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

[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.]

[inthebones]

...I don't believe it's entirely out of the question, then. Even if she dawdled, retrieving ten plates shouldn't take longer than two or three minutes.

How did she look when she returned? Perfectly normal? Out of breath?

[souredsweet]

[Kaoru is definitely wishing the clock had been checked now, so a more definite time could be given.]

It is as you say... [to the first part, that is; that it isn't entirely out of the question. the question, on the other hand, gets a head shake.] She was not disheveled upon her return, no, and she did not seem out of breath.

[inthebones]

I suppose the question, really, relies on what we believe about her abilities. Was she swift enough to get into the music room and back in five to ten minutes? Was she durable enough for it to be nothing more than a mild inconvenience?

...What about the other evidence? She never left your side after lunch?

[souredsweet]

Miss Kagamine's comparative durability would need to be questioned, as well. If she was facing forward, she must have been caught by surprise, or she was facing an opponent who could outmatch her.

[another head shake follows.] She did not. She sat by me, left at the same time that I did, and adjourned to the library with me until she asked about the food from my home. She then accompanied me down to the kitchen, where she remained save the time she left to fetch the china.

[inthebones]

...Then if she lit the fire to heat up the poker, it must have been in that time interval as well. It would have been reduced to cinders without anyone to feed it for several hours.

The only point - how could anyone have known that Annie would leave Rin at that time?

[souredsweet]

...To be honest, Miss Sto Helit, that is why I had suspected you initially.

But your alibi has been corroborated, and no one else has a tracking ability, I believe. Still, it is... a massive risk to take, without being entirely certain that she would not be present.

[inthebones]

Of everyone in the house, my abilities are best suited to plot a murder - or at least they certainly seem that way to all of you.

[Susan looks more content than offended, really. At least someone takes her warnings about not trusting people seriously.]

Then putting random chance aside, how could anyone have kept track of Rin and Annie's movements? A listening device?

[souredsweet]

[it's her hair that's so suspicious

no Kaoru actually feels pretty guilty for even admitting that Susan had been a suspect and it reflects briefly in both tone and expression, but it leaves after another nod.]

Still, I do not believe you to be the culprit here. As for that... Something used for listening surely would have been found in the room search, correct? Unless there was something on Miss Kagamine or Miss Leonhardt that allowed the culprit to follow their movements or listen to them.

[inthebones]

I admit I'm out of my expertise on this. I don't understand a whit of all of this talk about... 'robots'.

[The word doesn't even feel right coming out of her mouth.]

If it were Gundam, his hamsters certainly could have informed him. But it doesn't seem very likely.

[souredsweet]

...He cannot actually communicate with them, can he?

[WOW... Kaoru had thought the entire thing was an elaborate fake-out or something, even though the hamsters did know how to pose.] That said, I am also largely useless when it comes to such things. We do not even have the electricity that runs through the fence where I come from, and I have been told it is quite common for most others.

[inthebones]

...I believe he can. They carry out his commands and report back to him and all of that, don't they?

[On the Disc, animals could be quite intelligent. Susan had never actually considered that Gundam was lying about that particular aspect of his 'powers'.]

We don't, either, but it's a sort of applied magic, I hear. Lightning is generated through a machine and run along the metal.

[souredsweet]

I would not know, I have never seen such a thing before.

[GUNDAM... Kaoru isn't sure whether that's very cool or very bizarre.] Mm, that is the explanation that the books I have read gave. ...More or less.

[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.

[allice]

Ngh. I should have tested how long it would take for the fire to dim down to the extent I saw it did. Even if she didn't start it ahead of time, it would take less than a minute to get a flame going hot enough to heat up the poker. As of now, she has the most open timeframe and convenient location to go through the passageway. Her quick speed would get her up and down it faster than anyone else on the list I think, though how long it takes to go down is something to ask the three who ventured through it.

[souredsweet]

You had not known that it was a part of the crime, Miss Alice; it is no fault of yours. [a polite nod.]

...I do not wish to think it so, but with this, Miss Maryam cannot be ruled out just yet.

[allice]

Yes. If the suspect used the passageway as is said, Sonia and Gundam are ruled out. It can only be Kanaya, Susan or Touko and Kanaya was the closest to the parlor.

[souredsweet]

This is true... If we could narrow it down further still — can anyone at all corroborate that Miss Aozaki was in the places that she claimed to be? Her alibi stated that she was in the conservatory until three and in the garden area after.

[allice]

Susan mentioned Touko was indeed outside at 3PM, but that doesn't prove anything. The conservatory entrance could have been used to get into the parlor. I checked the conservatory after the parlor and didn't see anything too suspicious in it. At this point it seems to be either her or Kanaya, from what most people are speculating.

[souredsweet]

So it would seem. Likewise, though, I did not notice anything unusual about Miss Maryam when she returned...