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"Soldier Eren Jaeger's 3DMG did not fail him. The cables did not simply snap."

Heads snapped up as Erwin's words broke through the blanket of silence. Eren stared at the blond commander from where he sat with Levi(the captain hadn't let him leave his side since the previous day's incident), eyes wide. What did he mean? It had been an accident. He hadn't taken the proper precautions and paid the price. There wasn't anything more to it.

"The cables were tampered with."

Eren's thoughts froze, and Levi's hand tightened around his own. There was only one thing his mind centered around now, only a single word his thoughts could form in his disbelief.

What?!

"Observe." Erwin held up the harpoon that he had taken from the scene of the accident, which had been still clamped onto the wall. "The ends are frayed. If it had snapped, it would have been different. It would have unwound rather than frayed, or been a completely clean separation. There is also the matter of where the break was. Notice how only a few centimeters of wire remain. Jaeger's hooks were half a meter from the edge, on the roof. If the wire had been weakened, it would make much more sense for it to be where it rubbed against the building."

Eren's heart pounded in his ears. Was Erwin saying what he thought he was saying?

"This was not an accident. Someone either snipped his cables or weakened them beforehand. I believe it was the murderer." Whispers arose, but Erwin continued to speak, demanding attention. "We do not have enough evidence of the killer, however, so anyone with any idea should step forward."

At that, he turned and left the mess hall, leaving it a jumbled mess of terrified and intrigued soldiers and conversation.

.-.-.-.-.

"Interviewing Hoover got us zero results."

Levi's eyes snapped up to Erwin, silver orbs blazing with some unnamed emotion. "Are you sure Hanji's good for the job? We all trust her, but she tends to be rather obvious."

"Not when she's serious," Erwin said. He looked Levi over, the tension in his shoulders, the way his brow was more furrowed than usual, the dark look in his eyes. "You're brooding. You still think Hoover did it, didn't you?"

"He was the only person there," Levi pointed out darkly. "And it happened as he was up by the cables. All evidence points to him."

"Your squad was training around there as well, no?" Erwin pointed out. "It was why you were able to save Jaeger."

Levi's posture changed. He curled his fists, hunching his shoulders like a savage animal about to attack. "Are you accusing my squad?!" he snarled.

"There is evidence," Erwin said coolly. He held up a placating hand as Levi bristled further, looking furious. "But no. I am proving a point. I understand you're upset, as the boy is definitely important to you, but you've set your sights on one person and honed in. You need to take a step back, breathe, and look at it from all angles."

Levi crossed his arms, leaning against the window frame and glaring at his superior from across the room. "What other views are there?" he ground out.

"Someone could have gotten to his cables beforehand. They could have made it look like an accident." Erwin sighed wearily. "Look, Levi, that Hoover kid is just too shaken to be the culprit. He was terrified when we called him in for questioning."

"It's very possible he's a good actor," Levi said darkly. He cracked a humorless smirk. "If I was the killer, do you think you'd have the slightest clue if I didn't want you to know?"

"You? Never," Erwin managed a chuckle. "You're a borderline sadist, but you know better than murder."

"It's nice to know you trust me," Levi muttered, smile fading as he glanced out the window. The building cleaning was being continued, and he could see his brat out there, laughing about something with the bald kid. "Nobody's watching them?" he grumbled irately. "I'm going to go check on them. Don't overwork yourself, old man."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Don't show Jaeger any favoritism."

Levi snorted. "When have I ever shown favoritism?"

.-.-.-.-.

Bertholdt clutched the dagger tightly in his hands.

This is it. I won't mess up this time. Squad Levi isn't around to save him.

Hearing Eren, Armin, and Connie's laughter made him falter. He imagined how those would turn to screams of terror, how broken their friends would be losing another of their companions. Rapidly he shook his head, clearing his muddled thoughts.

He killed Reiner. He's the only one that could have. I... I have to get revenge!

"You're really going to go through with it again?"

The voice made his blood run cold. Bertholdt whirled around, holding his dagger up defensively. He trembled at the sight of who he opposed now.

"I-I was just -"

"Did you know," came the drawling baritone as the person came ever closer, "I was there when you did it the first time? I watched you do it."

The jig was up. So someone had seen him. Bertholdt gripped the knife tighter. "Stay back, I'm warning you!" he hissed, eyes wide in fear. "I could kill all of them right now!"

"You couldn't and wouldn't," his visitor said in a cold, short voice.

"Eren will pay for killing Reiner!"

"It's a bit difficult to achieve vengeance when you're already dead, don't you think?"

Bertholdt was dead before he realized he'd even fallen, neck broken at an awkward angle and eyes glazed over.

The killer backed away from the edge of the building before anyone looked up. He wiped his hands off and picked up the dagger the teen had left behind, hurling it in the direction of the forest. As far as anyone would know, their good friend Bertl had committed suicide after losing his best friend. The murderer didn't care.

So long as Eren was safe, he was content.

.-.-.-.-.

I... I can't believe it...

We all though Bertholdt was so happy...

This is crazy. People are suggesting it wasn't suicide. But we didn't see anyone on the roof. He jumped.

He jumped...