The Fourth Investigation

[airlockedmods]

[Come early morning, the station is still and quiet. Nothing seems amiss in the area around your living quarters. It's a little while yet until C.E.C.E. makes her typical morning announcement, but of course you're still free to move about the station at your leisure.

Maybe you had better look around?]

Comments

[in4apounding]

Mister Thomas?

[It's probably a good thing Bolton made her leave the actual scene of the crime, because she's distracted enough by what's happened to hit the entirely wrong floor when she goes through the teleporter, and ends up here.]

[So what else is out of place here?]

[airlockedmods]

[There's some stuff lying scattered out on one of the tables!]

[in4apounding]

[Stuff and things? She likes stuff and things! Usually, anyway. What's this particular stuff and things.]

[airlockedmods]

[First off, there's a pair of fabric scissors sitting out.]

[in4apounding]

[...On a scale of one-to-gross, how bloody are these scissors. Or were their only likely victims the poor fabric Thomas found that she doesn't know about yet.]

[airlockedmods]

[The scissors are not bloody!]

[in4apounding]

[Neat. She'll pick those up, they can be friends with Shovel-kun.]

[Anything weird about them, or should she move on to the other stuff on the table?]

cw: finger gore

[airlockedmods]

[You can move on!

Second thing’s second, there are five human fingertips lying out on the table. Technically one is probably a thumb.]

Re: cw: finger gore

[in4apounding]

[Well. That's. Sure a thing.]

[She doesn't actually scream, but that sure is a noise she makes. And takes a couple instinctive steps backward, clapping a hand over her mouth.]

cw: finger gore

[andjerry]

[thomas has been leaning over her shoulder, two pairs of eyes better than one, and he catches penny as she steps back into him. it takes him a second longer than her to realize what she sees. this is one of the worst things he's ever seen, and he shrieks where she stays quiet.]

What...?

Re: cw: finger gore

[in4apounding]

On the table- fingers-

[She quiets down after a second.]

...on the wound diagram. They must be Max's. WHY-?

cw: finger gore

[andjerry]

[that looks like part of max's hand, right, and the only reason he doesn't let go of her and run is because she's never seen anything like this and she needs somebody else to keep her safe.]

I'll- I've got it. Don't-

Penny, go find something safe we can put them in.

[now besides being chopped off what's up with these? are there any other wounds on them, do they still have their nails?]

[in4apounding]

I- okay.

[She runs off- catching herself and pausing long enough to set down the non-bloody scissors. A minute or two later she returns with an empty jar from the diner's kitchen.]

[Sorry Max, it's a hastily-rinsed jar formerly housing pickle relish.]

This was the best I could find, sorry.

[Is there even anywhere on the station that would have baggies or something.]

[airlockedmods]

[There might be baggies in the infirmary. So. Yeah.]

[in4apounding]

[...so there are no other places on the station she could've gotten baggies.]

[andjerry]

[He laughs, high and a little hysterical, and the smell combination's about to set him off- but he gestures for her to get the scissors back and cut some more fabric. Whatever else might be left, he's going to give Max more respect than whoever killed him did.]

cw: finger gore

[airlockedmods]

[The fingernails are present! And while there’s a fair amount of dried blood, it all seems to be from where they were cut - there’s no other wounds.]

Re: cw: finger gore

[in4apounding]

[So, uh, now that's she's brought that jar, are there any other lovely surprises on the table?]

[andjerry]

[he about yelps when she comes in, and it's then that he knows he can speak again. it's a good thing, too, he forgot his notepad.]

...hey, Penny. [it's quiet, choking like it was last week when she confessed to him.].

[in4apounding]

Oh, you can talk again! Good- um. Good.

...I didn't see the body, but- it was pretty bad. Mister Bolton was so- I don't know.

[andjerry]

I'll go look later. You don't- [he has to.]

[and he just opens up his hands a little, a look asking if she wants comfort for a few minutes]

[in4apounding]

[Yeah, okay, she'll take a hug.]

Max- he never hurt ANYONE, and- ...he figured out what I was. He said. A while before I'd told anyone. And he hadn't- he kept it secret.

[andjerry]

...he's good at that. ["was" doesn't sound right yet. he hasn't seen the body, it isn't real, but even if he's the one offering comfort he needs a hold on reality as much as Penny does, and if he isn't actually in tears yet they're coming pretty soon.]

[in4apounding]

He was- is? ...He set up all those movie nights. And painted everyone.

[Okay the comfort is good but maybe help her with the unpleasant fingore surprise over here?]

[andjerry]

[for a given value of help sure]