THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL

[Soon after the failed attempt to contact the dead, the tell-tale alarm suddenly rings out, rattling everyone's teeth alongside Marie's voice.]

ATTENTION! EMERGENCY ALERT! PLEASE GO TO THE ELEVATORS IMMEDIATELY!! HMHMHMMM! I WILL NEVER GET TIRED OF SAYING THAT...!

[And so, once again, the elevators bring everyone back down to the trial room, where the table has been...altered, slightly, color-wise, to reflect those who are no longer among you. And once more, upon entering the force field, weapons disappear - and powers fail to work.

Bottson hops up onto the center of the table, transmitting the evidence found.]

heRe yOU Are eVerYBOdy! THe sUsPECt lISt!



YoU cAN Do THiS!


[Above everyone once more is Marie, floating around in her hover platform.]

WELL, WELL! FANCY MEETING YOU ALL HERE AGAIN! I GUESS YOU ALL FAILED TO KEEP THAT GUY ALIVE, HUH?? AHAHAHA!!

WELL, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN GET WHO DID IT THIS TIME, HMM??

Comments

[losergod]

We very well may be. Although I found it very odd the Onsen room had no signs of bleeding otherwise if that's the case, either the water washed away the blood or the wound was shallow enough that it barely dripped.

[theserpentsmiles]

There was only a little blood on the knife. A small wound would fit, right?

[losergod]

Yes, actually. Do you have pictures of the knife in question? If I see it, I could compare it to my notes on the wound.

[ He's still traditionalist, he took very thorough notes, just... on his wristband thing this time. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

Yeah, I took pictures. [They should be with the rest of the compiled evidence.] The knife in question was a small kitchen knife.

[losergod]

... Let me see if I can compare anything from this. I doubt I'll find anything useful, though. I unfortunately lack a visualization on the culprit's actual wound, but...

[ He's going to look at it anyway. ]

... Just from comparison perspective, it could possibly be the weapon that injured the culprit.

[theserpentsmiles]

....Should we check everyone for injuries?

[STRIP SEARCH.]

[losergod]

[ Stares at all the arguing. About people trying to kick people in the face-- ]

... The wound was shallow, but I believe there is a chance there would still be a very recent mark. And I don't think anyone here has healing powers. So...

Yes. I think we should conduct a search.

[ SIGH. ]

[fashionfever]

What's odd is that there's so few signs of bleeding when there are so many sharp objects in the picture. Taking it for granted Rosenkreuz wielded the knives, it looks like the culprit was fast or something.

[crouching_sin]

Several of our suspects are quite nimble...

[vividsins]

Not me. My job requires charm, not speed. If it had come to a fight between myself and Rosenkreuz, you'd all be examining my corpse. I only cleared the laser room because of my ability. I largely just walked across normally.

[fashionfever]

But your ability sure would go a long way towards explaining why there are multiple knives, a guy with multiple arms to hold all of them at once, and just one bloodied knife.

In fact, only three of his hands were holding things - that matches up perfectly with two absorbed jabs and one that hit home.

[vividsins]

Three hits. I can take three hits before my ability stops working. And again, why would I kill Rosenkreuz over this motive? I'd not be fast enough to do any damage, nor can I reach his face.

[ The most unamused look ever. ]

Do try to be accurately informed unless you're trying to make a fool of yourself, Miss Angela.

[fashionfever]

I don't watch a lot of Law and Order, but I'm not going to take the character argument seriously. It might even have been the victim who set the trap in the first place anyway, and you'd just be turning the tables in defense of your own life.

[vividsins]

Miss Angela. Do you have any evidence it was me beyond you wanting it to be me? When I cannot reach that height, and I'm willing to and have already attempted to prove it? And again, if it came between Rosenkreuz and me, I'd be the dead one here. I'm not a fighter in the least, really. Even had I tried, I would have failed. I'm not nimble, and I'm not going to be able to stand up against a trained knight. He would have gotten much more than three hits in on me even with my shield, because he knows how to use a weapon and I do not.

[losergod]

... Miss Napoli, all the suspects are just as likely at this point. And you don't see me harshly interrogating them.

If we want to find some kind of proof, we're better off checking him for wounds. Stop letting your dislike of people cloud your vision.

[fashionfever]

I never said, "Hey, everyone, let's vote for Baku." I'm just trying to point out his ability might balance out his weaknesses and the character defense isn't a big deal. Naoya's the only other one doing anything like that, trying to rule himself out? Like, as a night owl? And Passe took care of that for me.

[theserpentsmiles]

That, or some knives were brought later. I found about nine knives, Rosenkreuz-san and one other person could easily hold a maximum of six. Additionally, they weren't all from one place.

[fashionfever]

Even then, only one bloody knife is odd. You'd expect at least two, one for each regular person's hand.

If you're with me that the saboteur moved the knives, that could be where the kitchen knives came from to make it look like a mutual fight broke out in there. Looking at the resources, the culprit's television and combat knives for Rosenkreuz are what you'd really need.

Though just for the record, he liked to take extra knives out of sheaths, you know? It was more expendable to him than his main weapon of a sword. It's not impossible all eight are his.

[losergod]

... He was Christian Rosenkreuz, this comes as little shock to me, really.

[ Side-eye. ]

Historically speaking, anyway. I don't really claim to know how different his world was, considering he seemed a bit... odder than the stories you hear about the famous founder of the Rosicrucian Order. I think it's very likely the weapons mostly belonged to Mister Rosenkreuz. The problem then becomes, how can we be sure it wasn't another incident like the last one?

[theserpentsmiles]

If there were no injuries on Rosenkreuz-san, then it follows that he was using the kitchen knife. He only hit once, most likely only grazing his opponent... If the blood was on his shoulder, then either his opponent was taller or he was already fighting from a lower angle. I think the latter is more likely.

All that considered, I think we're looking for someone very agile, who could have avoided multiple knives and possibly have been airborne when struck.

[fashionfever]

The lower angle makes way more sense. Is there any other good reason to kick him in the face, not square in the chest? It's so much more effort, it'd point to their strengths.

[tiefleaf]

[Molly, being in the goddamn circus, is pretty light on his feet, so this is concerning.]

Maybe the knives were used to cut something out, mostly? Or just generally for any kind of non stabby reason.

[theserpentsmiles]

[Molly does look pretty suspicious, but...]

...it's starting to look like someone's trying to frame you. You were sleeping in this morning, right?

[tiefleaf]

...well,yeah. You saw me.