The following document will be laid out on a table in the drawing room:
Autopsy Report - Belarus
Cause of Death - Apparently dismemberment.
Location of Body - Various. Limbless torso found in kitchen. Head found in ice box. Leg found in library. Leg (missing foot) found next to fence near chapel. Foot found on roof. Arm found in wine cellar. Arm found in elevator. Hand found in magic box. Hand found in fountain. Viscera found in drawing room.
Time of Death - Between 8 PM Wednesday and 7 AM Thursday
Condition of Body - Dismembered. Parts dispersed.
Condition of Scene - Kitchen scene; torso found on floor, as well as significant amounts of blood. Kitchen knives found near body, some have their blades damaged or dulled. Several bloody smears leading either into or from kitchen that may be foot tracks.
Bedroom scene; room slightly in state of dishevel. Bed unmade, and there is blood and vomit in the bed, but not large amounts of blood as in the kitchen. Pocket knife on floor. Potted plant knocked to floor and pot broken. Smell of booze and vomit.
There is room at the bottom of the page for others to add notes. Belarus's information card is laid out next to it.
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.]
Once again, the contestants are ushered into the drawing room, this time at 9AM Friday morning. This trial, they will be investigating the deaths of Belarus and Michael Altman.
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 Alice, Clyde Barrow, Gundam Tanaka, Latvia, Rapture, and Touko Aozaki.
No one is in the best of spirits today, least of all the Hostess, what with the horrible stench of Belarus' corpse. Poland suggests someone confess right away, but no one does, and instead the trial must begin.
Susan gets the ball rolling right out the gate with a theory. Susan argues the killer must have killed two people either unintentionally or out of necessity. Belarus may have been the 'extra incentive' target of the week. Susan suggests the killer could have intended to poison her, but also poisoned Michael Altman by mistake and unaware. After poisoning Belarus, the killer went to her room to dismember her, but found her still alive and there was a struggle. She was then taken to the kitchen and dismembered. However, Susan acknowledges this theory leaves the mystery of how the killer obtained access to Belarus' room. After all, Belarus was on the dispensable list, so the killer would not have received tools in advance to help kill her, unlike Altman.
This may require Belarus willingly allowing someone into her room, perhaps because they feigned concern. Rapture suggests this could have been someone she knew, who was close by her, referring to Latvia. Stiles doubts Latvia seems like the type to dismember, but Susan points out that no one on this list seems the type, so they should not make character judgments.
Stiles points out Belarus was not the type to let someone into her room, and counters with the theory that the killer targeted Altman intentionally to obtain the deadweight tools, which they used to gain access to Belarus' room. However, that theory leaves the question of why the killer decided to leave Altman alone but dismember Belarus.
Susan puts forward a third theory, that the killer intended to target Altman, poisoned Belarus by mistake, and dismembered her to create a red herring. Poland believes the killer may have tried to hide Belarus' body by burning it, based on the charred leg he found. But Susan finds it unlikely anyone would think burning the body was realistic, and Stiles suggests the charring may have come from the electric fence. Susan and Rapture debate what the ash found by Poland could signify, but conclude it is too little to be burnt clothing.
Finally, Sonia argues against the theory that either Altman or Belarus was an accidental victim. Belarus preferred vodka, while Altman only drank rum. The killer would have been unlikely to poison either by accident, as they were likely drinking two different liquors. Rapture suggests the two victims was just to waste time to help the culprit. Kaoru proposes this was the work of two killers, necessitating two victims. Sonia points out the similar clues and thinks it was one plan, which Kaoru does not disagree with, but the number of killers is not determined. Alice also thinks this was a distraction tactic, while Sonia believes it may be the work of a thrill killer, who would dismember the body for pleasure.
Now, the suspects begin to speak for themselves. Rapture invites questions, while Gundam invites challengers and insists he had no incentive this week. Heclarifies that he doesn't know anyone who would be used against him, and doesn't believe he forgot anyone like that, because he's on his own. Sonia and Susan are still skeptical for different reasons. Rapture and Gundam, meanwhile, discuss the nature of good and evil.
