fifth trial

[thecastle]

FIFTH TRIAL

Saturday, Week 5

UNCOVER THE GUILTY PARTY


Yesterday's events were quite shocking. None of you expected to find two victims, much less two who were so young and full of life. But, as always, there's a silver lining here. Their lives bought you release from the motive, and isn't that worth something? After all, it would be a lie to say that this thought hasn't passed through anyone's mind. But would it be right to thank whoever was involved for what they did? For some of you, the idea isn't all that outlandish.

Any further deliberations regarding whether or not the act was truly just will need to wait until later. For now, you have a trial to attend.

Once thirteen of you gather in the Great Hall, the large doors slam right open and prompt everyone to ascend the stairs into the trial room.

As those present takes their seats, it becomes apparent just how many lives have been lost over the course of this game. Half of the seats are now empty, which is staggering given how many of you there were when the challenge began. Beyond the room and the current occupants are the profiles lining the walls. They're hard to miss at this point, for obvious reasons.

The Sage's steady voice slips in through the pendants as soon as everyone's settled.

"It is time, my warriors, to meet the challenge head on. You have all managed to come this far and so I expect you to perform as admirably as you have in the past. How may vary, but every individual here is important and brings their own unique touch to these trials. ... Normally, that is. To my dismay, a number of you will be temporarily incapable of taking part in this challenge.

Let us hope this is a trend that does not continue into future weeks. That said... May all who remain be blessed with only the best of fortune. You will need it."

As soon as the Sage finishes speaking, five images flicker into sight as if brought to life by a projector. Seeing how there's no such device present, it may not be a stretch to consider magic is at work here.

15 REMAIN

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locations | profiles | votes

Comments

[fedorascout]

Okay, I know I'm a suspect, but I have evidence to present. Take that!

[Bam! Proof of something]

The culprit burned something in the furnace. I suspect it's related to this:

[He shows a piece of undyed cloth. It seems to be from the hem of something. The edges are burned]

I suppose this fell from the furnace. The rest is no more than ashes by now, unfortunately. If I had to guess, the culprit was wearing something and burned it away, but that's just a theory.

Other than this, there also was a broken chair near the furnace, it was all broken and tattered. I brought a few of the fragments.

[The chair pieces don't look burned at all]

[devilsphysician]

That's strange... were they planning to burn the chair but the fire refused or they ran out of time?

[fedorascout]

That's a possibility. Since I doubt the killer came back later, this must have happened not long after the murder, right?

So if the bodies are...fresh, so to say, it's because the killer didn't have time to burn the chair. But if not, then there must have been another reason.

[devilsphysician]

From what I hear the fire's fussy about what it will or how much it will burn.

[There's a tone that suggest slight incredulity of a fire being willful, but he has seen some pretty strange things]

but makes me wonder, what it is about the chair that requires a method where wiping it down wouldn't suffice?

[fedorascout]

I guess it'd have to be something that damaged the chair instead of blood falling on it or something.

Since the bodies have bruises, maybe the chair was used to beat them up?

[devilsphysician]

That's possible.

[browbeater]

I don't know. Is there a sign that the chair is tied to the crime? Does it look like it was thrown at something? Or did they just break it?

[fedorascout]

I don't know. It's just...broken. No blood, nothing strange...but I may have missed something. Who knows.

Anyway, it's possible it was broken in an attempt to hide something. What I wonder is why it was left broken instead of burning it. Well, I do think it may be because Sage-san dissuaded them. There needs to be evidence left to investigate, after all. They want a fair trial.

[browbeater]

Yeah, probably. But last trial, there was a bunch of erroneous evidence. This could be the same.

[originallutece]

Do we have any idea what room the chair was from?

MOD PING

[fedorascout]

I don't know. I wonder if the pieces I brought here will be enough to find out...

[Would one be able to recognize where the chair came from? For example, does it look like any other chair in the dining room, or something like that?]

[thecastle]

[ It looks like it came from the furnace room. ]

[fedorascout]

[Well, there you go, Rosalind]

The furnace is rather far away from the courtyard and the greenhouse...why did the killer go all the way to the furnace room for a chair? Or perhaps something happened when they went to burn evidence?

I think those are questions that are in need of an answer.

[irrationalities]

Did it look like most of the chair was there? Or was there a missing leg or something.

[fedorascout]

Let me try to remember...

[And so he does. Was any leg missing or is it impossible to know?]

[thecastle]

[ All the legs were present! ]

[fedorascout]

Right, I remember now. All the legs were there, it's not like any is missing. That doesn't mean a leg wasn't used at all, though. What if the chair was broken so we wouldn't notice a leg had been originally taken?

[irrationalities]

It's possible, but why go through the trouble of using a chair leg? There's tools in the greenhouse that could've been used just as easily, so it seems like extra effort for nothing.

Besides, with how the bodies were posed, isn't it just possible that whoever killed them broke the chair in frustration or regret?