Murder Tale V: The Grand Hotel

[Kaykay]

Her attempt to go unnoticed at failed, unfortunately, as Ghostface gave her a "friendly" greeting. She scowled at the killer, though it was unlikely he minded at all.

As he took out his knife though, she immediately flinched. Seeing him wielding a knife again wasn't something she wished to see.

"Can we not display these things...?"

Displaying them was conducive to the search, but not so much to her emotional health.​

Jeen stumbled upon a crowd of people gathered around what appeared to be a rather messy scene of a dead body. He took his sweet time getting down to the lobby, so he didn't hear what Jade had to say about it, but from the looks of the crowd it looked like whatever happened wasn't part of the evening's plans.

"Someone croak or somethin'? Huh. Damn shame..."

"... Well, I'm hitting the bar now. Anyone care to join in?" He gestured at Ghostface and his little crowd. "How about you, uh... fuck, I don't know your name. Whatever. You in?"

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Verite @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

"It's probably not a good idea to just leave with a murderer on the loose, you know?"

@Arlathina @Alyto @Atomyk @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician​

 

[Verite]

If the jewelry held any special properties, it certainly didn't look it. Those who had seen Rita earlier would recall that the gem hadn't been cracked when she was alive. As Morrighan examined the jewellery, she'd find that item was loose around Rita's neck.

Looking down at the note, Jade would shrug at Saitama's questions. "Likely, Mr. C does mean myself, and the light is something she was attempting to fix in the ballroom. Rita had fixed it, but now that I think about it, she mentioned being accosted on the catwalk access to the lights by a guest of ours. Hm... As for Lady Melodia, well..." Jade managed a smile. "Not everyone gets along with each other."

"Anyway, I do think it would be a good idea to determine if anyone has weapons on their person. We were lax when it came to allowing weaponry, and perhaps that was an issue... But, if you'll excuse me for a moment--"

Jade left those of you around the body and began heading up to the stairs on the second floor.

@Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body
​

Alright. That shed a little bit of light, and with these kinds of cases, even just "a little bit" was always important. At least, from what Saitama had seen in the few mystery stories he had read and seen. At the very least, it seemed that everyone was getting somewhere, though before the hero would be able to inquire further, it looked like Jade would go off somewhere else with his own business to attend to. Well, whatever. He wasn't about to bother him then. Now in any case...

Oh, everyone was showing off their cool weapons now? Huh.

Between the guys who were dressed up as serial killers (only to seemingly turn out to be real serial killers), the girl with the sword, and the creepy white-haired guy with his own sword, among other people, Saitama almost felt like an odd man out for not having his own blade. Not that it mattered in actuality, as no blade would ever be practical and useful to him in all honesty, but... Damn. Back home, the only person who carried around such archaic weapons was probably Atomic Samurai. Everyone else was either an Esper, a cyborg, a half-zombie, or... whatever Pig God is supposed to be.

Well, anyway. Back on topic.

"So... uh, let's stop showing off all the sharp pointy objects for a moment and get back on track, since I don't think we'll accomplish much by admiring 'em," Saitama suggested, before crossing his arms, "Before we get much further, I guess we should try to organize what we know. I get lost a little easily so..."

With that, he cleared his throat.

"The girl's body was found like this with her throat slashed by probably a sharp object, though we don't know if one of these glass shards from the nearby mirror did the job, though for the mirror to be so broken in the first place, that must mean that most likely, it had been broken during a struggle, which we could guess is supported by that bruise," Saitama began to speak, holding his chin in thought.

"The paper she had was some sort of schedule that indicated what she was to do, which included... uh, avoiding Melodia, fix the lights, where Jade said she was approached by one of the guests, and then visit the storerooms after talking to Jade. Still, we can't really say if that so-called guest, whoever he or she was, was the culprit, since it's circumstantial, and could, in reality, just be nothing."

Truth be told, he had wanted to use that word for quite a while. Circumstantial. Rolled off the tongue quite well.

