Hm, interesting. I accept your challenge.

Three chances, the same as you guys.

This story takes place in a small kakera. One of the infinite kakera in the sea. It is a rare kakera filled with choices that were made, and it created this special fragment.

~

Natsuhi rushed down the hallway at a brisk pace. She carefully checked everything in every room as she bolted down the hallway. However she made sure she kept up the poise and grace worthy of the member of the Ushiromiya family.

Today had to be perfect, for everyone was coming for a visit. She was the wife of the head of the family after all if even a speck of dust was found, her husband would be put down for it. A few years ago the head of the family Kinzo had died, making her husband Krauss the new head.

However things didn't go smoothly, Eva had protested about this and showed proof of the dark deeds her husband had been up to. That was a horrible conference, until a guest who washed up on Rokkenjima found the secret family gold.

It took a while but all problems were solved and somehow the family had gotten friendlier with each other. This was probably mostly due to the relief that all of their troubles were finally gone. They had all split the gold evenly so no one got more than the other, thus creating harmony.

The family became a lot different since then, they actually tried to meet with each other more than just once a year. It seemed as if all the siblings were finally trying to create a bond with each other.

This was one of those days. All the family were coming to Rokkenjima to celebrate Battler's birthday. And Natsuhi wanted everything to be perfect. She wanted to reduce the chance of getting a headache as much as possible, though all the stress of getting everything right was giving her a nasty one already.

Everything had to be perfect, but there was one problem. Natsuhi had no idea what Battler liked, this would be the first time she would see him in 8 years. So getting decorations for the party itself was a hassle. Since Battler had completely cut himself off from everyone for 8 years she had no idea what colors and stuff he liked, so in the end a general theme was chosen, which might have been for the best in the end.

Natsuhi walked around the mansion with a clipboard in her hands. She listed everything that needed to be done before the party tomorrow evening on it. Some of the points listed were vague such as 'make sure room X is clean' to specific, 'make sure the faucet in the kitchen is working again. Make sure the new washers don't leak.'

“Shannon did you get the streamers?” Natsuhi called out rubbing her aching head.

Shannon stopped dusting the picture in the hallway to answer Natsuhi's question. “Yes Madame I did Jessica brought everything yesterday.” Shannon frowned. “Madame maybe you should rest you don't look very well.”

“I'm fine. Servants should be seen and not heard.” Natsuhi snapped before promptly walking away.

Hours later the guests of arrived. The rest of the Ushiromiya family arrived on Rokkenjima. Battler dove off the boat eager to get away from the scary fast boat as quickly as possible.

“Onii-chan was going to fall!!” 8 year old Ange laughed at her older brother's antics.

“It isn't funny.” Battler pouted.

“Battler-niichan is weird.” 11 year old Maria noted.

“That isn't nice to say Maria. “ Rosa scolded. “Apologize to your cousin.”

“Nah, its ok Rosa Oba-san,” Battler chuckled. “I can handle being made fun of. I'm a man after all.”

“Still a brat if you ask me.” Rudolf snidely commented.

The conversation slowly moved away from Battler and everyone grabbed their luggage and headed towards the guesthouse. The amount of luggage everyone had was large in number. Maria had brought all her schoolwork, and art projects. Rudolf, Kyrie, Hideyoshi, and Rosa had paperwork and other stuff. And Battler also had schoolwork, while Ange had toys and schoolwork.

Everyone went into the main house. Genji met them as they entered and escorted them to there rooms. Two people to a room, Eva and Hideyoshi, Rudolf and Kyrie, Rosa and Maria, Battler and George, and Jessica and Ange. Jessica volunteered to sleep with Ange so she wouldn't be by herself.

Everyone took the time to unpack before going off and doing whatever. Battler decided to explore, it felt like he was stepping back into his childhood. Battler spotted Eva carrying a large box, he rushed over to help.

“Thank you Battler-kun.” That box was pretty heavy.

“What are you doing Eva Oba-san?”

Eva reached into the box and pulled out a rifle and pointed it at Battler. “Bang” she laughed as she pulled the trigger and the loud bang echoed. “Scared you didn't I. Don't worry they aren't loaded.”

