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Post by Joker on Apr 25, 2023 18:12:56 GMT
"So then, that must mean Faye wasn't pushed at all. If it's impossible for two people to have been up there at the same time." Mikoto takes a deep breath. "That... makes this a lot more complicated..." "So if it's impossible for Faye to have been pushed from the clock tower... Does that mean she was somehow pushed from the blimp instead?" Nico theorized.
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Post by Kachu on Apr 25, 2023 18:14:25 GMT
"It'd be the only other way. It'd also explain the controls... someone, presumably muddy, used them to navigate the blimp to the right spot..."
Mikoto nods. "But then, who had the chance to even move it? Was it Faye herself? But someone else had to be up there, too, to push her..."
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Post by satan on Apr 25, 2023 18:17:30 GMT
"... Korrigan would have," Hawk pointed out despondently. "Unless I miss my mark, other than Ms. Liddell and myself, he was the only one who had a stretch of time where he could have been anywhere."
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Post by Kachu on Apr 25, 2023 18:36:09 GMT
"Is that really the only possibility? I don't think so, at least." Mikoto neglects to mention that they were absent for a long period of time themselves.
"If the killer moved the blimp into position while Faye was still on it, then shoved her off to kill her, they must've gotten down on their own, with magic likely. Then they could flee in whichever way they saw fit."
"The controls themselves were muddy, though. I wonder who would've had muddy hands in the first place, and then gotten a chance to clean themselves off? I wonder why they didn't simply clean themselves before operating the blimp. Could there be any reason for that...?"
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 25, 2023 19:02:57 GMT
“Maybe there was a struggle and Faye got mud on the killer’s hands? Like they tried to grab her, or somethin’.”
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Post by Kachu on Apr 25, 2023 19:08:46 GMT
“I don’t think that’d make much sense.”
“If the killer shoved Faye and caught her by surprise, then they must’ve moved the blimp first. They didn’t move it back after, which is why M had to fly up and bring it to us. So their hands likely were muddy when they got there…”
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Post by Panda on Apr 25, 2023 19:16:39 GMT
[The control panel has traces of mud on it, but not specifically on the controls.]
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 26, 2023 11:26:55 GMT
“I mean, if her jacket was muddy, or whatever, then… Well, I dunno if that even matters, then.”
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Post by Kachu on Apr 26, 2023 14:40:47 GMT
"Hey, so..." Mikoto clears their throat with a little cough. "Thinking back on it, is it just me or does the mud on the controls seem to be... footprints?"
Mikoto glances around the room, hoping for some sort of approval. "I don't know how or why exactly someone would be standing up there... but if Faye was shoved out of the blimp, I suppose it makes sense. It makes more sense than someone muddying up the controls in particular spots..."
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Post by Panda on Apr 26, 2023 14:44:46 GMT
The players think back to the scene. While the muddy patches aren't clearly footprints, they could conceivably have come from muddy shoes stepping on the panel.
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 26, 2023 16:03:56 GMT
“Maybe muddy footprints got on the control panel because the blimp was goin’ down and it was a really dramatic and over-the-top ‘WE’RE GONNA DIE’ disaster movie aircraft landing scenario,” Caitlin hypothesized uselessly.
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Post by satan on Apr 26, 2023 16:14:00 GMT
Hawk considers the state of affairs, thinking deeply. "It... May be so," he eventually said. "But I find myself uncertain. Where was everyone when the Alarm spell went off?"
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 26, 2023 16:23:03 GMT
“When did it go off, again? Neither Yves nor I left the casino at any point, if that helps.”
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Post by Kachu on Apr 26, 2023 16:24:10 GMT
"After my short stop at the casino, I spent the rest of my time alone on the beach, in the little Haiku Hut." Mikoto nods. "That is all I did."
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Post by Panda on Apr 26, 2023 17:07:19 GMT
[#spoiler=Timeline] - Hawk, Nico and Felix leave the blimp, and see Faye enter. Faye is the only person on the blimp now.
- Korrigan arrives at the casino. He finds Yves and Caitlin there.
- Nico and Felix arrive at the casino.
- The storm blows the blimp westwards. It's no longer possible to board it.
- Mikoto arrives at the casino.
- Mikoto leaves the casino.
- Hawk arrives at the casino.
- Hawk and Korrigan leave the casino.
- Lightning strikes the clock tower, blowing it open but also destabilising it.
- Hella arrives at the casino.
- Everyone in the casino (Yves, Caitlin, Nico, Felix and Hella) hears Faye scream.
- The casino group rush to the clock tower, find Faye dead and sound the Alarm.
- Mikto, Hawk and Korrigan arrive at the crime scene.
[/spoiler]
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Post by satan on Apr 26, 2023 17:08:01 GMT
"For myself, I had just found Korrigan sleeping in the prison, and left for the beach, but quickly detoured once I heard the alarm go off."
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Post by Kachu on Apr 26, 2023 17:12:16 GMT
"Hrnnm..." Mikoto faceplants on a podium before shooting back up.
"There's not really any chance for anyone to have boarded the blimp, is there? Perhaps there's been some sort of trap. A mechanism that'd tip the blimp over, and cause Faye to fall...?"
"It wouldn't be too hard to know where the blimp would end up during the storm, I imagine. Especially since it's been the same way for days on end. It would certainly be possible to predict when the blimp would send Faye falling, perhaps?"
"Though, I don't know if that explains the tracks on the controls..."
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Post by satan on Apr 26, 2023 17:51:00 GMT
"I find myself with another question. Is it possible to leave the blimp once the storm starts? I know we believe it logical that we can no longer enter, but there is no statement that we cannot leave."