"Either way, she also had some wiring on her, though we don't know if there's any significance of this at the moment."

Hmm.

"I just need to know how someone slashed her throat with that gem on her neck... unless it were slashed along with her throat? Maybe that might explain it, but I dunno. I'm not a detective..."

He just punched things, man.

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

 

[Midnight Maiden]

Ryan was speaking sense, and she was right... Practically speaking Kilgrave was a piece of human filth, and Gilgamesh could tell that the second he spoke. But it was true this wasn't actual proof but rather instinct. And although the whole requirement for proof wasn't one he often agreed with, it is the philosophy that has led many talent people, so he had to at least respect it. Once Kilgrave departed Gilgamesh retracted Enkidu back into the Gates of Babylon, so that Ryan was free to move about again.

"Hmph! If you wish to endanger yourself like that then fine! But know that by doing so it's not just yourself you are putting in danger", which was probably the closest Gilgamesh was going to get to laying off for now. Then rubbing his temple a bit, stressed by the current situation he figured they'd both be best served dropping the topic. So he said "And to answer your question earlier, I've been busy... Long Story short I've ran into other murder games since the Crimson Moon incident".

@Savannah-Clause @Cromartie Sarkissian​

"Oh, now this really is pathetic. You humans really are feeble minded, arnt you? Do you enjoy being suppressed or something? Because you all seem awfully good at it!" The Doctor pulled a seat up next to killgrave, putting his booted feet up on the nearest table. The then succeeded in kicking off all drinks, beverages and deserts that once stood upon it, on the hope of finding the perfect place in which to rest his feet most comfortably.

Then, he turned towards Gilgamesh, pulling on the bottom of his breastplate. "You there! You seem to have some sort of relation to this girl, and you appear to be rather... unhappy about he change of character. If this purple suited man really has got some sort of mental influence over her, I may be able to break it for you. I will however, need your permission; it may provide momentary pain on both of our behalfs." Yes, one most occasion he probably wouldn't bat a second eye towards the girl; she wasn't doing anyone any harm, and, to be entirely honest, 6 was finding it rather entertaining. The only reason he was breaking tradition was, of course, to humiliate Captain Camelot; be couldn't wait to see his proud little face reduced to a quivering lip, knowing that he could never best the TimeLord, neither in style, nor in intellect.
"So? May I?"
@Gen. Magic Senpai @C.T.

... And the Doctor had to bring it up again with promise of fixing it. Though, from what Gilgamesh noticed Kilgrave never actually pulled off anything so it would be useless. "Hmph! The man never pulled it off, so unless if what you're offering is a form of immunity what's the point? And how would that even work?". Then, addressing the next point to Ryan "Your mind, your choice though. Though if his offer is valid, I'd expect only a fool to reject it". Gilgamesh kept up appearances the best he could right now, if this man had a tool he could utilize then it would be most welcome. But that would simply be using a tool, once his use evaporates, and Ryan is out of sight he'd have to learn to teach some proper manners and humility to the man.

@Cromartie Sarkissian @Savannah-Clause​

Haha, Gilgamesh, Ryan had you beat. The fact that he'd relented at least slightly(though still seemed rather overprotective) earned that typical shining smile and a small nod of understanding. Even if her philosophy hadn't changed, Gilgamesh's claim that she wasn't the only one she was endangering definitely got through to her - because the very last thing Ryan wanted to do was put others in danger. Heck, now that she thought about it... She had promised Kinuhata all those years ago that she would try to keep herself safe, too, until they met again. And thus she duly noted to at least be cautious in her endeavors. "I see your point. I'll be sure to put more caution into my actions, if that eases your concerns," she chimed, brightly.

