THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL


[Soon enough, once the final clues have been uncovered, the telltale DING echoes through the Mall. The elevator in the food court has opened once more, and it will not close until all of the remaining Titled have gotten in it. And, as before, a thought comes to them, the realization that they needed to get on the roof, and get to the bottom of this.

Soon enough, everyone is back on the roof, and they will find that their platform arrangement has changed to reflect those who had died since last week. The podiums of Dio, Torri, and Yuuri are each all lowered and covered with white cloths. Otherwise, everyone else's platforms also have food and drinks, just like last week.

It's probably still not much comfort, especially with what everyone knows must happen. They must look at the evidence they have gathered, and once more, they will have to figure out the truth, putting their lives on the line to do so. Hopefully, their luck will hold.

So, get ready.

The trial for the murders of Torri Feiji, The Bliss, and Yuuri Katsuki, The Future, has begun.]

Comments

[totalbullshit]

[ Helena looks.... upset. Her hair is more of a mess than usual and before she speaks, you can see her biting her lip harshly. ]

I think there is one thing we should clear up first of all. Are we looking for one culprit or two who acted independently?

[incrediblystressedout]

Just based on the fact that they were killed in almost the same way and how the store looked like the end of a chase scene, I'm pretty sure one person killed Yuuri, then killed Torri because she witnessed it.

[foolishjustice]

[Akechi pauses to give Torri's podium next to his a frown before he takes his place. Once again, he's ignoring the provided drink in favor of his own conjured coffee.]

I investigated Feiji-san's remains. The cause of death was very clear, a single, hasty cut to the throat. It looked as though she fled the killer, using her power to delay them and knocking over displays in the process, then put up something of a struggle when they caught her. The dresses around her corpse were disorganized, as though they had been knocked off and hastily replaced, and she had a bruise on the underside of her wrist.

It's all fairly straightforward, there was a deleted photo on her phone, so she probably caught the culprit in the act and was able to take a photo. The culprit then chased her, removed the witness, and destroyed the evidence. The strange part...is that there was also gauze around her neck. It almost looked like someone tried to stop her from bleeding out, except there was so little blood on it that she must have been nearly dead anyway by the time they put it there.

[thegreenhornet]

I found a knife in the trash in the bathroom in the men's bathroom. That must be what killed Torri, so that means the culprit is a guy!

[theirmagic]

... Why would someone do that if they wanted to erase a witness to their murder?

[incrediblystressedout]

I mean...points for trying, there? Does anyone here want to say anything about putting the gauze on? Presumably that person either isn't the killer or immediately felt bad about it and should confess anyway.

[incrediblystressedout]

Hey um, just so everyone knows, I picked up Yuuri's cell phone on the way here. XAMINE wasn't asking for more evidence, but I can try submitting it if anyone thinks it's relevant. I just didn't think it was a good idea to leave a key to a locked room just lying around, when I thought about it.

I kinda already went over all the actual evidence I found, so...

[cw: detailed discussion of slit throat and other injuries]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama hesitates for a moment before speaking up, glancing at Akira next to him. But the evidence needs to be addressed no matter what effect it will have.

So he takes a sip of his tea, breathes, and speaks, eyes going cold and hard.]

I examined Katsuki-san's body. The cause of death was actually the same, but not hasty at all. It was very professionally done. A neat slice, opening both carotids without puncturing the trachea.

I suspect he wasn't able to resist well by that point, however. It looks like his head was badly gashed and his spine broken by impact with the floor before his throat was cut.

There were cuts up and down his arms, however. also made by a knife. I think before he fell from the stairs, he was trying to use his arms to defend himself from his attacker.

There were some oddities that concern me, however. Foremost being that I found blood inside his shoe. It looked like it came off of his foot, but his foot was uninjured.

[comesaround]

I'd be willing to guess he was pushed off the staircase first since his body was directly underneath it, and that wasn't likely to have killed him so the killer took their time and went down to finish him off with that clean slice along his neck.

