THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL
(~SK. 10-11)


[Once the investigation wraps up, Zero's voice emanates once more throughout the Gigantic. The doors to the theater on both the C Deck and D Deck open as he speaks. And yes, when people come in through the C Deck Doors, they will find they can access the lower level from the stairs.

Yay?]

It is time. Come to the theater.

I wouldn't worry about bringing blankets.

[And indeed, when the Strangers come into the theater, they will find that the room is considerably warmer compared to the rest of the ship. There are also changes to the podiums-John, Anya and Kaito's places are all draped in black.

The screens schlllorrrp back in, with Zero's face appearing after a moment of static.]

Of course I am here for any questions. But I believe you know how this goes, so I suggest you begin. Justice delayed is...justice denied.

[The trial for Kaito Momota, The High King, has begun.]

Comments

[godspiousjasper]

[ As usual, being blessed with the ability to see certain things is something he wished he didn't have but hey. Either way, he is here alongside his motive and little Vanitas' doll which he's placed on the podium. ]

Whoever it is that killed Kaito must have planned things in advance and were very deliberate in their intentions as both the cut that killed him and the cut to his thigh were very deep and clean cuts. Nothing accidental about it.

[ He then placed a hand on his chest. ]

However, I am still trying to figure out what exactly happened with the odd bruising and the broken rib in his chest and why all the fingers on his one hand were broken.

[exequte]

Do... do you know when the injuries happened?

The autopsy report says he died of exsanguination, so the crushing damage was probably... after. But... his hand....

[She really, really doesn't want to ask what if someone tortured him, because saying it would somehow make it real, but....

But what if?]

If you had an idea of what happened pre or post mortem, that... might narrow things down.

[godspiousjasper]

From what I could surmise, the wound to his leg happened before he died but it's a lot harder to figure out when the injuries to his hand occurred.

[ He offered a soft, wry smile. This can't be easy for her to be dealing with right now. ]

I hope that helps, Miss Akane.

[exequte]

Then....

Did... did the cut to his leg hit the femoral artery? Because if it did... then why would they have cut the carotid artery too?

[Also mmm no she hates that answer.]

Then... then maybe he really was tortured before he was killed.

[This is all getting to be a bit much.]

[godspiousjasper]

I admit i'm not quite familiar with the body to such an extent, just that it was clean and deep.

[ Oh. He looked sympathetic, expression a bit sad now. ]

I would hope not. That would be incredibly cruel for someone to do that to another human being.

[valkavian]

I dunno about you, I wouldn't just let someone clean-cut me like they were carving a damn Thanksgiving turkey without some kinda fight.

So maybe whoever did it tried to restrain him, or fight 'im off, or...something.

[godspiousjasper]

That would make sense. Kaito did strike me as the type who wouldn't just let himself be hurt, but the hit to his leg suggests someone wanted to incapacitate him since there's a lot of nerves there and if he can't run? He's easier to kill that way.

[ As someone who's killed a lot of vampires he has some experience in knowing things like this. ]

[valkavian]

Maybe they tried holding him down? We don't exactly have extremerestraints.com on this ship.

[superstylishsquid]

Or pinned him under the slot machine. It'd already been moved by the time I got there, so I don't know if his leg and throat would've been accessible.

[yesorwoof]

That is unfortunate and strange. Do you believe that it is possible the cut to his leg was intended to prevent him from running, and the cut to his throat was intended to end his life, with haste if not mercy?

If the cut to his leg was inflicted after such a fatal wound to the neck, that is confusing...

[godspiousjasper]

From what I could figure out, the cut to his leg happened before he died. So I could believe it was used to prevent him from running, though with how deep the cut is to his throat? It seems definitely hasty and not so much out of mercy but I could be reading it wrong.

[ Again it was all just musing and making guesses here based on how the injuries here looked. He just hoped it would help lead to finding whoever it is killed Kaito. ]

[voidseeing]

Broken fingers? Sounds like someone might have tortured him to me.

[exequte]

I-it depends on if it was pre or post mortem....

[Things she Doesn't Want To Think Happened: That.

... but he's right, and she can't deny it entirely.]

[voidseeing]

We could check for bruising to be sure.

[godspiousjasper]

His fingers were indeed bruised, but it was hard to figure out when they were broken.

[not_a_lego_maniac]

.......Why? Why do that?!

[voidseeing]

Why does anyone torture someone else? To get them to talk.

[not_a_lego_maniac]

But...but does it even work?

[valkavian]

Christ almighty, people here have got to know that shit doesn't work.

Unless we got a Billie on our hands.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

Depends on the situation and the person in question, really.

[....Moriarty.]

[pegasinister]

I can confirm: physical torture rarely leads to useful information. Threats, bribes and chemical aids are much more effective.

[yesorwoof]

What is a Billie?

If the person knew it would not work, perhaps they were simply angry due to their perception of Momota-kun.

[autonomousthought]

[Sometimes, you are stuck as a zombie. And sometimes, it is very, very cold.

And sometimes. Sometimes both of those things are true at once, and you avoid the warmer places because they are moisture-heavy and you smell bad, and you maybe freeze over a little tiny bit.

Ritsu is starting to thaw out, since the trial room is warm. She has doll!Nise with her, in hand.]

Could the rib have been broken by the slot machine?

[godspiousjasper]

With the weight of it, I suppose that could be possible as those things are quite heavy and there's no way it could land on someone without causing that much harm.

[ Though for him he's trying to figure out the timeline of events here, more than anything else. Why would someone do that unless they were trying to incapacitate him somehow.. unless it was a cover-up. ]

[yesorwoof]

Do you think it is possible that the slot machine falling would have broken only one rib? And that the bruising would be patterned?