"Right... Right! It doesn't matter if it's possible, it's plausible enough if I can set it up right..." he said. To himself, presumably. "Finally a strong enough idea, this thing might actually be done by time I can revive! I just need to write this down..."

"... Oh, right, the actual murder. Yeah she probably did it."

“This mystery is too easy for someone like me,” TV-Head says, having not yet really thought everything through. “Exie did it. I’m already formulating my case in a very detailed way.” Maybe they think that they can change their position on this later if it’s convenient. They will be in the prosecution.

"WWWWHAAAAAT!?!?!? NO WAY!!! I'm defendin' Exie too!!!"

Kris said a quick prayer for the departed Don. "From what I understand, he did not appear to be a good person..." She sighed. "But he still deserves a prayer."

"I don't think Exie killed Don." She continued. "Therefore I will be joining the prosecution to prove it."

(Kris is dumb and thinks she's defending Exie)

"Hmph." Light grunts. "It's not much of a contest if we're all on the same side, is it?"

"I'll prove this girl's guilt. There are some things about this that're nagging at me. I'm not one to turn down a fight, either." Light cracks his knuckles and grins wide.

"You're in for hell if you think this is going to be easy." He nods towards all the people defending Exie.

"I... don't know!"
"All I know is that it wasn't Exie, and that's enough for me!"
"I'll figure out the twat what did this during the trial, I'm sure."
"Then they're heading for the slammer!"


"While we're here, Bobby, why'd you become a detective anyway?"
"Funny sort of job, I always thought, and y' don't have the same passion for it as Promethea there seems ta."


"Would you believe me if I said it was to catch my criminal father?"


"Oh my! That must have been difficult for you."


"He was up to no good long before I was even born."
"I think he tried to keep it from me, but proximity made that impossible."
"When I was just a kid I dug up some dirt on him."
"I was a dumb, naïve brat. Thought he'd turn over a new leaf if I just showed him he was doing bad things."
"Plus it seemed a good chance to show off to mum."
"All I got for my troubles was being sent off to a boarding school."

"Not a great time, really."
"My parents were always kinda distant with me anyway, but now I had actual physical distance to pile on."
"Even still, I suppose that's when I first got interested in investigating."
"Years later it became my job, and I got the chance to put together an actual case file on my dad."
"Getting him arrested should have been the proudest day of my life, but..."
"Well, whatever. The past's in the past. There's your answer, anyway."


"Sounds like a tough life. I can sympathise with that..."


"Just how it goes sometimes."
"Now, I'm heading off down to the station."
"Gonna be a long night."
"Try not to hurt yourselves on any more evidence, alright?"

With that farewell, the world around them faded once more.

---

"SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT."
"YOU HAVE SEEN THE FACTS AND DIVIDED YOURSELVES INTO TEAMS."
"IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE TRIAL TO BEGIN."
"THERE ARE NO PARTICULAR RULES."
"USE THE EVIDENCE TO ARGUE AGAINST OPPOSING POINTS AND TRY TO CONVINCE ME YOUR SIDE IS CORRECT."
"NOW, DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE HOURGLASS IN THE MIDDLE."

There was indeed a massive hourglass towering sombrely over the dead. It seemed to act as a screen of some sort, and was currently showing events occurring in another courtroom, one very different from this one. An imposing judge stared down at two opposing law practitioners.


"Court is now in session for the murder of Don Carcharo."
"Are the defence and prosecution prepared?"


"Ready as ever, old man!"


"Hmph. I needn't have prepared at all, if this is my opponent today."
"State your name, commoner."

The prosecutor facing Promethea down was arrogant, snobbish, and unfortunately also very, very good at his job.

[Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoAULhTGIL8]


"Hey, sod off, mate!"
"Is that any way to talk to a licensed lawyer?"
"The name's Promethea Creed! Remember it!"


"Really, how uncouth."
"Do you really believe that you will be the one to make me lose my first case?"
"I am undefeated in court, despite facing down far superior opponents than you."
"Will you even be able to follow my arguments? Commoners like you usually find it hard to keep up with eloquent speech."


"(So this is the legendary Kerberos Winchester...)"
"(What a shitstain. Look at his dumb hat!)"


"Yes, well, it seems you are both amply innervated."
"Let us proceed, then..."

[The judge: https://i.imgur.com/YmDIcCS.png]
[Kerberos Winchester: https://i.imgur.com/LrxrDwS.jpg]

The image faded, and the dead were returned to their own dark courtroom.


