Trial 3 - A Matronly Murder

[crazynuto]

The air here is...rather somber. The Judge's usual oppressive intensity replaced with a melancholy that sinks into your very soul. Clearly this has deeply bothered them. Said Judge is sat on their bench, head in hands, the long black gloves removed to reveal bony, pale, wrinkled hands.

As everyone mills back into the Courtroom, you, of course find the Caretaker's body displayed in the center of the ring like trials before, although rather than bear witness to this chilling sight, the Judge has opted to cover her body in a quilt covered in hundreds of different faces.

Once everyone has taken their places, the doors slam shut with a loud thud. The Cat jumps onto the Judge's bench and prods them with a paw. The Judge stirs, locking eyes with the Cat. Finding some strength to sit up, they address you all.

"This is...a tragedy among tragedies. Please, find the truth, for her sake. She didn't deserve to die like this. It was never His will to...

The Judge glances at the corpse in the center of the room and sighs.

...I suppose it was always His will, wasn't it?."

...Good luck.

---

Q1 - Who caused the death of the Caretaker? [20 points]

Q2 - What circumstances lead to her death? [15 points]

Q3 - What items were used in the murder, and where were they acquired? [10 points]

Q4 - Were any power words used? If so, whose were they and how were they used? [10 points]

Q5 - Were there any accomplices in this murder? If so, whom? What did they do? [10 points]

Q6-8 are locked.

LQ6 - Why was there no weapon found at the crime scene? [10 points]

LQ7 - How did the Blackened defy the Caretaker's rules? [10 points]

LQ8 - Where was the Blackened during the murder? [15 points]

Bonus Question: What is the Blackened's power word? [Reward: ??]

and a ...Locked...Bonus Question???

Hoarder's Request, Bonus Question: Who killed Tuxxy the rat? (Reward: Retribution) 

Trial Difficulty: Challenging

Threshold to hit: 80%

---

You'll have roughly 48 hours to solve this case (check the poll!). Answer thread will open after 24 hours. As always, ask as many questions as you'd like. I wish you the best of luck.

[⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆]

"I investigated the Hospital and the Northern and Southern Tram Stations.

"The hospital was real clean. Looked like someone had organized it. In the X-Ray room I found a rollin' medicine cabinet had been moved into the corner. That was the only thing outta place.

"The Northern Tram Station (including the Pink Line) hadn't been used at all and there was nothing of note. The Southern Tram Station was the same, except I did find an old pocketwatch here. Does it belong to any of you?"

[Tetsu]

Fu Xuan looks at Zoro and spoke

"Before...we move on any further. I would like to say that, the murder was intended to happen either in the area that was provided to us on our initial arrival or the area opened the night before. However, it does not mean that the weapon or perpetrator did not come from the newly discovered area."

Fu Xuan then clears her throat.

"Most of my investigation was...a waste of my time... unfortunately. It seems the killer is smart to have not taken items from these places...or so it seems."

[Skullmaster4]

“No no no no no-“

Sayori is distraught-

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

“L-let’s not worry about that- just yet- I don’t want to think about it.”

“A-anyway! Here’s what I investigated..”

“The courthouse was covered with cat stickers, I very much approve of the change in decor! There was also a bloody ball of sludge in the center of the room. Gross. Some documents were scribbled on, and there was a half eaten Swordfish in the center of the room, the cat much have really liked my gift! Ehe-“

“As for the bank, all the lock boxes were unlocked- I never realized how deep those things were! They’re about 7 feet deep, 2-3 feet high- you could fit so many cookies in there! There were also scratch marks on the insides of boxes 17 and 11, but they were not broken into.”

“As for Unity Bridge- Some kind of scuffle took place, blows were exchanged, and a railing was bent. Over it, the drop leads to the rushing river- S-sorry that happened Tetsuo, hope you didn’t get too roughed up..”

[⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆]

Feb 14, 2024 18:38:05 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

"So you don't remember..." Zoro crosses his arms, glancing at Tetsuo. "Do you at least remember... where that gun ended up?"

