My stomach turned into a rock as I made my way to my dorm room door.
"Everyone head to the Kitchen, now!" Monorakun continued, his voice seemingly angrier than normal.
"The Kitchen? Who died in there?" I wondered out loud, knowing I would find out soon.
I followed the others down the hallway leading to the Dining Hall, then walked through it to the Kitchen.
And there was... nobody there.
"Up here, shitbags!" Monorakun called from on top of the vent.
He then opened the air vent, using his claws to widen the hole, and down to the floor fell...
Theo Poster. Dead.
Theo had unusually red cheeks, and appeared to had vomited on himself. He also had something over his face...
Oh, no. I recognized them. His night vision goggles.
"What the hell?" Kaito exclaimed. "Why was Theo in the vent?"
Monorakun shrugs. "You tell me, Kaito. Not my job. Anyway, get to it!"
Chihiro, Chiaki, Kenchikka, Kaito, Leon, and I all glanced at each other.
"I'll examine body," Kenchikka offered.
Leon scoffed. "With one eye? No, I don't think so."
Chiaki stepped up. "I'll do it, then."
Kaito started to say something, but stopped. Leon looked over at her as well, but remained surprisingly quiet.
Chiaki nodded, then proceeded to check out Theo.
"The rest of us..." Chihiro started to say, but was too nervous to finish.
"Yeah, yeah," Leon remarked. "We should get this over with. Evidence, alibis, all that shit."
Our E-Handbooks went off. Opening it, I found the Autopsy Report for Theo Poster.
"Victim: Theo Poster. Time of Death: Between midnight and 5am. Cause of Death: Not Enough O."
...Not enough O? What did that mean?
"Hey, Monorakun," Kaito called out. "I know you can't technically help in this investigation, but can I ask you what this is?"
Kaito held a small, white device in his hand with a digital display. On it read "CO Detected".
Monorakun considers, then reluctantly nods. "Sure, I don't see how identifying that for you would violate any rules. It's a Carbon Monoxide detector."
Chihiro considers. "Lack of O... Carbon Monoxide has a chemical compound of C O, right?"
I nod. "Right, and regular oxygen, like what we breathe is..."
It then struck me. O2.
"Not enough O..." Kaito remarked. "Carbon Monoxide only has one Oxygen molecule, whereas Oxygen is O2. That means Theo didn't have enough oxygen, or O, right?"
Kenchikka nodded. "Makes sense. Also fits in with Asshole Raccoon's MO with Cause of Death."
I nodded. We've concluded Theo died by carbon monoxide poisoning... but how?
"Alright, alibis," Leon declared. "Where was everyone?"
"Where do you think everyone was?" Kaito shot back. "We were all sleeping!"
"Were we, though?" Kenchikka inquired. "Someone killed Theo."
"I was doing laundry in the Laundry Room before I went to bed," I replied.
"Can confirm," Kenchikka concurred. "Saw Bera while headed back to my room. Moving wet clothes, washer to dryer. Roughly half hour after dinner."
Leon looks skeptical. "That doesn't mean you didn't kill Theo, though. He still would've been alive at that time."
I didn't have an argument for this, so I decided to focus on the Kitchen area instead. Looking at some fish left out on the counter, it was unusually red. Like... "fresh" red. I made a note of this.
Other than that, I didn't really notice anything. No signs of forced entry. No hoists that could've lifted Theo into the air, or into the vent.
One other thing that stuck in my mind: The Dining Hall was closed and locked from 10pm until 7am. Which means, whoever killed Theo must've been locked inside with him. While there was a door separating the Kitchen from the Dining Hall...
"Hey, Monorakun?" I ask. "One more question, if I may?"
Monorakun scurries over on all fours, then sits in front of me. "Depends on what you want, shemale."
I try unsuccessfully to suppress a glare, then continue. "I know the Dining Hall locks at 10pm, but does the Kitchen door?"
Monorakun scratches beneath his chin with his hind foot, then answers. "Nope. Just the Dining Hall and the Pool locks at 10pm. Now, my question..."
Monorakun stands up on his hind legs. "Does everyone know what "Time's up!" means? Because... well, time's up!"
I froze. We barely had time to learn anything, other than Theo died of carbon monoxide poisoning, in an area that gets locked from 10pm until 7am. I had found some unusually red fish. And nobody was admitting to being near the Dining Hall during that time.
We head to the Courtroom, equal parts confused and frustrated.
How were we gonna solve this "locked room" murder?