"WHILE YOUR DEBATE PROCEEDS, A SIMILAR TRIAL OCCURS IN THE LIVING REALM."
"WHEN YOU REACH YOUR CONCLUSION, I WILL CROSS-REFERENCE YOUR ANSWER WITH THE RESULT OF THAT TRIAL."
"BETWEEN BOTH RESULTS, I HOPE TO DISCERN THE TRUTH."
"REMEMBER THOUGH, YOUR OWN VICTORY COMES SIMPLY FROM CONVINCING ME."
"IT MATTERS NOT IF YOUR CONCLUSION DISAGREES WITH THAT OF THE LIVING REALM TRIAL."

"NOW THEN... LET IT BEGIN!"

The Trial

As per usual, Death played the accompanying rock to his introduction of the case.

[Epic guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYO4q9wLW0]


"REMEMBER TO KEEP THIS INTERESTING FOR ME."
"WE ARE HERE TO DISCUSS THE MURDER OF DON CARCHARO, FOR WHICH EXIE THURMAN HAS BEEN ACCUSED."
"THE VICTIM WAS A LOAN SHARK, AND THE LEADER OF A CRIMINAL SYNDICATE."
"HE WAS FOUND DEAD IN THE ACCUSED'S DRESSING ROOM."
"IT IS A RATHER BIZARRE MURDER. HE APPEARS TO HAVE DROWNED IN A ROOM DEVOID OF WATER SOURCES."
"THE LEAD DETECTIVE WILL BE BROUGHT FORTH TO EXPLAIN FURTHER."

"NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO EXPLAIN HOW THAT WORKS."
"IN THIS REALM, I CAN CONJURE UP THE SOULS OF THOSE INVOLVED FOR QUESTIONING."
"THEY WILL OF COURSE BE UNAWARE THIS EVER HAPPENED BACK IN THE LIVING REALM."
"AND THEY WILL NOT QUESTION THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES HERE."
"OBSERVE."

Death gestured at the hourglass again. This time it glowed, and a spectral light shot out of the top, arcing towards the witness stand before coalescing into the form of the detective, Bobby.


"STATE YOUR NAME AND OCCUPATION FOR THE COURT."


"Robert Milverton. Detective."


"Wait, Milverton? That would explain it!"
"The Milvertons are some rich family I heard of a while back."
"Bobby's dad would be Brook Milverton, a notorious blackmailer!"
"His arrest was pretty scandalous at the time."


"Sure, sure, you got me."
"I don't really consider myself a 'Milverton' these days though."
"Except when it's convenient to."
"I mostly leave all that Milverton stuff to my younger brother. He was always the one my parents liked, anyway."


"Yeah you uh, didn't really strike me as the rich type."
"More of a 'barely earns enough to feed his dog' sort of guy."


"Better that way. Being a Milverton brought me nothing but trouble."

---

"Now then, Exie Thurman. As you saw, we first brought her in because the vic was found in her dressing room."
"She's the only one with the key, and it's meant to be kept locked."
"We found her suspiciously hiding near the scene, so it all added up. She was meant to be on the stage at the time, after all."

"From there we investigated and found some pretty solid reasons. A 'how' and a 'why'."
"For the 'how', as I'm sure you know, Exie was performing on stage in front of hundreds."
"She couldn't exactly just leave and off him."
"That's what the blackout was for. She sabotaged the venue's fusebox so it would break down at some point."
"When it eventually malfunctioned, the lights went out and she used the cover of darkness to run off."

"She found Don backstage, probably already in one of the restrooms."
"Using the darkness to disorient him, she drowned him in one of the sinks."
"She then dragged his body back to her dressing room, probably intending to lock it in there to hide it temporarily."
"I imagine she wanted to dispose of it later."
"Timing-wise, it all checks out. Everything fits the timeframe."

"However, she was caught in the act by Endea, before she could lock the door."
"Exie hid in the darkness of the room as her sister entered, then fled."
"She probably wanted to head back to the stage, but someone - Kat, as it turns out - was coming from that direction."
"Instead she went the other way and hid in the office. Perhaps she didn't want to risk leaving the building and being seen that way."
"We caught her there before she could escape."

Bobby was silent for a few moments, letting the description of events sink in before continuing.


"I'm sure that's not convincing just yet, but the 'why' is far more interesting."
"You all know that Don was a loan shark."
"Well, we did some digging, and it just so happens that Exie was in significant debt with him."
"She's a very reckless person, and apparently that extends to her finances too."
"Don had been hounding her for some time now, demanding repayments."
"Naturally we investigated everyone else of interest. She's the only one in this situation."
"Here, I'll present her loan contact for the court."

