second trial

[stagemanagers]

[Just as with last week, once the investigation finishes, that slow, ominous sound from the main lobby rumbles through the opera house.

The doors to the court room have opened and the time has come for a trial.

The court room looks just as it did before: the grand chandelier glittering above your heads, the fine red velvet seats. In the orchestra pit your circle of wooden podiums awaits you, just the same as before save for a few recent additions. Like Valjean before them, D-ne, Gabe, and Hime's podiums have been draped in black crepe with their greyscale funerary portraits. Behind them, where the performers themselves stood only a week ago, a metal pole stands with a softly glowing lightbulb atop it.

The curtain is closed, waiting to open when a decision has been reached and an execution can commence.

When everyone is in their places, the Balladeer's voice echoes loud and clear through the theatre. He still sounds slightly bewildered by all of this.]

Okay, everyone, you all know how this works now. Trial rules are the same, still no time limit, just...keep at it until you figure out what happened. You can do this.

Comments

[dechagny]

[Make Raoul try the cake because right now he's staring at it forlornly. Hime.......

Also oh no that note has cute doodles on it]

Is...the handwriting on the back a match for the notice not to eat the cake? It is a good bet that Hime wrote the notice, so it is possible she would have written that other part as well. But then, if that is the case...was she merely recording her thoughts? Or was the note written to converse with someone else?

[robitussin]

If it was... Who do you think she might have been talking to?

[dechagny]

Judging from what Miss Anna believes might have happened, it might have been someone she was expressing her concerns over our secrets to.

[robitussin]

It was probably someone she was close to, then... When I talked to her after the motive was announced, she really didn't want to talk about hers.

[dontfeedplants]

But why write any of that down, especially if your going to just erase it and not throw away the note.

[dechagny]

I highly doubt she expected anyone to turn the note around.

[dontfeedplants]

I just think it's weird. Wouldn't most people just grab another piece of paper if they wrote something personal on it?

... Maybe she didn't know something was written on the back?

[sunshineprincess]

Maybe she was writing her thoughts down while baking? Cakes do take a while.

[sunshineprincess]

[Okay okay Anna will bring you some cake to try because why not.]

Actually, I'm not sure. With it being erased so much I can't tell if the handwriting is the same. [She shows the front of the note.] The note on the front is written in curly script and then there's Hime's on the back.

[solomonjihad]

...What if the notice was written by another person?

[sunshineprincess]

Then I wonder if that person even knew there was the note on the back...

[dechagny]

It would have had to be someone who knew Miss Hime was making a cake, and that Prince Hans was throwing a party - which is news to me, at least.

Unless...could it have been possible that Miss Hime did not make the cake? Does anyone know if she was proficient in baking?

[trettende]

I didn't tell anyone besides Hime, actually. She ran into me in the costume shop, when I was looking at outfits to bring to the party.

[dechagny]

Then, perhaps...someone might have overheard, or Hime might have told someone about it, if her note and the notice are not both written in her hand - but only if that is the case.

[trettende]

If the note on the back is a different person's handwriting, perhaps we cancheck everyone's handwriting, to see if there's a match?

[dechagny]

If it is clear enough for comparison, it would at least allow us to determine the innocent.

[And that being said, he is happy to offer up his handwriting for comparison. Let's narrow down the field.]

[trettende]

Perhaps we can get everyone's attention in a bit and ask. I know mine doesn't match, but if the murderer wrote this note in regret of what they'd done, it could be extremely important.

[dechagny]

Agreed - at the very least, it could not hurt.

[onthebusagain]

She brought a cake to Hans' last party. It was pretty good.

[dechagny]

[Damn it he never had any of that cake. Now he's just kicking himself.]

So then we can assume the cake is her work.