[ Just a guess but it's better than nothing. He wasn't gonna hold back on this matter. ]

As for the blood inside his shoe, if it was simply just put back on him after the fact? Why weren't his glasses put back on in the same way, even in their damaged state?

[beguiledcard]

............

[ Well... if Kurama glances back over, he'll be able to see a little of the color drained from his face, even if Akira's managing to keep his expression steady.

Of course it needed to be said; he came here fully braced for the details being discussed in full detail. ]

[comesaround]

Since I do believe it would be best to eliminate the possibility of our killer being injured, everyone should go ahead now and remove your shoes as a start. They likely stepped on some glass and cut their foot, which would explain the blood inside the shoe.

[ A nod of his head. If the injury proved to be more than that, then he'll suggest more than just removing shoes, however. ]

[incrediblystressedout]

Foot injuries? Uh, if you say so...

[Joey takes a moment to strip off her shoes and socks, then lifts her feet up onto the podium one after another in a surprisingly natural movement. Ballerina.]

[No foot injuries here.]

[totalbullshit]

Alright.

[ Helena isn't even wearing shoes, but she actually put on socks today.... so she'll slip out of those. Her feet are kind of dirty and scratched up, but they lack any deeper injury that would have bled recently. ]

[steelmagnolias]

[ Alright, Ren's gonna lean back and kick off one shoe, gently, and then the other.

Nada. ]

[foolishjustice]

[He sets his coffee down (probably on Akira's podium still) and takes his shoes off. He's not putting his feet up there with the food and coffee, but he does step out from behind it and show off his feet...which are clean and injury free.]

[thegreenhornet]

Right, whatever.

[Britt takes his shoes off without protest. He's uninjured, he's moving normally, and his shoes have no blood on them]

[steelmagnolias]

[ Okay, here goes nothing. Ren takes the takeout box he nabbed from Wok This Way and produces a charred-looking scrap of...some kind of shirt, apparently. ]

Not exactly easy to tell what this used to be, but I found this at Wok This Way. You think our killer tried to cover their tracks by burning the evidence?

[incrediblystressedout]

Yeah...the killer's clothes would have blood on them. Last time, Dio ditched a shirt in the food court, but I think he just used that to clean. This time, there was so much blood that...

[Ugh.]

That's a pretty big shirt though, right? Or was? Like taller-than-average?

Shoe Check

[scienceofmagic]

Okay! So everyone, let Minamino see your shoes. We'll either narrow down suspects by shoe size, or we'll determine this is a dead end.

[scienceofmagic]

[ For the record? Croix's don't match. ]

[totalbullshit]

We aren't getting anywhere with this.

[ She's just going to loudly proclaim this into the room and stare everyone down until some amount of quiet and attention is happening. ]

The mystery of the shoe is all well and good, but staring at any more feet is not going to be more effective than the first round of foot worship was. Instead of running ourselves deeper into what starts to look like a dead end, we should get back to the crime and the order of events themselves.

From all we understand so far the fight started when the culprit attacked Yuuri at the top of the food court stairs. This is evidenced by Yuuri's defense wounds on his arms. During those events part of the railing was destroyed and Yuuri was then sent flying down the stairs. In result, he broke his spine. This did not kill him instantly, so the culprit slit his neck.

This was witnessed by Torri, who photographed the culprit kneeling over Yuuri's body and then immediately made a run for it. She was cornered in the bridal section of Yotsukoshi where she tried to defend herself with her water powers but failed. She was injured at her wrist in the struggle and her throat was hurriedly slashed.

[ Helena has to take a short moment for deep breaths at this point. Torri's death did affect her a lot. ]

The culprit attempted to clean up Yotsukoshi, but it was a rush job. It appears they used a hairdrier to try and clean up the water damage on some of the dresses?

At some point, someone tried to put bandages around Torri's neck - she had, however, already bled out pretty much completely.

