Everyone is frozen for a second.  Except for Stolas, who doesn't hesitate to drop whatever he's doing and run over to Tristan, who is motionless on the ground.  Stolas quickly rolls him onto his back and begins CPR while the rest of us stand around, unsure what's happening or what to do.  After a moment, Marzy rushes to Stolas's side to check for a pulse in several different places.  The two of them exchange a glance that I really wish they didn't.  Finally, they both stand up and nod to each other.

"He's dead," Stolas announces.

No response at first.  Then, everyone is screaming and panicking and even crying.  Nobody knows what's going on.  Nobody knows what to do or how to react.  It's pure chaos until hidden loudspeakers crackle to life.

"Chill out, all of you!" Monokumace's voice echoes around the room. "Well, a body has been discovered!  Because this is so late in the day, I will be pushing back the evening hours to make room for the trial.  You all have two hours to prepare, and then I will give further instructions.  Good luck~!"

Once the headmaster's voice fades, conversation picks back up quickly until Stolas speaks up.

"Enough!" he shouts, silencing the room. "This is no way to go about this.  Save your mourning for after the trial.  For now, we need to understand what happened and how it happened.  If anyone does not like what I'm saying, feel free to leave."

More silence.  Stolas doesn't seem happy about it, but he doesn't say so. "Alright.  First, let's figure out what the cause of death was.  Marzy?"

Marzy immediately goes to inspect Tristan's body, but all of a sudden, Ace's voice echoes back over the loudspeaker. "No need for that, Mr. Resident Biologist!  Everything you need to know is on the student handbook!"

Right.  The digital handbook I got when I first went into my room yesterday.  I pull it out and turn it on to see an update on the screen.

Case Report:

Name of Victim: Tristan Turner

Talent: Ultimate Street Fighter

Time of Death: 7:51 PM

Cause of Death: Poison

"That's what I assumed," Marzy says gravely as he looks at his own e-handbook.

I still can't believe this.  Tristan just died...?  No, this can't be real.  This can't be.  I feel sick- really sick.  

Stolas picks up Tristan's dropped cup and swirls around the contents. "Let's get the contents of this into a glass for better observation.  Dana, can you grab a glass from the kitchen?"

Dana takes a minute to react before nodding, turning on her heel, and running.  She returns a few moments later with the glass for Stolas.  Once he pours the drink into it, we all see his expression shift slightly at the mug.

"How odd," he says. "It appears that there's something stuck to the bottom."

He sets the cup to the side and clasps his hands together. "Right.  Everyone, start gathering your thoughts and testimonies.  I don't want us going into this trial blindly.  I'm off to deliver the news to Ryn."

After he leaves, the room goes deathly silent again for a moment.  Then, Furfur speaks up.

"He's right," she agrees. "Standing around all wide-eyed isn't the way to go about this!  We gotta find out who killed Tristan, or we're all getting punished for it- you heard the stupid dragon yesterday!  We should search this room and the kitchen in case there's anything we've missed, and then see where we're at with time."

Hearing Furfur talk makes me feel much more relaxed.  I take a second to recollect my thoughts before thinking this through.  If I had to start investigating a murder involving poison... I think I'd start with the person who had access to Tristan's cup first.  

"Hey Dana?" I ask her.  I notice that there's quite a few people already standing near here as well.

She gives me a sad smile as I approach. "Hi, blueberry.  Gonna accuse me, too?"

"We aren't accusing you just yet," Marzy objects. "We just want you to walk us through where you were all day."

"Oh, that's easy," she says.  We all follow her to the kitchen. "I was hear making coffee this morning, then we all went to the barn, and then I came back here to start preparations for the dinner party.  A few hours ago, I set out a mug for everyone with the intention of making a personalized drink for all of you guys."

"Where was Tristan's mug placed?" Iris asks. 

Dana thinks. "He had a dark roast coffee... so that was..." She points to a spot on the counter. "Right here.  Bottom left of all the mugs."

"Did you ever leave the kitchen?" Caim pipes up.

"Yeah, a few times.  I had to make a few runs over to Rocketpunch Mart because I needed to restock on stuff for when everyone came in to cook later."

"And did anyone come into the kitchen while you were in there?" En adds.

"Well probably just about everyone," Dana replies. "I'm not sure if there was a single person who wasn't in the kitchen at some point."

"None of that helps us all that much," Rori grimaces.

Evangeline suddenly shrieks from the corner of the room, and we all rush over to see her on her knees in front of a table.

"I thought I saw something beneath the table, so I lifted up the tablecloth, and..." she trails off as she lifts the tablecloth for all of us to take a look.

Not only is there a chess board set up beneath of the table, but there's a mug there as well.  Evangeline reaches out with her perfect, trembling hands and removes the mug, swallowing the lump in her throat as she peeks inside.  Her eyes widen in shock.

"It's... it's one of the pawns from the chess game," she whispers. "Just sitting inside of the mug."

