( TRIAL - WEEK 1 )

[abhoth]

At exactly 11:30 am, all residents who are still asleep will be jolted awake by a sharp, burning pain that spreads across their whole body. A simple look will reveal no visible injuries, oddly enough, and the pain will fade away as soon as they're properly awake. Those early birds who are already up and about will feel nothing — except maybe a strange, mysterious sense of relief as they go on about their business. Lucky them. Moments later, an announcement will come through the static-filled PA system: "This is Craftly speaking. My apologies for the rude awakening [not really], but your presence is required in the Dining Hall. Our first trial is about to begin. Please do try to be there before noon. My staff members have simply too many duties to tend to, to be escorting each and every one of you out of your quarters. Good day." And true to his words, anyone who doesn't make their way to the Dining Hall before noon will be dragged kicking and screaming regardless of where they've sequestered themselves. Sucks to be you, huh? Upon arriving there, however, residents will be given the menu, one copy of the rulebook, one pencil, one notepad, and a cheque folder. Lunch and dinner will be served at the appropriate times, and appetizers, desserts and beverages (of the non-alcoholic variety) will be available throughout the trial. All you have to do is ask one of the faceless men, and your food will be delivered to you in ten minutes or less depending on what it is. The Dining Room itself looks about the same as it does any other day — save for the fact that the lights have been dimmed. Why this, you ask? Because the projector is now in use. Transparencies containing each resident's profile will be displayed on the pull-down screen, with one of the staff members rotating through the images every minute. The profiles of the deceased are included, and if current discussion deems it necessary to focus on one particular resident, anyone is free to ask the faceless man to pause on the appropriate profile for a while. A small area has been sectioned off with a transparent, plastic curtain right next to the pull-down screen. Its use will become rapidly apparent once the victim's corpse has been wheeled in. Anyone who wishes to step into this area will be asked to wash their hands in the kitchen, and they will be given a pair of latex-free gloves and a hairnet by a staff member who is stationed nearby. Residents are required to dispose of both items before returning to the dinner table; a trash bin is available outside of the curtains for this purpose. Evidence found during the investigation, on the other hand, will be displayed in the back of the room. Two, long tables have been taken out of storage for this occasion, and any items found by the residents on Friday will be displayed here for further examination. Finally — a clock above the pull-down screen displays the current hour. Please do remember you have until 9:00 PM to figure out whodunit and cast your vote. ( victim ) Welcome to our first trial! Characters will be given nine (9) hours to discuss everything related to the investigation to hopefully solve the mystery behind this week's murder. No one will be allowed to leave the Dining Hall without explicit permission from the Innkeeper (and only then to take a tinkle), and all characters must cast their vote before 9PM EST. You may do so on this week's voting page. If you have any questions or doubts, shoot us a PM or a PP over at yuggoth. ( quick navigation ) voting | profiles | menu | locations | ic rulebook

Comments

[thawedheart]

...it's... possible, but if that's the case, why be so sloppy about it? All the evidence is pointing at her, and...

[It's so early.]

If she did do it... it's like she wanted to be caught.

[g101]

Gatcha!!!

[ squawked from her corner of the room. hajime. ]

Or maybe someone else wanted her to get caught? Why would Hana leave all this evidence pointing to her? I wonder, I wonder.... looks pretty weird.

[thawedheart]

It does. It could just mean that Hana-san didn't cover her tracks very well...

[Which, if Yukina's being completely honest, seems to be the most likely case at this point. But they have time, so - ]

But we're not out of time yet. Since we have the opportunity to do so... we should explore other possibilities, too. Just to make sure we're not overlooking anything.

[g101]

Overlooking would be bad. For me, I don't know why they got rid of the doorknob and made it so obvious. That seems really dumb, Yukichi. It's like, um... a distraction, maybe? That's why I keep coming back to it, I think. I'm hella confused, so I don't think that this is the solution.

[thawedheart]

The faceless men took the doorknob so we could examine it, but...

[She definitely agrees about the "obvious" bit.]

I don't know. It almost seems too easy a solution, as it is. But if someone did try to frame her, they managed to do so without leaving any clues as to their own identity, and... nobody's perfect. I don't think it's possible, to do something like that and leave no evidence.

[g101]

It's toooooo easy. If you're gonna be in the hot seat, why not swap with someone else? Spicy isn't their style, so we gotta sniff out the sweet stuff, maybe?

Anyway, I think there's evidence, we're just looking at it wrong. People already decided it's her, so they aren't looking at it the other way, you knowwww? But sometimes it's good to look at the back of a book before you buy it.

[thawedheart]

[A lot of the specifics of what Hajime's saying are confusing the you-know-what out of her, but she thinks she gets the gist of it, so...]

Yes, I agree. Before we cast our votes, we have to rule out as many other possibilities as we can. And that means we need to think seriously about them, instead of making up our minds too soon.

[g101]

I won't stop until I'm definitely sure. And I'm not sure at all, so I'm going to keep going!

[ a beat, and then: ] I wonder who would put the spotlight on Hanacchi... Or how? I'm really confused about why she would get up and scratch the door... Do we even know it was really her?

[thawedheart]

We do know that Percival-san and Marty-san saw someone who looked like a girl head toward their closet. We also know that the marks on room 112's door came from a hangar, that a hangar was used to try and pick the lock, and that a hangar that had been unfolded and then put back into that shape was found in room 111's closet.

