[ WEEK THREE – 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

[tightly]

[ Very much not taking a snack! Or even... looking Milla's way... Look, she's still at odds about what went down in the mines. ]

[thatsthespirit]

Right. Perhaps the killer wasn't attempting to obscure the victims' identities, but hide something else instead. After all, they didn't melt Annabeth or Riku's corpses.

[and one of those is completely dismembered, while the other. . . WELL SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ANNABETH YET so oops]

[feminitis]

I was trying not to bleed to death in the church. Either that or still underground. I didn't exactly get to look at a clock before I passed out.

[#helping]

[impulsiveness]

Around the bonfire and the restaurant... [Hmm.] That's pretty close to where you, Yuna and Natalie were staying, right? If we assume the blood splatters are from Nui getting shot — it kind of makes sense.

[Regarding what they heard, he means.]

[a_sin_for_him]

It raises some questions about what sounds like a bullet wound directly through the brain. That's usually a quick, clean, execution style kill, not a finishing blow.

[impulsiveness]

A nap? [BETTER THAN NOTHING.] Do you think our murderer camped out upstairs at some point?

[bittybat]

Call it something else. I know you're not too stupid to think of more appropriate words. People's bodies have been defiled.

[sweats]

Hannibal and I were in bed together. If he left, I'd know it.

[ They were cuddling. ]

[ceded]

Tarvek and I were asleep. [ Flat and rather matter-of-fact. ] The last time I remember seeing on the clock was maybe an hour before midnight.

[ ... Xion actually does take fruit juice though. She's tired and thirsty okay :( it was a long night ]

[hydrokinetics]

[Like with Xion, it's pretty clear Percy didn't sleep the night before and people will have noticed he and Xion were sitting outside of town hall prior to the trial. It's when Jason says "what about everyone else" that he looks up from where he's hanging out. Xion sits at his side and a bandaged and sleeping Mrs. O'Leary sits in his lap. He seems to mostly be talking at her, but it's loud enough to relay facts.]

The stocks were scorched yesterday morning. We found an empty can of gasoline under the Sheriff's chair on his porch, and when Dr. Lecter and I were checking it out we heard a bunch of growling. [His expression tightens, and his arms tighten around his dog.] I sent Mrs. O'Leary to check it out and two coyotes ran out. One of them had a burnt arm in its mouth. So I went under the porch and found the last one...and Annabeth. [Oh gods why.] She'd been there for hours, there wasn't much left of her torso at all and it was chewing on her--[Ahhhhhh.]--and what was left of her body was too badly burned to even really recognize her.

[A hand reaches up, tugging at the leather cord of colored beads around his neck, a second necklace to match his own only with more beads, a college ring and a piece of coral.] This might have been the only way we could have. [His eyebrows furrow.] But the coral was outside next to the stocks. It doesn't make sense how it fell off of her necklace or how the necklace didn't completely burn.

[A pause.] So. Watch out for coyotes in the future.

[guiltlevel]

It could be...? I couldn't find anything else helpful. The bed just looked used.

[ Guess it's all up to discretion. ]

I thought people would stop using the saloon like that after... The first week, you know...

[thatsthespirit]

[she nods]

That's what I thought. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any firearms or bullet casings during my search.

[but she does nod at the locked body room, where the rifle was briefly seen]

But I imagine the rifle that's how locked away is the murder weapon.

[dubiousalignment]

It's true. I'm not sure how exactly we were both knocked out, but the disappearance of the camera shows the culprit or culprits planned their actions rather carefully.

It's likely we're dealing with at least two different murderers today, and I'm not saying Bandits. But it could be possible both Bandits killed, I suppose.

[Judging by the different methods used and the number of culprits. There's just too much stuff for it all to be done by one single murderer]

[elemancy]

Asleep, in my room.

[listen, he knows better than to be anywhere else on murder-night.] Ash can probably confirm.

["probably" because ash does what he wants and noct knows better than to expect him to be helpful on his own terms.]

[ceded]

[ thanks mom :( Xion ... is .... not really in a good place mentally to acknowledge it, like at all, but she lets it happen instead of shrugging Milla off, so that's something, right? ]

[bittybat]

Your camera is in the Sheriff's jail. It's locked inside.

[hydrokinetics]

[Thank you for trying, Milla, but this one passes on all food and drink for the moment.]

I was in my room about that time. [He doesn't say "he was asleep" because haha who can sleep.] You can ask Harry if you need to.

[sating]

[ Hannibal looks at Will with a little surprise, considering you don't have to be so blunt about it, but on the other hand, if Hannibal had answered, he would have given a much more long-winded, metaphor filled answer. So maybe this is better. ]

...And I would say the same for Will, rather obviously.

[elemancy]

[he a bro shoulderclasp once he's done talking—stay strong, bro.

(moral support totally counts for something, even if there's not much he has to offer in words right now.)]

[moraled]

Why, precisely, were you at the clinic?

[It's more curiosity than anything that makes him ask but wtf is up with these galpal sleepovers......

Oh right.]

I, too, was in my room, unfortunately asleep.

[He's early to bed early to rise sort of person.]

[dubiousalignment]

In the Sheriff's--

[Tarvek glances at the Sheriff. Did you have anything to do with that, old man?]

Was there something else in the jail?

[dmails]

I was asleep. I'd ask my roommate to confirm, but, well... [He bailed last trial??] Obviously, he can't, because he's dead.

[moraled]

[... y i k e s]

We shall find who did this to her, Young Percy. Justice will be done.

[That's...the best he can offer to that.]

[sweats]

[ Look, he could have said Hannibal was too busy sniffing him to leave but

he didn't.

Small mercies.

Also, no one needs to hear your poetry. ]

[sating]

Thank you.

[ He bows his head to Jason lightly, then adds with a wry but lightly apologetic smile: ]

Having cooking be such a passion of mine, the comparison is perhaps too colorful. So I appreciate the consideration, but no apologies are necessary, as that's my own way of thinking being too vivid.