Exam 6

[lockdownmods]

Exam 6.

[ Once again, the exam begins with the desks arranged in a perfect circle; one desk for each person that's participating in the program. There are nameplates for everyone, and they have been bolted to each of the desks, facing the inside of the circle...

...including the deceased. Their chairs have been placed on top of their desks, signifying that they will not be needed. Above of their desks are holograms of their portraits from their profiles, grayed out and bloodstained.

The flowers still sit at Han's desk, but they've started to wilt.

Jim! Is also here! He looks quite pleased, and is sitting happily at the teacher's desk, just like a professor on his first day of class.]

Well! I hope everyone's ready to solve a murder! Of course you are, you're experts at this by now?

[Said with that beautiful... australian... accent.

Today you're all here to find the person who is responsible for the death of Contessa Rubikov, the Apprentice Annoyance. Take your time. ]



Victim.






Suspects.



[ The physical evidence tray sits in the middle of the circle of desks; you all have the Evidence app on your tablets to access photo evidence. ]

Examination START.

links.
Evidence
Profiles
Vote Now

Comments

Evidence

[lockdownmods]

[swordsinternally]

[ And Tsukasa leaves... a bloody javelin! ]

I found this in Tess' room, next to her bed. Her bed was missing the white flat sheet and I also checked the field storage and there were five missing javelins there, too.

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

[He puts in the notes describing the state of the area around the body. Blood everywhere, the blood on the edges of the sheet, and the dirt scuff marks he believes to have been from it being dragged. He puts down a picture of someone being impaled upon four stakes in their abdomen that he found. He puts down a description of the absolute disaster that was the art room. It notes the shattered easel, the mess of shredded papers everywhere, the spilled paintbrushes, erasers, and water pots. Finally, he puts down a small box containing the remains of the smashed syringe he found.]

[myliteratureclub]

[Monika leaves her notes about the body. Obviously they have should all have photos as well.

Oh she also adds the colorful paper!]

HAND GRIP CHECK + mods!

[swordsinternally]

[ Thanks, he absolutely hates this already. But there's no more messing around. Not this time. His hands are curled into tight fists on the desk for a moment and his lips form a hard line. ]

I want to actually start this trial with something real quick.

There was blood on the javelin around the size of someone's hand, so can I have everyone grip the bloodied part to compare sizes?

[ And while he's doing that, a little clarification-- where on the javelin is the blood? Is it higher up, closer to the tip or lower down? ]

Re: HAND GRIP CHECK + mods!

[lockdownmods]

[it is on the center-- where you would expect it to be held]

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

That sounds reasonable.

[He'll participate in the the grip check. What's the verdict mods?]

[covertizer]

[ He just holds out a hand for the javelin, looking a little tired. ]

Sure. Pass it here.

[sendintheclown]

[Gogol slips a glove off and holds out his hand.]

Alright- but isn't that a little unsanitary?

[buriedearth]

[ ... He looks uncomfortable about touching the blood?

Because this is gross?

But his uncomfortableness doesn't override his willingness to participate, as he holds out his hand for the javelin. ]

Might as well pass it here, then.

[reshoot]

Seriously? There's no way I could've done that...

[she sighs, offering a hand]

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

[He's... going to try and do this subtly because he'd be embarrassed if it lead nowhere. Poe is going to compare the picture of Tess' bloody hands to the print on the javelin. If it doesn't match, he's fairly certain that narrows the culprit list down to him, Gogol, and Akira. If it matches Tess' hand... it opens the possibility of Terra or Max committing the crime up again.]

suspect AMA

[sendintheclown]

[Gogol's here to rival Jim's enthusiasm.]

Yes, yes! Quiz me as much as you like! Let's have some fun!

[buriedearth]

[ Does it matter Terra's a suspect? No, never stopped him before, apparently. ]

What were you doing Thursday night?

Suspect AMA

[covertizer]

[ He just looks kinda tired when he sees the suspect list. Here we are again. ]

Sure. Let's get this started.

[ososoi]

...So what were ya doin' that night?

Suspect AMA

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

I'm... not sure if I should be flattered or not that they thought I had the physical strength required to do any of this.

[He's available for questioning. Ask him anything.]

[swordsinternally]

Can you tell me what you were doing Thursday night, then?

suspect ama

[buriedearth]

[ He looks vaguely pissed off?

But... ]

Ask away.

[sendintheclown]

[You asked him, he's gonna ask you.]

What were you doing Thursday night?

Suspect AMA

[reshoot]

[She looks...angry. Offended.]

...You'd have to be crazy to think I was capable of this...Ugh.

[ososoi]

Yeah... th-there's no way you'd be able to do this.

[ Right? ]

Sorry we gotta ask, but what were ya doin' on that night?

