FOURTH TRIAL

[whimsicalism]

FOURTH TRIAL

THE CONTAINMENT CENTER

((CW spiders))

The Principal's hateful dismissal of the latest murder still ringing in the halls, the students are ushered with much more force and hurry into the elevator this time. There's a certain amount of urgency to this descent that hasn't existed before, as if some great force is beginning to run out of patience with Ira Academy's slowly dwindling student body. The cold, pre-autumn gloom grasping at the upper levels has permeated these basement areas as well, and an uneasy chill wind rips through with no discernable source.

In their holding cell, the monsters all pace with more restlessness than usual. A bipedal crocodile monster tall enough to barely fit inside his cell without hunching rams his snout repeatedly against the front wall, blood stains gathering on the glass--and perhaps, if one looks close enough, some hairline cracks. A horde of black spiders with poisonous red markings spin nervously in the corners of their cells, wrapping up anonymous but distinctly humanoid figures in their webs. The clown makes everyone a balloon dog! How nice of him. He slits it open with his knife and leaves the shredded ribbons of rubber dangling from his fingertips.

Though the audio is clearly on and the Principal's view into the trial room seems undisturbed, the video feed on the projector screen is cut off today. Instead of the ram emblem or a visual on his firelit office, nothing but a wall of black stares back.

Nanami opens her mouth to introduce the case as soon as everyone is at their podium, but she's cut off by Father's angry, disembodied voice before a single world can leave her mouth.

"Sure, let's keep it up with the bread and circuses. If you don't get that then you should have paid attention in history class! I won't be surprised if you spend the whole afternoon trying to figure this one out, just to waste my time. Find out who killed The Dependable Dog, or you'll really find out where they all go."

Investigation | Podium Layout | Locations | IC Profiles | IC Rules | IC Evidence Presentation | Evidence List | NPC Questions | Labyrinth Map | Playground Map

OOC NOTES

Welcome to the fourth trial! Consider this your reminder to make sure to get in your Week 3 AC by tomorrow's weekly post and to start getting your Week 4 AC ready to submit. Make sure to get your regains in by tomorrow night!

Remember:

• If you can carry it you probably can bring it. While the body itself isn't allowed into the trial, most things are.
• If your character has access to a piece of evidence and you don't know if you can bring it in, you can either ask the mods privately if that's possible or by pinging them in the post itself.
• If a piece of evidence is forgotten, you can either assume retroactively that someone did or that the sheep brought it in to make sure that everything is tidy.
• As always, just put MODS in the header of your comment to get our attention for any clarification.

Good luck!

Comments

[holyironmade]

But it is snapped off so smoothly. It seems they did not simply force his mouth to clamp down on about half of the bar. If the culprit forced the separated pieces into Dylan's mouth, would that not contact with the chocolate in a way that would linger on their fingertips?

[shinedsobright]

Forget about lingering chocolate, that sounds like a great way to get your hand bit.

[keyringwitness]

Something else is bugging me about the hallway, now that you mention it... there are a few drops of blood by the vending machine among all the scratches, but there weren't any in the library with the rest of what we can assume were Dylan's tracks. It's possible that he injured the culprit in some way in the initial struggle to wrap him in the rope.

There was some white cloth in the latch of the windowsill as well, which would support Dylan managing to tear some of the culprit's clothing... Something to do with the biohazard bag, maybe? I'm still not sure what to make of that, honestly.

[shinedsobright]

Seems like Dylan was fighting so hard every step of the way, it's hard to imagine the killer could NOT be injured...

Oh! What if the killer was somehow wearing the bag, and that's why Dylan was biting it and saving the tag! We'd know what size they are then!

[panglici]

This might be madness taking hold, but... on the off chance that there is someone not already dead here who can identify the difference between a dog's blood and a human's by smell, now would be a GREAT time to speak up.

[shinedsobright]

We might be finally out of those... unless Hunty D get to be a bloodhound when he's all werepuppy?

[panglici]

It's probably mean, but... hey, Hunter, I have a really terrible question.

[hashtagwoof]

... [ He frowns as she approaches. He can already guess what she's about to ask. ]

If it has anything to do with the murder, I have literally no reason to go after the dalmatians anymore. Dylan and I agreed to a truce weeks ago, and these horrible past few weeks have given me plenty of time to wonder why I was trying to help my horrible aunt with her horrible coat.

Seriously. The motive was about secrets. Why would I kill to keep a secret when I blurted it out to everyone during the meeting?

[violence_ensues]

...Wait, then that should mean the monster is the one that killed Dylan...

[Adorabat eyes everyone that did not tell their secrets. Anya, Hunter, Dewey, Emma, you four are definitely safe from Adorabat's gaze.]

[panglici]

[Carrie actually goes a bit pale as she realizes how much worse she made this.]

It's nothing like that, trust me, I'm sorry! I just - when you become like a dog, do you just act like a dog, or is there actually an increase in how good some of your senses are?

[hashtagwoof]

...Oh.

[ Well. Still bad but also not nearly as much as being suspected for murder. ]

UH... I don't think my senses get any better while I'm... Like that. Why?

[panglici]

It was a crazy idea. If you did have a werewolf's sense of smell, you'd be able to tell if the blood in the bag belonged to Dylan or whoever killed him, that's all.

[holyironmade]

When we combine it with the blood that was outside... I think it is unlikely that the killer would still be healthy this morning...?

[hashtagwoof]

Oh...

Uh...

Sorry I'm not a werewolf then?