Wolf Game Another: Chapter 1 Trial

With the Wolf Trial starting, Merry tells all of the participants to deduce who the Wolf is so that they can be executed. If they get it right, then an escape door will be opened for them.

## Evidence

Starting out in this trial, there are 9 pieces of evidence obtained from the investigation.

**Maki's Corpse**
Maki died in the bathtub. The tub water is stained red with blood.**Survival Knife**
A survival knife in the armory. Was this used for the crime?**Satoru's Actions**
During the time Takeo left to take a break...there was a span of time in which Satoru was alone in the armory.**Armory Watch**
Last night, Satoru and Takeo were guarding the armory.**Ritsu's Actions**
Right after the body was discovered, Ritsu-san was awfully suspicious of Kou-san. It's almost like she's trying to lead everyone on.**Takeo's Actions**
During the investigation, Takeo-san said he was fishing around in the refrigerator because he got hungry. He took out quite a bit of food, but it seems like he was going to eat all of it himself.**Bruises on the corpse's neck**
Found traces of being strangled on Maki-san's corpse.**Maki's Slash Wound**
There's a slash wound on Maki's corpse, but it doesn't seem to be a fatal wound.**Kou's Actions**
It seems as though Kou-san heard the sound of water last night and went into the shower room. He said that the culprit knocked him out there. I wonder if that's true.
## Trial

Rintarou suggests that they start off by getting their current situation in order. The night before, Maki was found in the shower room having bled out and died, and they didn't find anything that looked like it could be the weapon. Shouma supplies that everyone else showed up to the crime scene after they heard Misaki scream, and Ritsu states that the Wolf must've killed Maki by stabbing her. She then says pointedly to Kou that they probably already know who the Wolf is, which he doesn't reply to, and she goes on to say that he was found near the corpse with the splashed back blood from the attack on his clothes, making him the most likely suspect.

Kou says that he didn't do it, and Ritsu asks him to show proof that he didn't, though any proof he might supply would just be a last ditch effort. The other participants chime in that she has a point, and she doubles down on her deduction, saying that the blood that got on him was the proof that he killed Maki. Chie concurs and asks that they hurry up and execute him so the trial can end and they can leave, but Yukinari tells her to wait. He then brings up the topic of Maki's cause of death.

### Present Your Evidence 1

**What about Maki's cause of death?**

Yukinari mentions that Maki's cause of death wasn't from being stabbed, but from being strangled. Aori adds on that when they investigated the corpse, they found the traces of her strangulation leftover on the body. Takuya asks why there was so much blood, and Yukinari mentions that there *was* a slash wound, but it wasn't a fatal one. Satoru supplements his statement with the fact that no major arteries were hit.

Kou uses this to his advantage and points out to Ritsu that if Maki's death wasn't from being stabbed, then she can't be so certain that he's the culprit. She fires back saying that he might've strangled her to death, and him being collapsed at the scene of the crime still makes him suspicious. Chie then asks why, if he strangled Maki to death, would he go through the trouble of also slashing her side.

Ritsu says that she knows, and states that Kou did it to make sure that Maki was dead. If she managed to still be alive, it would spell trouble for him, so he did it just in case. Chie is a little skeptical that that's the case.

### Reveal the Heart of the Matter 1

**For what reason did the culprit purposefully slash her with a blade after strangling her?**

* To cover up the time of death (死亡時刻をごまかすため)
* **To cover up the cause of death (死因をごまかすため)**
* They wanted to torment Maki (マキを痛めつけたかったため)

Yukinari chimes in to say that he doesn't think so, and points out that it might've been to hide her real cause of death. The culprit would've strangled her, placed her in the bathtub, then, to disguise the fact that she was strangled, slashed her with a blade and then filled the tub with water. In doing so, the blood would spread and make it look like she died of blood loss. Shouma then asks why it would've been necessary to hide the cause of death.

### Reveal the Heart of the Matter 2

**Why did the culprit decide to cover up the cause of death?**

* **They wanted to make it look like Kou was the culprit (犯人をコウに見せかけたかったから)**
* They wanted to make it look like Maki killed herself (マキの自殺に見せかけたかったから)
* They wanted to make it look like someone other than Kou was the culprit (犯人をコウ以外の人物に見せかけたかったから)

Yukinari reasons that the culprit wanted to make it look like Kou was the one that killed Maki. After killing her, they knocked him out and then splashed blood on him to make it look like it'd gotten on him when he was killing Maki. Ritsu asks how he can be so sure of that considering it's just conjecture, and Yukinari points out that Kou was covered in blood and passed out at the scene of the crime. If he were the culprit, strangling her, covering the strangulation up, and then putting blood on himself would just be asking everyone to suspect him, which wouldn't make any sense.

