The town is quiet, eerily so. All animals, all chatter, all gusts of wind have come to a complete stop this morning. A tumbleweed passes by through the center of town and the rocking chair on the Sheriff's porch sways but remains silent. Everything is muted and as the door of the hotel opens, the only sensation that rings utterly true today is this:
One of your own is gone.
And now, as the rules state, it is your job to discover their fate.
Welcome to the investigation post! If your character decides to search an area, please post the name of the location in your header and wait for the mod replies. Anything to discover or not to will be indicated during the course of the thread.
After the body is discovered, an announcement will be made and characters are free to spend the rest of the afternoons how they like. If there are any questions, please shoot a message either to this journal or at robowest.
As Shinnosuke approaches, he'll be stopping a safe distance away from Percy and Chane, as he doesn't want to end up as the next corpse today, thank you. Given Percy's demeanour, he can take a guess as to whose corpse he might've found.]
Percy!
[He yells—possibly for the first time since arriving here, at that level—and hopefully loudly enough to register in Percy's head. After glancing at Chane (please do something about Percy, he won't judge), he continues::]
... We need to examine the corpse. Including this, shit hit the fan last night—I'll explain if you calm down.
[ He takes the belt and immediately tightens it around Sei's leg as tightly as it'll go. Hannibal checks the actual area of her leg to see if it's as rough as Natalie's was, but even without that information, he can be fairly certain of his response: ]
Please go to the clinic and gather everything laying out. Assuming no one touched the tools, I left them out to dry after Natalie's surgery. I will need to do the same today, and I would rather not move him.
[ He's calm and focused, which is at least a plus despite the chaotic morning he's already had. ]
Please bring the anesthetic and pain killers as well. I set them next to each other, top shelf on the right.
[Chane's almost successful in breaking his wrist, but Shinnosuke's voice gets to him and he stops. He doesn't drop the dagger and he turns to face him with a look of pure anguish and rage while he tries to register what's going on.]
Obviously. [His voice is shaking, his whole body's shaking but he also knows Shinnosuke's right.] ....we're doing it together. I can't...
[ Her eyes are watering and she smells pretty bad, but now she's listening to him talk as she wipes her face, her arms, whatever skin was exposed when she approached that hole. ]
[breathes in, and then out slowly. it's time for business, not emotion]
Yuna, Natalie and I slept at the clinic last night. We heard a gunshot coming from the direction of the bonfire around midnight. An investigation of that area this morning turned up blood and partially burned clothing that looked like it belonged to Nui.
Speculating on the meaning of this evidence is probably best left for tomorrow, but I wanted that discovery to be public.
...Well, ain't that just peachy. [If the ridiculous number of corpses wasn't giving him a headache, this'd probably do the trick.] Someone took it then. Used it for... something.
Yeah, that does reek of someone planning this out in advance. Seriously doubt it's a coincidence.
The question is: how to get it out. [Cause he's rattling the door, and it's locked. He glances at Papika, and then the lock.] I can try to pick it. The Sheriff has the key.
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