Game 98: Final Trial -- The Beginning's End

[Vaellin the Bard]

Once more Phantom calls for everyone to approach. As they do, the central platform has transformed again to include the podiums.

It is strikingly empty. Half of the population of the train is gone, empty platforms with their image the only trace of their remains, at least right now.

And at least one more might die, to sate the ghosts desire for sacrifice.

Everyone glances around at each other. Who did it?

Kaguya looks calculating
Miyuki is watching Neptune out of the corner of his eye
Chika clutches her hands together nervously
Steve smiles at Miyuki
Neku is soaking wet
Kiryu has a bruise on his face
Majima looks victorious
Red seems to watch Kiryu and Majima
Neferpitou smells burnt
Rinko looks terrified, but what else is new?
Makomo is a bit damp
Neptune is soaking wet

Nearly everyone has some strange substance on their foot


Then Phantom appears.



"You know... right before I died, I took a single solitary life. That of my father's. Oh, trust me, he deserved it. He set in motion a slew of incidents that resulted in many, many people dying. That is why... Danni's death? So very, very deserved. I'm almost... almost tempted to let you all live anyway" He laughs, his cackle mixing in a cacophony of chants that rise in volume.

"Sacrifice!"
"Sacrifice!"
"Sacrifice!"

"But no... they must be appeased before I let you all go. Find the murderer and I'll let you all go. Fail... well I don't recommend you fail..."

---

(Trial is full 72 hours! No extensions! Ends at 7pm PST!)
(I encourage you to ask questions about your investigations or anything about your night, such as pathing!)
(There may be more lore hidden as well. I recommend uncovering things and will allow acts on rooms you investigated, so even if your invest was blank, you may have something useful to do! But it may not even matter.)

[Vaellin the Bard]

(Host totally didn't forget)

Once more papers fly around the room, showing times of being switched every half hour.
A0


A1


A2



A3


A4

A5


A6

[Ame]

Miyuki looks particularly tired. Not... physically tired, but emotionally. Since Ishigami's death, he had been unable to control his feelings. Add on not being able to catch Neptune for her crimes, it had been a particularly rough 24 for him.

"I... guess I'll start."

"I had a look around Dining Cart A. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. The karaoke machine wasn't used, no drinks had been drunk. Seemed hardly used, if anything. I did notice a faint smell of smoke, coming from the ash tray, so one of our smokers was there last night. Oh yeah, and there was some white spice put down at both entrances, I didn't check what spice it was. People had walked through both, but for some strange reason, there looked to be more footsteps on the western door than the eastern door."

"Hall Room A was the second place I checked. It seemed as if a lot of people had walked through here, there were quite a lot of spices on the floor here, it smelt I was in a kitchen. Both Room 2 and Room 3 appeared to have been used last night, too."

"Lastly, with what little time remained, I had a quick glance at the scene of the crime, partially to check on Shinomiya, but to also see what was going on. The room stunk. Like chemicals. It was enough to make you gag. Maybe there was some solace in the fact that the room smelt like onion and garlic, probably spiced versions of both. Danni's body was in the lower half of the room, and there was an obvious stain by her body too."

"That concludes my investigations. Not very useful, but, maybe there's something in there that's important to someone else."

Miyuki let out a defeated sign, and went to pull out what he would only kindly refer to as a catnip cigarette from his pocket, and lights it.

[Misaki]

"Allow me to begin by sharing my investigations."

"First of all. The Ghost Viewing Room is much like what President just stated but I'd like to add that there are pile of bricks in the northern part of the room and one of those bricks had fresh blood on it. I also noted that the door leading into the southern half of the room was locked and can be easily locked and unlocked from the outside with a latch but can't easily be locked or unlocked from the inside. The strange stain by Danni's body turns out to be bleach."

"As for Danni's body. She was lying face down on the floor in the middle of southern section of the room. She had a rather brutal injury on her head. Her skin was red and had multiple blisters both red and yellow all over her body. Her eyes were also stained yellow and her mouth let out a horrifying stench of chemicals and and garlic/onions. Her hands also had traces of bleach on them. There were no signs of the body being dragged or was in a struggle. Her inventory contained a small multipurpose key, a notepad, her admin key and a ripped piece of paper. The notepad contained her location at the start of the night which is the following."

A1: Dining Car B -> Room Hall B - > Forest -> Kitchen

"Now based on these findings. I was able to draw the following conclusions."

1. The injury on Danni's head was caused by one of the bricks found in the room as they matched the wound on her head. She didn't appear to die from blood loss or brain injury meaning she was probably subdued using the brick.

2. Danni likely died a slow and painful death by inhaling a lethal cocktail of chemicals and garlic. She was also likely unconsious throughout the whole ordeal otherwise she could have screamed for help.

3. The bleach had likely come from Dining Room B and the garlic could have come from the kitchen.

"Having said these things. I'd like to ask Makomo to post their findings on Dining Hall B and Majima and Rinko for the Kitchen."

Kaguya then turns to Phantom

"Just to make sure. Are there any accomplices involved both living and dead?"

[Spell Craft]

May 15, 2021 23:23:16 GMT -6 Misaki said:

"Having said these things. I'd like to ask Makomo to post their findings on Dining Hall B and Majima and Rinko for the Kitchen."

