week 1 - trial

[productions]

week one 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. 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.]

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Manor Rules
Voting

Comments

[godwhisperer]

I do not keep a watch, so I cannot verify to the minute her comings and goings. However, I may be able to offer some confirmation.

[He had been out in the garden, trying to garden, and Bernkastel had walked by. And she had stayed around for a while, not saying anything, just being there. He only wanted to garden, not be forced to navigate the turbulent waters of social interaction and consider whether he should talk to her.]

She chose to enter into the sphere of my presence for some time, as though to throw in my face her power to come and go as she chooses, even into a land I have claimed for my own. The insult...I could taste it on my tongue, but chose not to dignify her challenge, for she is nothing to me. For a full half hour she chose to taunt me. I believe her assessments of the time frame are accurate.

However.

What length of time do we believe the culprit required? You say we must look into the nuances of time. However, shall we merely squint at any unaccounted period? Due to my liking of solitude, I will take such folly personally as it will seal my doom when the time comes.

We must learn what window was required for the crime, and when that window may have been. You believe she was killed minutes before her discovery, with all the risk that entails? It would be possible for Marlow, for her discovery allots her more time. The others?

[inthebones]

I don't think she was killed moments before the discovery, no. I do think it's possible that she was killed very quickly.

We were all provided chloroform, yes? The killer knocks on Lydia's door, drugs her, explaining why there is no sign of struggle, and holds her face-down in water until she drowns. The actual murder could take no less than four or five minutes. What happened after with the creation of the scene we discovered... Perhaps another five minutes.

The filling of the tub would take longer. By the evidence provided above, it may even have begun to run as early as 1:00 if the tap were opened as Miss Marlow attests it were.

[godwhisperer]

Felicia Marlow's account of the tap is nonsensical. What reason would there be for the culprit to fill the murderous tub slowly to increase risk of discovery? There is no purpose.

[inthebones]

Then, if she lied about the tap, it would be to cast suspicion away from her. She has no alibi for 2:30 to 3:00, and her room is right next to Lydia's. She starts the tub at high power, drowns Lydia, and by the time she 'discovers' the crime at 3:20, the tub is already nearly overflowing.

...I suppose that's something to keep in mind. We must examine all the testimony in turn as if each subject were lying. What information do we have that is given only by Miss Marlow or by Bernkastel or by myself? All of it must be considered in the light that we have only a suspect's words to go off.

[godwhisperer]

At high power, the 2:30 to 3:00 time frame is sufficient. It none other can confirm the strength of the faucet, it will be too convenient.

[obsideo]

(She doesn't seem angry at this. It's a good catch, after all, and she has to respect someone trying to solve the mystery. But she's serious.)

You're right that my alibi from 2:30 on is weak, and I could've done it if the water was on full. There's just one thing, though. Bernkastel and Alice saw it, too. Even if they didn't write down just how fast the water was, they could back me up it was just a trickle when we came in. And it was a whole twenty minutes at least. Even if I turned on the water right when I got back to the wing from the library, put it on full power, and then turned it to a trickle when I blocked the door, I don't think it would've been enough water to overflow the bathtub like that.

[miraculous]

It is true the water was not fully on, although I'm afraid I could not tell you exactly to what degree it was flowing.

[She seems a little embarrassed by this detail escaping her eye, albeit in a very catlike way where she acts as if nothing happened at all.]

I believe it would have been possible if you turned the water down immediately before running for help, but it would have been quite close.

[obsideo]

Could you say whether it was more or less than half?

We could try, but the thing is. Kanaya can say for sure I left the library at 2:30. Okay. So best case scenario, I get back to Emerald five minutes later, and turn the water on full. The tub isn't going to be full until 3:05, and the tub wasn't just full when we came in, it was overflowing. If I had turned down the power earlier than that I don't think it could've been overflowing like that, I don't even know if it would've been if I'd turned it down at 3:05. But that doesn't matter.

I think it was about 3:10 that I got you guys. So you're saying I turned down the water, somehow got the chair against the door, and ran for help in five minutes? First of all, way iffy timeline. We could test it, but I don't buy it. Second of all, why. Why wouldn't I give myself more time? I already had the crappiest alibi in the world, oops, I was asleep in my room down the hall from the scene the whole time! So if I didn't even try to have a better alibi, why not take my sweet time with the scene?

[miraculous]

Less than half, yes. And do not misunderstand me, I do not think you're the type--as I said, it would be very close. Improbable and quite risky, as you've said. [The Witch of Miracles knows a fair amount about probability.] Looking at the alibis, Sharon Carter's is the weakest of the group.

[inthebones]

It is a bit... too weak, almost. Rather absurdly awful.

If the murderer were clever enough to stage a crime like this, they would certainly ensure that their alibi was something better than 'reading in their room'. It would be ideal for them to be spotted once or twice over the course of that hour in a location removed from the murder scene.

[obsideo]

That makes sense. If we're assuming the murderer did turn the water to a trickle, there has to be a reason why they'd do something like that. Maybe just to confuse us, but you'd think if they bothered, there's something about the time they want us to be confused about. So...the alibis are probably the best clue.

[roadroller]

Alice's notes say that at quarter power it'd take about two hours to fill the bath - what if the killer knocked her out in the bathtub and then turned it on? It would take a while for the water to rise enough to drown her, so she would drown later than the scene was set up. Then the killer could go out and make their alibi for the time of the murder. ♪

[obsideo]

I don't know.

She was face down. I don't think it would take much water to drown her. Not if we're saying she was unconscious. It's a good theory, though.

[miraculous]

Possible, however we will have to take time of death into account. She was face down in the tub, so she would have drowned relatively quickly at the bottom of the tub.

[roadroller]

[looks between the two who answered her]

...Oh. Does drowning really happen THAT fast? I wouldn't know, it's not like I have to breathe! ♪

[miraculous]

All that would be required would be for the water to cover the victim's mouth and nose while the victim was unable to remove their head from the water.

[inthebones]

She could have been suspended through some manipulation to keep her head at some level above the water, explaining any issues with time.

However, chloroform wouldn't keep you unconscious that long.

...While you're here, Rin, do you mind if I ask if the wires on the piano were cut or snapped?

[terriblesister]

Wouldn't evidence of that be left in the bath though? Or was that all the toilet paper...

[miraculous]

I do not believe there was enough toilet paper outside of the drain for that. Toilet paper also comes apart quickly in water.

[roadroller]

Ah, right - to me it definitely looked like they had been cut! I should update my notes on that. ♪