MIDNIGHT/DAY 2 - suspicion

[protoshepherd]

[ In the spirit of Ace Attorney, the game where murders happen but NO ONE ACTUALLY SEES THE ACTUAL THING EXCEPT FOR THE PERPETRATORS…

The night has ended. You might have ousted someone, but NOTHING HAPPENS. You go back to your rooms and you find some samurai dogs by your bedside. At least there's food. Better than nothing. But you feel tired. It's been a long and stressful day. Could you even sleep at that rate?

In the middle of the night, you might hear a loud thud. If you wake up (or if you were already awake) and check the hallway, you'll find a bust—or its remnants—by the mirror closer to the Hawthorne and Gavin rooms. The statue is coloured… pink? Magenta? Well, whatever.

Behind the bust is a body… a dead body. Yup, that's right.

If you approach it, you'll find the dead body of Myriam Scuttlebutt. There's no box, just the young girl. If you saw her without the guise of her box, you'll realise that she isn't wearing her school uniform. She has a green jumpsuit on. Her arms were raised and had some red markings on her wrist, as if her hands had been tied. An awl was lodged in her abdomen. Dried blood by her wound, as if the blood had seeped through from her wound.

Myriam Scuttlebutt has been taken out by the allies of the Bad Badger. You have all been warned. You should have expected this.

If you decide to do a headcount, you'll find that one team is missing. One team with two members in it. The room to the Engarde room is swinging open. Do you check it out?

Upon entering, you'll find Matt Engarde's corpse placed conveniently on a chair. You'd think it's Matt, anyway. He seems to be wearing the Nickel Samurai costume. He's seated with his head facing the ground. There's a scarf on his neck, placed rather too tightly. Did he did from strangulation…? By the chair is an open guitar case, and a vanity with a wine glass on top of it.

By the only mirror in the room is Simon Keye's body, hanging frrom the ceiling. Nearby is a coffee table, and an envelope with the police department's seal on it. Whoever opens it will read a letter that reads "proto badgr kill."

If you go back to the library, you'll find Myriam's mirror still standing, but it doesn't function as a mirror anymore. You'll find a portrait of Aristotle Means instead, like a huge picture frame. A huge X painted in red covers about half of the portrait. The same goes for Matt and Simon Keye's mirrors - except Simon's mirror also has Matt's face on it. L O L.

The other mirrors have names again… although if you count, there seems to be only ten teams now: ]

Poll #16504

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 10

ho bad badgr?????? vote for edgeworth safe

Furio Tigre Team
0 (0.0%)

Redd White Team
3 (30.0%)

Dahlia Hawthorne Team
3 (30.0%)

Jacques Portsman Team
1 (10.0%)

Morgan Fey Team
0 (0.0%)

The Phantom Team
3 (30.0%)

Horace Knightley Team
0 (0.0%)

Luke Atmey Team
0 (0.0%)

Daryan Crescend Team
0 (0.0%)

Kristoph Gavin Team
0 (0.0%)

[ If you've still got an appetite, there are calzones (WHICH IS BASICALLY THE GRANDFATHER OF PIZZAS - THANK YOU PARKS AND RECREATION) and sushi (NOT BURGERS) that is edible in the dining hall. If you are thirsty, here is a water dispenser, as well as a bowl of punch. Not alcoholic. ]


----

[ 00:01 MARCH 3 EST: Day 2 begins, and a new suspicion poll pops up. ONLY TEN TEAMS REMAIN.

00 MARCH 4 EST: A clue will be given. Suspicion poll closes at MIDNIGHT.

00 MARCH 5 EST: Ousting poll gets put up! ]

---

CLUE!!! (Handcuffs can be broken, feel free to play around with it.)

Comments

[talldarkbitter]

I have a question... For you, Miss Wright. Am I right that your argument for suspicion is that Team Redd White didn't vote with the majority?

[stagewright]

No. I didn't think it was that suspicious, but it was something we had to ask. The only thing I did find suspicious was that she couldn't explain her reasoning for how she voted - I had assumed she had one.