The others see the validity of Yukinari's argument, and reason that Kou might not be the culprit. Ritsu holds fast to Kou being the culprit, and suggests that maybe he did that on purpose so they would remove him from the suspect list. Shouma says that there's a lot of risk involved in making yourself a suspect, and Rintarou brings up the fact that Ritsu seems incredibly adamant about Kou being the Wolf. He then asks if it's possible that *she's* the Wolf.

She denies the claim and reasons that Kou seems like he'd be smart enough to easily deceive other people. Rintarou is still suspicious of her intentions, but Osamu interjects to tell them that they won't get anywhere if they keep at it like this. They're back to figuring out who the culprit is, and Yukinari wonders if there are any clues that might point to them.

### Which Spot is of Interest? 1

**Find a clue from Maki's corpse to pinpoint the culprit**

Looking closely at the corpse, Yukinari notices that there's traces of a ring being on one of the hands. He's certain now that Kou isn't the culprit, and when asked why, he asks them to direct their attention to the bruising on the corpse's neck. The others notice the ring print as well, and Yukinari points out that Kou isn't wearing a ring. Kou adds that he's never worn a ring in his life.

They've officially pulled Kou off of the suspect list and reason that whoever's wearing a ring would be the most suspicious. Rintarou asks everyone to show their hands, and the ring-wearers are narrowed down to Takeo, Miho, and Takuya. Miho attempts to remove herself from the suspect list by stating that since she's a woman, strangling Maki would be impossible due to lack of strength, not to mention that she wouldn't be able to handle if Maki resisted. Kou doesn't think that eliminates her, and Rintarou agrees, stating that she could've made sure Maki couldn't resist when she killed her.

They decide to confirm each of the three's alibis for the night before. Miho claims to have been resting in the living room, and Shouma backs up her alibi stating that the night before, he'd decided to make a pass at her, but they ended up having a long conversation instead. Takuya states that he was sleeping on the living room sofa, and Yuuto backs him up. Since he was in the living room playing games, he noticed Takuya was there the whole time snoring with a stupid look on his face. Takeo's alibi is that he was guarding the armory with Satoru all of the previous night.

Chie and Shouma point out that all three people wearing rings have alibis, but Rintarou says that one of them might be lying, all the while looking at Takeo. Takeo gets defensive at his staring, and Rintarou finds his reaction to be a little suspicious. He reiterates that he was guarding the armory the whole night, prompting Yukinari to find something odd about that statement.

### Present Your Evidence 2

**Were they both really guarding it the whole time?**

Yukinari mentions that he'd heard Takeo left the armory last night. Osamu backs this statement up, saying that he went to the armory the night before to check if they were guarding it and found Satoru there by himself. Satoru recalls that Takeo told him he wasn't feeling well, and he was away from the armory for about 30 minutes. Takeo then claims that he wasn't lying, he just forgot to mention it, and adds on that his stomach wasn't feeling well, so he went to the bathroom and nowhere else.

The others begin to suspect him, and Miho considers the plausibility of being able to prove that Takeo isn't lying. Yukinari then wonders if Takuya really had a bad stomachache.

### Present Your Evidence 3

**Is there evidence to prove that Takeo not feeling well was a lie?**

Yukinari points out the fact that Takeo took out a large amount of food not too long ago and planned to eat all of it by himself. If he'd had a bad stomachache the night before, there's no way he'd eat that much food the day after. Rintarou backs up his statement and agrees that someone in his position wouldn't do that. Kou adds that Takeo's actions are too suspicious, suggesting that if he'd had stomach problems, he would've gone to the sickroom to get medicine for it. However, on inspecting the first aid kit in the sickroom, he'd found that it hadn't been rifled through at all. Miho doubles down on this statement.

Kou begins a rundown of his deduction, stating that Takeo pretended to feel sick so he could leave the armory and frantically search for someone to kill. He happened to run into Maki and attacked her, quickly strangling her to death. When he realized that Kou was approaching the shower room, he hid in the shadows and knocked him out once he came into the room. He then proceeded to make it look like Kou was the culprit.

With nothing left but to claim he's not the culprit, the others decide to name Takeo the Wolf and have him executed. After his execution ends, it's revealed that he really was the Wolf, and Merry proceeds to summarize the details of the case.

**Summary of the Crime**

1. Takeo pretends to have a bad stomachache so he can slip away from the armory
2. He murders Maki, who was planning to take a shower in the shower room, by strangling her
3. Kou hears a noise and approaches the shower room
4. Takeo knocks Kou unconscious, then applies a slash wound to Maki's corpse
5. He covers Kou in blood to frame him for the crime
6. To mislead the others on the cause of death, he puts the body in the bathtub and disguises it as a stabbing