[ 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

[thatsthespirit]

[corpse. . . gravy. . .]

Putting that evocative description of the, ah. "Chemical bath" aside.

[whatever a "chemical bath" is, she doesn't know anything about this kind of science okok]

I would concur that the smaller skull with a hole in it belongs to Nui. Yuna, Elizabeth and I found blood spatters around the bonfire and on the porch of the restaurant, along with a bundle of partially burnt clothing that looked like it belonged to Nui.

[a_sin_for_him]

If evidence was left that allowed for a rather easy identification, why bother with the melting of the bodies in the first place? Dramatic flair? Or I suppose it could be a matter of timing...even in pure acid, it takes a body hours to entirely dissolve...

[impulsiveness]

Maybe there was something on the bodies that they didn't want us seeing. Like a wound that would make it easier for us to track them down.

[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]

[impulsiveness]

Exactly. We found the rifle and the headshot wound, but there could have been something else. The fact that you found parts of her clothes burned is suspicious, too. If they had the bonfire going, why not just toss her in there?

[thatsthespirit]

[SHE WONDERS. . .]

Percy said the stocks were scorched and Annabeth's body was charred, correct?

What if the clothes were burned during the process of setting fire to the stocks, and not the bonfire?

[impulsiveness]

You think Nui was the one who set Annabeth on fire?

[Because, yikes.]

[thatsthespirit]

[y i k e s indeed]

It's possible. When I asked how many culprits were involved, the Sheriff said he wouldn't answer that question now. I don't want to rule out the possibility of there being more than one actor, nor do I want to rule out the fact that one of the culprits could have been killed after committing the crime.

[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]

Not so sure about "clean" [remember Sakyou], but you're right. If you want to get the job done quickly, a bullet through the brain is enough.

[a_sin_for_him]

Clean in the sense of a killing, not literally. A clean kill is one accomplished with a single fatal blow.

It may be worth noting that a bullet through the center of the brain is likely one of the quickest and most painless of deaths, and can be accomplished at a distance. A possible indication of a more merciful murderer who kept themselves removed from the killing to the best of their ability.

[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.]

[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.

[insincerely]

... Actually, Percy might have something to say.

[thatsthespirit]

Ah?

[curiosity washes over her expression]

About what part of what I said?

[insincerely]

According to him, he left Annabeth with his pistol so that she could defend herself. It wasn't on the scene, though.

In other words, we have no idea what happened to it.

[thatsthespirit]

[aha]

So unless we can confirm it was the rifle that was shot at midnight, then it could very well have been her pistol.

{INTERESTING. . .]

What if the killer took Annabeth's pistol with them?

[impulsiveness]

Could have been.

[Piping up with more murder fun facts, ig.]

Nui's skull looked like she was shot from a distance, though, not at point blank. Whether it was with the pistol or rifle depends on how good a shot our killer is.

[thatsthespirit]

[. . . EVEN MORE INTERESTING]

Damien stated the rifle he found was for shooting people at a distance.

One bullet had been used.

[impulsiveness]

Then we might want to focus on people who know their way around a sniper rifle.

[Which, uh. Is presumably not a big list.]

Could be why Nui's corpse got melted, too. If the killer doesn't know enough about chemistry, they could have assumed the chemical bath would be enough to obscure the big ol' hole on her forehead.

[thatsthespirit]

I'd say we could just ask people if they're familiar with one, but someone could easily lie.

[people could lie about alibis too, but you know]

. . . I'm afraid I don't know anything about this "chemical bath," but does it dissolve bones as well as flesh. . .?

[insincerely]

Depending on the acid used, bones can be dissolved as well.

[thatsthespirit]

But these bones weren't dissolved.

[huh]

So I suppose the acid bath wasn't comprised of the right chemicals.

[impulsiveness]

It seems like the Sheriff is the one that set up the bath, so our killer didn't necessarily have to know that. More likely they saw a convenient way to dispose of the corpse and took it.