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]

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. ]

[totalbullshit]

Consider louder.

[ She doesn't mean to snap at Akira necessarily, but her nerves are tense and she just wants to be done here. ]

[beguiledcard]

[ Well, at least he's the kind of guy to not take offense! In fact, he nods, expression firm. ]

One of the things standing out to me is the damage to the rail. If someone were knocked into it by a powerful enough force, however... I can see it happening. But there's only one person I know who'd be capable of that kind of thing...

[ He's glancing at Karma, brow and body tense. ]

Combining that with the knife skills, fighting skills, and the skills that would come with being capable of assassinations...

[comesaround]

[ Oh, he caught that look there, Akira. He'd kind of let everyone talk for a bit and then this is what it's been coming to? ]

Think about what you're saying for one minute, would you?

[ The words are not harsh in any way, fingers running through his hair idly. ]

I've been learning how to be skilled in assassination. I wouldn't make nearly as many amateur mistakes as what's been done here.

[foolishjustice]

That sounds like a reasonable order of events. It's also worth noting that the killer must have caught Katsuki-san by surprise, since his power would have made it easy to escape if he'd seen an attack coming. An ambush would fit with how professionally made the cut was.

[incrediblystressedout]

[Joey nods.]

Yuuri was...the kind of guy who always seemed a little nervous? I think...I think all the stuff on his arms means he defended himself, but if he was surprised he might have forgotten he had a superpower. Plus I don't know if superspeed is a good idea to use around stairs, anyway. Or at least, it's the kind of thing people are always warning you about.

[steelmagnolias]

Can confirm, that's a pretty easy way to die.

CROIX IS GOING FOR THIS

[scienceofmagic]

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

[ She listens for a bit, turning things over in her head, trying to think of a piece of evidence that might nail someone. She has an idea... A deep breath. ]

...I'm going to say something, and a lot of people won't like it. But given the profiles we have access to, I can narrow this down just based on the professionalism and a few general ideas. That list, from just looking at this, is Akechi because of his life as a detective. He'd know enough to clean up the most suspicious bits and even stage evidence himself, as well as his power. There's then Akabane. His likes include assassination and Akira has already pointed out his power. After him is Loewe but only because I'm not quite sure what Ouroboros is. Minamino, I'm sorry, but this listing as a spirit detective makes you suspicious, too. ...Akira is also someone who could potentially do this, based off of the profile information, but having spoken to him I... Can't see him doing this.

[ And then she'll look out over everyone and tilt her head. ]

...So, then. To our killer: are you really all right with condemning all of us to death for a secret? Are you all right with condemning Ursula? What about Joey? The fall likely would have killed Yuuri anyway, so the slitting of his throat could be read as mercy. It would be faster than the fall-related injuries, after all. So this is your chance to come clean, since you made sure Torri didn't suffer too much, too. I'll ask again: are you really okay with killing all of us for a secret, faced with us all here like this?

[foolishjustice]

[Akechi doesn't say anything, just looking around at everyone else's face with a tense expression. It might be a longshot with what's at stake, but...]

[beguiledcard]

[ There's a quiet sound at the mention of "Akechi" and "Minamino" but then... nothing at the others. There's even more tension in his form as he looks at Croix.

... He actually gets where she's going with this. ]

I can't see some of them doing this, at all.

[foolishjustice]

[When he hears Akira make a sound at the mention of his name, he gives his hand a careful squeeze. He's not going to take his eyes off of everyone else, though.]

[eyesofdespair]

Don't worry, you aren't alone on not knowing what Ouroboros is.

[incrediblystressedout]

It's two snakes eating each other or something, isn't it?

...that sounds kinda familiar now that I say it out loud, but I'm pretty sure that's not all it means to you. D'you want to share what it is?

[eyesofdespair]

That's the problem, I can't. When I was brought here I thought I was still sixteen and I was training for a profession that isn't that. The profession I was training for is a group that protects people.

[incrediblystressedout]

I was near Akechi the whole time he was looking at Torri's body, and I didn't see him do anything suspicious or hide anything. I know that doesn't prove anything, but...

[Just. Looking pleadingly at Akechi here. You didn't do it, right?]

[foolishjustice]

[He briefly meets her eyes, before turning his attention back to his coffee.]

I carried out the investigation the same as I did last week.

[byanyother_name]

There's no need to apologize, Meridies-san. I would have included myself as well.

[This expression is trying very hard to be Shuuichi's understanding smile, but there's something sharp simmering under it. Anger that at least isn't directed at Croix. It's very much directed at the fact that they have to go through this.]

I do have a question for Karma, for my own interests. When we were speaking before the investigation began, why did you think Katsuki-san was the intended victim? Given that he looked to have fallen, while Feiiji-san was surrounded by blood.

[beguiledcard]

[ Looked to have fallen... ]

Could it be... [ He's now staring at Karma for a moment, his expression tensing even more. Then he's looking at the floor. ] ... he was aiming a punch at Katsuki-san but missed because of his speed ... and then Katsuki-san fell down the stairs during his attempt to dodge...?

[ He swallows hard. ]

[thegreenhornet]

Karma wouldn't miss a punch!

[After getting punched a few times by Karma that's what he thinks, at least]

[comesaround]

Hmm... My initial observation was based off of the sheer number of injuries he seemed to have in comparison to Feiiji-san herself who seemed more untouched from what i'd been able to tell. She seemed more like the one who'd witnessed the murder rather than the one who'd been targeted first.

[ Karma made sure to give Shuuichi a direct look, meeting his eyes and leaving no room for doubts here. He wasn't cowering away or trying to lie; being honest was a trait of his and certain people should know that all too well. ]

[theirmagic]

[ ... She looks at Karma as Croix says this, and then... she inhales. Exhales. She's wringing her hands together. She doesn't want to believe this. Not Goro. Not Akira. Not Shuuichi. So that just leaves, in her mind-- ]

... Karma did tell me something... about his teacher. That he was dangerous. If he felt that his teacher were going to kill everyone, maybe he might judge our lives worth that risk. The few versus the many.

[foolishjustice]

He told me the same thing. That they had until the end of the semester to kill him or he would destroy half of the planet.

[comesaround]

Look. I'm flattered that you think I could have done it, but it wasn't me.

[ His expression is rather serious, but still eerily calm. Of course it would have come to a head eventually; people thinking he would have done this but it really wasn't and it was bothering him just a bit. ]

My secret isn't worth killing you all over, anyway. I can promise that much.

[theirmagic]

... But I've already discussed why I think it might not exactly be over your secret. You're on a timecrunch, aren't you?