[Skullmaster4]

Feb 14, 2024 18:44:05 GMT -6 ⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆ said:

Feb 14, 2024 18:38:05 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

"So you don't remember..." Zoro crosses his arms, glancing at Tetsuo. "Do you at least remember... where that gun ended up?"

“The.. gun..?”

She holds her head.

“I think I remember dropping it in the theatre..”

[verylukely]

Feb 14, 2024 18:38:05 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“No no no no no-“

Sayori is distraught-

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

“L-let’s not worry about that- just yet- I don’t want to think about it.”

"Sayori..."

"We need to talk about it. Just to find out if it's relevant. If nothing unlocks from it, then we never have to talk about it again. Okay?"

He turns to the literature club, looking for the voice of authority, remembering TW9uaWth isn't here anymore, and just sort of hand waves over to the general group.
No such person exists. Who are you thinking of?
"Somebody, uh, cover up her ears. Please?"

He lets out a big exhale, and keeps eye on The Hoarder, knowing the trouble he could cause if he doesn't speak carefully.

"I arrived at the theatre around... Action 3 I believe? I met Zoro there, with his ear pressed up against the door. There seemed to be some sort of singing on the inside, devolving into chanting, which echoed down the streets."

"We bashed open the door to find... Well, some sort of performance going on. But more importantly, Sayori standing in the aisle holding a Rifle. We tried to get her to drop the gun, but she kept yelling about voices in her head, how we wanted to hurt her and were conspiring against her. It was... quite distressing, to say the least. However, it's worth noting that not once was the gun pointed at us, even when accusations were being hurled at us, only to the stage."

He pauses a bit, looking somber before continuing. Although, you sense he may be faking it a bit.

"I'm sure you can guess what happened next. A shot rang out and hit an... An uh... Truxxy? Taxey? apparently? Ah, something like that. I must admit I had never heard this name before the incident, but it is a tragedy when any... person... dies. Ahem Yes, quite sad indeed! Whatever spell she was under seemed to fade in an instant, and Sayori ran from the theater in shock. We gave chase, I'm not sure about the others- I mean, I'm not sure about Zoro. But I went to the Town Hall and was unsuccessful in finding Sayori."

"So now the question stands. What was the motive for this crime, that doesn't even seem related to the important murder? Was it simply somebody trying to do a bad deed, or was it more sinister than that?"

"We also don't know if it was a power word of its own that caused this, or perhaps it was invoking Sayori's own power word which caused her to lose control."

He looks up at The Hoarder directly.

"And to you. She may have the blood on her hands, but she is absolutely not the culprit. Even you must realize she would never do this of her own volition. She was used as a weapon, against her will. Punishing her would be rewarding the true culprit for their traumatizing manipulation on top of getting away with the murder."

[verylukely]

"This murder is quite bizarre. An impossible murder, if I do say so myself! After all, I was the one that established that nobody could die in the Inn. This suggests that, unless the rules were somehow changed (which is patently absurd), the murder happened outside of the Inn and the body was dragged inside afterwards."

"In order to clear myself of suspicion, I would like to enter the Inn Registry into evidence, which you will see only has one rule amended and no additional-"

He turns his pockets inside out, and suddenly goes white as a ghost.

"Oh Kuma!."

---

Tetsuo lost the Inn Registry sometime during A1 - A2. This doesn't necessarily mean it was stolen physically, in fact I think it's more likely that the Innkeeper had her power word invoked during this time so it magically ended up in somebody else's hands (which maybe clears these people of guilt instead), but to entertain the possibility that it was stolen physically, the three potential culprits would be Sayori, The Hoarder, or Fu Xuan.

[Peregrine]

verylukely said:

"[...] the murder happened outside of the Inn and the body was dragged inside afterwards."

