(open) stop hangman crimes

[decrypter]

who: Anyone brave enough to show up.
what: Information, part 2, hopefully no one gets stabbed
when: 10/12.
where: Back at it again in the dorms.
warnings: Will edit if needed.

h.adams

In light of the new information we have, I'd like to reconvene with whoever else would feel safe doing so. This evening at the same time and same place. Word games are banned.

If you cannot restrain yourself from malice, do not come. You know who you are.

[and here they are again, with their number made smaller by those that are departed on the exchange. really, that's why Helena called it now instead of later - there were a few names she recalled off the list for trips that would probably do better to skip this, to have things left well enough alone for them. as before, she's seated at the front, next to the whiteboard which retains the previous meeting's notes regarding the corpses, their conditions, all the rest. however, the corpse list has been updated.

Elizabeth / Minato Arisato - Lucifer
Rika Kawai / Shuichi Saihara - Dito
Akira Kijima / Akira Kurusu - ???
Unknown A - Lucifer
Unknown B - Lucifer
Unknown C - Lucifer

R. Ryuzaki - Joshua Kiryu

her ankle is wrapped tightly with bandages, and her cane is in her lap. the hangman board is entirely absent.

perhaps it's sheer foolishness that means she'll do this again, when last time ended so poorly. but there are some things they very much need to discuss - and the best time is sooner rather than later.]

Comments

[topscores]

[Nice had kind of been intrigued by the whole deal -- and doing more detective work beat thinking about school all day. he didn't really want to do either, but he finds himself at Helena's meeting, hands in his vest pockets as he glances at her near the board.

she kind of looks worse for wear, he thinks, but he's just going to walk up to the whiteboard. he looks at what had been written on it, quiet for a minute as he mulls it over.]

So you guys really haven't figured out that other murderer.

[the wheels are starting to turn a little in his head -- it would've been easier if he had been here when all of this happened, to investigate for himself, but he had to deal with what his "classmates" had come up with.

he's going to read over the murders that aren't solved yet, the Akiras.]

What's up with the wisteria? Why's that important?

[he's still new here, so...]

[mermaidcursed]

The wisteria tree's flowers are actually souls of the people who've died here- not... all in the same year, but over time. Breaking branches or plucking the flowers sends the souls to somewhere unknown- even the gardener has no idea what happens to them after that. I've been trying to learn more...

( that sure is a thing to say when you first meet someone! )

Also, when by the tree- broken branches leave a sap that's... colored like blood, and proximity to the flowers makes you feel sleepy.

[topscores]

[hmmmm...

Nice doesn't really mind it, because he's getting information he wants. even if as he eyes her, she does...seem like the sort of person who shouldn't be involved in this. he frowns a little, hands going into the pockets of his vest, listening to her and not getting distracted by that sort of thing.

this place really sucks, doesn't it?]

Still know more than I do, which isn't much.

[at least he'll give her that.]

So you're saying the two that were murdered there were probably asleep when they were murdered. [the audacity of it makes his skin crawl.] We're looking for a coward, then.

[decrypter]

Or someone whose hand might have been forced, and thus didn't want to cause suffering. It's a marked difference from the other cases.

[but still, it doesn't make sense. why clean up before running away?]

I don't think this person enjoyed the experience at all - they could have simply slit throats. Why leave them to bleed out? Why something so inexact?

[mermaidcursed]

We've had a case of possession before- it's... entirely possible that it happened again. But from what, I don't know...

( natsume's possession and clamor's possession were entirely different situations, too. )

[topscores]

Hmm...

[Nice looks back up at the board again, considering.]

Who all has access to wisteria leaves here? What happened the last time someone was possessed?

[he's got to know everything before he even begins to theorize anything....]

[mermaidcursed]

I... I have a jar, that I inherited from my- from someone I knew, before she vanished. She vanished just around the time of everything happening... but. This sort of thing... it's not her style. We could ask the shopkeeper who all has bought jars, though.

( nene doesn't think to even consider her own innocence- she's been with noah constantly, anyone's seen it in the brief time everything's happened. but she thinks back on the past few months, speaking slowly but deliberately as she tries to recall everything. )

Possession... There's been a couple cases. The first time... no one witnessed it, but I trust his account. He was overwhelmed with the spirit's feelings- fear and paranoia that they were going to die, that the people around them were going to kill him. And in that instant, he struck first to protect himself despite there not really being any danger. It faded quickly, but the damage was done.

I think that in tail-end of July was another incident, a robot named Legion went berserk. But I'm afraid I don't know what happened then.

And... Then, last month. One of our own had his body stolen, and for a month the spirit masqueraded as him until he tried to move to another body. I think that whatever happened with him was different circumstances entirely though. We've also seen instances where reanimated corpses are aware but in a more feral state- Maddison was capable of talking, but all she wanted to do was kill her targets before they got her first.

[topscores]

[he considers it, tilting his head a little. he's obviously not going to blame Nene, even though he puts it into the back of his mind that she has some. he doesn't think a cute girl would do something like that...!!

but. there's another theory.]

Nobody's said anything about having their jars stolen either, right? I mean, they might not have wanted to say anything because they'd be a suspect, but the people who have the jars might not have been the culprit themselves.

[so it doesn't completely narrow it down like he would like, but. oh well.]

I probably wouldn't just outright ask them that kinda thing because they might try to run with it and make it an excuse if they actually did something, but that's also an option.

