Sixth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ After a time, as always, your investigation is interrupted by the Mayor's now-familiar voice, calling out to you over the loudspeakers. ]

And that's gonna be time. Pack it in, everyone, bring what you're gonna bring because it's trial time.

[ There are so many bathyspheres missing, you cannot help but notice, as you all pile into the station for your standard trip down to the trial room. Your number has dipped to about a third of its original size - a fact that becomes even more evident when you reach the circle of podiums at the bottom of New Rapture's ocean trench. ]

You all know why you're here. Someone killed Pillage Idiot, and it's your job to figure out who. This is your sixth one, I sure hope you have the procedure down by now.

[ Welcome to your sixth trial. ]

Comments

cw head gore

[sastruga]

[Mafuyu is... keeping it together pretty well, considering the scene she had to examine. Which, really, is probably a red flag, but we do not have time for that right now. She just stands there by Mielle, as always. Taking a deep breath, right before she presents her findings.]

First we need to address the elephant in the room, I guess. Nandor's head was crushed, pretty much completely. It looks like he was struck with a large blunt weapon. I found some markings that seem to match up with one of those maces from the vending machine, so there's that...

Secondly, um... Nandor's right hand was covered in blood-- and the floor next to him wasn't as covered in it, so that seemed odd to me when I first noticed it.

But what I did see next to him was...

[ . . . ]

Um, perhaps I should just show it.

[And she'll lift the copy she made of what she saw at the scene.]

...I can pass it around, if anyone wants a closer look.

[inaclearing]

Is this...writing...?

[sastruga]

Maybe?

[specialyellthing]

He was re-dyin, give the man a break—-

[inaclearing]

...unless he had some other cuts, too, it...probably wasn't his blood. I mean...

[Brett looks queasy and makes a few vague hand gestures, generally meant to encompass "he probably wasn't getting any writing done after that happened to his head."]

Did, uh...the knife in the wall have blood on it?

[specialyellthing]

[please please please let it have blood on it

she really wants him to have gotten that hit in at least.]

[honeyedtea]

It didn't. It's likely that he missed whatever he was aiming at.

[inaclearing]

That...surprises me, actually.

[honeyedtea]

It does...? Why, exactly?

[inaclearing]

Well, he's been a warrior for hundreds of years. I guess it must have been some kind of ambush, but still...

[He just sort of assumed Nandor would hit his assailant at least once?]

[honeyedtea]

Everyone has their off days, do they not? And it's not as though he was in the optimal circumstances to be aiming carefully. Or so we can assume.

[ ... that's what she says but she's got a look on her face that makes it clear there's something she's holding back. ]

[inaclearing]

I don't mean to...say anything negative about him. Just...well, maybe he was holding back some. He cared about everybody here, he didn't actually want to kill any of us.

[onemillion]

It's possible he was also worried about killing his attacker in retaliation.

[inaclearing]

Yeah, that wouldn't end too well for him either.

[honeyedtea]

Then the knife... could that have been akin to a warning shot, perhaps?

[inaclearing]

That's what I was thinking. I mean, I don't know that I'm representative of someone who'd attack Nandor, but if he threw that thing anywhere near my head, I'd be out of there.

[honeyedtea]

Quite so.

[ ... ]

Remind me. How tall are you, Brett?

[inaclearing]

I'm six-two, why?

[honeyedtea]

Because if he had thrown that knife at you it more likely would have gone right through you.

[ SHE JUST SAYS THAT SHIT??? ]

It was around five and a half feet up the wall. So it stands to reason that if this was a warning shot aimed above someone's head, they wouldn't be any taller than that.

[visiblepattern]

That assumes it was a warning shot on someone shorter. If it were someone taller, that would even out to about their center of mass. Which... He would be more likely to take at least one taller opponent here seriously.

[inaclearing]

Yeah, I think that'd be...around here, on me.

[He gestures to his upper chest, though he's not like, measured it out or anything.]

Me, Floyd, and Gaius are the tallest ones left. [Assuming I'm understanding Gaius's system of measurement on the profiles right?] Then Rossiu and Zinda, and...everyone else is under five-six, if I'm eyeballing it right.

[He did write down the profiles weeks and weeks ago, though, so let him just flip through his book here...]

[onemillion]

[Yes you are, Gaius is 6'7"!]

That's correct, yes. Since it could go either way... I'm not really sure it rules anyone out right now. Still, it's good to keep in mind.

[inaclearing]

Yeah, this is all speculation.

[visiblepattern]

I'm not saying it to accuse anyone, I just...don't understand why anyone at such a vast height disadvantage would decide to go after Nandor...

There would be no guarantee he would go easy on someone trying to kill him, after all.

[specialyellthing]

… I don’t know if he’d have taken this into account but… if someone was comin after me? I wouldn’t want to fight them off in a way that could possibly kill ‘em.