Battler slowly tried to calm his racing heart rate. “Why are you carrying around guns Oba-san?”

“These were father's prized collection.” Eva smiled at him as she put the rifle back in the box. “I decided to clean them just in case Natsuhi Nee-san forgot to clean them.”

Battler grabbed one of the guns and fired it at a nearby tree. The loud bang went off and the bullet blasted into the tree. “I thought you said they weren't loaded?”

“I guess some of them were. I'm surprised.” Eva laughed. “And be careful Battler-kun, guns can backfire.”

Battler swiftly bolted from Eva and continued looking around. He spotted Shannon cleaning the windows and ran over. “Hey Shannon-chan its been a long time.”

She smiled warmly at him. “Hello Battler-sama.” She stopped washing the window momentarily. “How have you been Battler-sama, it has been 8 years, you've changed greatly.”

“Yeah I have changed a lot. I used to be a goofy kid always spouting out random lines.” Battler chuckled as he thought back to years ago.

Shannon politely bowed to Battler. “I'm sorry Battler-sama, but I really am busy.” Shannon picked up the clean solution and started walking away. “If you excuse me.” She spoke with a smile before she continued walking.

Battler shrugged confused before heading off and continued exploring. Slowly Battler went around and bugged and annoyed everyone. He noticed Jessica moving a box into a closet.

“Hey Jessica.”

“You going to bug me now Battler.” Jessica groaned as she set the box down.

“Looks like it.” He chuckled.

“You're just like a child.” Jessica laughed. “So how are you going to bug me, make noises like you did to my dad.”

Battler laughed. “I just couldn't resist, and Krauss Oji-san's reactions were hilarious.” Battler stopped laughing a became a little more serious. “Anyway; I just wanted to talk a little. Learn what all happened the years I was gone.”

Jessica explained to Battler a lot of the stuff that went on the years he was gone, how their parents became slightly closer or at least are trying to, how Shannon and George started going out, and much much more.

“So what about you?” Jessica asked. “You have a girlfriend?”

“Not really, but if I wanted one I could easily get one.” Battler chuckled. “You? Do you have a boyfriend? Like maybe the guy in the pictures in your room. Who is he?”

Jessica clenched her fist and playfully punched Battler. “You jerk. How dare you enter my room without my permission. And to look at my private stuff.”

“Oh~ So he is someone important to you.”

Jessica found herself blushing. “I have other things to do.” She rushed out of the room trying to avoid further embarrassment.

Battler chuckled to himself before heading out to the rose garden. However as he stepped foot into the rose garden he instantly wished he hadn't. Some conversations should be kept private after all.

“I told you to be working on your clay sculpture for your art class.” Rosa screamed at Maria. “Yet here you are reading this garbage about magic again. You're 11 years old now, you need to grow up and forget about this witches nonsense.”

“I already did it!” Maria screamed back. “I did it ahead of time, because I am responsible. Unlike Mama, who is always out every night with her new boyfriend. Sometimes you don't even come home for days.” Maria clenched her fists. “I hate you!” She screamed before running right past Battler.

Battler tried to sneak away before getting scene, but Rosa saw him and sent him a nasty look before turning on her heels and heading towards the guesthouse.

Battler felt uncomfortable the rest of the day and was glad when dinner finally came around. However dinner was awkward and tense, that was until Eva broke the silence by making a joke about the food being poisoned. Everyone laughed at Eva's joke, even Natsuhi tried to see the humor in it, that is expect Gohda. He didn't see anything funny about poison being in his wonderful dinner.

After dinner all the family gathered in a parlor and talked, until it became late and everyone headed off to bed. With Battler's party being tomorrow afternoon a lot of work needed to be done in the morning.

“Natsuhi-nee where do you want these?” Eva asked carrying a load of the decorations into the dinning room.

“Put those over there.” She told Eva.

The door to the dinning room opened and George and Shannon walked into the room. “We've got the balloons bought.” George told the other three people in the room.

“Good, that takes care of them.” Natsuhi said with a sigh of relief checking it off her list. “Shannon-chan go help Rosa-san with table decorations.”

