The thick carpet in the hallway is usually enough to dampen any sounds.
But no amount of soundproofing could stop the sound of a gunshot from echoing through the place.
At its source, Stefen's limp, twitching body lies on the floor. There's a gaping hole in his head.
Ms. Kimberly: Ah.
She's trembling in fear.
Ms. Kimberly: Is-Is he still alive?
Argus: Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber.
Ms. Kimberly: ...
Vertin: Is this a suicide?
Ms. Kimberly: He pulled out the gun and shot himself in the head.
Ms. Kimberly: His brains splattered on the walls and flowed onto the floor.
Her muttering is almost a confession.
Argus kneels down to examine the body.
Argus: Mm. There's gunshot residue and powder burns near the wound.
Argus: Gunpowder particles on his fingers.
Vertin: ...
Argus: There's no doubt. He died from a gunshot wound. The bullet was fired from the pistol in his hand and went straight through his skull.
Argus: But this ain't just any pistol. It's a Zeno pistol. You've got yourself in some serious trouble, missy.
Ms. Kimberly: It wasn't me.
Her face is still pale, but she manages to stop her shaking.
Ms. Kimberly: I'm just an innocent, sad, terrified girl who just happened to pass by.
Argus: ...
Argus: Well, Ms. Innocent-Sad-and-Terrified ...
Argus: If you wanna prove your innocence, start by telling us what happened here.
Argus: And mind you, I will call you out if you lie. The evidence here will tell me what's true and what ain't.
She points to her eye.
Ms. Kimberly: ...
Ms. Kimberly: If you're so clever, then why are you asking me? Just figure it out yourself!
Her protestation is weak. She quickly gives in.
Ms. Kimberly: Ugh! Alright, alright! I'll tell you. This madman has been harassing me.
Ms. Kimberly: Ever since I moved into this place, I'd often seen him pacing around in the hallway.
Ms. Kimberly: Day and night, he'd stomp around out here. He didn't care if anyone else was trying to sleep!
Ms. Kimberly: I thought he must have had a lot on his mind, like he was troubled or something. So I asked him what happened.
Stefen: ...
His deep, sunken eyes were bloodshot. Every fiber of his being screamed that something was wrong with him.
Ms. Kimberly: Sir, if you're having any problems, there are many ways to solve them, but pacing in the hallway isn't one of them. Plus, it disrupts everyone's sleep.
I swear I didn't say anything too harsh, but he was just downright rude!
Stefen: Get the hell away! Get out of my face!
Ms. Kimberly: Excuse me? That's pretty rude, you know.
I had no desire to argue with a madman. Thankfully, the maid intervened when she heard what was going on.
I have no idea what she said to him, but eventually they came to terms. He stopped pacing the hallway from then on. That was a relief. I'm sure the other guests would agree.
That maid can vouch for what I've said. Ask her yourselves.
Not long after, I found a letter from Stefen on the floor of my room. It'd been slid under my door.
In the letter, he apologized for his behavior.
...
"Should I make peace with him?" I thought.
As I wondered, I took a look through the peephole. It was strange. I couldn't see a thing. It was pitch black out there.
"Is it broken?" I wondered.
Before I could dwell on it too much, the phone rang. I was startled, but it was just the front desk calling.
Tuesday: Hello, Ms. Kimberly.
Ms. Kimberly: Is it dinner time already?
Tuesday: No.
Tuesday: Is there an issue between Mr. Stefen and yourself?
She seemed hesitant to speak.
Ms. Kimberly: Mm?
Tuesday: I know it's not my place to ask, but the situation is a little concerning.
Tuesday: Mr. Stefen is standing at your door, his face pressed up against it.
Tuesday: So I just wanna confirm that everything's alright between you two.
Ms. Kimberly: And that's what happened!
Vertin: Calm down, Miss. It's all over now.
Vertin: Do you still have that letter with you?
A look of disgust comes across Ms. Kimberly's face as she gestures to the trash can nearby.
Ms. Kimberly: Who'd hold onto that? I threw it out right away. It's somewhere in that bin.
Argus quickly retrieves the crumpled piece of paper from the trash can.
She smooths it out on her palm and reads its contents.
Argus: "Dear Ms. Kimberly ..."
Argus: I've got a question already.
Argus: How did he know your name? You didn't know each other well enough to have exchanged them, did you?
Ms. Kimberly: I'm the victim here, damn it! You can't interrogate me like this!
Ms. Kimberly: Ugh, but if you must know, maybe he heard it when my friend called me.
Argus: Your friend?
Ms. Kimberly: Why, what's so odd about that? A young girl like myself should never travel alone to places like this!
She continues in her indignation.
Ms. Kimberly: I need someone to make my bed and prepare my clothes, and, most importantly, I need to eat! I wouldn't even be here if I weren't looking for ...
Ms. Kimberly: ...!
She gasps, covering her mouth with her hand.
But Argus isn't listening. She continues to read the letter aloud.
Argus: "I wanna apologize for my behavior earlier in the hallway."
Vertin: Hmm. Looks like a perfectly normal letter to me. No hints that this is from a man on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Ms. Kimberly: If you won't take my word for it, go ahead and ask the maid. She was there! She can vouch for me!
Vertin: Please. We aren't accusing you of anything.
Argus lets out a laugh.
Argus: Though graphology has been criticized a lot these days, I gotta say ...
Argus: This looks more like a woman's handwriting to me.
