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

[garudynamic]

[After his little yelling snit with the Kingmaker earlier, Yosuke is nice and focused]

Okay, who wants to go over everything we found?

[lackinginfaith]

[Caren's brought along her own sledgehammer today, which means she's either taken a hint from Mr. Carrying-Throwing-Knives-Around in ways that don't involve mopping up evidence or she's just been to the vending machine recently. Considering that she's also got a bottle of Ramune that she's sipping very carefully, it could be the second thing. With bandaged-up hands from Thursday's fiasco with Sigrun and the bottle, she hefts the hammer onto her podium so she doesn't have to deal with the weight and frowns, looking around the room.]

Well, it looks like you've brought a... number of things in. --Sigrun, I'm not even going to ask about that hammer.

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod is quiet throughout the elevator ride, and waits until Yosuke speaks before he clears his throat.]

Pieces of Pearl's body were found near the stairwell, along with a sledgehammer that appears to have been the murder weapon. However... I believe it can be safely said that the murder scene was elsewhere.

Sledgehammers, as a general rule, do not break stones into only large fragments. They also create smaller pieces, of which there were none at the scene. Someone picked her up and tried to make it look like she was killed there.

Did anyone find any other places of note?

[And before anyone asks: Cherryblod's wearing his suit today, meaning that both his shirt and gloves are white.]

[cherryblooded]

...I thought you said you couldn't lift that, Miss Caren.

[happysweets]

W-wait, Misa-Misa is confused...the rock bits that we found, that was her actual body?

[cherryblooded]

Unless anyone else found a body, it's likely.

[lackinginfaith]

Barely. It's possible for just about anyone, just inconvenient. Bruce can attest that I have trouble. Either way, I saw when we were all walking to the elevator that there was one in the evidence, and I wanted to eliminate myself either way.

[prismbloom]

[ Aqua's opted for a white version of her outfit. (She's never been more thankful for the sewing room.) She looks to Cherryblod, nodding. ]

The laundry room. There were fragments there, along with water, blood, and some sort of trail.

[ ... ]

I found a handprint near one of the coatracks, too, next to that trail.

[garudynamic]

I can confirm that. There were more pieces in the laundry room. Not only that but-

[He unfolds his scarf, laying it out over his podium so everyone can see how it seems to glitter with gemdust.]

Plus there was a small amount of blood on the floor, and... maybe signs of a struggle? Things had been turned over and the floor was soaked.

[captainobnoxious]

Aww, but it's important! It has rock dust on it!

[Not that she... would know!!! By tasting it or anything!]

[cherryblooded]

About how big was that handprint?

[wokeupdead]

[Lynne looks just as bothered. Please don't tell her Bruce really carried a body down here-]

I remember that she had a pearl on her head but I thought it was just something decorative... It was actually connected?

[lackinginfaith]

Rock dust?

[bloodisthicker]

I suppose I should get the question that I'm sure is on some people's minds out of the way, then -- no, I did not find the rest of Pearl's body anywhere, so it's safe to assume that Mettaton was correct in assuming that all we found is all that's left.

...unless the murderer is hiding her body in their room or something, in which case what is wrong with you.

[notjustawriter]

Rock dust?

[cherryblooded]

I see. Good thinking.

[So her sledgehammer isn't dusty?]

[prismbloom]

[ She holds up her hand. ]

The same size as my hand.

[amygdalae]

[It's not that Bruce hasn't handled dead bodies before, but this is strange even by his standards - and his standards tend to be pretty high for these kinds of cases.

Still, he handles it all as well as he can; the black void of this trial room greets them once more, and as they all peter out towards their respective positions Bruce takes a moment to go to Pearl's podium and sort of... carefully place the ziploc bag there. Just for this trial; it simply doesn't feel right to just keep her in a pocket or something.

Once that's done Bruce goes back to his podium, giving himself a moment to relax before he starts to focus. The shock of everything has passed, and his mind is clear now. They have another case to solve.]

[happysweets]

I had just assumed it was from the top of her head...but then, the culprit would have to know that breaking the rock would kill her, right? Unless they just assumed hitting her in the head with the sledgehammer would do the trick...

[ But there are easier ways of killing someone, aren't there? ]

[isafraid]

And how did you learn that?

[notjustawriter]

I didn't find a body when I was lookin' earlier.

[pokexplorer]

It...would explain why she never turned up.

[Colress also looks mildly concerned about that. Pearl's biological makeup must have been very unique.]

[ratingspoint]

It's possible that it contained her soul. Or something like that.

[cherryblooded]

...Does anyone know if Pearl bled? Rocks generally don't.

[capyper]

A handprint? What was it in?