Trial 2

[jinglehellmods]

WHO KILLED CHRISTMAS?

Four hours pass yet again. Thug Dangerzone and Brasco move all the tables together (with no help from Starshine), and once again the dining room becomes a makeshift trial center. Poor Diana's body is carefully laid out on one of the tables. She's covered by a sheet, because frankly her corpse looks a little nauseating, but she's there if anyone needs to look at her.

On each spot at the table is a some cookies and apple cider, and that basket sits remains cheery and present at the center of the tavle. Next to the food is a pen and a small notebook, like the kind they use on police procedural.

After everyone is seated, or at least standing awkwardly around, Brasco stands up on a chair. "I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed in you all," he says, and you get the sense he honestly means it. "This is way, way more murders than we wanted here! By a significant margin! But at least justice can be served a little. Me and Princess and Thug were looking around some after you guys finished, and we narrowed it down to five different suspects. So figure it out! You've got all day. Go vote when you're sure, and remember: this isn't a joke. Make sure you get it right. When we've got a majority vote, or when it gets too late, we'll decide.

Ready? Start!"

 

19 GUESTS REMAIN

ic profiles | locations | voting

Comments

some murder weapons?

[transparentanswer]

Oh...Uh...I...

[Right, right. Evidence. With shaky hands, Shintaro places a heavy, wooden nutcracker onto the table. The nutcracker is partly burned and has remnants of blood around the burned portion.

Next, he places down next to it a Half-melted knife.]

For her head...and her throat, I'd guess. They tried to hide the evidence by burning it. Whoever did this was trying really hard to cover up their tracks. Everything was so clean aside from the sink in Room 1 and...

[Third up, he places down a cloth, a piece of what was once a shirt. The cloth has been drenched in blood and ash to the point where you cannot make out what color it was originally.]

They used this. Which they also tried to destroy. And given that I found all of this stuff, I'm certainly not guilty of trying to hide anything.

The nutcracker is from Room 9 which belongs to Sugimoto and Chuuya. The knife must be from the kitchen.

Diana was good to me. I would never hurt her.

[doublesmall]

Or, you knew where to find it and thought discovering it would make you look less suspicious. That doesn't automatically make you innocent.

[happydreamed]

Chuuya.

[Just. Mildly chiding there.]

Clothing damage... May I have a look at both of your shirts? As well as the other suspects'.

[doublesmall]

What?

[is he wrong, kantera.

but fine, fine. chuuya rolls his eyes and pulls his sweater back off, passing it over; he's still wearing the other shirt underneath, and it isn't missing any fabric.

also the sweater is fine, he hasn't been walking around with a hole in it.]

[happydreamed]

[Kantera gives the shirt a good look-over, then nods and returns Chuuya his sweater.]

Perhaps consider being a tad more gentle to those in distress.

[codeofmisconduct]

[You can see his shirt as well. There is no damage to either article he was given.]

[transparentanswer]

If I found the nutcracker before anyone else did, it would've made way more sense to just burn the entire thing than to leave it as possibly incriminating evidence.

[originallutece]

Unless it wouldn't burn.

[doublesmall]

I would absolutely believe those hell toys don't burn completely.

[transparentanswer]

Do you know that it wouldn't burn?

[thedifferencebetween]

Look, you can say what you want, but...people lie. I don't know you, I don't know if your word is any good. And pretty much nobody's word is good when they're accused of murder. Who's gonna go to the effort to try and hide it and then turn around and say 'yup, I did it!'?

And actually it's pretty normal for serial killers to involve themselves in the investigation and offer clues and tips, to throw investigators off the scent.

Just saying.

[transparentanswer]

I'm not a––

Fine. Fine. But the evidence is all here. I just want...I just want to find out who killed my friend.

[thedifferencebetween]

Hey, I'm not saying you did it, I'm just pointing out that your own defenses aren't really good ones.

And I already know which one of our options didn't do it, thanks to something a little more substantial than just claiming they didn't.

[transparentanswer]

And how do you know that?

[letstrythatagain]

Shin. Can I call you Shin?

[Because his name is long and- you know what? That doesn't matter here. She's just going to offer him a hand, like before.]

If you can honestly tell me you didn't do it, then I'll believe you.

[transparentanswer]

[When she calls him Shin, he sinks down into his seat. His composure shifts as her looks over to Lean with tired, red eyes.]

You can.

That's what...Diana had been calling me. [This time, this time it's much easier to simply grasp onto her hand without even thinking about it.]

I didn't.

[letstrythatagain]

[She nods at that, both to acknowledge that she believes his words and to show that she gets what he's telling her with the rest of that.]

I believe you.

[transparentanswer]

[Thank you. He squeezes her hand.]

I'm...thinking about the motive. We haven't talked about it. It would've made someone act desperate. Desperate enough to hurt her as gruesomely as they did. We had been talking about it being someone stealing someone's face, or how being replaced was a bad thing for you.

I think that...being replaced is a bad thing for someone else. I talked to Hans, the night before he died. He mentioned to me that getting "replaced" would mean putting one of your loved ones in here instead of you. Well, Hans didn't have anyone like that, and neither do I.

Someone was trying to protect someone by killing Diana.

[starblessed]

[Shintaro's distress is evident--Lunafreya comes over to him, resting her hand on his shoulder. It's not an attempt to get him to calm down; more she hopes to bolster his courage and give him strength.]

I believe you, Shintaro.

The kitchen was only missing one knife when I went in to fetch water for Dorian. It appears this was the paring knife.

Let us not accuse each other rashly of such deeds. There must be an explanation for everything if we work to put the pieces together.

[acherontiastyx]

Yeah, um. I noticed that knife missing last night around midnight when I went to get some goodies for a snack?

[starblessed]

Around midnight? [Her eyes shift downward, considering what this means in light of all the other evidence.]

Then it seems as though this murder was premeditated, if the culprit waited until Diana entered the showers.

[It's so disappointing to think that they can be swayed so easily... but if it's as Thug said, she can only lament--not condemn.]

You didn't notice any blood on the stairs when you returned upstairs last night, did you?

[acherontiastyx]

I don't think I did? But I was kinda groggy, so I might've missed it.

[transparentanswer]

[His shoulder twitches when she touches it but...He doesn't move away, not this time. He wishes he had just hugged and comforted Diana last week despite his own issues. Now she's dead.]

Someone took that knife, and presumably used it on her throat, then.





...Thank you, Luna.

[starblessed]

[It's a very real smile Lunafreya offers him, in spite of the situation: she's used to being a guiding light for the people, someone looked to in times of strife. The ability to smile in the face of darkness... it's a lesson she learned long ago.

(And there's only one other person that's ever called her "Luna," so if the smile is slightly bittersweet... well, she can't be blamed, can she?)]

The most we can do for Diana now is to bring her killer to light. Take courage; this will not go unanswered.

[transparentanswer]

...I know. [He says it with a soft sigh, and certainly not his usual annoyance. Lunafreya too, reminds him of someone––something bittersweet in its own right.]

I'm not going to let them get away with this. I found all of these clues because I need to give her justice, let her Rest In Peace...

We're going to figure this out...