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

[fashionfever]

That pile of knives we found probably belonged to Rosenkreuz.

Someone besides Rosenkreuz was injured with a sharp object.
The scalpel didn't have even a trace of blood on it.
The knives are the only other sharp object we found.
Rosenkreuz practiced a lot using his multiple arms and knives.

And why would the murderer strip a television, keep a scalpel around, and bring so many knives?

That "saboteur" probably took the knives into the arcade. The one Akira was talking about. There wasn't really a fight in the arcade - it's not where the stripped television was, and it's not where Rosenkreuz successfully drew blood. Someone probably left the crime scene soaking wet with that robe and the damp washcloth - but a different suspicious person might be the one who left the crime scene in the elevator, and that person mostly just removing the knives makes perfect sense. We already know adding knives is that guy's MO, it's the next step.

[vividsins]

To be fair, the scalpel was in the water. But you're right. The scalpel is more a culprit for stripping the wires. Speaking of which, someone wanted that water electrified badly. Not only did they strip the television, they seem to have added extra stripped wire.

[fashionfever]

We didn't find the wire casing, either. The person must have been totally at leisure for several minutes when he was stripping the wires and wrapping them around.

[vividsins]

It was either Rosenkreuz or our killer. Either way, there was no reason to kick him into the water unless they knew it was electrified. The moment he was in, he wasn't going to get out until the charge was removed from the picture. A... Gruesome way to die, honestly, and one I feel no one deserves.

[losergod]

If you're proposing it's the same person who messed with Akira's crimescene, that might make more sense of the evidence. The arcade pictures make it look like a mess, but the whole thing clearly happened in the onsen room.

[fashionfever]

Yeah, the person who stole lots of whips. Where the hell are they hiding them? Do they have asecret room or something? Or is their roommate in on it?

[losergod]

It's... a good question. But consider this: a whole set of floors we couldn't access showed up after the last trial. It's possible there's floors only they could access, or maybe they just found more floors we can't get to yet.

Maybe they're being paid off by the Commander.

[mementodagger]

Can we really be certain nothing happened in the arcade? If Rosenkreuz was rendered unconscious in there, he could have been moved to the bath.

[losergod]

If that's the case, then why the kick to his face?

[mementodagger]

What if the kick is how they did it? A hard blow to the head would be enough to leave someone unconscious.

[losergod]

In that case, the kick had to have been from someone who could put enough force behind it to knock him out. Need I remind you, he was over six feet tall.

[mementodagger]

If someone was limber enough to kick him in the face, I don't doubt they'd also be strong enough to put that much force into the blow.

[fashionfever]

There's no sleeping pills. If anyone did physically knock him out it's with a kick to the face, but if he fell on the hard floor of the arcade and not into the water, why no bruise on the back of his head? Like, an exit wound. The culprit was wounding his body in the first place, it's not like they were avoiding touching him.

[losergod]

There were no signs of bruising on his head or anywhere aside from his face. He fell directly into the pool. Believe me, I thought of that immediately and checked.

[mementodagger]

It could depend on how he fell. I've seen enough people struck to the ground in a fight where their shoulders or back take the brunt of the blow instead of their head.

[losergod]

If the shoulders or anywhere else took some kind of damage, there would still be signs on his body. They might potentially have been somewhat covered up by the--

[ He makes a face. ]

... Electrocution, but I think I would have been able to see any bruising.

[mementodagger]

[Yurick sighs.]

I can't say I've examined corpses for the purpose of discerning wounds and causes of death, so I believe you.

[earietale]

[...what happened to Angela???]

Um, I think your right that he went to the bathroom. There was a water trail from the bath house to the woman's bathroom. It was probably made by whoever did it.

[fashionfever]

[BAD

THINGS]

What I wouldn't give to know what they cleaned off. That towel was like a – it was bad. Obviously only put there like five minutes later. Was it just to clean themselves?

[earietale]

I...think it might be different. He was found in the bath house, and for some reason a bucket of cold water gets dumped on you when you enter. Maybe they just wanted to dry off?

[fashionfever]

In that case... [looking uncomfortable because SHE DOESN'T WANT IT TO COME TO THIS, SHE WANTS TO BE SO MUCH MORE THAN THE PATHETIC DESIGNER, BUT:] What happened to the clothes they were wearing?

[crouching_sin]

It's an onsen. You're either naked or in a towel.

[backuphero]

That bathrobe was soaked. If they put that on, then went in...

[fashionfever]

Not necessarily? Is there an actual rule and not just an expectation? The party who discovered the body seemed dressed, right?

[earietale]

Well, they would've been damp from the water, un...unless...

...you...you don't think...they were naked, do you?

[SHE SUDDENLY REGRETS EVERYTHING]