“Wow there are a lot of balloons.” Eva said as she looked at the huge pile of various colored balloons.

“No time just everyone set stuff up.” Natsuhi spoke in a loud voice. “Who knows how much time we have.”

All five of them scrambled to get everything set up before Battler showed up or before the others came back with Battler's gift. The five of them and Battler were the only ones left on the island, everyone else was sent off to pick-up Battler's gift.

The doors to the dinning room were currently locked and the five inside the room currently held all the keys. This was so that Battler couldn't barge into the dinning room and ruin the surprise party.

“Battler-sama will be so surprised.” Shannon giggled as she thought about it.

“Yeah it seems like he thought we all forgot his birthday yesterday, since no one brought it up.”

“I hope he wasn't to disappointed when he thought no one remembered him.”

Shannon's statement was interrupted by a knock on the door. Natsuhi had everyone quiet down, and soon the knock came again. “It must be everyone else. Since Battler would have tried the door instead of just knocking.”

Shannon walked over to the door and opened it. She gasped at who she saw though. She tried to close the door but Battler had already stepped into the room. “Battler-sama this isn't what it looks like.”

Eva laughed. “Shannon-chan, I'm sure Battler can tell what this is.”

Battler smiled. “I thought everyone had forgotten.”

George smiled back at Battler. “We wouldn't forget about your birthday.”

“Surprise,” Rosa shouted. “Happy birthday Battler-kun.”

“I'm touched.”

“Aww how sweet and touching.” Everyone quickly glanced around the room. The voice was no one they knew, and it was coming from nowhere.

In a flash a woman dressed in elegant clothing appeared in the room. “Beatrice-sama.” Shannon gasped.

“This is a private party,” Natsuhi spoke in an authoritative voice to Beatrice. “And you were not invited.”

“Oh really~” Beatrice said in creepy tone. She lifted her pipe up and in a flash Natsuhi fell over dead. “Whose next?” The witch cackled before doing the same thing to Eva.

“Nee-san!” Rosa cried out. She picked up chair and rushed at Beatrice. “How could you. Stop this!” Rosa screamed.

“Silence.” Beatrice commanded, and like the others Rosa too fell over dead. “You two are next.” She said in a sinister tone as she looked at Shannon and George.

“Shannon I love you.”

“I love-” Before Shannon could finish her statement she died.

“No! Sayo.” George cried out. His pain was short lived however for he to died.

“Aniki, Rosa Oba-san, Natsuhi Oba-san, Eva Oba-san, Shannon-chan! You witch how could you do this! You'll pay for this.”

“Relax I have a special gift for you, the birthday boy.” Beatrice laughed as the room filled with golden butterflies.

The others grew worried when they returned with Battler's gift and got no answer from the group in the dinning room. But when they tried the door they found it locked. Having no choice they broke the door down to get into the room.

The scene was horrid; Rosa, Natsuhi, Eva, Shannon, and George, laid scattered about the room, all of them had bullet wounds in their chests. Battler rested against the wall of the room his head was blown to pieces. And in his hand was a Winchester rifle, with his finger on the trigger.

Amidst the sobs and crying all the onlookers came to the same conclusion. Battler had shot and killed the others and then committed suicide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 year old Ange Ushiromiya angrily smacked her fist on the wall. “I don't care what anyone says. I don't care if the police say that was the only option. I know Nii-san wouldn't have murdered our aunts and Shannon and George Nii-san. I will some day get to the truth.”

Very interesting.

Alright. So, to start things off, let's get a head count of all of our suspects:

6 Victims: Natsuhi, Eva, Rosa, Shannon, George, and Battler.

9 Survivors: Krauss, Jessica, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Kyrie, Maria, Genji, Gohda, and Ange.

5 Others: Kinzo, Nanjo, Kanon, Kumasawa, and Erika.

That's right...that "guest" who found the gold is most likely Erika. I noticed a lot of this is based off my third game, heh. So Erika must be that guest.

Meanwhile, Nanjo, Kanon, and Kumasawa aren't mentioned at all in the text. And while Kinzo is supposedly dead, he has the strange habit of coming back to life every now and then, so I can't rule him out.

