Fifth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ There's a long while of examination before the Mayor speaks up. There's plenty of evidence to pick up yet again this week, after all. ]

Annnd that's going to do it. Wrap it up and head to the bathyspheres, kids, you've got some business to attend to.

[ The bathyspheres take you all down, down, into the now-familiar dome below the city. The similarly familiar red glow persists until the lights properly turn on - the projection of Fontaine's silhouette is gone, of course, replaced by that same flickering "please stand by" message. But your mayor's voice is still the one that speaks over the increasingly empty circle of podiums. ]

If you somehow need a reminder of why you're here, three of you are dead. Get away with it, killer or killers, and the execution room gets to really work overtime today. But I guess if you wanna live, you should find who murdered three people. Could be important for you guys.

[ Welcome to your fifth trial. ]

Comments

[visiblepattern]

[He appreciates it either way, Brett, thank you.]

[asymptotes]

"Here we are" indeed.

[visiblepattern]

...It's possible that I missed something, but I'm a little concerned with how Misfire got from the barn to the field? He was dragged, apparently, yes, but wouldn't it take a good amount of strength to do that?

[howveryglib]

…

Why did you bring his head to the trial.

[inaclearing]

That's a good point. Why bring him all the way out there, anyway?

[visiblepattern]

I don't know. He was stabbed into one of those horrid cows... I don't know if they were trying to make a display of it, but if they were that's horrible.

I know Joy was saying that one of the smaller people could have stabbed him with the pitchfork, which... I don't know enough about pitchforks as weapons to know about that, but I don't think they could have dragged him out there like that. Even without the arm and the...head attached. It's likely that we're looking for one of the stronger men.

[howveryglib]

[…he did show up in something easier to take off again so shirt’s off. No recent injuries anywhere!]

[sastruga]

We've seen how many people could lift Tommy... Lifting and dragging are very different and so are the weights involved, but it's probably the best reference we have.

[inaclearing]

Misfire did weigh somewhere around three thousand pounds. Are we sure there wasn't a...I don't know. A cart or something involved?

[asymptotes]

Always glad to be of service.

[sastruga]

...Did you find a cart?

[inaclearing]

No. That just seems like a lot of weight, dragged or not.

[sastruga]

Your sacrifice continues to be appreciated.

[capreelcious]

Uh... does the woodchipper move?

[sastruga]

Definitely. But I don't think we have any evidence of tools used for this. If nothing else... you'd expect there to have been tracks in the field.

[howveryglib]

That leaves me wondering if some of the mutilation was in the efforts of making him easier to move.

[inaclearing]

I don't...know, I haven't really looked at it.

[inaclearing]

Do we have...

[.........sigh..............]

Do we have any idea where he was when his head was removed?

[sastruga]

It could. But I didn't see any signs it was moved at all.

Moving something like that would leave some marks...

[onemillion]

In case someone more knowledgeable with technology could learn something more from it than I could.

[visiblepattern]

Someone used force to remove the arm and the head, correct? Am I to assume that they were torn off, because that also seems incredibly difficult for the average person. There's also the problem of his feet having vegetables from the fields on them in a way that implies they were stepped in and not just dragged through - was he still alive when he was dragged out there? Because if you think of struggling as one would if dragged on their back, it's possible they could step in things like that...

I'm sorry if this is just raising complications, but...

[We really haven't discussed Misfire. We probably should discuss Misfire.]

[inaclearing]

[He chews on the end of his pen for a second, looking over his notes.]

I have here that there were smashed vegetables on his feet? It seems like he was really hurt by then, but...maybe he just...pulled free from the chipper himself and tried to run.

[allatonce]

Not if you used a sheet or something, maybe. Sort of like how you're supposed to drag people if they're passed out.

[allatonce]

....... Are we sure he was dragged out there at all?

[visiblepattern]

That would help move him to the field... Did he fall and drag himself, then? In the way that one might when trying to get away from someone or something but unable to get up.

And then they would have stabbed him and removed the head afterwards. Does that sound plausible?