Third Trial

[stagemanagers]

[Once again, the sound of opening doors echoes through the opera house as the investigation draws to a close.

Time for your third trial.

The courtroom looks the same as ever, save that Darla and Eliza's podiums are now arranged in the same funerary fashion as the other deceased cast members. The lights from the bulbs standing in their places seem to cast the rest of the house even more in shadow, even as the crystal chandeliers still glitter dimly above. The Balladeer is hidden backstage once more, somewhere behind the red curtain drawn shut across the stage. Once everyone's taken their places, he speaks up.]

Alright. Let's do this.

Comments

[dontfeedplants]

[Seymour doesn't know if he's getting numb to all of this or if he's just getting more confidence to speak out. If their "lives" weren't at stake right now he would me more concerned about his uncertainty.]

I'm pretty sure they were both poisoned, if this frosting was anything to go by.

[He pulls out a frosting container, but he's not going to open it unless anyone else desperately wants him to.]

I just have no idea why they would eat it. This stuff is so strong that they had to have known that there was something off with the cookies.

[catliketread]

It was most certainly poison!

[The Pirate King holds up a bottle that definitely looks very toxic. Don't worry, he's wearing gloves!!]

There is also a strange smear on the bottle. I'm not sure what it could be from, though it isn't paint.

[robitussin]

Poisoned... Was one of them injured, though? Because I checked in cold storage and found a frozen puddle of blood with some pieces of ceramic in it.

[trettende]

[ Hans is starting to feel the pressure, with those empty seats beside him. Poison? Where could they have gotten such a thing? And putting them in cookies... that's just cold. ]

Maybe the chef was someone who wasn't a very good cook? Or someone who the victims trusted? Miss Eliza was a very kind woman, perhaps she didn't want the chef to be insulted, so she tried it despite the smell?

[allicareabout]

So. Eliza.

[Don't mind the fact that he sounds a little clipped; Billy has been in A Mood for the entirety of the day and people turning up dead are doing the opposite of helping.

Either way. Feelings are mostly off. Feelings have been mostly off for the majority of his time here, no need to change that now.]

I found her in the library, first thing in the morning; she was sitting in the dark without any of the lamps on and she was cold to the touch - so by the time morning rolled around, she'd probably been there for a while, and it's safe to say that she probably wasn't getting much reading done beforehand.

Probably because she was a little busy getting in some sort of altercation.

[...jesus, billy.]

Eliza had a good-sized gash on her head, and small shards of ceramic in her hair – I'm not a coroner so don't quote me on this, but I don't know whether the hit alone would have been enough to kill her. At the same time, she was definitely whacked in the head with something.

Furthermore, she had shallow scratches on her, both on the backs of her hands and on her forearms, under her sleeves - the sleeves are loose, so it's possible they folded back during whatever fight she got in. The scratches were also small, and were more like raised welts than actual cuts – nothing that broke skin. She also had a large bruise on her left wrist - recent-looking, too – and her knuckles were bruised.

[...Also, uh, how do you - ]

She also smelled a lot like vanilla, of all things. I've got no idea why she smelled like cake, but she smelled like cake.

[...Yep.

Anyway, he'll pull out his pocketsquare – it's a white one that has decidedly not been in his jacket pocket this morning; it's stained with a watery, pale brown color that...very definitely also smells like vanilla.]

This came off of both her shoulder and the chair she was sitting on, there was more of it on her than there was on the chair.

And that's what I've got.

[dontfeedplants]

She smelled like vanilla? Maybe she was the one baking the cookies then.

[He looked thoughtful. He had a really hard time believing Eliza would poison anyone, especially a child. So why would she smell like...?]

... Maybe she put the frosting on the cookies without realizing they were poisoned?

[onthebusagain]

The book that Eliza was reading-- it was a recipe book on baking. Could she have been making something? That would explain the vanilla.

[trettende]

Was the ceramic the same kind as the one Natalie and Seymour found? Maybe the killer threw whatever it was at her after she struggled?

Perhaps the killer wasn't someone she trusted after all...

[robitussin]

If she was cold... I found blood in cold storage. Maybe she was injured or killed there and then moved?