[Invest: Dining Car B] "The room looked to have been ransacked. There was a discarded Mahjong case on the table, a bottle of alcohol removed from the cabinet, several spices, a couple soda bottles, and another steak knife taken from the cupboards." she pauses, then speaks up. "The bottle of ammonia wasn't full anymore either."

[Maria]

May 15, 2021 23:23:16 GMT -6 Misaki said:

"Having said these things. I'd like to ask Makomo to post their findings on Dining Hall B and Majima and Rinko for the Kitchen."

"Um, I...helped the chef there...during A6...so some of the larger things were...gone, like the...body and the meat. The oven was off and...there were...two cups. One was...mine. I...didn't really get...a good look so...I don't know if anything was taken...sorry..."

[Vaellin the Bard]

May 15, 2021 23:23:16 GMT -6 Misaki said:

Kaguya then turns to Phantom

"Just to make sure. Are there any accomplices involved both living and dead?"

"Yes, and before you ask, this time they were completely aware of the fact they were assisting in killing. But no, they would not count in voting them up. You must find the murderer for this kill."

[Misaki]

May 16, 2021 8:24:25 GMT -6 Vaellin the Bard said:

May 15, 2021 23:23:16 GMT -6 Misaki said:

Kaguya then turns to Phantom

"Just to make sure. Are there any accomplices involved both living and dead?"

"Yes, and before you ask, this time they were completely aware of the fact they were assisting in killing. But no, they would not count in voting them up. You must find the murderer for this kill."

"Are they living or dead?"

[Vaellin the Bard]

May 16, 2021 8:31:14 GMT -6 Misaki said:

May 16, 2021 8:24:25 GMT -6 Vaellin the Bard said:

"Yes, and before you ask, this time they were completely aware of the fact they were assisting in killing. But no, they would not count in voting them up. You must find the murderer for this kill."

"Are they living or dead?"

"Dead. And no, I won't clarify on how long. But that's why I won't allow you to vote them up. While that kill against the priest was fun, it is tiring to revive a dead person."

[Spell Craft]

"So only to focus on the events of tonight then..." Makomo nods.

Makomo adds, "I learned some interesting information during the night, but I can't say it's related to the crime at hand. Anyone care to hear it? I spent my entire night in the new area, looking around for clues and connections."

[Evie The Bat]

Majima taps his fingers on the podium

"I can confirm that the body and meat in the stove are gone. I also noticed that a bucket was taken. I found an empty bottle of bleach and two cups that had something bitter in them. The room felt peaceful.

I also checked out the storage room. It was barely visited and no chemicals were taken from it.

Fianlly, i took a look in Operator. There wasnt much in there except for a strange yellow powder at both doors that someone walked through"

[Panda]

Neku looked at everyone. He didn't find much. He only found a book in Danni's that was ripped off. Room Hall A has seen a lot of movement, but only Room 2 and 3 were accessed. Room Hall B on the other hand, had almost no traffic at all. Neku told that to everyone

[jash]

Steve as looking down at the ground trying to look as non-sus as possible. After the previous night he kinda sorta maybe realized he might have gone a littlleeeee overboard. But he needs to say something. So he lifts his head and begins to speak.

"Ok so I didn't really investigate any big areas of importabnce. Here's what I got though:

First the Graveyard. The coffin had this menacing vibe to it but didn't have any protections. Barely anyone was there, and there are tombstones for each dead person except for Danni.

Next the Office. The room was searched and a book about the ritual was taken out and set aside. The magic circle wasn't glowing.

Finally I scanned Viewing A and there wasn't anything sus about it. "

Steve takes a big sigh and says one last thing:

"And don't even think about suspecting me. It can't be me. I spent most of the night in the Engine room and never even went near the Ghost Viewing Room!"

[crazynuto]

Kiryu rubs his forehead, using all of the muscles in his brain to think really hard.

"Before I start theorizing, let me tell you my investigations.

I also investigated Danni's body, and what Kaguya says is true. She did in fact smell like garlic, onions, and a weird cocktail of chemicals. When I touched her body where she wasn't blistered, it was incredibly hot. Which is...odd to say the least. Is there even a heat source in that room?

I also investigated her room, thinking maybe the killer got rid of some evidence there, or something. I'm not sure how relevant this is, but there were several books set out there, and one of the books was next to a lit candle that had the burnt remains of something cloth around it. There was also hot diamonds like part of a necklace, and a charred small metal disc with the engraving "Jester" on it. The whole room smelt like burnt cotton as well."

He cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders back, loosening his muscles.

"Alright, let me tell you what I think. Majima said the meat's missing, right? Perhaps someone poisoned the meat with all those chemicals and force fed it to her, and used the spices and garlic to mask the scent so she wouldn't reflexively gag. That's what I think at least, why else would she smell so strongly of garlic?

Also I'm positive Majima is innocent. He and I had a brawl in the Central Platform. He did knock me out but he was there the second I woke up. There's no way he could've prepared all this without me knowing. We were together almost the entire night, minus the part I was unconscious."

Kiryu points to the shiner on his forehead as emphasis. He really was cruisin for a bruisin.

[Spell Craft]

Makomo continues what she said eariler, "So I suppose no one wants to hear it then."

[Invest: Suite (Ghost)] "It was roughly the same as before. The crack in the wall, the weird mirror that shows a skeleton, and the piano are all the same. Nothing else of note seems to be there."