She did seem to grow a tad worried when Gilgamesh mentioned that he had been drawn into more murder games. Her smile was chipped away very slightly, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly with concern. "I hope no further harm was inflicted on you?" Yup. Now it was Ryan's turn for the role of being the overprotective one. Before she could worry over him much more, the Doctor started speaking of her with Gilgamesh, asking her friend if he wanted her mind cleansed. Now, that was.... Quite the thought. "I assure you both that I'm fine, though I appreciate the concern," she stated, calmly and gently.

Before much more could be said, their conversation was cut short by the host of the event making an announcement.
​

Continued from here.

CHAPTER ONE
"A Murder Mystery Role Play"

Approximately an hour had passed into the evening and already the party was quite lively. The feuds, the dancing, the insanity... it was hard to believe the party had only just begun. As Jade had promised, he had an event planned this evening, and it was his goal to start it off before the feast commenced. Gathering himself on stage, the hotel proprietor was once again basked in the light of twin spotlights. The man waited patiently for his guests to settle down before speaking.

"Such lively guests I have this evening! Quite a delight you all have been so far... Hopefully, you'll enjoy the event I have planned just as much as I have enjoyed all of you." Jade almost sounded bubbly. Whatever he had planned, he was excited for it. He gestured with his hand toward the crowd, pointing out Rowen Ilbert, the sole human server. Rowen nodded and began to make his way to the bar. "Our gracious butler will be assisting me for this event. We will draw names to pick out players in the game. What is it, you may ask? Why, it's a pretend murder mystery! Guests chosen to participate will be given a role they have to play, and one of these roles will secretly be our killer. Participants will investigate the clues laid out before them and then will perform in a mock trial at the end of our evening! All our guests will be watching, so please try and make it dramatic!"

Having left the back room of the bar, Rowen was making his way on to the stage now with a closed basket. On the top was a hole large enough to fit one's hand inside. "Here we are!" Jade exclaimed. While Rowen held out the basket in front of him, Jade reached a hand into the hole on top.

"Remember, if your name is called, participation is mandatory!" With a flourish of his hand, Jade pulled out the first name and read it intently.

"First we have Peashy... Then..."

***

By the time Jade was finished, almost fifty names had been called. The guests not chosen were told to continue waiting for the feast while those chosen were brought into another section of the hotel. Your destination was the lobby, a pristine and elegant place that served as the waiting area for guests of the hotel renting out rooms.

"Thank you all for joining me this far," Jade said once everyone was gathered around him. "I know some of you chosen have had a few issues with each, but let's try and put all that aside for the sake of having some fun, shall we?"

"I am happy to oblige, Mr. Curtiss."

Nodding, Jade gestured to the double doors behind him. "Rowen will stay here to set up the mystery. I will escort the rest of you to your rooms. There, you will be locked and given your role to read and practice. You'll find a card in your room. Once you hear a knock at your door, it's time to start the game. Respond to the knocks and your doors will be unlocked. After this, you're to proceed back to the lobby."

"Then, you'll perform an investigation before proceeding back to the banquet hall for this night's feast!"

Even if some of you weren't into playing this game, Jade's words seemed strangely convincing. There was nothing that had happened so far to indicate something weird was up. It was probably best just to follow along in order to not cause any issues. Besides, it's not like you'd miss the feast.

***

Once everyone had been shown to their rooms, you would find that the role cards that Jade said would be inside to be missing. Perhaps plans had changed? Regardless, the knock on your door would come soon enough. On your way to the lobby, nothing seemed really out of the ordinary...

However, the same couldn't be said for the lobby itself. A quick examination would reveal an unsettling sight: Rita Mordio lay motionless on the lobby's floor. She was at the side of the room in a puddle of what appeared to be blood. It's not entirely unexpected as this was meant to be a mock murder mystery, right?

Except, as Jade walked in to greet your group, he looked confused upon seeing Rita.

