone out, taking pictures of Alena’s body.

SHUJI: What are you doing?

ROXXY: I’m not gonna be much use investigating, but...I don’t know. It’s easy to forget details. I’m taking pics so nobody forgets for the trial thing.

NORIKO: That’s actually quite smart! I have shamefully let my own phone die in my room. I didn’t think I had use for it here.

ROXXY: I play solitaire on it when I’m bored. You don’t need signal for that.

[Fireplace] / [Sitting Room Seating]

[SELECT: Fireplace]

Instead, I glance up toward the fireplace, which is still burning. There’s a trail of soot from it to Alena. The wood is definitely not positioned how it was earlier, when I lit it this morning, and the fire is threatening to gutter out because of it. It lacks proper air flow, or something. I’m no fire genius. Regardless, it looks like someone’s tampered with it somehow.

It seems like there’s a crumpled piece of paper, mostly burnt, in the fireplace itself. I use the fire poker to get it out of the fireplace without hurting myself, but it’s blackened to the point of being illegible. I leave it by the fireplace for other people to look at, if they want to.

[EVIDENCE GET! State of the Fireplace]

[EVIDENCE GET! Burnt Note]

[Sitting Room Seating]

[SELECT]

The room itself seems pretty normal. If I covered the bottom half of the vision, I could pretend nothing had happened.

Wait, that’s not quite right. The chairs and sofa are out of place, pushed back further than they typically are in this room. Either someone picked a weird time to do some interior decorating, or it’s related, right?

[EVIDENCE GET: Evidence of a Fight?]

I stand there, looking like an idiot, chewing on my fingernails because I don’t know what to do. More people enter the room, looking for evidence I guess.

SHUJI: Yeah, I don’t know where to go from here at all…

ISEI: Did you look at your tablet?

SHUJI: My...no, I didn’t. Isn’t it just the map and the rules?

ISEI: Not anymore. Might be worth looking at.

Feeling like a total dipshit, I take the tablet out of my back pocket and give it a gander. Sure enough, there’s a new tab.

FEY FILE #01

VICTIM: Alena Agyros

TIME OF DEATH: 12:45 PM

TIME OF DISCOVERY: 12:55 PM

SITE OF DISCOVERY: First Floor Sitting Room

CAUSE OF DEATH: Head Trauma

SHUJI: I guess that solves one mystery.

[EVIDENCE GET: Fey File #01]

ISEI: I was wondering about the cause of death, myself, so that’s...I mean, it’s not nice to have it cleared up. But it’s something.

SHUJI: Yeah…

ISEI: How are you holding up, man?

SHUJI: Oh you know. How are you?

ISEI: [Faintly concerned.] ...I’m alright. Did you check out the body?

I nod.

ISEI: Have you noticed if anyone here has a missing finger? I’d bet it’s a pinky that’s gone, if that helps.

A missing finger? I try to think back to all my fellow captives’ hands but...I’m drawing a blank. Some people like to keep their hands in their pockets, like Kyo. A few of us wear gloves, like Alena, which I suppose could hide that sort of thing.

Ultimately, I shake my head.

SHUJI: I don’t remember.

ISEI: That’s alright. What do you think of that note?

SHUJI: Could you make out any words?

Isei shakes his head and looks thoughtful. Eventually he shrugs.

ISEI: You should probably talk to Nishimuraya-san. He’s pretty shaken up about the attack, but he might know something useful. You’re better at people than I am, anyway.

I nod and do as he says. Right now, I’m more than happy to have a helping hand. On my way to the kitchen, where Masanori seems to have set up camp rather than coming anywhere near a corpse, I run into Kata.

Didn’t...Masanori say Kata attacked him? I feel like I should follow up on that.

SHUJI: Hey.

KATA: What the hell do you want? Are you here to accuse me of murder, too? As if I’d go anywhere near that dick.

SHUJI: Can...um, where were you when he says you attacked him?

KATA: In my room.

SHUJI: That’s not what I’d call a solid alibi.

