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



Character Statuses
Setting
Manor Rules
Cheat Sheet
Voting

Comments

[hollowheart]

I was with Rin every waking moment of her day, and you can ask any of those who've seen us together. The only time I'd left her was shortly before 3. By the time I came back, she'd been murdered...

[pasodoble]

But then why wouldn't you tell anyone?

[hollowheart]

And why would I?

[pasodoble]

If you were with her all day, that would mean you two were friends! ... Right?

[hollowheart]

And now she's dead because I couldn't have kept her safe despite my best efforts, and there's nothing I can do about it from here on. [For once, she actually sounds angry.] So don't you dare wave our friendship in my face.

It's not any of you that I have an obligation toward, so don't pretend you cared about her.

[pasodoble]

So you didn't tell anyone because you were what? Embarrassed? Ashamed because she died despite your efforts? Because there was nothing you could do after?

We've wasted time trying to figure out who the third person was in case they were an accomplice.

[hollowheart]

And? [No, really. She just doesn't care.]

1/2

[pasodoble]

And--!

( Opening his mouth to elaborate on his complaints )

[pasodoble]

( Shutting it. Mumbling something to himself that sounds more like, "This is wasting time too." )

At least we know now. ( AUGH! ) Thank you for telling us, at least.

[hollowheart]

[It's not like she doesn't regret this, but she's not about to admit it.]

[vytis]

[Okay everyone else can go yell at Annie but Lithuania is going to take note of this.]

Do you happen to remember around what time it was that you saw her dead? Or how long you were away from her.

[hollowheart]

We've been together since I woke up that morning until I had to leave the music room right before 3pm. By the time I'd come back from the Opal wing, it was 3:20 pm. That's when I found her dead body.

[vytis]

That quickly... [Lithuania is inclined to believe when Susan checked Rin at 3:15 she was already dead.] You were under no obligation to help us out here, so thank you, Miss Leonhardt.

[hollowheart]

No... I should have done more, but I failed her as a protector. This is just the scraps of the help I should have given.

[vytis]

No one can be expected to predict every situation that might arise, especially in a place like this.

[souredsweet]

Ah... [well, that's one mystery cleared, at least.]

Despite the delay, thank you for sharing this. But to think that the murder took place in an even shorter time frame...

[hollowheart]

Someone must have been waiting for me to leave her...

[souredsweet]

Were you aware of any of our suspects keeping a particular eye on you that day? Knowing the exact moment that you stepped out of the room... or close to it, anyway; that is either tremendous luck or the result of a very close watch.

[hollowheart]

The person who must have planned this must also have seen the two of us around often. We were quite conspicuous, but I can't pin it on one person with full certainty.

The only person we've not run into often was miss Susan. [she feels like a disobedient child around her.]

[souredsweet]

I suppose that it would not matter with Miss Sto Helit regardless, due to her abilities... [so the list hasn't really been narrowed at all, beyond Sonia and Gundam not being likely.]

[inthebones]

I hate to interrupt now that you're being forthcoming, but if your evidence is correct, the murder seems more and more difficult to carry off. You're quite right; I wasn't aware you spent much time around the victim. That being the case, the murderer had to simultaneously plan for the murder to take place in between the moments I was checking as well as during a time when you were away.

I suggest that one of these variables must have been manipulated. What was the reason you left Miss Kagamine's side? Could you have been lured away?

[hollowheart]

Hardly. I-- [she actually seems flustered, for once, with a hint of shyness.] I had to use the ladies room. I've been with Rin all day and that was the only time I'd left her side since the morning. She opted to play the piano instead of accompanying me.

I didn't believe there would have been enough time for her to be harmed in the time I was away.

[inthebones]

Oh.

[susan almost seems disappointed]

...Could you have been slipped a diuretic earlier?

[theory of the century]

[hollowheart]

I can't see how that's possible. I prepare all my food. [she's serious, too]

[inthebones]

[Susan honestly doesn't find it unreasonable in the slightest.]

I find being first to the ballroom allows for a similar sense of comfort.

If they waited for you to be out of the room, they must have necessarily been nearby. But no one was - not according to the alibis. I saw Gundam and Sonia coming in at 3:00, I was with Yuzu in the courtyard, and Kanaya was with Kaoru in the kitchen. Touko was outdoors. If someone's alibi placed them in say, the drawing room for an hour, perhaps it could potentially be feasible.

No one could have been waiting and watching you.