We all arrive at the center island to find a surprise waiting for us. Spewing out of the mouth of one of the Mount Rushmore-esque Ace statue heads is an escalator. Do we trust it? That question is answered after I find myself halfway up the escalator and standing next to Furfur. Well, that explains it.

Once inside of the giant mouth, we all stumble across an elevator. Not knowing what else to do, we all file in. I like to think that we take the ride down to mourn Tristan, but I'm pretty sure that we're all just trying to think of an alternate scenario where we're just less awkward in an elevator and have an actual conversation. Oh well, I guess we're all just normal people at the end of the day.

When the elevator finally releases us, we all wind up walking into a large courtroom. In the center of the room is a circle of podiums, one of which has a monochromatic portrait of Tristan with his face crossed out in pink. I'm guessing that would have been his podium. As we draw nearer, it turns out that every podium has a name carved into it. I find mine and quickly gather my thoughts as my gaze falls on where Monokumace sits in a throne behind Caim's podium.

"Well? Let's get this started! Uhuhu, I'm so excited to finally be here!" they exclaim happily.

"Here's what we know," Stolas begins. "The murderer most likely applied the poison to Tristan's mug up to an hour before the party, otherwise, like Will said, it would have dried up. Meaning that whoever Dana mentioned earlier-"

"Sophie, Caim, Stolas, Marzy, Flauros, Iris, Azrael, and Ryn," Dana recalls.

"-are most likely not the culprit," Stolas finishes. "I believe we should start with the alibis of those who are, in fact, potential suspects. Would anyone like to start?"

"I can," Evangeline volunteers. "Around an hour before the party, I was in the kitchen finishing the Shepherd's pie I cooked. I pulled it out of the oven, set it on the counter to cool, and then left. I was in the kitchen with Dana, Furfur, Rori, and Zeben at that time."

"It was hectic in there," Zeben laughs. "But yeah, that was our group. I remember Evangeline leaving after she took her pie out of the oven. It smelled really freakin' good."

"You said that about everything," Rori reminds him, and Zeben rolls his eyes as a strawberry blush creeps over his face.

"So Will wasn't there," Stolas confirms.

"Oh no, I got there about half an hour before the party," Will says. "I asked everyone if I could record them cooking, and I got some pretty funny videos. I already double-checked them all for any evidence, but I couldn't find anything."

"And when did you leave the kitchen?" Marzy asks.

"Probably after fifteen minutes, because I was kinda getting in the way," Will admits, embarrassed.

"Okay, and were you holding the camera the entire time?" Stolas inquires.

Will nods. "It never left my hands."

"Hold your camera like you normally would," Stolas instructs.

Confused but not wanting to refuse, Will does as he's told, removing the camera from his bag and holding it up for everyone to see.

Stolas thinks for a moment before saying, "If you held it the entire time, that means your hands would have been exposed the whole duration of while you were in the kitchen. Even if you had a free hand to apply the poison to Tristan's cup with, you wouldn't have been able to do so without struggle. Therefore, I highly doubt you're the culprit."

Will's eyes light up. "Oh, thanks, man! I had no idea you were trying to clear me. I owe you one."

"You can thank me later," Stolas replies. "Dana, while you were in the kitchen, how many people washed their hands?"

"Oh, everyone. Multiple times," the barista says. "There's no telling if anyone took the opportunity to wash away any evidence. There probably wasn't a single second where the sink wasn't on."

"Noted." The combat specialist seems lost in thought for a minute. "Going back to the poison, poison is not obtainable anywhere on the island. During my time at Rocketpunch Mart, I closely observed every aisle. There is nothing that could have caused that dark smear."

"So is it just, like, coffee stains from the dark roast, then?" Zeben tilts his head.

"Not at all," Evangeline speaks up. Right, she studied the mug for, like, an hour. We all turn towards her in anticipation.

"I had to check my notes and also take a walk to ensure that I am correct, but all signs point to the poison being from the white baneberry, or Actaea Pachypoda," she begins. "The white baneberry, nicknamed dolls'-eyes, is one of the most toxic berries in the world. The entire plant- especially the berries- is poisonous. Ingestion can induce cardiac arrest and death."

She reaches into her apron- hang on, since when did it have pockets?? I love this woman- and removes a handful of very small white berries with black dots. She points to the black dots as she speaks.

"The culprit would have specifically removed the black parts for better camouflage once they knew what they were going to do," she adds. "In fact, by the looks of Tristan's mug, quite a few of the berries would have been used, ensuring that he met his demise even if it was just the essence of the berry that he ingested. Although I am confused how they would grow in this environment."

Ace snickers. "I just liked their color scheme, so I felt they'd be perfect for my killing game island. Oh yeah, I liked their toxicity too."

"Starting from the beginning," Stolas announces, "Here is what I believe to have gone down. The killer had knowledge of the berries after seeing them at some point while exploring the island. They grabbed a handful for a later time and began their murder plan. They had to have been in the kitchen within the last hour before the dinner party, or their weapon wouldn't have stuck to the cup properly. By this point, they would have been more prepared, and already carved out the darker parts of the berries to conceal their plan better, and washed their hands without any problem after the deed was done. Nobody would have even seen any of this unfold because of how busy the kitchen was. Zeben himself said how hectic it was."