CW: Needles/Injection, Head trauma, throat trauma

[myliteratureclub]

I hope you all don't mind but I want to talk about the state Tess's body was left in. It's...horrifying to say the least.

[She pulls up her tablet and holds it up to show the photos.]

Obviously she was being held up by the javelins. Three in her adamin and one through her...mouth. [Her stomach flips for a second, but she steadies herself.] Ah but that wasn't the only thing.

She had bruising on her head. Like she might have been hit or possible hit something hard. There was also colorful paper in her hair, but I think they were just random pieces.

Also there was an injection mark on her neck. I have no idea what it could be though...

[swordsinternally]

... Do you think that the colorful paper might have been an attempt at confetti?

[ LOOKS RIGHT AT GOGOL SUSPICIOUSLY ]

Timeline attempt

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

I... have a timeline I'd like to propose.

[If... it's okay for a suspect to do that.]

This was all pre-planned out based on the drawing. I think it's fair to assume the javelin's were procured ahead of time.

Tess was attacked in the art room once the killer finished their preparations. The paper in her hair and the state of the easel confirm this. She was knocked out. Based on how clean the insertion of the needle was, I think it's safe to say it was done while she was unconscious. She could have died from that.

[He narrows his eyes in thought.]

The killer then went to her room for a sheet to help transport her. That's where the scuffs of dirt on the sheet came from. Tess' body was brought to the roof and the entire macabre display was arranged.

[He'll give it a moment to sink in.]

There are only two things I am unsure of. First, why the javelin with the bloody print on it was left in Tess' room. Second, why and when the syringe was smashed. There's better places to hide evidence for the former and the latter looks like it was stepped on or broken in a struggle. Which... would change the timeline's events up slightly depending on how it broke.

[covertizer]

Is there anything in the art that shows it was a plan to kill Tess?

[ He hates that he's thought of this, but... was this a general plan someone had? Or was it tailor made for her?

Specifically, does the art show Tess? Or just a general figure? ]

thanks, i hate it but also STRIP SEARCH

[swordsinternally]

[ He doesn't want to be the one to suggest this, given what happened last week, but... it has to be done, just in case.

Tsukasa's voice seems to be rather calm and serious this time around, too. ]

Since there was some skin underneath Tess' nails, I think we might have to strip search everyone for any injuries, just in case. We can obviously do what we did last week and have Monika check Max, if that's alright with everyone.

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

..... I hate that we're having to resort to this.

[He was thinking it'd be a good idea.... but he's on the suspect list and would really rather not strip.]

Right... um... h-how far exactly do we have to strip down?

[Please tell him it's just to the arms.]

strip search: pantsless edition

[unhalting]

[So, the other strip search didn't turn up anything, which means.]

Alright. Looks like we got no choice, which means you guys'll have to take off your pants. Monika can handle Max as usual.

[Also, he pauses.]

And let me get a closer look at your hands too. [Since Terra's a suspect, someone has to take up his hand fetish hand check duties.]

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

Could we please roll them up instead?

[Today has not been a good day.]

Shoe Check

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

It's possible for the syringe to have gotten smashed because the killer stepped on it. So... I'd like for all the suspects to present their shoes for inspection.

[He takes his boots off and show's the bottom of them. They're clean. He'll leave them on his desk if anyone wants to check them over more.]

[buriedearth]

[ Look at these shoes.

Terra's holding them out for inspection. His are definitely clean! ]

[reshoot]

[Max stands up at her desk, hands, lips trembling. She stares down at the desk for a long while before looking up and speaking.]

We're not getting anywhere. We're going in circles and...I don't know, I've been thinking a lot lately about what I can do for the group, and what I haven't really been able to do...Looking at this case, and knowing what I know about all of you...I can't say I can believe that any of us did this to Tess. I didn't kill her. But I don't want to believe that any of us did. Something...There's something off about all of this, and if we can't figure out what happened, if something is preventing us from figuring it out...I...I want us to be able to move forward after this, I don't want us to fracture any further. We have to win. We owe it to everyone else that came before us...And I'm willing to do what I have to to make that happen. If we...If I can't solve this...

Please, everyone, I want you to vote for me.

[covertizer]

[ Immediately, like no seconds after she speaks up: ]

No.

drumroll PLEASE

[sendintheclown]

[Well, everyone's looking at him now.]

Hahahaha! Did I trick you?

[Gogol doubles over, shaking with laughter as he holds the mask out away from him. He's beaming, confident, completely manic.]

I did it! I killed her! I'm the dangerous psychopath you all thought I was! I didn't even do it for the motive! It was an impulsive decision, I couldn't hold in my sick, sadistic desires any longer!

[Then, his grin twists. His dead eye gleams.]

Now what part of what I just said was a lie?

[ososoi]

...God...

...GOD, I FUCKING KNEW IT!!

I knew I couldn't trust you, you fucking piece of shit clown!