|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 3:59:50 GMT 12
There are no more than five master keys on the island. There truly is just one study key, which is now in my possession! The culprit dropped the study key in the process of either reloading or unloading ammo from the murder weapon.
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 5:07:43 GMT 12
There are no more than five master keys on the island.
There is only one study key, which is in Erika's possession.
The culprit was not holding a weapon when they dropped the study key.
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 5:20:47 GMT 12
Meta Phase 1 End!
It looks like Erika's made some pretty good headway in solving this mystery, but maybe I threw her one or two curveballs~ Will she get any farther during this phase, or will the next murders baffle everyone? ~ ~ ~
Natsuhi is returning to her room after finding the gold. The head ring sparkles on her finger. She hadn’t run into Krauss, but she hadn’t planned on hiding it if she did. A woman is waiting in her room, sitting on her bed.
She looks familiar, with golden hair and a fancy dress. Though Natsuhi knows the answer she still voices that question.
“Who are you?”
The woman, sitting contentedly on her bed, smiles. “I am Beatrice,” she says. “The alchemist who serves the head of the Ushiromiya family. I’d like to congratulate you on solving my epitaph.”
Natsuhi backs up quickly, and Beatrice laughs.
“I’m not here to hurt you, Natsuhi. Call Kumasawa or Shannon, and we’ll have some tea.” She grins, showing all her teeth in a not very comforting manner, “I heard your wish, all those years ago, I just didn’t have the power to show myself. Why don’t we talk about that?”
Gameboard Phase 2 Start!
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 5:24:47 GMT 12
Erika sighs and takes a look through the other rooms of the study, not really expecting to find anything. "Tell me, is it possible to enter this room through a method other than the special key?"
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 5:35:06 GMT 12
As she expects, the study is clean, and nothing too interesting to find.
"If someone is inside the room, that mechanism right there will allow them to unlock the auto lock." Genji says, pointing to a small switch near the table where the wine glass is. "Without the key to the study, the only way to enter this room is to be let inside."
Maria, who had been looking at the small picture of Beatrice hung in the study, frowns. "Uu- Uu-, I'm hungry." she says, "When are we going to eat?"
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 5:39:29 GMT 12
"We can go now, I'm about finished up here anyway." Erika presses the switch to open the auto lock.
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 5:46:40 GMT 12
Erika can hear the lock click as it unlocks, and Maria pulls open the door and heads downstairs, not waiting for anyone.
"Ooi, Maria! Don't just run off on your own!" Jessica says, hurrying after her, with George in tow.
"I had just about finished with breakfast before Shannon arrived," Gohda says, speaking to Natsuhi. "Shall I serve it in the Parlor?"
Natsuhi watches after her daughter with worry, but then nods. "That seems like the best idea, please."
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 5:49:28 GMT 12
Erika eyes the others as she stops by Beatrice's portrait upon reaching the first floor. "It's unlikely that anything fun will happen while I'm around, so I think I'll just take a shot at this...." Erika examines the riddle closely, grabs an umbrella, and walks out the front door to see about finding the gold room.
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:03:04 GMT 12
Genji is the only one to notice Erika leave, but says nothing regarding that.
With her level of intellect, the riddle is quite easy for her to solve, and the door to the 'golden land' opens fairly easily. It doesn't seem like it's been maintained all too often, however. As promised by the riddle the gold appears to all be there.
By the time Erika gets back, things have gotten a little... hectic.
On the door to the washroom next to the kitchen, a sloppy red circle has been drawn in what looks like blood. Maria seems furious and is shouting at Natsuhi that she's ruined Beatrice's ceremony.
Natsuhi is inside the room, with a fearful expression, trying to tell the others that she only found this, that she's not the cause. In her hand, she holds a bloody kitchen knife, and the corpses of Genji and Kumasawa are at her feet, stabbed several times over.
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 6:06:45 GMT 12
Erika drops a bar of gold onto the table. "Well that happened quicker than I had expected it to." Erika looks down to the corpses. "Where did everyone else get to, hm?"