Stiles points out no one has found bloody clothes, which would be hard to avoid with Belarus. Alice suggests they were burned. Poland connects this to the ash found out near the chapel. Susan suggests they wore Belarus' clothing, but this would indicate they ran around dispersing body parts completely naked. Belarus' dress remained on her torso, and the ash doesn't seem like enough to be a lot of clothing, or why it would be out on the grounds if it was from clothing.
Searches get under way. Lithuania and Poland are on corpse recovery duty. Poland and Anya then go to the bar to see what they might find. Kaoru suggests examining the wounds. There is lively debate about Belarus' appendages, whether Stiles is using crass excuses to examine dead women's bodies, and the merits of the Saw franchise. Gundam and May actually examine the body, and find Belarus probably was dismembered with knives.
With rooms taken care of, Sonia offers her serial killer expertise, and profiles the killer as intelligent, arrogant, and probably affable enough to deflect suspicion. She suggests this may rule out Latvia, who does not have much charisma. However, Rapture reveals Latvia pulled a knife on her and threatened her earlier in the game. Still, Sonia doesn't think the killer would be someone so nervous. Stiles agrees with Sonia's assessments, and says that serial killers tend to be great actors who enjoy taunting others, but may slip up if they are too cocky. With this assessment, Susan and Sonia think this sounds most like Clyde, Alice, or Touko, although they are unsure about Alice's display of empathy for Annie. Still, Susan points out the profile should be a guideline, since not all sociopaths would fit. There was somedissentabout the relevance of this kind of profile.
Felicia suggested the suspects talk about the person who is their incentive. Stiles argues people may lie, but they press ahead. Alice does not recognize her person. Clyde's is a friend he owes a debt, Touko's an apprentice, Latvia's a fellow nation. Rapture would give the world for Riot, but doesn't believe it's truly him. Gundam does not believe he knows anyone there.
Sonia returns from Altman's room search, having found a bloody set of clothes. The men's clothes are the right size to be Altman's, prompting discussion of whether Altman killed Belarus or the killer was trying to make it look that way. However, Lithuania's explanation that the killer borrowed Altman's so their own wouldn't get dirty seemed simplest.
Stiles pointed out Altman's clothes mean we know the killer targeted Altman intentionally, since they knew he would be dead when they went to get the clothes. Touko wonders if poison and a skeleton key has yet to be found, while Rapture thinks it could have been a skeleton key and a weapon. Latvia wonders if the pink fluid could be the poison, but Felicia suggests it's just blood, which may be a clue to the poison itself.
Kaoru examines the bloody clothes and finds dirt on the left shoulder and a burn mark on the right cuff.
Following that discovery, the bell rang, ending the day.
[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, today wearing a simple black dress and a dark overcoat. As always, a dark veil obscures her face, and today she is clutching a handkerchief to her nose. The pile of viscera has been moved from the table to a sealed plastic bag, and most of the blood has been cleaned up, but the stench in the room is overpowering. Her expression is rather sour compared to the usual.]
Well, good morning. I am sorry about the state of the room. Someone was not very considerate. We've done our best, but...
[Susan calmly passes out a few black handkerchiefs to those closest to her while shielding her own nose, following the Hostess's example.]
I imagine most of us want to volunteer to search the victims' rooms and the suspects' rooms to escape this mess. You should probably go ahead.
In any case... given that we don't have much evidence at all yet, this proposal should be taken with a grain of salt. But I believe it possible that Belarus and Altman were both poisoned - Altman by accident, Belarus purposefully. There was nothing to gain from killing both of them. In fact, with one dead, all the other deadweights and dispensables ought to have been quite safe. A double murder was likely to occur this week, but the wrong two people died.