What's strange is actually everyone's alibis. The 6 victims were supposedly the only ones on the island. The 9 survivors were supposedly outside of the island. You would think that the 9 survivors could support each other's alibis. After all, you would have to be pretty stupid to not notice someone wasn't there that entire time you were shopping for Battler's present.

It's possible that one of the 5 others was secretly on the island and killed them. Or one of the victims did kill the others, then committed suicide. But those break the Knox and Dine rules, so I'm not sure if they would work.

Either way, I'm limited to 20 suspects at most. I'll consider each of them to 'havedunnit' and see how it turns out. I'll have to think about that for a while before I determine anything conclusive.

First, I can eliminate Nanjo, Kumasawa, and Ange.

The first two aren't even in the text, and have no motive whatsoever.

Ange being the culprit makes no sense, considering she's the one who is trying to find the truth. Unless she has a serious case of amnesia, it's highly doubtful she is the culprit.

That leaves 17 suspects left, for now.

Aha!

My previous theory about the victims committing suicide after killing the rest....is impossible.

Because the gun ended up in Battler's hands.

That exonerates 5 people. So 12 suspects remain.

Kinzo. Even if he managed to fake his death for almost 4 years, he has absolutely no motive for killing them. Exonerated.

Erika. Even if her motive is the gold which she didn't keep in 1986, why would she just so happen to return on Battler's birthday? She shouldn't know when it is, because he wasn't there at the previous conferences. Exonerated.

Kanon. Even though it is assumed the boy in the pictures in Jessica's room is Kanon, that does not mean he is the culprit. I'd be willing to bet this gameboard uses Shkanon, which means he died when Shannon did. Exonerated.

That leaves 9 suspects. Why do I still count Battler? Well, there's always the possibility that "Battler" isn't the Battler we know. But I saw that one coming from a mile away, so it's still unlikely.

Aside from "Battler", the only suspects remaining....are those with a solid alibi.

....Solid? Hah, I've already figured it out! There's no room for error here.

I know who the culprit is, how they did it, and why they did it too.

I'll be waiting for your return, Rosa. I'm ready when you are.

>>55
Oh really? Ok then what is your first theory.

>>56
The culprit is Jessica!

How did she do it? Illusion to illusion. The dining room's cat-box locks the illusion of a living cat inside.

In other words, the culprit murdered the victims BEFORE leaving the island to go get Battler's present. Since everyone else assumed the five were working inside, they didn't bother to check the dining room until AFTER they got back.

Why did she do it? Because Battler left her all alone for 8 years. Jessica wanted a boyfriend, Kanon. Without Battler's return in 1986, the illusion of Kanon had to die, and instead Shannon fell in love with George.

It all happened like this:

>“Shannon did you get the streamers?” Natsuhi called out rubbing her aching head.
>“Yes Madame I did Jessica brought everything yesterday.” Shannon frowned.

Jessica brought the streamers. This will be used later.

>Battler spotted Eva carrying a large box, he rushed over to help.
>Eva reached into the box and pulled out a rifle and pointed it at Battler.
>“These were father's prized collection.” Eva smiled at him as she put the rifle back in the box.
>Battler grabbed one of the guns and fired it at a nearby tree. The loud bang went off and the bullet blasted into the tree.

The guns were in that box. And yet, a gun was found at the crime scene. Shouldn't Eva be the culprit then?

Wrong.

>Slowly Battler went around and bugged and annoyed everyone. He noticed Jessica moving a box into a closet.
>“You going to bug me now Battler.” Jessica groaned as she set the box down.

Jessica has a box. The box containing the guns! She was putting them away in the closet, storing them for her to use later on!

>Jessica explained to Battler a lot of the stuff that went on the years he was gone, how their parents became slightly closer or at least are trying to, how Shannon and George started going out, and much much more.
>“So what about you?” Jessica asked. “You have a girlfriend?”
>“Not really, but if I wanted one I could easily get one.” Battler chuckled. “You? Do you have a boyfriend? Like maybe the guy in the pictures in your room. Who is he?”
>Jessica clenched her fist and playfully punched Battler. “You jerk. How dare you enter my room without my permission. And to look at my private stuff.”
>“Oh~ So he is someone important to you.”
>Jessica found herself blushing. “I have other things to do.” She rushed out of the room trying to avoid further embarrassment.

