[center]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/345318975846219779/394251903728615424/Faith.gif[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/lYd5BE5.gif[/img]

~ [i]Masking the Truth[/i] ~[/center]

This was far from Faith's first rodeo, but something didn't quite add up. The poison had to be applied between 3pm and 4pm... But from her understanding of the timeline, the chronology of the events during that time, it should have been physically impossible. That was, provided her timeline was even correct, but with all the alibis that had been given, and no one calling anyone else out for lying, there was nothing to say it was wrong.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"If you're all telling the truth, that should make the timeline something like this then, right?

[center]Mercy arrived the pharmacy prior to 3pm
Max entered at 3pm
Ice and Alice entered just after 3pm
Max left shortly after Ice and Alice arrived, before Caora showed up.
Caora entered sometime between 3 and 3:30pm.
Ice left at 3:30pm, presumably with Alice in tow.
Caora left sometime after 3:30pm.
Jezebel and Zachary entered at the same time Caora left.
Braden entered the pharmacy at some time before 4pm, at the same time as Jezebel and Zachary were leaving,
Calvin entered at 4pm, and saw that Braden was still there."[/center][/colour]

She took a second to think after speaking, and looked around the room, and no one in particular, before settling her eyes upon a certain someone.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Hey Maxxyyyyyyy~! Y'know how you went to look for Mercy at 3? Did you go straight to the Pharmacy and find her there, or did the two of you run into each other while you were looking?"[/colour]

[color=0076a3]"I found her near the pharmacy."[/color] Max stated with something on his mind. [color=0076a3]"But I don't actually know what she was doing prior to that."[/color]

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Near?"[/colour] Faith placed a hand to her chin for a short moment, before pulling out her Tome and flipping it open, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"So you mean she wasn't in the Pharmacy when you arrived?"[/colour]

[color=0076a3]"As in, right in front of it. Come on Faith, you're dwelling on these trivial details."[/color] max folded his arms in annoyance before continuing. [color=0076a3]"Have you even considered that the dosage of poison could have been altered? Mercy could have been poisoned outside of the 3 to 4 pm range."[/color]

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"That's impossible."[/colour] she simply said, reading across a page, making sure to keep the contents of the book hidden from those either side of her, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"We already ruled out ingestion as a method of poisoning, aaaaaand Thomas kindly pointed out that the puncture wound could very easily have been where the poison entered her body."[/colour]

Her gaze then drifted up from the book towards Max, slightly smiling.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"As for why it's impossible, Ice said so himself. He was in the pharmacy with Mercy yet he didn't notice that she was wearing bandages, implying she wasn't between 3 and 3:30. So if we're still going to say an outside party poisoned her, it can only have been Braden, Calvin, Caora, Jez or Zach~!"[/colour]

[color=0076a3]"Yes well I don't recall any of them stating that Mercy was wearing a bandage. If that can be cleared up, then I agree with you. But until we know for sure, it's a possibility that Mercy was poisoned after 4 pm."[/color]

[color=0076a3]"Anything else to add?"[/color]

Perhaps it was the nerves of the case, or simply the fact that Faith had herself under the impression that she was without a doubt correct, but even despite that point, she kept what small a smile she could observe. 
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Anything else to add? Hmmmmmm..."[/colour] she placed the tip of her index finger to her lip, looked off towards Monokuma, then, almost as quickly as she had zoned out, pointed the finger directly at Max.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"So maybe she [i]was[/i] poisoned after 4pm!"[/colour] she gave him a warm smile, then closed her book, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Of course it's not like when she bandaged herself matters, since there's only really one person who could have poisoned her."[/colour] her gaze drifted over Thomas, and then Daimyon in turn, and then to Lucy, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Daimyon's so right, the Mask is proooooooobably pretty important. After all, Mercy would have sought to cure herself if she knew she was poisoned."[/colour]

She couldn't exactly prove the theory, but it made some sense, that much she knew.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"She obviously knew about the cut to have the foresight to bandage it. Looking at the time periods of 3pm and 4pm aren't really gonna help us anymore..."[/colour] she drummed her fingers lightly against the podium before her, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Since there are only three people who could have poisoned Mercy in that time, after all. Braden, Calvin... and herself."[/colour] her smile somewhat dissipated, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"So what the killer [i]really[/i] needed was a time when they could infect Mercy with the Horseman Virus~! Uuuuuunless someone wants to own up to being infected~?"[/colour]

Max let out a short laugh; Faith's theory was out there, but it somehow made sense, the cop couldn't help but agree with the matchmaker. However, his laugh dissipated in an instant as the implications took root in his mind.

[color=0076a3]"You're implying that Mercy poisoned herself because she was infected by the horseman virus and it made her open to the suggestion. If you're right...this blackened..."[/color] Max trailed off into space for a bit before snapping back. [color=0076a3]"But that complicates this trial. It would mean that Mercy killed herself."[/color]

Faith placed the Tome gently onto the podium, letting her hand rest atop its cover as Max took in her theory. At the same time, with her free hand, she pulled from her skirt her Handbook, and brought up the rules.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Technically, that would be true. After all, Rule 7 states that 'anyone who kills a fellow patient and becomes "blackened" will be cured...'"[/colour] in a similar motion, she placed the Handbook on top of the book as well.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"So I suppose that raises a very big question, Doc. If a person infected with the Virus kills someone, who is considered the Blackened? The infected party... or the person who infected them~?"[/colour]