"That is... very strange." Moving across the lobby, Jade came to stand over Rita. Letting out a sigh, the man raised a hand to his face and adjusted his glasses. "Everyone, I advise you to stay calm and under no circumstances should you leave this room until I've finished talking. Rita was not to be our pretend victim tonight... it appears she's been murdered for real." Looking over the group, Jade seemed to be deeply thinking about something. "... I will check with the Prinnies just to be sure, but no one else but this group and the other employees of the hotel should have had access to this part of the hotel. So..."

Looking back down at Rita, Jade nodded. "So, someone in this room is likely the killer."

"This can't get back to the party. This night is for Lady Melodia, and she deserves a pleasant evening. This stays between the people in this room. I will contact the authorities when the night is over, but that may be too late... So, hm. All right. Obviously, our pretend murder mystery has been cancelled, as it seems a real one must be solved. Interesting, isn't it? If all of you have nothing to hide, then you are obligated to assist. Obviously, I will help best I can."

Leaning down next to Rita's body, Jade examined the girl closely. "I'll need help looking the body over. Some of you check out the room for anything else that might assist us. If you leave to go back to the party, under no circumstances are you to tell the other guests. A panic could start and make our personal investigation impossible."

With your current situation as it was, you had a few options to you. Would you investigate Rita's body? Check for wounds? Search her pockets?

Perhaps you would look around the body for clues?

If you wished, Jade didn't seem to mind if you wanted to head back to the party, but telling anyone of the that a real murder had occurred instead of a fake one was forbidden.

~CAST LIST~
@Alyto as Peashy [Hyperdimension Neptunia]
@Hazel-rah as Jeen [Super Mario RPG (AU)]
@The Yuletide Tactician as Hajime Hinata [Danganronpa]
@Savannah-Clause as Yvaine [Stardust] and 'Ryan' Duchannes [Caster Chronicles]
@Forrest as Jacket [Hotline Miami]
@TheSpringwoodSlasher as Ghostface [Scream] and ChromeSkull [Laid to Rest]
@DapperDogman as The Bogeyman [Silent Hill] and Papyrus [Undertale (AU)]
@Verite as Saitama [One Punch Man]
@Mighty Roman as Gilderoy Lockhart [Harry Potter] and Osgood [Doctor Who]
@Saint Guillotine as Sweet [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] and Isayama Yomi [Ga-Rei Zero]
@Klutzy Ninja Kitty as Missy [Doctor Who]
@CrunchyCHEEZIT as W.D. Gaster [Undertale]
@Cromartie Sarkissian as The 11th Doctor and The 6th Doctor [Doctor Who]
@Jeremi as Mephista [Marvel Comics] and Morrigan Aensland [Darkstalkers]
@The Great Detective as Neopolitan [RWBY]
@The Silver Paladin as Sarah Cheng [Fallout]
@Archmage Jeremiah as Coraline Fenn [Fallout]
@Gen. Magic Senpai as Kiritsugu Emiya and Gilgamesh [Fate Zero/Stay Night]
@Kaykay as Tsubomi Kido [Kagerou Project]
@C.T. as Anya Corazon [Marvel Comics] and Kilgrave [MCU]
@OrlandoBloomers as Death of the Endless [Sandman] and Brad Armstrong [Lisa]
@Lizzy as Arisu [Original Character]
@CCC Kouhai as Mary [Dreaming Mary]
@Schnee Corp Lawyer as Cirno [Touhou]
@york as Yulia and Slavya [Everlasting Summer]
@Raven as Raven A. Roth and Rose Wilson [Teen Titans]
@Mari as Jen Yu [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]
@Sen as Sal/Syakesan [Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea]
@Sav as Mathilda and Leon [Leon The Professional]
@Arlathina as Morrighan [Mabinogi/Celtic Mythology]
@Hana as Wadanohara [Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea]
@Librarian Cat as Nyanta [Log Horizon]
@Krieg as Lena Oxton/Tracer [Overwatch]​

Huh. So, it looked like Ryan didn't exactly have the time to follow Kilgrave's orders before being ushered off to her room.... In which place, her body still kept trying to carry out the command. Dammit, Kilgrave, Ryan was going to kill you with kindness for that later. :|

But, there were more important matters at hand - what had supposedly been some sort of game... Had suddenly turned into something very, very real. Ryan's heart was torn by the sight of the child lying in a lake of her own blood, and the Thaumaturge felt a very familiar pang that she had only known once, a very, very long time ago - the pain of having failed to protect someone. The pain and hurt of not having been there at the right time to use her blessing with healing magic to save them. It was one that she didn't experience often, considering the only time it had happened before was during that sick 'game' she'd gone through those eight years ago.

