WEEK 3 - TRIAL

[productions]

week three 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

[inthebones]

Suspending the victim over the shaft is a reasonable feat for only one person, I think - the only blood involved would get on her hair, which would easily be washed out. But would she really choose to murder in a manner that would implicate her so readily?

[throe]

[ She gives a little smirk. ] Because no woman with nails like that would ever want to ruin them with blood.

She's a deadweight. Maybe she wanted it to look like Dave was set out to murder someone so we wouldn't think it was her. She chooses the katana, a weapon our victim was obviously skilled at, plants the keys on him, and fakes a reaction of surprise in finding out that maybe he was set out to murder one of our suspects.

[inthebones]

[...She supposes there's a point there, actually.]

The theory of Dave being overcome by his intended victim - either Mr. Altman or Miss Reiko - doesn't seem to hold much water, no. I don't know what a physicist would do against a sword coming his way, and Miss Reiko herself has testified that her hair wouldn't be able to defend herself against a sword.

It does seem more probable that our victim is being framed of ill intention.

When would the keys have been swapped, though? After he was stabbed and still suspended in midair?

[throe]

Think about the patterns of the past two cases: Bernkastel was meticulous, but her whole personality was a façade. Annie was in the military, which also counts for meticulousness. She may have not been wearing a mask, but people's first suspicion isn't going to be a teenage girl, no matter how she's been raised. You said it yourself, you would have voted for Ukraine regardless because of Annie's age.

Michael Altman is too dazed and confused, he's disorganized. Not to say murderers can't be disorganized, but there's no way he could plan something like this, even with the role of a scientist. It says on Reiko Aya's card that she's good at disguising herself... for all we know, it could all be an act! Just like Bernkastel.

Maybe after she knocked him unconscious she threw his keys somewhere in his room and already placed the skeleton key in his pocket. Then dragged him to the kitchen, stabbed him at a distance that would get the least amount of blood on her, and dropped him down the shaft. It says she took a shower at 8, how do we know she didn't wash off the blood from her hair then?

[inthebones]

...That's not quite what I said. I said I would vote for Ukraine again under the same circumstances - as in, if we had no conclusive evidence pointing to the murderer.

Annie certainly deserves a punishment fitting her crime.

But you're correct about the way we ought to think about these cases - or perhaps, thinking about the way that the potential murderer would think about these cases. Bernkastel's crime was convoluted, a true mystery, in keeping with her nature - it said so right on her card that she was skilled at mysteries and puzzles. Annie's was conducted as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Minatsuki was dead in 5 minutes flat.

The murderer we're looking for today would be, I think, underhanded and sly, if the victim is indeed being framed. In my mind, that leaves out Beat and Belarus entirely - either of them would conduct a straightforward murder with little thought to the consequences afterwards. Minimal cleanup would be performed in hindsight. But I don't know the other three well enough to say that this is beyond any of them.

Still, we need more conclusive evidence before we can vote, even if I'm inclined to agree.

[throe]

Semantics withstanding— [ She waves her hand at Susan's correction about Annie and Ukraine. ] —I have to agree with you. If Belarus wanted to kill someone, it definitely wouldn't be our victim. There would be no point in it. Spain's sleeping habits seem to be the same, seeing as he always gets up just a little before or after I do, so that only puts him under suspicion of possible time, but a hunch doesn't tell me it's him anyway.

[ The guy's terrified of ghosts that are actually Rapture. After pulling what she pulled, the thought of killing Dave would be far from his mind. Her hunches haven't been proven wrong so far, at least. ]

I think focusing on Michael Altman and Reiko Aya as our final two seems to make the most sense, especially because they're both deadweights. The former might have the right kind of strength, but the latter has the right kind of "ability." I'm more inclined to believe it's the one who seems to find it easier to act their way through... but, this is different than last week. I have a feeling that the evidence is bound to show up soon.

[inthebones]

It would be careless to ignore how it might have been done through more mundane means without even considering the possibility, though. We should give some thought as to how a person of normal strength and ability could suspend someone above an elevator shaft.

[...a slight pause]

...Perhaps he used his knowledge of physics to set up a pulley.

[throe]

With what? A chair and some string? Wouldn't we have seen signs of that?

[inthebones]

I was being facetious.

[Susan's tone is mild. She is perfectly aware that she makes so many sarcastic remarks that it's occasionally impossible to tell.]

What is a geophysicist, in any case? Is it at all relevant to anything regarding a crime? I would assume the prefix has something to do with geology?

[throe]

He told me he found some monolith in South America that was turning people insane and said that it might be an explanation of life of earth itself. [ She pauses. ] But last week, he identified soil, didn't he? I guess maybe the physics part could work, but... guess it just has a lot to do with soil and the earth.

[ It's pretty clear she doesn't pay any attention to jobs outside of music and performing. ]

[inthebones]

That's... certainly a find, if true. He told me that he came from a situation where he was about to be pitted in a fight against a monster.

I don't think any of those skills are relevant to committing murders surreptitiously, though.

[reunified]

Geophysics is basically the study of the earth and it's existence in space. It also relates to geology, such as tectonics, the composition of the Earth, and so on.

It's rock science.

I became involved with the Marker--the monolith--because of my experience and because I saw something I shouldn't have. Otherwise, that sort of thing is completely out of my field.