THIRD TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ Two bodies this week. As a result, it's a little longer before Mayor Fontaine's voice calls out over the loudspeakers. ]

All right, that'll do, all of you. Get to the bathyspheres. Trial time.

[ There's fewer bathyspheres this week, aren't there? It's starting to get really noticeable. One by one, alone or in pairs, you descend into the depths. The bottom of the seafloor, a place no human life was meant to travel to unassisted. It's dark, until it isn't, the same bio-luminescent slugs as before lighting up the area and revealing the great glass dome in which the trial takes place.

Within, three more podiums have gone dark. They remain empty as you all gather around into the circle.

The projector clicks on, and you see the silhouette of Mayor Fontaine above you. ]

We all know why we're here. Florida Man and Cryptobro got themselves got. Up to you to figure out who did it, or... well, you know by now.

[ Welcome to your third trial. ]

Comments

[pairtner]

Did you find anything on him that could classify as 'shrapnel'? On his clothes, or on his hair. Splinters, pieces of furniture, metal...

[bootyhunter]

No, nothing.

Just the purple stuff.

From the plasmids, I'm pretty sure.

It was on his hand.

[inaclearing]

If it was splinters of wood, could they have...burned away?

[He feels like he's reaching, it's obvious in his tone.]

[pairtner]

There would be burns inside the shrapnel wounds. Residue may also be present -- solids undergoing combustion leave residues behind, after all.

[The shrapnel wounds might be too small to check properly for such things, though, so maybe those existed and was missed. You never know!]