THE FIRST TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST TRIAL

[Almost as soon as the investigation is over, a loud DING echoes through the mall.

The elevator doors in the food court, before completely inaccessible, have now opened for the Titled. It will not close until every last Titled has gotten in. Nor will everyone have to wait long for potential stragglers; a thought comes to everyone's mind, a realization that they need to get into the elevator. They need to go.

They need to find out who did this.

The elevator is a small freight elevator inside, and its just big enough to fit everyone in it. After a short ride, the elevator opens...

And they are on the roof. Despite it clearly not being that late in the day, the roof seems to be surrounded by an air of cool, perpetual sunset. Beyond that, good luck making out what's beyond the roof - there seems to be a city, but it's utterly unidentifiable. Not that anyone can jump off the roof to try and get closer - there is a translucent barrier surrounding the roof that is utterly impenetrable.

The main attraction of the roof, however, is not the fuzzy landscape beyond. It's the large, stepped circular platform which is a mere ten paces from the elevator. On this platform are 15 podiums, surrounding a large, empty, circular floor. Instantly every phone pings, giving everyone their platform assignment based on their bedroom number. And - upon arriving at their designated podium - they will find a dock for their phone to slide into. As soon as they do so the XAMINE app will pop up, revealing everyone's findings regarding the murder.

Not Wake, though. His podium is lower, and bare save for a white cloth.

Still, everyone - including Ren, who will find that whoever arranged this whole deal has given him a chair to sit in - will need their strength. Which is why each Stranger also has a bento box lunch, carefully prepared, waiting for them at their podium. Each meal is tailored to every Stranger's specific tastes and allergies, as best as a bent box meal can be. It even comes with a cup of their favorite drink.

So, take a few bites, take a few breaths, and get ready, Titled.

The trial for the murder of Wake Archus, The Feeling, has begun.]

Comments

[incrediblystressedout]

Um. Yeah. In the steak place, the drawer near where Ren found the pills was covered in blood specks. It was really gross. There were also a lot of bloody napkins in the trash nearby, like someone tried to clean up after a messy fight.

Oh, and there was a half-empty glass of water with something in it. I guess someone could have ground up sleeping pills in that? It's sorta how we give medicine to the dog at home, so...

[foolishjustice]

That was most likely what the culprit used as a blunt instrument. The facial wound was bleeding, which would be consistent with being hit by the corner of a hard object.

If he only drank half of the water, that would also explain why the culprit needed to go to such effort. They may have intended for him to drink all of it before he noticed the effects.

[incrediblystressedout]

So...the killer tries to knock him out with sleeping pills, fails, then beats him up with a counter drawer? I guess that makes sense, but then why drag him next door for that Rube Goldberg electrocution setup?

[foolishjustice]

That's the part where I'm uncertain. There are any number of simpler ways to kill an unconscious victim, so the electrocution was a deliberate choice. Ordinarily, I would call this the sign of a particularly cruel culprit, however...with the victim entirely senseless, the pain of the actual death would be irrelevant.

[thegreenhornet]

Then the killer must have done this to make us all be confused. We'd be trying to think why he was electrocuted instead of who attacked him.

[Or something like that]

[incrediblystressedout]

Yeah...we just have to figure out who did it, right? Although figuring out who would do it that way and why might be our best lead on that anyway...

[foolishjustice]

We should also consider who could have done it in the first place. At the very least, they would have been capable of dragging Archus-san. However, if they were particularly strong, they would have been able to avoid the drag marks by simply carrying him instead.

[totalbullshit]

They also appear to be medium size in clothing. There was a thrown away bloody T-shirt in the food court. I assume it was worn when they were dragging Wake, to avoid his head staining their normal clothing.

[notgentle]

You put those things together and you get someone who was just barely strong enough to drag Wake once he was passed out.

[foolishjustice]

Meaning we can exclude both the particularly weak and the particularly athletic, as well as especially small or uncommonly large.

[beguiledcard]

Then one place to start would be to find out what size shirt everyone wears.

[theirmagic]

Well... I'd be happy to provide if it will help?

[ Her shirt size is a medium, but only because of... you know. Bust. Otherwise, it's women's sizing. ]

[scienceofmagic]

...I wear a medium sized shirt, but...

[ Listen does she look like she's that strong? ]

[incrediblystressedout]

Wake was kind of an average-sized guy. I wouldn't have been able to lift him, but I think most of us could have dragged him if we really had to? But they also needed to be strong enough to knock him out with a drawer, even if he was groggy from half a glass of dissolved sleeping pills...

...oh! We can rule out Ursula. She has a bad left arm. I can't imagine dragging him one-handed, or any way to hit him with the drawer without also holding him up.

Er, not that I can imagine Ursula killing anyone, ever, anyway.

[theirmagic]

... Thanks, Joey.

[ Small smile. ]

Unfortunately, this really only rules out me and you, doesn't it? Maybe also Miss Torri. I'm not sure she could have done it.

[theirmagic]

If you want to say capability, I couldn't have.

I have a bad arm. I can't hold someone of his weight. Riding a broom is no problem, but...

[ She pauses. ]

I think some of you have already seen for yourselves.

[byanyother_name]

I'm sorry to say I both wear a medium and currently fit in the appropriate strength bracket. [He could have carried Wake if he had his demon ki, but he doesn't.]

I don't wear t-shirts but that's far too easy a throwaway to actually mean anything.

[eyesofdespair]

You know, looking at the profiles, there's something interesting. We have someone with a power to summon a bolt of lightning.

[thegreenhornet]

[Britt thinks about it for a moment]

Yeah...we do? Uh, then what if that was what killed Wake, and the killer strung him into this electrocution mess to hide that?

[theirmagic]

...!

[ Oh shit. ]

That's actually an incredible thought. It would explain the need for all of that, wouldn't it? And perhaps the wire was set the way it was to make the body's finder look like the culprit.

[eyesofdespair]

It's a possibility that could be worth exploring to better understand why this choice. Either she's the one who did it, or the culprit could be attempting to frame her.

[totalbullshit]

Look, I haven't tried out that power once yet. Obviously, I can't prove this one way or another, but I'll give you my word.

Still, wouldn't the scorch marks on his body be entirely different if he was hit by a bolt?

[notgentle]

That's right. Wake has electric wounds where the wires are, and only there. So at best, she jolted the water. But there's already a radio in the water. If she was going to all the effort of putting a radio in there to make us think anyone could have done it, she might as well actually let the electronic radio be the coup de gras. The only reason to use the jolt would be if she had to finish him off faster. Wake was almost definitely unconscious and not struggling, not to mention the culprit probably wanted us to think Wake died at the moment Ursula tripped the wire. So the culprit had all the time in the world.

[foolishjustice]

I can confirm that the wires were certainly the conduit. The victim's left wrist had one wrapped around it, and had sustained severe electrical burns.

[scienceofmagic]

She's right. Even then, I'm not sure he'd have the time needed to electrocute someone to death. It'd need to be either a big charge or prolonged, I'm pretty sure.