Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And once the allotted time for investigating comes to a close, those elevator doors slide open at the end of the first-floor corridor, offering another of those fast, smooth rides down to that black void of a courtroom Twelve out of the original twenty-seven are dead; there are four less of you present for this trial than there were last week. That's incredibly obvious as soon as the doors slide open and the podium circle comes into view where it's encircling that dark pit in the center of the room; Norman, the King, Tarrlok, and Lynne have joined the deceased, photographs in greyscale watching the proceedings from their podiums draped in black. Of course and as always, the Kingmaker is watching too; he waits until everyone is settled at their podiums to begin speaking, though it's still impossible to tell exactly where his voice is coming from. "Assured and Perceiving have been taken from you. You guys are really getting excited, aren't you? Two people dead in one night... Whether the guilty party succeeds or not, though, is up to the rest of you." Fifteen Survivors remain. However many will be down by the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[notjustawriter]

If it was for Tarrlok, why would it be addressed in the third person?

I agree with Bruce, it sounds like it was bait for Lynne.

[prismbloom]

Surely she would have alerted us if she had seen him dead. I agree with you and Bruce, too.

[amygdalae]

As it stands now it could easily have been one or the other first; although considering the fact that Mister Tarrlok's name was on the note, the chance of him being the first victim might be higher.

[happysweets]

Well, we don't know what this note said for sure. If we knew more about it other than just the scraps, then...

[amygdalae]

[Yeah, they can't prove anything for certain without the complete note.]

All we seem to have are these two scraps, so the best we can do is to make the best assumption we can make.

[captainobnoxious]

Say that he is and Lynne was tricked. Wouldn't someone be smelling like the burny water?

[amygdalae]

...why would you say that?

[That's... not what Bruce had been expecting.]

[captainobnoxious]

Aiming in the dark. But I mean, it is a strong smell. Couldn't it just... you know, work like that?

[amygdalae]

[Well, maybe, but...]

...its hard to say. Like what Hanamura mentioned, the smell of bleach doesn't exactly come off easy - and the amount of bleach used is rationed to how much time it needs for the smell to come off. And the three of you in the sauna didn't smell any bleach at all, I believe?

[sleepingkogoro]

She could have been burned by a different chemical, though. It isn't 100% confirmed bleach caused the burns, after all.

Tarrlok-san's crime scene had many corrosive chemicals in bottles, any of them could have done the trick.

[happysweets]

Actually, can we ask why he had so many of those chemicals to begin with? If that sign-out sheet is true, he took them out himself...what was he planning?

[captainobnoxious]

... Cleaning?

[notjustawriter]

Maybe he was stress-cleaning?

[captainobnoxious]

Bleach was the only one at the scene though.

[sleepingkogoro]

The chemical bottles were left where Tarrlok-san was in a way that showed those can't just have fallen around with him.

There's no harm on keeping that possibility in mind, even though there was a bleach container in Lynne-san's scene.

[isafraid]

With an entire bottle of bleach sitting at the crime scene, I'd wager it was probably used.

[garudynamic]

Not only that, but the blood on Tarrlok was already pretty dry, right? Lynne was wet and the floor was pretty damp too. If she died first she'd be way drier.

The sauna wasn't on or used, so there's no reason for it to be wet in there.

[sleepingkogoro]

...huh. Good point!

That should settle the matter of who died first. Nicely done, Hanamura-kun!

[garudynamic]

[Aw he looks so pleased with himself]

[amygdalae]

[Nod.]

That brings the possibility of Mister Tarrlok being the first victim up higher. Especially considering the fact that heat would have sped up the onset of rigor mortis if the sauna was indeed turned on.

[garudynamic]

Yeah, and there was no sign of her being stiff at all yet.

[happysweets]

Y-you're totally right..! If you go by that, Mister Tarrlok definitely died first...

[garudynamic]

At least that's what everything points to.

[penduli]

Maybe Mr. Tarrlok's name started the note? Not everyone writes "Dear so-and-so" when they write a letter or something.

[notjustawriter]

If it was slipped under his door why address him at all though?

It's a possibility, though.