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.

[dontfeedplants]

At least we know how they died already.

[He looks at the frosting and compares it to the smear, is the color similar at all?]

[stagemanagers]

[It is not - the smear is beige, and the frosting is pink.]

[trettende]

Is it perhaps, some kind of make-up? Like the kind women use to powder their noses?

[ Hans totally doesn't wear makeup, no way. ]

[catliketread]

Make-up...? Well, I suppose that is possible, though I certainly can't confirm.

[If anyone wants to compare it to the bottle you can come look, but the Pirate King sure isn't going to be useful here.]

[trettende]

[ Hans will just walk over to check because he too is wearing gloves so he is not afraid of no bottle. ]

[stagemanagers]

[Hans may not know a lot about makeup, but he might still be able to discern something about this, given that it's the same color and general consistency as the stage makeup everyone received outside their doors several weeks ago.]

[dechagny]

[Looks aghast,] Poison! But...if what Seymour said is true, should they not have realized something was wrong about the cookies if it smelled so strangely?

[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.

[dontfeedplants]

Ceramic? Wait a minute...

[He pulls out a shard of ceramic.]

I found one of these near one of the tables. You think maybe this is the same ceramic?

[robitussin]

[She walks over to get a better look, nodding when she does.]

Yeah, it's the same. I wonder why there were shards in both places...

[dontfeedplants]

Maybe after they were hit with the ceramic, they tried running to the cold storage and some shards fell off of them?

[allicareabout]

Oh, trust me. One of them was definitely injured.

[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?

[robitussin]

I could buy that from Eliza, but what about Darla?

[trettende]

That's a good point. There must have been some reason she didn't suspect foul play.

[ He pauses. It's just a theory but... ]

What if they didn't smell strange at the time? Maybe the poison only turned bitter after enough time passed.

[robitussin]

I guess that's possible. I don't know anything about poison. But if that's the case, I don't think it narrows it down much. Eliza was super nice, and Darla was a kid. Either of them would have taken cookies from anyone, not just someone they trusted, right?

[dontfeedplants]

But it smells like garlic. Wouldn't even the worst baker know that you don't put garlic in cookies?

[Seymour knows next to nothing about baking, but even he knows you don't put garlic in sweet things.]

[trettende]

Well, I can't cook but even I'd know better than to put garlic in cookies.

[ He shrugs. ]

Still, if someone you trusted offered you cookies, wouldn't you at least try them before saying they smelled awful?

[dontfeedplants]

I don't know, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

[Maybe if Audrey made them, but she would never try poisoning him.]

[onthebusagain]

Uh. No.

[inforapenny]

...Garlic?

[Uh-oh.]

[dontfeedplants]

Yeah, why? Do you know what it is?

[Really all of his knowledge of poison only covers plant-based ones so he could use help here.]

[solomonjihad]

Garlic?!

[UH]