"What's wrong?" The voice of a worried Minerva asked us. "I was going to breakfast and then I heard—"

*ding dong, bing bong*

"A body has been discovered! Everyone please report to the storage closet immediately!"

"Oh my..." Minerva covered her mouth, smelling the stench as well. "Don't tell me..."

I flipped the light back on and turned to her with tears already rolling down my face.

"Skyler! No..." Zenith finally spoke, running over to the body. "Y-You're going to be alright. I-I-I can fix this."

I stepped out of room, needing a moment to process everything. By the looks of things, Minerva needed one too because she covered her face completely with her hands.

Skyler... Why did it have to be Skyler?

Everytime I had seen or spoken with them replayed in my head like a sped up movie. The more I remember how much I enjoyed our time together the more verbal my crying became. Eventually I started getting snot all over my hoodie, but that was the last I cared about.

Who would do this? Would is desperate enough to take someone else's life for money?

...

"Felix." A whisper followed by a tap on the shoulder brought me back to reality.

I looked to see Fawn. Her expression was blank, but from the way her sweater appeared she had been gripping it from anxiousness.

She then hugged me, which caught me off guard. She was never one for physical contact, especially engaging in it. She was also never one for knowing what to in situations like these.

Yet somehow she managed to know exactly what I needed at this exact moment.

My eyes still watered and I couldn't stop tears from rolling down my face, but I felt so much better in the embrace of my sister. Something about a tight hug reminded me of better times when none of this game was apart of my daily life. It helped me calm down and gather my thoughts to the best of my ability.

"Who...!" Hunter held his hat in his hand, holding it close to his chest. "Who could've done this?"

"N-N-No one..." Blane denied, his breathing growing heavier by the second. "N-N-No one c-could have k-k-killed them... R-Right?"

"Wrong!" The voice of certain robotic dog cheered.

"What do you mean?" Quartz questioned, carefully wiping her tears as not to scratch her face with her nails. Masquerade covered her cheeks. "None of us would ever do something like this."

"But one of you did!" Tiger the Dog corrected. "One of you talentless fuckers got greedy and killed poor, poor Skyler."

"Who w-would..." Zenith turned to the mascot, face entirely soak with tears. "Who... Would..."

"That's for you shitstains to find out, remember?" It complained. "This is a killing game. When someone dies you're supposed to investigate and collect evidence."

"How do we even do that?" Nikolas asked, obviously frustrated.

"Well you can take notes using your Petal Pad's new ''Investigation Notes'' feature." Tiger explained. "That's pretty much it. We don't have the budget to give some stupid file."

"If your done here then go the fuck away!" Rory yelled, crying as the spoke. "We don't care about your stupid killing game right now! One of ours friends just died...!"

Friend... I lost a friend today...

"You can cry all you won't but they won't be coming back to life." Tiger would have smiled if her mouth could move. "And remember that your investigation time is limited. Use it wisely."

Tiger the Dog disappeared, leaving everyone to stare at the horrifying sight in silence. Nearly was sobbing and sticking close to each other. None of use knew how deal with this situation.

"We need to investigate." Amelia stated, stepping up. "Our time is limited, after all."

"How the heck are we supposed to investigate a crime scene?!" Hunter questioned her.

"Look for clues or anything remotely suspicious." The pinkette instructed. "We'll discuss our findings at the trial."

"I d-don't think I can do this investigation stuff," Rory stated, pulling their hair in distraught.

"Me n-neither," Nikolas added, breathing heavily. He then covered his mouth, expecting an unpleasant liquid to emerge.

"If you don't want to be around the body the you can look for clues elsewhere in the mansion." Amelia said, keeping up her stoic demeanor.

Nobody said anything. Sniffs and sharp inhales filled the hallway.

This silence is killing me. I have to say somethi—

"Move." Amelia said.

The coroner stood over a knelt over Zenith, who couldn't look away from the body. He cried silent tears, his hand shaking as he tried to get Skyler's attention.

Skyler was dead. Zenith wouldn't be getting their attention ever again.

