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?

[ignorantly]

[ Shirazu is a little unnerved when he moves to stand at his podium, having realized that he's an island in the courtroom, standing between Caren and Mion's portraits. ]

I investigated Miodori's room with Black and Aqua-san. It was really messy and we didn't find the key anywhere. It's possible that somebody took her key.

[isafraid]

[...ah?]

Large bloodstains in the art room too, detective?

[notjustawriter]

Messy how? Did it look like someone tore it up lookin' for something?

[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.]

[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.

[sleepingkogoro]

Indeed!

...

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

[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.

[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.

[ignorantly]

Her stuff was everywhere. It didn't look like there was a fight in there, though.

[isafraid]

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

[He almost stepped in them.]

[goodforsomething]

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

[notjustawriter]

That's strange.

[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.

[cherryblooded]

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

[notjustawriter]

I saw 'em, too.

I don't know if it was enough to be fatal, though.

[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.

[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.

[bloodisthicker]

...So given the condition of the art room, is there any evidence that Mion wasn't murdered? I know what the crime scene is intended to look like, but honestly, I'm insulted that whichever of you did it thought we'd buy it for a second.

Why don't you try to save a little face by confessing and lying about how you wanted to protect us from the random element? Surely it's better than proving to the rest of us that you were afraid enough of having your name picked out of the Kingmaker's hat that you threw twenty two other people in front of a train.

[he's scanning the room while saying it and trying not to look at anyone in particular, because honestly, he has no leads. But he's mad as hell and if the culprit can be guilted into a confession, they can watch something wearing Mion's face... he doesn't know... beat them to death with a Battleship set and the rest of them could go back to their rooms.]

[penduli]

The incinerator room, Miss Sigrun.

[captainobnoxious]

Why would someone take her key? I mean, that's a pretty useless thing to take, unless they were trying to get something from her room too.

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]

[captainobnoxious]

Yeah! The useless burning room.

[goodforsomething]

...well, like ya said, nobody really goes in there. It's not a bad place to hide something.

Was it in the furnace? [Because that would be kinda dumb. You cannot burn a sword.]