( TRIAL - WEEK 4 )

[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, but due to a certain someone who I shall not name [he's still pissed] — today's trial will take place by the pool. 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 Outdoor Dining Area 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. Due the Kitchen and Dining Hall getting wrecked, lunch and dinner will mostly consist of grilled and barbecued menu items. Hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, and items that require little preparation — all the residents have to do is ask in order to receive. Similarly, all beverages will be retrieved from a hundred quart cooler that has been placed by the side of the pool. Not as fancy as usual, but at least the pool is clean now. Some inflatable pool toys lazily swim in the water, along with pool noodles. Every now and then, the waters will vibrate to the sound of buzz saws and assorted power tools. Looks like the Disposal Room, Dining Hall and Kitchen are under reparations. A tent has been placed over the area to shield the residents from the sun, and to make up from the lack of transparencies everyone will receive a small booklet containing each resident's profile. They look a little bit like shitty PowerPoint presentation handouts, but maybe it's part of the charm. The profiles of the deceased are included, as always. A second tent has been set up in the parking lot, complete with an air conditioning on the inside. Its use will become rapidly apparent once the victims corpses have 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 their table; a trash bin is available outside of the tent for this purpose. Evidence found during the investigation, on the other hand, will be displayed in a table by the pool shed. Any items found by the residents on Friday will be displayed here for further examination. Finally — one of the grandfather clocks has been kidnapped from its respective floor to show the current hour. Please do remember you have until 9:00 PM to figure out whodunit and cast your vote. And if anyone tries to leave the area before the trial is over? They'll discover an invisible wall blocking their path. ( 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 Pool/Outdoor Dining Area (the pool shed will also be locked), 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

SET THE SCENE??

[splinten]

[Dirk, FROM THE POOL WHERE HE IS JUST TREADING WATER BECAUSE I WANT HIM TO HAVE A CRAZY STRAW, is drinking out of a crazy straw without the enthusiasm that such a thing deserves. He stops.]

Description of the different scenes would probably not be a stupid idea. I'll start:

The leaf in the hallway was on the ground.

[God just kill him.]

[disinterested]

Fascinating. I sketched out the general layout of Apollo and L'Arachel's murders, if anyone wants to see.

[Holding up his notepad!]

[rextenebrae]

... I would like to see that, yes.

[ That would be certainly helpful!! ]

[disinterested]

[He hands over his notepad, in which he jotted down/drew down details from the investigation, like where blood splatter was, or the relative height of L'Arachel's impalement, etc. Stuff he figured wouldn't be obvious in the trial, basically. Also, a copy of the bloody message in the original handwriting, or at least as close as he could make it.]

[splinten]

[Thumbs up for Girge that was a great idea.]

[thawedheart]

[dirk are you... okay, buddy]

I didn't see any of the bodies, but... Suzaku-san and I found a cleaver buried in the garden. It wasn't there earlier in the week...

[thawedheart]

Yes, that's the one. The faceless men took it from us when we were on our way back.

[potentite]

[Oh no poor boyfriend. Jake will pet him when he comes out at least.

But right now he's busy being a gun freak so.]

[splinten]

[nah he's good here

Also it's hot out there and a lot of people are crowded in one place. The water is more comfortable.]

[potentite]

[Dirk please.

But Jake agrees? tbh he'll probably join him once he's done with his gun shit.]

[ninjay]

I am sure you're all aware of how we lack a kitchen now. It was still burning when I showed up yesterday, and the staff had to put the fire out. Aloy's... remains were buried under debris.

[ he stepped on them. ]

[pinesfortruth]

[where is Dipper to shame Dirk for his blatant disrepect to the tri--

he is sitting on the edge with his shoes and socks off. he's still got his notepad out but he is also chilling.]

Middle of the hallway, technically.

[splinten]

[Correct. How dare he be inaccurate. He gives Dipper a thumbs up for his dedication to accuracy.]

[lohengrins]

There was dirt on the soles of Ryou's shoes. He had to have been in the botanical garden at some point, so that leaf may very well give us some chance at mapping out a path.

If I had to assume, I'd say he...or whoever was pursuing him went to the second floor — for whatever reason.

[pinesfortruth]

There was a cleaver in the botanical garden, right? It's a stretch, but if the leaf was hanging onto the bottom of the shoe so long, there might be an imprint left on the ... shoe... dirt.

[lohengrins]

There was a large crack in the ceiling of the lounge, and the future had been knocked over. Alongside this, there'd been a splatter of blood in the parking lot.

The pattern of the blood stain indicated that it was released at a high pressure — meaning it was likely the result of a gunshot.

[nowyouseeit]

. . . [DIRK. . .]

Kaiba was found in the lobby, near the front desk. His body was on fire. There was a trail of blood connecting the outdoor hallway to the indoor hallway, past the Lobby, but it didn't touch Kaiba's corpse so 'm not sure it was left by him.

There was also lighter fluid in the shape of a handprint smudged on the wall leading to the hallway.

One bullet found on the scene. It's the type of bullet one might find in a handgun.

[disinterested]

Lighter fluid—that's... something like oil, correct?

[??? someone's from a world that doesn't use oil much anymore]

[nowyouseeit]

[GIRGE. . .]

[he had to fuckin' sniff the lighter fluid thanks to the metatext it was awful??? feel sorry for him]

Yeah, that's right. It's highly flammable, and I assume it was used to set Kaiba's body on fire.

Likely to try'n mask the true cause of death.

[disinterested]

[thanks for taking one for the team, kaito]

Or they're taking inspiration from Mira's theatrics. But yeah, that seems to be likely.

[godly]

I think it's fair to say that someone was using the fire to cover up evidence. Beyond that, I don't think he died from the bullet wounds.

Kaiba's wrist is broken; an injury potentially caused by trying to defend himself from whoever smashed his head in. It doesn't make sense for him to have been injured in such a way before he was shot.

[nowyouseeit]

[he nods!]

That was my first assumption when I saw his body, but I didn't get a chance to look at it more closely to make sure.

[hn. . . he lapses into contemplative silence, hand pressed against his chin]

. . . if Kaiba was defending himself in a fight, then it could've been the blow to the head that killed him. Everything else might've been an afterthought.

[godly]

[He nods.]

And there were no exit wounds for the bullets, either. [He had been around Kaiba's body the same time this was being checked, so.]

This might indicate that he was shot after he was already dead, with his back on the ground. In which case, someone is trying to cover up the true cause of death -- but why?