Trial 1 - Christie

[King V]

*Otoshin very slowly collects himself*

"Wait a minute... Hu Tao is lying, the conversation with Ruka and I never happened, as I had stated prior. I also don't recall seeing you, Hu Tao, except during our brief encounter in the engine room where I delivered you a letter."

"Was it you, Hu Tao...? Were you the one who murdered Christie, then washed away all of the evidence in the bathroom?"

[Chatt]

Apr 2, 2023 17:56:47 GMT -8 Barrett Bear, esq. said:

"Wait, Otoshin entered after a commotion in the dark? This could explain his, uh, breakdown. Wracked with guilt, maybe, or terrified of impending judgement."

Fourth Prince Tserriednich: "Oh no, he's always like that."

[King V]

*Otoshin is scared stiff and turns a pale white as soon as Tserriednich speaks*

"...... I take back everything I said earlier. Hu Tao wasn't lying, she probably just misheard or mis-saw or misremembered. Nothing happened with Hu Tao. I'm also very innocent. We're both completely innocent, yep."

[Barrett Bear, esq.]

"...I'm noticing a pattern from this guy. I think we need to keep an eye on Hu Tao."

[John Dark Souls]

"I think we also need to talk about darkness. I would imagine that culprit would've needed a way to see in the dark to be able to precisely attack Christie in the eye during blackout. So, I would like it if people shared theirs. I already mentioned that I borrowed 2 candles from bartender."

[Barrett Bear, esq.]

"I had sunglasses on. I could see even less than everyone else."

[Daiwa Scarlet]

Hu Tao shrugs, "I figured you were still running errands for your prince which is why I said you may have been talking with Ruka, but I suppose not. Either way, Otoshin and Ruka were in the hallway when I passed through. As for lights, I was using a flashlight."

[Karenina]

Knight of Despair has been crying into her hands through the whole trial so far. She finally manages to quiet herself down enough to look up. Tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Darkness... Consumes... Always, always consumes... Ahh... It hurts... I was supposed to protect... Whatever happened to the foul knife that took away such precious life? Where..? Where?"

"According... to Lady Carmilla... The time between the start of the fatal darkness and the time it took for her to stumble upon dear Christie is very short... Perhaps... Lady Carmilla should tell others... what she told me... Would there truly be time... for one person to go from the electrical to where Christie was..? Perhaps if one has a goal unyielding... Most foul."

"Shadow man... strange... First he turns off the lights... Then manages to examine a Storage with many items... Completely fine... Despite vision being debilitated by crushing darkness of blackout and... an accessory that is called... sunglasses... Then he says he saw... less than everyone else because of them... Yet Storage... Ahhh... Strange man. Strange man."

[Chatt]

Second Prince Carmilla: "How incompetent. All of you. The lights went off while I was in the living room, and after a while I heard a scuffle from my foyer. I waited a while to see if someone would enter to try to kill me. When no one did, I eventually went into the foyer and noticed a body. I obviously didn't step anywhere near it and alerted my guards to get there. I would say it was close to 20-30 minutes before both of my remaining guards arrived. Kaede turned the lights back on at my demand. I don't know why it took them so long."

[Falin Touden [Ven]]

Odelia speaks up: "Sorry I just want to confirm something, did you say only one knife was taken? Can you confirm from which kitchen? You've stated you've seen Hu Tao with a knife, but I also have a knife, thus, either these knifes have appeared from else where, or the knife is not the murder weapon. But the wound is a very long, narrow, vertical wound, so a knife would match up. (uh dunno the bbcode of the weird base colour of font so black it is)

"Actually another point, the blood splatter trail was definitely caused by weapon drippage, it was a thin speckled line, definitely not from the body. The wound in the head would of caused too much blood thus, if you think the body was moved, what is the cause of death?"

[Arie Camillia]

"Since we seem to be getting lost in testimonials, it might be good to re-center with the hard evidence that we do have. The murder most likely happened in the Second Prince's Foyer, corroborated by Prince Carmilla's testimony about the scuffle in the dark and the lack of drag marks or trails. There were, however, blood drips from Christie's corpse leading further down the hall, either to Princes 3-5's rooms or the reception room, but it's unclear which one."

"We also know that there was a missing knife from the Deck 1 kitchen, but still no verification on what kind of knife it was, whether it was swapped for the prop knife at the concert, or simply missing in general. We did discuss the knife at the concert, but after speaking with the ballroom staff, they confirmed it was a prop knife. We still cannot rule out the possibility it was never returned and was swapped for a knife at the kitchen. Hu Tao theorizes that the most likely weapon was a fillet knife."

"The murder likely occurred during the third and longest blackout, because Christie was alive up until the end of the concert. 01 testified that he was the one to sabotage the breakers, resulting in said third blackout, but had no involvement with the murder and simply went to Storage. Vinny corroborates this account as he did see 01 messing with the lights at the time."

"I can confirm that 01 was in the Deck 2 commons as I ran into him after leaving the laundry room shortly after the announcement, but I cannot confirm where he came from."

"As for Odelia, would you kindly disseminate where the knife was obtained from and what kind it is?"

[Falin Touden [Ven]]

"I took a knife from the 4th prince's kitchen very early on to try and peel a picture off the wall and failed - I don't know what type of knife it is, just a sharp kitchen knife. But I should state that I joined in at the concert and I stayed in the ballroom until the body was discovered."

[Arie Camillia]

"Is that so? Can Gat and Count kindly confirm whether he saw Odelia in the ballroom after the concert? Count didn't hear any footsteps entering or exiting the ballroom during the blackout, so if you really were in the ballroom with Gat and Count, you wouldn't have left amidst the darkness."

"If you're in possession of a knife, I cannot dismiss the possibility that you may also be at fault for the murder."

[Chatt]

Fourth Prince Tserriednich: "Oh, I had that knife replaced with one from the main kitchen by the way. I dislike not having a full set. That's probably why there's one missing."

[Falin Touden [Ven]]

"Ah so there shouldn't be a knife missing from the fourth kitchen. I should state Prince Tserriednich also saw me attempt to use the knife to remove the picture. Also I couldn't tell which bathrooms had been recently used, just that the fourth one had been deep cleaned recently. But I think I know what that was caused by."