week 4 - trial

[productions]

week four trial



[At 9 AM precisely, the old grandfather clock chimes once again, and the doors to the drawing room are opened. They will remain open until everyone has come inside, after which they will shut behind them. It is not possible to leave on your own, although perhaps if you have a specific purpose the hostess will allow you to go, as long as you are accompanied by a partner.

The room is set up comfortably, with several tables by the fireplace set out to assist with the trial. The Hostess will also remain in a seat near the fireplace, next to the scales on the mantle. At lunch, the doors will open to bring in a large meal on an automatically rolling buffet, and at 3 PM, tea and finger sandwiches will be served. You'll be able to enjoy the trial in comfort, of course, but the information cards set out on tables will not allow you to forget your true purpose here.

At 7 PM, the trial will adjourn for the day. Players will be escorted by the Hostess to the ballroom, where dinner and wine will be served until 10 PM, at which point players will be required to return to their wings in groups with their wingmates and will be locked in their bedrooms until 8:30 AM the following morning.]

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Manor Rules
Cheat Sheet
Voting

Comments

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya looks back; her eyes are particularly dead today.]

It's like you said the first week to Felicia, Miss Sto Helit. Don't take responsibility onto yourself, unless you're the murderer.

[The statement hangs in the air.]

I've been wondering for a while now, though, if the suspect list will continue to comprise five people even as now that's almost one in four "contestants". In other words, even though we know the murderer's card is on that table, being on that table is starting to say less and less from week to week as the number of cards remains the same.

Each trial, the suspects are chosen to mean... something. The Hostess wouldn't just pick five contestants who have never been chosen before if the four innocents were all peacefully reading in the library at the time of death. There's a challenge involved or else they wouldn't be able to drag this affair out over two days.

[inthebones]

[She really had to start appending #sarcasm to the end of her statements. Still, Kanaya raises a good point about the setup of the house.]

You're right, of course. There's something about our movements prior to the death that make us confounding factors for the murder. It isn't much to go off of, but perhaps we can learn how to avoid being listed in the future with repeated exposure.

I shall take that as my sole consolation for being forced through this farce once again.

In any case, paring down the suspect list would make it easier for us to guess correctly at random. I don't think they'd want to lower the difficulty any.

[speakveryclearly]

Yes, there has to be at least some room for speculation with all of us who have been chosen... though in your case having seen you so shortly before the time of death I don't have all that much suspicion. [before is not at.]

[inthebones]

Similarly, if Kaoru was with you from 3:00 until 3:30, I don't see how you could have done it unless there was some sort time-delayed sword launcher involved.

Perhaps our alibis are a bit too good. It hearkens back to the first week.

[speakveryclearly]

Once Ms. Aozaki has written down hers we'll be able to look at all the alibis comprehensively. That should help highlight patterns.

[inthebones]

I maintain that we should all stay in the ballroom from now on and never leave save for washroom breaks, but I suppose I'm outnumbered on this one.

[speakveryclearly]

What would that get us besides another ablution block murder?

[inthebones]

I said never leave. We sleep in the ballroom as well and take shifts staying awake.