“I don’t remember well. I remember meeting the first time with Gabriel at the final antique room. Then after examining the antiques there, I slowly made my way back. So…maybe I discovered the body at 12:40? I didn’t have any time to look at the time.” said Viva.

“Yes, yes. And what procedure did you take afterwards, madam?” inquired Scrueder.

“I…turned the body around.” said Viva.

“What?” gasped Yung.

“So, the body wasn’t originally facing up?” asked Janet.

“Ahh, I’m sorry. I thought the man was just unconscious and needed help! I didn’t mean to cause the police trouble!” said Viva.

“Hah, what a load of horse dung! You clearly perpetrated the crime, did you not? Even youngsters in kindergarten know not to disturb the crime scene” yelled Schrueder.

“I’m pretty sure they don’t. And also, she had a valid reason to do it.” said Janet.

“How so?” asked Schrueder.

“If you found a body facing down, you wouldn’t normally think they are dead. Even if there was blood gushing out of the neck wound, the cause of the wound could be mistaken as a nosebleed. A frantic messing of the crime scene can happen.” said Janet.

“Ahh, excuse me.” said Brad.

“What is it?” asked Yung.

“If I may. At around 12:40…I think I saw Viva next to the body.” said Brad with a smile.

“Oh?” gasped Yung.

“She did admit to finding the body and flippin it up! You’re late to the party, kiddo!” yelled Schrueder.

“I saw Viva holding a bloody sickle in her hand, waving it around with a panicked and guilt driven look near the entrance to the gallery. And the other things she did…it’s horrible.” said Brad with a smirk.

“What?” gasped Janet.

“You’re lying! I didn’t do anything bad!” cried Viva.

“Hah, checkmate my lady. You’re going to the cell with us!” claimed Schreuder.

“Now wait. I haven’t told you my full testimony yet. Don’t you wanna hear it?” asked Brad.

“Well, it depends on what you saw.” said Yung.

“Hmm, yes. I actually was surprised at Viva’s actions. So, I hid and observed her and well…I can’t say it.” said Brad as he awkwardly scratched his neck.

“Wha- What do you mean, you can’t say it?!” roared Schreuder with rage.

“I’m scared. Viva is a pretty strong woman. Maybe she’ll beat me up.” said Brad with a laugh.

“That’s ridiculous. We detectives here hold authority and power. And there are cops everywhere outside” said Liu with a frown.

“And well…there is another reason. I wanna talk to you detectives privately, you know. I have a favor to ask. Definitely don’t want it to be recorded like this.” said Brad with a smile.

“Brad, you bastard! What are you doing?!” grunted Viva.

“You two know each other?” asked Liu.

“Yes. He is my ex boyfriend. He is a fucking asshole.” grunted Viva then turned to Brad with a frown and yelled “This isn’t the usual pranks you pull, this is serious, do you know what you’re getting me into?!”

“Wow, easy there.” said Brad and jumped off the couch.

“See this is why I didn’t wanna do this here. Please, just drop the recording and I’ll have a few words with the detectives privately.” said Brad.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Ugh, what do we do, boss?” asked Janet.

“Hmph, we have no choice. Let’s end the recording.” said Yung.

And with that the recording ended.

“What the hell, what kind of an alibi was that? It got interrupted entirely by that muscle brain.” grumbled Fushichin.

“And Yung agreed to it?” gasped Hellen.

“Hmph, amateurs. If you’ve decided to take everyone’s alibi at once, should have stuck with it. Being pulled around by a single suspect, ridiculous.” grumbled Klancy.

Galtomor and Juniper approached them from the hallway.

“Great, you two are here. So, how did it go?” asked Fushichin with a bright smile.

“I got the map on my phone. And we talked to the guard as well.” said Galtomor.

“The guard said that he was attacked!” yelled Juniper.

“Attacked?” gasped Hellen.

“Yes, he told us that he was shot in the neck by a needle.” said Juniper.

