the mock investigation

[airlockedmods]

[The week at the space station has trickled by slowly. Friday morning after CECE awakens everyone with her usual cheery announcement over their PIPs it's dead quiet, the oppressive threat to their homes still lingering in the air. There's still hours to go before the deadline but will someone really have the guts to go through with it in such small quarters?

Or is the better question has someone already gone through with it?]

Comments

[misinforms]

I hate to ask but... it has to be done. That blood... it was from the body, yes?

[She doesn't sound that really sorry to be asking actually. She sounds very calculating and analytical about it; as if she's shoved her initial emotions back into a box for the investigation proper.]

[stitch_in_time]

Looks to be the case, yeah. Looks like whoever did this did it here. Unless we're looking at two victims.

[misinforms]

Oh no. I was referring to the blood on him, actually. He said he wasn't injured so I assumed it must have been from the body-- but that was before the body had fallen.

[damnfourthemerald]

I don't know where else it would've come from. [Okay, that was a little more ornery than anything else he's said this morning.] It was already floating in the room. Without a DNA test to be absolutely, we can only make assumptions, but I feel it's a safe one.

[misinforms]

That's not my problem with the blood. The real question would be how it got there. If it was simply from the lack of gravity or something less pleasant.

[damnfourthemerald]

There might have been a fight in this room, or someone took his still bleeding body and dumped it here. The gravity was off when I got here, presumably from whoever was last here with him.

[misinforms]

So there was blood floating around when you got here?

[It can't hurt to take his account of the incident even if it had to be looked at with a bit of suspect.]

If that was the case then there may very well have been a fight. The way he was held up there, the weapon would have sealed most of the blood from spilling.

[damnfourthemerald]

When I jumped in, I can't say I made a thorough check whether there was blood floating in the room beforehand, so yes. It was here, I went in, and now here I am with this man's blood on me.

I suppose I should be glad it wasn't worse. [Could've had a faceful of guts instead.]

[misinforms]

Yeah if it was an open wound you absolutely would have noticed blood, even if you weren't looking for it, based on the size of that hole in him.

[As someone who comes from a corpse party, she can sympathize a little.]

Not a great way to start the day.

[stitch_in_time]

Good thinkin', but the case file says the time of death was about 11pm. Awful long time for blood to stay wet like that, spread over fur.

[She's considering things though, that's good.]

[misinforms]

Ah. Yes, that's a good thought. Then it must have been produced from his wounds more recently. I wonder if it had been in the air from the time of the incident or if it was dripping from the wound more recently. It would be nice to know if there was a struggle. Normally there wouldn't be a lot of blood loss with the weapon still stuck in him like that...

[Does blood dry in no gravity air??? She knows horror well and even she doesn't know the answer to that one.]

[stitch_in_time]

[It probably should've dried, but blah blah blah technobabble blah blah blame the Overseers and Kamukura's wormhole machine probably.]

MODS

[semperperatus]

...Could be from other impacts made to the wound or body. Zero gravity with a body that has no control over its own force and momentum? Its possible.

[So are there skid marks of blood anywhere on the walls and stuff?]

[airlockedmods]

[There are. Near one of the ladders, to be specific.]

[semperperatus]

[Not the ladder that two certain young ladies are trying to climb, by any chance?]

[airlockedmods]

[Nah, it's near the other ladder.]

[semperperatus]

[WELL THEN.

He will go over there and check that out. Is it up near the top, or bottom of the ladder?]

[airlockedmods]

[Up near the top.]

[semperperatus]

[That is interesting. Shepard closes his eyes, doing his best to memorize it - he's going to scribble this all down in a few minutes (semper peratus, semper peratus) Are there any other significant skid marks?]

[airlockedmods]

[You gonna get up close enough to the ladder to see?]

[semperperatus]

[He is, for sure]

[airlockedmods]

[A couple of the rungs also have a little bit of blood smeared on them.]

[semperperatus]

[That's--

Shepard's eyes autofocus on those rungs and he brings his face nice and close. Any fingerprints? Hair? Boot marks?]

[airlockedmods]

[Nope! We learned our lesson about g-d-mned fingerprints back in drrp It's hard to tell, but the smears are a little high up to be from boots.]

[semperperatus]

[Semperrr peratuuuuuus

He frowns, thinking for a moment. Ok, these smears...they can't be boots unless the person jumped up real high, right?
...

Ok, hang on, he has to...um, hm...ah! Are there paper towels anywhere? Wait--toilet paper!

He is going somewhere with this. Is there toilet paper or anything on a long roll on the spaceship?]