[ a...pparently incorrectly

she's still kind of surprised at that. ]

I asked so we could discount it from consideration, I didn't expect the answer to be "just because why not".

[talldarkbitter]

Actually, that's not what she said at all.

Let me help you. Miss Wright, what did the vote yesterday accomplish? What happened as a direct consequence of the majority vote?

[stagewright]

...Mr. Armando, I specifically asked if she had a reason for voting as she did. Had she said "so I still voted, but didn't hold direct responsibility for contributing to a kill vote", that would have been fine. She didn't say that, though. I asked multiple times if there was any reason she voted for Mr. Gavin's team, and each time she said it wasn't significant and that she had no real reason.

She pretty much said what I paraphrased. I didn't vote for her, but you can't spin it so she didn't answer like she did.

[1/2]

[talldarkbitter]

I don't think you understand.

Her vote towards the Gavin team wasn't significant. Because by that time, the majority had decided it was Engarde's team that would die.

[2/2]

[talldarkbitter]

Redd White's team is one of the two that can claim that they did not have a direct influence on Engarde and Keyes' death!

[stagewright]

Um, no. Sorry, Mr. Armando, but you're the one who doesn't understand what I'm saying, and it's kinda like you just ignored everything I said right now. I don't think either of you were paying attention to what I was asking. Yeah, that's something that can be claimed. But that's not relevant. As I actually just said, if she had given that as her reason for voting for Mr. Gavin's team, it would have been a perfectly reasonable excuse, but she did not. She specifically did not, any of the times I asked, and said there wasn't any real reasoning behind her choice, at all. So the reason cannot be "because she didn't want to contribute to a death", or she would have actually presumably said that.

And it was significant question to ask because there's another explanation for why someone would vote like that, and I asked the question specifically so she could discount that explanation, because I don't think Pearls' cousins would do this. I still don't, even if it is suspicious given everything I've been saying?

If you're not gonna pay attention to what I say or refute the points I'm actually making, it's okay to just, like, not discuss it. What you said doesn't refute anything I've said and doesn't even really address it. And I'm not even someone who's trying to point a finger at the two of them.

[talldarkbitter]

Heh...

Maybe you ought to cool your burners before you blow a fuse. You're already starting to sound a little haywire.

[ That was mighty defensive for someone who hasn't been accused of anything yet. ]

[stagewright]

...I'm not mad? I was pointing out you're kinda arguing about things I haven't even said, and in a way that doesn't even make sense.

[ And she had to get wordy about it since he didn't understand it when she wasn't. ]

Mr. Armando, maaaaaaaaaaaybe you'll wanna listen to what I'm actually saying next time before you start arguing about things I've already pretty much given explanations for. My reasoning stands: Mia Fey did not claim that not being responsible for a kill vote as her reasoning for voting for the Gavin team. She said it was at random, and I'm afraid her testimony in her own actions trumps yours!

I kinda think you're the one who has to cool his head, here, seeing as how you're the one who didn't take the time to listen to what I was saying.

[talldarkbitter]

No, I got it.

You're saying just because Mia didn't phrase things in a way that was to your immediate understanding, she's being flippant about where her vote went.

[ He shakes his head. ]

But that's not the Mia I know. The only thing I'm trying to accomplish is keeping you from misunderstanding her, considering that could very well prove fatal.

You should get it out of your head that I'm attacking you or your reasoning for questioning her. The only thing I want you to do is keep an open mind.

[stagewright]

...Okay, I think you're still misinterpreting me. Again. And since I have told you, repeatedly, that I don't think Pearls' cousins are guilty, I kinda don't know what you're trying to accomplish here. She said exactly what she said, very clearly. Pearls backed me up on that - Mia said there was no reason for her vote, even when I asked multiple times.

I'm sorry she didn't have a reason you wanted her to have for it? I'm...not really sure what you want to do here. I didn't say you were attacking me, I said you weren't even listening to me before dismissing everything I was saying, which you're...still kinda doing?

