week 2 - trial

[productions]

week two 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

[vytis]

I think, even if they did end up stabbing her, that can't have been what they intended to do. Minatsuki's card does say she can control her blood, so giving her blood to work with would be really dangerous. While her pupil's condition does match hanging, you're right that the bruises are really light, but we can probably extrapolate out that if a hanging would cause it, damage to the neck would, too. Could the bruise be from someone kicking or punching?

I think we should also consider trying to figure out which of our suspects could have made a climb like that, since climbing seems to have been involved. It would have to be someone who was absolutely certain they could manage it, I'd think.

[obsideo]

Could they have tried to choke her? Or grabbed her neck or something? They probably didn't want to risk any noise, and grabbing someone's neck is a good way to shut them up.

I'm looking at the cards. Annie has martial arts and military training that might include climbing, Kanaya has unusual strength and speed that would make it easier to scale a wall, Kaoru has speed and healing, so she'd know if she fell she wouldn't get too hurt, Poland's the same, high pain tolerance and stamina, and Ukraine is physically strong, too. I don't feel like we could rule any of them out based on that.

Can I ask you...as nations, do you guys have to fight? Do you have training?

[vytis]

In my world we do fight alongside our people during wars, usually against the other nation, so we are trained. I don't think I could climb up or down the mansion, though. Well, not quickly enough to try and use it in a murder. I can't speak for Poland or Ukraine, though, since I don't know them outside of this mansion.

As for choking, would that be fast enough? They would have had to been trying to incapacitate her pretty quickly. I imagine they'd have to know where to strike, too, but that would depend on what they did specifically.

[obsideo]

That's assuming they didn't have help. If they'd used a rope or something, they could have ditched it by now and we'd never know.

[vytis]

They had to have used a rope, right? Or something like it? Could you really climb up the mansion without one? [The idea of not using rope at all hasn't really entered his mind as an option.] Using a rope, though, they'd need something to tie it to.

[obsideo]

I mean...if they used a rope, I don't think it would be that hard. I don't know if I could do it, but I think anyone who's more of a natural at PE shouldn't have a problem.

Could they have tied it around the sink? Or the toilet?

[vytis]

It would depend on how strong the sink and toilet were. I've never really tested it, but I definitely wouldn't want whatever I tied a rope to to break partway through climbing. If I was had to climb, I'd want to tie it to something connected to the house, like a column or something.

[obsideo]

No one on our suspect list is very heavy, though. I don't think it would be a big issue. The rope breaking would be more of a danger than the toilet or sink going.

That's assuming a rope is what they used.

[vytis]

You could probably use bedsheets, but you'd need several of them.

[obsideo]

Hmm, yeah. Well, whatever they used, we didn't find it, but it's definitely what somebody did. And I'm not sure it matters how they did that so much as it matters how they killed her and covered it up.

[vytis]

Yes--they managed to climb up somehow, or at least that's how it looks, with the dirt on the wall and the Sapphire wing's bathroom. Though, wouldn't that be a bad idea? Getting your shoes clean on the windowsill of a wing you're in, I mean, and then not cleaning it up. They noticed that they should get the dirt off, but not that cleaning it off there would implicate the Sapphire wing?

[obsideo]

Hmm.

They could have been in a hurry. Kanaya had an early alibi, maybe she wanted to be sure she made breakfast.

But you're right. It could have been Annie...or Poland, or Kaoru, they could have climbed in through the bathroom window and slipped out, knowing the dirt would only frame Sapphire wing.

[vytis]

While I don't think we should totally discount Sapphire wing, what if they couldn't get into the window at all? Opal is just above there, and with the dirt gone we wouldn't be able to tell if they kept going. The other option is that they climbed all the way to the roof, which--I suppose might be possible, but seems extremely dangerous.

[obsideo]

You'd need an awfully long rope to even get to Opal wing, let alone the roof.

[vytis]

Mm, unless the rope only went partway, or they're a lot better at climbing than I can imagine and they actually managed it without rope at all... But Miss Takami's keys were on her person, and we're assuming she was actually killed in the gardens, now, I believe, so they couldn't have used her keys...

[pandacea]

Umm, excuse me...I may be wrong about this, but I believe it could be possible to climb up the mansion without a rope with enough physical ability. I do not know whether I would be able to do it, as I am...still growing, but someone taller than me may be able to.

At any rate, if the killer used a rope or something else to pull themselves up, then the smudges would be more in a straight line, correct? You would not plant your feet as far apart as the picture shows.

[vytis]

Ah? [Lithuania pauses to think about this, clearly trying to put the picture together with someone climbing it in his mind.] Well, the manor is brick, so if you were good at climbing--did someone really manage that climb without a rope? Who--which of the suspects would be that good at climbing, is there any way to tell?

[pandacea]

They all seem to have either enhanced strength or some kind of physical training or experience in combat, so I cannot speculate on anything, I'm afraid. It doesn't look like this angle is going to be of much help to us, does it....

[vytis]

Well, experience in combat is a little different from feeling like you can reliably climb up the side of a mansion without any rope, but it's not as if the suspects would be lining up to give us truthful knowledge of how good they'd be at climbing.

Maybe it will make more sense if we can figure out the cause of death, or something...

[pandacea]

I do not think it would be as difficult as it may seem. The mansion wall is composed of bricks and stone, yes? The surface is uneven enough that it would simply be a matter of finding a foothold and being strong enough to pull yourself up to the window ledge. In which case, anyone with sufficient strength and reach should be able to do it. Perhaps we can test it out with someone strong enough who is not a suspect?

Yes...I am not sure if there is a poison or chemical that would only cause one eye to dilute but not the other when ingested.

[vytis]

The only thing I can think of--outside of hanging, which I doubt at this point--is some sort of head injury.

[pandacea]

Hmm...was there any wound around her head? Anything swollen or cracked? I do not believe a simple cut to the head would cause damage to the eye if it did not harm the brain in some way.

[vytis]

I couldn't find anything. There's only the bruising on her neck. I suppose a neck injury could cause it, as well, if hanging will do it, but I don't know how much bruising that would leave, especially on a hemophiliac.

[pandacea]

The neck injury would not explain the vomiting though, am I right? If she was strangled until she died, then she should not have had the chance to throw up.

[vytis]

If it was something quick, like kicking or punching, she might have had time to throw up, but I don't know if the bruises are dark enough for that. And it has to have been at least fairly quick, or Miss Takami would have fought back and they would have gotten covered in blood.