Brad was kinda cold...
But never mind that. There were more important things to focus on. He lingered near the back of the group at large while they speculated and tossed out questions, grim visage betraying no thought or emotion, looking vacant as though his mind was somewhere else entirely. This was it, then. The summit of their evening, the climax. The apotheosis of the investigation. Everything they worked for, everything they learned, was to be put to use here. Those on the outside would be left thinking this was all for show, but them up on the stage knew otherwise. It was real. It had all been leading up to this. Either they caught a murderer... Or they didn't.
He... Had no idea who did it. None. No fucking clue.
God dammit.
worthless.
"..."
Almost of their own accord, his eyes wandered to scan the gathered crowd and look for Junko's strawberry blonde head of hair among them. He had been a little distant when they parted ways earlier, even more than usual; He recognized the look in her eye when he said what he said, and while he didn't know what it stemmed from or what she was thinking... He understood the weight of it. The significance. That girl had her own troubles. She deserved better than to be dragged down by hearing his, too.
f a i l u r e.
"..."
When that other woman started rambling on about parenthood, about how ultimately all mothers and fathers acted with their kids' best interests in mind, was around when Brad stopped listening. What a load of bullshit. Parents were people, same as everyone else. There were good kinds and bad kinds. It was nice that some people were privileged enough to be born to good, caring couples, but there was always another side to the coin. The no-shows. The monsters. The ones who pelted you with beer bottles and did
horrible things to your sister for
years while the house festered and fell to shit around them.
n o b o d y.
"... No."
His voice was so soft only he could hear it, his lips barely parting somewhere in the wild mass that was his beard, his somber gaze dropping from Junko if he did manage to find her. The past was in the past. This was now. And now, he couldn't afford to
be a failure... Not when people needed him not to be.
"... We're jumping the tracks here."
It was the first time he'd spoken during the mock trial, his voice grizzled and haggard as he walked over to the center of proceedings.
"There's no point accusing people until we have a more solid picture of what happened... That's like playing Hangman and trying to guess the word without filling any letters in. Fact is, right now we're all just a collection of lunatics, suspects, and dipshits." The old martial arts instructor stared directly at Saitama for that last word.
"With so many of us here... There's no avoiding inconsistencies in our stories. And there's gonna be too many of those for trying to catch 'em all out to be any good to us. If we're going to look at what adds up and what doesn't... We need to look more narrowly."
He turned to face the audience, head tilted slightly downwards and worn fists clenched.
"... I don't think the killer could've done this without help. It's been too convenient. Workers who would've been witnesses otherwise, out of the picture. Doorways to places that don't make sense. And... I think whoever helped them is someone who had a hand in setting this whole thing up. So here's the thing. I want Jade, Idoun, Rowen and the penguin with the scarf to come up here."
He paused for a moment, letting his proclamation sink in. This was easily the most the man had spoken since the evening's beginning.
"Tell us why we shouldn't suspect you. Tell us what you've been doing since the night kicked off. Who you've seen. Who you've spoken to. If it all checks out, you have nothing to worry about."
And if it didn't...
Then they could start making accusations.
Honestly, he didn't know whether he was barking up the right tree or not. He just hoped this'd help lay things out. Shed some light on what happened.
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