Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

The ride up to the courtroom occurs, as before, after an allotted period of time for investigation; the elevator waits patiently for you at each floor - third, second, first - before sending you upwards and on your way to the courtroom high above. As always, the trip is a smooth one; granted, after everything that the morning had been, any small comfort that fact may bring is likely not helping much. There are three less of you this time around, a fact reflected in the podium circle standing in the middle of the room; Alani, Milla and Chiyuki have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums draped in black and their portraits in greyscale keeping a watchful eye over the rest of the trial circle. There's still no one present in the lectern above; however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room. "I can see that matters are beginning to seem dire for you, Apprentices. I am sure that you all cared for Sympathetic in some measure—all except the guilty party. And now it falls to you once again to determine who that is. For your own sake as well as Sympathetic's, hold her killer accountable and have them take responsibility for their actions." Twenty-four Apprentices remain. We'll see how many remain at the end of the day.

Comments

[modernmedicine]

A mannequin or a porcelain doll. I checked the inside of her body as best I could, and everything appeared hollow.

[officerhops]

Goodness...

[That's. That's something that's what it is.]

Are you absolutely sure that was her, and not something planted by the killer to throw us off? I don't know where else on earth they could have hidden a body, but it's something to think about.

[Of course, Judy didn't see...her head.]

[modernmedicine]

As much as I wish that were the case, it's unlikely. I can't think of a place they would have hidden a body without us noticing.

[If nothing else, they would notice the smell of decomposition.]