Week 6 - Trial

[cartesio]

Week 6: Trial

   

The atmosphere at the courtroom is different this time. Although people are filling the tribunes, not everyone seems to be furious with the outsiders. Some are scowling and looking at them with outrage, others are cautiously wary of them. Unhappy, but not about to snap anyone's neck.

The Sergeant waited until everyone was at their spots, and counted them:

"Our numbers are dwindling. It's surprising, I admit. I thought there'd be more of you at this point"

Not that it's inconvenient. It's just surprising. The number of podiums belonging to the deceased prove just how many have perished. Several of you may be feeling a bit lonely in the sea of black velvet.

"Wayne Uedera, Osamu Dazai. They're the victims this time. Good luck, everybody. Here's my help to you all, like last time, vote for as many as you consider necessary:

            

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

[robitussin]

Burned away?

[She frowns.]

Would that mean the person who set the fire in the library was in the electronics shop, too...?

[clearities]

Yeah. I don't know, though... it could be, since I did find ashes, which might have been from the raincoat. [ who knows, though ]

[robitussin]

It just seems weird to me that there was a fire at the library and burned evidence in the electronics store. That can't be a coincidence.

[clearities]

So do you think that the culprit-san killed both of them? [ but then that brings up the question of why ]

[robitussin]

It'd be nice to think that there was only culprit this week, I guess, but... I don't know.

[She sighs.]

If that were the case, why would they go for two people if they could get away with one?

[clearities]

Yeah, it doesn't really make any sense... And even if they're working with someone, there isn't any reason for them to kill more than one person, I think.

[robitussin]

But if was just two people acting independently of each other, it seems weird to me, too.

[She frowns.]

Then there'a the trail of pictures from the library to electronics store that Keith mentioned, too...

[quickpersuader]

...Do you think it's possible that Mr. Dazai could have been responsible for Mr. Uedera's death before someone else killed Mr. Dazai in the library?

[robitussin]

[She frowns.]

...Can you see him of all people acting because of the threat the Sergeant gave?

[quickpersuader]

No... or at least, not for himself.

I... asked him to stay with us to help us until the end, though.

[So really it's a matter of if he thought "helping everyone" included "protecting everyone from losing important things to Sarge.]

[robitussin]

...He told me that he found a version of himself worth protecting.

[Either way—]

But if we're thinking about whether he killed Wayne... That would mean he did that, then went to the library and got killed himself, so - where does the burned raincoat in the electronics store fit into that? If the fire started when he was already in the library...

[quickpersuader]

That's true...

[Hmmm...]

So if Mr. Dazai didn't drop the pictures on the way to the library, then that would mean they were most likely in the pocket of the raincoat that someone then brought to the electronics store when they fell. Does that sound right?

[robitussin]

Yeah. Maybe... Whoever it was just wanted to dump the evidence somewhere else, and they didn't realize Wayne would be in the electronics store? So another fight broke out.

[She frowns.]

How long does it take for rigor mortis to set in?

Mods!

[quickpersuader]

It takes at least three hours to go stiff, but...

[Was the body cold by the time Kino examined it?]

[cartesio]

[The usual coldness you'd feel from a body that has been dead for a while already. Nothing unusual about the temperature]

[quickpersuader]

[...Hmm, yeah.]

There wasn't even body heat left, so... I'd estimate it was more like six, maybe even eight or more hours.

[robitussin]

So if the sprinkler system in the library went off at 2:30 or 3:30... It's safe to say that Wayne definitely died before Dazai, right?

[quickpersuader]

I think so, yes.

[robitussin]

So...

[She pauses to think this through.]

Osomatsu said the raincoat was missing from the hunting store. I'm going to assume that means it wasn't a raincoat someone already happened to have prior to Thursday. Given that the back is burned away...

[She tilts her head.]

Keith said that Dazai's back had less damage than the rest of him, right? Maybe that's because the raincoat took some of the damage.

[quickpersuader]

That's what explains the burn marks on the back the best, I think.

[But... Nng.]

Why take the raincoat back to the electronics building, though?

[robitussin]

Maybe...

[She tries to think it over.]

What if the pictures fell out of Dazai's pocket on his way from the electronics store to the library, or he dropped them on the way, or something? So whoever killed him followed that path and put the raincoat back there to throw us off...?

[quickpersuader]

It's possible. It would definitely work to help confuse the timeline.

[Like so.]

mods!

[robitussin]

[She nods, then frowns. To the Sergeant:]

Hey. If one of the culprits was also one of the victims, would you put them up as an option to vote for even though they were already dead, or no?

[cartesio]

[ There's a pause. Please imagine, with the tone of his voice, that the Sergeant is raising a non-existent eyebrow. ]

Where do you get these ideas?

[ But, he answers nevertheless. ]

If someone was a culprit and also a victim, they'd be there.

[clearities]

The photos had Dazai-san and Oda-san on them, right...? Do you think that Dazai-san was in the electronics store?