The motive. The explanation is right there!

>After dinner all the family gathered in a parlor and talked, until it became late and everyone headed off to bed. With Battler's party being tomorrow afternoon a lot of work needed to be done in the morning.

A lot of work needed to be done in the morning. At some point, the five victims got up early, or maybe they didn't go to sleep at all. The point is, they went back to the dining room fairly early the next day. They started setting up, when Battler suddenly entered, just like it said in the story. However, Jessica came with him and shot them all with the rifle. She set it up to look like Battler shot himself, and used the streamers to lock the door on her way out.

Party streamers are paper. In rolls. First, you leave the room close the door. After rolling the party streamer so it's hooked onto the lock, close the door. Pull on it, and the door locks. Cut the streamer and it looks like you locked it with magic!

After committing the murders Jessica performed that trick with the streamers, then went with the others to buy Battler's present. When everyone returned they found the door locked and the victims dead. Jessica is the culprit!

>>57
X

At the time of Battler's death Jessica was most assuredly not on Rokkenjima.

>>58
....Are you sure that denies everything?

There are no problems with my first theory, assuming Battler was dead before the beginning of the game! Jessica killed Battler off Rokkenjima, when she went to buy the streamers! The Battler in this game is an impostor, whom Jessica also killed!

That red denies nothing. If you won't accept this as a revision to my first theory then forget about this for now. I'm not using a second theory so soon.

>>59
I'll accept it as a revision. And in return I will state.

Such a trick is completely cruel, for their was no clue that Battler was an imposter or was dead before the start of the game.

There is only one Battler. There is no Battler imposter. And he died on Rokkenjima during this story.

>>60
Well then....this certainly narrows things down.

Clarification.

You said the corpses were scattered around the room. Were any of them lying down directly in front of Battler?

>>62

Aid clarification.
Can you please state than Battler got murdered?
If not then maybe as Kinjo said everyone got murdered before Battler got inside the room and then commited suicide. Why would he do such a thing? Well what about a blackmailing letter? "You are alone in this island right now, kill yourself or I shall do the same to the rest of your family"

>>64
Battler was murdered

>>65
Murdered by his own conscience/hands/did personality or maybe magic?

>>63
>>65
Looks like I need to revise my suspect list then.

>>67
Book theory? I'm curious what is that?

>>69
Kill yourself I shall kill your family one by one.
From a famous John Katzenbach novel.

Alright, I'm going to let someone else use my second shot.

You know who you are.

>>71
May I be let in on this secrect of who you are having make the second guess?

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. This mystery is already solved. But first, let's go in order.

Battler comes to the island eight years later than in the original story. He should be turning twenty, right? Well, before that, six years previously person X comes onto the island. That person was Beatrice, she solves the epitaph, and lets everyone have the money. Kanon was going to leave after the conference and Jessica wanted to go with him, so Beatrice swapped with Jessica so the two love birds could elope. No one noticed because Beatrice and Jessica look quite similar.

The whodunnit is solved, it was Beatrice who murdered everyone in that dining room, except Battler, he was not murdered by her.

The howdunnit is simple, shoot and kill everyone, and then use the party streamers to lock the door. If you had given me the exact details of the door I'd tell you how to lock it, but because you left it open(Haha) to interpretation I'll decide to just stick with party streamers.

The whydunnit. This is the "de facto" in this whole situation. You see, Eva previously was playing around with a gun, and when she aimed at Battler and pulled the trigger, she killed him. The reason he was still able to attend the dinner and talk to everyone was because...You showed us what happened, but in the wrong order. Eva didn't plan on killing him, but it happened, an accident. She hid the body and went on her merry way to the dining room, trying to shrug it all off. Beatrice was stalking Battler when this happened, and just snapped. She got the gun, went to the dining room, and killed everyone. Then, he brought Battler's poor body to the dining room, propped it up and placed the gun in his hands. Created the room, and left, acting as if nothing happened.

