FIFTH TRIAL

[stagemanagers]

[The sound of the courtroom doors opening is louder and deeper than the stairwell doors were, as if they understand their dramatic importance.

It's time for yet another trial.

Natalie's podium has joined the other somberly-decorated ones in pretty short order. Unfortunately, the other ones are left entirely as they were - no pillows, food, or coffee provided by the Opera staff. You'll just have to try and make this quick. The Balladeer sounds like he'd like to get this over with as well when he speaks up.]

I'm sorry, Heather. I really didn't think... [He sighs.] Okay, go ahead.

Comments

[allicareabout]

She was shot.

[That's incredibly blunt, far more so than Billy usually is with this sort of thing; he doesn't seem short-tempered, per se, but he's not exactly here for fucking around right now, either.]

She took a single gunshot to the chest. Her shirt was covered in blood as a result, and there were multiple sets of bloody handprints on it, all centered over the wound. Her hands were bloody, it's possible one of those sets was hers, but it's pretty obvious that one of those sets was not.

Our killer also appears to have done her the courtesy of closing her eyes after she died, given that there were also small traces of blood on her eyelids. Because we're looking at a charmer like that.

There was another small pool of blood close to the body, looking like it was probably dripped down from someone or something. Some more scattered blood droplets leading towards the bathrooms. There was also a bullet in the wall in addition to the one in the girl.

So if we could get this underway so somebody can get what's coming to them, that would be perfect.

[...It's. Going to take him a bit longer than usual to calm down today, sorry about that.]

[trettende]

[ Hans totally agrees with you there, Billy. The sooner they get this over with, the better. ]

That makes sense with that I found, too. There was blood in the men's bathroom, on the basin of one of the sinks. The killer must have tried to wash their hands there, though they didn't do a good job of cleaning up any of the blood that dripped there.

[dontfeedplants]

[Wait a minute.]

She was shot? But who here even has a gun?

[allicareabout]

That's what I want to know.

[aflatouttahell]

I got a gun from the booth in the lobby a while ago, but it was empty. So guns can come out of there, but I don't know about bullets.

[trettende]

You mean the merchandise booth was handing out weapons?

[ Jesus christ ]

[aflatouttahell]

A gun on its own can't do much. It was a weird gun, though, it had little owls on it? I'd think gun people wouldn't want cute birds on their pistols.

[tellthestory]

.......what?

[aflatouttahell]

It had owls on it? The handle is made out of rubber, too, which is weird. If... the guns I've seen are anything to go by.

[tellthestory]

[There's a long moment of silence.]

Yeah, uh, that's...yeah.

[trettende]

That's... weird. But distinctive, at least.

Is it possible the merchandise booth could hand out bullets too?

[aflatouttahell]

Maybe, but I haven't gone there as much as some other people here. I know they have some weird stuff in there... and my diary, which is still creepy.

[trettende]

Yeah, I haven't been there much, myself.

[ Maybe if he'd known they were handing out guns he would have, dang! ]

Were a lot of the items that were handed out personal things? All I seemed to get were posters and hair gel.

[ And a Tony, and flowers... junk. ]

[aflatouttahell]

[Okay, she can do this, this is fine. She's fine.]

Shot? But... I know I didn't hear gunshots.

[dechagny]

I removed the bullet from the wall. [He presents it.] There seems to be dried blood on it, so I do think it might have...passed clean through. I also found a cushion with two bullet holes in it nearby. They definitely smelt of gunpowder, and might have been used to lessen the sounds of the shots.

[A pause, as Raoul adjusts his posture, leaning on the podiums.] And I would bet quite a bit on the culprit receiving the gun from the merchandise booth. I have...gotten a sword out of it, myself, but I keep it locked up.

[Yes, a sword and a wig and a cape and a retractable knife.]

[trettende]

They must have known what they were doing, if they had planned it enough to use a pillow like that.

Otherwise, why bother keeping it quiet at all? The doors would all open as soon as Natalie was dead.

[dechagny]

[He wishes he knew, but at the same time, if he said "I don't know" he'd probably get everyone to yell at him. Yeah, we don't know that.]

Perhaps...perhaps they wanted to keep the other person on the floor from hurrying towards the sound? If they could lessen the noise they make, they could escape, clean up, hide their evidence...cover their tracks, for better or for worse.

[trettende]

True. Though the murder happened in the hallway, it would have made more sense to have it in one of the rooms, where it wouldn't be as obvious.

Then there's the different set of handprints... Maybe they came to regret it afterwards?

[allicareabout]

She looked like she'd been crying shortly before she died.

[That is...not a detail he was exactly wanting to share with the room, but - ]

So maybe she was still alive for a short time after being shot, or she had enough time to confront our culprit before they fired - either way, regret is entirely possible.

[trettende]

[ Oh. Great. Hans clams up for a second, regaining his composure just as fast. Focus on catching the killer, then you can feel sad about people killing kids. ]

There were two gunshots and two bullets, right? Is it possible the killer shot her once at first, then twice to end her misery?

[allicareabout]

[That...wait.]

...Actually, no.

[Right?]

The bullet from the wall had blood on it - it's like Raoul said, the implication is that it passed clean through her.

If that's the case...that leaves the second shot unaccounted for. She only had one injury.

[aflatouttahell]

[THAT'S GREAT THAT'S FINE Jezebel is just gonna look very intently at the floor over here]

When I saw her yesterday, I'm pretty sure she wasn't sad. So the tears were probably not over something else.

[dechagny]

Or...perhaps Natalie might not have been the intended target? Who is to say that the murderer might have been waiting for a stagehand instead, despite the rules? I would find myself desperate after being denied proper rest.

[trettende]

The stagehands don't let themselves be seen. They'd be interfering with the show, if they did. [ Do you think the Management would let that happen? No way. ]

If your theory is true, I think it's more likely... Jezebel or Seymour were the target.

In which case, one of them is lying about what they know.

[dechagny]

If someone were to stake out an area...and if they were tired enough? I think they might be inclined to mistake any shadowed figure for a stagehand if they were desperate.