( TRIAL - WEEK 2 )

[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 second 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, and will be given a pair of latex-free gloves and a hairnet by a staff members 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. ( victims ) 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, 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

[godly]

I don't believe they were. And while that's true, what's the harm in considering it? It's an avenue to explore.

[bownthisway]

Because if they did beat Hibiki up after death, then we'd have to consider the opposite side - that the killer's someone who doesn't know how to fight but wanted to make us think they did.

[a shrug] Of course, then we'd have to figure out how they managed to slit his throat without a struggle.

[godly]

Have we looked closely enough at the bruising to know if there's anything telling about them? Something that would indicate what kind of weapon might have been used, if there was one?

[bownthisway]

It doesn't look like he was beaten with a heavy object, just with someone's fists. If we're talking about a weapon that might make a similar wound to a scalpel, there's the straight razor from the Fashionista. Or someone could have taken Hibiki's own pocket knife if they knew about his role.

[godly]

I was hoping for a physical indication. Bruising on their knuckles, for example, or anything that might have explained why Hibiki took such a beating.

The rest is a bit too difficult to pin down at the moment, and would require for us to know who the Fashionista was. And aren't role weapons invisible?

[bownthisway]

I'm not sure about knuckle bruising, but Tsurugi does have injuries from...falling down the stairs. A couple of other people do too, but I think he's the only one who also has dark hair.

[a shrug] Honestly, I still don't know how the role weapon invisibility is supposed to work. But if Hibiki had a knife, he might have tried to use it.

[godly]

[He's going to agree with you, because this seems be leaning towards being the case.]