The police sure are stupid in your story Rosa. If there are five people killed, and one with his head blown off, with a Winchester rifle, WITH HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER. I would have immediately suspected murder, no man could shoot himself with a rifle without using his toes unless he was Gumby. If the gun had backfired, only five people would be dead, not six. In other words, your delusional game is over. Checkmate.

>>74

Fuck it, it's not worth doing it again. Unless you want me to fucking put it in blue. Would ya like that?

>>74

Er, I just realized some numbers are off. A few typos here and there, you get what I meant though. "Six years later" was supposed to be "two years later" and what not.

>>74
XX

No person with the name Beatrice has existed on Rokkenjima during the course of this story. The culprit is one of the twenty Kinjo listed.

>>74
Everyone misses edit button. We were way too used to it.

>>77

Oh? So Beatrice never existed on Rokkenjima huh? Well that's good, since you only denied the culprit, everything else still stands. In other words, this turns into a guessing game of who did it. Magic, the delusion you showed us is now hereby shattered.

>>79
Try using your last theory almost the same with just a different culprit I dare you.

>>80

Using simple logic, this is the truth. Well, most of it anyway. It depends on the culprit and the heart of the story. As a matter of fact, the same person who killed the five people in the dining room did not kill Battler.

Hmmm...

Never mind, this game doesn't follow logic at all. If it's the answer I think it is, then shame on you for making a boring one cent mystery.

>>83
Considering your record, it probably isn't a cheap mystery.

Okay, final theory.

Rosa is the culprit.

Rosa killed the others and committed suicide. She went over to Battler's corpse and held his hand, pulling the trigger. The gun propelled her backward where she was found dead.

Why? Well, Rosa was said to be irresponsible. She was probably playing with the guns, aiming at the door, when suddenly BANG, she shot Battler in the face as he was walking in. Obviously the others saw this and she killed them too. Being unable to live with herself, she committed suicide while framing Battler.

>>84

Didn't call it cheap, I called it boring.

Game over, I presume.

Doesn't Kinjo have one more?

Or does Meta's count?

>>88

Mine counts, Rosa better tell the solution, I want to see if I called it.

Fine if it is boring mystery; I don't care. If at the people reading had fun trying to figure it out, that is all that matters to me.

Who is the culprit: Jessica Ushiromiya.

Why did she do it is pretty much as Kinjo stated in his first theory. Kanon left the island and left Jessica behind. Jessica went made seeing everyone's lives become happy and going good expect hers.

How did she pull it off. She took the rifle as mentioned by Kinjo and added a special part to it. A homemade silencer. This allowed her to shoot the five in the dinning room before leaving to go with the others.

How she killed Battler while being off Rokkenjima is pretty much what Anon said. A note was left for Battler saying that everyone was being held hostage. He was ordered to take the dinning room key left for him and go into the dinning room. Lock the door behind him and grab the rifle on the table. Then go over against the wall and shoot himself in the head. He accomplished this fact by resting his back against the wall and putting the barrel of the rifle up into his mouth. He used his middle finger to pull the trigger, feels a little strange, but such a feat is able to be done. The rifle hooked around his finger due to the strange grip and the smallness of the area with the trigger and then the rifle descended to the ground in next to him.

Well good game. I won't attack this solution. I lost.

>>90
....So me and anon solved everything.

Good game. That was fun.

What, hey you little ...
You didn't answered my blue! After that the game already finished!

Well, in the end i still like the idea of the Balloons filled with poison.

>>94
That was actually how I was at first having the 5 die, and then getting shot later to make it look like Battler had killed them. But I couldn't fully figure out a way to fit Battler's death into that sequence, so I discarded it. Since from the beginning of my planning I had the thought. "Everyone but the victims are in the parlor at the time of Battler's death." To fortify it even more I was originally going to have Erika be in the story as well, and her eye witness that everyone was in the parlor would prove that. But since I got tired of writing, I cut Erika out of the story, expect the beginning mention, and I changed parlor to 'off Rokkenjima.'

>>96
Dang i would have gotten it if you hadn't changed it. Oh well, maybe the next one.