He held out a document, which was swiftly retrieved by a Numen. Apparently the Numina were all keeping hold of various pieces of evidence, and could be called upon whenever any individual piece was to be examined or presented.


"Hey, come on, your argument doesn't make any sense at all!"
"Why would I invite my sister to the very place I was planning to hide a body?"
"At the very time I was planning to put it there??"


"It's a bit weird, sure."
"Most criminals make mistakes, though. You lot aren't usually all that bright."
"The plan was pretty reckless, anyway, which figures."
"You were counting on the blackout, but you had no guarantee when the fusebox would finally malfunction."
"You probably expected it to happen much earlier."
"Then after killing Don, you'd run on back to the stage."
"You'd have a decent alibi when the lights came back on and you were 'still there'."

Death nodded, satisfied. He conjured up his scythe and banged it against an oversized sound block on the ground.


"THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO START. YOU MAY PROCEED!"

[Defence: Pat, Maria, Akari, GUNS]
[Prosecution: Edgar, TV Head, Kris, Light, Mai]
[Evidence sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing]
[The trial will end in a little over 3 days.]

"I've got it!" Pat cried out suddenly. " I know how it was done!"

Wait what, already? Everyone else thought probably. Pat continued though. "I knew this case was in shambles the moment I heard that CoD, and this detective's statement's gone n' confirmed it! Why would the vic be in the restroom, and how would Exie have been able to know about that in the dark to come and tackle him there? Ain't that convenient? Y'could say she invited him there, but then that's jus' inconsistent! She already invited her sister to the very place she was gonna hide the body! Why do somethin' that'd only risk her gettin' caught, especially if she called the vic to an appropriate place as well?"

"The answer is obvious, folks." He pointed dramatically. "The culprit killed remotely! All they had to do was tell the vic to go to the restroom at a certain time and activate it- and then! When he went and did that, the culprit's trap would be set off! As the water would pour, it'd activate some kinda mechanism which would cause a buncha small water bombs to fall on the vic! Overwhelmed by the sheer amount o' water he'd been bombarded with, the vic couldn't take it no longer and drowned!"

"Everythin' else? A tragic misunderstanding, I'm sorry to say. Exie stumbled upon the body afterwards after freakin' out about the blackout and runnin' off stage, and wanted to help him out! So she took him t'her dressin' room, where she realised she'd already been too late. Unfortunately, timin' was not on her side- she'd forgotten she'd invited her sister here at this exact time! Realisin' this'd be awkward to explain to 'er, she hid and fled the room when her sister wasn't lookin' and hid in the office. The rest, as they say, is history", he finished.

"What say you, Death? I think I've just about solved this entire puzzle singlehandedly!"

---

"SOUNDS REASONABLE SO FAR."
"I HAVE OVERSEEN MANY UNUSUAL DEATHS."
"THIS IS FAR FROM THE STRANGEST."

Maria coughed. "Very good, Pat. I'm sure there's no way they could counter that!" She thought for a moment, then continued. "Anyway, it does really bother me that there's the idea that Exie would willingly bring the body to a room only she could access. I understand the idea of criminals not being very bright, but that logic seems faulty to me.

"In fact, I believe that our idol friend is being set-up for this crime. Her motivation makes sense, but I believe that is being used to another person's advantage to make Exie seem to be the killer. As we know, the door was supposedly left open, according to Exie, which opens up a lot more possibilities.

"I believe that the person Endea heard running out of the dressing room, if such a person even exists, to be the true culprit behind the drowning of the shark. An ironic end, I suppose."

Instead of speaking up like a normal person, Edgar knocked his coffee mug against the table a few times to draw attention. "... I won't dignify the small bombs part with a response, but I'd like to clear something up before the defense can start leaning on this 'contradiction'. Why would the defendant call her sister to where she planned to hide the body? Obviously, what we're looking at here are the tattered remains of some harebrained scheme by Exie to frame her own sister. The plan clearly fell apart, but the inconsistency vanishes when you consider that."

"A fool you are, for you have not considered the possibility that Endea was the one intent on framing her sister! After all, it was she who found the body. Anything could have happened!"

Light lets out a heavy sigh and crosses his arms. "And, what exactly makes you think this strange mechanism exists?" He looks down at the desk in front of him and frowns, shutting his eyes.

"If I'm remembering right, we didn't find anything like that during our look about the place. Detective, if you'd please enlighten this old man and tell him more about your investigation of the restrooms. Specifically if you found any evidence of... small water bombs. I'd be more than happy to beat it into him myself, but I should be a little professional here..."


