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

Day 1 Roundup + Computer Cracked

[allice]

Ok, so: lets review what we currently have working for the murder:

At 3:00PM, Annie Leonhardt and Rin Kagamine were inside the music room together. Up to this point, Rin and Annie were constantly together throughout the day. Annie then left Rin in the Music Room for twenty minutes and, in that time frame, Rin was murdered. Her body was first discovered by Annie at 3:20PM, who had returned to the music room and left afterward, later by Yuzu and Poland at 3:30PM.

Between 3:00PM and 3:15PM, in accordance with the alibis, all five suspects were on the ground level of the manor, excluding Sonia and Gundam. Sonia Nevermind and Gundam Tanaka had returned to the manor from outside and were going upstairs, Kanaya Maryam was in the Kitchen with Kaoru Nagumo, finally Touko Aozaki and Susan Sto Helit were at different parts in the courtyard. We now know after the end of last night that the murderer used a secret passageway in the Parlor to access the music room, kill Rin Kagamine with a heated poker and escaped the scene in the same way. There was a fire still burning at 4:05PM in the parlor, meaning the culprit did not have enough time to put out the fire before having to retreat. They also left the poker in the passageway.

This naturally changes everything we know about this trial. Rin Kagamine was deadweight, meaning the culprit would receive access to two items of their choosing before killing her. I propose they took a map of the secret passages and the rapier, the former to find a route to kill Rin and the latter to frame up how she died. With this passageway it wouldn't take more than a few minutes for the murderer to go to the parlor, start a fire, go up the passageway with the poker, kill Rin and quickly make their escape the same way. After which they had plenty of time to cover their tracks and establish an alibi for the time of discovery at 3:30PM.

Now then: we must re-evaluate the alibis. Someone entered the parlor to start the fire ahead of time, so that it would burn enough to heat up the poker. Everyone was on the first floor at this time, excluding Sonia and Gundam who were going toward the third floor. Only Kanaya Maryam and Susan Sto Helit accounted for by people who are not suspects in the timeframe the murder could have occurred in. The murderer also had to be aware than Rin Kagamine and Annie were together up until 3PM, when Annie left Rin alone for twenty minutes.

...

On a final note: I finished the work on Rin Kagamine's laptop. Her last save was on Tuesday Morning, meaning there are no recorded memories of who killed her. However, perhaps it can shed some insight into her thoughts, but otherwise there isn't any indication from it of who the murderer is for certain. I'll place it in the exhibit box.

[And she goes to do so]

[inthebones]

...I was in the courtyard with Yuzu, actually, up until past the time I noticed Rin missing - around 3:15. Touko claims to have been across the grounds somewhere poking about near the stables or something along those lines.

[Susan sounds vaguely disgruntled at this lack of clarification.]

Let's examine alibis, then.

Gundam could conceivably have parted ways with Sonia at 3:10 - or possibly a bit earlier - sprinted back down to the parlor, and carried out the crime before I noticed Rin's disappearance at 3:15. He would then return to his room where Sonia and I discovered him at around 3:40. Kanaya also says she left Kaoru for a few minutes to grab some china - while it would be impossible for any normal person to carry out this murder in that time, she is noted for vampiric speed. Kaoru, could you please tell us how long that was as best as you can remember?

Sonia would find it immensely difficult to leave Gundam and be back in the library in 5 minutes. I didn't leave the courtyard, and Touko was... floating about on the grounds.

[godwhisperer]

Yes. You are wise to know of my ability to move through walls. Though no ordinary mortal could accomplish such a feat in such a span of time, I posses such power.

[Is this sarcasm??? No...probably not...]

[teenspirit]

[ Just... just putting a hand on his arm no don't do this now we already look guilty enough. ]

[godwhisperer]

[Whoa there, immediately starts at the sudden contact. He calms down though, this whole having people in his personal space thing is new to him.]

Ah...yes?

[inthebones]

((nope because Susan saw them at 3:00 i am good at this investigation business))

To be perfectly frank, I think it possible you parted ways with Sonia on the stairs at say, 3:07 or so perhaps and the two of you are being just a tad bit inaccurate about your place and time.

[teenspirit]

No! We had a wonderful, lingering goodbye at his door...

[ Sonia's voice is nauseating.

