fourth trial

[stagemanagers]

[When the investigation finishes, the lights begin to flicker on and off as that low, gentle rumble echoes through the opera house. Again for those investigating the grounds the outdoor lights illuminating the still night flicker to get their attention.

Your intermission is ending. Please return to your trial room.

The court room looks just as it did before: the grand chandelier glittering above your heads, the dusty red velvet seats. In the orchestra pit your circle of wooden podiums are waiting. Angus, Riley and Shilo's podiums are draped in black crepe with their greyscale funerary portraits, just like your friends before them. The ghost light glows softly behind the podiums.

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

When everyone is in their places, the Phantom's voice echoes loud and clear through the theatre from his place in box 5. He still sounds distracted, just as he was for his other public appearance this week, like there are other things weighing on his mind.]

You must now determine who was responsible for the death of Shilo Wallace. Submit your vote on the podiums when you are certain of your choice.

[Gather your evidence and let's begin.]

Comments

[37773972]

[Stephen has a bunch of fabric with him? Actually, it's a roll of fabric and a bunch of stuff bundled in it. He spreads it out on his podium as best he can.]

I found all this in the costume room- it looked like a tornado'd been in there. This- [and he holds up the edge of the fabric roll] looks like it's been cut, and these- [he gestures at all the garden tools] were buried in clothing.

[madgiganticfeelings]

So the tools in the stable must have been moved around to other rooms? I guess to try to hide them?

mods?

[garbageface]

Lemme see that fabric.

[ Santana walks over to Stephen’s podium and holds up her fabric square against Stephen’s fabric roll. Does the cut in the fabric match Santana’s square? ]

[likemypicture]

[Oh no. Ohhhhhhh no---]

The thing with two pointy bits. [She points at the weeding fork because let's be real, anne has never gardened, we have staff to do that]

Shilo had two -- [don't make her say it, she makes an overdramatic face and gesture with her hand] --- in her back. About that far apart.

[garbageface]

[ Santana is conspicuously not looking at the podium on her left! She does not see it! It’s fine.

Instead, she lays out on her podium a hammer and nails and a square of fabric, stained pink with blood. ]

Okay, so one of you people needs to learn to clean up after yourselves, and stop being so gross in the bathroom.

[madgiganticfeelings]

...what, what would the hammer and nails be for?

[Probably bad things!]

[madgiganticfeelings]

I... I didn't find much, but I did check out the chapel.

[You know, for creepy rituals!]

It looks like there were seven candles burning there. One for everyone besides Shilo and whoever did this. I don't know what that means, but if it was for mourning us...

[That leaves a bad taste in her mouth, so she pushes on.]

There was also a shovel in there, so maybe whoever did this buried someone?

[garbageface]

Yeah, but who would they bury if not Shilo?

[musacal]

Mmm...

Are we sure they're meant to be for us though? What if it's for seven people back home or something they were hallucinating?

[ ......prooooobably them though but it's worth a thought at least. ]

[heathencall]

[Despite feeling better than he has in days, Mephisto just looks... tired.]

The tools in the stable are gone. Unfortunately, the horse is not. But I did find this in their stead.

[He pulls out the engraving set which I neglected to mention him picking up, and that was a mistake.]

The horse did look remarkably frightened as it should, though. Its stall had been left open, and I found that its stable had been cleaned out in one very particular area..

[madgiganticfeelings]

Cleaned out might mean she was killed there and then her body was moved... that would explain why the horse was so scared, too.

[Poor horf.]

[holyspit]

The horse wasn't hurt, was he?

[justmeheere]

Oh that, uh. Explains where everything in the shed went. [He looks down at the singular thing he's brought with him.] I did find, uh. This, though.

[He holds up a brand new murder hitlist. Yay. He'd like to stop finding these, thanks.]

[likemypicture]

[Anne's trying to be cool to make up for her major freak out session yesterday, but it's hard when she was the one who just found and touched all over a dead body.

At least Tad Cooper's keeping chill.]

Shilo was in the garden, near where Richard was-- [this. sucks. She puts her hand on Tad Cooper, and summons all her strength from him]

It was like someone put her there.

[37773972]

Moved her from the stables to the garden, maybe?...

Anne, I hate to ask, but- were you able to tell how she...?

[holyspit]

[Steven trails in after Anne.]

There were a lot of footprints around where- around Shilo. I couldn't tell how many people it was or how big they were, just. The grass was really flattened out.

kind of catherd i guess??

[musacal]

Okay, let's... let's try thinking about this from another angle. Maybe it'll help?

So... however it is that Shilo was injured, we know that the spot in the barn was cleaned and can presume that's where she died. Then her body was moved to the fountain.