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:19:22 GMT 12
"I- I think everyone else should still be in th' parlor," Hideyoshi says. "The servants were all cleaning up, and Jessica left 'cause she said she had to use the ladies room. Kumasawa was supposed to come back with some tea but she hadn't , so Natsuhi went lookin'. Maria wanted to go somewhere, so I thought I'd go with her to try and keep her safe, and we found this."
"You can't pretend to be Beatrice while she's started her Resurrection ceremony! Uu- Uuu- UU! You're going to ruin everything! Uu! Uu!"
Maria's shouting attracts the attention of Gohda, from the kitchen, and Battler and Kyrie and George from the parlor.
With the bodies, Erika discovers another diary note, this one a little longer than the last.
“One day, I met an outgoing woman with pretty blonde hair. She agreed to help me get back at the people who had been so cruel to me, and was clever about it too. I didn’t realize she’d been so good at planning it.”
Genji appears to have had his throat cut, while Kumasawa has been stabbed several times in the chest and neck.
"I- I just saw the door, and found them like this!" Natsuhi says. "I was trying to see if I could help them- I didn't do it, I swear!" Her eyes grow wide when she sees what Erika laid down on a table. "I- Is that-?"
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 6:24:06 GMT 12
Erika shrugs. "People should really hide these things better. I just had to look at the riddle once and I knew where to go." Erika examines the handwriting on the two diary pages she's found so far. "That makes two."
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:28:53 GMT 12
The handwriting on the diary pages appears to be identical.
Shannon finally emerges from the kitchen, pushing a cart laden with tea, but stops in shock when she sees the scene in the washroom. Jessica and Kanon are the last to rejoin the group, and gasps when she sees the scene. "MOM!"
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 6:32:50 GMT 12
"Well now that we're all together, maybe now I can get some answers from everyone." Erika takes a chair and drops into it. "I've been gone for a bit and I would like to know what I missed. I already heard Natsuhi's supposed alibi, so I'm interested in everyone else's. How is it that two people could die, but none of you heard anything?"
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:45:32 GMT 12
"UU-- UU! Aunt Natsuhi is trying to ruin Beatrice's resurrection ceremony!" Maria insists.
"Maria wanted to watch some TV, and she was being pretty loud," Battler says. "I guess it must have happened then. The servants had already left with the dishes."
"I'd begun washing dishes after Genji and Kumasawa left." Gohda says, "I guess I may have heard something then, but-" He shakes his head, "I didn't think much of it. It was something loud and short, and I didn't hear anything after that, so I figured I must have imagined it."
"The washroom was locked when I went to go use it, so I went upstairs instead." Jessica says. "Kanon was worried, so he came to find me, but we also decided to check out one of the crime scenes."
Kanon nods, "If I may point out, you didn't investigate the scene in Madam Natsuhi's room, where Master Krauss's body was found, only Master Krauss's bedroom."
"I went to the servants room to get another serving cart so I could quickly bring the tea to the parlor, since the other one was full of dirty dishes," Shannon says quietly. "I got that and came right back to begin preparing the tea."
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 6:50:31 GMT 12
"And you didn't see anybody take a knife?" Erika directs at Gohda. She then turns her attention to Kanon. "Right, I think I'll be going there once we're through here."
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:53:47 GMT 12
Gohda frowns, thinking about that. He takes one look at the knife still clutched in Natsuhi's hand with a bit of a wince. "That knife was part of the serving set with the meal served in the parlor," Gohda says.
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 6:54:49 GMT 12
"I see, I see. Anything else that I should know about before I go upstairs?"
|
|
|
Post by Yarn Witch on Jul 30, 2014 6:59:33 GMT 12
Everyone looks at each other, but doesn't come up with anything.
Maria is still screaming at Natushi, and, in an attempt just to make her stop, he suggests. "Hey now, just because Natsuhi was in the room doesn't mean Beatrice didn't do it."
"Wrong! That's wrong! The magic circle on the door is all wrong! It wasn't drawn by Beatrice at all!" Maria fumes.
"I-I think that's as far as we're getting." Gohda says delicately.
|
|
|
Post by animex75 on Jul 30, 2014 7:01:10 GMT 12
"It is, after all MAGIC DOESN'T EXIST!"
|
|