Trial 3: The Trial of Leit Hahn

The elevator slowed to a halt before opening and exposing the students to the courtroom. The courtroom this time was a varied assortment of colors: neon pinks and greens were painted on the wall in different patterns and shapes, with a bright blue light moving around in sporadic intervals. The flooring appeared to be thick glass, with spotlights of varying colors shining through underneath.

The portraits of Nadine, Chris, Lys, and Alann All sat in their previous spots, with the added portrait of Leit sitting where he stood before. The kids took their spots around the railing.

" Now that we're all here, I officially call this court into order! " the bear cheered, "we are all gathered here today to discover the perpetrator for the murder of the linguist, Leit Hahn. Another reminder, that if you choose the wrong person, all the innocent will be executed, with the opposite being true if you discover the guilty person." the bear signaled for the rest of the kids to begin.

" Right then." Julie began, " We should first establish where everyone was when the announcement went off. Devin, Alex and I were trapped on the third floor when we found the body. Which means you four were left to investigate the rest of the building." she crossed her arms, " It would be best if we each told our view of what happened. From breakfast onwards."

Well," Felix began. "After Alicia and I finished clearing up the breakfast dishes, we came up to the second floor where you guys were trying to persuade Leit out of the library. After That I went to look for Alex. I checked in the work out room where I ran into Monokuma then checked the catwalk in the auditorium. Monokuma promised he'd get me Alex;'s room key so I could check there in case the worst had happened. After that I went downstairs and into the cafeteria where I found writing on the wall saying "It's Time! The Final Murder Is At Hand." Alicia was passed out on the floor of the kitchen." Felix took a breath to steady himself as the memory of Alicia lying as if dead on the kitchen floor assaulted him. " The next thing I knew, Heather was there telling me that she, Alicia, would probably be ok. After a while, Liam bumped into Heather and me as we were talking outside the cafeteria, They decided that the two of them would go looking for the rest of you while Alicia and I would finish checking down here for Alex. Alicia and I were in Alex's room when the announcement went off. We began looking for evidence there and in Leit's room since it made sense that one of those were the ones who died. Finally I went down to a monitoring room that Liam found underneath the auditorium. There were monitors showing images of all cameras but apparently the recordings go straight onto DVD and are stored in Monokuma's office. I went down a dark hallway and found a ladder so I went up it and went through the crawl space at the top. It lead to another trapdoor but it felt as though there was something on top of it so I couldn't go through there. I could hear voices but I'm not sure whose they were so I assume it comes out in Monokuma's office or something. Maybe somewhere on the third floor. it was then that the announcement for us to come here went off. Naturally I went as fast as I could back to the auditorium where Alicia was waiting."

" That's two alibis."

"I can vouch for Felix's conversation with Monokuma," Liam spoke up. "I saw him shortly before I stumbled on Monokuma's surveillance room. I only looked around the main area before heading back, figuring I ought to inform others of this and come back later with someone to accompany me. I informed the gathered group in the dining room when I returned. When we split up, I went to the second floor with Heather. After the gates shut, we found the library in complete disarray with blood but no body, and no trail leaving the room. The workshop was the same as always, except for a blood-covered voice-box exactly like Leit's in the trash can. Nothing else was of note."

Devin spoke next. "I found the gate to the third floor open and was about to go back to let others know when someone knocked me out. Pretty sure it was chloroform. That's where Julie found me."

"Last night I found the gate to the third floor open so I went and checked it out. I didn't find anything of  mention in the first room, but in the second room- an exam room- I found a stranger man standing behind a computer after "chatting" a few minutes we heard the door lock from the outside. I was locked in the exam room all night until Julie and Devin came to unlock the door." He turned to Julie for her lead.

"So you spent the night in this room with a stranger?" Felix questioned.

"I was there because I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk to to clear my head. The door was locked behind me from the outside, so yes, the whole night until Julie and Devin let me out." He paused for a moment then he expressed a look as though he had remembered something important. "After a few hours talking about" - he looked towards Monokuma, then back at Felix "-some things the strange man took out some kind of cylindrical container and when he threw it down he disappeared in a flash of light."

