Murder Trial #2: Yin

[Kai, Prince of V]

drmmo.proboards.com/thread/796/murder-report-2-knight-king

Proceed, court is in session.

[Pokedude12]

*Steps toward a stand*
"At ready."

[Satori]

*Bern takes the stand with teacup in hand.*

"I hope this trial won't bore me like the last time."

[Pokedude12]

*Clears throat*

"Yin was murdered. However, the murderer had left a red herring. In the case that there are those who might've not received the opportunity to examine the body yet, the murder weapon was likely the needles.

I had checked the towel wrapped around the victim's face, which was held in place by two needles on the temple, on both sides. This towel was charred, meaning that it was in place prior to the burning.

The murder method, though obvious to investigators, is the pair of needles (SWORD #2).

Also, to those who weren't around at the time, our gracious Ruler has granted us a Sword stating that none had needles out for any to see (SWORD #1). I also take this as hint toward the method of killing."

EDIT:

*Coughs awkwardly*

"It, erm, seems that my basis is not quite strong enough to release the latent power of Swords.

If possible, could someone please spare a moment to set the stage for their activation?

Even a madman's ravings would suffice."

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

Master the truth in your swords and send the guilty to the afterlife.


....I will take over from there....

[Pokedude12]

"Gladly. I need not waste what precious time we have.

To save time for other investigators, I shall create a nonsensical hypothesis for all to witness.

HYPOTHESIS: The Apparent Cause of Death
The murder was caused by flames. Once the victim was placed into the fireplace of the Foyer, the culprit wrapped a towel around the head of the victim, holding it in place with needles!

VERBAL SWORD #2: Death by Bloodloss from the Temples
Now be refuted, mongrel of fiction! The Foyer has a blood trail that leads to the fireplace, where the body was discovered. A small pool is gathered at the opposing end of the trail, which would lend support to the hypothesis that the pool is where the murder took place. Furthermore, the towel around the victim's head was charred by the flames! As such, the murder weapons are the Needles, rather than flames.

VERBAL SWORD #1: None Seen Carrying Needles
At first glance, this may be nonsensical as weaponry against all falsehoods; but nonetheless, our Ruler has granted such a Blade to us. Let us make use of it.

This Blade would save precious time in our investigations by preventing us from cycling numerous memories in hopes of finding the one holding the murder weapons, thus spurring us to search the premises, rather than our minds.

'Tis the only use I can see for it. I will have to forfeit mastery over this one, but perhaps another may find a stronger purpose for it."

[King V]

-sighs-

It looks like I'll have to give this discussion a push for hope to prevail this time.

Firstly, concerning the murder weapon, somebody please confirm that the needles are indeed the weapon, opposed to some other sharp object. Checking the depth and size of the wounds should be sufficient.

Secondly, if the murderer stabbed the victim through the head, they must have gotten blood on them. The splash and subsequent drag would have left plenty of opportunities for blood to have stained their clothing or skin. If nobody has any blood on them, then we should think of a way the murderer could dispose of the blood on them and trace that method back to its origin.

Thirdly, we must identify the origin of the needles, where the culprit obtained them, and check who could have visited the location.

I think that'll be enough to get this trial flowing. A trial lacking a proper flow is a trial lacking hope, and we must never lose hope!

[Pokedude12]

"Based on what we've found thus far, I want to guess that the murder occurred in the following pattern:

>The towel was slung around the victim's head, so as to not be seen mid-murder.
>The culprit then set needles into the victim's head and completed the murder here, or at least almost.
>The culprit then tossed the victim into the fireplace by holding Yin by the ankles, if not to complete the deed, then to set a herring.

My reasoning for this hypothesis, albeit bare-bones, is that the towel is scorched (ergo, it was placed prior to the use of the fireplace). Furthermore, there exists a pool of blood some distance away from the fireplace (I believe this is the actual location of death). The bruises on the ankle suggest the victim was dragged and thrown in. By my perspective, I assume this murder was accomplished without any, erm, obvious abilities. After all, so long as one has the needles, any should be able to do this.

If there are any opposing, or even supporting, hypotheses, please share. I am still drawing a blank as to whom the culprit may be."

[Pokedude12]

"Jude and Lancer had provided invaluable information as to the potential time of murder.

VERBAL SWORD #5: Death Recent to Discovery
Both had heard a scream close to noon. Nearly an hour later, they had heard the crackling of flames rise even further than it already had. I take it the murderer couldn't finish the job in time to keep the victim quiet, thus the scream. Thus presumably, seeing that the fireplace is the last (known) phase of this murder, I assume that the murder occurred between noon and 1PM."

