[ 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]

[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.

[moraled]

[That doesn't really make him feel better.]

So... he shall tell us if we no longer have the chance to make use of it. Pitiful.

[thatsthespirit]

Oh-- no. He implied that he would tell us soon enough for us to make use of it. But I don't know how far into the trial we have to get for that to happen.

[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.

[insincerely]

If that's the case, and we assume that the shot skull was hers, and we also assume she was shot either by the rifle or the gun left with Annabeth, then that leaves us with a few cases:

The rifle was given by Mr. Sheriff, since I confirmed that the murderer wouldn't have to give it back. Someone might as well check to see if anyone can get a free weapon or just a Bandit.

Or that they stole Annabeth's gun, but that raises some potential complications here.

Or they just happened to conveniently find a rifle somewhere.

... Or they could've used their own gun, I guess, if we want to do a check to see who has their gun on them and has fired a bullet already.

[ceded]

There's something that doesn't add up.

[ Hi, interjecting without really looking at Shinnosuke. ]

I still think Nui killed Riku, but I'm not sure how. He was all ... chopped up. But there wasn't a weapon there someone could have done something like that with. His sword was there, but I don't think that's what was used.

[hydrokinetics]

[...hold it.]

Wait. What happened to Higekiri's sword?

[insincerely]

Teacher—Miss Valestein took it after Higekiri's execution, if I recall correctly. She might have the answer to that.

[impulsiveness]

Does anyone know what kind of item Nui brought with her? We know some of us brought weapons, so maybe she was holding out on us.

[ceded]

... there was her parasol.

[ Which. She. You know. Has. ]

I don't know if that was what she brought, but she always had it with her, didn't she? It was in her and Riku's room. [ On top of All Of This Blood. ]

[insincerely]

[Well, he's willing to look at Xion, at least, even if he keeps his face passive.]

So she might have had a blade around that no one's seen or she had a weapon that she gave back to Mr. Sheriff before she got offed. Assuming it was Nui, anyway.

[Not that he doesn't suspect it, but got to leave their options open.]

[ceded]

[ ... she nods slowly. ]

That's true. I think whatever was used to kill Riku is just something we didn't find. But if we didn't find it, why? [ Her mouth thins. ] Someone still has it, or it was given back to Sheriff Hal. Even if Nui had a sword we don't know about...

[ Her mouth twists. ]

If she killed Riku and then left, why was her parasol left behind, anyway? She carried it with her everywhere.

[uraniumnumnum]

She didn't.

[ ash pipes up. ]

All she had was her parasol, to my knowledge. I asked her about her combat abilities before for my own reasons.

[dubiousalignment]

What I'm not sure about is why Nui -- or anyone -- would have the need to kill two people. Riku or Annabeth knowing something is the obvious motive, of course.

[Supposing Nui did do it, something Tarvek isn't 100% sure of]

[impulsiveness]

She was out of her goddamn mind. Does she need a reason besides getting her rocks off?

[thatsthespirit]

[she had been thinking the same thing, but. . .]

She may have been, but she also seemed fairly logical. I don't know if she'd kill two people "just because."

[impulsiveness]

Then maybe someone gave her a good reason. That, or she didn't do it and the real killer was banking on us assuming she did.

[sidearmofthelaw]

Just throwing this out there... is it possible the Sheriff killed her? For breaking the rules somehow.

[thatsthespirit]

[HMMMMM. . . Nui did wind up in the chemical bath with three other bodies, all put there by the Sheriff. . .]

I can't deny that possibility.

What rule do you think she might have broken?

[sidearmofthelaw]

Could be any number of things. She didn't really seem like the law-abiding type.

[ But she thinks about that more seriously ]

...To start with, "please don't kill in the hotel" is in there.

[insincerely]

It's possible, but that feels like the kind of thing he'd announce, like when he killed Sakyou for not voting.

In any case, I'll try asking him. If he gives us a definite no, then we can cross that out.

[sidearmofthelaw]

Sounds good.