itscurtains | first trial

[Within a few minutes of the performers is finishing their investigations, the lights in every room flicker on and off several times. For those in or close to the lobby, they hear a faint rumbling. The gilded doors across from the heavy wooden front doors (which have always been there, the showrunners may have gotten to indicate them on the map) have opened.

Your intermission is ending. The show is about to begin.

The space behind them is lit; you're free to enter. It's a very short hallway, decorated in the same way as the lobby with the light walls and red carpet. There is one more set of doors to pass through and then you're all, finally, in the House. There's one grand chandelier above, glittering crystal, and the seats around you are made of fine, if dust-caked, red velvet. Those don't seem to be for you though - all the way down in front of the stage, where the orchestra might sit, there's a circle of wooden podiums. They're arranged so that everyone can face each other and are fixed into place. Each one bears a metal plaque with a cast member's name engraved on it. There's also a metal panel on top, with twenty ivory buttons paired to everyone's name.

Among these, only Jonny's podium is different - that one is draped in black crepe, with a larger grey-scale version of his headshot from the playbill framed and sitting at on top like a funerary portrait. Standing where he might have stood, a bare light bulb glows faintly atop a metal pole.

Right here, you're very close to the stage. But the curtain is closed, and it's a little too high to easily clamber up. You may not want to try. You've got more important business right now, after all.

As everyone is finding their places, the Phantom's voice suddenly sounds loud and clear throughout the space. If anyone is to look up, however, they'll see the dark suited figure of him and the whiteness of his mask peering over the edge of box 5.]

You must now determine who was responsible for the death of Jonny D'Ville. Submit your vote on the podiums when you are certain of your choice.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Stephen's been mostly quiet during all this, but finally clears his throat]

For what it's worth. I think whoever did this was strong enough to carry the body.

There weren't any drag marks in the hallway, but there were a few blood droplets. Which means either he walked himself after being stabbed, or...was carried.

I wouldn't discount either possibility, but... [Considering the makeup of this group] There aren't many of us that are strong enough to carry him.

Yeah. Most of the kids are out of it.

[...]

Carrying him...might cause some blood to go on you. Should we check for that?

[Ariel, covered in blood, blinking in the background]

[ Nana, having just taken blood covered Christine to the bathroom to clean up and getting blood on herself while supporting her there and helping her, also blinking in the background. ]

[IT WAS JUST A THOUGHT OK]

[It's ok babe u tried. he'd give your hand an encouraging squeeze but. blood.]

[ YOU'RE DOING YOUR BEST IT'S OKAY ]

Wouldn't they have fallen on that dress instead? [Eyeing that pink thing Jeremy has.]

Or that some might have soaked through it?

Unless the person showered between moving the body and when the body was discovered.

Is it possible he walked there himself? He did seem to think he was immortal.

He did seem the type to think it a clever joke to allow his corpse to fall on someone.

[Rip Christine.]

What a sense of humor. [Would be funny in only a very specific set on circumstance.]

Good point. And...I don't think there was enough blood on the floor for that? [He lets out a breath] I don't fucking know. I'm not- a forensic scientist, I'm an astronomer. How am I supposed to know how much someone bleeds?

Quite a bit, actually.

[Some alchemists used blood so. you know. it's fine.]

I don't need to know how you know that.

There are some alchemical reactions that require... quite a bit of sacrifice, if you understand what I am getting at.

I just said I didn't need to know!

Edited 2020-07-11 17:40 (UTC)

(no subject)

revelfree - 2020-07-11 17:45 (UTC) - Expand

37773972 - 2020-07-11 17:49 (UTC) - Expand

There's, like. Five gallons of blood in a person. Approximately?

[He took biology. He knows things.]

I wonder if the mechanical heart would affect that?

It might? People bleed a lot more than you expect them to already.

It may be less human blood, depending on the source of its power. You still need enough to pump through your veins, just...there's other things in there.

Was the mechanism damaged at all?

mcfife - 2020-07-11 17:46 (UTC) - Expand

reassuranceandrevolution - 2020-07-11 17:49 (UTC) - Expand

holyspit - 2020-07-11 17:50 (UTC) - Expand

mcfife - 2020-07-11 17:50 (UTC) - Expand

musacal - 2020-07-11 17:51 (UTC) - Expand

revelfree - 2020-07-11 17:53 (UTC) - Expand

isawallflower - 2020-07-11 17:55 (UTC) - Expand

[Claudine's been handling bloody clothes and is just going to give a blank stare.]

You can try but um...

Well Christine [ again, like with Steven, no more honorific ] got blood on her earlier when um... the thing happened, as did I when I helped her to the bathroom. So we've already washed all of that off.

[ ...Also she didn't have time to change herself because she was putting everyone else before herself, so there's still some blood on her pjs. Oops. ]

Hmmmmmm.... Should we check?