THIRD TRIAL

[whimsicalism]

To the court room. Make it quick, alright? I don't really know about any of you but I don't want to waste more time on a couple of bratty teenagers.

[The Queen still is silent as you descend to the court room. There are ten less of you than when you began. The podiums look empty as you go to them. Even if the podiums are getting empty, though, there is a new jury box near the Alices that is rather full... of ghosts of all the participants of the previous round you've discovered and of your dead compatriots. They don't talk but they're there. Judging. Always judging.

There is someone who doesn't notice this addition, though. Queen Alice.

The Queen is quiet but she's next to the Cat. Her head is bowed to her chest as she seems to sleep quietly. Then as movement she jolts up, smiling vaguely as she nods.]

Yes, a tea party--that's what we...need...

[Her head drops back to her chest as she falls asleep again. The Cat glances at her then back at the crowd with agitation.]

Someone is responsible for Lena and Neku's deaths. Do something about it, will you? Why did you even bring one of those ghosts in with you, anyway?

Comments

[prescience]

Yes, it is my understanding that he wouldn't release it from his possession.

If he was taken off guard by the trap Lena-san - or her aunt - devised, could he have dropped it?

[strictura]

Actually, what do we think about the bruises on his arms? That hasn't come up yet, has it? Maybe he was being held down somehow while the gun was taken?

[prescience]

[She frowns, as if she's trying to place that information too.]

We'd need to determine who might be strong enough to do that... It's so difficult to imagine an altercation like that playing out and someone still being able to deliver a fatal shot like the wound we have.

[battlestations]

Do you think switching bodies with her aunt could make her bigger? Like an adult.

[prescience]

[Her expression is truly, legitimately baffled at that suggestion.]

Is that possible? I suppose anything might be.

Her writings make it sound as though she was more inclined to subterfuge, though...

[battlestations]

I've seen stuff like that happen all the time, actually.

[Like he's been turned into an adult himself.]

But if it wasn't that, it just means it had to have been the third party pinning Neku's arms. I really don't think the duck could have done that.

[prescience]

[How do you live with yourself knowing that you, too, can be an adult?]

No, I don't think she could have either, barring other circumstances like the ones you mentioned.

If we were to consider who might have been able to overpower him [the list doesn't seem like it could be very long.] ... we should at least consider the line of inquiry Nagisa Shingetsu-san proposed. If Amdiranifani-san were to try...could he have made those marks?

[battlestations]

[believe it or not the KND function on a 'being young at heart is fine' policy, and Nigel is uniquely Like This because of some literal offscreen torture!! it's fine he's not like them!!]

...Maybe if he'd already knocked him down and was doing it with his paws. His teeth are far too sharp for it to be a bite, but the bruises were light.

[prescience]

He's small, even all together, so it could feasibly leave a lighter bruise. He is uniquely able to be in multiple places at once.

[BUT THE GUN!!! CAN DOGS SHOOT????

Oriko still looks like she's thinking very intently about this.]

I had thought that the bruises would have to be caused by someone large or strong enough to fight back against him, but...

[battlestations]

I think that's more likely myself, but we can't discount the possibility.

[prescience]

Someone stronger might leave heavier bruising, however. Say, Seven-san could just as easily have broken a limb instead. It's one or the other, but which?

[There are so few physical indicators toward an identity for Mystery Person #3.]

We need a breadcrumb.

[imozon]

If you're hungry, you could probably ask for a whole piece of bread.

[prescience]

I'm sorry, I just don't have that much of an appetite right now.

[strictura]

[ well since I just remembered the darkness in that other thread ]

...Allen said she was a sorceress of "shadows," right? It was a lot darker on the third floor than normal. Could that have increased her power somehow?

[prescience]

I doubt our magic is the same. But...if conditions like that were at play, then I think it's likely.

[strictura]

So maybe she could have caused the bruising herself, in that case, if there was some sort of... I don't know, "shadow magic" or something involved?

[ he doesn't fucking know magic, he has no clue if this is plausible or not, or what shadow magic would even entail, WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS JUST USE ROBOTS ]

Then maybe the third party could have come in after that?

[prescience]

Let me see if I'm understanding your proposal correctly: While Lena-san and Sakuraba-san were in the middle of an altercation, she may have caused him to drop his weapon. When that happened, a third party scavenged it and was then able to catch both by surprise?

[xxxx_me]

[Trying to think back to his conversation with Lena.]

The poem did say something about casting a spy from her shadow? Maybe that was Lena?

[battlestations]

Oh... what if the 'spy' is some kind of shadowy body double?!

[Like Peter Pan's shadow!!]

[xxxx_me]

So maybe both of them could have been acting at the same time?

[ballooncaged]

[EXCITEMENT:]

If she was able to use body doubles, that would have given her a motive to frame Amdi!

[battlestations]

What, because they're similar in that regard?

[strictura]

Though I can't be sure, I would assume that once she died, any shadow doubles she controlled would disappear as well. I don't think she would have survived long enough for a shadow to drag her to the water with a gunshot wound in her chest.

[ballooncaged]

Oh. Yeah. The trail and the unused swimsuits are two separate suspicious things.

[battlestations]

I would think fear like that would tighten one's grip. But now I wonder if he had to touch his pins to make his magic like the levitation work... that could have required him to drop it.

[Nigel that's basically the same thing.]