murdermanor | WEEK 3

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trial,
week 3

WEEK 3 - TRIAL

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.]

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The following document will be laid out on a table in the drawing room:

Autopsy Report - Dave Strider

Cause of Death - Unknown. Most likely either from stab wounds or from trauma after a high fall.

Location of Body - Inside the elevator shaft.

Time of Death - Unknown. Body was already cold when found at approximately 10:50 AM.

Condition of Body - Multiple stab wounds consistent with marks left from a blade on front of torso. Front of arms, chest, and legs covered in dark bruising. The bones of both arms, the right leg and the ribcage are broken; left knee is shattered. Broken bones and bruising on front appear to be in line with trauma from a high fall.

Condition of Scene - Body found lying face-down in the elevator shaft. Immediate check for a pulse revealed it was already cold. Body was in a pool of blood that was still slightly sticky to the touch. A katana was found lying next to it. Because the dim lighting in the shaft was not enough for a thorough examination, the corpse was removed and placed in the dining room.

There is room at the bottom of the page for others to add notes. Dave's information card is laid out next to it.

Edited 2013-10-10 18:25 (UTC)

On another table, the information cards of the suspects are laid out. There is a blank sheet of paper below each card, labeled:

Whereabouts - Tuesday-Wednesday, Week 3

Edited 2013-10-10 18:26 (UTC)

Finally, one table is nearly empty. There are 10 boxes labeled Exhibit A through Exhibit J, as well as paper and pens for writing. The boxes are empty.

This week, there is now a very large board in the center of the room, with pins to attach sheets of paper to. Particular theories about how a certain part of the crime could have been accomplished, a certain person's alibi, motives, or any other aspect of the crime you believe your character can explain should be written up and posted here.

(Please do not thread in this subheading; you can link to threads for discussion and we encourage you to do so. This is just to provide a handy trial recap for players who are jumping in.)

DAY 1

Once again, the contestants are ushered into the drawing room at 9AM Thursday morning. This trial, they will be investigating the death of Dave Strider.

Upon everyone's arrival in the drawing room, the doors are shut and the week's suspects are revealed. This week, the suspects will be Beat, Michael Altman, Spain, Reiko Aya, and Belarus.

Yuzu starts the trial off by wondering which other tool the killer picked besides the katana. After examining Dave's body, Lithuania finds a skeleton key, answering that question. With both tools nearby the victim, May wonders whether Dave had intended to murder one of the deadweights and been killed in self-defense. Further discussion of this topic reveals various holes in this theory, such as why the body had been stabbed from the front when he'd fallen on it and why there was no sign of a struggle near the elevator on the second or third floors in that case.

Meanwhile, Rapture wonders if Dave could have fallen from somewhere other than the elevator. She and Susan investigate the rooftop but find nothing unusual up there. They find Dave's key tossed in some laundry in his room. Along the way, they test the skeleton key and figure out it can open any room door. They also inspect the kitchen and find tape stuck to the bottom of a table in there.

Kaoru and Yuzu go to investigate suspect rooms. It doesn't seem like they find anything that stands out, but they take the chloroform bottles just in case. Kaoru also examines Dave's body in more detail and determines that the wounds are blade-shaped and that Dave likely didn't struggle while being stabbed, as well as finding a swollen gash on the back of his head. She and Yuzu then go to search the elevator shaft with a flashlight.

Beat is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. After some clarification on his rooftop habits and sniping about last week's trial, the conversation eventually turns to the blood found on Dave's desk. He, Susan, and other people begin to discuss the idea that Dave had been knocked out in his room before being dragged to the elevator shaft and stabbed. Kaoru also brings up the fact that even though the body had been cold, the blood had still been somewhat sticky, and suggest the possibility of one of the culprits having the power to manipulate the body's temperature. Stiles wonders where the blood is and how the killer got out of the shaft.

Michael Altman, Siren, and Belarus all offer to take questions and clarify things if necessary. Siren demonstrates her ability in front of Susan and also questions the motives the killer may have had with this week's incentive. Spain brings up the idea that the murder could have taken place in any of the empty rooms from those who've died, as the killer had a skeleton key. Latvia and Clyde go off to investigate this.

Edited 2013-10-12 23:02 (UTC)

[Once everyone has been ushered into the drawing room, the doors shut and lock behind them, and the smoking room doors open. The Hostess emerges out of them, wearing a pleated red flappers dress with a white pearl necklace. As always, a dark veil obscures her face.]

How lovely to see you all again, darlings! Isn't it a fine morning for a trial? I believe you all know the routine by now - the autopsy has been provided for you as always for your perusal, and it would be ever so wonderful if the suspects could fill us in on their whereabouts while the crime may have been taking place.

And of course, let us all take a moment of silence to remember the life of Dave Strider, who will never enlighten the world with his artistic genius again. Perhaps one of you was simply too jealous of his level of skill, hmm?

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Now, let's begin!

We should probably bring the body in. [#murderhouseroutines] Would anyone like to go with me to get it?

Um... since this was a... Deadweight murder [she still hates calling it that] that sword must have come from the list... here:

[she opens one of her notebooks to a page with a copy of the tools list]

Problem is, because Mr Strider was deadweight... there must be a second item. Any ideas?

