Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

For the third time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up at the end of the allotted investigation period; the ride down is, as ever, smooth and quick-moving. You're down by five. When the doors slide open, the podium circle still stands in stark contrast to that now-familiar black void of a courtroom, and once again, it's changed to reflect your losses – Caren and Mion have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed greyscale profile portraits staring out at the rest of you. (The portrait of Pearl hasn't been removed from her room, but it seems the Kingmaker has replaced it with another; either way, her photograph is in the courtroom along with the rest.) As before, the Kingmaker waits until everyone is settled at their podiums before he speaks; he still isn't visible, but he can clearly be heard, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Capable has been taken from you. I'll confirm one thing for you so no one will waste time asking – the killer wasn't me. Looks like the guilty decided to take a shot at Rule Seven after all – and whether they succeed or not is up to you." Twenty-two Survivors remain. We'll see how many the group has lost at the end of the day.

Comments

[ignorantly]

[ After getting the top half of his jumpsuit back on, Shirazu empties his pockets. His room key and some lint, but nothing else. ]

[cherryblooded]

So it would be. There aren't many people like that here.

[garudynamic]

No, it was bloody. But if they had the time to wash themselves it's weird they didn't wash that too instead of tossing it in the incinerator.

[penduli]

[ Kanji is the exception, not the rule..! ]

...well, assuming the trend of "new culprit, new floor" keeps up, maybe we'll get a gym as a reward when this is over and you can work out a little, if you're really bothered.

[goodforsomething]

[Pockets! Stan places his own room key on the podium, along with a few coins for the vending machine. That's all!]

[cherryblooded]

[The sword, which presumably Sigrun still has? is bloody.]

Not the sword, and not the blanket, so maybe their own injuries...?

[wokeupdead]

Was there a point to leaving it dirty? Maybe the cleaned whatever they used to hit her head?

Or something else entirely we didn't find.

[notjustawriter]

[Might as well.

Gabriel empties his pockets to reveal the bit of metal he found in his investigation, the friendship bracelet, his room key, and his Kingmaker-assigned phone.]

[ratingspoint]

Well...was she knocked out before or after she was stabbed? Before she died, obviously, but...

[psychoh]

[pauses. empties jacket pockets onto podium.




that is a sizable pile of candy there.]

[isafraid]

[Thank you so much for being on of the sane people here, Miss Megumi. But wasn't it worth seeing all these shredded people? No, no it wasn't.]

That's... a much better plan then what we had, but that was probably worth a shot too...

[His shirt is back on, and Speedwagon quickly digs through his pockets. Apart from some lint, a pocketwatch, some crumpled paper and a pencil, he's good.]

[garudynamic]

The only reason I can think is if it's not the real murder weapon, but a plant. But that's a stretch . So we can probably assume it was just themselves until we have more clues.

[cherryblooded]

People tend to move while people are trying to stab them, and since it was a clean wound and there was no sign of restraints I'd say that she was unconscious for the stabbing.

[capyper]

I think you're wrong, actually! The killer was trying to make Mion's cause of death less obvious, right? So they would've needed to clean up the wound.

... Oh, and there was also, like... a ton of blood on the floor at some point, right?

[wokeupdead]

I guess this just points to the importance of the strip search.


...Except we aren't finding any injuries here.

[psychoh]

... N-Nobody asked for your opinion... [SELF-CONSCIOUSLY TUGS JACKET CLOSER AROUND HIMSELF...]

[uro_cyon]

You've got to put effort in if you want results.

[ratingspoint]

[...]

So they washed her off. That's what you're suggesting?

[dios mio why]

[penduli]

...unless the injuries aren't on anyone's torsos? [ Maybe it's the legs or something. ]

Also, if Mion was knocked out, what caused that? I don't remember hearing of anyone finding a weapon that could've done the job, unless they... I don't know, hit her head against a table or something...

[captainobnoxious]

[Perfect, just the kind of thing she's used to seeing. A little less professional, since perfectionism is a key thing for the military, but used to it.]

Well, it's not a pro's work -- I could do it much better myself, since I've used knots like this since I was younger -- but it's definitely something like a slipknot. They're usually used for quick tying.

[Though... she guesses you could technically use it for hanging. How multipurposeful. She turns it around a few times before shrugging.]

In other words, I'd guess that anyone who likes fishing or taking small trips out on a lake would use this knot to secure their boat. I can't imagine something like this holding up too well on the seas near my home.

I mean, that's just my professional guess. [She could be wrong in the theory portion. But the knot she knows.]

[happysweets]

No kidding. The killer probably knew that, too, though. But decided whatever risk that would be was worth it? I mean, you wouldn't be able to tell an identity from a normal stab, or at least, you wouldn't be able to narrow down your list of suspects much! At least, I don't think. Misa-Misa is no good with like forensics...

[garudynamic]

Yeah, that makes sense!

[capyper]

It's either the wound or the blood puddle, if you ask me. In fact, why not both?

[happysweets]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[ She's skin and bones, but she's clean. HORRENDOUSLY underweight. ]

[ratingspoint]

The pommel of the sword, maybe. The non-business end. Backhanding her with it would have done well enough.