KATA: I don’t need one, since I didn’t goddamn do it.

This is the most agitated I’ve ever seen him.

SHUJI: I didn’t say you did, I’m just letting you know that people aren’t going to believe you.

KATA: Oh, thanks for your insight.

SHUJI: You’re welcome.

KATA: I was being sarcastic.

[EVIDENCE GET: Kata’s Testimony]

I continue on my way to the kitchen, stopping in the dining room when I see Masanori and Heiji. Masanori is sitting down, arms crossed like a pouty child, while Heiji tries to tend to the scratches on his face with a damp washcloth.

I could continue on my way to the kitchen to see if there’s any evidence in there, or I could touch base with Masanori as Isei had suggested.

[Kitchen] / [Heiji and Masanori]

[SELECT: Heiji and Masanori]

MASANORI: Ow! Ow! Be gentle you ape!

HEIJI: Sorry, I couldn’t find a proper first aid kit.

SHUJI: Hey guys. Those scratches look nasty.

MASANORI: I’m gonna get gangrene or something and die because that stupid pretty-boy attacked me. I’m gonna die .

He actually looks like he’s on the verge of tears. I guess getting attacked got him pretty scared.

SHUJI: You’re not gonna die, it’s okay. They don't even look like they bled. Can you tell me what happened? Why weren’t you with the supply closet group?

HEIJI: I can answer that part. This guy here got into a shouting match with Fumi. He said something rude, I don’t know, I kinda tune a lot of it out, and Sis was sick of it. She yelled at him to stop acting like a kid, and how Hisato is better behaved than he is--

SHUJI: I’m sorry, Hisato? Who is that?

HEIJI: Oh, my nephew. Fumi’s son. He’s two. Or...since we’re missing time...uh, five? Probably? Shit, I hope I didn’t miss his birthday…

MASANORI: So I left, because I didn’t wanna be harassed by a fucking teen mom like that. Like, who is she to judge my life choices if she went and had a kid as a kid herself?

HEIJI: [Small frown.] …

MASANORI: Ouch! Hey! Go easy on me!

HEIJI: Maybe don’t talk about my sister like that when I’m the only thing standin’ between you and gangrene, huh?

SHUJI: So you went to the kitchen?

MASANORI: We never ate dinner, so I went back to get food. I was looking through the cabinets and stuff when Ama came from behind me and attacked me. I fought back, because I’m not about to fucking die in here, but he’s stronger than he looks. He managed to scratch my face and knock me out. I guess he thought I was dead.

SHUJI: And then you think he ran off and killed Alena-chan, as well?

MASANORI: She’s really dead? Are you sure she’s not just knocked out, like I was?

I look away, and my eyes unfocus for a bit. I don’t want to tell him about the state of the body. I don’t want to think about it. Nausea rises in my throat, but I suppress it, and when I look back up to Masanori, my vision has cleared.

MASANORI: That bad, huh? Listen dude, she was a shrieking banshee last time I spoke to her, and before that it was like talking to a dead fish, but...You were her friend, I guess. I’m...sorry? For your loss?

HEIJI: Dude, I don’t know if there’s classes in how to console someone, but you need to take ‘em.

MASANORI: As if I’d take advice from you! Ow! Jesus Fucking Christ okay, I’m sorry.

[EVIDENCE GET! Masanori’s Testimony]

From there, I head to the Kitchen.

[Kitchen Floor] / [Kitchen Trash] / [Kitchen Cabinets]

[SELECT: Kitchen Floor]

The kitchen floor is a graveyard where messes have gone to die. Cutlery, food, napkins… It’s like a tornado came through here, and then threw a bunch of plates on the floor for good measure.

Some calm, rational voice in my head is worried that I’ll have to do all these dishes. There’s broken plates and glasses all over the place, so I hope nobody tries to go in here without at least slippers on. It’s dangerous.