[Deleted]

...I suppose I'll mention something for now.

Having a look at Yin's body revealed that the cause of death was not actually the needles, but asphyxiation due to the towel wrapping around the head. The needles were used to hold it in place.

The towel itself is from one of the bathrooms. I'll mention a bit more later, perhaps.

[King V]

There is one other thing I feel is wrong with this murder. If the culprit really just wrapped a towel around the victim's head and just suffocated her, why didn't she fight back? The culprit should at least have some bruises on them, unless Yin was just weak and couldn't fight with a towel on her face.


Hmm... perhaps Yin was wounded prior to the actual murder? Although her body is charred so it would be difficult to tell...

[Ravan]

I've been out and about at long last and been investigating as of late, though I'm uncertain if my results are of any help to all of you.

From what we know, Yin was in the Grand Foyer for a while. Some time around a quarter past noon, we (myself and Lancer) heard a scream coming from the Foyer. We couldn't do anything as we were locked in the dungeon. Afterwards, we heard the fire crackling a bit louder, maybe about half an hour later?

If the timing of the scream is accurate, that would be the time of death for Yin. Yin was stabbed in the head at two specific points by two needles, and these needles supposedly severed a number of smaller arteries and nerves, which would explain the scream, because she would be in significant pain. So that's the cause of the scream, but why did the killer allow that? Why would you in your right mind kill someone in the middle of the Grand Foyer where everybody is nearby? Especially by allowing the victim to scream?

I think that whoever did this didn't actually particularly care if they were found, either because they would be able to get away without a problem, or they weren't actually there in the first place. The thing is, there was so much blood that flew out that someone wouldn't easily be able to get away without a problem. Even with the towel wrapped around their head, a lot of blood did pool at the ground. And somebody clearly dragged the corpse to the fireplace if the signs on Yin's ankles are any indication.

So we have somebody that either did not care about being seen because they could cover themselves up and get away easily, or we have somebody that wasn't even there in the first place to commit the murder. After examining a number of alibis, I have come to the conclusion that myself, Lancer, Berserker, Inami, Servbot, Sova, Bernkastel and Willard could not have committed this murder. And people don't ordinarily shove needles through their own head, nor do they wrap towels around their head. The towel was either used to blind Yin, to keep the blood from falling on them, or as a red herring.

So why is there bloody water? If they had to clean themselves off, what did the wet towel serve? Why leave it at the scene of the crime if you got bloody? Wouldn't it be best to escape with anything that has your blood on it?

The murderer knew full well that rooms were unlocked during investigation, and there aren't many places to hide the bloody towel. It also doesn't make sense that Yin was stabbed first, then had the towel put over their head afterwards. I believe that they used it to attempt to blind Yin and prevent her from noticing who was attacking her.

One may then counter that it's always possible to have attempted to use the towel for some other purpose, say throttling her to death with it, but they failed and she screamed. That was why she was stabbed, because the killer would have had to act fast with their needles, rather than a more deadly weapon, or something that would take her out in a single blow.

That isn't the case though, due to there being no signs of bruising, or even a struggle anywhere. She could've had time to turn around and see her attacker, or run away yelling for help if they had failed. The previous theory would make sense if she had the towel wrapped around her head prior to being stabbed, because then the killer would have had to leave the towel behind because they couldn't remove it without getting blood on themselves. Another thing to note is that Yin could not have been surprised very easily, as she was in the middle of the Grand Foyer. By day, that is. Her abilities may have aided her in the darkness, but it's also possible that she may have had difficulties with seeing in the light. That would explain why she was surprised.

One may also believe that the possibility for someone to have come after the murder was committed is there, but I disagree. I was presented with the possibility that someone could have come along after the murder was committed, and figured that it would be enjoyable to alter the scene of the crime to make us overcome the hurdles presented. For some reason, Komaeda struck me as the type to pull this off, but I don't believe it could have happened due to a few reasons. For starters, had someone happened upon the scene of the crime before anybody else and chose not to report it, and then went off to one of the bathrooms to take a towel, they would have happened upon traces of the murderer. In the East Wing bathrooms, there is a wet towel that may have been used, and in the West Wing bathrooms, there are signs of "reddish water" (read: BLOOD) in one of the sinks. Someone would have naturally been alarmed had they noticed the reddish water, and they would've potentially wondered who would have used the towel at that point as well. They may have even run into the murderer. Therefore, I would like to conclude that there were no people that had altered the scene of the crime for the sake of it.

