[ 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

[insincerely]

[really should've had someone else explain to you what guns are, dude]

A NEW ANGLE

[thatsthespirit]

[hokay, after Percy and Xion are done speaking with the Sheriff, Milla speaks up again!]

All right! Let me summarize what we know so far.

Three people were murdered this week: Annabeth, Nui, and Riku. According to the Sheriff, none of them had any roles in this game. They weren't Bandits, they were merely participants. The consensus seems to be that Nui murdered Riku and Annabeth, due to her parasol being found in Riku's room and the fact that her clothing was partially burned when Annabeth's corpse was also burned. It seems as though Nui was then shot in the head from a distance, possibly from somewhere near the station or the saloon. The blood spatter near the bonfire and restaurant supports this, as does the state of her skull. [according to Jason] Nui's body was then taken and dumped in the chemical bath the Sheriff set up earlier that day.

Also of note is the fact that a bear trap was found on the Sheriff's porch a few days before the murder. The Sheriff confirmed that we could have used the bear trap to assist us in this week's killing, but we didn't. He then stated we should have used the bear trap to capture whoever stole the camera from Xion and Tarvek's room.

[and here is where her theories get interesting]

I think that's confirmation that the Sheriff is not the one who took the camera and locked it up. And that brings me to another thought: the person who took the camera from Tarvek and Xion's room could have, quite possibly, shot Nui when they went to lock the camera in the jail cell.

[and then she shakes her head]

. . . I can't guess a motive at this point, other than one of revenge. But maybe if we focus on the crime that occurred in Xion and Tarvek's room. . .

[we'll get somewhere??]

[guiltlevel]

Don't know how to use a gun... Never used one before.

[ using a gun like that sounds kind of scary anyway. ]

[a_sin_for_him]

I'm not a legal professional or anything close to it, but it seemed prudent to offer logical reasoning beyond 'I don't agree'. And allow for my own logic to be refuted or disproved.

[thatsthespirit]

[she nods]

I'd be interested in knowing your answer, once you find it. I don't enjoy sending anyone to their deaths.

[even though she's perfectly capable of it orz orz]

[generously]

I suppose that's the nature of these trials, isn't it? [ Choosing whether to believe someone or not, that is. Claire believes in him at least! ]

Three yards is pretty good for your age, just think how great you'll be when you're an adult.

[ Maybe Jason will grow up to be a cool gun-wielding vigilante or something! ]

One question though - do we know the precise distance of how this Nui doll got shot?

[insincerely]

... In other words, you want to talk about who might've stolen the camera—aka who would have had a reason to and slash or who could've done it?

[sating]

[ You know, there's actually something sensible in there, so Hannibal pipes up ]

...We have been proceeding under the assumption that Nui herself was guilty, and you make a point we may not have considered. Assuming someone is put into a position where they must kill, but do not want to... Perhaps they considered killing Nui to be just. She had made no secret of her enthusiasm for killing. Our killer may instead be guided by a sense of purpose.

[hydrokinetics]

Yeah, I guess so. At least we have a couple of hours this time.

[elemancy]

...Could make that case for just about anyone, with the way Nui treated people, though. Pretty sure she didn't make too many friends with how happily she was always going on about getting a chance to kill.

[honestly. she was an asshole all the time and always seemed like she was out for blood.]

Talking about what's right or just isn't going to help anyone right now. Not him, not you. Nothing about what we're doing at all here is just. It's screwed up—killing people for a game and then trying to blindly guess who did it.

[he hates it.] He had a confirmed alibi of not being out, just like us. We're just gonna keep going in circles like this.

[SIGHS. he does understand where ash is coming from, it's just... not really helping, he doesn't think.]

[dubiousalignment]

I have used similar weapons to guns before, but I'm no professional with them, and I have never used them to kill or harm anyone.

[They're like portable rays, at most? And it isn't like he carries any of those with him, back in his world. Guns and firearms do exist, but they're used by some armies]

[expelliarmed]

Everyone know Xion and Tarvek had the camera after last week, didn't they? So whoever stole it must've thought there was something on film that incriminated them - or that it was going to capture them doing something incriminating.

[hydrokinetics]

[He's not sure which is worse, but it's good to know. So he bows his head and nods in response.]

The summary would be great, Milla. [Please don't tell him he did well, he's too conflicted at the moment.]

[flippity]

They weren't really like... the ones here, so I'm not sure what the difference would be...

[glaring]

I've never handled one, either.

[ gandr doesn't count... gandr would be like if she could just throw a bullet at someone instead of the mechanical bullshit that guns need. ]

[hydrokinetics]

Yeah, maybe. That's the one really big piece we're missing. I don't know if I totally believe Nui's the one who killed Annabeth and Riku.

[elemancy]

Framing her because she had a target on her back, then taking her out too...

[it seems possible.]

[thatsthespirit]

That's what I'm supposing as well. We all know, after all, that the camera captures images of the first floor.

[though not any of the windows, sadly]

But Xion insists that the windows and door of their room remained locked. So either someone had the ability to open their locked door from the outside, steal the camera, leave and lock the door again, or. . .

[annnnd we're back to her suspecting Tarvek of faking sleeping, I'm sorry Tarvek]

[impulsiveness]

Thanks, but I'm fine leaving it as is.

[SHARPLY. Gee, what a mysterious reaction. Either way, he shakes his head.]

No. I can tell it was from a distance, but without the rest of her head or an intact crime scene to look at... There's no way to know the precise distance.

[ceded]

No! I ... I wasn't with Tarvek last week! And I didn't tell anyone that I was going to be with Tarvek this week. No one.

[ This has been frustrating her all day. ]

[hydrokinetics]

I want to retouch on that theory. It's too easy to pin Nui on it because if she was the killer, why leave her parasol right there? Higekiri left his scabbard with Manfred's body to cover for the other Bandit, but Sheriff just said none of them were involved with roles.

[impulsiveness]

We all knew Nui was nuts. As long as there's even a sliver of evidence — none of us would hesitate to point the finger at her.

Maybe that's what our killer was hoping for.

[thatsthespirit]

[-- ah]

So. . . no one but you two knew that you would be staying with Tarvek to watch the camera this week?

[because if so, then. . . how would the thief have known to sneak into Xion's room for said camera. . .?]

[dubiousalignment]

I didn't tell anyone either.

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke pauses, before:]

Well, I did. Not so much the Tarvek part explicitly, but Xion told me last week she was keeping the camera.