Week 7 - Monday & Tuesday

[productions]

murder manor week seven



monday, tuesday

14 players remaining.

This is a general mingle post. Please put your character's name, the time, and location in the subject heading of their comment. Players may also thread in logs, either posted to murdermanor or in a private locked journal post filtered to include productions. Plots for this week's crime are due Tuesday by 5 PM EST.

Setting & Rules
Private Conversations
Plotting

Comments

[souredsweet]

But that means—

[as usual, Kaoru doesn't need prompting to connect the dots there. coupled with the letter reveal, there's more than enough shock to temporarily blot away the personal gloom cloud that seems ever-present lately.

wow though, suddenly Emerald wing doesn't feel like a safe place to be at night anymore.]

...Do you think that Mr. Spain is the player with the game rigged to his benefit?

[inthebones]

...Not exactly.

I do think, perhaps, that part of his condition was to be of use to the one who is. He refused to explain his reasons for what he did, and of course, someone has an interest in seeing him free to kill again.

[souredsweet]

[Kaoru's brow furrows, trying to make sense of this.]

So... you believe that this player - the one for whom the game is rigged - is the one behind Spain's cut ropes... Because this player wishes for Spain to kill again? Why—?

[inthebones]

...Why does this 'game' exist in the first place? Someone must receive a perverse thrill from all of this.

I'd wager that one of us in this room is purring smugly as a cat at seeing us thrown into further turmoil.

[souredsweet]

[it will likely become apparent that the thought hadn't really crossed Kaoru's mind. sure, the audience wanting a show was one thing, but for some reason thinking that the apparent mastermind had little other reason than that as well just seems unbelievable.]

...Well, that is undoubtedly so. If this person may truly have such sway in the game, surely the letter would not have been given out if they did not yet wish to make their presence known.

[inthebones]

Precisely.

It doesn't matter whether it's due to hubris or because some unseen machination we can't begin to guess at yet has been set in place. They've played their hand.

[souredsweet]

Things were already such a mess... [Kaoru pushes the empty plate away, looking upset.]

[inthebones]

Certainly so. But this aspect of the 'game' had existed previously whether or not we were aware of it. Through this revelation, we're only better off than we were before.

...It's our first step towards escaping this place.

[souredsweet]

A first step, but it has come after such a long time... We are nearing our second month, aren't we? [Kaoru's had a lot of time to become familiar with the Gregorian calendar.]

We are below half of the number we arrived here with... Will we have enough time, with just one step?

[inthebones]

...Well. There's no point sinking into despair and doing nothing. That assures we won't have enough time.

[Sensible as always.]

[humanic]

No way.

[He doesn't look too surprised to hear this; he and Susan already discussed the possibility after Touko's execution and it's been on his mind ever since.]

I doubt our mastermind would ever commit a murder themselves. The one thing they can't rig in this game are our votes - they show us the results and we'd know if someone's vote got changed. They wouldn't take that risk of getting caught.

Along that line, I don't think they'd ever let themselves fall to the deadweight or dispensable list either since there's be a large chance of getting targeted by a killer. [He glances at a page on his notebook.] Which means that Spain, Annie, Anya, Alice, Beat, May and Sonia are probably the least likely people to be the mastermind out of everyone remaining.

[souredsweet]

So you believe, then, that there truly is someone among us who is working with the game itself... [Kaoru seems vaguely disturbed by the possibility, but then looks thoughtful.]

Come to think of it, weren't people suggesting something similar on the very first day of this mess? That the perfect place for an overseer would be within the crowd, blending in.

[humanic]

I don't remember who mentioned it specifically, but the idea's been thrown around a couple of times. [He shrugs.] Honestly, I thought it was just a kinda paranoid conspiracy theory for a while, but after Touko's execution... I think she either knew who the mastermind was or at least knew one existed somehow.

[souredsweet]

Miss Aozaki, as well...? [Kaoru looks a little surprised, having been preoccupied with Yuzu's rescue at the time Touko was talking about the list.]

...So it is possible, then, that this special player has contact with at least two people who are aware of their existence. [...] Come to think of it, Miss Aozaki did not have a fully satisfactory explanation for her crimes either, did she?

[humanic]

No, but I wouldn't put it past her to have just been in it for the money or whatever. What got me suspicious was how they executed her right when she was about to reveal something about the list of people who'd been suspects up until that point...and the people who hadn't.

[souredsweet]

Ah, that could be true... [in regards to Touko, that is. Kaoru decided at that trial not to try figuring out her motives or reasons.

that said, not having paid as close attention to the suspect cycle as she had:] ...Is there anyone who hasn't been a suspect at this point?

[humanic]

Lithuania, May and Anya. Of the three, Lithuania's the only one who's never been on the bottom lists.

[He drums his fingers against the table.] ...but that's a little too obvious, isn't it? Like I told Susan before, it wouldn't really be that much of a risk for them to put themselves on the suspect list as long as they didn't actually kill anyone. As long as they know who committed the murder and how, they could just solve the case if they felt like they were in danger at any point.

[souredsweet]

[Kaoru nods once and hums in agreement.]

Or they could craft an airtight alibi so they appear as a suspect without having any true risk of being executed. There are some cases in which at least one suspect is ruled out early because of something similar, yes?

[pasodoble]

By that logic, the mastermind benefit from being a difficult target. Like someone on the popular or immune lists all of the time.

[humanic]

It'd make sense. But if they knew that their existence was always going to be revealed eventually, I don't know if they'd want to stand out too much either.

[He eyes Spain carefully.] Susan brings up a good point, you know. You ever been in contact with this mastermind?

[pasodoble]

I don't think the lists matter at all.

( Watching Stiles watch him before speaking, )

I only know players.