So which lone person could have committed the murder? Again, the aforementioned people that have alibis are myself, Lancer, Berserker, Servbot, Sova, Bernkastel, Inami and Willard. Well, we're assuming when it comes to Willard that he could not have done this because he was dead. Myself and Lancer were in a dungeon cell together, so we can confirm each other's alibi. Sova and Servbot were together as well, so we can also assume that they are 100% unable to have committed this crime either. Berserker as I recall was off burying Willard's corpse. The weaker alibis I have for Bernkastel and Inami would be that I don't believe they would be capable of pulling off a murder of this scale. The needles most certainly would be pointless for Bernkastel if her scythe was any indication. Inami being a maid could have potentially done it with needles, as they were sewing needles, but I believe that she was too far off on the 2nd floor to have committed the crime.

Funnily enough though, only myself and Lancer heard Yin scream if I recall correctly. This is rather odd because of how central the Grand Foyer is to the palace, and one would figure that people would remain nearby, but I guess not.

I would also like to point out that

So we're left with John Smith, Rodreaux, Komaeda, Hatsuse Izusa and Yang. Now at first John Smith was rather interesting because his alibi at the time was that he was hiding in the Kitchen. That's fine, but I was wondering how he could not hear the scream from the kitchen, and that made me feel rather suspicious. However, had he been lying, why would he set himself up as one of the only people to push the trial along without a scapegoat at the very least? I don't believe that he would give us verbal swords either to help us along. I think he's trustworthy, and I doubt he's capable of acting as well as a certain other person I knew.

Rodreaux was one that I was rather suspicious of due to his abilities, but I won't say more when it comes to them. However, he has remained in his room for an extremely long period of time, prior to when the murder had even occurred. However, his powers would be interesting as they could be used for this murder.

Komaeda was... knocked out for some reason 3 hours prior to the murder investigating things on his own, so I think it's possible to rule him out as well.

Hatsuse Izusa is a possibility I'd like to entertain, but I don't believe her to be a very... efficient killer. She's the type that would love deceiving all of us rather than having such a simple murder. I don't believe she could have done this.

I know nothing of Yang's whereabouts, but I know nothing that would support them being the culprit either. They're a mystery, plain and simple. By process of elimination, I'd be leaving it up to Yang and Hatsuse Izusa, but there's something that catches my eye when it comes to Yang. Yin, the unfortunate victim, was also known as SRCL Darkness. Yang is SRCL Lightness. Wouldn't it be interesting if Yang wanted to kill their counterpart to prevent any future difficulties for themselves? It'd be best to take them out then and there as they were alone and evidently not paying attention. It also would make sense ability-wise that they both would have an edge over the other, and Yang struck first.

That's simply one scenario, however. I don't want us to be shoehorned into thinking of a single suspect. It could still be Hatsuse Izusa, Rodreaux, Yang or John Smith. I don't want to fling any accusations without direct evidence, but I would like that they all present their alibis and inventories as well as anything else that could attest to their innocence.

[King V]

Hah... I was expecting more from all of you in this trial. Oh well, it seems I must elaborate.

The culprit cannot be Hatsuse Izusa, because they have not moved since before the murder occurred. John Smith is also not the culprit, given that they have investigated a great deal too much in this trial, and have acquired multiple verbal swords, all of which would make it easier to pin them down.

Thus Rodreaux and Yang are the most likely suspects. I think it's time we conduct a thorough search and conclude this trial of hope.

[Ravan]

Well, thinking about it further...

Apparently you, Komaeda, were knocked out and you don't even know why. Is it to do with your abilities, or is there more to it?

If Izusa truly did not move, then that sounds like a sound alibi.

John Smith still could be the culprit however. I was speaking with him earlier and he swore that he actually had seen some needles at some point. I asked if he had stumbled upon some room that the rest of us had missed, but it seems unlikely when he hasn't even finished investigating the palace so far according to himself. Could it be that the needles were something that he entered this place with, like myself with my gauntlets? Could the same apply to Yang, the "Lightness"? Or could Rodreaux have them? And if none of them have them at this point, who would be the most likely one to have had needles? I'd like to hear your thoughts. I have my own as to who could have owned the needles. After all, they didn't see anybody else with needles...

[King V]

Well, I thought it was pretty obvious the needles came from the infirmary. There were originally 4 in there, and now there are 2, which means the culprit could have simply grabbed them before the murder.

I recall many people visiting the infirmary earlier. Did you perhaps not visit that room, Jude?