It was really not much of a surprise to Spade when he and Akik had found Tonix dead, especially in the present manner in which his corpse lay. He was too at peace, a small, distant smile accompanying his faded, distant gaze. Spade had his doubts, but he knew suicide when he saw it.

Something seemed very off, though...

"Alright, everybody, looks some some-BODY has been found! Haha, get it? Because... ugh, never mind, just... go investigate! You guys know the drill!"

Akik stared in blank shock at Tonix's dead body. His eyes flickered to a small vial lying broken on the floor near Tonix, which was all he needed to see.

"No..."

Spade put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a solemn look of apology. Akik didn't look up at him. His eyes were glued to Tonix. Spade didn't doubt that he blamed himself for this - he brought him up there, after all. And now because of that, he's dead.

Akik ran out of the room. Spade tried to stop him, but Akik yanked his wrist from Spade's grip and sped down the hall. Spade sighed, wanting to go after him. But he couldn't. They had a crime to solve, and if this was more than self-ending, he had to figure it out.

Others came up not too long later. Gradient was the first, though he looked like he couldn't care less about the death of another student. With the strongest student gone, only the most threatening was left to guard to body, though most likely no one would be looking to mess with the scene.

Fabian came next, announced by a loud cry in shock.

"Oh my god-!" He exhaled, eyes wide and staring at Tonix's corpse. Spade glanced at him as he approached the corpse. He glanced at the file on his digital handbook quickly.

Name: Aaron Lawrence, Ultimate Scientist
Time of death: Unknown, between 12 and 4 PM.
Injuries (Fatal): Welt on head where possibly hit with an object. Much internal damages and evidence of heavy blood loss due to vomiting.
Injuries (Minor): Cuts on right palm, some glass shards stuck into cuts.

Helps a little, I guess. Careful not to get any blood on his clothes, he knelt down to observe Tonix. Like the file claimed, the blood that wet his hair was coming from a gash on the side of his skull. Presumably that would have at the least knocked him out. But that was not what the blood loss was from, despite the heavy nature of blood loss from head injuries. The trickle of blood coming from his mouth and the many bloodstains on his clothes proved that he'd regurgitated most of the substance on the ground.

Poison, most likely. But if he killed himself using poison, where did the head injury come from? Spade stared at him, deep in thought. Did he fall to the ground and hit his head? He shook his head. No, no, he got into this position peacefully, I can tell.

He looked back at the door. The object that had originally held it closed was what seemed to be a wooden chair, broken a bit from Akik bursting through. It sat against the open door, probably not quite safe to sit in anymore.

He must've put that chair in front of the door in case someone tried to stop him. It makes no sense that he would've hit his head anywhere here, on accident, at least. It's unlikely he did it on purpose - he would've known that the poison would've done the job of killing him. Meaning... someone else did it. Spade thought deeply. But who?

He got up from next to Tonix. Addie and Xerc were standing outside, Xerc expressing some mix of horror and shock while Addie just looked sad. Addie walked in after a moment, leaving Xerc to comprehend the scene.

"Any clues yet?" Addie asked.

Spade sighed. "Looks just like suicide right now. I have a hunch, but I'm unsure if it's correct."

His gaze scanned the room, eventually finding his eyes on a bloodstained piece of paper on the table. Curious, he walked to it, stepping through the blood puddle between him and the counter and picking up the paper. There was a small note on it, the handwriting wobbly and hardly legible. But after observing it, Spade could make out the poorly written words.

-

To anyone who finds this,

I'm sorry. I don't have much time left. Someone came in at some point and tried to knock me out, I believe. I'm unsure of who it was, but I'm ending it now before they can come back and finish me off.

It's no one's fault. I was planning on ending it, anyway. Best to get it over with. I have no reason to want to stay alive here anymore.

Goodbye.

- Tonix.

-

"I guess that answers that," Addie said, staring at the paper.

"Someone tried to knock him out, he says," Spade said, thinking aloud. "Meaning I was correct. He killed himself after someone else made an attempt on his life."

"If it was between twelve and four, that means it could only be someone without an alibi," Addie said. "I was with Xerc the whole time, so it couldn't have been him."

"I guess it does help that we have dwindled numbers, since it means less people who could've committed the crime," Spade sighed. "I was in the library, looking for some reading material. Gradient came at some point, but it wasn't the entire time, so he's not off the suspect list. I don't believe he did it, though, due to his recent behaviors. That leaves Akik and Fabian..."

"Well, I didn't do it, if you wanna know."

Fabian was standing by the doorway still, his previous reaction of shock hidden from sight and replaced with an almost irritated glare.

Spade glared back at him. "And how would we know that, Fabian? You are one of the few without an alibi."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you realize that that guy-" he pointed at Tonix. "-is maybe ten feet tall, and I'm less than half of that. And the devil himself over there is right about one thing: I have no muscle whatsoever. I couldn't bash his head into it with anything even if I wanted to."

Addie's ear flicked. "He does have a point."

"I'm sure you could find a way, so my point still stands," Spade said. "Everyone is guilty until proven innocent, Fabian, including you."

"What about the literal serial killer in the room?!" He pointed at Gradient, who gave Fabian a side eye at his mention.

"I have my reasons to believe his involvement to be unlikely," Spade told him.

"So what about... Akik?" Xerc still seemed to find entering the room an undesirable task for him. "He's really the only one that knew he was up here."

"I..." Spade refused to admit it, but it did make sense. Akik brought him up here, left him, returned to attempt to take him out. It explained why Tonix must've lived long enough to finish himself off - Akik wasn't the kind to kill in cold blood, so there would've been some holding back.

His silence seemed to get the idea into everyone's heads. Addie's ears angled backwards, her eyes sad. "Spade... it all fits into place. I think..."

"No," Spade said, shaking his head in denial. "He wouldn't have, I know he wouldn't have."

"Then where is he now?" Fabian asked.

"I don't know, he ran off as soon as he saw Tonix," Spade said. "His reaction was genuine, I know it was, he never wanted Tonix to die! He brought him here to cheer him up, that's why Tonix was up here!"

Fabian and Xerc exchanged uncertain glances. Addie stared at Tonix sadly. Gradient played with his knife, not caring about the situation in the slightest.

The awkward silence was broke after a few minutes, with Monokumadi returning to the intercom.

"You guys are real entertaining here! But seeing that no one's assessing the crime scene anymore, and you're all just bickering, let's get right to the trial!"

Addie gave Spade a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic look as she passed him. Fabian's accusing glare lingered on Spade before he turned after Xerc and Addie to leave. Gradient didn't make a move - he wouldn't until Spade left.

"I'd say your friend's in a bit of trouble here," Gradient said, tossing the weapon between his hands.

Spade exhaled, glancing at his hand, which held Tonix's note. There was a bit of blood on his hand from getting close to the body.

Who did this, Tonix? Who did this? The thought was only in his head, he knew no one could hear and no one could reply.

Guess it's time to go to the trial.

Oh, I hope it wasn't truly you, Akik...

-

1489 words

I wanted to keep making 2000+ word chapters but I feel like they flow weirdly so you'll get the trial next chapter :b

Anyway... do you guys think Akik killed him? :o