trustfelled | Take Responsibility.

The past several weekends have been an unrelenting barrage of death in particularly disturbing manners; either the method or the number of people, sometimes both, have been particularly extreme. This week has seen fewer dead than the last; however, the way that that one kill seems to have happened...

It's not a particularly good tradeoff.

Either way, however, expectations still need to be met and investigations still need to be carried out; once the allotted time has passed, those doors in the center of the second corridor slide open once again, the sight managing to be at the same time familiar and unwelcoming. The fluorescent overhead lights of the operating theater beam down, flooding the room with bright and steady light as soon as the first person walks in; the seats surrounding the podium circle in the center of the room remain as empty as ever. Four more are gone, their absence notated by their portraits joining the others in watching the proceedings through greyed-out and unseeing eyes, Kogami, Madison, Sakura Matou, and Osomatsu's podiums all draped in black.

Once everyone has found their place in the circle, the public-address system comes to life once again in a light crackle of static; the Transmitter can be heard throughout the room shortly thereafter.

"Fraternal is dead. You guys...you know what to do. Put together what you've found and try to seek out the guilty. You know what'll happen if you can't.

Good luck."

Eleven Patients remain. We'll see how many leave at the end of the day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He can say that all he wants, but QQ never was one to forget something happened. Especially when it could be relevant to this murder. ]

Then who do you think framed you and why?

I don't want to make the same mistake with pointing fingers here, but frankly, Mikoto seems determined to find a way to make the evidence point to me. Plus, like he said, I did stitch his hand for him after that unpleasantness at the last trial, so he would have some idea of how it's done, as I went into detail with him about the stitches and how to care for them.

Give me a break. There's no fuckin' way I'm as suspicious as you.

Aren't you? You didn't bother bringing any of the evidence you found in the infirmary, and you didn't submit to your own check regarding clothes here either.

[Hm.]

He has a point, Mikoto... You may as well allow one of us to check you in return.

[ Shrug.

He's wearing the same thing he always wears to trials. A plain white shirt and jeans. No blood, tears, or anything out of place on him! He's clean. ]

Edited (i never remember to bold anything) 2017-07-22 21:04 (UTC)

[ A shrug. ] Didn't wanna bring either one with me.

Clothes though, go ahead and check now. There's nothin' on me anyway.

Why not? Afraid that they would implicate you in some way if someone else had been able to take a look at them here?

Why would either implicate anyone? We know the needle was used and it doesn't look like anyone stabbed themselves with it.

You purposefully didn't bring evidence.

You're aware how that looks, right?

What d'you think you'd learn that I didn't already tell you?

That's a good question.

What are you hiding? I don't like pointing fingers, but the Doc here has a point.

[ Sigh. ] I'm not hiding anything.

And Mikoto has a point too. Plus, he's clean. Danny has blood on him. Twice over.

I don't think Mikoto would do something like this, not in the way it happened. He's very straightforward and to the point, and while I don't think it's beyond him to kill someone, he wouldn't have drawn it out like this.

I still can't say I trust a guy who refuses to bring evidence with him.

[not that it's a sign of guilt, but greed isn't impressed]

I think he's just...lazy.

(no subject)

ossifragant - 2017-07-22 21:40 (UTC) - Expand

cadmiums - 2017-07-22 21:43 (UTC) - Expand

Yes, you have a point. Can fix the check part, but not much we can do about the doll now.

But you didn't say everything about Osomatsu's body? QQ thought that the stabs were what killed him, and everything else came after. The fact that they're not lethal changes a lot. It's natural Mikoto would think you're suspicious after that.

Edited 2017-07-22 21:10 (UTC)

No, it would be more suspicious if I hadn't said anything. As it is, I reported my findings, and then clarified anything that needed it when asked. I've done this for every trial we've been forced to take part in.

[He adjusts his glasses here, looking down.]

If this is the thanks I'm going to get now for doing my job and trying to help during these incidents, maybe I shouldn't have even bothered.

Okay, fine? I mean, it's not just your neck on the line. But if you really don't want to, not going to stop you.

[ Was he expecting them to beg him to do it? Really? ]

You do clarify, but before, most of the important stuff was said. We just needed some smaller details. But it's different this time, and that's why QQ is bringing it up. It's different. And that has been what allowed us to solve trials before.

Exactly. And that's why I'm telling you all that you're wrong: pointing the finger at me and ignoring all other possibilities is going to get us all killed here.

Hmm... You keep saying exactly and stuff. You act like you're agreeing. But you're not actually agreeing.

[ And time to up the ante. Survival is paramount. ]

And it's weird you're focusing on Mikoto only. With all the evidence, QQ is a definite possibility--soldier, openly sews, been reading about flammable items in the library lately... Why not mention QQ too?

... You have? Why?

[why would you be reading about something like that here]

positivespin - 2017-07-22 21:42 (UTC) - Expand

QQ's got a point.

I'm the one with experience running a bar, why not me as well?

I only suggested Mikoto because it was suspicious that he didn't bring the evidence he found to the trial, among other things that were odd in his line of interrogation.

I'd love to move on to other possibilities though, but we keep retreading the same conversation over and over.