"I..It's not... I didn't...." Joshua stammered, dropping the knife and backing away. Suddenly, the TV flickered to life.
"Bum-bum-bum-bum!" MonoMinx shouted, her face framed by the TV. "A body has been discovered! A short time will be given for investigation, then our class trial will begin. Good luck!" After the TV faded to black, everyone but Austin and Maxwell started yelling at Joshua.
"Hold up!" Maxwell shouted, holding up his hands. "Why don't we save the arguing for the trial?" After he said that, the grumbling died down, and everyone went searching for clues. Austin began searching the room. Joshua had run out, leaving the knife behind. Austin looked at it. The blade was totally clean, even freshly washed. (Knife clean) Austin looked around more. There appeared to be a ball-peen hammer from a student's toolkit lying next to Arin's arm. (Ball-peen hammer) Austin looked at the damage. He searched Arin's body. On his head, there was a rectangular dent. (Rectangular dent in head) Austin looked around more, but there was no other evidence in the room. Sighing, Austin decided to check some other rooms. But, as he grabbed the doorknob, it moved a bit. Austin looked down at it, and realized the lock had been picked. (Arin's lock picked) Frantic, Austin looked around the room. He saw Adam's door had also been picked. (Adam's lock picked) Austin headed over to the second hallway, as noone was there. He looked in the smith room, and noticed one of the hammers on the wall was washed. (Hammer washed) He also noticed a glove on the floor with a bit of blood on it. (Blue glove with blood on it) A TV in the hall flickered to life.
"Time's up!" Shouted MonoMinx, staring at the television. "Everyone over to the gym!" The TV faded to black, and Austin headed over to the gym. A giant elevator had sprouted from the floor, and everyone was there except Maxwell, who rushed in last. There was little talking, apart from evidence sharing. It seemed Austin and Maxwell were the only ones who found anything. Maxwell had discovered the blood was dry around Arin (Blood dry), and a small screwdriver and hexwrench next to Arin's door. (Tools from toolkit next to door) They finally arrived at their destination, the trial room. It was a circle of stands around a checkerboard circle, with one of the stands occupied with a grayed-out picture of Arin with a pink X through it. Everyone got into a stand.
"Well," MonoMinx said, sitting in a throne across the room. "Let's get this over with."
Classroom trialInsession!
(Verbal bullet) (Verbal Bullet) (Verbal Bullet)
"Alright, let's get right to the point," Chris said, staring at Joshua. "Joshua has to be the murderer. He had a bloodied knife right next to Arin!"
With a shock, Austin realized he was wrong.
"You're wrong!" Austin shouted, staring straight at Chris.
"Wh-h-how am I wrong?" Chris stammered.
"Sure, Joshua held up a knife next to Arin, but did anyone else notice it? The knife was completely clean. It would have been at least a bit bloody with the short amount of time between the scream and when we found him! Plus, there was a Rectangular dent in Arin's head. I think the cause of death must have been blunt-force trauma!"
"Austin's right," Jirard said, looking at Joshua. "Plus, the blood was dry, meaning the murder must have taken place sometime earlier than when Joshua found him."
"Well," said Emile, looking around, "Then what was the murder weapon if not the knife?" Next to him, Adam gasped.
"It must have been that Ball-peen hammer next to Arin's arm! That could cause that dent, right?"
