Trial 6 - Otoshin

[Chatt]

The screen crackles to life with an image of the late king.

"..."

"Well, let's bring the killer to justice!"

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Use this thread to debate the murder of Otoshin. Use the colored truth system please. Remember if you are not the murderer, no lying using purple.

[Xaniks]

"It seems that Oto stepped on a bear trap! A poisoned one, even! I looked through the infirmary and didn't find anything like this sort of poison there!

[Arie Camillia]

“Establishing what we know about the case thus far, it seems Otoshin was caught in a bear trap in the swamp. It shattered his ankle, forcing him to limp into a nearby cave as evidenced by the drag marks in the blood trail. There was not an appreciable amount of blood surrounding his body despite the grievous wound. I could not appreciate any other external wounds upon investigation, however, I did notice there was a strange sticky, off-white residue along the teeth of the bear trap. Some of this residue obviously entered Otoshin’s bloodstream as evidenced by the residue immediately surrounding his wound. Additionally, I believe this residue to be the primary agent which caused Otoshin’s death, as his muscles seem quite seized during investigation, especially around his wounded leg. Perhaps the paralytic impaired his ability to breathe and/or perfuse his tissues, leading to a hypoxic state and death.”

”When I spoke with staff near the landing zone, they were baffled by the bear trap as they supposedly do not supply those. The bear trap did not seem to be makeshift, and instead looked to be standard industrial grade. Thus, where did the bear trap come from and who all has ventured into the swamp?”

”I would also like to add that Prince Tubeppa’s lab was likely empty for much of the time, leaving many of the chemicals in her lab readily accessible. I would not be surprised if, among these, there were paralytics or neurotoxins capable of inducing full-body paralysis. Thus, anyone could have easily walked in, obtained an aliquot, and combined it into a paste for their trap, assuming this is the agent at hand.”

[Daiwa Scarlet]

Hu Tao grumbles, "I know I deal with funerary rites, but this is far too many customers at once. You're going to run me ragged."

"So, I was the first to discover the body... or more precisely, I saw Otoshin's ascent to the upper realms. We had a short conversation by the entrance of the den, where he warned me of a mad man within. I theorized that it was a prince from a previous voyage, although this was proven wrong with the note on the body indicating that he was a guard. Apparently the man was trapped in the cave, perhaps by the snakes outside. If he was to go free, he would have attempted to murder everyone. He looks approximately 70 years old, although I'm not sure how close that is. Either way, I wanted to see the man for myself and Otoshin headed back toward the swamp. The man was unconscious when I found him, and I assumed that he would wake ravenous after having been stuck in this cave for the past 60 years. It looked as though he had taken up wood carving to pass the time, if the furniture is any indication. Deciding that we should attempt to get the man in a better mood for when he wakes, we started heading back to the landing to procure a meal."

"At the landing, we found Otoshin stuck in a bear trap. After prying it open, he said he wanted to return to the cave. I suppose it was a relatively safe place that few had access to. I asked if he wanted me to perform medical aid, but he declined the offer. Gosh, it wouldn't have turned out as badly as my cooking. Anyway, I decided to help Otoshin limp back to the cave. Otoshin got pale as we walked and started to monologue about his prince. He collapsed after we reach the cave and perished. Then I found out the old man had also died. What do I do with this meal now?"

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"The voices in my head tell me that this must have been the work of the nefarious Gat E Keeper. He obviously set up this trap prior to his death. He had used an excessive amount of coins prior to the last trial, which I suspect would be on parts for the bear trap. Now he has the perfect alibi of having died last trial to claim that he is innocent, but the workshop hasn't been used recently and he was likely the last among us to have been in there. He could have use the workshop to put all the piece together. This is actually a case that goes beyond his death, thus rending his supposedly perfect alibi null and void."

[Xaniks]

"If we don't know where the bear trap was sourced from, couldn't we say that the most trusted member of Her Highness the Fifth Prince's entourage could've used their ability to create one and acquire the necessary poison from the laboratory? And they could've been one of the body discoverers no problem since it was a trap!"

[Arie Camillia]

“Perhaps, can I call on Prince Tubeppa to provide testimony? I am not quick to believe most of us are going to be knowledgeable enough about neurotoxins and paralytics to pull this off. Additionally I’m still unsure whether others would be brave enough to venture into Prince Tubeppa’s lab without a definitive idea of what to look for.”

[Xaniks]

"What I was trying to say is, well, perhaps the funeral director attended to her victim's last moments!"

"Let me explain! Hu Tao was out and about the ship solving the mysterious of the dark continent! She also made her way between floors frequently as logged in the reception! She had all opportunity to acquire a properly sized item from any of the decks to transmute into a bear trap, to which she would have been able to easily apply poison that she would've gotten from her faction's noxious lab! As she returned to the dark continent, she must have placed the bear trap in the swamp to obliterate any other mystery hunters, like the poor Private! All that was left is for her to wait for a victim to come by and she could accompany them as they faded away! Is that cruel? Or caring?"

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"I can only say that I was far too busy with the shrines to do something of that sort. Most of my day was spent discussing the puzzles with KoD and correcting the sign we left in the swamp. Sadly, Kod left at some point and I ran into Otoshin afterwards."

[Arie Camillia]

“To cover some of our bases, perhaps Prince Tubeppa may have been responsible. Again, not many of us have extensive knowledge of paralytic agents, and most sensible murderers would not choose a slow-acting poison. Considering we don’t know when the bear trap was placed, it’s reasonable to assume that our timeline for this murder is rather moot.”

”Prince Tubeppa easily could have procured such a toxin from her lab and re-constituted it into a residue that was spread over the teeth of the open bear trap. Since we know Prince Tubeppa was out attempting to solve the swamp puzzles, there’s no way to account for all of her movements. She could have easily placed this poisoned trap beforehand and simply waited for a victim to walk into it.”

“I think we have no way of truly determining where the bear trap was obtained. Whether it was Prince Zhang Lei’s coins or The Magician at play.”

[Grug]

"It's entirely possible that this toxin was sourced from my lab, yes. I like to clearly label more dangerous substances and what they do, so the killer wouldn't have need much knowledge to find what they were looking for."

"There have also been plenty of times I've been outside my lab both in the short and long terms, and so really couldn't give you an estimate on when the substance may have been taken. Furthermore, I can confirm Hu Tao used her chosen abilities to create an oxygen mask for me this week, and so couldn't have also created a bear trap within a similar timeframe."

[Karenina]

"Hu Tao... You mean to say that both you and Otoshin managed to get to the Den without encountering or triggering any beartraps in the swamp? Then only after Otoshin went away and returned, did he come back with a beartrap already embedded in his ankle..? Not only that, but he also refused any kind of medical treatment and just let himself... die? How can we be sure that this was not just an elaborate suicide..? I would understand this... better as a murder... if he accepted some kind of help..."

"I spent some time... at the continent together with Hu Tao... But I did not encounter anyone during my time there. Not even Otoshin... I later came back with Lady Carmilla... We still did not see anyone on our way..."

[Xaniks]

"Who is to say it wasn't created in prior weeks, or that you're covering for your subordinate, Your Royal Highness?"

[Grug]

"It's certainly possible it may have been made in the weeks prior, but I struggle to think of where Hu Tao could've hidden a bear trap for weeks on end without it being found."

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"I found Otoshin stuck in a bear trap at the landing area. As for why he refused medical treatment, I truly have no idea. He simply wanted to get to the cave."