Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

And once everyone has finished their investigations of the building, the door down at the bottom of that stairwell in the dorms seems to once again have been unlocked; it opens slowly and as though of its own volition, swinging outward lightly after an audible click of the latch. Hopefully everyone knows better than to stand in front of it by now, but if not...well, it's gentle enough to provide some sort of encouragement to move without straight-out hitting anyone. For the third time in as many weeks, the stairwell that door leads to is dark; the only light visible is what managing to get in from the courtroom below. The room itself remains as unforgiving and imposing as ever with its walls made entirely of concrete and steel; the podium circle stands starkly in the center, wooden structures ringing the darkened pit below. Again, there's been a change in the podium setup; Blue and Walt have joined those with podiums draped in black. Their profile portraits are arranged atop them, greyed-out and observing the proceedings, along with the rest of those that you've lost. As always, the thirty-sixth podium stands empty. Once everyone has found their place in the circle, Jericho can be heard over the public-address system; he seems to have gotten himself together a little more since morning, though he still doesn't quite seem up to the usual. "Methodical's been taken from you; almost all of you know why you're here right now, and even if your secrets aren't safe anymore, I'd still suggest doing your job to the fullest - unless you consider those secrets worth dying over, even if they aren't worth killing over. As for the guilty party...your secret's safe with me, but unfortunately? You're not safe at all just yet. Whether you manage to actually ensure that you are by the end of the trial is a different matter, I guess. Innocent against the guilty. Let's go round three, see how well you all come out. As always, do your best!" Twenty-nine Participants remain. Let's see how many remain at the end of the day.

Comments

[shuttermouse]

[ Chie moves to stand at her podium carrying... something arm-shaped, wrapped in a blanket. That's nice. She's also got some photos of the infirmary with her; feel free to ask her for those if you want to take a look. ]

I investigated the billiards room with Alex-san and Estellise-san. There was a blood trail leading out toward the stairs that originated from White-san's arm, which was lying on the floor near the pool table. We didn't find any clues on the arm, but I brought it along just in case since it's evidence.

[firstaid]

[...Chie... Is that what she thinks it is?]

You brought that with you?

[bloodbiter]

[Adelina looks grim as she speaks up, a frown on her face.]

In the bar, I found some drinks knocked over. It's clear someone was there last; more than likely, two people. What's more... There was one drink left standing, and when I inspected it, it smelled strange. Not just like alcohol, but slightly acidic.

[A pause, before she continues on.]

There was a white dust near the back counter, too. It had the same scent as the drink did. I believe that he must have been drugged.

[bloodisthicker]

Hibiki, Sayaka and I found a great deal of painkillers scattered all over the floor in the hallway, so that might explain that.

[ninehundredlives]

[what the fuck]

Couldn't you have just taken a picture?

[brandnewday]

Ah...I found somethin' strange near the stairs in the second floor hallway!

[Hibiki produces a familiar looking pill bottle. It's the bottle of painkillers from the infirmary.]

It was open when I found it! There were pills spilled out on the floor!

[heritrix]

[Interesting... But something about that is bothering her.]

I wouldn't lock into that.

[perpend]

That might explain why all the painkillers in the infirmary were missing.

[evilfrenzy]

Ah, so a poisoning attempt. I was waiting for something like that to happen.

[sleepytimegal]

It- it was my suggestion. [ Wince... ] I thought- if there needed to be any...examination by...professionals.

[shuttermouse]

I only have one roll of film. I'm not going to waste it on an arm.

[bloodisthicker]

...I hope no one develops a back problem from here on out, then.

I don't really get why they'd all be missing, though. Surely it shouldn't take that much to cause someone to overdose, if that's what someone was going for.

[destage]

[Well, once Sayaka gets to her podium, she's just...kind of gonna take a breath. This is gonna be a shitshow today, isn't it. She's got a pair of glasses in her hand, though.]

Hibiki-chan, Tarrlok-san and I investigated the stairwell. Like Hori-san said, there was a blood trail that lead to the billiards room, but there were some things left behind on the stairs. [She shows the glasses off.] These, which seem to be the glasses that White-san wore, and slashes on the walls and floor that...looked like claw marks.

[heritrix]

All of them? There's no way, if that's the case.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's long, red nails smell of nail polish that hasn't 100% finished drying when she steps on in. She's yawning at her podium too. Her hair is as impeccable as ever, but she wasn't around for the investigation and just generally looks a little bleary, blowing on her nails more to give herself something to do than anything. ]

Honestly, that's a good idea. Who the hell would cut off an arm here?

[captainobnoxious]

Guess the guy could've really used a hand, huh.

[i

am almost sorry]

[evilfrenzy]

...All of them? That's...a bit overkill.

[innocentloveholic]

Oh, it wasn't cut off, Indomitable!

It was ripped off!

[firstaid]

I-in any case, I can confirm what Chie said. I also inspected the pool table and there were long gouges in the table... it was almost as if they were made by claws of some kind.

[destage]

[...]

If an examination is needed, please, um...do it off to the side.

[She doesn't sound too judgey but dear freaking god y'all.]

[ninehundredlives]

......I guess I can look at it, then....

[ugh god. She'll look through her box for another pair of gloves as she comes over.]

[brandnewday]

No way...there were marks like that near the stairs, too!

[destage]

Did you find something, Tohsaka-san?

[matchbreaker]

--Come again? Like from a bear?

[perpend]

One bottle would probably be more than enough.