Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

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.

Comments

[cherryblooded]

If you were cleaning up, why wouldn't you clean up the blood first?

[captainobnoxious]

It's a white towel, so it'd be too noticeable. If they had to clean it up it would've been with something that's the same color or their clothes that they could hide away.

[... Maybe.]

[garudynamic]

Might not have been the killer that did it at all. I mean, if Pearl was doing laundry... there's no real way to know for sure.

[penduli]

If her body was just a projection, wouldn't her clothes be part of that? Like a hologram. [ Or something. ] She wouldn't need to do laundry.

[ ...he's setting aside his awkwardness for now, you should too. ]

[garudynamic]

[His lips are a little tight- but now isn't the time for that]

True. We just don't know enough about how she works... worked. Maybe the killer lured her there instead?

[lackinginfaith]

She might've been washing something else. We were all using that laundry room.

[wokeupdead]

Or they could have run out of time and just threw the water on the ground hoping it would wash everything away while they escaped.

[amygdalae]

Considering that the towel is white, cleaning up blood with it would easily leave a stain.

[Although that doesn't really explain anything...]

The first step might be to figure out what the towel is actually used for, or if its relevant to this incident at all.

[capyper]

Uh... This might sound kinda dumb, but was the towel damp? Because it was mentioned there was a handprint in the water earlier, right...?

[isafraid]

It might be safer then anything to assume it was just being used to wipe up an unrelated mess.

[capyper]

The only way that could be the case is if somebody were doing their laundry earlier in the night, right...? I don't think we can just throw it out like that.

[prismbloom]

The towel was damp, yes, but there are no stains to speak of--so it's likely it was used to wipe up the water.

[capyper]

... This is gonna sound even dumber, but maybe the handprint and the towel are related? I mean, like I said, isn't it really weird that you could see a noticeable water handprint? I'm not a water god, but like. Water doesn't do that naturally.

[captainobnoxious]

Since it's devoid of anything we need, I'd say it's totally unrelated. As an outsider who didn't see where it was in the first place.

[That is Aqua and Yosuke's territory.]

But I can lick it to see if there's anything unusual on it if you want. Cleaning supplies included.

[penduli]

Are you trying to poison yourself, Miss Sigrun?

[captainobnoxious]

I'm made of tougher stuff, Black, don't worry so much! And if you're really concerned, a good sniff could do the same thing.

[ignorantly]

Please don't lick the evidence.

[captainobnoxious]

[WHY ARE YOU ALL AGAINST THIS JUST LET IT HAPPEN]

I guess is this why you guys are the detectives and I'm not.

[amygdalae]

[Sigrun.]

No, I don't think that'll be necessary, Captain Eide.

[captainobnoxious]

If you're sure. I'm always here to help.

[isafraid]

[captain please]

[captainobnoxious]

[JUST LET IT HAPPEN!!!]

[garudynamic]

Actually, towels usually have really thick fibers. Has anyone compared it to the fibers yet?

If their not fluffy it might not be the towel at all.

HEY MODS

[sleepingkogoro]

...it is worth a try.

[Mouri asks for the towel, so let's do it. Are the fibers a match with the towel?

[lackinginfaith]

Who knows. It was vampires last time, we have no idea what's going on with the water and towels.