"So Tristan's killer is the same person that's been setting up the chess boards?" Caim suggests. "It's pretty clear that this is supposed to be a reference to his death, and the only one who would know that he would be dying is his murderer."

"Unless there's a chance that the chess board culprit is an entirely different person who just so happened to predict it.  If nobody died, they could've always put the chess board back where they found it," Marzy points out.

"True.  This means that right now, we have basically nothing to go off of," Iris sighs. "If anything, Dana had the easiest access to the drinks, but it really could've been anyone."

Flauros peers into Tristan's mug that Stolas had set on the table. "Quite odd indeed.  The sword wielder was correct.  There's an odd smear of a dark substance left at the bottom of the goblet.  As if to make it stick to the cup to prevent the poison from somehow being washed away.  A very thorough job, so it had to have been someone who had enough time to do so without getting caught."

"Oh jeez, this really isn't looking good for me," Dana grimaces.  

"I believe you," I tell her quickly. "Even if nobody else does, I believe you."

"You know what?  You're a smart person, Dana, so I don't think you'd do such a sh*t job of killing someone," Furfur agrees.

Dana gives a half-hearted smile. "Glad to know that.  Thank you."

Evangeline lifts up Tristan's mug and looks inside, then sniffs it. "Hm, perhaps I should have a look at it.  You all will need to give me until around the trial to come to a logical conclusion.  I may be able to find out what this murder weapon really is."

"Uh, should we just let her take it?" Zeben asks us.

Marzy stares at Evangeline before saying, "I believe her intentions are pure.  We can trust her.  And if facts do not seem to add up, then we know who sabotaged the case."

Evangeline gives him a firm nod before turning, her skirt twirling gracefully, and leaving the room.  Stolas and Ryn return a few minutes later, and we quickly fill in the both of them on what we found out.

"You just let her take the mug?" Stolas's face darkens with disapproval. "That is crucial evidence."

"She thinks she might be able to identify the poison," Marzy argues. "We might as well let her try."

Stolas stares at him for a second, then sighs. "Fine.  And what's this about another chess board?"

We show him to the back corner where the chess board had previously been hidden behind the table cloth.  He studies the board for a long moment.

"The Réti Opening.  How odd," he comments once he identifies the arrangement.  "Our chess player has a strange taste."

"Dana, when did you set up all of the mugs you used for everyone's drinks?" he adds once he stands back up, reminding us all how small and helpless we are when standing next to him.

Dana thinks before answering, "After the blood message, so those mugs were out on the counter all day.  Just sitting there in plain sight.  Anyone could've had easy access to them, especially while I was out at Rocketpunch Mart."

"At this rate, we're just gonna have to wing it," Furfur says sarcastically. "Anyone up for a game of life roulette?"

"That is hardly funny," En scoffs. 

"So, how about alibis?" I chime in, specifically to keep Furfur from punching En, because it definitely looks like it's going in that direction. "Caim and I were together the entire day after the blood message.  It couldn't have been either one of us."

Caim nods. "That's right!  Sophie and I have each other cleared.  Surely that narrows it down?"

"And I was at the barn the entire day save one trip to the kitchen to make a milk substitute for the calf," Ryn adds. "Dana helped me find everything, and she saw everything that I did.  Meaning it couldn't have been me, either."

"Oh, fantastic, that narrows it down a lot," En mutters.

Stolas whips his head around to glare at them with such speed and force that I nearly recoil out of instinct.

"You may not view it as much, but it most certainly makes a difference," he hisses. "If you would rather have us take a complete shot in the dark, then by all means, speak now or forever hold your sorry excuse for peace."

Damn.  I see Furfur mouth that at me at the same time that I think it.  Well, now I know to remain on Stolas's good side at all times.

"A thought," Will says, breaking the tension, "Wouldn't the poison stuff have to have been applied pretty recently in the cup?  Because if it was wet and all, it would've dried up if it was added in much earlier in the day."

"...He's correct," Stolas agrees hesitantly, as if surprised that the guy with a beanie and a camera could actually be useful. "It would have been much more effective when wet, and we can assume that it was a wet substance by the way it was stuck to the bottom of the cup."

I think I speak for all of us when I say that every single person in the room thought of at least one dirty joke upon hearing his poor word choice.

"If you want about an hour time frame before the dinner party, I'd say everyone was in the kitchen at some point except for Sophie, Caim, Stolas, Marzy, Flauros, Iris, and Azrael."

"Hang on, a quick question," Ryn says. "Dana, how didn't you notice the poison in Tristan's mug?  Surely you would've."

"I don't really look inside of the cups when filling them," Dana replies, "It's not really something I've ever had to worry about doing."

"That should be enough time!" Ace's voice returns over the loudspeaker. "Everyone, report to the central island- It's time for the class trial!"

***

(1943 words)

Sorry it's a little shorter lol.  Or maybe the other chapters are just long-

Anyways who dunnit? (Ha get it like Acedu- *dies*)