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

[dieformymusic]

[Which leads to the question.

"Do we know why they were both out? Eliza was reading a cookbook right?"]

[sunshineprincess]

Yeah... but it seems staged. She was already a really good cook... Would she have needed a book? She was a mother so I'm sure she knew the recipes for cookies by heart.

[catliketread]

Is it possible that she was baking the cookies and someone else poisoned them afterwards?

[dechagny]

That is possible as well! Was it the cookies themselves that reek of garlic, or the frosting atop them?

[inforapenny]

It was the frosting that had the arsenic in it, so I'd say that's more than likely.

[Source: he sniffed the frosting]

[sunshineprincess]

Yes, but they must have known she would use it.

[Maybe even give it to her?]

[catliketread]

Then, perhaps... Would it be possible that Eliza discovered what was happening and ended up in a scuffle with the poisoner?

[dieformymusic]

["Do you mean she died trying to prevent someone poisoning everyone?"]

[catliketread]

Exactly! She realized there was something wrong with the icing and confronted the poisoner about it, which led to her death. Though I'm admittedly a bit unclear on what exactly did her in...

[sunshineprincess]

Maybe the teapot? It would make sense since she smelled like vanilla and there was broken pieces...

[catliketread]

That's certainly possible! I did not examine any of the rooms in question, so I'm afraid I do not have anything to contribute there. Do you know if Eliza liked tea? It might have been hers, but perhaps the poisoner brought the tea in?

[sunshineprincess]

Of course liked tea. Doesn't everyone here?

[catliketread]

Well, I would imagine so, but since we're all from very different times and places...

[dieformymusic]

["It is hard to tell.

But maybe if we focused on who killed the kid we can find her murderer. I feel maybe they were a cook like Eliza."]

[catliketread]

They presumably did use the icing on the cookies. I cannot cook or bake, so I would not know how to use icing on a cookie. But perhaps we can at least narrow our pool of suspects a bit based on that? Who here knows how to bake?

[dieformymusic]

["My specialty is music. And music only."

A fluff of pride.]

[catliketread]

An admirable specialty, my good man.

[winslow continues to be great, to literally no one's surprise]

[inforapenny]

...It doesn't take much finesse to put icing on a cookie.

Hey, Seymour, did you find the cookies, too?

[dontfeedplants]

It was a little crushed from being in the trash, but I did bring one.

[He pulls a cookie from a bag he brought with him, covered with the same arsenic frosting.]

[dechagny]

I...only learned how to bake bread literally this week, and I am still learning how to cook. But - even so, I have been working from only one cookbook.

[onthebusagain]

I haven't baked since my cookie disaster our first week here.

[dontfeedplants]

I probably couldn't bake cookies properly even if I had the recipe in front of me.

[He's pretty sure the opera would burn down if he even attempted it.]

[robitussin]

You know that whoever did this could pretty easily lie about being able to bake, right?

[solomonjihad]

I've been learning to cook, alongside Raoul, and the last thing I cooked was the chocolate cake yesterday.

[blackstache]

I am an accomplished baker of cakes.