"I can't just leave them here..." Zenith explained, reaching out to the body as if the person were merely sleeping. "They n-need medical attention and... and..."

"I'm not going to say it again." She closed her eyes, taking a breath. "Move."

The chauffeur didn't move. He stared her dead in eyes, not moving a single inch. He probably wouldn't have moved if Hunter and Rory not pried him away so Amelia could work. Even then, the chauffeur fought to be near the body of his friend.

"I can't leave them alone!" He cried, resisting the cowboy and the food tester's attempt to remove him from the scene. "I shouldn't have let them leave alone... Don't leave them alone! Pl-Please...!"

"I'm assumin' y'all can cover this from 'ere on?" Hunter questioned.

"We'll manage." Nikolas said.

"Hunter and I will be in the kitchen with Zenith if anyone wants some breakfast." Rory told the group.

I doubt anything I ate would stay down if I was to eat after investigating a crime scene.

Once those three had left, the remainder of us began to spilt off. I unsure where everyone was going or what they were doing, but a couple people seemed to stick around outside the closet. Fawn being one of them.

"What's our plan for investigating?" She asked me.

"I dunno..." I shrugged. The sight of the closet peeked out from the corner of my eye. "I don't think I'll be much help. I'm not very smart and I suck at taking notes."

"Hmm..." Fawn hummed. "What if I took the notes? You can do all the talking and stuff."

"Yeah, good idea Fawn!" I agreed with her.

Now where to start?

I glanced to Amelia who was leaning in close to the body. She had presumably recruited Blane to join her in her investigation due to his background in science.

If I want to help find Skyler's killer, I'll need to look at the body properly.

I took a breath and went into the closet. Fawn followed me, however she stayed in the doorway as I went on.

Skyler had dried blood seeping out from their abdomen, the vibrant pink liquid splattered on the wall behind them. Their head down, their bangs falling over most of their face. I noticed they were still in their outfit from the game night.

"What are you doing here?" Amelia asked, startling me.

"I'm helping out." I confidently replied to her. "I want to find out the killer just as much as you."

"I wouldn't say I necessarily want to find the killer," The pink hair girl in the trench coat corrected. "Its more of an obligation and I doubt any of you you would be able to solve this without my help."

...

"So..." I tried to change the topic. "What's your read on this situation?"

"They're dead." Answered the coroner.

Even I can see that.

"Judging by the blood residue, I'd say they've been dead for a while." The pinkette concluded. "At least 10 hours if I had to guess."

"They're b-body has also started to d-decompose a little." Blane added on. "It's more n-n-noticeable with internal organs, b-but Skyler's l-limbs have gr-grown stiff."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I questioned the two.

"This body has entered rigor mortis, a very obvious sign of death. It happens about 4 hours after death and causes muscles to stiffen." Amelia elaborated. "This prove that Skyler has been dead for some time now."

...

I bent down to get a closer look at the body. I noticed a red area on their neck which I don't think was caused by a choker.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to red area.

"Rope burn." The coroner replied, gesturing to a frayed rope hanging out of a box. "The killer must made an attempt to strangle them."

"Str-Strangle...!" The biologist gasped.

"And what about that?" I pointed to their bloody abdomen.

"A basic stab wound from a kitchen knife." She answered. "Easily identifiable by how deep the cut is; kitchen knives are dull, therefore requiring more pressure to cut something as opposed to a sharp knife."

Was Skyler killed by the abdomen stab wound with a kitchen knife or strangulation from a rope burn?

...

I don't think there's anything else in here to take note of other than the body and the rope.

I came out of the closet. I didn't want be in there any longer than I had to be.

"Did you get all that?" I asked my sister.

"Mhm." She nodded, holding up her tablet to show me the notes she took. "I got them."

Fawn and I made our way down the hallway to the laundry room. I figured it would be a good place to check, since the killer could wash their bloody clothes in there if they needed to.

Gabriel and Quartz were standing around in the room. I decided to talk with Gabriel first.

"You found anything?" I asked him.

"No." He said.

"Alright, thanks." I told him, not wanting to waste his time. "I've leave you be now."