For once, Yuri feels... confident. Like the nerves she'd normally feel surrounded by so many people are being washed away, if briefly. As soon as the words leave Tetsuo's mouth, she shakes her head, and once he's finished, she speaks up.




"I'm afraid the paradox stands; your so-called impossible murder is the truth. I watched it happen before my very eyes."




"Natsuki and I were together at the time. We were speaking with The Caretaker. She was killed within the Eternal Requiem Inn, and her body was not moved before we were all gathered together."

"We were having an ordinary conversation with her until precisely 7:50 [A4-2], when she suddenly stood up, and appeared to be in pain. She was holding her stomach and began coughing up blood, when her stomach suddenly—"


Yuri suppresses a strange sound. Composing herself again, she continues:


"—Ahem, when her stomach and dress split open, bleeding profusely. She fell to the ground dead. Perv was alerted by me... screaming, and rushed into the room. That's when the fog began drawing everyone in. I... stayed at the scene to examine the body."


She can't help but briefly glance up at The Judge. For centuries, they've forced countless people to study and describe the corpses of their friends, maybe even family members, in excruciating detail. There's a certain vindication in forcing them through the pain of hearing the gruesome details of their own close friend's grisly demise.




"When she died, she was seated at a particular armchair, one I gather she uses often when knitting or sewing. She had only one visible wound on her body: an even, steady cut spanning her whole abdomen. The cut itself is one or two millimetres thick, and went deep enough to puncture her stomach, kidneys, liver, and pancreas. One of her lungs is collapsed, though I couldn't find any obvious entry wound for what caused that."

"She collapsed onto her left side in front of the armchair. Her hands were left covered in blood and entrails, and she was still holding a pair of knitting needles in her right hand. Those were the only things in her possession—she carried no weapons, nor did she have a key to her own room at the Inn. Her pockets contained crumbs of frosting, but that was all."

[Skullmaster4]

Feb 14, 2024 21:23:16 GMT -6 verylukely said:

Feb 14, 2024 18:38:05 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“No no no no no-“

Sayori is distraught-

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

“L-let’s not worry about that- just yet- I don’t want to think about it.”

"Sayori..."

"We need to talk about it. Just to find out if it's relevant. If nothing unlocks from it, then we never have to talk about it again. Okay?"

He turns to the literature club, looking for the voice of authority, remembering TW9uaWth isn't here anymore, and just sort of hand waves over to the general group.
No such person exists. Who are you thinking of?
"Somebody, uh, cover up her ears. Please?"

He lets out a big exhale, and keeps eye on The Hoarder, knowing the trouble he could cause if he doesn't speak carefully.

"I arrived at the theatre around... Action 3 I believe? I met Zoro there, with his ear pressed up against the door. There seemed to be some sort of singing on the inside, devolving into chanting, which echoed down the streets."

"We bashed open the door to find... Well, some sort of performance going on. But more importantly, Sayori standing in the aisle holding a Rifle. We tried to get her to drop the gun, but she kept yelling about voices in her head, how we wanted to hurt her and were conspiring against her. It was... quite distressing, to say the least. However, it's worth noting that not once was the gun pointed at us, even when accusations were being hurled at us, only to the stage."

He pauses a bit, looking somber before continuing. Although, you sense he may be faking it a bit.

"I'm sure you can guess what happened next. A shot rang out and hit an... An uh... Truxxy? Taxey? apparently? Ah, something like that. I must admit I had never heard this name before the incident, but it is a tragedy when any... person... dies. Ahem Yes, quite sad indeed! Whatever spell she was under seemed to fade in an instant, and Sayori ran from the theater in shock. We gave chase, I'm not sure about the others- I mean, I'm not sure about Zoro. But I went to the Town Hall and was unsuccessful in finding Sayori."

“N-no.. I wouldn’t do that.. i would never..”

“Tuxxy was so nice to me the other night- No matter what I was experiencing- I would never.. There has to be another explanation…”

She starts to tear at her hair.

“Nonono- nonononono… Why.. I’m so useless..”