"But what I don't get is why Tristan?" Caim points out. "I mean, he was the victim, so surely the culprit had reasoning for going after him?"

"Perhaps it was due to his hot temper and nearly unmatched strength," Stolas says. "Or..."

"Or what?" En demands. "Don't hold out on us now, Stolas."

To my surprise, Stolas looks over at me. His expression makes what he wants perfectly clear- Solve it. Why me? But at the same time...

"I've got it," I say as the last piece snaps into place. Stolas gives me a nod of approval.

"You know why?" Furfur asks.

"No." I hold her gaze as I say, "I know the whole story."

"Then tell us what happened, Sophie," Stolas instructs me.

I take a deep breath. "Well, to start from the beginning, the killer had no idea about the blood message. The person who did that and the actual culprit are two different people. So when we all discovered the dead cow in the barn, the killer began to worry that they could be a victim. Once they remembered about the berries, they began to develop a plan. When they had access to the kitchen, they had already prepared their deadly secret ingredient, and they could easily smear it in Tristan's cup and wash away any evidence on their hands because everyone washed their hands at least once. After that, their plan was put into motion. But here's the thing- Tristan's cup was the bottom left-most one, or the closest mug on the side closest to the sink. AKA the easiest accessible mug. And besides, the only one who would have any idea about which cup was which would be Dana. Basically, the killer had no idea who they would kill- it could've even been the killer themself. Tristan just so happened to be the unlucky victim."

"And who did it?" Stolas prods. I can see the impressed twinkle in his eye, though.

"Well," I say, "I just want to ask Monokumace something first."

"And that would be...?" Monokumace asks.

I look over at them. "Did you tell anyone about the berries?"

"Nope!" the dragon-creature giggles. "Not a soul!"

"Then that means the killer must have had prior knowledge of the berries. And while Evangeline obviously recognized them, I don't think she would have been as willing to help if she was the culprit. Meaning there is only one person who would've had enough knowledge on toxic berries to know for sure that they could be used as a murder weapon, because knowing the wilderness is their talent!" I take another deep breath before pointing and declaring, "And that person is you, Ultimate Wilderness Survivalist Rori Andrade!"

Rori's face pales several shades. "What? N-no, I didn't! Why would I-?"

"Sophie explained exactly what I had wanted her to," Stolas jumps in. "Even I wouldn't have been so certain about the toxicity of those berries. Only someone who's studied them and knows their way around the forest would know for sure how fatal they are."

"T-that's absurd!" Rori argues, fists tightening around his podium. "It could've been Evangeline, and she could be trying to clear herself!"

"Turn out your pockets," Stolas orders him. "Technically speaking, if it were to be you, then you would have some sort of stains in your pockets from the berries. Because you split them apart, and they appeared to smear so nicely in Tristan's mug, I'm sure that your pockets would be nice and clean if you're as innocent as you claim to be."

Rori's eyes widen, and he fumbles for words before slowly turning out the pockets on his vest. Nothing.

Stolas's gaze continues to pierce into him. "Your pant pockets, too."

"T-this is invasive!" Rori accuses. "If I have to turn out my pockets, then shouldn't everyone?"

"Stop stalling. You're making this worse for yourself," the sword-wielder says.

The wilderness survivalist hesitates for a long moment. Then, he finally hangs his head and turns out the pockets on his pants. The inside of his left pocket is covered in dark stains.

"Rori?" Zeben gasps, his brown eyes flickering with hurt. "Did you...?"

"Yes," Rori murmurs. "Yes. I did."

To my surprise, he breaks down, choking back a sob as he continues. "I... Everything was a blur after I saw the message. I didn't... I knew someone was going to die after that. Someone was going to get killed, and I... I didn't know if it would be me. I remember sneaking away to collect the berries I'd seen on the first day because I knew what they could do... and then... I just put them in the cup I had the easiest access to. I didn't even know if it was mine, I just knew... I had to... I..."

"You didn't know what you were thinking! It's just a mistake!" Zeben insists, leaning forward on his podium. I see his hands shaking violently. "You didn't know! You didn't-"

"Oh, boo-hoo!" Ace taunts. "Everyone, vote for who you think the blackened is on your digital handbooks! And believe me, you want to vote correctly."

After I vote, I watch Zeben, through tears, force himself to vote before sobbing.

"Why, Rori? WHY?" he cries, glaring through tears at his friend. "I- we-"

Rori is crying too. "I'm sorry. I never... I never wanted to..."

Zeben turns to Ace and begs, "Please, don't do this. Don't kill him, please!"

Ace laughs in his face. "But that's against the rules! You know what happens to the blackened!"

Zeben's strangled cries cut through the air as Ace announces, "Iiiit's punishment time!"

***

(1988 words)

Zeben pulled a Taka on us, y'all-

Also the wheel DID initially land on Furfur as the culprit but ain't no way I'm getting rid of her that quickly-

Ok hopefully I can get Rori's execution out by tonight. I'm going to the mall but since his execution is already all storyboarded out, it should be a fairly quick draw. See y'all then!