[And considering Hana is the only girl in that room...]

Nobody saw her face clearly, but under the circumstances... unless there was another girl in that room, we can't say for sure. But nobody mentioned anything about having someone stay over.

[g101]

I think maybe... the hanger... might have been a distraction? To point to the room more, maybe. [ just a Thought. ] Umm, it's hard to explain, but that piece of evidence is only someone's word, which is hard to prove.

A role like, um. The Beautician. We don't know what it does, but roles have a meaning, right? So maybe something like that can take Hana's place.

Or... maybe Dippy was right, and Jason took someone else's place.

[ the menu seems relevant, so she's pouring over it. ]

[thawedheart]

A distraction...?

[She doesn't have any real reason to disbelieve Kaito and Dave when they say they heard someone working at the doorknob, though. Nor does she have any reason to doubt that the hangar was used on the doorknob in some way - the marks line up, at least.]

Well, it says... scissors. Like Hana-san's piano wire. I'm not sure it would do more than that. [She hesitates.] If it says "weapon," I think... that may be all it is, because having a weapon is an advantage. Having an ability would also be an advantage.

But the ones that say "item," like Jason-san's did... that's where there may be room for doubt. Because... we may not know exactly what those items do.

[godly]

[Hi Yukina.]

Do you have any suggestions, Yukina-chan? All that we have available to us is to re-examine the evidence or the body. I agree that much of this seems... sloppy, but unfortunately we've either not dug deep enough to unearth another clue, or it simply doesn't exist.

[That, or it's beyond their means to deduct with what they've been given. But that hardly seems fair, and despite the cruelty of this game, Light wonders if it would really be skewed to their disadvantage.]

[thawedheart]

[sup light]

...none that make much sense, I'm afraid.

[She heaves a sigh.]

It's possible that Percival-san and Marty-san are not telling the truth about having seen a girl going toward their closet. But, why would they try to frame her? And for that matter, how could they possibly have killed Jason-san with a piano wire? Hana-san has already confirmed that it belonged to her, and we know that no one but her could see or use it.

It's more likely that one person is lying, than it is that two people teamed up specifically to take her down, and just so happened to do it in such a way that matched up with the weapon she had been given, that nobody else knew about.

...I'm just worried that because it all fits together so well, we're making a decision too easily. I... I don't know. The weight of someone's life is a heavy burden to bear.

[godly]

[He gives this a moment of consideration before responding. It bothers him, too, how convenient it all is. And Hana, from what little he's spoken with her, doesn't seem disingenuous.

But that means little in the face of everything, doesn't it? Light, of all people, would know.]

If they're not telling the truth, they would have be at the very least be accomplices. This muddies the figurative waters even more, and there's just no evidence available to us to tell us this is the case. Also, who else would be able to use the piano wire? There's the Copycat role, which I thought would be the most likely alternative... if not for the fact that she said she hadn't told anyone of being a Spy. I doubt she's lying about that; why would she pass up an attempt to clear her name?

[Which you know, might have been something she should've considered if she was going to pick something to lie about. But. That's just his opinion.]

[crimsonsparrow]

Maybe sloppy is just her nature.

[How is he supposed to know why humans lack grace?]

I don't know her.

[thawedheart]

She seemed so... nice, when she and I spoke before.

[Reckless, but nice.] It's hard to imagine, but if we can't find any evidence to indicate that someone might be trying to cast the blame on her for this, then...

[crimsonsparrow]

Then she'll be the one everyone accuses.

[He doesn't sound nearly as concerned by this as she does.]

In the end, someone is going to be chosen.

[And executed.]

[thawedheart]

If the evidence doesn't suggest otherwise, I don't see that we have any choice but to vote for her, but... she keeps saying she's not the killer. What if we pick her, and it turns out she was telling the truth?

[Then they'll have killed someone innocent AND a killer will be on the loose. :c]

[crimsonsparrow]

Such hesitations will only lead us to running in circles. Tell me, if you have doubt in her guilt, what would you do instead, with no alternatives, knowing a name would have to be offered?

[thawedheart]

...there's nothing we can do, really. Like I said, I don't see that we have any choice but to vote for her without evidence that suggests someone else may be at fault.

[She sighs.]

But if she is innocent, that's... a burden we'll have to bear.

[thawedheart]

...that bothers me, too. All of that, but the part about the deadline especially.

[Yukina bites her lip, fiddling uneasily with one of her sleeves.]

I thought... I don't know. That if there was someone who would be willing to... get things started... that they would have been a more willing participant. But this killer waited for as long as possible before taking action.

If we knew why, then...

[thawedheart]

...there are some things about the Ghost theory that don't make much sense to me... at least, if it's the Ghost possessing Hana-san.

[She looks down at her hands.]

But there are problems with the theory if it's the Ghost possessing Jason-san, too. If the Ghost did direct Jason-san to enter her room, and she killed him in self-defense... rather than saying "I didn't do it," when we started to suspect her, why didn't she try to explain that from her perspective, Jason-san was the one who had attacked first?

We're... reasonable people. Nobody wants to execute her. What we want is to find the person behind this, and if it's not her, she has to help us find out who it is.