AWKWARD ZOMBIE

"You're right."

Diana's Testimony

Diana gave a nod at Pierce and Isabelle's words. "Not long after I crossed the river, I saw Bud on the concrete, and Joe making a run for it. By then, Bud already had the knife in his eye. When I thought I couldn't be seen anymore, I started to move the body. I thought the blood underneath was from the eye wound, and he could have died from the shock, or something--I'm no expert.
I dragged it to the mud, near Joe's house. It was risky, since he could have buried the body, or found me. But...I lucked out, I suppose."

"If that's the case, why weren't your footprints found at the scene?"

"Isabelle said the rain was stopping around midnight or so, didn't she? Maybe the ground was dry enough to not leave footprints by then."

"But didn't we establish that Bud wasn't killed at the riverbank because the ground there is too soft to cause death, but soft enough to leave prints?"

"Diana just said she dragged Bud over to the riverbank. That's not killing him. Apparently he was already dead."

"I'm not accusing her of murder. However, if we want to solve this case, we can't ignore glaring contradictions."

"Here's my conjecture: There really was a fight at the riverbank. Bud's eye got stabbed between then and falling on the concrete. Perhaps the lion tried to run, and the Joe knocked him over. Joe could have been truthful during his testimony, for part of it."

"How would he have made it all the way to Re-Tail from the riverbank by Joe's house with a knife in his eye?"

"Hrm..." Diana put a hand under her chin. "Perhaps it was adrenaline. That tends to make people act above and beyond their regular physical capabilities for a while, right?"

"But wouldn't it be hard to... eurgh... see in that condition? Joe would have been at an advantage and caught up with him aswell..."

"Also, wouldn't it seem... harder for him to have an injury on the back of his head if we were being chased?"

"This is starting to make my head hurt..."

((I'm gonna log off for tonight u_u))

"Wait a minute! I thought the shovel was in the river. How could Joe have buried the body in that case?"