WEEK 0 TRIAL

[cartesio]

Week 0: Trial

By the time you get to the courtroom, the large clock on the top shows it’s 10:00 AM. The Sergeant is waiting in front of the open doors, when someone arrives he ushers them inside, into the trial room. He ignores any questions about why a trial will happen, all he does is glare at those who ask.

The trial room seems to have been modified for the purposes of having this sort of trials. There are thirty-three podiums arranged on a circle, none of them have any name or indication of where you must go. Looks like you’re free to stand wherever you want. The only exception is the podium draped in black velvet, with a cheap-looking polaroid of Lovepon placed right on top of it. The sides of the room have what seems to be tribunes, rising high and out of your reach, with enough chairs for a sizable crowd. It feels more like a stadium, and you and the rest of the participants would be the main show, but the seats are empty.

Once everyone is gathered at the trial room, the Sergeant glances up at digital clock on the wall, locks the entrance from the outside, and appears a short time later at the judge’s bench, positioned just as high as the public’s seats.

"I mentioned this already: we’re on a tight schedule right now. A life was claimed, and now your duty is to find who among you was responsible for this bloodshed. Lovepon deserves that much, doesn’t she? I trust you all investigated as much as possible. You should have enough to pinpoint who is the killer, now you must debate and decide who among you will be punished to the full extent of the law."

He raises his hand with authority. The shadows over his face seem to twist for a moment, as if they’re going to extend further over his face.

"No, you don’t have a choice. Submit your vote through the slot on your podium, all you have to do is write the name on paper and slide it there. Majority rules, refusing to vote is not an option. Now that I made myself clear..."

Let the trial begin.

Links

Evidence
Voting

Comments

[clearities]

This really is horrible... [Sakura's here, but she's also very quiet all the same.] We have to find out who did this to Lovepon-san. I didn't find much, but apparently I saw a squirrel-san who was holding this. [She takes it out from her pocket, fingers a little shaky as she reveals a bloody bullet.]

[odoruhinokaze]

A bullet, huh?

Looks like someone was lucky enough to be able to snatch up a gun.

[londonstar]

[ he's standing next to sakura, for moral support.

he sets a hand on her shoulder and nods. ]

Good job. Now it's a matter of figuring out who had their hands on a gun.

[snailedit]

I can't believe a squirrel found more clues than me... oh well, that's not important. How much do you know about guns? Can we figure out what kind of gun it came from?

[londonstar]

It's unfortunate that things had to come to this. Nevertheless, it seems our killer had a great deal of luck on their side. But not completely.

[ he has no real evidence on his hand besides a couple notes scribbled on what used to be the pamphlet of the rules. goes to show what he feels about it. ]

Around where we found the severed head of Lady Lovepon, I found some footsteps. The rain warped them a tad, but I am quite certain that this is from someone who does not have small feet.

[ he pauses. ]

Besides that, I managed to find one of her severed arms underneath one of the park benches. Did anybody else find the rest of her body?

[odoruhinokaze]

Sure didn't. [ Some kind of lazy hand waving gesture. ] Anything else you find besides the footsteps was that all that was going on your end?

[monstrology]

Ah, I was wondering where the other pieces might've been. They turned this into quite the morbid scavenger hunt, didn't they?

[...so that's a yes from Will. But he'll elaborate.]

I found a few more as I made my way toward the pond. An arm in a clump of bushes and her waist with the legs still attached on a planter not far from that. The method of their remove matches what you found on your parts: something with serrated edges was used on them.

[detegoergosum]

I found her upper torso at the bottom of the pond. If it's any comfort, I suspect she was dead before she was dismembered. The cause of death was likely a gunshot to the abdomen.

[doublelammy]

Okay, so. I ran over to the ice cream shop after I found Lovepon's head.

There was a streaky thing of blood outside on the sidewalk.

Inside, it looked like someone took something with a jaggy edge and took a couple o'whacks at the tables and condiment bar.

Also, I found this inside of the bubblegum ice cream. [Millium holds out a slightly sticky bullet casing.]