"Where was the man standing when he 'disappeared'?" Felix asked.

"Behind the computer desk"

Felix paused and thought for a moment. It was hard to think if the trap door could have lead to the examination room without seeing the room at least once. "Did you check the door after he left?"

Felix frowned. "Julie, Devin, did you see anyone come out of the examination room?" Felix asked.

Devin shook his head.

"Nothing." Julie replied.

Heather spoke up, "This morning, I spent my time cleaning most of the second floor. I cleaned the Workout Room, the Computer Room, and the Workshop. The library was locked sometime during my cleaning of the Workout Room. At around 4 am, I looked out into the hallway to see Alex walking around. He walked into the Auditorium. Out onto the catwalk. I went searching for him later, but I found no trace of him. Liam found me in the Workshop before breakfast, and asked me to join the rest of you, but I insisted that I finish cleaning the room first. Afterwards, I took the ladder in the auditorium down to the first floor. When I went to the dining room, there was no one there, so I grabbed a broom and a dustpan and swept the stage. I checked back later, when I ran into Liam and he explained what had happened." She brought her hands up to her neck, "I went and looked around in the dorm area for Alex. I checked the Laundry Room and the Recreational Room. I heard Felix in...distress whenever I walked out into the hallway, so I made my way to the dining room, where we found Alicia." She stopped and folded her hands in front of her, "I believe everyone else covers what I did afterwards."

Julie spoke up last, "I was in the cafeteria until we all left to go search for Leit and Alex. I went upstairs and heard Leit, insisting that he should stay in there." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "After that, I went and searched in the Computer room for a way out. There was no one in there, nor had anything changed. I left that room to find the gate to the third floor open. I went up cautiously, before finding Devin unconscious. I woke him up before exploring the third floor." She opened up the map on her ElectroID, and showed it to everyone, "We explored every room, save the Examination room and the Principal's office, as they were both locked. We discovered Leit's body in the History classroom. He was bound to a chair, and left in his shorts. There were bruises and cuts all over his body, and a pile of bloody vomit on the ground in front of him. None of the wounds looked severe enough to cause the vomit, nor kill him. He was dead 30 minutes before we found him. Meaning he died at around the time I reached the third floor. All of the desks were pushed to one side of the classroom, and there was a message written on the blackboard in blood that read, 'Good luck.'"" She glanced over at Felix, "Sounds like the message you found too. Afterwards, Devin and I looked around at the rest of the rooms. In the music room, Devin heard a metronome running and found a key next to it. Meaning someone wanted us to find it. And from there we found Alex in the examination room." She folded her arms again, "Nothing else of note really. So many things scattered and done at different times to split us all up means that whoever did this really wanted to throw us off their scent. The question is why? Attacking Alicia would extremely risky. And what did they gain out of it?" She sighed, "So many questions...so where should we begin?"

"Julie, what was the floor like in the examination room?" Felix asked. He had an idea but he wanted to be sure before he voiced it.

"A dark linoleum, I'd guess. The room was really dark though. Had an eerie feeling to it."

"Do you think there'd be any way to hide a trapdoor in there?" Felix asked her.

Julie leaned on the railing, " It's possible. That would mean that the trapdoor didn't have a handle on top though. But I don't think there was anything in the room to put on top of it that would hinder you."

"Not even the computer desk?" Felix asked, raising his eyebrow.

"If you're suggesting that the man Alex saw escaped using the trapdoor, then moving the computer desk with the computer on it, opening the door, and then pulling it back over the trapdoor within the span of minute or two, that's ridiculous." She crossed her arms again, "But I don't think you're that stupid. You're probably suggesting that Alex locked himself in that room using the trapdoor. Which is possible, but would be difficult at least. Moving a desk by yourself without leaving any signs that you moved it would be hard."

"Except the third floor was locked."

Felix frowned. How could he have been so stupid to forget that. "If only there were a way that we could have opened the gate ourselves," he said.