The killer washed their hands in the men's bathroom and left the knife there. This must have happened after Torri's death. Further, the killer was wearing a rather large shirt to protect themselves from blood and burned it in Wok This Way.

Does this sound complete to all of you or is there something to add and correct?

[beguiledcard]

There is one thing I've been considering...

[ But he's going to hesitate just a second. ]

[foolishjustice]

[After a bit of discussion about the motive, Akechi takes a deep breath and sets his coffee back down.]

Akabane-san said that the crime scene appeared amateur because it was such a mess, but how sure can we be that all of the evidence is genuine? We know there's a "fabricator" among us, and the bandages on Feiji-san's neck suggest that scene was already tampered with.

I think, before we pursue any accusations, we should take a careful look at the evidence and see if we can weed out what was planted after the crime took place.

[eyesofdespair]

[This is definitely a much better subject than trying to force him into revealing his secret, so he'll gladly help here.]

There's also evidence of a rush job on covering up, and then evidence that shows time was spent, like the dryer and the burnt shirt.

[lifecoach]

[There is another DING - the elevator doors open again as the Life Coach runs out of them, late with what appears to be a hot cocoa from MYJL in her hand.]

Heeeey guuuuys! Omigosh, sooo sorry I'm late... do you need any, like, help with the evidence? Or anything? I'm totally here for this! Let's go!

[She takes a sip.]

[incrediblystressedout]

LC...

[Why is everyone around her a dingus, even in serious situations, except for the other captives?]

Since you're offering help with evidence, can you tell us what kind of force it would take to shatter the guardrail glass on the stairs? And if you know anything about our powers, how much control would Yuuri have had over his direction while using his?

Clothes Check

[scienceofmagic]

All right! We know there was a lot of water around Torri, and unless our culprit was really flexible, then they couldn't have gotten everything. So pair up, we're going to check for water and also to see if anyone smells like a lot of smoke. Because even if they changed, the smoke smell would stick to their hair.

[totalbullshit]

.... really now.

[ ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO SNIFF HER??? Helena doesn't put up a fight in the end. She is entirely dry and smells of nothing but Helena. ]

[foolishjustice]

[After Croix's accusation, Akechi takes another breath...except this time he stands up straight. He looks around the room at everyone with a stoic expression, but there's something sad in his eyes.]

It's true that I could have killed Katsuki-san and Feiji-san, but as you've all noted, why would I? I've been very vocal in my desire to help everyone here. Why would I turn around and condemn all of you, including someone I love, to escape a situation I planned to dismantle from the inside out?

The fate of everyone here depends on the accuracy of your accusations. Before you vote, you should first figure out why I would be willing to do something so horrible.

[MTB Start]

[theirmagic]

... Th-that's right. Goro has no reason to be doing something like this, right?

[ She's grasping at straws, desperately hoping she's wrong. ]

VOTE

[lifecoach]

[Just like the previous trial, the Life Coach's phone beeps. She's been drinking her cocoa in silence, but she stands up now.]

Ok... That's, like, time. Everyone needs to vote now. I'm totally serious.

[She actually does look serious this time, but with the looks some certain people have been giving her, she's kind of bracing herself here.]

Re: VOTE

[totalbullshit]

> GORO AKECHI

[ SLAM THAT MOTHERFUCKING VOTE! ]

EXECUTION: Heart Stolen

[strangerpeople]

[Soon enough, the votes have been tallied, and the Life Coach flutters off the platform.]

Well, it's 10-1, for The Coffee. I think you, like, already thought a lot about why you did this. It's totally not for me to judge - just you.

But...

[She takes out her phone and presses a button.]

These are, in the end, your choices. And now, you totally have to face them.

CULPRIT INPUT: THE COFFEE
AWAITING VERIFICATION. . .



VERIFICATION APPROVED.

[Just like last week, everyone is suctioned to the floor, and Akechi's floor opens up...]

[beguiledcard]

[ ... which is the moment he was waiting for.

His gaze sharpens; just like that, there's a vortex surrounding Goro's body. ]