"If such a person exists?" Light scoffs and turns his head. "Of course they exist. They stand right here, as the accused! I see no reason to believe any suspicious figure leaving the dressing room wasn't that idol girl."

"Do I really have to?"
"Fine. We found no evidence of that."
"Anything relevant is already noted in the court record."

"All we have is Endea's claim to go on -- there is no evidence of someone running out of the room," Maria stated. "If we are going strictly off claims, then we also have Exie's claim that, while panicked, she intended to hide in her dressing room, fearing that some kind of curse was out to kill her. Yet, when she arrived there, she heard someone in there already, so she instead hid in Kat's office, which was nearby."

"That's obvious, isn't it?" Pat insisted. "The culprit went and destroyed the mechanism afterwards! Or it coulda been made to self destruct after it was used!"

Suddenly a realisation occurred to him. The person who could've arranged something like this was most likely Charlie. But Pat didn't want to accuse Charlie! He was a fun guy. Maybe they could become table football buddies once Pat came back to life! Who knows.

At any rate, Pat sighed. "Yeah, maybe I might be off the mark. I won't let that get me down, though! There's still more that we can do!"

He paused to have a think. "Say, twins, huh... I was watching a show on TV last week, one'a them soaps. Real popular over here. During one episode, they pulled this crazy twist where it turned out that one person was actually the person's identical twin pretending to be them all along! It blew my mind! Maybe somethin' similar's at play here, right? Think about Kat's statement again: "



"Seemed like somethin' more characteristic of Endea, if ya ask me. Maybe Exie was gettin' stage fright and wanted to swap with her sister! Dunno what it means for what happened afterwards, though."

---

"It's possible," Akari replied. "Though not sure how that remotely helps us. Maybe Exie was trying to meet the victim, but not to murder him. And she's only hiding this because it makes her more suspicious."

"Though coming back to the motive for a second. It seems less conclusive than it sounds. There's rumors that the Don's death wouldn't even invalidate the contract, so Exie still might be on the hook for the money she owes. With those kinda rumors circling around, seems unlikely she'd go to the trouble of murdering the boss."

---

"Oh, best clear that up."
"The contract was referring to the death of the signee, in this case Exie."
"Point is, there's no exit clause outside of just straight up dying. That's how bad the situation was for her."

"I admit that killing Don wouldn't void the contract."
"It's technically made out to his whole company. Even in his absence, Exie just owes money to the whole Carcharo Group."
"We stand by the motive, though. He'd been pestering her for a long while now."
"And with him gone, the future of the Carcharo Group is... pretty uncertain."

"Say, wait a sec", Pat frowned. "Bobby, y'say Exie sabotaged the fusebox? When would she have gotten the chance t'do that? She was with somebody the entire time, accordin' to Kat. Even when she was alone at one point, there was a producer outside the door, so it's not like she coulda left and broken it durin' that time. How do you explain how she did that then?"

---

"I imagine she simply sneaked into the building earlier in the day."
"The closet with the fusebox is right next to the door.
"It would have been a simple enough matter to go there unseen."

"Hmmm... still, if she sabotaged it that far before the concert, that means she couldn't'a been sure when the blackout woulda happened", Pat mused. "Isn't it kinda strange that it just so ended up happening right when the vic was in the buildin'? Seems like a convenient lil' coincidence t'me."

---

"So, just wondering, if Exie were to die, would her debt be shifted onto anyone else, like a relative? Or would it just end there? I can't imagine someone like Shark-Teeth just letting that money disappear..."

"I'm sure Don or his cronies would try to find another way to collect."
"But they'd no longer be operating within the law at that point."
"Legally, only Exie can pay off the debt."

“Wait, this doesn’t make sense,” Akari said. “You’re claiming Exie went to smash up the fuse box, right? When? Charlie was right there the whole time fixing the vending machine. Right in front of the closet with the fuse box. Exie couldn’t have gotten past without him noticing, and she certainly couldn’t have smashed the thing without him hearing.”

Akari slammed her hand on the table and began tapping her nails methodically.

“Which means…it’s impossible for her to have used the fuse box as part of her murder!”

---

Light scratches his chin. “Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t really matter, when the fuse box could’ve been sabotaged before the show even began. That’s when Exie did it. Of course Charlie didn’t see her, if she did the deed before the show.”

"Besides," Mai chimed in while adjusting her sunglasses to make them flash dramatically, "...even IF you want to argue that Exie couldn't have broken the fuse box for the murder - and let me be clear, that's not what I'm saying at ALL - that begs the question: who COULD have broken it, and for what reason?"

