[ WEEK ONE – TRIAL ]

[sheriffexe]

TRIAL

In the morning, the town comes back to life. Birds crow overhead, a snake nearby hisses, a lingering coyote dips behind a shop before disappearing into the wild. It's a frightening contrast to the stillness of yesterday but it doesn't mean it's over yet. After all, today is the trial. The Sheriff stands on the porch of the Town Hall and brings his hand up to his mouth to let out a whistle. He'll thumb back to the Hall behind him and very clearly state -- "Trial time, folks. Get in here and figure out who did it." And then he'll turn to leave before pausing and adding on, "Bring a snack or somethin' too. The Town Hall is set up more like a court house, a Judge's bench at the front but instead of at center, it's off to the side as if more for observation than participation. There's a table at the front of the room already holding a small box and a pad of papers and pen, for voting apparently. A side room containing only a metal gurney is next and today it's obvious why there's a gurney there at all with the corpse, resting right on top of it. Aside from that, there are rows for everyone to take a seat and it's only after everyone is inside and settled, that the doors close and the Sheriff speaks. "Well, have at it. You've got till nine." And then, he points to a clock on the wall that reads 12:00. Good luck. Welcome to the trial post! Characters are free to discuss everything related to the trial here. They won't be let out of the room until 9PM when voting ends. Every character must vote and the voting post can be found here. If there are any questions, please shoot a message to this journal or to robowest.

QUICK NAV PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS | STATUSES | PROFILES | LOCATIONS | GRAVEYARD | MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

[feminitis]

It's a little unclear... we may have to ask to have that clarified.

[Ambiguous rules, why...]

[tightly]

[ At first, Chane will try to answer through a complicated series of gestures before simply giving up and writing again... ]

Footprints - Saloon
Handprints - Mines

[thatsthespirit]

Ao's neck had a shard of glass stuck in it as well, correct?

We may have found the murder weapon.

[abasing]

... Yes, as well as can be considering the circumstances, I suppose.

I... Miss Ao was...

[She squeezes her eyes shut.]

She was kind to me, though we only knew each other for that short time. And now...

[feminitis]

...so we're looking at any time between sundown and midnight, theoretically.

[sheriffexe]

[ A tip of his hat there. ]

Mornin'.

[ Then to answer her question, ]

Maybe. Y'think that's relevant to the trial?

[hydrokinetics]

But why to the railroad in the first place? To throw us off on what really happened?

[abasing]

We were, yes... the Sheriff let us both out.

[flippity]

[ she looks pleased, at least, that tiara doesn't seem to be hurt. she takes a cracker out of her pocket and offers it. ]

Did you stay together after you were let out?

[impulsiveness]

Not that I could see at the time, no. But her body's right there, so we can check again.

[Though it seems like Robin mk. 5 is already on that.]

[alcobrawlic]

[ Of course he did. ]

What did he tell you when he did? Did it have something to do with this purpose he mentioned?

[tightly]

[ ............. ]

[ Oh, Jason. ]

Was the skeleton in there at that point?

[ Either he can read this or someone can read it aloud for her, idk. ]

[abasing]

Oh... oh, no... Miss, please, keep that for yourself. I am afraid... I am not hungry.

Thank you, though.

[She takes a slow breath in, and then nods.]

For a short period of time. Miss Ao and I were frightened to separate at first... but we did go our separate ways, after deciding it would not be safe to remain together.

[thatsthespirit]

[he doesn't have to elaborate; Milla's honestly probably thinking the same thing]

I don't know. Perhaps he said yes to show off the slight bits of compassion he has?

[there's something a liiiittle wry in her voice]

[ceded]

[ looks .... shocked, but ]

You ... you dug up a grave?! So ... does that mean the broken shovel wasn't used yesterday at all?

[ jason why are you like this ]

[abasing]

I believe so, though he did not tell us much... he simply stated that it was time for our purpose to be revealed.

...We were both frightened, then--but not enough to remain in those horrible cells.

[thatsthespirit]

What time did he release you?

[trying to be gentle but she's not very good at it]

[coudre]

Maybe her "purpose" was just to be a victim. You know, to get the ball rolling!

[impulsiveness]

Theoretically. I wonder if we can get confirmation for that from the Sheriff.

[Probably not.]

[ceded]

He said he doesn't have feelings.

[ Her voice is harsh. Like ... she is not feeling forgiving, at all. ]

That wasn't why. He had a reason.

[hydrokinetics]

She did. [Poor kid. Papika doesn't need to sit through this, too.] Maybe whatever happened altered their memories more than it did ours. We remember everything but the train, don't we? Maybe the way they got here made things different.

[...] We still really don't know how they got here, do we?

[feminitis]

...of course it's relevant.

[Sei takes a breath and tries to ignore the corpse stench wafting over from the gurney.]

At this point, Miss Tiara is a potential victim at best or a suspect at worst. The rest of us know what you told us will be guiding our motivations - if there's anything that might be influencing hers, we need to know about that, too.

[elemancy]

[he knows it has to be entirely too tough on her, regardless of what the truth may be. and he's braced for the worst and not prepared to throw too many accusations her way.]

...I know. [ao didn't deserve it.] The Sheriff is playing us right now with this game.

Stay calm, if you can. It's probably only to get tougher from here.

[hydrokinetics]

[A glance at the Sheriff.]

Yeah. Real generous, that guy. If he's the one who let them out in the first place he was setting it up so one of them would die. So the other question is why was Ao the victim? What made them different?

[impulsiveness]

[He nods, and for the benefit of everyone who can't see what Chane wrote:]

Yeah. The skeleton was there at that point. We dug up my grave, too, and found another one.

[He scowls.]

I think that's why they buried Ao there. The dirt must have still been soft.