If we can assume that the killer wasn't simply a deranged psychopath out to kill as many people as possible, it seems safe to assume that the two victims were killed either unintentionally or by necessity. What I mean by the latter is that one might have gotten in the way while the murder was being carried out. However, Altman was found dead in his room, and there were certainly signs of struggle in Belarus's room, which seems to indicate that she was set upon by the murderer in private.
On Wednesday night, the killer poisoned something they believed Belarus would partake of. Unfortunately, poison is indiscriminate about its victims, and Michael imbibed as well. Michael later returned to his room and expired as peacefully as can be expected after succumbing to the effects of the poison. The killer never knew that he had died as well. Belarus returned to her room, and the killer entered in the dead of night, expecting her to be either dead or incapacitated from the poison. They intended to dismember her in order to cover up the means by which she was killed. However, perhaps because Michael had taken some, or perhaps because she was accustomed to ingesting poisons, the dose used wasn't enough to kill her outright. A struggle then occurred in Belarus's room, but she was too weakened to fight properly. Regardless, the killer was forced to use a kitchen knife to stab her several times, leading to the scene we discovered there.
Once incapacitated, Belarus was taken to the kitchen, dismembered, and her body parts were hidden about the house.
The major flaw with this scenario is that no items would have been awarded to the murderer beforehand - the death with the monetary prize attached would most likely have been Belarus's, explaining why she was the main target. In the absence of being given poison and a skeleton key, the killer would have had to have found a way around it. It's possible we missed some poison in the house. It's also possible they simply feigned concern after hearing Belarus vomiting from the poison and asked to be let in, and she did so in her impaired state of mind.
[ Is Rapture wearing a slightly ridiculous outfit for this trial? You bet she is. Does she have her crystal ball in hand? You bet she does. She stands boldly amongst the crowd of people with her hands in the air. The crystal ball glitters underneath the light as it rests in her palm.
She's doing this for Riot. Or rather, whatever (possibly) Lin-Z is (possibly) trying to pass off as Riot. If it's a show they want... then it's a show they will get! Nobody will ever be able to refuse the Stingers after this, leaving Jem, the Holograms, and the Misfits in the dust. ]
You seek answers! [ She randomly points to someone. ] But will you ask the right questions? You can try your luck... if you wish.
[He looks fairly disgusted, though not really about the smell so much as the world in general.]
You all clamor to accuse me. I see my perceived guilt is such I will be identified once again. You will suppose the manner of this slaying fits my loathing for mankind, or perhaps you will vilify me by suggesting I would disperse her parts even though I have no need for such theatrics. Hah...I see your accusations now, your votes in stone. You call for my "alibi" and desire to tear traipse through my room all to solidify the conclusions you have already reached. Yes, mortals are so predictable. Do you not see that in your false morality, the true villains are all of you?
Well, my enemies, let us engage. In order for this battle to be fair, I will provide my whereabouts, and I will permit the most ordinary among us all to search my room as you see fit. Let us see how you may strive to cast your blame, fools and pharisees alike! Ask your questions!
So I'm not the only one who's noticed that there's something pretty major we haven't found yet, right?
I mean, this isn't exactly like the case with Minatsuki. Belarus didn't accidentally dismember herself and have her limbs magically float to different areas in the place. Whoever did this had to have gotten blood all over them. So where are the bloody clothes?
[And Lithuania heads off with Poland to go do body retrieval.]
Most of the body parts are in the foyer, but the torso is still in the kitchen, I think. [He's being very matter-of-fact, but it's more like he's compartmentalizing than anything.] It might take more than one trip just to bring everything of that body back.
Excuse me... Does anyone else here have surgical or medical knowledge, or expertise with, ah... anything that may help when looking at dismemberment more closely? [wow, that sure is a thing Kaoru never expected would be necessary to say.]
If we can determine how messy the removal was or if the culprit knew what they were aiming for in their cuts, it may help some...
