WEEK 5; TRIAL

[killerwaves]

TRIAL

Three dead, one vote. This might be a pit of a pickle, huh? Perhaps appropriately, the kittybots are serving pickles of all flavors today, along with food that might remind you of your childhood like ants on a log, gummy worm sundaes and adorable toast in sweet and savory profiles. To drink, are their best attempts at replicating the DD refreshers with a whole array of silly straws.

Off to the side in a booth of their own are the bodies as well as attendant kittybots (well two bodies and one arm); simply request which body you'd like to look at and the kitty bots will direct you appropriately, given the number of arms floating around. The kittybots continue to do their best.

(( OOC: Welcome to your third trial! You'll have 7 hours (8PM EST/5PM PST) to vote one (1) person guilty of murder. Since this is scapegoat style, finding the correct killer is not mandatory!

Please remember to vote before then unless you've spoken to a mod, as votes are our stand-in for AC. ))

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zelkov's body, cw: mild gore, dismemberment

[diabolizes]

I helped with examining Zelkov's body along with Lacus. He was found slumped against the table in the lab like he had collapsed there, of which the pool of blood underneath him seemed to attest to. His left arm had been severed around the elbow area, and the cut was rather clean.

He looked like he had been through a fight, given he had bruises and bloody cuts all over his body. The cuts weren't particularly deep or long and looked to be more like surface wounds, and most of the bruising on his body was not concentrated in one specific area save for where his left arm had been severed off. As for where his arm had been cut—the stump itself had evidence of being crushed and mangled, severely enough that there were cracks running along the bone that I could see sticking out.

Although he was rather stiff by the time we found him, Lacus managed to dig a few things out of his pockets, namely a U-PINION, Dove cabana key, travel sewing kit, and a kitchen knife. The kitchen knife was of most interest, as it had seen signs of use and had small wood splinters caught in the nicks.

I also found another kitchen knife next to him, but this one was bloody. I gave it a thorough look over and there were quite a few nicks on the knife, and while it otherwise looked incredibly sharp, I would say that the damage was consistent with a lot of force being exerted with that knife.

[ He'll even pull out both knives in separate bags from his robes too, in case anyone wants to have a look. ]

And because there was dangerous gas in the lab and we've had some incidences of poisoning, I got a good look at his face too. Zelkov had light blistering around his face, which also had similar blistering to that on his right hand. His eyes were also red and irritated.

[idologue]

I imagine that the knife in his own pocket was used on the sculpture he was working on.

As for the second one... there is no way to cut off an arm with a kitchen knife, is there?

[diabolizes]

That tracks with his usual activities.

[ But as for the other knife... ]

With enough force and time, I believe you could cut off an arm that way and we do have quite a few people with superhuman strength here. I haven't done it myself, though, so I can't say for sure how easy it would be even with that. But you would think that whoever did it would keep their limited time in mind and use something more... efficient, especially with how clean that cut is.

[chosenwang]

Force was used on the cabinet door. While I doubt the knife made contact with it considering how the dent looked, it does confirm someone with strength was involved. I don't know if that someone was Zelkov or his opponent.

[diabolizes]

And with the way his arm was crushed too... I have to wonder if that same strength was applied to his arm to hold it down.

[dancing_flames]

You could, but it would take time. It takes more effort than you'd think, even with a larger blade.

It wouldn't be a single blow, at any rate.

[diabolizes]

[ He nods. ]

And likely not such a clean cut either, unless whoever it was had a lot of precision.