[ WEEK TWO – 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.

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Comments

[feminitis]

[Sei beams.]

Perfect! Thank you for your assistance.

[Since someone's actually going along with it, she unscrews the first of the jars of jam and starts coating the scabbard with it. Once she's done, she turns her attention back to Chane as she holds the weapon so that it looks like it's resting at her waist like a sword is meant to. Then she comes to stand in front of her.]

We know from the wound that the killer and the victim must have been facing each other, like this... now, to start with - please react as you normally would when I act.

[And then she pulls the sword, scabbard and all, up from her waist as if drawing it to attack. The blade stays fully sheathed, but a bit of jam splatters on the floor. Sei is watching Chane carefully to try and determine at what point the weapon becomes noticeable, and what the normal reaction to seeing it coming would be.]

[tightly]

[ "React as you normally would," Sei says...

Uncertainly, Chane casts a glance past her shoulder, where the other townspeople may or may not be observing this. She doesn't want to hurt the young woman. When she had volunteered for this, she had imagined somewhat differently -- which seems quite foolish in hindsight.

Even trying not to act as if she hadn't known the weapon was there ahead of time (who would be foolish enough not to see it?) ... Well.

Chane stands very still until the last possible moment and then, in a flash, she's behind Sei and -

Shoving her to the ground.

At least, in theory? Sei never actually hits the ground. Again, Chane doesn't act until the last possible moment, grasping Sei at the wrist in a somewhat wrenching grip that keeps the girl from falling on the floor and hurting herself.

SO THIS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED... ???? ]

1/2

[feminitis]

Wah—

[Chane is fast. Sei's good points are her speed, but Chane is on another level entirely, and though she manages to retain her hold on her weapon, she doesn't manage not to get shoved.

The grip on her wrist is all that saves her from faceplanting.]

2/2

[feminitis]

[She perks up immediately, though, regaining her footing and looking back at Chane with stars in her eyes.]

Wow, Missus Walken! You're amazing!

[She doesn't seem bothered at having been so thoroughly caught off-guard, at least?]

...but as everyone can see - at that distance, a weapon as big as a sword is easily noticeable. So why did Mister von Karma stay still enough for a clean wound straight to his chest? It was dark in there, but was his vision really so bad that he wouldn't have noticed the movement, with someone so close?

Also, wouldn't he have heard the sound of the blade being drawn and reacted somehow?

[tightly]

[ Gently, Chane helps ease Sei back to a standing position and lets her go.

That line of questioning, though... ]

It may have been someone he trusted. Or, possibly, the person who wrote the note and arranged the meeting.

[ A chilling thought, but Chane comes to that possible conclusion quickly. ]

[feminitis]

[Sei reads what Chane's written, then nods.]

Right. That may explain why he allowed this person to get close.

But even then... if someone I trusted drew a sword on me, I wouldn't just stand there. Especially not on a Thursday night, after last week... There would have been more of a struggle. I don't think the wound would have been nearly as clean, unless whoever did it managed to conceal what was happening until he was too far gone to do anything.

I could see that happening with a small knife, perhaps... but a sword?

[impulsiveness]

[Butting in. Hi.]

We're talking about Manfred being attacked from the front, but what about from the back? No need to worry about concealing the weapon if he can't see it in the first place.

[feminitis]

From what I had heard, it was a chest wound...

[Glancing around for Noctis, Shinnosuke, and anyone else who may have examined the body the night before - ]

Does anyone who saw it remember if there was any kind of wound on the back?

[flippity]

Maybe he was getting attacked from behind, but he turned around when he heard the person coming at him and then... um. He got hit?

[feminitis]

Let's try that out, then.

[She waves Papika forward and kneels down to apply more jam to her scabbard.]

Could you stand with your back to me, please?

[flippity]

[ papika nods her head, moving forward then turning around so that she's facing the other way. ]

Gotcha!

[feminitis]

Okay. Stay still, and then act as you normally would once you hear me coming.

[Sei will back off a bit and wait to allow Papika some time to settle in, so she won't be immediately on guard - they're discussing Manfred having been caught by surprise, after all.

Then she'll move forward, making a hissing noise through her teeth to simulate the whisper of a blade being drawn while she aims to "stab" Papika through the back. Of course, with the sheath being tied on tightly, the only thing she'll accomplish is smearing jam wherever the "blade" connects with her.]

[flippity]

[ she waits until she hears the noise and, almost immediately, goes to dodge it by dropping down into a crouch on the ground. if sei isn't careful she might trip over papika so like. try not to do that, sei, you've been toppled over too many times in this thread??

since her hair is so long, though, the sheathed sword does pass through it so now papika has jam??? in her hair??? gross ]

1/2

[feminitis]

[i flipped a coin and it said she's gonna trip soooo]

—aaaaaaack!

[And she faceplants.]

2/2

[feminitis]

Ow...

[emBARRASSING. Sei shifts a little and gets back to her feet, then holds out a hand to help Papika up.]

...that's a pretty natural reaction. So then, if we assume that he was attacked from behind, why didn't he duck like that? Why would he face his attacker just to get stabbed?

[impulsiveness]

If it's a sword and you come at him with enough force... I don't think it'd be hard to run the sword through him.

[He frowns. He didn't get to check the body himself, so...]

This would be easier if we had the corpse to look at. But can't have things being too easy, huh?

[feminitis]

Oh, that's definitely possible. It's easier to run someone through than you might expect, with the right blade.

[why does she know this]

...but I do wish I'd taken a look myself. It didn't sound like he had an injury on the back, though - I thought it was admirable that he hadn't tried to flee, actually...

[impulsiveness]

So assuming whoever checked the corpse didn't forget to take a look at the back, von Karma wasn't attacked from behind.

[Rest in tentative pieces, theory.]

Which means either the guy needed some serious corrective lenses, or... There's some other reason he didn't see the attack coming. It's not like a sword is hard to miss, after all. Even during nighttime.

[feminitis]

...I'm not convinced the wound was actually made with a sword. The scabbard being on the scene seems to indicate that, but...

[A sword is hella noticeable. Higekiri's sword, specifically, is extremely noticeable.]

For him to have been caught by surprise, it would have needed to be a more subtle weapon, don't you think? Something easily concealed.

[impulsiveness]

Like a knife, then. Or something else that's small, sharp and pointy.

[He crosses his arms, thinking.]

Xion said she saw Higekiri leave without his sword. Higekiri said he got attacked by his own sword, too. So... does that mean they were both attacked by different weapons? [And if so, why? Not to mention:] Has Higekiri said if he was with von Karma when they both got shanked?

[hydrokinetics]

Dunno about if Higekiri was with von Karma when they were both attacked, but if they were together wouldn't there also be a trail of blood from the tailor to the clinic? Like last week between the saloon and the train tracks and the graveyard.

[leadastray]

That he hadn't tried to flee...Is there a chance Von Karma was originally intended to be the one to kill, but had the tables turned on him?

[feminitis]

I don't know the man, so I can't rule the possibility out. There are definitely some people here who seem as though they might be willing to kill...

[Hmm.]

From the sound of things there was definitely a struggle of some kind in the tailor's shop - Mister Noctis said that it was a mess there. That being the case, how did this theoretical victim-turned-killer manage to turn the tables on him?

[bittybat]

It's easy if you have the skills.

The same thing happened to the girls. I asked Tiara if she had been attacked, and she lied initially. She killed the other girl in self defense.

[leadastray]

Or a third party getting involved, someone could have tipped them off.