She takes a moment to wipe her eyes and she tries to focus.

“O-okay- I think I remembered what happened- your description was accurate, I’ll just fill in what I was experiencing-“

“When the show started- a bunch of rats came out on stage, each depicting a member of the literature club. Tuxxy came out on stage with a mask depicting me, and the rats started saying all kinds of awful things about me, like how I’m worthless, how everyone hates me, and how I deserve to die.. I guess it hit kind of close to home- The other literature club members in the audience didn’t notice anything, which just made me more paranoid.. As the insults grew in intensity- I suddenly found myself standing in the aisle with the Remington- aiming at Tuxxy’s heart. Tuxxy then turned into a human girl with a ponytail and a white ribbon. She- she wanted to die.. In that moment, MC, Yuri, and Natsuki vanished, while Zoro and Tetsuo rushed in. They tried to talk me out of it, but..”

She clutches her head again.

“There’s one more detail- after I shot the girl, she kept walking towards me, so I think I was still under the effect of the hallucination until the end of the night. That’s the reason I ran away, I continued to feel her presence while you and Zoro were chasing me..”

“That’s the whole of it.. What I did was unforgivable- even under the hallucination, I should have been stronger.. I don’t want anyone to forgive me- but I too would like to know the source..

[Tetsu]

Feb 14, 2024 21:40:51 GMT -6 verylukely said:

Tetsuo lost the Inn Registry sometime during A1 - A2. This doesn't necessarily mean it was stolen physically, in fact I think it's more likely that the Innkeeper had her power word invoked during this time so it magically ended up in somebody else's hands (which maybe clears these people of guilt instead), but to entertain the possibility that it was stolen physically, the three potential culprits would be Sayori, The Hoarder, or Fu Xuan.

[/div][/font][/quote]


"Pray do tell, how should I be the culprit? Or when would I be the culprit?"

Fu Xuan stares at him

"Or did you conveniently forget what I said earlier that this killer has selected the area of the killing?Oh right and the Killer probably did not use their power word to hide evidence for this kill."

Fu Xuan hums slightly annoyed

[verylukely]

Feb 14, 2024 22:39:04 GMT -6 Tetsu said:

Feb 14, 2024 21:40:51 GMT -6 verylukely said:

Tetsuo lost the Inn Registry sometime during A1 - A2. This doesn't necessarily mean it was stolen physically, in fact I think it's more likely that the Innkeeper had her power word invoked during this time so it magically ended up in somebody else's hands (which maybe clears these people of guilt instead), but to entertain the possibility that it was stolen physically, the three potential culprits would be Sayori, The Hoarder, or Fu Xuan.

[/div][/font][/quote]


"Pray do tell, how should I be the culprit? Or when would I be the culprit?"

Fu Xuan stares at him

"Or did you conveniently forget what I said earlier that this killer has selected the area of the killing?Oh right and the Killer probably did not use their power word for this kill."

Fu Xuan hums slightly annoyed[/quote]

"My apologies. I should be more careful when I speak. I am not accusing you of being the culprit. I just want to make clear that you three were the only ones who could have taken the Inn Registry from me physically during A1 - A2. However, I will stress again that I do not believe this is what happened, nor do I think even stealing it physically would give you control over the registry mechanically, therefore there would be no logical reason to steal it. I just want to bring it up as a possibility. If anything, I think stealing it physically being entirely illogical proves that you two were not the culprit, as I know you weren't anywhere near the Inn to steal it through manifestation during Actions 1-2."

[Vulpix]

Feb 14, 2024 18:38:05 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“No no no no no-“

Sayori is distraught-

“I barely remember what happened after the play started last night- Something terrible happened.. I wasn’t myself..”

“L-let’s not worry about that- just yet- I don’t want to think about it.”

“A-anyway! Here’s what I investigated..”

