WEEK 5 - Trial

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (5)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (32) survivors At 9 AM, a klaxon alarm begins blaring in every area of the ship. The alarm will continue to go off until everyone has gathered in the conference room. Should anyone be running late or avoiding the trial for whatever reason, a robot guide will appear wherever they are and gently but firmly escort them into the room. Once all the living players are present, the conference room doors will lock shut; anyone who wishes to leave for whatever reason will need to ask AL-2955 or one of the robots. Anyone leaving for non-investigative purposes, such as bathroom breaks, will be accompanied by a robot escort. The large round table in the center of the conference room has been set up to help the trial run as smoothly as possible. Three holographic screens hover above the center hollow of the table, visible from every angle. The first screen displays the pictures and profiles of the suspects and victim; the second displays the autopsy report; the third displays a blank word processor. Each of the chairs comes equipped with a virtual keyboard which can be used to type information directly into the third screen, such as theories and updated information; they can also be set into privacy mode, which will transfer whatever notes someone writes directly into their datapad instead of on screen. There's also a tablet function for those who wish to draw charts or pictures on screen. The keyboards will detect the DNA of whoever's using them and record who's typed what - simply press an area of text and the name of whoever wrote it will pop up. The area to the right of the table has been temporarily sectioned off with a glass partition and sliding door for hygienic issues. Inside, the victim's body has been laid out on a metal autopsy table, covered by a plastic sheet. Above it is a holographic screen that displays a close-up color photograph of the body when it was found. A hand sanitizer dispenser has been considerately attached to the wall nearby for anyone getting up close and personal to the body. To the left of the conference table is a display case. Any evidence found during the investigation will be carefully collected by the robots at some point the previous day and placed here before the trial starts. Beneath each piece of evidence is a small tablet where players can type up information, such as a short description or where it was found. There are also empty areas left over for any evidence that may be found during the trial. The shelf at the very bottom of the case has been reserved for an extra rulebook in case anyone needs it. Food will be served throughout the day by the robots, who will take individual orders whenever you're feeling hungry. The trial will end at 9:00 PM, at which point all players will have been expected to cast their vote.

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Rulebook
Voting

Comments

[thanatosincarnate]

Indeed, she couldn't have.

{ Unless it was some kind of miracle. But he thinks that's impossible and he's pretty sure about that. }

The cause of death notation did state there was the one possibility and nothing else.

{ And the whole submerging underwater would have happened afterwards, he believes. }

[tevinteriscoming]

The one possibility? I think not. It says 'Appears to be due to a gunshot to the head.' Suspiciously vague.

I wonder if she wasn't shot after her death?

[antietam]

The wounds from the pool skimmer don't seem that bad.

Also... Luke and I checked her lungs [ uh ] and I don't know if it's possible to tell if she drowned before getting shot.

[tevinteriscoming]

Yes, they do always says appears. It keeps us guessing, I suppose. But it's been wrong before.

Still, if she was shot, our timeline is refreshingly straight forward, isn't it? The suspect hits Carta with the pool skimmer, shoots her in the head, and then brings weights down from the gym to tie around her feet. And then dries his or her clothing.

The question I keep coming back to is why the weights. My thought was perhaps to make the crime look more physical than it truly was, but if that was the intention, I don't think it's succeeded.

[antietam]

I can't figure it out either. What's the difference between weighing her down and just throwing her into the pool?

The shell casing was also found there, so were they trying to make it look like she was shot there? I don't really know how bullets work underwater.

[tevinteriscoming]

Whatever the difference, it was important enough to the killer to risk getting caught dragging weights through the gym.

[antietam]

Is it possible that the weights were there for a different reason? Like... assuming Carta was there with her gun, she may have been setting up a trap. And the killer just took advantage of that?

[tevinteriscoming]

It's possible. What a mess if so.

[todorable]

It'd be the time, right? It'll take a little longer to notice, and a lot longer to get someone from the bottom of the pool than from the top. Maybe whoever it was really needed that extra time for something.

And I don't think guns really work underwater... There'd be a lot more underwater firefights in movies, don't you think?

[antietam]

But not that much longer. It would take extra time to put the weights on her and throw her in. It would give someone time when people found the body, but by that point people would be searching all over the ship anyway.

[todorable]

That's true... Maybe they were trying to set up someone who they knew would be in the gym, then. But someone not too strong, since it's only 7kg weights.

[antagonize]

[Butting in here because—]

How, exactly, did you check her lungs?

[antietam]

Well, first Luke tried the Heimlich. [ Like reasonable people. ] Then we cut open her chest and a lung.

[antagonize]

[Google says both of them are idiots for doing that, so—]

How about we cut down on the back alley autopsies next time there's a body?

[antietam]

[ Um sorry google is not here to guide anyone!! ]

Why? It's been pretty helpful before.

[thanatosincarnate]

{ .... }

That is vague.

{ He considers it; he does trust little the AI's own wording for anything in retrospect. So, he does give it a secondary thought. }

The only other possibility not listed would be her drowning. In that scenario, it brings up the question of why they would shoot her after she died, because I would think it'd be apparent to the killer she would be dead at that point.

Although the only answer to that question I could think of is some attempt to disguise the cause of death. But why would they go to that trouble? Or do you have another idea in mind?

[tevinteriscoming]

I don't know why any of these killers ever go to any of this amount of trouble. For Alice's entertainment, I suppose.

The key to these cases is always, in my opinion, whatever aspect of the death seems to have been unnecessarily complicated. There's a reason for it to have been done that way.

[tacklefordwhimsy]

I'm not sure if I'm right, but since she had water in her lungs wouldn't that mean she was alive when she was in the pool?

[She's no expert in dead bodies, but that's what she remembers from Law and Order and CSI: dead bodies can't inhale water]

[antietam]

It was kind of hard to tell. I mean, the body absorbs water, so I don't know if we can prove if it happened before or after death.