Edited 2013-10-10 19:15 (UTC)

[ There is no opening performance from Rapture, but she is a big smug about going three weeks without being made a suspect. She would go on some explanation about how she has been granted good fortune from her ancestors, but with people's usual reactions... she doesn't think it's worth it.

At the moment, that is. ]

So if he didn't fall from the elevator, then where did he fall from?

( When Spain sees his card, he stares at it for a moment and then laughs some, )

Hahaha! ( Though in good spirits, when he begins to fill out information on his schedule, he does look serious at some times as he tries to recall information. Once he's finished, crack his knuckles and turn to face the others ) I would say it wasn't me but…

( A careless shrug, knowing how little that really means. )

Good luck, everyone.

( He's also pretty hungry since he missed his breakfast because of all of this but now would be a pretty bad time to ask for a lunch break, huh. )

[The body has been brought into the room for examination, as is the norm with these trials, apparently.

Considering Lithuania's already been carting it around, he's going to examine it himself. He's going to check to see what Dave was carrying--does he have his keys? Anything unusual?]

Edited 2013-10-10 21:16 (UTC)

[Knowing what he knows now, Latvia hopes he can avoid the commotions from last week. He still thinks that any nation suspects would be innocent but proving that to everyone else will take more work. At least he has a good idea of where to start this week]

There was a blade near the body, right? That he'd probably been stabbed with?

Has anyone moved it? Surely the first thing to do would be to check the handle for fingerprints...

[Susan will stand and head for the door.]

...We're heading to the rooftop to see if there's anything at all to see there. It's really the only other viable place for a fall.

Is there anywhere else that ought to be examined? Suspect rooms notwithstanding.

[okay time to do this May TIME TO PROVE YOU'RE NOT DISPENSABLE EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO SCIENCE TO BE DONE]

Um...perhaps this is a foolish idea, but are we sure Dave had been the intended victim in this case? His card says he is a ninja, correct? I do not know if this is true everywhere, but where I come from, a katana is typically the sword that a ninja would use. So in that case...maybe he was the one who chose to kill one of the deadweights and failed?

Ah... we're going to search the suspect rooms... could we have people's keys, please?

[once he's finished writing down his schedule, he stands up]

AWRIGHT! I'm not gonna take this accusation sittin' down! Who wants to ask me stuff!?

[ Looking over the schedules, one in particular. ]

Igiari! The Ruby Wing bathroom smelled... 'odd'...? What does that even mean? Can you explain what the smell was like, Reiko? And... Touko, Latvia, Alice... Did you notice anything strange as well?

Um, if we're done with carrying over petty grudges from last week's trial so we can move on to making new petty grudges from this week's trial...can we talk about the crime scene? I mean, I'm not the only one getting major deja vu to last week when it comes to where the blood is, yeah?

Look, maybe Dave was the guy originally trying to get his murder on, but it still doesn't explain where he was stabbed. There was a little blood in his room, but definitely not enough for a stabbing. Even if the killer had time to clean everything up, there's no way they could have gotten his blood off the carpet that easily. Same goes for the hallways near the elevator. But if he'd been stabbed in the elevator shaft, then how did the killer keep the door open long enough for them to get out?

[ Altman stands up, looking rather shell-shocked. ]

If you have any questions about where I was or what I was doing, I can answer them.

Ah... I feel like some clarification of my abilities is necessary.

I am aware that my skill card says that I can repel attacks among other things, but I've never gone up against a sword before... never mind whatever a katana is. [She's not from around here.] The attacks I ward off in my line of work as a Sailor Animate are of a more elemental and magical nature.

If Mr. Strider had gone after me with such a sharp weapon I'd certainly be standing before you with a significantly shorter hair cut right now.

Edited 2013-10-11 06:12 (UTC)

[since everyone else is doing it]

I can also take questions.

I heard about the framing idea; I have never heard of a 'katana' before.

[presumably ruling her out if that's what happened, what with the 'style of your choice' and all (she can't even pronounce it correctly)]

I am not familiar with elevators either.

( Like Stiles mentioned, there is some deja vu here when it comes to where is the blood? After thinking on it some, Spain will ask the room a question, )

The skeleton key could open any room in the house, right? Why limit the search to only our rooms ( the suspects' ) and the victim's?

If there was anything unusual about any of our rooms, I'm sure someone would have spoken up by now. ( ... ) Unless the occupant is no longer around to say otherwise.

Edited 2013-10-11 13:38 (UTC)

Um... Mr. Spain brought up a point of checking some of the empty bedrooms. Since he isn't allowed to leave I'll go in his stead.

Is there anyone that would be so kind to accompany me? I'll be checking the Sapphire wing first and then we'll see where we can go from there. It might be a good idea to check the hallways leading to the elevator too.

Have we considered how the motive for this week factors into the evidence?

It seems as though whoever had regrets when it came to their lives would be the most enticed into killing for the week, right?

[And back to Dave's room, because it's still weird that there's so little blood and hey, maybe they moved the desk to cover some up or something who knows.]

How do you want to test the soundproofing?

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