“The courthouse was covered with cat stickers, I very much approve of the change in decor! There was also a bloody ball of sludge in the center of the room. Gross. Some documents were scribbled on, and there was a half eaten Swordfish in the center of the room, the cat much have really liked my gift! Ehe-“

“As for the bank, all the lock boxes were unlocked- I never realized how deep those things were! They’re about 7 feet deep, 2-3 feet high- you could fit so many cookies in there! There were also scratch marks on the insides of boxes 17 and 11, but they were not broken into.”

“As for Unity Bridge- Some kind of scuffle took place, blows were exchanged, and a railing was bent. Over it, the drop leads to the rushing river- S-sorry that happened Tetsuo, hope you didn’t get too roughed up..”

"The cat stickers in the Courthouse were my doing! I wanted to do a good deed last night, and I figured this place could use a little redecorating. I'm glad at least one person appreciates my effort!"

"The glob of blood was, uh, also my doing... I wanted to complete my nightly task, and since it wasn't clear whether we should do a good or bad task, I did both. I flung a glob of congealed blood at Fu Xuan. It was really gross."

"Oh, and the gun was originally mine, too, by the way. I found it in my bag, back on our first day here. I gave it to my friend at the Theatre so they could protect themselves."

Feb 14, 2024 22:20:24 GMT -6 Peregrine said:

For once, Yuri feels... confident. Like the nerves she'd normally feel surrounded by so many people are being washed away, if briefly. As soon as the words leave Tetsuo's mouth, she shakes her head, and once he's finished, she speaks up.









"I'm afraid the paradox stands; your so-called impossible murder is the truth. I watched it happen before my very eyes."









"Natsuki and I were together at the time. We were speaking with The Caretaker. She was killed within the Eternal Requiem Inn, and her body was not moved before we were all gathered together."



"We were having an ordinary conversation with her until precisely 7:50 [A4-2], when she suddenly stood up, and appeared to be in pain. She was holding her stomach and began coughing up blood, when her stomach suddenly—"





Yuri suppresses a strange sound. Composing herself again, she continues:





"—Ahem, when her stomach and dress split open, bleeding profusely. She fell to the ground dead. Perv was alerted by me... screaming, and rushed into the room. That's when the fog began drawing everyone in. I... stayed at the scene to examine the body."





She can't help but briefly glance up at The Judge. For centuries, they've forced countless people to study and describe the corpses of their friends, maybe even family members, in excruciating detail. There's a certain vindication in forcing them through the pain of hearing the gruesome details of their own close friend's grisly demise.









"When she died, she was seated at a particular armchair, one I gather she uses often when knitting or sewing. She had only one visible wound on her body: an even, steady cut spanning her whole abdomen. The cut itself is one or two millimetres thick, and went deep enough to puncture her stomach, kidneys, liver, and pancreas. One of her lungs is collapsed, though I couldn't find any obvious entry wound for what caused that."



"She collapsed onto her left side in front of the armchair. Her hands were left covered in blood and entrails, and she was still holding a pair of knitting needles in her right hand. Those were the only things in her possession—she carried no weapons, nor did she have a key to her own room at the Inn. Her pockets contained crumbs of frosting, but that was all."

Natsuki shudders, remembering the gruesome scene.

"Like Sayori said, Yuri, MC, and I were at the Theatre, right up until Sayori started pointing a gun and some people busted down the door. I thought that while the play was going on, no one was supposed to be able to come in and interrupt us. But I guess I must be confused... there was a lot going on last night."

"Anyway, when things started getting freaky, Yuri, MC, and I got out of there right away. We warped straight back to the Inn using one of our power words. But now, I kinda wish I'd stayed at the Theatre. I feel bad for Tuxxy, but I'd rather have seen the rat get shot than a person disembowelled right in front of me."

"I mean, I wanted to go back right away. I was really worried about my friends who were left at the Theatre. But MC made Yuri and me stay behind while he and Sanji ran back to the Theatre. Yuri and I ended up talking to the Caretaker by the chair she always sits in to do her quilting. And then it happened just like Yuri said..."