Ms. Kimberly: So you mean Stefen was a woman?
Her aggression seems to dissipate as her eyes widen and her mouth drops.
Argus: Hah! You still with us, missy?
Argus: What I'm suggesting is that Mr. Stefen didn't write this letter, but a woman did.
Argus: But that's just speculation. Chances are Mr. Stefen's handwriting was just a little feminine.
Argus: I'll keep this letter for now. Back to my questions.
Argus: If the story you told is true, then why are you at the scene of his death? Did you go looking for him, even after all the weird things he'd done?
Ms. Kimberly: ...
Ms. Kimberly: I was hungry, okay?! That a good enough answer for you?! I can't just starve myself!
Argus: Hungry? If I remember correctly, the motel offers room service.
Argus: And you get one free meal a day, so even if you ain't got no money, you have enough food to get by.
Ms. Kimberly: What-what do you know?!
She looks flustered.
Ms. Kimberly: I'm not eating one of those ham sandwiches.
Argus: Alright, so you've got some standards when it comes to food.
Argus: Let's drop that. You were there when he fired the shot, right? What happened then?
Argus: Take your time and think it through. There's no rush.
Ms. Kimberly: ...
About fifteen minutes ago, he rang my doorbell.
I thought my friend had returned from town. She always brings something amazing with her. So I opened the door. The last thing I expected was to see Stefen standing there—who'd have thought that he could get back on his feet so quickly after the beating he took?
I was terrified when I saw him there. He towered over me, one hand on the doorframe and the other pushing against the door. I slammed the door shut. I thought he'd let go.
But he didn't. The door closed on his fingers.
Stefen: Hahaha, I understand now. I understand it all! You're with Zeno, aren't you?!
His fingers were bent at a peculiar angle. It must've been painful, but he didn't seem to feel the pain at all. The fracturing of his fingers was no more painful than a mosquito bite to him.
Stefen: You came to me and made me drop my guard so that one day you could turn me in for a bounty. But why me? Why are you doing this to me?!
Stefen: It wasn't me who made the plan. It wasn't me who executed it. It wasn't me who pressed that damn button!
Stefen: All I did was expose their crime to the rest of the world. Tell me. Why else would they want my head so desperately if they didn't believe they were guilty?
Stefen: In the meantime, the actual killers are treated as heroes. But I'm the hero! Me! ME! But, but all my sorry ass gets is a lifetime of hiding out in some random motel in the middle of nowhere! This world is sick!
Ms. Kimberly: What the hell are you talking about?
Stefen: Come on. Drop the act. Right after you spoke to me, Vertin showed up at my door. Are you trying to tell me that that was just by chance?
Ms. Kimberly: Vertin?
He totally ignored my question.
Stefen: The world has fallen ill.
Stefen: I can see that now. The, the realm above truly does exist. How else would we have gotten the idea of a perfect heavenly realm?
Stefen: Obviously, it doesn't exist in this world.
Ms. Kimberly: I don't care. Even if that place does exist, it has nothing to do with you. Get out of the way. I'm closing the door.
Stefen: But at least I get to decide when I step through that door, right?
I had no idea what he was talking about.
And he didn't give me much chance to figure it out, either.
Stefen: I'm afraid your mission is doomed to fail, young lady.
In that moment, a smile of relief came over his face.
Then, without a moment's hesitation, he pressed the pistol against his temple and pulled the trigger.
*bang*
Ms. Kimberly: And you know the rest.
The approaching footsteps stop abruptly. They turn to the source.
The maid stands before the group, showing just the right amount of surprise as her eyes fall upon the body.
Tuesday: What's going on in here?
Argus: This man killed himself.
Tuesday: Oh, dear. There's blood everywhere.
Tuesday: It'll be a lot of work to clean it all up, and with the weather being so hot, the room will soon start to smell.
Tuesday: All the carpets have to go.
The maid lets out a long sigh, her tone tinged with annoyance.
Vertin: Ms. Tuesday, can I ask you a question?
Tuesday: Yes?
Vertin: Have you ever had any guests who looked like or claimed themselves to be Manus Vindictae?
Tuesday: Manus Vindictae?
Her face flushes as she smiles faintly.
Tuesday: I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Could you explain in more detail?
Vertin: Most of them dress in blue and black, some drool a fair bit, and most of them can't speak in full sentences.
Vertin: The most notable feature is that they all wear masks shaped like hands. Have you seen any before?
Tuesday: Masks shaped like hands ...
She taps her finger on her chin.
Tuesday: No, I've never had a guest who wore a hand-shaped mask. Never seen anyone in blue and black, either.
Tuesday: But if an organization was going to do something in secret, I don't think they'd be too public about it.
Argus: Hey, lady.
Argus doesn't hesitate to interrupt the conversation.
Argus: Take me to his room.
She points the barrel of her gun at Stefen's corpse.
Tuesday: Oh, it shouldn't be too hard for you to find the room yourself, right, Ms. Argus? After all, that's how you make a living.
Tuesday: But I can just tell it to you. It's 214. You must be curious about that room.
Tuesday: I'm surprised. You've been in almost every room in the motel, and you've been here for two days. You're like a child in your curiosity.
Tuesday: This place would be much safer if you were the sheriff here.
Tuesday: Anyway, I hope you can find that girl soon.
Standing before the bloody corpse, she looks down and gently adjusts the baby in her arms.