"Wait." He stopped me.

"What is it?" I curiously asked him.

"How are doing?" Gabriel awkwardly asked me. "...after the thing and all."

"I've gotten over the initial shock." I explained. "Thanks for asking."

Gabriel didn't say anything more. Fawn shot a glance at me before we went to speak with Quartz. She stood by the washing machine, still looking as horrified as she did yesterday.

"Hey." I got her attention.

"Hello Felix and Fawn," She greeted us with sorrow. She wiped her face trying to get the ruined makeup off. "Sorry. I haven't been investigating."

"That's alright." I told her. "I completely understand. We'll just be looking around for bit."

I decided to check the washing machine and dryer. The latter of the two was empty, and the washing machine had wet clothes that awaited being put in the dryer.

"I guess Vanessa didn't get that much done." I concluded.

"Nessa?" Quartz curiously questioned.

"Vanessa told me she would do laundry for everyone next time." I explained for both her and my sister. "She planned to do it today, but then her ankle started hurting and she couldn't."

"I hope she gets to feeling better." The hand model said. "I hope everyone does..."

Me too.

I hate tense and melancholy situations like this. It brings back bad memories.

"I was really expecting to find some blood clothes or something in here." I admitted to Fawn.

"Maybe they killer left them in their room?" She guessed.

"That's what we'll have to assume for now." I sighed.

After the laundry room, we stopped by the game room. Everything was exactly the way it was when Zenith and I left.

"For the notes," The gray haired girl began to say. "Can you explain exactly what happened yesterday when you last saw Skyler?"

"Sure." I agreed. "We were playing a dancing game when them and Zenith started to argue over whether we should take a break or not. The two settled the argument via dance battle. When Skyler lost they stormed off, requesting nobody to follow them."

"And?" She asked.

"And nobody did." I sighed, clenching my clothes. "Besides the killer, we were the last three to see Skyler alive."

"Ah..." She nodded, taking notes of what I had said.

There wasn't much left to do other than go to the dining room. Most people were gather there, feeling safer in a group as opposed to being alone.

"Bestieee!" Tabitha greeted me, before noticing Fawn was with me. "And other bestie."

"How's it going in here?" I asked. "You seem to be having fun."

"It's been pretty boring so far. Until you showed up." She told me, rolling her eyes in the direction of a certain food tester. "Your like, the life of the party, Alex."

Maybe she'll learn my name someday.

"Oh, thanks?" I awkwardly thanked her. I wanted to say more, but I felt my sleeve get tugged. "I can't really talk right now. Fawn and I are investigating."

"How boring." She stuck out her tongue, before pulling out her phone. "Talk to you after the trial thingy."

...

I didn't want remind everyone who was trying to eat breakfast and calm down from earlier about our situation, so I lead my sister and I into the kitchen to investigate away from everyone else. To my surprise Isaiah was in there doing some investigating of his own.

"Are two investigating?" The boy with glasses asked us.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Have you found anything?"

"Just this." He gestured for us to come over to him.

He opened a cabinet to reveal a bloody kitchen knife stashed underneath. He quickly closed the door once we had a good look.

"I'd say that's a pretty important find," I commented, slightly disturbed. "Did you check every cabinet?"

"Unfortunately," He sighed, acting as if he had failed and wasted his time. "All the drawers and the pantry too. That was all I found."

"Something is better than nothing." I said.

Fawn was still finishing up the notes, so I decided to ask Isaiah some things about the people in the kitchen.

"How is everyone in there doing?" I questioned him.

"Better, but still not very good." The male with square glasses explained. "Zenith didn't eat anything and went to his room, Vanessa keeps saying that she's useless, Rory might explode from stress, and Hunter has barely talked."

I wasn't expecting that detailed of an answer.

I suppose that makes sense for him being an author and whatnot.

"I wish I could do something to make everyone feel better and put their minds at ease." I said, sighing. "But... I can't even do the one thing I'm good at right now."

The romance novelist opened his mouth to say something but didn't when he saw Fawn at the door ready to go. The blonde man gave us a simple wave as we parted.

