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

[sleepingkogoro]

[Ahem! The detective is going to talk. He looks pretty serious, maybe because he is confident about what he'll say]

First than all, it has been confirmed there's absolutely no way this was a suicide. Sonozaki-san's death was the work of somebody else, who then tried to mislead us through the crime scene.

The true cause of death is exsanguination from a wound to the thigh. The crime weapon hasn't been found, but there's no doubt Sonozaki-san died in the Art Room, as shown by the large half-cleaned bloodstains Lynne-san and I found.

Now that these basic points has been clarified, let's start this debate.

[cherryblooded]

Just a single wound, detective?

[sleepingkogoro]

That is right, at least if we're talking with lethal wounds. I think Bruce-san found bruises and similar other clues, but he knows more about those than I do.

[cherryblooded]

Even if I was trying to make this look like a suicide, the thigh wouldn't be my first choice for a single wound. Unless you're aiming in the right spot, she wouldn't bleed out quickly.

...Except if I was sure I knew what I was doing.

[isafraid]

[...ah?]

Large bloodstains in the art room too, detective?

[sleepingkogoro]

Indeed!

...

Wait, 'too'? Was there some other place where blood was found?

[isafraid]

You're spot on there. Founds a couple of blood stains myself, in the game room.

[He almost stepped in them.]

[captainobnoxious]

[... Well, Sigrun's carrying an awfully bloody sword with her, and she'll show it off now like it's nothing to hold. She's clearly well-trained with sharp weapons.]

I guess this is the weapon then? Goggles gave it to me to hold onto.

[Since he hadn't wanted to carry it himself, and obviously giving it to the Viking with poor decision making skills is a good idea.]

[goodforsomething]

Yeah, looks like. Where'd he find it?

[captainobnoxious]

The place no one goes to burn things 'cause it takes too long and I don't even see why it's there, honestly, except to take up space that'd get so much more use as literally anything else.

... That place.

[wokeupdead]

[NODS. Look she is supporting the other detective's words. Give him the benefit of the doubt here, guys.]

There was no way Mion could have gotten into that position herself. There was nothing for her to climb, even. Also the rope used doesn't add up. The knots are perfect but it's too loose to have been the murder weapon.

[And she has it with her right now! Just as she said, the noose looks like the perfect prop but there's no indication that it tightened around a neck.]

It's a pretty sick cover up.

[captainobnoxious]

So how many of us can actually do a knot this nice anyway? I'll tear up my sweater so we don't have to touch the evidence and we can see who's actually got the know-how.

[Bloodletting. Sledgehammer swinging. Knot tying. A weird idea every round.]

If you all are willing to go at it, I mean. We'll just do it one at a time.

[cherryblooded]

Mine aren't that good. Never was a boy scout. But it's easy to fake not being able to tie a knot.

You do learn how to tie good knots as a sailor, though.

[ratingspoint]

I'll spare you the time - and your sweater! - and say that I can, but there are a lot of reasons this couldn't have been me already.

[capyper]

You can fake not being able to tie a knot, so...

[penduli]

I learned how to tie my shoes and how to loop a rope to choke an animal, but... Dad usually took care of that.

[ Like, literally take care.

...also there's enough out already to say he's not the guy we're looking for, so o7 ]

[garudynamic]

I dunno if it was used to carry the body, or just clean up. But I found a large bloody blanket in the third floor laundry room. It was in a machine but hadn't been washed yet.

[cherryblooded]

That explains where the missing blanket from the supply closet went. I was about to bring that up.

mod ping

[garudynamic]

Hey Cherry, gimme a hand with it?

[He wants to stretch it out so they can all see the blood stains more easily. If it was used to carry her while she was still bleeding maybe the blood is all in the middle? But if it was used to mop things up the blanket should be saturated all over. That's his thought, anyways]

[amygdalae]

I'll start with my inspection of the body.

[Bruce's voice is clipped and terse, his usual politeness somehow vanished in the wake of Mion's passing. His expression is devoid of anything as well, as if Bruce has effectively shut down every part of himself that would feel anything.

All in all, he is much less warmer than he normally would be.]

There are no signs of restraints on her body, and inspecting her neck shows no bruising at all. There is also a large bruise on her head that had been caused prior to her death.

In addition, upon further inspection of the wound I found that it had been cleaned, and the wound itself is of a good size and was a clean strike straight to the femoral artery. All of this likely suggests that the victim was in no position to defend herself when the killing blow was dealt.

[ignorantly]

Hmmm. Did the killer knock her unconscious before stabbing her thigh, then?

[amygdalae]

That seems like the most believable sequence of events right now.

[sleepingkogoro]

Sounds like she was knocked out and then stabbed onto the thigh.

[A nod]

I have to agree with Cherryblod-san, the culprit must have known what they were doing, but I think it's also common knowledge the legs have an important artery.

It's strange it was severed in one single hit, though. No hesitation, just good aim and knowledge of where exactly it would be.

[cherryblooded]

Just knowing that the legs have an important artery isn't enough for you to sever it in a single clean hit. You'd have to either have experience with combat or human anatomy in order to get it first try.

[prismbloom]

She must not have been-- suspended for too long if the only bruising was on her head, correct?