fifth trial

[stagemanagers]

[When the investigation finishes, the lights begin to flicker on and off as that low, gentle rumble echoes through the opera house.

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

The court room looks just as it always has for you: the grand chandelier glittering above your heads, the dusty red velvet seats. In the orchestra pit your circle of wooden podiums are waiting. Jeremy and Steven's podiums are draped in black crepe with their grey scale 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. His tone is even, with none of the distraction or terse notes in the weeks before. He almost sounds curious for how this all will play out.]

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

[Gather your evidence and let's begin.]

Comments

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine holds out her hands, which probably smell mildly spicy and sweet. Nothing bad, though!]

[37773972]

[Clean hands here!]

[inside_yourmind]

I do. But trying other solutions in the past has only ended poorly.

[musacal]

[ she has a faint chemical smell even after washing her hands but it's... because she found it and had to hold it, so she has a reason for it. ]

[musacal]

...Like a god or something?

[ IS HE A KAMI ]

[inside_yourmind]

[THAT...IS...a big ol' shrug from him, honestly!]

I find it very unclear at times.

[musacal]

...Fair.

[heathencall]

So... Our breath, then?

[This is gross.]

BREATH CHECK

[37773972]

I can't believe we're doing this.

[musacal]

I didn't even bring the mugs though!!

[ AND DO YOU THINK SHE CHECKED FOR BREATH SMELL ON THEM AT THE TIME OR WOULD EVEN REMEMBER... ]

[musacal]

[ She brushed before going to the kitchen so NAH NOTHING. ]

[37773972]

[Stephen also believes in healthy dental hygiene so yeah, toothpaste scent minty fresh?]

[likemypicture]

[yeah kind of gross, but w/e we'll assume Anne learned about dental hygiene in her second life and brushed her teeth before she tried to go and pray this morning and doesn't straight up have uneven yellow rotten teeth like her stepdaughter ended up with at the end of her reign.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine is... embarrassed, but at least she brushed her teeth last night, so the morning breath isn't terrible.]

[heathencall]

[Nah Mephisto's breath is clean!]

after all the... checks...

[musacal]

Okay so... maybe instead we need to think about who would have the knowledge to do this?

Like who would know what the chemicals in the infirmary are and what one to use, and also who would know Steven had a gem that needed to be shattered to kill him?

I figured it out when I saw the gem, but I didn't know beforehand that he had one. And I didn't really go into the infirmary at all.

cw; suicide mention

[37773972]

...should we try to figure out whether or not it was a suicide? With the blood on his nails, and none of us being injured...

[37773972]

Mephisto and I were in there earlier in the week. [WHICH...YOU ALL SAW]

[musacal]

[ WE SURE THE HECKIE DID ]

[likemypicture]

I knew that he was... like Spinel. But not... [She pats her stomach, and frowns.]

The infirmary goes way over my head.

[heathencall]

Most of the medical equipment is beyond me. And I only became aware of Steven's status as a gem after you told me this morning.

[Though now that he's thinking about it.]

Did Steven ever talk about what it would take to remove a gem?

[madgiganticfeelings]

He never really explained that to me. I know that he has his mom's gem now, but not how it, um, got transferred.

cw; suicide mention

[likemypicture]

Even if he did do it to himself, how would the hammer get into the supply closet? Or the pieces into the trash?

Mephisto's done moving bodies, so it's not like this could be like that again.

[musacal]

The most I ever heard was what he told us when Spinel-san was shattered...

[37773972]

If someone did this on purpose, why would they leave the bottle out? Why would the trash can be knocked over? Those are pretty obvious things to clean up.