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



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[inthebones]

[Inside Susan's cabinet is an ancient parchment covered in spidery script that is impossible to read. Literally. It cannot be read. It doesn't seem to be English or French or Latin or any other language that exists in this world or as an equivalent on the Discworld - it doesn't seem to be written language at all. As he glances through, though, on occasion, something may awaken in his mind. The sensation of impossibly immense weight, the frozen sensation of a meticulously measured fraction of time, the shadow of Something That Exists Outside It All.

It isn't words. It isn't script. It simply Is.

Stiles may not want to look too long.]

[humanic]

Wow, I was wrong. It can get creepier after all.

[He tilts his head, squinting at the text and trying to decipher it without any success before the heebie-jeebies start setting in. Stiles is pretty sure that if there really is Something That Exists Outside It All, that Something's main source of entertainment is To Dick Around With His Life, so he'd rather avoid its attention if he can.

He turns to the books next, flipping through them and quickly skimming what details he can. Rin obviously couldn't have been poisoned, but that doesn't mean whatever's in them won't come up again a few trials from now.]

[inthebones]

[He isn't too far off, really.

As he glances through the books, Stiles may notice that the one on herbs and poisons and drugs falls open easily to a section on thallium, as the binding has been creased that way from overuse. He may find it of interest that thallium can be used to kill ringworm and other parasites, so if a ringworm is the next victim, he'll know where to look.

In any case apparently someone still feels guilty.]

[humanic]

[He winces. Great, now he feels bad about it too.

Okay, next is the poker. He picks it up and examines the hilt and the tip closely to see if there's anything off about it.]

[inthebones]

[There is a very thin layer of dust on it - possibly it was last picked up four or five days ago. There is nothing unusual about the hilt, but there are a few black threads around the tip if he examines it closely enough.]

[humanic]

[Interesting.... He plucks off one of the threads and holds it to the light, trying to determine where it might have come from. Does it match any of her clothes?]

[inthebones]

[If he glances into the closet, it does indeed. ...Most of them, actually, since they're all mostly composed of the same type of black fabric.]

[humanic]

[The closet's his next stop then. He glances over his shoulder just in case Susan has somehow popped up behind him with a disapproving stare.]

Sorry about this. No drawers, right?

[But after what happened with Annie, he's not about to overlook any details just because of propriety. He examines each of her outfits, checking pockets and looking for any rips or tears, before moving onto her shoes.]

[inthebones]

[When Stiles returns to the drawing room, he will receive the Look nonetheless.

None of the outfits have rips or tears beyond what you might expect from normal daily use. There is, however, a sad mass of bloodstained cloaks tightly wrapped up in a garbage bag in the back of the closet. Stiles may or may not recognize these as the unacknowledged victims of the last few trials, aka Minatsuki's Death Shroud and Sharon's Death Shroud.]

[humanic]

Oh, that's...that's super gross. Ohhhh god, why would anyone keep those. If I hurl, it is entirely your fault.

[He manages not to because he's a badass, but quickly moves on to looking under her bed. Not that he thinks she'd be dumb enough to hide anything there, but - wait, didn't the immune get a hidden compartment this week?

...crap, he should have asked her before he'd gone where it was. He'll inspect the floor carefully anyways just to see if he can find it.]

[inthebones]

[Until the house is kind enough to provide a garbage truck to remove their daily waste, Susan will leave it in her room rather than in public where the entire house will traipse past it.

Her hidden compartment is hidden as it should be and the narration will certainly give no hints as to where it can be found though let's face it the room isn't that big he could probably manage it with an hour or two of searching.

There is nothing under her bed, though. Not even dust.]

[humanic]

[He doesn't have enough attention span for two hours of searching okay he's just gonna come back to the drawing room and head towards Susan for the quick and easy answer.]

Okay, couple of questions. One - I should have asked you this before, but where's the hidden compartment you got? Two - what's with the threads I found on your poker? Three - why the hell are you keeping those bloody sheets in your closet, oh my god, do you realize how unhygienic that is?

Oh yeah, and four - what the fuck is that thing in your cabinet?

[inthebones]

[Someday Susan will grow accustomed to Stiles's manner of rapid-fire speech. Today is not that day. She levels a dour glare as he returns.]

One - I'm certainly not telling you in earshot of everyone else.
Two - What threads? Cloth threads?
Three - If you'd like to dig a hole to bury them for me, you're welcome to do so. Until then, bloody cloaks are hardly the foremost of my concerns.
Four - Those are the

RULES

[Somehow, it sounds like that coming out of her mouth, too.]

[humanic]

[He flails backwards so hard at that voice that he winds up falling on his butt.]