[irreprochable]

[javert has been quiet pretty much since raoul went around crying about eliza being dead. eliza was his to protect and he'd failed, failed like he'd failed valjean and everyone else here and he was no good as the law

he has been very melancholy.

he is reaching, but he falls

anyway, he decides to put in a little effort.]

This was calculated. They had a lot of time to put the body in the chair and set it all up like that.

[dechagny]

[And Raoul running around yelling about death did not help matters. Sorry, Billy.]

Madame Hamilton...she was baking last evening in the kitchen. I was with her for a time, so that may be why she smells of vanilla. But, if there was vanilla on her shoulder, then...someone could have poured it on her, perhaps...to cover the smell of garlic?

cw: emeto

[inforapenny]

[Billy still looks pale and a touch green. Especially pale, given that he's just wearing a white t-shirt that shows off his pale, skinny white nerd boy arms from mid-bicep down. He goes to his podium, and then steels his expression.]

I-I found Darla's body in the washing machine. She didn't have any injuries, but the area around her mouth was red and irritated, to the point of bleeding, a-and she'd... she'd thrown up, which makes me believe she was also poisoned.

Who-whoever'd do this to a child... The washing machine wasn't turned off, meaning somebody hid her there, but not to clean up evidence.

[Now that he's presented his findings, he slumps a little against his podium, like a puppet with his strings cut. He did not ask to pull a dead little girl out of a washing machine today.]

[catliketread]

Oh, right, the bottle of poison I found was in the laundry room as well, though it was mixed in with the cleaning supplies.

[because i forgot to clarify that and also #helping]

[dontfeedplants]

[Okay he's not completely numb to this. He'll feel grateful once he stops being horrified by horrible child death.]

But... why bother putting her in there at all? Especially if there's no point to hiding a body?

[dechagny]

[Oh God. So when the announcement came that Darla was dead...she was there?

Good Lord above, who was this sick murderer?]

She...she is - was...small enough to hide in such a place. Do you think...did she die in the machine...?

[sunshineprincess]

[Wow that is an awful way to start a morning. Anna is gonna go run across to her boyfriend to give him a hug.]

It's okay. Take some deep breaths.

[Please don't throw up on her.

Red around the mouth?]

Wait, maybe she had an allergic reaction to whatever she ate or the poison?

[solomonjihad]

Ah...Eliza's bed was still made. So I think she...never went to bed last night. Before she died.

[sunshineprincess]

Wait. How do you know that? [Everyone's rooms should have been closed.]

Buddy system question

[sunshineprincess]

Guys, I'd hate to ask this... but who were Eliza and Darla paired with buddy system wise and why weren't they there with them?

[She doesn't want to suspect a partner... but this is something that's been bothering here.]

[onthebusagain]

Did either of them get a buddy? Not all of us paired up.

[trettende]

I never really had anyone assigned to me since someone decided to label me as an undesirable.

Makeup Test

[robitussin]

So... Pirate King said there was a smear on the poison bottle, and we figured out it was the stage makeup, right? Given that, maybe there's a chance the killer still has some of it on their hands or whatever? It can't hurt to check, at least, so we should test that.

[A frown.]

If anyone has a tissue or a handkerchief or anything...

[solomonjihad]

...Ah, I have one.

[She cleaned Raoul's! So...

She looks back at said viscount]

...

I'll clean it again so I can give it back.

MACHINE GUN SONG BATTLE - THE ELEGANT CAPTAIN HOOK

[blackstache]

[The situation is definitely not in Hook's favor right now, and he fans himself to keep him from sweating. Suddenly, excitement springs across his face, and he bursts to life.

With a Disney song, no less.]

Yo ho, yo ho!
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho!
So I've tried the life of a thief!
I've relished the life of a crook!
But I digress
I must confess
This wasn't Captain Hook
The world's most famous crook

Now you should listen to me today
Because what I say is true
There's not a single bruise on me
That's very clear to see
Our culprit will have some money in the bank
If you lynch me, and I'll be frank
If you vote wrong, we'll walk the plank!

The choice is up to you!
The choice is up to you!