I think I have a wider mind than you, right now. I'm trying to look at all the possibilities and give them due consideration, and that's why I asked the question and got the answer that you're...now arguing about?

[ Trucy crosses her arms, looking...fairly unimpressed, to be honest. ]

Lemme guess, you're gonna say something else about how I'm attacking you and misunderstanding Miss Fey, right? Go on, let's keep going back and forth like this about something more than one person heard and understood perfectly fine, sir. If you want, I can do some magic tricks to spice it up!

[doubledefense]

That's enough, both of you. Trucy is right to look for every inconsistency she can fine. And you're wrong, Mr Armando. I didn't vote against the majority to keep my hands clean. I didn't vote with the majority, but i also I did nothing to defend either team. I can't- I can't claim any less guilt from a vote like that. It would be a fairly meaningless gesture.

Trucy, you may be right. But we can debate the morality of it later.

[stagewright]

I didn't intend to debate the morality of it. I only wanted to clear up the reasoning, and we did that.

[ She's literally only arguing because he keeps misconstruing her and claiming Mia said something she didn't. ]

[talldarkbitter]

[ Well, that shuts him up.

So, he was wrong. ]

Then I'm sorry, Miss Wright. I was the one with the misunderstanding.

[ But he's not sorry for trying to defend Mia. ]

[stagewright]

...

[ There's little more than a shrug, at this point. If she says something, he might argue it. ]

[talldarkbitter]

[ Well, an apology expects nothing in return. He doesn't really know what to do besides that. Sweetening himself up to other people isn't precisely his forte. So he'll just be walking away. ]

[spiritpearls]

Mr Armando, wouldn't you agree that every little thing should be examined in a case like this? Even things that might not seem important, or when it's obvious the people aren't suspect? I think that's all Trucy wanted to do, was check into what little information we have. For curiosity's sake.

[stagewright]

Correct! The only way to completely clear anyone from suspicion is to ask all the questions we can, right? ...Just ignoring anything that was odd wouldn't do any good, since it could be thrown back in our faces later.

[talldarkbitter]

For curiosity's sake...?

[ A frown. ]

Miss Fey, people's lives are at stake.

[spiritpearls]

I'm well aware of that. I don't mean curiosity's sake as in "just because", I mean because curiosity is the only way for us to find clues. By looking for things that make us go "huh, that's curious" and looking for the reasoning behind it.

Trucy wasn't accusing my cousins of any wrongdoing. If she had been, I assure you I wouldn't stand for it. It was a question she wanted answered, so she asked. There's nothing wrong with questions, is there?

[talldarkbitter]

No, there's nothing wrong with asking questions. However, I think Miss Wright is mistaking Mia's response for flippancy. Or don't you think that's a concerning misunderstanding to let her walk away with?

[spiritpearls]

... Is it a misunderstanding, though? No disrespect to Mystic Mia, I know she meant nothing harmful by her response! But she did, essentially, say that there was no significance to her voting choice. That she voted just to vote. Which is fine! I only voted for the sake of Apollo, after all.

[ Pause. ]

I know you're worried about Mystic Mia, but I'm certain that Trucy would never suspect her or Mystic Maya of anything. She's like family to Mystic Maya and I.

[talldarkbitter]

Mia said, "Neither team had sufficient evidence for a true conviction- and I had nothing to argue for either team. In that case, voting with or against the majority accomplished only that."

If she was voting just to vote, why not just throw her lot in with the majority?

As it's just been proven, that move casted suspicion on her.

Now, let's examine what merit that vote did have...

It made her irresponsible for the deaths of Matt Engarde and Simon Keyes.

Does that make sense?

[spiritpearls]

Yes, I can see that.

But, sir, Mystic Mia didn't say her vote was to make her irresponsible for those deaths, though it did. At least, not directly. Though I don't disagree that she could have meant that. But she didn't say it, and that's why Trucy asked her more than once and perhaps seemed dissatisfied with the results.

For clarification. You see?