second investigation

[stagemanagers]

[Friday has come around once again, and once again, things might seem a little off to the performers.

A little bit of deja vu starts to rear its head, and those anticipating the smell of blood will definitely get their fix as they approach the lobby.

>Investigate?]

Comments

[dechagny]

[Oh, no.

All Raoul wanted to do today was try to cook a breakfast in the kitchen, but the now familiar scent of blood hits him as he approaches the lobby. You're damn right he's going to investigate, hurrying inside to look around.

What's there to see in the lobby?]

[stagemanagers]

[There's a lot of things to see in the lobby! Glittering crystal chandeliers, the familiar stolid bulk of the merchandise booth, a pair of bodies lying at the foot of the stairs...]

[solomonjihad]

[...Oh god.

No. No no no no--

Astarte just wants to not have death. Why did this happen? Why--

She stumbles into the lobby, seeing the bodies, and falling to her knees.]

No...

[Please, don't let her friend be dead. Is...is it her friend?]

[stagemanagers]

[Gosh Astarte, you only have one friend?

Better check on that then.]

[dechagny]

Oh no-

[He's going to assume that's where the smell of blood is coming from and hurry over to the bodies, kneeling beside them. Anything immediately recognizable that'd tip him off as to who's there?]

[stagemanagers]

[The bodies are lying face-down, near each other. One has short dark hair, and the other has an askew mass of blonde.

Flip one over?]

[dechagny]

[Raoul will carefully flip the blonde one over, grimacing as he does so.]

Oh, God...

[stagemanagers]

[As Raoul flips the blonde-haired body over, its head fails to follow the rest of its body, instead rolling forward on the carpet. Only the torso moves, in fact; the legs also seem to have broken away. Between that fact and what the rest of the body looks like, one thing is very clear.

The dressmaker's dummy is dead. And so is the prop head that used to be taped to it.]

[dechagny]

[The movement of the head catches him immediately off-guard, and he does let out a shout - but then he notices the complete and utter fakeness of the body. He stares at it, mouth agape.]

What in the...

[And now he looks over to Billy, who's turning 'round that other body. Could it be another...]

[onthebusagain]

Oh, thank jesus!

[Yeah, she just showed up. Sorry guys, this blonde mess is still here.


HEY MAYBE THE OTHER BODY IS FAKE TOO???]

[solomonjihad]

That's--

[Not...who she thought it was.

Not her friend...well, technically? She has no idea, honestly. She thinks they are friends. Maybe?

.......Anyway]

[allicareabout]

[Let's take the dark-haired one, if Raoul is handling the other. He's not squeamish about it or anything (though he could easily think of at least ten other things he'd rather be doing right now), but we might as well see who this is.]

[stagemanagers]

[Congrats, Billy, this body is considerably more intact than the other one! There's a bloody gash on the back of his head, and his face is still fixed in an expression of shock.

Gabriel Goodman is dead. Again.]

[onthebusagain]

[Well there goes that.]

[solomonjihad]

Heather!

[SHE IS ALIVE OH GOOD]

[dechagny]

[OH GOD DAMN IT HE REALLY HOPED IT MIGHT BE FAKE TOO

Raoul lets out a startled breath, eyebrows drawn in concern.]

...Oh...oh, the poor boy...

[allicareabout]

[OH COME ON WHY THE HELL DID HE GET THE ACTUAL CORPSE - ]

...Oh...Well, okay then.

[It's the sort of blank response that comes with the sudden realization that 1. he is very much touching a dead body and 2. his job usually does not entail touching dead bodies and 3. what the actual fuck do you say to this, he is terrible with this sort of thing and this is probably at least one very good reason why lawyers don't investigate crime scenes.

So yes just. Oh. Well, okay then - right, right...]

We've got an actual body along with Raoul's...that, looks like the Goodman kid.

[dechagny]

[A stiff nod. God, what the fuck even.]

Gabriel Goodman, yes. I...oh dear. Miss Natalie - I believe they are related, someone should...

[You know, ease her into the news. Make sure she doesn't freak out too badly? What else can you do there's been a murder]

[sunshineprincess]

[Well. This.... is a turn of events. HEATHER'S THANKFULLY NOT DEAD BUT GABE IS AND ANNA IS JUST..

She's done. Just gonna go stand off to the side again because why did someone else die now you guys suck.]

[solomonjihad]

...Anna...

[Oh.

She slowly gets up, stumbling to her, concern and fear on her face. Oh god. A dead body. It's like last week, like she'll pass out--

And it can be just a dream.

But it's not.]

[robitussin]

[Natalie tries to appear fairly calm as she pushes through the crowd of people to see who it is this time. That fades immediately as she gets close enough to see the figure lying there. Her hands fly up, pressed to her mouth. She takes a step back, distancing herself from the others, from the sight of his corpse. She doesn't know what to focus on first - the relief that she hates herself for, the regret, the burning anger, the sudden wave of sorrow that she didn't expect... It's too much. There's too much. She can't breathe. She's shaking, visibly panicking. He was - her brother, wasn't he, despite everything? And she...

If we're going to get out of here, it'll be better if we work together. She doesn't know how to feel, how to react to this, but the fury takes over first. Her next words are yelled, angry, raw.]

Whoever did this, I'll fucking kill you myself, you son of a bitch!

[onthebusagain]

[Heather is no good at comforting people. Someone has to say something though. They can't just leave her like that. ]

We'll find who did it.

[allicareabout]

[...You know what, Billy's not exactly here to get his fix here because wow, but at the same time, he can't say that a corpse wasn't anticipated given the time limit given during the motive.

Two of them is a little much, though, and his hand immediately finds his temple like he's warding off a migraine.]

Great, we're overachieving now.

[Might as well go see who it is - and how they're arranged, like are they just kind of, uh. ...Are we looking at an uncoordinated pile or are they next to each other or are they posed romantically or what.]

[stagemanagers]

[They are not posed romantically, Billy, but thank you for the thought. They are very close to each other, though, and both lying face-down.]

[aflatouttahell]

[OH GOOD, MORE DEATH!!!]

Oh no...

[TIME TO... GO SEE WHO'S DEAD 2DAY]