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

[obsideo]

So. Kanaya has soot on her gloves, and it doesn't match pencil graphite like she said. It definitely matches the soot on the poker.

[She sets down the drawing Kanaya did.]

I think that about sums it up, so let me give it a try. Kanaya, like Reiko, and like Annie, knew she was deadweight and had to act now. Or maybe she just really wanted that spiky ball. She decided to kill Rin, because hey, deadweight. She asked for the sword and secret passageway map. Well...somehow she knew Rin would be in the music room. Maybe Rin told her? Or maybe Rin spent a lot of time there, I know she found the missing piano wires in the first trial. Either way, Kanaya got lucky. There was a passage going from the parlor into the music room, and Kanaya had vampire speed. All she had to do was kill Rin really quickly, and it would seem like she had a great alibi.

So, she decided to get cooking with Kaoru. Then, waiting until she knew Rin would be in the music room and also until after Susan left her in the kitchen, she stepped out to get some dishes. Instead, she went to the parlor, set a fire, and heated up a poker. She opened the secret passageway, ran upstairs, and stabbed Rin with the poker. Then, she ditched the poker in the secret passageway and replaced it with the sword and put the mystery box in the piano bench. She must have been keeping both in the passageway. She ran back downstairs and went back to the kitchen, but forgot to hide her gloves, so she had to put them in her room later.

Annie walked into the music room after Kanaya left and saw what happened to Rin, but for whatever reason, she decided not to tell us. Then, Poland and Yuzu found her.

Gundam, Sonia, and Susan were all accounted for, and Touko was on the wrong side of the house. In the end, it has to be Kanaya.

Any problems with that?

[notyetlost]

I'm not buying luck being a factor. It's too convenient that Annie ditched Rin to pee at the exact time Kanaya was going to murder Rin in the music room with a freaking hot poker.

[He doesn't doubt Kanaya did it, but he's glaring at Annie pretty intensely.]

[obsideo]

Maybe there was a way to see out of the secret passageway? I didn't notice it, but if it was just open a crack or something, she could wait until Annie left.

[inthebones]

Kanaya only had a space of 5 minutes to work with. She couldn't have been assured that Annie could leave the room in that time.

I suggest we allow Kanaya to explain, though - explain it all, if she can.

[obsideo]

Yeah...I think she's willing to. She didn't try to keep lying.

[notyetlost]

Or Annie helped her carry the whole thing out.

[Poland's not sure if he's accusing Annie out of actual rationale or the anger he still harbors from Ukraine's trial. Maybe it's both this time.]

[obsideo]

You're kind of assuming that she had to be lucky Annie walked out instead of unlucky Annie was there in the first place. Maybe she would've been able to hide the gloves better if Annie wasn't coming back.

I don't really understand why Annie would help her. That spiky ball thing of hers doesn't exactly seem like a prize you can split.

[allice]

I doubt it. I spent the most time with Rin's computer data and if it proved anything to me it was that Rin trusted Annie the most in this house. They spent nearly every moment they possibly could together and I think Annie cared about Rin just as much. It was just bad luck that Annie left Rin alone in a room so easily accessible.

[speakveryclearly]

Don't you dare. Don't you even dare implicate Annie for a second. You remember that I'm better at smelling blood than the rest of you, or are you all continuing to conveniently forget every single part of the second trial except what fuels your grudges? Hasn't it occurred to anyone that I would sense the absence of a human scent in that room and would have known how long to wait, or backed off entirely and waited for another time had she not left at all?

[She needed a moment to address Poland sternly, but once that's over with she folds her hands in her lap once again and returns to a calm speech for the benefit of the room at large.]

Of course I knew Rin would be in the music room. My own respiteblock had an adjoining room; soundproof or not, I couldn't fail to notice that she practically lived in there.

I just "really wanted that spiky ball". The matriorb, you should know now, is its proper title. I shouldn't have tried to mislead you about that, huh...? It's much too late for anyone to feel sympathetic about that motive; I didn't cover up well enough, I failed Mother for the second time. --she was the original mother grub, who raised me, and I got my original matriorb from her when she died, but it was destroyed.

What I told Stiles, that this "spiky ball" would hatch the new mother grub, is true. I didn't let any of you understand what an important thing that would mean, though, because then it would be obvious beyond belief and ruin my only chance at restoring my race.

Gundam, have you ever worked with Earth bees or ants before?

[godwhisperer]

[He's just listening quietly to this, his expression not betraying anything he thinks about this story.]

They are not among the creatures I have chosen to work with, but I have had a hive before to tend to.

[speakveryclearly]

Okay.

You must be aware of how they have a... President? Empress? What's the Earth word again...

I'm sorry-- much as you could refer to the mammals of your world having a "mother and father", we likewise didn't have an additional word that distinguished other insects of Alternia in their method of lineage.

[notyetlost]

Oh please. You're getting executed you'd probably say anything to make sure we didn't pick on your new girlfriend after you're dead.

It's a shame you're getting separated. You're perfect for each other, murdering liars to the max.

[speakveryclearly]

Oh my god, now I know how Sonia feels!!!

[vytis]

You're obviously still holding a grudge, you know. Miss Leonhardt spent time with Miss Rin, so if she was going to help, I doubt it would have been helping to kill someone else she liked.

[teenspirit]

I-I can't believe it... There should be a way for you to live on... You did it to save your people...

[speakveryclearly]

Oh, Sonia, I know it's quite unfortunate for my race but please don't worry for my personal fate... I'm one of the heinous undead, remember? I've gotten killed before, it's really not all that much to fear.

At least only one innocent had to die because of me instead of two...

[inthebones]

It was still a remarkable stroke of luck that the very first time you left Kaoru's side was the very first time Annie left Rin's side.

To be frank, you ought to have just stabbed her in the middle of the night.

But elaborate, please. What about your race?

[humanic]

[His eyes narrow and his lips thin, clearly furious. The anger doesn't seem to be directed at her though.]

...they seem to really love forcing someone to choose between their entire species and our lives here.

[hollowheart]

[She can go "I can take care of myself!" for the hundredth time already, but Annie's shoulders sag with the confession. She's lost a friend, and is about to see the only other one she has here die. She can understand the desperation, in a way, if not why Kanaya's defending her vehemently.]

I really am sorry it came down to this.

[aozaki]

[well, she figured as much, but if they're on final words now.]

You could've still fought harder. This could've turned out like Minatsuki's trial.

[godwhisperer]

Hmm.

[He's quiet, with his arms folded.]

Compelling, it seems.

[obsideo]

Just compelling? She already admitted it, so good for her.

[vytis]

I think that makes sense... Though she got really lucky about Miss Rin being on her own, didn't she?

[obsideo]

Maybe, or maybe she got unlucky that Annie was with Rin in the first place. She tried to set up her alibi, but it actually kind of look a long time. Maybe if Annie wasn't there at all, it would have gone more smoothly.

[vytis]

That's true. I don't think Miss Leonhardt was involved in setting up the crime or anything, I was just wondering if there was some way Miss Maryam could have known.