---

Last edited by Franzise Deauxnim on Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

"My friend! I have but one question: how does the prosecution believe the fuse box was sabotaged? Obviously, it was, but what do you think caused it?"

"Isn't that obvious? The pipe found in the defendant's dressing room, of course~"

---

Maria nodded. "Ah, so we agree. I found myself thinking the same thing, and yet, there's something strange about that pipe: its origin. Where, exactly, did this metal pipe come from? Was it prepared ahead of time? I find it hard to believe that there would just be a pipe laying around for someone to grab. And if it was prepared in advance -- JUST to break the fuse box -- why would Exie not have chosen something else? Why, of all things, was it a pipe incongruous with the rest of her dressing room?"

Rubbing her chin, Maria continued. "Perhaps, this is all some kind of pipe-dream we're experiencing..."

"So how do ya explain how the vic got into the buildin'?" Pat asked suddenly. "Anyone enterin' through the main entrance woulda been seen, right? And ya needed a keycard to get through the back. I don't think the vic woulda been the type to have a card like that on him. Was such a thing even found on him?"

"Besides, wasn't Charlie there fixin' the vendin' machine up till the blackout? He didn't mention seein' the vic at at all. That means if the vic entered through the back, it hadda have been post-blackout- between 21:09 and 21:15."

---

"Er... Admittedly, we can't explain how he got inside at this stage."

Bobby looked quite embarrassed by this.


"He didn't have a keycard on him, or anything of the sort."
"The rear entrance was definitely locked too, no dice there."
"So we're, yeah, not actually, uh, entirely sure how he got inside in the first place."
"It still doesn't change the core of our argument, though."
"That issue stands no matter who the killer is. Ultimately, we know the victim did enter the building somehow."

He scratched his head as he considered the other part of Pat's comment.


"Your idea about Charlie seems reasonable, though."
"I admit the crime looks quite spur-of-the-moment at this point, but... well, that fits Exie to a T."
"Maybe she planned the blackout for a different reason, but killed Don when she found him backstage."
"Our stance is that Don was killed by Exie after the blackout, so that lines up."

His last line seemed significant. It was the fundamental basis for their argument, other than Exie being the only one with a motive.

[A note about Don being unable to enter the building has been added to the evidence sheet.]

Pat scratched his head in thought. "Er... the taps in the bathroom are automatic, right? Are they powered by electricity? If so, would they still be workin' during the blackout? If they weren't able to be in workin' condition, then the murder couldn't have happened during the blackout, right?" He suggested.

---

"..."

Bobby was silent for a few moments, trying to think of a counterargument. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything.


"Err... Hmm. Dammit, I, uh, don't have an answer for that either."


"Maybe she plugged the sink beforehand, to fill it up?"


"Exie was accompanied the entire time."
"Unlike with the fusebox, she couldn't just prepare this further in advance, the bathroom would have been used in the time between."
"I really wasn't prepared for this when I woke up this morning..."


"So there y' have it! Don can only have drowned before the blackout!"
"Exie was on-stage at th' time, so can't have done it!"

Mai crossed her arms and smirked. "Getting forgetful in your old age, or are you just hoping we weren't paying attention? You suggested earlier that Exie might have switched places with her sister after she broke the spotlight and left the stage, right? That would have given her ample opportunity to kill the victim, well before the blackout!"

---

Pat winced as he recalled his own pitiful theory from earlier. "Shucks, shoulda known better than to come up with somethin' like that... Still though, there's nothin' to prove the two switched or anythin', right? Just because her demeanor was a bit different after the blackout doesn't mean she was a different person! You'd need more than that to prove that the swap actually happened, y'know?" He said, countering his own logic.

---

"Hey now, what's with this switcheroo idea?"

Apparently the souls of the witnesses could pop up at any moment if they felt like they had something to add.


"Endea came back to my café, after her walk. As a big fan of both X and O, I wouldn't get confused between the two of them! It was definitely O who came back and ordered a croissant! I'm willing to stake a week's worth of free coffees on it!"

"Oh? How can you tell the difference?" Mai questioned.

---

"Any true fan can tell the difference between them! They may be identical twins, but if you support them long enough, you learn what sets them apart! One week's worth of coffee, I'm telling you!"

"It's the mole, isn't it," Mai responded matter-of-factly.

---

"Wh-what? No! Well... okay, yes, that's their most distinctive difference, but it's deeper than that! And anyway, what does it matter? Like you said, Exie's mole is distinction enough."