Fawn and I went back into the hallway to talk and review everything we'd found.

"Did I get everything?" She asked.

"I think so." I replied.

What now?

"Felix." A familiar said my name. "You and Fawn were investigating, right?"

"Yeah." I answered, before turning to see who was talking to me.

"I went through everyone's rooms—" Minerva started off.

"You wh-what?!" Fawn panicked. "How did you do that?"

"I ran into Nora. She said that all of our rooms are unlocked during the investigation." The journalist explained herself to us. "Apparently, I wasn't the only one who has a special item relating to my talent."

"Does everyone have one?" I questioned her.

"Everyone expect you." She stated. "But I guess that makes some sense... I have list of everyone's items."

Minerva showed Fawn and I the list. Fawn quickly took note of all of them.

Minerva — Notepad

Felix — None

Fawn — Tablet (cannot use any functions aside from drawing program)

Nikolas — Mini Freezer

Hunter — Lasso

Vanessa — Heat Pad

Nora — Microphone

Isaiah — Laptop (cannot use any functions aside from a digital notepad)

Amelia — Autopsy Toolsbox (locked)

Quartz — Nail Polish

Blane — Microscope Set

Tabitha — Phone (cannot use any functions aside from offline applications)

Gabriel — Tennis Racket

Skyler — USB Flash Drive (unsure of contents)

Zenith — Car Keys w/ Keychain

Rory — Recipe Book

"Thank you, Minerva." I thanked her.

"No problem." She smiled. "I may not know anything about autopsy's or psychoanalyzing people, but I do know how to be a journalist."

This investigation stuff is pretty hard. What else is there even to do?

"Ah!" Fawn made a noise. She got my attention and brought me back to reality.

"Ah..." I groaned.

"I see you two are happy to see me." Nora smiled, but this time it was more awkward and forced.

"I'm not in the mood to play your stupid guessing game." I told her, sounding much angrier than I had intended.

"Oh, that's a shame..." She sighed. "You could've won a hint."

"A hint?!" I gasped.

"Yeah. Since I know who the killer is, I can give a single hint during the class trial." The bluenette elaborated. "Obviously, I can't tell you who the killer is, but if there's a clue you need or you need to know if your on the right track, I could tell you."

"I'll do it!" I told her. "I'll play your game."

"But you said—" She tilted her her playfully.

"I-I don't care what I said!" I boldly stated. "I've changed my mind."

"Alrighty then." She had a mischievous look in her eye. "Just know, this is one of my harder questions. You'd have to get lucky to get it right."

No problem. I'm the luckiest person I know.

...well I used to be. But that's not point.

How many Ultimate Gardners have there been in the last decade?

a). 0

b). 1

c). 2

d). 3

Hmm... I doubt there's a stressful amount of competition. There's probably been same Ultimate Gardener for the last decade.

"One." I said.

Nora frowned. Instead of her typical ''ding ding ding'' or ''beep'' she stayed quiet.

"Incorrect, I'm sorry." She sighed. "Now hint for you."

What?! What was the correct answer?

"C-Can I take a guess?" Fawn nervously asked her.

"Go ahead." Nora shrugged. "You'll probably get in wrong though. This one is one of my harder ones."

"Is it zero?" My twin guessed.

"Ding ding ding!" The bluenette cheered. "I guess your luck is starting to rub off on your sister, Felix."

I guess so.

Correct answer: a). 0

"Well, Fawn," Nora paused, seeming flustered almost. "You've just the hint for this trial."

"Yay." My sister quietly rejoiced.

What now?

*ding ding, bong bong*

"Living participants please report to the end of the hallway!"

End of the hallway? Isn't that blocked off?

I did as the announcement said, soon meeting with everyone else. There was still a massive blockage in the hallway.

"Splendid! You're all here on time!" Tiger the Dog appeared.

"What do you want with us now?!" Vanessa demanded to know.

"We can't have a trial without a courtroom, now can we?" Tiger proposed the question.

"What do you mean by that?" Ameila question it.

"I mean..." Tiger paused for dramatic effect.