unknownseas | FIRST INVESTIGATION

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FIRST INVESTIGATION

Friday, the deadline for The Professor's generous offer, dawns like any other. The automated cycle of lights, the only real indication of time passing here on the seafloor, passes into an imitation of daylight with a series of clicks and the hum of bulbs intensifying their glow.

Just last night, spirits were high as many of you watched movies and chatted. But as you leave your rooms today, there's something... foreboding hanging in the air. A quiet stillness, almost unnatural.

... Eh, it's probably fine, right?

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[ Alright, alright-- ]

Okay, if you're going to look around in here, try to move as little as you can. Someone told me Shelley has a camera, and if that's true, I want her taking pictures, stat. I'm going to investigate her body, okay? If someone wants to spot-check me, go ahead, but we need to keep this area as close to the way we found it as possible for now. We'll start gathering our evidence later.

[ Okay, deep breaths. That's a fair bit of blood, alright, but where is it coming from? ]

Do you want some help? I'm, ah...not uncomfortable working with bodies.

[She's already hiking up her skirts and kneeling down, being careful to avoid the blood.]

Edited 2020-04-17 16:45 (UTC)

You're welcome to do whatever you feel comfortable doing. I might ask you to confirm some of my findings, too, just to be as safe as we can. But if you see something suspicious, tell me before you disturb the scene, please?

[She nods firmly in understanding before she pauses, unclasps her cloak from around her neck and balls it up before throwing it toward one of the library chairs.

Hopefully there isn't anything immediately noticable on it beforehand?]

Got it.

[ The slash in her neck would probably explain something like that, yeah. ]

Damn it, damn it...

[ Would she be able to tell what kind of weapon created the wound? A smooth edge? Serrated?

Also, how wide and deep is this wound? Does it go all the way around, or does it just hit the carotid? ]

Edited 2020-04-17 17:02 (UTC)

[ What kind of blade exactly is a tough call, but it's easy to tell it was one clean strike across the front of her throat. ]

[ How bad is the rigor mortis, here? Can we estimate a time of death from this? ]

[ Well, rigor mortis has definitely started to set in - you're probably looking at at least a few hours since death. ]

[ Heard. Any signs of trauma to her face or head? Since it seems like she was attacked on the ground like this... ]

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bathymetric - 2020-04-17 17:49 (UTC) - Expand

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snackooed - 2020-04-17 18:08 (UTC) - Expand

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bathymetric - 2020-04-17 18:12 (UTC) - Expand

[While Ema has the wound itself handled Zerinda is going to focus on the rest of the body, particularly her hands.

How do they look, are they covered in blood or showing any defensive wounds maybe?]

[ Well, see, when touching her hands, something kinda unpleasant happens to her right hand? It moves in a... we'll call it a Bad Way. Looks like her wrist is broken. ]

[Ouch. That had to have hurt. She sure hopes that was post-mortem. She clears her throat to get Ema's attention.]

Her wrist is broken.

[Even though Zerinda knows she's not feeling any pain anymore, she's still ginger in continuing her investigation. Is there anything under her nails on either hand, skin or blood or some other mystery substance?]

[ Nope! Her nails are clear. Might want to proceed up her arms, though? Something's up with the left one, too. ]

[Oh dang, let's have a look at that! What does she see?]

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bathymetric - 2020-04-17 17:50 (UTC) - Expand

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bogwife - 2020-04-17 20:00 (UTC) - Expand

Hey, I took a look at that bloodspray. But I don't think it's actually enough blood for a wound of that size. You've got more experience here, right? Can you help confirm that?

The wound was a pretty clean slice through, so there should be a fair bit of blood, yes. But there are a number of factors that might lead to there being less than normal...

[ Hm, hm... ]

It's possible, for example, that when the initial blood spray happened, some of it made contact with the culprit's body, or something the culprit had on their person.

I'm not sure...I took a closer look at the spray and didn't really see any indications that it was cut off by anything.

[ No voids then, huh...she isn't really an expert on bloodstain pattern analysis, but she'll do what she can. ]

Got it. I'll see if I can make a rough estimate of how far the spray goes. Unfortunately, when it comes to large amounts of blood, it's often a bit harder to use an an estimate for what happened than a well-defined splatter pattern...but if there is less volume than should be consistent with a cut to the carotid artery, it's worth noting.

More importantly, are you okay?

...mostly. I'm no stranger to seeing death, at least.

[ Oh, god. Mira isn't handling this well at all but-- ]

I-if Shelley doesn't have film for her camera, I-- I can handle pictures.

[ man it's a great thing she got her cell phone huh ]

Edited 2020-04-17 23:26 (UTC)

[ Oh, no... ]

Mira...

[ Even if she has a phone, it's bound to be taxing. She mentally kicks herself a bit for being inconsiderate of that... ]

Do what you can. If it's too much, I can take them myself, if you let me borrow the camera. I just want to make sure the room stays as close to the condition we found it in.

[ She really should have secured the perimeter, but with this many people here already and no caution tape, that definitely seems impossible... ]

Edited 2020-04-18 02:38 (UTC)

[ Oof. On the one hand, she'd rather not have to stick around, but on the other-- She's not exactly into the idea of anyone taking her phone, even for a little while, so... ]

... It's alright, Ema. Um, I can handle it... if it'll help.

It definitely will. It's crucial to create a permanent record of how the scene appeared before we start moving things around. It'll be important to have references when it comes to detailing the events that led up to this...but I don't mean to put pressure on you. I'm sorry, Mira.

[ Poor girl... ]

I'll make it up to you later. For now, I'll guide you through the specific photos we should probably have going into this. If you need to take a breather, let me know at any time, and we'll pause.

It's-- You don't have to apologize at all. I'm just... glad to do whatever I can to help.

[ She nods, though. She understands... but Ema's compassion means more than she could ever, ever say. ]

... Thank you. I'll do my best to follow.