fifth trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement and evidence gathered, the doors in the pool area are the next destination for anyone who doesn't want a repeat of witnessing PAL's brand of punishment.

The podium circle is more empty than it's ever been, with Rhys and Nishitani's portraits floating at attention where they had stood just two weeks before. In the place Kip used to stand there is still no floating portrait frame, no memorial, no indication he ever set foot in this courtroom.]

Welcome, Champions, to the Rose Ceremony. Weed out the true culprit and they'll be eliminated, vote incorrectly and they'll be allowed to go home at the expense of the rest of your lives.

Oh, and don't bore me. You know by now I cannot stand being bored.

Comments

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church finally, finally shows up, Queenie curled in his arms. They might still be a little bit damp but it's fine. He only puts her gently back on her feet when he's reached his podium. This is gonna be hard, but as always, he's forcing himself to be prepared to figure this out.]

I know this is about Nishitani, but he was supposed to be with Queenie last night, and something happened to her. [He hates to start out this way, because people are going to have to interrogate Queenie's perspective, but he can't let it go uncommented upon.] Nari found her in Kip's room mostly unresponsive, and it took a lot to make her awake and coherent enough to say anything, but she kept losing consciousness, but she's...fine now. Physically.

I don't know if someone slipped her something or tried to kill her too or...

[serrata]

[ Yuuri looks a little different at the trial today. Part of it is that she's still wearing Junpei's jacket, which is just a little too big for her. But it's the look on her face as well and the determined set of her shoulders.

One last time. This is the last time she's going to see the inside of this courtroom. She swears it to herself.

She holds up a plastic baggie from the kitchen and inside it is a bloodied fillet knife. ]

... I found this in the rest area just near the... n--near Nishitani-san. Going by the cut on his throat, this has to be what killed him. It's one of the fillet knives from the kitchen.

There also weren't any signs of a struggle that I could tell -- the room was the same as it always was. It doesn't look like he had much chance to put up a fight.

[scourgingstars]

[They just had to get this over with. Figure out what happened and deal with the fallout as it came. Just a little longer, he just had to hold himself together a little longer.]

[He glanced briefly over to Queenie, hesitating a second or two before talking to the group itself.]

The cause of death was a blade wound to the throat, but there were no defensive wounds on the body. It's possible he was already lying down when the wound was inflicted. His suit seemed to be in a bit of a disheveled state as well.

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna has been crying, to nobody's surprise at this point, but there are no tears now. She has evidence to present.]

I found these upturned roots in the garden. They appear to have belonged to flowers. There was also a mixing bowl.

[goteachother]

[She just nods, pressing herself close to Leonard's side, clutching the cat plush Junpei gave her to her chest. She's not done crying but she's at least going to try to keep herself together for this.

For all the questions that she's sure are going to come and she doesn't have answers to.]

I-I'm sorry... I don't know how much h-help I can be...

[scourgingstars]

There was a mostly-empty vial in the rest area--it looks like it could be from the infirmary, but it wasn't labeled or anything of the sort. Maybe that's something to do with it.

[daughterofthemark]

Could that result from the use of oxycodone or... [what was that other thing the thing Lee used on Finn] zolpidem?

[misanthropicprinciple]

It's not just that it was disheveled. His shirt was misbuttoned. Either he got dressed in a hurry, he was very tired, or... someone else was.

[serrata]

Queenie-san...

[ It's only the fact that she's holding uh the weapon that killed Queenie's boyfriend in a little baggy that keeps her from running over to make sure she's okay. ]

I'm so... are you going to be okay, being here right now...?

[motherfucking_ghost]

That's...not the sort of thing that would come out of the medbay? I don't know that there are vials of anything at all in there, and as far as we could tell, everything's marked.

...Aw shit.

[serrata]

Roots?

[ Of course that makes Champion Green Thumb's ears prick up. ]

So, someone was pulling up flowers again... we found some in Nishitani-san's hands... maybe that's where they came from?

[goteachother]

[She sniffles, chokes on another sob, shakes her head and then has to force herself to breathe.]

Ain't got much choice.

[myocordial]

[Hello, yes, concerned robot is actually just gonna head over here.]

Are you sure that you're alright?

[Physically that is, we're not gonna go into. emotionally right now.]

[scourgingstars]

Unless it was something that came out of the dumbwaiter, perhaps? I'm sure there are a few things very few of us would recognize as being dangerous.

[like a paperweight]

What's wrong?

[daughterofthemark]

[She's waiting... waiting... no? Arianna goes back and checks the wound diagram again, just to be sure.]

What about this X mark?

[motherfucking_ghost]

I don't...know. I thought maybe she'd taken something, but she didn't seem to think she did? Whatever it was worked its way out of her system and just made her really groggy and forgetful.

[serrata]

... we... we might have to ask you some questions about last night, just so we can try and work out what happened to Nishitani-san. But if it gets too hard and you need a break, just let us know, okay? We'll take things as slow as you need.

[scourgingstars]

Ah--right, my apologies. That wasn't a wound at all, but drawn on in black marker.

[goteachother]

[No, she's not sure of anything but she's going to reach out and take his hand.]

I feel okay? I don' remember anythin Leonard was talkin about

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei's got fire in him today. As if someone used Morale Boost on his plucky detective ass.]

I was the one who took point on the body investigation this time, so... direct your questions to me, I guess.

Ardyn's summed up most of it, but I want to clarify a couple things from the wound diagram. The cause of death was definitely the neck wound, but the X that was marked on his chest--that's all it is. A marking. It looks like it was written on him in sharpie, and there's no wound there.

We also found him with geraniums and marigolds in his hands.

[daughterofthemark]

It seems likely. What sort of flowers were they?

[She walks over with the roots to hand to Yuuri, just in case she can confirm with her Magic Flower Powers.]

[myocordial]

...Hm. Well, just... take things slowly. We'll work this all out.

[daughterofthemark]

[...what]

Just... drawn? Like on paper?

[goteachother]

[A nod, she opens her mouth like she wants to say something but all that comes out is a sharp, wrecked sound and she just buries her face into her plushie.]

HEY MODS

[serrata]

A geranium in one hand and a marigold in the other. I can go into what they mean if people think it's relevant...?

[ Gonna peer at them roots when Arianna brings them over. I'm not entirely sure if you can actually identify plants this way so i'll let the mods make the call ]