Blades of Despair

-Chapter Twenty-Eight-

A Meeting in Secret

"So, are you fuckers ready for your third, class trial? I'm practically soiling myself with excitement!" giggled Monomenon as we readied ourselves for the beginning of the end of another student's life.

"Your job in this class trial," reminded Monoworth, "is to discover which of the victims died first, as well as the identity of the wonderful murderer who snuffed out their life. The verdict that you reach will not have anything to do with the second victim and whoever killed them."

"But there's no reason for us to not discuss the second victim and their killer, is there?" asked Morino.

"What? Why would you want to waste our time doing that?" Monoworth responded.

"Because the crimes are undoubtedly connected," Morihei claimed, "given that we found both bodies in the same room."

"Also, both Tokunaga and Ouji were our friends," said Saza through gritted teeth, "so there's no way we'd just ignore one of them simply because it's a waste of your time."

"I see," pondered Monoworth, "so you humans are still clinging onto the farcical notion of sentimentalism. Well, I suppose it would be impossible to convince you otherwise, but soon there won't be many of you left to feel sentimental for."

"Let's just get on with the trial," I interrupted, "entertaining the bears won't do us any good."

"I agree," said Yoneda. "I want to know who killed Tokunaga. Ouji too, but Tokunaga was my best friend here. And someone in this room killed him." Compared to before, Yoneda was no longer crying. He stood at his podium, a fury blazing in his eyes. For the first time since arriving at the academy, Yoneda scared me.

"Then, shall I start with the results of both autopsies?" asked Miyagawa, his face still pale from the ordeal. We all nodded, and he began to tell us his findings. "I shall start with Ouji's death. She received several fractures to her skull as a result of multiple blunt force traumas inflicted to the area. Her face, forehead and crown were are all irreparably damaged and crushed by the weapon, which I can only assume was the rock that was found next to her body. I could not find any other external injuries. Tokunaga's cause of death is likely the three identical lacerations to his throat – such an injury would have caused instant death, or he choked on his own blood. For those who did not look at his body, his arms and legs have also been severed with a sharp tool and removed from the scene of the crime. The cuts were clean and precise, which suggests that the person who did this knew what they were doing. I checked where I could for external injuries but found none, and since his limbs were not recovered during the investigation, I can offer no guess as to whether they bore any marks."

"Someone cut off his arms and legs?" Saza muttered in horror. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Miyagawa confirmed grimly, "however there are some questions that became apparent to Yoneda as I checked their bodies. Firstly, there is no evidence to suggest whether there is one or two killers, so I'm afraid we must figure this out during the trial. Secondly, it seems that the killing blow to Tokunaga and the removal of his limbs happened at different times."

"At different times?" Nishi repeated. "But what could that mean?"

"Well, for one," replied Miyagawa, "it could mean that two separate people are behind each attack on Tokunaga's body. Alternatively, Tokunaga's killer could have sliced his throat, done something else regarding the crime scene, and then returned to Tokunaga's body to remove his arms and legs."

"But why would they wait?" Nishi pressed.

"There could be several reasons," Yoneda interjected, "but the main one would be to wait for Tokunaga's heart to stop. Once that happens, blood will no longer be spraying from his body, making the task of dismembering him less messy."