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Post by Kachu on Apr 26, 2023 18:37:27 GMT
"It would be easy enough to float down, I believe. We have spells for this." Mikoto nods.
"There just seems to be little opportunity." They continue. "You, Felix and Nico all left as Faye got on. If you left while someone was still there, unless they were hidden well, I believe you would've known."
"Mister Magno, Felix and Nico each go to the casino at a certain time, and after this nobody can access the blimp, unless we're overlooking something huge."
"So I think that in these moments, someone must've put their plan into motion- whatever it was. Instead of staying on the blimp. It would be far too risky to try and float down slowly, after shoving Faye... surely she'd scream, and someone might spot them fleeing."
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Post by satan on Apr 26, 2023 19:02:59 GMT
"This is true," Hawk said thoughtfully. "As it stands, the only people who are unaccounted for are Ms. Liddell herself, who was on the blimp at the time, myself, Korrigan, Ms. Helvig, and, well, you, Mikoto. Though I'm not sure how that helps our case..."
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Post by Panda on Apr 26, 2023 22:04:59 GMT
Having explored the blimp during the investigation, the players feel quite certain that there was no way to make Faye fall off of it remotely. There was nothing up there that could form a trap or other contraption.
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Post by satan on Apr 26, 2023 23:02:16 GMT
"Hm." Hawk scratched at his chin, pondering the GM insight. "I must say, every case in our time here has been... Peculiar and difficult to figure out. This one is proving no different, it seems."
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 27, 2023 12:10:28 GMT
“I have no idea what to do…” Caitlin muttered. “It’s all so confusing. Is there something about the teleporting doors that might play into this?”
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Post by Kachu on Apr 27, 2023 14:26:55 GMT
"I know that there's... vague handprints on Faye's jacket. And we've talked about it a bit before, but, if we really can't place anyone on the blimp during this crime... Can we really be sure Faye didn't just...?"
Mikoto's voice sounds weak, even suggesting the idea physically hurts them. They don't like that someone could possibly do this to themselves.
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Post by Panda on Apr 27, 2023 14:44:54 GMT
"Sin... is... called such... for a reason," Zofra awkwardly spoke up. "Its level... rises... only when... one kills. Another."
There was silence as the players digested this information. It seemed reasonable enough, though it meant they were still no closer to solving the current murder.
But then, Mikoto had a thought. "Just a moment. Sin only rises when someone is murdered? What... what level do humans start at?"
Hawk's eyes widened. "All humans are born without sin. We can all see from the spellbook that there exists a level 'zero' before level 'one'. Demons, answer me! What are the rules behind your foul magic?"
Aardok grinned. "And here I was hoping you'd stay ignorant. Yeah, you've sussed it. Humans start at Sin level 0."
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Post by Kachu on Apr 27, 2023 14:50:29 GMT
"Wait a moment, but how did we begin at Sin Level two, all the way back then...?" Mikoto asks the room. "Isadora..."
"But then, ignoring that for the moment, the fact that we went from five to six must mean Faye was murdered after all..."
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 27, 2023 15:01:29 GMT
“Okay, great. Now what? Isadora was murdered. How does that help us now?” Caitlin seemed a tad snappy. “Faye was murdered, that’s all we can confirm now. Unless Isadora’s death somehow ties into this, it doesn’t seem like we’re any further along.”
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Post by Panda on Apr 27, 2023 15:07:16 GMT
They were making no headway on Faye's murder. Isadora's death however was quite suspicious. How could she have been murdered, locked inside the principal's office as she was? Perhaps there was value in looking back at it. The players recalled the rudimentary investigation they performed back then, back before the Contract Game...
[#spoiler=Investigation: Principal's Office] When everyone first arrived, they found the door locked. After Kameron busted it down, it became clear that it had also been blocked from the inside by a small, heavy cabinet.
The door can be locked from the inside without a key. They key for it wasn't at the school on the day, as the principal and janitor had the only copies.
The door was the only way in and out of the room. While there were large windows at the back, they couldn't be opened and hadn't been tampered with.
Isadora's body was found in the middle of the room, surrounded by a magic circle drawn in her own blood. All the room's furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room.
Her body was sitting on the floor, with her umbrella propped up next to her. Her wrists were heavily bleeding, and appeared to be the source of the blood for the drawing. Her hands were holding a knife, the blade of which was embedded in her chest. Even in death, she was smiling unsettlingly.
There was a trail of blood drops leading up to the barricade at the door.
When Isadora's body had been examined, Neuron noticed that the knife wound in her chest was unusually ragged.
The blood flow from the wrist wounds was quite gentle. There weren't many extraneous bloodstains in the room: most of it was used for the circle.
Isadora herself had a fair bit of blood all over her, from the various wounds. None of the blood had been disturbed until the investigation.
None of the living players had any significant wounds on them. All the blood found at the scene had to have been Isadora's. [/spoiler]
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Post by wintercoat on Apr 27, 2023 15:12:28 GMT
“If we need to think about that scene… hm. Two people had a key to that room. Which one of you is a janny?! Also, I’m guessing that Isadora’s killer is friends or somethin’ with uh… the feck was that guy’s name? I’m so shot, you guys…”
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Post by Kachu on Apr 27, 2023 15:33:44 GMT
"Could someone's familiar block the door..? Errm, no, wait. None of us would've had magic by then."
Mikoto pauses and puts a hand to their chin (but their coat collar is still there). "The door was blocked by a cabinet anyways. I suppose they could've used one of the two level 0 spells to escape..? I don't see how that'd work, though. It seemed to much like a suicide, but..."
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