Ok ok I just finished reading like the 7 or so pages I missed. There are two possible answers for Crocodile's playing. One, he's a complete idiot of a town. Or two, he's genius scum. How is he scum? Well, first off, I'd like to say that he is definitely Ani. It's not likely it was a fake claim provided by pie and it's way too risky in case of being cc'd. But he's not town either. What really threw me off wasn't the sudden claim but the repeated hinting at a power role. With an established miller, this kind of play seems to be baiting the cops. Why would he want a cop to investigate him? Because he's the godfather. Reading up on the wiki, Ani is apparently very good at socially interacting, yet has a problem with lying:
Ani often lies about her whereabouts in order to spend some free time pursuing her own hobbies and interests. However, this habit had made her into an unreliable narrator as she also lied to Clay and Jessica about her interactions with Bryce and to Deputy Standall during both of her interrogations.
As shown by that line.
People were starting to get suspicious of Crocidile so he voted himself and said a bunch of almost painfully idiotic things. This made him more inno? (don't quote me on this last sentence tho)
This doesn't directly contradict what I said about the theme of the game as Ani may look like a good guy, but actually is a compulsive liar. (this is what I got from the wiki, if im wrong please tell me)