Fifth.

[trustfellows]

Two people have died so far this week. It's about as many as one can expect to lose per week around here and it isn't even the weekend; furthermore – whatever those two may have died for – it wasn't for the sake of Rule Seven. That much remains untouched, and as such, so does the incentive, begging the question of whether you're prepared for what may happen in a few days, if no one moves. Are you ready? Are you really? Friday morning dawns like the rest of the week before it; the clock chimes, the doors to the kitchen unlock, and there's a heavy silence that's settled over the building. You aren't even being awakened by Jericho this morning, which may seem like a good sign until the realization settles in – after all, that means the timer hasn't wound down. In other words, someone is definitely dead. Thankfully enough, as far as corpses go, the first two floors seem to be clear; that doesn't mean that nothing is amiss there, because some things may be, but at the very least there aren't any bodies here. No guarantees for higher up, though. Explore?

Comments

[ninehundredlives]

[Archer was of pretty average height...

Given that it took more than one blow, she's going to check his arms and hands for additional wounds. Or, well, attempt to. She'll untie them if she needs to for a better look, but was the fire mostly localized to his torso or just kind of everywhere below the head?

(also if she unties the arms will he fall on the ground or is there a rope around the torso too, because we don't want corpses flopping around)]

[trustfellows]

[The fire seems to have been mostly localized to the torso, or at least that's where it seems to have started given the severity of it. Though there's a good amount of burning sort of all over because fire doesn't really like to stay put.

That said, it doesn't seem like there are any defensive wounds, but she'll notice something about the knots, whether she unties them or not - that being that they're kinda fancy knots. Like boating knots.]

[ninehundredlives]

[Ugh, why. She's just not going to deal with those if there's no clear reason to untie him. It would probably be kinder to lay him down, but his body's about to be vanished by Jericho anyway.

She will move the ropes (it's rope, right?) a little to make sure there's no sign he struggled against them, if they aren't too tight.]

[trustfellows]

[It is rope! ...And it also looks like he put up a fight against them at some point - there's signs of rope burn to indicate that much.]

[ninehundredlives]

[...mmmmmm. Unfortunate.

Is there anything of note where the fire seems to have started? Like a smell, or a match or something? A smell other than burnt dude, obviously.]

[trustfellows]

[...I feel really bad for laughing at that last addendum, holy shit, um.

Okay, well. First thing to note is that there actually do seem to be matches nearby - one of them is near the body, as well, so that answers that question. There's actually another match on the floor, near a good amount of the scorch marks that are there-

...The scorch marks on the floor actually look like they're in a very definite pattern that's probably decidedly more noticeable now that you're accustomed to the fact that there's a burned guy in the room.]

[ninehundredlives]

[Oh? Okay, she's gonna baggie the matches for probably no real reason, but what's this pattern look like?]

[trustfellows]

[It looks like words. You may want to back up a bit so you can get the full effect, but -

...Dear god, somebody's burned FUCK JERICHO into the floor, because we're classy people here.]

[ninehundredlives]

[ninehundredlives]

[God, why hasn't she got a camera

Okay. Uh, okay. Is there any sign of water, or a way that they kept the fire from just spreading while they were doing this?]

[trustfellows]

[I'll actually give you the same response that I gave Hibiki, with regards to the fire in the room -

That's a good point, given that the bar should probably be full of a lot of things. Like, you know. Water or some other sort of extinguishing fluid. Or otherwise just a lot of fucking fire. But it looks like the room is clear of any of that.

Basically, it doesn't look like the fire was put out by any of you. I'll clarify just as a mod note that that isn't relevant to the case at hand, nor will you need it to solve - it's just something that's definitely noticeable as odd. For the time being, assume that it's kind of like how the rooms/bodies are cleaned - they definitely are, though how is kind of a mystery.]

[ninehundredlives]

[Weeeeeird.

Well, okay then. Returning to the body, somewhat regretfully - does he smell like alcohol at all? As long as we're thinking about fluids, the room is also full of accelerants.]

[trustfellows]

[He does, along with some other things - something that's giving off a somewhat sweet scent to it, and something else that's decidedly stronger that smells sort of like gasoline.]

[ninehundredlives]

[That's some goddamn overkill right there.

Is the chair he's sitting in one that belongs in the bar? Also - given the mysteriously indestructible piano - does it look to have taken any damage from its little trip to Burning Man?]

[trustfellows]

[It's from the bar and it looks singed, but not as damaged as it should be, probably.

Also, since Nao is vanishing for the time being - there are some things on the bar that may help explain the overkill.]

[ninehundredlives]

[someone is gonna try to burn the piano now aren't they]