WEEK 4 INVESTIGATION

[foundationmods]

Four weeks.

By now, waking up to death on Friday was becoming normal.

Gazing at something that should not have occurred...a death of one of them.
A death done by one of them....which could have been done by anyone.
Even by someone who would seem to have no reason to kill...🗈

Such a thing...was draining.
No, it was more than that - it was preying upon their very souls...
But they had no choice.

No matter how they felt, they had to search, to find the body and find the clues that would bring them to the killer themselves in tomorrow's trial.

...What kind of horror will they find today?

What kind of death did one of their number face?

And what sort of horrible, heart-rending truth....will be the end result, at the end of this week...?

Comments

[cryosurgeon]

'm fine... I don't....

[He sways and braces his hand on the floor.]

... not useless....

[rikuchi]

No, you're not. So, c'mon.

[ Riku is not taking no for an answer, moving to carefully set down a bowl of water and disinfectant. So he'll first dab at the wrist with a rag before trying to put the bandage around the wrist, emphasis on try. ]

[cryosurgeon]

[Erhard doesn't struggle, but his attention is fixated on Natsuno's body rather than what Riku is doing. He's still trying to investigate.

He's looking for anything: clothing damage, a torn out lock of hair, even trying to see if Natsuno's fangs were out.]

[youkaiwatch]

You know I can look for you if you want to tell me what to check for, or we can ask Mr. Holmes to do it. You look like you need to sit down.

[cryosurgeon]

....

[His hands are shaking, and when he tries to stop them they start doing his usual stiff-clenching stim thing again.]

I can't think of anything else to check. I... I'm not a forensics expert. He died of exsanguination and massive cardiac trauma. The stake didn't....

[His voice cracks slightly. His walls. Where are his walls? He needs to be blank again.]

I swear I didn't think I was using him....

[chaoscontrol]

Doctor...

[Shadow crouches by Erhard and the body. He'll sort of gently tug at him, trying to get him to sit down in a proper chair]

[cryosurgeon]

[There's no point in resisting. Once Riku finishes wrapping his wrist, he lets Shadow pull him to a chair and simply sags into it.]

... is this my fault? Did someone hack the message I left with AI@BA?

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow blips out again and then back again, with a cup of juice. He hands it to Erhard. Get some sugar in u, doc]

Unless you stabbed him, Doctor, this isn't your fault. ... Did you tell AI@BA something that might have put Koide in danger?

[cryosurgeon]

[Erhard takes the glass but doesn't drink.]

I left a text entry, locked to Takumi, vaguely detailing a "deal" I had with Natsuno. I left the stipulation that, if I died, I wanted Takumi to ask Natsuno if he wanted someone else to take my place, without specifying what that meant. I didn't want to leave evidence of Koide's true nature where someone could find it.

[chaoscontrol]

[... was Koide's true nature some sort of secret or something? It was obvious to Shadow. ]

I see... So you didn't give AI@BA any details about the deal? I... suspect I know what you were doing.

[cryosurgeon]

No. I didn't want to risk it, in case AI@BA was hacked or if it deemed the information too important to keep secret.

[Erhard sighs.]

Yes, I was giving Koide my blood. It strengthened him, and the effect of the bite allowed me to sleep after dealing with the murders and Nirrti's madness.

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow nods]

I see. So it was a mutually beneficial situation, by the sound of it.

[He frowns, casting his eyes toward the stacks, where Terios is watching Anon. Why had the infernal gotten so angry, then...?]

I wonder if someone else found out about what he was, and thought he might be dangerous.

[cryosurgeon]

Yes. He wanted to be strong enough to fight Nirrti, maybe Watanuki as well. I just... wanted to sleep without seeing the dead in my dreams. I already suffer from frequent nightmares.

[He glances over at Natsuno's body.]

If they found out he was some sort of vampire, that would explain the stake. It's a traditional method in the legends.

[youkaiwatch]

Aren't they supposed to be wooden?

[cryosurgeon]

It depends on the legend, I guess... I don't know, I'm not the person to ask about mythology. I only know this much because I studied porphyria as part of my genetic disorders classes.

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow frowns. To sleep without being plagued of dreams of the dead... And for the power to end the game. It was a good exchange, but in the end...]

But they killed him with something sharp. Maybe the stake was just a way for the killer to try and reveal his nature to everyone. Like when I left Watanuki's letters laying around. [he scoffs and adds sarcastically;] Good to see Nirrti didn't interfere with this evidence.

[cryosurgeon]

Then our suspects are people who knew what he was.

[Quiet and toneless:]

That includes me, of course.

[youkaiwatch]

[ Actually, let's just double check a few things in case the blood loss made the doctor miss anything...

Just to clarify, the wound does look like it's from a double edged blade? Definitely something like a sword as opposed to a knife?

Aaaand is there anything under his nails? ]

[foundationmods]

[It does indeed look like it's from a double edged blade! Though there are double edged knives in the Master Bedroom, so it's not like those are ruled out.

And no, there's nothing under his nails.]

[youkaiwatch]

[ Noted! ]

[anonnomnomnom]

[A while later, after his general tour of the investigation locations, the checks and a couple of other side trips, Anon comes back into the quieter library. He has the broadsword and the double-bladed knife in tow, and he's going to come kneel by the corpse.

He doesn't flinch while he checks it over.

There's a ferocious focus instead, almost enough to scorch.

He's going to check the clothes for any missing bits, anything unusual about the hair, and then he's going to start matching the blades to the wound. Which one lines up? Don't make him re-stab the body......]

[foundationmods]

[Either of them could match up- The attack was just deep enough to hit the heart, but didn't go totally through.

As for Natsuno's clothes, they're not missing a single scrap of fabric.]

[anonnomnomnom]

[Does it look like it was stopped by anything other than the organ, or that the killer stopped stabbing because they knew they hit the heart?]

[foundationmods]

[It seems like they knew they hit the heart.]

later just because

[anonnomnomnom]

[Once he's done examining the corpse -- he's been all over today and it's more tiring than running around the island a thousand times, probably -- Anon moves it to a nearby bookshelf, out of the open. He also drapes a certain stupid feather boa on it, because some things don't change.

Eventually, he's going to have to leave the library instead of also living in it, because he needs to move some things, get a new room, take stock of what's left.

For now -- he'll sit by the body, curled in on himself, for as long as he's allowed.]