I sift through the detritus to see if there’s anything notable, though my mind keeps drifting to wondering what I would do if I cut my hand on the glass. Maybe Masanori’s gangrene talk got to me. Maybe I’m trying to think about anything other than Alena’s body in the sitting room.

Fortunately, I don’t have to look long. Tucked away under a ramen bowl is a wooden rolling pin that I’d seen before, but hadn’t had opportunity to use yet.

I would have made cookies.

I bet Alena would have liked to help with that.

The rolling pin has blood on it. A lot of blood.

I guess I’d call that notable.

[EVIDENCE GET! Bloody Rolling Pin]

Not knowing what to do with it, I put it back where I found it.

[SELECT: Kitchen Trash]

I’m not exactly the biggest reader of mystery novels, but I feel like it’s common knowledge that there’s always evidence in the trash can. With the room such a mess, maybe someone thought they could hide something in there and have it go unnoticed.

I check the trash.

It’s actually completely empty; it looks like it fell over during...uh...whatever happened to the kitchen. It’s contents are splayed on the ground, in with everything else. Other than the charred remains of what I think was meant to be toast, there’s nothing notable in here.

Charred...remains…

I have to keep moving.

[SELECT: Kitchen Cabinets]

The cabinets were a clear victim in uhh...a fight? Whatever happened in here. Several of them seem to have been knocked open, their contents sent crashing to the floor, though a few are still intact.

I open and close each of them dutifully, my eyes almost glazing over. I don’t know what to look for.

I’d guess that anything relevant to Masanori’s fight with Kata has already been knocked to the floor, but who knows, right?

I certainly don’t.

I don’t find anything in there.

I leave the kitchen, fighting the urge to wash my hands after touching the rolling pin--it would be weird to wash your hands in a crime scene, right? I’m pretty sure that’s right--and find myself standing in the hallway outside of the kitchen.

Pure Virtual said something about checking every room, but there aren’t a lot of rooms to check. I’m pretty sure the laundry room has nothing to do with any of it, since I was there when the murder happened, so I head to the foyer instead.

[Plants] / [Katherine and Miki] / [Front Door]

[SELECT: Plants]

I don’t know exactly what draws me to the plants. There’s no way they’re connected to the murder, right? But...Alena liked them, and she’s dead now. I walk over and touch one of the leaves, the way she always did when she wanted to avoid eye contact--but I spot something in the dirt.

SHUJI: Hm?

I find a...coin? I pick at it for a moment, expecting it to come apart to reveal a chocolate. It looks like obnoxiously fuschia tinfoil wrapped around plastic, but it won’t come undone. Squinting at it, I see there’s a chibi depiction of The Fey on one side, and the words “Premium Feynance!” printed on the other. Feynance? Like finance?

Tacky.

[EVIDENCE GET? Fey Coin]

[SELECT: Katherine and Miki]

KATHERINE: I’m surprised you’ve been to America. Did you like it there at all?

MIKI: I didn’t get to see the sights or anything, I was just there for a competition. But the airplane ride was surprisingly fun.

They don’t seem to be talking about anything too important...I guess I should talk to them about the case.

SHUJI: Hey. Have you two been doing any investigating?

MIKI: I didn’t do it.

SHUJI: Didn’t investigate?

MIKI: I didn’t kill Creepy-san.

SHUJI: Oh that’s not really what I was--

MIKI: I didn’t attack Nishimuraya, either!

SHUJI: ...right.

KATHERINE: ...they were with me the whole time. I can vouch for them.

MIKI: I’m innocent!

KATHERINE: We’ve just been staying out of everyone’s way.

SHUJI: Um. Cool. I’ll talk to you later I guess.

[SELECT: Front Door.]

Now that I’ve looked at everything else interesting in the room, I find myself walking toward the front door. Is it too late to see if it’s unlocked? I can feel Katherine and Miki watching me, and despite everything, I feel the hairs rise on the back of my neck in embarrassment. I hope they don’t make fun of me.

I try the door handle and…

What?

With a click, it opens.

My body moving before my brain can react, I swing the door open to reveal--