Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

Once again, as people finish their investigations and make their way toward the door at the bottom of those stairs in the dorms, the door down there is unlocked once again. It opens as though of its own volition, with a loud clicking sound and a soft outward swing, not firmly enough to harm anyone who might be standing in the way but enough to give them some slight encouragement to move. The stairwell it leads to is once again dark, the only light coming in from the courtroom below, if it can really properly be called that. It stands as cold and unforgiving as it did last week, all concrete and steel and the podium circle in the center, surrounding the darkened pit in the middle. Nothing can be seen down there for the time being; it simply seems like a large black hole leading nowhere. Three more podiums have joined Jean's in being arranged differently from the rest; Caren, Yosuke, and Chitoge have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums draped in black with their profile portraits sitting atop them, greyed-out and watching the room with unseeing eyes. The thirty-sixth podium remains empty and blank, as always. Once everyone has found their place in the circle, the public-address system comes to life once more, and after a moment Jericho's voice can be heard "Dexterous has been taken from you; seems like a lot of you were friends with her, and you all know why you're here by now and what you're supposed to do. So hopefully you guys won't be disrespectful assholes again and expect me to make you give a damn this time! Be self-centered about it all you want, just do your jobs. After all, it's in your best interests to do that. As always, do your best - I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes." Thirty-one Participants remain. However many are left at the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[matchbreaker]

... Wowie, that guy's the worst, isn't he?

[ The old lady says this wit ha very angry Evil Old Lady Laugh as she takes her spot at the podium. ... That's not relevant to anything, he just really cheeses her onions. ]

[blackmass]

He certainly has a particular charm, for some value of the word.

[destage]

[...ugh, what she'd be willing to pay for the chance to see Jericho shut his ass up. Even so, they've got work to do, don't they? And for Chitoge's sake...she at least wants to see who's brought to justice.]

Kotomine-san, Alex-san, and I investigated the laundry room--it seems as though someone was in there last night, because there was a container of bleach out, along with a good portion of the contents spilled on the floor.

From the looks of it, someone was out doing their laundry last night, and they may have been attacked. There was a sheet and pillowcase in one of the dryers, and they were both dried.

[greenmamabear]

Yeah, he's got charm coming out the whazoo.

[bloodisthicker]

He's certainly trying very hard.

[withabigsmile]

Well, if he wasn't the worst, we wouldn't be here in the first place, would we?

[And Green thinks she's obnoxious.]

[ninehundredlives]

[Well, then. Susan was content last time to sit back and listen to people talk for a lot of the trial; this kind of thing is really not her specialty. But this time, she's actually got information to share, so she'll speak up before everything goes to shit. She doesn't want to have to yell over people.]

I checked over Chitoge's body. She was killed by electrocution, obviously - but there was a wound on the back of her head, too. It was from some kind of blunt object, but it wasn't totally flat. She didn't...get it from falling.

[Like, you know. Jean.]

With the water and the...burns...I couldn't really tell how long she'd been in there. Not all night, at least...

[matchbreaker]

Well, youngin's often try to do that!

[zomgboom]

No, he's just a regular .

[matchbreaker]

Probably! [ . . . ] I'm still wondering about a few things about that, but none of it's really that relevant now, is it?

[ninehundredlives]

I've never met anyone who tries harder. And I met a guy who called himself Dr. X once.

[Her voice drips with disgust. What a strong reaction to Dr. X.]

[matchbreaker]

... I was trying to show some more tact.

[innocentloveholic]

He's not wrong though, Ms. "Tell me why I should care."

[ .......it was your fault last time, Elda, so. she's prickly about this in general and you're a low hanging fruit right now. ]

[icysemblance]

[Let's form a 'punch Jericho in the face' conga line sometime.]

Was there anything in the washing machine, or just the dryer?

[matchbreaker]

... Okay, look? If you want to back the boytoy, that's all in fine, but that's not going to make you that popular, you know.

[ That said, she does know. ]

[destage]

[that'll be the final trial, the Jericho Punch Line]

There was nothing in the washing machine, no--I made sure to check there first, in case there was anything.

[innocentloveholic]

I'm just saaaaaying, Indomitable! You're the reason we had that whole hubbub last week!

[ ~just saying~ ]

[zomgboom]

Even Laney called him a . There's no point in being nice when, like, there's nobody's feelings to hurt.

[Strictly speaking, Alena didn't directly tell Tabby Jericho was an asshole, but that is the general sentiment of what she said.]

[chessturner]

Could she have been knocked out?

[At least that seems like a reasonable possibility to consider]

In any case, I think it's safe to think those among us who aren't used to technology and electricity are much less likely to be the culprit.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

Right, right. I'm just saying that a gentleman knows when not to punch down.

[sleepytimegal]

Just the dryer. [ A shiver. She's right next to Chitoge's empty podium, it's hard to...not glance at it. ] It smelled like bleach too. The stuff in there.

[matchbreaker]

... Who the hell's Laney, your imaginary dinosaur friend?

[icysemblance]

...then someone may have knocked her out before putting her in the water?

[innocentloveholic]

[ ...she's satisfied with that, she'll give her an agreeing nod and turn her attention to the actual case at hand. ]

[blackmass]

Either they were attacked, or it was someone in a rush to clean something.