[ 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

[moraled]

I fear we must begin with one thing.

[Even if he's not all too eager to throw this out there, it's...necessary.]

We must state clearly and plainly who we suspect of this act.

[...]

Without suspects, we shall go nowhere. However, if there is a name to be offered, it must be stated plainly, and for what reason. The evidence we have is spotty and inconclusive, and thus... We shall not progress without reasonable suspects.

[It is a trial, after all.]

[elemancy]

Hate to say it... but you're right. We don't have time to waste beating around the bush. If we have ideas, we gotta say them now so we have time to get the truth out.

[that was a fatal flaw of previous trials, even if it didn't completely backfire.]

Don't really like pointing fingers, but if we've got ideas, we're gonna have to. [he sighs, quietly.] And everyone should try to keep their cool, too.

[which is kind of funny when noctis is tense as all hell over the situation; so much carnage, so many people hurting from it—but getting angry and exploding in either direction is just going to slow them down.]

[moraled]

... Indeed. We cannot afford to be too cautious or wary. We must understand that in the pursuit of the truth, everyone shall come under suspicion. Honesty and certainty shall bring us closer to that truth.

[feminitis]

[and to nobody's surprise at all: ]

Mister Ash.

[What might come as a surprise, though, is that she actually hesitates a little before naming him. He and Nui were near the top of her "pretty fuckin' shady" list, but with Nui having turned up dead, her faith in her own opinions is a little fractured.

Had she jumped to conclusions too soon?

...but, she doesn't really have anything else to offer.]

As my knuckles will attest from when I hit him before, he's not made of flesh and blood like the rest of us. He could have gotten close enough to the chemical pit not to get messed up like the bodies were.

[insincerely]

Not that I'll be sad if we lynch Ash, but while I wouldn't be having a party near the hole anytime soon, it's not like you'll die right away just from being near it. You don't need to be a robot to take a couple of seconds to toss a corpse in there.

[feminitis]

No, but if a body was being thrown in there to dispose of evidence, I'd imagine whoever did it might want to linger for some time to be sure nothing interfered with that.

He would have a significantly easier time doing so than anyone else here.

[uraniumnumnum]

What a surprise.

[ just kidding, he's not surprised by her accusation at the least... nor does he seem particularly ruffled by it. He's been fairly silent up until now. ]

I was in the hotel with Noctis. As I've said before, I have no interest in playing this game. My ambitions aren't as petty as picking off a few of you humans for material gains.

[thatsthespirit]

[she's still taking down people's alibis, but!]

Chane, Jason, Nisha, Russell, and Okabe don't have anyone who can confirm their whereabouts the night of the murders. Xion and Tarvek were apparently put to sleep artificially while someone stole their camera, and Xion states that she did not wake up until the next morning. However, since the theft of the camera seemed to occur in an entirely locked room, I can't rule out the possibility that Tarvek didn't pretend to sleep so he could leave the room that night to commit the murders and lock the camera in the Sheriff's station.

I have yet to hear alibis from everyone, though, so that list may get larger.

[and the second part of her statement--]

And I believe Nui could have been the one to kill Annabeth.

[moraled]

[Alibis.......

It's better than nothing.]

I cannot deny that concern with Nui. She made her...tastes very plain.

[She's murderous af.]

Was the Sheriff willing to clarify the number of murderers we have on our hands today?

[thatsthespirit]

She did. And her clothes were only partially burned.

[which would make sense, if she set Annabeth on fire and accidentally got her clothes set aflame in the process]

He wasn't, but he did state that he would if we still hadn't found the answer for ourselves by voting time.

[dubiousalignment]

What abour Riku? Do you think Nui was responsible for that one too, or was it a different person?

[What's for sure is that Nui didn't shot herself and fall into the acid pit, that's for sure]

[thatsthespirit]

I can't say for certain, since I didn't investigate Riku's room.

[but from the description Xion gave?]

It's possible. Perhaps she killed both Riku and Annabeth? That brings up the potential for Nui's killing to be motivated by revenge.

[hydrokinetics]

I know they're probably randomized and don't mean a whole lot, but considering Higekiri was one them and he was one of our bandits last week, is it worth looking at the people on the Most Wanted posters?

[Yeah so like. Guess. What. He. Forgot....]

[robitussin]

You think the Sheriff would tell us how those are picked out if we asked him?

[a small shrug]

It can't hurt.

[hydrokinetics]

Nothing can hurt at this point. It's worth a shot. Wanna go, or should I?

[moraled]

[Well............]

That is certainly a possibility we must address.

[He won't deny it just because he was on the posters!!]

Though I wonder that that may be too obvious for the sake of the Sheriff's "game".

[If they have to pick bandits from just three people, that's a little too easy, right...]

[hydrokinetics]

[Thanks Barnham, be glad he hasn't made the "burning witches" "burning girlfriend" connection.]

Oh I think it's really obvious, but it's the same way there's a lot of things in this string of events that seem too obvious. This was mean to really distract us and send us down a lot of wrong paths. Doesn't mean we shouldn't at least look...then we can clear them. What do we really know about Tarvek and Eliot?

[elemancy]

...Milla said something about being suspicious of Tarvek.

[and he recalls that being one of the people having a most wanted poster this week.]

Might be something to explore. [maybe? he can't say since he's really not sure of anything with tarvek, but that's the only sort-of lead he can string together from these two things.]

[hydrokinetics]

Yeah? [His hands are idly brushing over the unbandaged parts of Mrs. O'Leary but his eyes are alert all the same.] Suspicion still gives us something to start ruling people out, I figure. If he's innocent, we'll find out soon enough.

[moraled]

[A simple nod.]

At a point such as this, we must explore every possible venue. We do not have the luxury of mistakes. We have this time--we must use it.

[thatsthespirit]

[AH. . .]

[and Tarvek is the one she sort of suspects might have faked being put to sleep so he could hide the camera in the Sheriff's station]

I think it's worth looking into the individuals on the wanted posters.

[hydrokinetics]

Where do we even start then? [There are three. That's a lot to parse at the moment.]

[glaring]

What about yourself? I'm not sure that I know anyone I'd peg for being suspicious, in this case.

[ Really... it's kind of a pain. This week, everyone seemed fairly normal. ]

[moraled]

I can speak only for what patterns I have noticed. Naturally, those who are eager to kill must be under suspicion--however, of those who are like that, the only who remains is Ash.

However, I do not know that he would have committed a murder in this fashion.

["This week"... Rin, you're not wrong.]

Nonetheless, the matter remains.

Someone killed those people this week, and they are in this room.

[glaring]

There's always the one from last week, too. [ a small pause. ] Though it seems needlessly risky for someone who got away to kill again.

[ Ash... she doesn't have much to say about him, so she'll just consider it. ]