[SEA SHANTY SONG BATTLE START]

[solomonjihad]

Yo ho ho
You haven't shown us that, though!
Besides, you sleaziest sleaze
You might have forgot because of
your time on the seven seas
which gave you
your social disease!

[S y p h i l i s Hook]

VOTING

[tellthestory]

There will be no duels in my courtroom.

[The Balladeer's voice is cold and furious. He knows how Eliza's son died; he knows how Eliza's husband died. And he knows how Darla and Eliza did, too, and now this?]

Vote.

[solomonjihad]

[Absolutely no hesitation, here.]

> The Sleaziest Sleaze of the Seven Seas

EXECUTION: THE BALLAD OF HOOK

[tellthestory]

[As the final votes come in, the lights drop immediately. There's only a few seconds before the stage lights rise, with Hook somehow already up there. The Balladeer doesn't seem nearly as ambivalent about this execution as he has in the past; he fairly stalks onstage, hands empty, a piano melody Hook may find familiar starting around him.]

Captain, I am overjoyed
To meet you face to face
You've been getting quite a name
All around the place

Stealing fairies?
Fighting with some kid?
And now you've ended up in here
Let's discuss what you did

[The tone of the song turns mocking as he circles towards Hook. The by-now-expected shades of Eliza and Darla enter behind him, and for once, the Balladeer isn't deliberately ignoring them. He actually pauses and glances back to let them catch up, nodding a little at the Eliza double before turning back to grin at the Captain.]

So you are the Hook
You're the great Captain Hook
Why don't you try to get free?
You've just gotta get through me

Let's have this out, please!
You should do it with ease!
C'mon, king of the sleaze

Captain, you just won't believe
The splash you've made around here
Management loves your stuff
The laughing-stock of the year

Oh, what a pity
If it ends tonight
Still I'm sure that you can take
Us all out if you try

So if you are the Hook
You're the great Captain Hook
Prove to me that you're still fit
Kill someone who's expecting it

If you do that for me
Maybe you can go free
C'mon, you sleaziest sleaze

[He turns, spreading his arms wide in a “come at me” kind of gesture. When Hook lunges forward at him, though, he spins away as easily as if it were scripted, more a dance than a dodge.]

Or is there some reason you always fight with Pan?
Is it possible you are
Still far more boy than man?

I am waiting, yes, I'm dying to see
Captain, won't you show us
That you are not just cowardly~?

So if you are the Hook
Yes, the great Captain Hook
Ooze your way out of this fix

Hope you don't mind, my watch ticks
Or has something gone wrong?
Captain, why do you take so long?
Come on, king of the sleaze!

[The Balladeer doesn’t move as Hook comes at him again. Instead, the shadows do. Neither of them has any weapons, no cookies or no teapot, but they dart forward and grab for each of the man’s arms. As they take hold of him, Hook stumbles as if he’s been hit in the gut, even going gray in the face.

Except...no, that’s not it. It’s not his complexion that’s changing, but his skin. Lines are tracing their way across it, and his dark hair is beginning to pale. It may be true that no one ages in Neverland, but this isn't Neverland anymore, and it isn't long before Hook no longer looks quite like himself.

The Balladeer actually looks startled by all this, backing up several paces and casting a wide-eyed glance out over the heads of the audience into the darkness beyond. But he turns back as Hook begins to finally respond to him:]

...Oof! ...Oh-hooooo, yeah.

[Hook very visibly struggles to think of any sort of coherent response, and pounds his fist into his hands with frustration, grumbling to himself. He looks out into the audience with a dead-eyed glance. The Balladeer claps his hands and mouths “syphilis” to the audience, just before he continues.]

Oh! Are you frightened now, Hook?
Mr. Great Captain Hook?
You're a joke, you're just a tool
You're nothing but a craven fool!

Take him away
I've got no more to say
Get out, you sleaziest sleaze!

[He turns away again, waving a hand dismissively, and walks offstage as the shadows close in around Hook and the aging continues. It seems the man was, by rights, much much older than he seemed. By the time the stage lights finally go out, there's nothing but dust, running through the vague shadowy fingers of the two impostors.]