[odoruhinokaze]

... Guess someone decided to put a new meaning to "We all scream for ice cream".

[ Also, rude. Who dares to damage the sanctity of the ice cream parlor? ]

Anyway, looks like a fight happened over there. Maybe even first, depending on what else was going on.

[londonstar]

[ that...makes waver raise an eyebrow. what an awful place to put a bullet casing ]

Could it be that Lady Lovepon was attacked in the ice cream shop, then?

[beanstarscream]

Hmmm. Well, thinking about it, I did notice a missing saw at the hunting store, so there's that, at least.

...

But why, though.

Collecting his thoughts.

[semperperatus]

[Deep breaths. Deep deep breaths. He can do this. He can do this. Stay focused. A young girl died. He has to do this.

Semper peratus.]

Ok...ok.

So...someone bought a large handsaw, right? And...after Lovepon died, they proceeded to try and dismember her corpse. They succeeded partly. With...with her head. And at least an arm. But it wasn't performed cleanly.

...Anyone who knows how to use saws knows that they have to angle the saw in a specific way, and that it depends on the teeth as to...how and what can be cut through. Also, you need strength to use a hand saw for the cleanest job possible. Especially a larger one, and especially if you're cutting through...something as hard as bone. It's also important to be careful when using a saw, and if you're not using a saw right...well...

Whoever did this...they probably lacked the strength to completely dismember the body or do it cleanly. They may have tired out, or...well, run out of time to finish the job. They may have even injured themselves while dismembering the body and they had to stop.

Either way, we're looking for someone who doesn't have a lot of strength, and doesn't have experience with saws. Someone who might have hurt themselves as a result of that.


...

That's all I've got.

[dvaita]

[ Serph's here and barely functioning like he was at the meeting, but that's ok nbd. ]

Is there anything we can take from how she died?

[detegoergosum]

Oh, it was both arms, as well as at the waist.

[ She found the torso, she would know. ]

[snailedit]

That seems to match up with the theory that the killer wasn't strong enough to move the body. Maybe that's why there was blood outside the shop.

[theserpentsmiles]

[Oh, hey. Someone who knows things about saws.] Can you tell anything else from the saw itself?

[He has it, he'll offer it over that way. There's dried blood in the teeth.]

STRIP SEARCH

[doublelammy]

[Are there things Millium can set up for a modesty station? Well, too bad. There are now, even if she has to start stacking chairs and tables.]

Okay! Girls, come with me! Guys, I dunno who's running this party, but someone step right up!

Let's get naked!

[Pause.]

...So I can check you and your stuff for injuries and weapons and stuff!

[Definitely. Yep. Okay.]

[intentus]

You want everyone to get naked?

[londonstar]

WHAT????

[ hE'S TURNING RED???? he might as well be short circuiting. help waver he might just die here. ]

[odoruhinokaze]

Woah there, kiddo. Might want to start with a regular ol' clothing check before we resort to anything like getting full blown naked in front of all prying eyes.

[ He's here if anyone wants to check his clothing or his pockets for anything, though. ]

[alfin]

Um...

[ Alfin has been quiet this whole time. Because her mun was asleep-- I mean! She only saw the head, but... The head was enough to traumatize her. She had never seen anything like that before. This entire time, while everyone was trying to figure out how the murder was committed... She has only had one question on her mind. ]

Even if... Even if we figure out how, exactly, this happen... That... That isn't going to help us much. None of us... Really know each other well enough to know what their... skills with weapons are.

[ She shuddered involuntarily. ]

I think... We should be figuring out what the possible motive could be. I believe you... [ She nodded at Naoto. ] ...mentioned it might be self defense? You think she... attacked someone first? But then...

[ She took a deep breath. ]

That doesn't explain why the murder was... was so violent. Self defense is one thing, but... But dismemberment is another. As has been mentioned before... They didn't do a good job of hiding the... the body parts. I... I doubt that hiding them was even their intent.