Geez, warn someone before you do that! Rules - sorry, RULES - to what, the universe? Super Mario Galaxy? How to keep your room ungodly neat at all times?

And yeah, the cloth threads. How'd that wind up happening? And if you don't wanna tell me in public, you can pass me a note or something. I'm not about to let a hidden compartment go unopened, that'd be way dumb.

[inthebones]

[Susan rolls her eyes slightly at his reaction.]

Yes, of course the Rules to the universe. What other rules would I care about?

[is that sarcasm who can even tell]

The cloth threads are probably there because I used the poker to tamp down the bloody cloaks into the bag of waste after the last trial. I certainly wasn't going to thrust my arms into it. Afterwards, I wiped off the tip with a piece of clean cloth I'd removed from one of the cloaks and replaced it in the corner.

And you are intent on finding out all my secrets, aren't you? I can show you if you really care that much.

[humanic]

How should I know? The universe isn't even supposed to have rules! Unless you're being sarcastic, which I'm usually extremely good at detecting, except you come from a place where your planet is balanced on a turtle riding an elephant so I honestly have no idea whether what you're saying is legit or not.

Rin wasn't wearing any black when she died, was she? Though I guess it'd be pretty stupid to hide the murder weapon in your room. And I'm intent on making sure we catch the right person this time.

[inthebones]

[Another heavy eye roll.]

Come along, then. I can't blame you for being thorough, even if I'm fairly certain this is out of nothing more than curiosity.

We can discuss the Rules if you have any questions.

...I hope you didn't stare at it.

[humanic]

Why can't it be both? Like yeah, you probably aren't hiding anything in there, but boy would I feel like the world's dumbest moron if it turned out that's where you stashed the key to turning this case around and I decided to let it go because a hidden compartment isn't worth looking into at all.

I have questions. I have so many questions I don't even know where to start. Oh wait, yeah I do - whatever these Rules are, are they important enough that you'd kill over them?

Um, mysterious script on some kind of super shady parchment? Of course I did. Didn't understand a word though.

[inthebones]

It isn't. The hidden compartment was announced to the public; I'd hardly be daft enough to hide anything relevant in there. As a matter of fact, I'd hide anything that needed hiding out in the open before I'd ever plac it into the compartment.

[Susan seems increasingly annoyed as they progress down the hall towards her room.]

And what sort of question is that supposed to be? They're important enough that someone would kill for them, yes; I thought these were all meant to be.

...Well, not for them, perhaps, but the chance to change them, which I assume is what they were offering.

[humanic]

Better safe than sorry. Is that why you think Poland's mystery box wound up in the music room too?

[A shrug.] Not really. Mine wasn't that big a deal. I know this might sound weird, but plenty of normal humans don't actually have an object like the rules to the freaking universe that they'd kill to own.

[inthebones]

I'd imagine so. Walking around with a mysterious box is far more dangerous than stowing it somewhere quite normal you hope nowhere will find - and even if they do, you hope they won't pick up on the significance.

And that's hardly fair if your item isn't on the same scale as the rest of us. What if you were the suspect this time around?

[what sort of universe doesn't have Rules god]

The Rules are an abstract concept, anyway. I've never imagined that they'd be presented like this.

[a slight pause]

...Well. No, that's not true. In so much as I'm human, I've always imagined them like this. That's why it's sitting in my cabinet, I suppose. Not even I can really comprehend the... reality of it. I admit I've occasionally indulged in flights of fancies about smudging out a portion here and there and wiping the Auditors of Reality from existence.

[humanic]

[He snorts.] Wait until you find out what Gundam's is.

Yeah, I understood about five of those words in that sentence, but geez. That thing's really that powerful?

...how the hell did they get a hold of it?

[inthebones]

Is it the world's finest hamster seed ground from the flesh of dragons?

[Susan thinks big.]

I don't believe what's sitting in my cabinet is that powerful, no. If anyone could actually change the Rules, though... It would be unimaginable. I don't know that I'd even dare to touch them.

...My existence itself is already a loophole in the Rules, really.

[Having reached her room by now, Susan will let herself in without bothering to use the key. It's her room, after all.]

[humanic]

See, that I could actually imagine him killing for.

Still have no idea what you're talking about, but I am fully on board with the no changing the laws of the universe thing. Except maybe to make curly fries both healthy and delicious.

[And he'll just stand back and wait for her to reveal the compartment.]

[inthebones]

[A slight sigh]

You don't know what you're talking about, either. The Rules are the Rules for a reason, but... Let's simply say that the Rules, as they stand, can be interpreted in a... certain way. A way that would prefer to see to it that humanity -- that all of life itself ceased to exist.

[That depressing topic aside, Susan will head for her closet and open it.]

Could you hold these?

[Please take the bag of bloody cloaks Stiles.]