Also it probably wasn't all that wonderful or lingering he probably just handed her some dried bread for the hamster and said something gothic and shut the door. ]

[godwhisperer]

Hmm...perhaps. You would not know that Maga-G grows irritable at the same precise moment in the afternoon, and that is when I return to my quarters every day, so I do know the time. But there is no cause for you to trust me.

Still...as you surely know and yet feign ignorance of, I cannot cast spells upon iron, so to heat a poker would be impossible for me. Unless you suggest, ludicrously, that I set a fire to heat it?

[souredsweet]

Certainly, Miss Sto Helit. [a nod!]

I apologize, but I am afraid that I cannot give a precise time, as I was busy tending to the stove and did not look at the clock. She left shortly after you took your own leave, though, and I would say that she was gone no longer than five to ten minutes.

[inthebones]

5 to 10 minutes? How many plates did she come back with? The dining room is right next to the kitchen.

[souredsweet]

She returned with four of the larger plates meant for sharing and several of the smaller ones that are meant for side portions. I had not thought the time strange, with her attention to detail...

[all of the plates were pretty matchy; Kaoru assumed a set had to be hunted down.]

[allice]

Five to ten minutes is all that would be needed, with her speed as well. Especially if she chose to start the fire in the parlor ahead of time: the flame was quite low when I saw it at 4:05pm, so it could have been burning for quite some time before then.

[souredsweet]

I am afraid that I cannot speak of how fast she can move, as I have not seen it myself... However, she was with me from noon until past three, so I can at least attest to the fact that, if she is the culprit, she would have needed to start the fire very early if it was indeed prepared ahead of time.

[aozaki]

Floating's not among the skills on my card, unfortunately. I've patented my own flight method, but I don't have the means here, predictably.

[also it's never too early for a good smoke, so.]

[allice]

...I always seem to forget that you're a mage. Wonder why.

[Could have something to do with attire. Touko doesn't exactly go around in a cloak like Susan.]

[aozaki]

As far as the Mages' Association is concerned, I've been unaccounted for for the last five or so years. [The card did say 'hermit'.] I enjoy being a freelance dollmaker fine, picking up occasional odd jobs on the side for extra coin. It was simple but pleasant living, I'd say.

[inthebones]

I was checking on you as well and at 3:00, you were outside. I admit I didn't pay very close attention apart from 'grounds'.

But you certainly could have slipped back around towards the front and entered the door to the parlor.

[teenspirit]

Myself and Mr. Tanaka were already on the third floor and had already parted ways at 3:10; I entered the library at 3:15. Lithuania was already there, and he can confirm this for me...

[ Hmm. ]

...

In any case, let us reconsider the evidence. To summarize yesterday's discovery of the passage: from the music room, it was activated by a clue speaking of 'two gentlemen who had been poisoned'. I believed it to be Mozart and Beethoven, but when we emerged into the parlor, we knocked down the dialogues of Plato; there was a blank sheet of paper there, so I think the clue perhaps referred to Mozart and Socrates... They both died of poisoning. You could have solved either clue in either room to gain access to the passage... Ah, but that's neither here nor there.

So we can assume that this passageway was most certainly the second deadweight prize; the poker was in there, after all. And since it would have been useless to enter from the music room to attack someone in the music room... It is safe to assume that our murderer started out on the ground floor indeed.

[vytis]

Miss Nevermind did arrive in the library at the time she says she did, yes.

[obsideo]

So what we're saying is, the possibilities now are that Kanaya slipped away from the kitchen, Touko came in through the window or something, Gundam or Sonia ran back downstairs, or Yuzu is lying for Susan somehow.

[allice]

More or less, though Touko could just easily be lying because her whereabouts are unaccounted for so heavily. Sonia and Gundam I feel are the least likely, now that we know of the secret passage being used, and Yuzu lying for Susan seems unlikely as well. Kaoru said Kanaya had left the kitchen for five to ten minutes to get plates, so that gives Kanaya a window of opportunity to murder. Her and Touko are the most likely in my opinion.

[obsideo]

That makes sense, I agree. I wanted to propose how everyone could theoretically have done it, but some theories are far more likely than others.

[pandacea]

Aha! You see? I was right that it must have been one of those two from the start!

[notyetlost]

Oh yeah. I found a bunch of stuff you can make a fake lame mystery box with around the house, so I think the secret passage way map idea is solid.

[Because not everyone is talented enough at finding house secrets to just stumble on to these things apparently.]

[obsideo]

I think you're right.