[ She shuddered again. ]

In... In the mystery novels I've read, a murder like this... Usually, the victim and the killer knew each other... prior to the murder.

[ She glanced around uncertainly. ]

I think... we should disclose how well we knew her.

[ She takes a deep breath. ]

I only spoke with her once. She... attended my speech in the park on the first day we were trapped here. She asked me if I really thought we outnumbered the police, and I told her I did. [ She glances sidelong at the Sergeant for a moment before continuing. ] She also expressed a distrust of the police, as the rules we were all given stated they would arrest us for sleeping outside at night... but not... not killing each other.

[ She looks down as she says that, tears forming in her eyes again. ]

To... To be clear... I... I don't... I don't think...!

[ She sniffles loudly and brings an arm up to wipe her face. ]

I-I don't think we should out-rule self defense completely, but... I don't think it was the only motive.

[ She takes a few deep breaths, before shakily curtsying to indicate she is done speaking. ]

[clearities]

[Sakura laces her fingers together, keeping a rather serious expression. She can't show just how upset she is right now, even though she wants to be.] Besides inviting everyone to the ice cream parlor yesterday... I didn't really talk to Lovepon-san. In fact, I didn't know her name until Sergeant-san said it.

footprint check + mod ping!

[londonstar]

We've done body checks and weapon checks and neither of them have turned up anything conclusive.

[ he sighs, closing his eyes in a futile attempt to push a blooming headache away. ]

Nevertheless, we haven't touched the topic of the footprints as much. We know that they're small or medium sized and that the victim is in that pool of people.

[ just for the mods: were the footprints going away from the head or towards the head? ]

[semperperatus]

[Shepard wears a US size 12. It was definitely not him who made those prints.]

only herding fat cats

[paciscere]

Let's build a timeline and talk about who we're looking for. Feel free to correct me if I have any details wrong.

The culprit was in the ice cream parlor first. We know this because of where the bullet casing was found. You'd have to be close to the ice cream for the casing to fall there. Why else would they hide it there unless it fell in first and the hot casing disturbed the sorbet? They just took the opportunity to hide it there after, if they did mean to hide it at all. If they didn't, the heat would have melted the sorbet and cause the smoothness that White Rabbit-san described.

Lovepon-san, perhaps looking for a bad person, saw someone suspicious in the ice cream parlor after-hours. Or maybe she was merely walking back to the motel after buying the saw at the hardware store. She'd have to pass the ice cream parlor if that were the case because it's on the way.

We assume a fight happened after, from the nicks in various places and the fact that the blood started right outside the parlor. My guess is Lovepon-san tried to attack the culprit and not knowing how to properly handle a saw, she swung it wildly, quickly backing the culprit into the corner with the sorbet. The culprit was forced to shoot her in the abdomen at that point.

Injured, but not yet dead, Lovepon-san ran and the culprit gave chase. The closest area was the park. The injury, however was too much for her, and she collapsed and died. That would explain why the bullet wasn't hidden in the same place as the casing as Lovepon-san took it with her.

And then... maybe the culprit couldn't dispose of her body properly because of how much she weighed. Or maybe they were angry she had turned them into a killer. Either way, we see the results with how her body is strewn about. Was there anything about how the body parts were positioned that seemed to imply revenge or anger?

Lastly, We'e looking for someone who can handle a gun and likely has a gun on them right now. Someone who has small to medium sized feet. It's debatable whether they're strong enough to lift the body, and perhaps that was why they felt the need to split the parts, who knows? But they certainly didn't know how to properly handle a saw.

From the strip search and [ he laughs here ] the foot search, who here has a gun on them and fit the other descriptions? And will those people please present their alibis for that night.

[doublelammy]

Mmm... you know, just "Millium" is fine.

Male nude check!

[alfin]

Millium checked the girls naked bodies out, but he [ She nods at Waver. She never did catch his name. ] only checked what was on them. I believe someone should check the men's bodies.

[streetwolf]

I really got to have a lanky old guy look at me?

[Why this]