Week 4 - Trial

[cartesio]

Week 4: Trial

It's dawn when the Sergeant calls everyone to the courtroom. Despite the early hour, the tribunes of the room are as full as the last two times, sleepy townspeople glaring and looking at the visitors with distrust. The Sergeant told everyone to get to their spots. Anyone who looks behind them, will see the bailiffs carrying Sting Eucliffe away, who is trying to resist them but doesn't seem to have enough strength to do that well.

"Don't worry about him. That guy ate a lot of ice and frost for reasons I don't understand, and now he has a very bad cold. I don't want him making everyone in this room sick, so he's excused. No, that's not a hint all of you should get sick to avoid these trials."

There are more podiums draped in black now. Clarisse, Eric Lecarde, and Jughead Jones have joined the dead, and their podiums look lonely without their occupants.

With a twirl of the gavel, the Sergeant recites:

"Today the trial will focus on solving the murder of..."

He takes a PDA out of his pocket, and holds it in the air. The PDA's text-to-voice software says: 'Forsythe'

"...Pendleton Jones the Third. The circumstances need no introduction, we all are aware of them. Here are your suspects"

            
Once everyone had a moment to see the faces in the photos, the Sergeant adds:

"By the way, there are two separate culprits today. Yes, two of these five people directly caused Jughead's death. When it's time to vote, remember to vote for two different people."

Let the trial begin.

Links

Evidence
Guestbook
Voting

[Welcome to the trial! Please remember to cast your votes here!. Your deadline is 8:00 PM EST. Good luck!]

Comments

[quickpersuader]

[Kino's eyes fix on her photograph for a moment, her mouth opening in a small "o" shape.

Ah. Right, then.]

Ask me whatever you want.

[robitussin]

...I have a question, actually.

[A beat, while she decides how to phrase this.]

I'm guessing Odasaku and Dazai are suspects because it seems likely that they would act as accomplices, and Frasier and Rose are suspects because they're unfamiliar enough with guns that it would explain why none of the bullets hit a vital point.

If you had to guess, why do you think you're listed there?

[quickpersuader]

[Kino actually has to think that over.]

Probably... Because I use guns. And also because I've cooked out in the open before, although it wasn't the diner.

But neither the gun or the cooking are exactly my style.

[robitussin]

Right. Unless you were trying to throw us off, you could have hit somewhere fatal in one shot. And... I mean, I don't know you that well, but if you had to kill someone, you'd choose something other than poison, wouldn't you?

[quickpersuader]

Right. And more than that...

[Her voice goes low.]

I wouldn't make someone like Jughead suffer unnecessarily.

[robitussin]

...Would that apply if you came across him and thought that it was too late for him?

[quickpersuader]

If it was too late, one shot to the head or three directly to the heart would have been enough.

[robitussin]

[A pause.]

And... If you came across someone and found they'd been poisoned, do you know enough about it to tell whether they could be cured or whether it would be fatal and slow?

[quickpersuader]

No. Especially without knowing what they ate.

Without knowing, I would try to determine how he was poisoned, and try to treat it from there. Since it was ingested... probably the most I could do is try to keep him still while an audience member called for the hospital.

[robitussin]

Right, but... Odasaku said the burger near him had white powder near it. If you saw that, would you know enough about poison to identify it on sight, or by smelling his mouth?

[quickpersuader]

I would know enough to guess that was the cause of poisoning, but not exactly what kind of poison it was. If I got close enough to his mouth and it had a scent, I might be able to tell from that, too.

Poisons are usually bitter.

[robitussin]

...Okay.

[Another pause.]

Almost done, sorry. If you came across him and for whatever reason it was obvious he was dying, would you try to... make it quicker?

[quickpersuader]

That... depends on a lot of factors.

[Kino really has to puzzle this one out.]

If it was poisoning, I think... I would want to see if anyone could treat it first. I'm not an expert on medical treatment, but this country has advanced medicines. There could have been hope for him.

If he were bleeding out too quickly, or had other visible injuries that would have made it hard to transport him to the hospital and survive... Maybe then.

[streetwolf]

[So he's got one of the people pictured either side of him. Um...

He should probably do something.]

...You know anything about poisons and shit?

[Cause he don't, proved that much last week.]

[quickpersuader]

I know enough to get by.

[Kino what the fuck does that mean.]

[streetwolf]

[helpful]

You're gonna have to say more than that...

[quickpersuader]

[How to put it...]

I've picked up knowledge about a few different poisons so I know what to look out for on my travels. That includes things I could scavenge that might kill me, as well as things people might put in my food to try to kill me.

[streetwolf]

That happen often then? Ever seen the two used here before?

[quickpersuader]

It's not too often that people try to poison me, but it's happened in the past. I've heard of the two used tonight.

[streetwolf]

You know how to use them?

[quickpersuader]

...Besides putting it in the food?

[streetwolf]

Amounts! How much you'd need for it to actually do something.

[quickpersuader]

...If you dump enough in, it'll probably do the job, right?

[Subtle, Kino. Subtle.]

[odasaku]

And there were two. So if one didn’t do the job then the other one might have?

[ shrug? ]

[quickpersuader]

Probably...

Do you know how much poison it takes to kill someone, Mr. Oda?