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

[ratingspoint]

...Was Lynne injured at all? No one has really mentioned anything outside of the burns on her face, and unless the bleach was somehow applied directly to her brain by way of her chin I don't think that has anything to do with her actually dying.

[captainobnoxious]

That's the weird thing. I mean, a weird thing in a case of weird things. There's no other signs of injuries. Just those burns.

[ratingspoint]

So she just keeled over for no apparent reason. This is a murder...how, exactly?

[captainobnoxious]

Your guess is as good as mine, sweetheart. I kind of wish I could've just taken the first body and left the chemicaly stuff to the scientists.

[Since they know what they're talking about, apparently.]

[garudynamic]

Nope, no signs of a struggle on her. I think Speedwagon and Sigrun checked the back of her head and everything. Nothing.

[happysweets]

No injuries on her, either?

[amygdalae]

[No injuries, nothing, Lynne was in the sauna--]

...this is a stretch, but--if the sauna was on while Lynne was still alive and she was somehow trapped in there...

[happysweets]

Wouldn't she have, like, roasted to death, then?

[amygdalae]

Like I said, its a stretch.

[He's just trying to shoot of anything he can think of right now, as unscientific as that is.]

Suffocation by hot air isn't something I'd think of, but considering that she was in a sauna--as low as the possibility of it is, it could be a thing.

[happysweets]

It's just weird, no matter how you put it! A lot of stuff doesn't add up...

[amygdalae]

We're missing something.

[SOMETHING... but what could it be.]

[ratingspoint]

Incorrect - the door was open, according to Sigrun. So either someone found her first or Lynne could have left anytime she wanted.

[amygdalae]

[...yeah. It was a stretch.]

Right. It was a stretch, anyway.

[ratingspoint]

The closest thing I can think of is that she just...lay down and died, but that's usually something that doesn't happen until someone ages enough. I don't know how humans work, but she's too young for that sort of thing, isn't she?

[amygdalae]

Far too young. There are heart attacks and strokes and such, but it would have been obvious if that was the case.

[pokexplorer]

I hate to bring us down this road again, but is there a possibility that an ability is at play here?

I know that they seem to be sealed for the most part from the testimony of those with abilities, but if Kamui's display at the first trial is anything to go by...

[May as well get it over with and throw it out there.]

[ratingspoint]

An ability to do what, exactly...? Just cause someone to fall over like that?

[pokexplorer]

[Colress frowns as he considers this. He really doesn't want to consider this.]

Tarrlok spoke to me on several occasions about "waterbending". That is, the ability to manipulate water.

However, he also told me that this ability was sealed.

[sleepingkogoro]

Tarrlok-san can't have anything to do with Lynne-san's death, as he died first. Even if he got his powers somehow it is very unlikely he killed her.

[pokexplorer]

That is also why I had my reservations about this line of thought. It is something to consider, however, should the timeline shift.

[isafraid]

You think we've maybe got things in reverse?

[pokexplorer]

That I cannot say for certain. We will have to review our current timeline for any abnormalities first.