“We even took a picture of it. Just take my phone.” said Galtomor and gave them his phone.

They scrolled and saw the map as well as the neck wound on the guard.

image [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/805112036714479656/1214071268429537280/SPOILER_Museum_map_accurate.png?ex=65f7c6fa&is=65e551fa&hm=8657afadcbf5964438c8358c1db27c0bf65e6d008e6dd8937e8ebe1c091041eb&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=465&height=567]

The wound was on the right side of his throat, a round purple swelling had occurred.

“And I also recorded a video of Galtomor interrogating the guard.” said Juniper as she waved her phone.

“It wasn’t an interrogation. More like an interview but sure.” said Galtomor.

“Oh, you two should watch this. It’s a video containing the alibi of the suspects.” said Hellen and gave them Janet’s phone while Juniper gave her phone to Hellen.

Juniper and Galtomor sat on the sofa opposite to them and they all started watching the videos.

In the guard’s testimony footage Juniper seemed to have been holding the phone while Galtomor questioned him.

“I started recording.” said Juniper, her voice close to the phone.

“Right. Ahh, what was your name again, mister?” asked Galtomor.

“Tim Ulgart.” said the man as he scratched his head.

“So, you were present during the time of the murder, yes? Spot anything weird?” asked Galtomor.

“Yeah. And umm. I got attacked” grumbled the guard.

“What?” gasped Juniper.

“Explain. What happened?” asked Galtomor.

“I was sitting at my post, looking at the security camera. At around 11:30 the electricity went out. And about twenty minutes later something stung me on my throat and my vision became blurry.” said Tim.

“Did you get to see the attacker?” asked Galtomor.

“I did panic and got up from the chair I was sitting in. But I fell to the floor and when I looked towards the outdoor…I saw…someone standing, someone with white shoes.” said Tim.

“White shoes?” pondered Juniper.

“Describe the shoes in detail.” said Galtomor.

Tim rubbed his chin for a while and said “Umm, it was a sports brand. It was plain, didn’t have any stickers. I don’t really remember much. I’m sorry. I only remember those white shoes and those details.” said Tim.

“And when did you get up?” asked Galtomor.

“Umm, I got up but not on my own, the police had come to aid. And I looked around frantically and I saw that the round clock above said 13:40. I decided to tell the manager about what happened. So, I entered or tried to enter the manager’s room. The door to the gallery was locked. I looked through my pocket for the keys…but it was gone. I banged on the door telling whoever was on the other side to open up.”

“And what happened next?” asked Galtomor.

“Someone actually responded, a woman. She told me that she found a body and was looking after it. The cops and I decided upon breaking down the door and entering. But just before we acted upon that, the door opened. The manager Joyce was behind the door. She was the one who opened the door with a key.” said Tim.

“I see. That’s what happened. Let’s see that wound of yours.” said Galtomor.

Galtomor closely examined the man’s neck, even took a picture of it.

“What position were you in when you got shot?” asked Galtomor.

“In this position, actually. Sitting on the chair, looking forward. I usually just spend my time looking at the security footage. But since the electricity was cut, that was not possible. So, I was just scrolling through my phone, used my data to scroll through the internet then I got shot.” said Tim.

“Right. Anything else you would like to note for us?” asked Galtomor.

“Not much, other than to ask you to find the bastard who did this to me!” yelled Tim.

“Got that.” said Galtomor with a smirk.

The footage ended there.

“Wait, didn’t the culprit escape with the keys after locking the door from the outside? Why did Yung say this was a locked room mystery?” asked Hellen.

“It technically is a locked room mystery cause a locked room is there. Even if the cause for the lock is obvious” said Fushichin.

“Then why are the suspect list only restricted to those five in the manager’s room? To me it seems like a pretty open case.” said Hellen.

“Well, there is no point in pondering that. Let’s ask Yung and his men about this personally.” said Klancy.

The five of them entered the manager’s room. Hellen asked them the very same question they were discussing previously.