Natsuki takes a minute to calm herself.

"I investigated the Inn. In the Caretaker's room there were some knitting needles and stuff, but some of them were missing. And everybody's rooms were unlocked, which is weird because I think I only unlocked five of them."

Natsuki takes a key out of her pocket, and holds it up for the room to see. It has a tag on it that says '1 of 2.'

"Oh, yeah. MC gave me this before he and Sanji left the Inn. It's a master key. But it looks like it wasn't the only one. And I know someone has the other one, because at the main desk of the Inn, there was a drawer labelled 'Master Key,' and it was empty."

"I also looked around the Theatre. It's just like I expected: Tuxxy's dead, and the Remington Bolt Action Rifle Model 700 is on the floor. The rats never got to finish their play, so the set's still in place. It's pretty creepy, but I don't think it has much to do with the Caretaker's death. And neither does the Prison. No one went in their all night."

[Vulpix]

Feb 14, 2024 22:24:16 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“N-no.. I wouldn’t do that.. i would never..”

“Tuxxy was so nice to me the other night- No matter what I was experiencing- I would never.. There has to be another explanation…”

She starts to tear at her hair.

“Nonono- nonononono… Why.. I’m so useless..”

She takes a moment to wipe her eyes and she tries to focus.

“O-okay- I think I remembered what happened- your description was accurate, I’ll just fill in what I was experiencing-“

“When the show started- a bunch of rats came out on stage, each depicting a member of the literature club. Tuxxy came out on stage with a mask depicting me, and the rats started saying all kinds of awful things about me, like how I’m worthless, how everyone hates me, and how I deserve to die.. I guess it hit kind of close to home- The other literature club members in the audience didn’t notice anything, which just made me more paranoid.. As the insults grew in intensity- I suddenly found myself standing in the aisle with the Remington- aiming at Tuxxy’s heart. Tuxxy then turned into a human girl with a ponytail and a white ribbon. She- she wanted to die.. In that moment, MC, Yuri, and Natsuki vanished, while Zoro and Tetsuo rushed in. They tried to talk me out of it, but..”

She clutches her head again.

“There’s one more detail- after I shot the girl, she kept walking towards me, so I think I was still under the effect of the hallucination until the end of the night. That’s the reason I ran away, I continued to feel her presence while you and Zoro were chasing me..”

“That’s the whole of it.. What I did was unforgivable- even under the hallucination, I should have been stronger.. I don’t want anyone to forgive me- but I too would like to know the source..

"Sayori..."

"Someone must be seriously messing with you. That's not how the play went at all."

"There were a bunch of rats riding hobby horses. Each rat was wearing a little robe with an eye on it. Tuxy brought out a little statue of a cat about to kill some little statue of a man with a beard. Apparently it's this whole ceremony that the rats do before every 'Ritual.' They all started chanting. I didn't understand it, but it was like, 'Calico vigil, benedict nose two misery cords. Nebula Latin, park A, no B, a tormented tourist,' or something. Then they were all dancing around, and Sayori, you just stood up with the gun, and—"

"It really freaked me out."

Natsuki wipes her eyes and looks away.

"And Tetsuo, I know there was supposed to be no violence in the Inn or whatever, but there must be a loophole or something. The rules at the Inn are the exact same as they were this morning: No Violence, No Smoking, No Slashing Shrubbery, No Cliff-Diving, and No Wall Poking with Swords."

[crazynuto]

Feb 14, 2024 22:24:16 GMT -6 Skullmaster4 said:

“That’s the whole of it.. What I did was unforgivable- even under the hallucination, I should have been stronger.. I don’t want anyone to forgive me- but I too would like to know the source..

Thankfully the Hoarder wasn't invited to this trial. He's out planning a Rat funeral. Still he did have one request for the trial, that I suppose I should honor.

BONUS QUESTION UNLOCKED:

Who killed the dearest of rats, Tuxxy? [Reward: Vengeance]

This question will not affect your overall score.