Fifth.

[trustharder]

The klaxons blare out early on Friday morning, as always. Depending on how late you were out at the party last night, they might not be very welcome, but at least it seems the Kingmaker isn't having any difficulties with them today. The Vault's setup has always been a bit unfortunate on Fridays – the fact that the view from the dorms is a straight shot down the corridor tends to make it completely and immediately obvious when something is wrong. It isn't blood this time; there are no large crimson stains splashed around the hallway or leading outward from one of the rooms. What is there, however, is a person lying on the floor near the stairwell. That doesn't bode well, does it. >Explore?

Comments

[amygdalae]

[So. Anyway.

Time to look at dead bodies. Again.

Let's start with the very obvious blood at the head. If there's blood at the head there's probably a chance of some injury of sorts so... time to examine around his head, from running fingers around his skull to brushing back his hair. Are there any signs of injury on his head?]

[trustharder]

[Well, it looks like he smashed his face on something - though to be fair, it's less "somebody took a hammer to his face" and more a case of "face met structure, structure won." It doesn't look like massive blunt force trauma, basically. His nose isn't having the greatest time? And there are some small abrasions. But it's not the worst thing in the world, either.]

[amygdalae]

[Face met structure, got it.

And yeah, he does quickly notice the very odd way that Tarrlok has been spread out and he's pretty sure, but just to be safe he's going to undo a bit of Tarrlok's clothes and see if there are any signs of bruising on his body. You know, the ones that might come from falling down a floor. Or two. Or several of them.]

[trustharder]

[...O...kay, well, you're not going to get too far into that before certain things will definitely be noticed - like the fact that his neck really doesn't look right.

Like probably-really-broken levels of "not right".]

[amygdalae]

[...oh.

Well then.

Time to--check his neck then. Just how much breaking is involved? Like full 180 degrees (even though why) or just enough to cause fatal damage. And is there anything else off about his neck? ...aside from the fact that its broken.]

[trustharder]

[More along the lines of "just enough to cause fatal damage" - it's broken, but not nearly to the degree that it would be if someone grabbed his head and tried to make him pull a Linda Blair.

There's not much else that seems off, though - ...well. Actually, now that you've played with his hair and clothes a bit, it's probably noticeable that there's glitter that's come off on your hands from somewhere.]

[amygdalae]

[That would be something to see, admittedly.

Bruce blinks in surprise at the glitter, since he sure doesn't remember having that on his hands earlier, and he stares at it closer--just to be sure, this is probably glitter from the art room? Unless there's another place in here that provides it.

...and he's going to dust off one hand before running it across Tarrlok's clothes and hair again, pausing in-between sections to see if 1) the glitter is really coming from Tarrlok and 2) if it appears only at specific parts of his body.]

[trustharder]

[The art room is the only place that provides it! So yes, it's art room glitter.

And the glitter does seem to be coming from him here and there - it's not surprising, really, since it's damn near impossible to get it off once it falls on you. There are some places with a bit more than others, but it looks like it's just...haphazardly scattered around here and there.]

[amygdalae]

[At least its clear that the glitter is only coming from Tarrlok. That's... something.

Anyway, now that he's examined the neck he will... go back to try and check if there's any bruising on Tarrlok's body again. Just to be sure. And also if there are any other injuries or bloodstains since they may be hidden by his clothes.]

[trustharder]

[No other serious injuries (he wasn't stabbed or bludgeoned with anything), but there is some bruising on the body itself. It seems consistent with a fall down the stairs, though.]

[amygdalae]

[So he did fall down the stairs, at some point.

...alright, so. Just like before, are the bruises before or after the murder? If its' possible to tell, that is. Who knows.]

[trustharder]

[It's a bit hard to tell, but it's probably pretty consistent with "incurred during."]

[amygdalae]

[He will take the assumption and run with it. That's the best he's got.

And that should be about it, hopefully, unless there's something else that has been missed.]

[trustharder]

[...There's one other detail that the mod blanked out on, because the mod is a tool like that - any blood that's present on the body is dried, as opposed to still wet or flowing.

Otherwise, that's it! o/ ]

[amygdalae]

[YEAH I SHOULD HAVE... thought of that too, whoops.

But it's all cool, thanks mods!]

[pokexplorer]

[As Bruce is conducting his investigation of the body, Colress calls out from his own investigation further up ahead.]

Mr. Banner, this may sound strange, but...you haven't happened to spot any glitter nearby, have you?

[Some of the chemical bottles he's checking out are near the body, so he can't help but ask just to see...]

[amygdalae]

[??? What an odd thing to ask, but...]

--yes, actually. [He raises, uh, his glittered hand to prove it.] It was on his body.

[pokexplorer]

Strange...

[Colress falls silent for a moment, clearly thinking about something.]

I found some on a few of these bottles. [He motions to them. They're both on the stairs and near Tarrlok.] That is why I asked.

This will be something to keep in mind as we compile the evidence later.

[amygdalae]

Yeah. We'll keep in mind about that for later.

[And let's pretend Bruce is done as well, so...]

I'm going to... [Waves his glittered hand around a bit.] I'll try to see if I can transfer some of this into a bag for people to look at later.

[pokexplorer]

[With a nod,]

A fine idea. Perhaps it has turned up elsewhere upstairs.

[And with things wrapping up, Colress gazes up the stairwell, frowning.]

As awful as it sounds, I thought this would become easier to handle as the weeks went by. But instead, it is becoming more and more difficult... I just don't know what to make of it.

[amygdalae]

Nothing about this is easy.

[Or will get easier, really. Bruce has witness (and caused) countless deaths but it never gets better. (If it ever did, Bruce could never forgive himself, really.)]

We've already all known each other for a month now, more or less. As we... know more of each other, its not going to make dealing with this any better.