Hang on. So we've all been talking about this potential poisoning thing, and what the killer's plan could have been. Whether they meant to kill both Belarus and Altman, whether there were two killers, but… Is it possible that maybe... one of the victims killed the other? And then someone else killed the remaining one? We don't have a concrete time of death for either of them.
Okay, so maybe the poison thing makes it seem like they were killed by the same person. But you never know.
Alright, well I think we know the drill by now: suspects need to have their rooms searched just in case. From my understanding Belarus and Altman's rooms were already searched, right? If that's the case we can skip them, unless people feel like they should be re-searched.
Kaoru has made a good suggestion... I ought to share some of my knowledge. You see, studying serial killers is a hobby of mine. I find it very thrilling that- [ she pauses, as if rethinking the appropriateness of that sentence, and thankfully stops herself there. ]
...Anyway, she suggested that I describe the sort of person who performs such a brutal murder. I shall do that.
What I believe we have here is someone who did this for pleasure. There is no reason to dismember a body and hide the parts in such a manner without some sort of mirth or enjoyment behind the act. Regardless of why the victim died, such mistreatment was truly unnecessary.
So... if we look at historical examples of brutal murders like this one... It always lines up with a very specific personality type.
We are looking for a killer who is intelligent above average, controlling, vain, arrogant, and... affable. This sort of person is, primarily, very pleasant to converse with, contrary to what you might think. The most successful murderers were those with charming personalities; people with a warm smile and the ability to put others at ease.
Of course, there are exceptions. But please keep it in mind... There is a certain pattern to human behavior that has been analyzed and proven time and time again. And for thrill killers... Well, it's always the most unlikely person.
Guys? I don't know how far we're going to get with this CSI stuff. We don't know anyone's full motivations, so however we look at it, it's just guessing.
I think all the suspects should talk about whoever it is up there they're worried about. I'm sorry to make you do it. I'll share mine if it makes you feel better. But we need to know about the stakes.
This was found in Michael's closet. And also... I would like to note that there are bloodstains worn into the carpet by the door. I believe... these were the clothes that were worn when Belarus was murdered, and they were brought into the room, creating the stains...
...
Either way, Michael had to have already been dead, for the killer to be able to use his room as a hiding place... Which means that he likely died before Belarus.
Does... does anyone have any ideas about the pink fluid Mr. Stiles described? I-If we really are looking at a poisoning attempt, I would have thought it would be colourless so as not to draw attention...
Also, um... it seems like vomit has been mentioned a lot. Was there any similar pink fluid in that?
[At 7 PM, the grandfather clock tolls once again, the doors to the smoking room shut, and the doors to the drawing room open. However, you are not free to wander the mansion - The Hostess will shepherd everyone to the ballroom for dinner and wine.
Everyone will be locked in the ballroom until the clock tolls again at 10 PM (anyone who wishes to retire earlier may do so, but they will be stopped by the Hostess if they try to go anywhere but directly to their wing). At 10 PM, the wings will be sent to bed in groups, and the bedrooms will be locked from the outside as well as the inside all evening.
Feel free to thread out any evening interactions beneath this comment.]
[At 8:30 AM, the grandfather clock tolls again, and the drawing room doors open. Breakfast is served in the drawing room, and the doors will shut once everyone has filtered in. It seems the room has been cleaned up a bit overnight - the body has been encased in a body bag that seems to be masking the smell, and the room smells of air freshener. There's still a lingering scent of decay in the air, of course.
The Hostess steps out of the smoking room once again.]
Good morning, everyone! Now that we've tidied up a bit, let's get started. I will ask that no one open that wretched body bag unless there is something very important to find.
[Any questions on the second day can be asked here.]
[ She does not have her crystal ball today, but she is dressed very snappily. There is no change in her demeanor... in fact, she seems hardly upset or worried at all. ]
Achtung! Sonia and I have been working on a song that we'd like to perform from both for all of you and the audiences at home. It's a song from her own nation of Novoselic that will be accompanied on the piano by Miss Nevermind and backed by my vocals.
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