trusthell | Take Responsibility.

The time allotted for investigation this week is a bit longer than normal - not due to anything done wrong on the part of the Apprentices, but perhaps due to a basic understanding that two corpses are going to be decidedly more difficult to handle than one. However, at the end of the time period you've been given, the elevator is waiting for you, as cold and sterile as always in its journey up to the courtroom; you're down to almost half of your original number, and if anything is going to indicate that this shows no signs of stopping, it's probably this week.

The deceased have had three more join their numbers since you were here last - Gold, Varric, and Viktor's portraits have been greyed-out and set atop their spots in the podium circle, the podiums themselves draped in black fabric.

As always, the lectern above stands empty.

Whether he's with you or not, however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room.

"Welcome back. Two more Apprentices are missing from your number today, and I have little doubt that weighs heavily on your minds. Balanced and Capricious have been lost to you, so that the guilty may have a chance to leave the academy and possibly even gain something otherwise impossible to attain.

If you wish for your fallen Apprentices to receive justice in death, then you know what to do: yet again, hold the guilty accountable."

Sixteen Apprentices remain. However many leave here at the end of the day has yet to be seen.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At least someone used the shower in Varric's room. Given what you've said, I believe it may be safe to say that Varric, Viktor, and our culprit were in the same room when Viktor was killed.

Yes...and Varric-san was killed because he was a witness. I believe that the matter on his clothes may have been from when the culprit attacked him after attacking Viktor-san.

...but why didn't the culprit kill Varric in the same fashion? They were killed via different means I believe. I don't know what weapon killed Varric, I do not believe it was the hammer.

Varric could have been trying to flee and missed one of his steps.

If he tripped he would have had injuries trying to catch himself. He had nothing of that sort.

Could he have been pushed?

He could have, but even then, there would have been signs of him attempting to catch himself.

[A beat.]

However, there are injuries that do signify he fell down the stairs. Just with no attempt to catch himself as he did.

[She's really stuck on that part. The 'he didn't attempt to catch himself', part.]

He could've been hit so hard that... he wasn't able to?

Like...he was knocked out, so he wouldn't have been able to catch himself.

Or he was dead already. Or does it look like the stairs were cause of death?

[ None of them are doctors. ]

I was thinking that too. If his body was planted there, after death.

I don't believe it was planted there. I agree that he was either knocked out or had already passed on when he fell down the stairs.

The injuries to his chest are what I believe what killed him.

But that doesn't make any sense! The music room is on a lower floor than where Varric was. If he was dead already, why would someone drag him up several flights of stairs before dropping him?

They needed to get in his room?

[ But she knows that's flimsy ]

They don't need all of him to get into his room, just his key.

Was there a mess in any of the other rooms? Or does it look like everything happened in the music room.

Varric...he wouldn't have just run away like that. If he was right there when Viktor died, he would have tried fighting back.

Maybe he got hurt first, and then fell down the steps later?

He managed to get a hold of some fur, so he must have tried fighting back. That fur probably belongs to the culprit.

We should look there, then. Who here either has fur or wears something with fur on it?

That might be a little tricky, because the culprit could have changed clothes before the trial began. They probably did, considering it would have been covered in...

[ you know ]

But we would have seen them wearing it at some point, right? It's not like most of us regularly wear fur clothes. Besides the Pokemon, I can't think of anything that has natural fur either.

(no subject)

introspects - 2017-02-25 17:56 (UTC) - Expand

WAIT ACTUALLY

introspects - 2017-02-25 18:00 (UTC) - Expand

Perhaps we should examine what everyone is currently wearing and see if that matches what we remember seeing them in. I know as for myself I have many outfits now, though I can attest that none of them have fur accessories.

introspects - 2017-02-25 17:57 (UTC) - Expand

firstaid - 2017-02-25 18:01 (UTC) - Expand

If the fox was alive, he'd be a shoe in.

[ IGNORING IT'S THE WRONG COLOR ]

That hammer is probably bigger than he is.

...The fox was orange.

oyashiromama - 2017-02-25 17:53 (UTC) - Expand

matchbreaker - 2017-02-25 17:56 (UTC) - Expand

...Do you think...the head injury was from the trombone?