I know she one of the smaller of us here, but maybe we could start narrowing down possibilities by who could take her there without issue? Or maybe all the trampled grass means they DID struggle with moving her?

[heathencall]

Considering what I was able to do with Jonny, we can either eliminate me if there was a struggle, or consider me a suspect if there was not.

[likemypicture]

She was so... small, and frail.

VOTING

[inside_yourmind]

[When a lull falls in the general yelling, the Phantom speaks up, in the same faintly distant tone he's had this entire time.]

I believe that is enough for a vote.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine is, um. Still on the floor. But she does look up then, towards... the thing that isn't Jeremy yet.]

Can I... can I please just talk to him? I can't just... if he isn't even going to realize why I have to.

[heathencall]

[He is... busy holding Christine so.]

Stephen. Will you?

[likemypicture]

JEREMY HEERE

THE LOSER/GEEK/WHATEVER

[Anne is doing what must be done. It doesn't make her hate it any less.]

[musacal]

[ She sighs. She’s so tired of this. ]

>Jeremy

[ Just going to keep her face in her hands after. ]

EXECUTION: I'D RATHER BE ME

[inside_yourmind]

[As the last of the votes come in, the lights go down. For once, no one is hugging the culprit; there's nobody there to feel Jeremy slip away.

Jeremy stands alone onstage - well, as alone as he’s ever been, since he took the SQUIP. Shilo enters from one wing. As always, she seems healthy and whole despite the state you last saw her in; strangely, she seems a little healthier than she used to look. That’s all as expected. What seems a little stranger, especially after last week, is that the Phantom joins her, striding in from the other wing. Jeremy stands straight - so straight that you can tell it certainly isn’t really Jeremy - and glances between the two, as if trying to determine where the greatest threat lies, and what more can be done to save his life.

Jeremy’s, that is. It’s always been about saving Jeremy’s life here, for the SQUIP.

But the Phantom merely lifts a hand and snaps his fingers, and Jeremy sags suddenly. All that surety has fled, and he flinches, terrified - ah, yes. There he is. That’s Jeremy Heere. The Phantom’s the one who swoops in before he can collapse, holding him up with a hand on each of his arms.

They're of a similar height, and it's easy for the Phantom to put his head alongside Jeremy's to croon in his ear:]

You blame everything on that voice in your ear
But isn't the crux of your problem right here?

[He moves Jeremy's hand along with his, both of them touching Jeremy's chest, then yanks it away. Shilo's there, and the Phantom pulls Jeremy along, forcing him to dance with Shilo.]

You need that little oblong pill to be your nerve
To grab everything you want in life but do not deserve
Like if some girl's out of reach, there's only one thing to do
You buy a computer to revamp your whole life
And throw out the old one so you'll become somebody new!
And your dreams come true
And your dreams come true
And your dreams come true
And your dreams come true, oh, oh~

You want that killer instinct, doesn't matter whose
Are you just the loser, or do you set them up to lose?
And if there's a problem to face, you know just what to do
You do what you wanted
And you SQUIP the whole school
Then you blame the SQUIP and you help your friend kill it
And you act like it was always just pure evil
So that it's the scapegoat and no one will ever blame you!
And your dreams come true
And your dreams come true
And your dreams come true

[Shilo spins away from the pair, and reaches into a pocket to produce a knife. The sight of it seems to galvanize Jeremy a bit, but the Phantom's standing very close to him, with a very tight grip. Still, as she approaches, he manages to find his own voice, repeating like a mantra:]

I'd rather be me
I'd rather be me
I'd rather be me than be with you
I'd rather be me
I'd rather be me
I'd rather be me
I'd rather be me than be with you

[Shilo moves her hand quickly, and Jeremy flinches - but she hasn't stabbed him. Instead, the Phantom releases one of Jeremy's hands, takes the knife, and plunges it into the boy's back himself.

Jeremy lets out a choking sound, eyes wide. The Phantom steps away fully, letting him fall into Shilo's waiting arms. She stumbles under the weight a little, but manages to bear him up for the most part as he dies.

The Phantom turns away as it happens, head bowed. His hands are visibly fists at his side. After a moment, he turns to look out into the house - over the cast's heads, perhaps?]

So go on and lie - playing nice and shy is insulting my IQ
I'd rather be me than be with you

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Mephisto is still holding her tight, so no matter how she strains, she can't see. But that doesn't mean she can't hear it. The way it talks about what Jeremy did... she can't believe it. She won't believe it.

No matter what Jeremy is to her, she knows he could be better person. She knows that.

She screams when she hears the sound Jeremy makes, the sickening sound of blood dripping from a fresh wound, and thrashes in Mephisto's grip, trying to rush the stage.]