trusthell | Take Responsibility.

And after a given amount of time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up; as it was last week, the ride down is smooth and quick-moving, even if there are less of you this week.

(Technically, you're only down by one in the elevator; Bruce has ensured that Pearl is with you in some way, albeit unconventionally and by the grace of Ziploc.)

However, when the doors open up to the podium circle standing in the middle of that black void of a courtroom, there's no mistaking the fact that there are fewer people present than there were last week – Kamui and Pearl have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed profile portraits watching the proceedings in shades of grey.

It's still impossible to tell exactly where the Kingmaker is watching the proceedings from, though it's obvious that he is; he'll wait until everyone is settled before he speaks, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Devoted has been taken from you. All of you know what the stakes are now, but this happened anyway – looks like someone's determined. Whether they succeed or not is up to you."

Twenty-four Survivors remain. We'll see how many are still standing by the end of the day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh... just wondering, but were the fibers more... on top of the pieces? Or mixed in with them? If it was possible to tell...

On top of the pieces, if I remember right.

Like they were snagged by them?

Like that.

Was some kind of cloth used to clean up the scene? Why would you bother, if there's no body?

Why would you bother moving her remains if she'll be discovered either way? It's not as though the stairwell is particularly hidden.

It's possible there's something about the actual crime scene that made the culprit want us to think the murder happened elsewhere.

I guess that's what we need to find out.

[Caren's bandaged hand goes to her shell pendant again. She frowns.]

In that case, what do you think is important about someplace else?

Not entirely sure. The handprint, maybe, but you'd think if that was noticed the culprit would have cleaned it up first.

[By the way, is Caren wearing white?]

[She's wearing her obnoxious purple jumpsuit, so the only things white on her are the bandages on her hands.]

[Noted! And about how clean is Caren's sledgehammer? 'I used this like for two seconds' clean or 'I just washed this' clean?]

["Pretty much untouched since it came out of the machine a week ago" clean. The one Sigrun licked is clearly the real murder weapon, sorry.]

(no subject)

cherryblooded - 2016-03-12 17:51 (UTC) - Expand

[.....]

How'd you get that injury?

She was picking up glass I smashed for a message in a bottle.

I see. You should be a bit more careful, gettin' cut by glass can be pretty severe.

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 17:42 (UTC) - Expand

notjustawriter - 2016-03-12 17:43 (UTC) - Expand

What was the message? [ ...this has nothing to do with the trial but he's just. kind of curious. ]

captainobnoxious - 2016-03-12 17:42 (UTC) - Expand

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 17:43 (UTC) - Expand

penduli - 2016-03-12 17:44 (UTC) - Expand

notjustawriter - 2016-03-12 17:46 (UTC) - Expand

penduli - 2016-03-12 17:49 (UTC) - Expand

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 17:52 (UTC) - Expand

isafraid - 2016-03-12 17:53 (UTC) - Expand

penduli - 2016-03-12 18:03 (UTC) - Expand

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 18:05 (UTC) - Expand

captainobnoxious - 2016-03-12 17:46 (UTC) - Expand

penduli - 2016-03-12 17:48 (UTC) - Expand

They were mixed with them! The chances of they being a red herring of any type is very low.

I see! So judging by the fact that there was a struggle somewhere else... maybe the fabric got on them if the killer moved the pieces...?

That could be. There were other pieces in the Laundry Room, correct? Were there any fibers on those?

[He looks to Yosuke since he reported about those.]

Not that I saw.

I see. That could mean that the culprit moved the pieces to the stairwell which may have caused the transfer of fibers...or vice versa, if they chose to bring some to the laundry room to wash down. Though the latter seems a bit more tedious.

...!

You... think they might be a plant?

Could be, I guess! But there are other ways that fibers could've ended up on the pieces after they were already broken. I was just tryin' to figure out when the pieces got there.

Yeah, point. Hell, if anyone was wearing white already it could just be transfer.

That seems pretty likely at this point.

[ ... Guess who's wearing white ceremonial robes, haha. ]

Well, I'm not the killer here, but you can check my robes. No tears or anything, I promise!