[the possession stuff is interesting, and the information he tucks into the back of his mind. he's learning about this place as well as what happened in this exact instance, so until that becomes more relevant he's not going to comment on it.]

Where's the shopkeeper?

[decrypter]

They work until eight. They should be back in the dorms soon, however. Give them some time, and they'll appear.

[just putting this out there. everyone be nice to npc-kun as they are now a dormmate.]

[topscores]

[Nice nods once, and he scratches at his nose before putting his hands in his pockets again.]

So someone with the wisteria...and someone that probably didn't like what they did.

[he's talking to himself more than her for a moment.]

Did they have anyone they didn't get along with?

[mermaidcursed]

I didn't know Kijima-san well, but I know he was kind of aggressive- or at least he could come off that way. Akira-kun was a bit of a trickster, but if he made anyone mad I never witnessed it- unless dares going too far at the movie party did something.

( but hey this is now confirmed to be on the network, so at some point nene will check that out to see if there's any more assholes making games of their friends' deaths or admitting to murder or something.

there isn't, but there is this- )

Ah! Hey, there's something- a list of people who bought a wisteria jar lately.

[topscores]

[Nice looks over her shoulder if that's ok to see the text. since he's still new, there are some of the names that don't ring any bells...but hey, that's what Helena and Nene are for, right?]

I've met Ishimaru and Ebalon, but the rest I don't know...

[he ponders for a moment. neither one of them seemed like the murdering type but if his profile is correct...]

What about the other names? Anyone on there that would get possessed or whatever and regret it?

[decrypter]

There's a simpler way to eliminate people. Have them produce their jars. At least among our number, that should be easy, right - our rooms are right here.

[she has no idea who's on the list unless Nene reads it aloud, though.]

[mermaidcursed]

Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Joshua Kiryu, Noah Ebalon, Akira Fujioka, Hikaru Goto and Nao Sato... Fujioka-san and Sato-san both go back home after school, but everyone else should be here. We'll have to ask them. I can go get mine, too.

here's ur jar kid

[silentabyss]

[Let's just pretend Noah's been here the whole time because he probably has been, lbr, but he's Noah so he just kind of stands awkwardly in corners... anyway Amity asked me on plurk to tag in here.

Noah disappears for a second and comes back with his unbroken jar from his room, although anyone who wants to is free to follow him in case he's suspicious somehow.]

When I first got it, I didn't realise it was... souls? S-so I just... I put it on my shelf and left it there for months. You can ask Senku about it. I was too scared to touch it... I feel bad.

[topscores]

[Nice examines the jar, scratching at his nose a little bit as he makes sure there's nothing missing from it. not that he explicitly doubts that the other's a liar, but he wants to be thorough.]

And there's no way you'd be able to refill it after using it, right?

[he's just making sure, since he's still trying to figure out how this world works]

[silentabyss]

No... if you touch the petals, you fall asleep. It would be really hard to refill the jar. Just holding it makes me tired.

[Pauses, then,]

I guess, logically speaking, you could set the jar under the tree and wait for petals to fall into it? But someone would inevitably see that, right?

[Plus, he has the Senku alibi too. Also the alibi of anxiety about souls in a jar.]

[topscores]

You'd think that the probability of them actually falling in there and refilling the jar would be slim to none. Unless some sort of ability was involved.

[he's still trying to figure out how all that works too, considering he's noticed that some of the other students can use theirs but he obviously can't use his.]

[moraloutrage]

Please excuse me!

[With a polite bow, Ishimaru excuses himself on the meeting. And he comes back from his room a few minutes late with his own wisteria jar, which appears to be unopened.]

This is the jar that I have acquired. It has not been opened!

[topscores]

[...this is a lot more difficult than he'd expected.

Nice hums as he examines the wisteria jar, scratching at his cheek. this really was going to be a pain in the ass, wasn't it?]

So what're we gonna do if all the jars haven't been opened?

[just a question.]

[moraloutrage]

[He frowns thoughtfully, carefully setting his jar down nearby.]

...I am not sure. It may mark an end for this potential lead, unless there is some other way of obtaining wisteria leaves that we are unaware of. We could continue to question ourselves further, though as Noah-kun stated, refilling the jar would be much easier said than done.

[topscores]

It's probably still relevant, but until we know something else, we shouldn't waste our time.

[and he hates wasting his time...]

But it's not like anyone's going to hop up and yell "Hey I'm the murderer!!" or something like that, so...how do I know you didn't do it?

[that took a turn suddenly]

[moraloutrage]

M-me?!

[He looks shocked as the accusation is thrust upon him.]

Well... there's the fact that my jar is unopened, and that I refuse to partake in murder! Aside from that, I am not sure how to definitively prove my innocence. I do not even know all of the details of those particular deaths!

[decrypter]

The jar itself existing is part of the matter at hand.

[she taps the top of her cane to her chin thoughtfully.]

There were glass shards in that room, as well as the petals. Someone cleaned up afterwards, but didn't think we'd check the trash. Filled or not, the container is just as important.

[topscores]

True. Unless someone had more than one wisteria jar, and then they could just keep pretending that one of them didn't break.

[hmmmmmmm]

I guess the shopkeeper didn't report any thefts or anything, or shortages of the jars? The fact that he might be helping the killer isn't something we should rule out, either.