No matter how seldom she felt it, it never ceased to crash into her like a tsunami, it's waves consuming her entire being as though eating her alive.

In a sorrowful and respectful silence, Ryan- no, Aurelia - moved towards the child's corpse, kneeling at her side tenderly. It took everything in her- every ounce of concentration, determination, and more -... But the girl pulled off something that she had taken a long time to pull off: she conjured something. It wasn't anything special, fancy, or large... Just something small. And despite it's size and rather common populace throughout the Earth, it still had a lot of meaning. In Ryan's eyes, anyways.

A small, beautiful bouquet, that the blonde woman handled with great care and delicacy.

Knowing better than to taint the crime scene by placing the flowers on the child or in her hands, the Caster took care in setting them off to the side of the 'main' area of the crime, before her eyes landed on the child once more. ..Rest in peace, little one. We'll find who did this to you.. I promise.

And, with that, Ryan joined in trying to investigate the body. She had a new air of determination about her, and hopefully(since she was a Thaumaturge), she had some idea what she was doing. Maybe.

@Atomyk @Arlathina @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Yuletide Tactician @Verite @The Silver Paladin @Body crew​

 

[DapperDogman]

"... The only clue related this fake murder was the trail of blood up the stairs. Rowen will make sure all the fake clues are discarded."

@york @Raven

---

Hajime would find a bruise in the underside of Rita's chin. The majority of her neck was obscured by the jewellery, but the slash across her throat was just above the item.

Papyrus would be unsure if one of the mirror shards were used to cut Rita's throat just by looking at them, but one shard did seem to fit the size of the wound.

@Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body​

"AHA!" Papyrus shouts, holding up the piece of glass proudly "I got nothing" he murmurs, examining it for a moment and offering it over to Hajime and the others "It's about the right size to be the weapon though, so it's a possibility"

@Atomyk @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @The Silver Paladin @TheSpringwoodSlasher @Verite @Kaykay @york​

 

[Khan of the Mardu]

"... The only clue related this fake murder was the trail of blood up the stairs. Rowen will make sure all the fake clues are discarded."

@york @Raven

---

Hajime would find a bruise in the underside of Rita's chin. The majority of her neck was obscured by the jewellery, but the slash across her throat was just above the item.

Papyrus would be unsure if one of the mirror shards were used to cut Rita's throat just by looking at them, but one shard did seem to fit the size of the wound.

@Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body​

Bingo. Already, the case was becoming clearer to him, as though he was watching the act of murder as it went on, "Rita was punched at some point in the underside of the chin. The punch knocked her head back, smashing the mirror and causing the shards we found to fall to the ground. Once Rita was dazed, the murderer slashed her throat and left her to die here..."
​

Alright. That shed a little bit of light, and with these kinds of cases, even just "a little bit" was always important. At least, from what Saitama had seen in the few mystery stories he had read and seen. At the very least, it seemed that everyone was getting somewhere, though before the hero would be able to inquire further, it looked like Jade would go off somewhere else with his own business to attend to. Well, whatever. He wasn't about to bother him then. Now in any case...

Oh, everyone was showing off their cool weapons now? Huh.

Between the guys who were dressed up as serial killers (only to seemingly turn out to be real serial killers), the girl with the sword, and the creepy white-haired guy with his own sword, among other people, Saitama almost felt like an odd man out for not having his own blade. Not that it mattered in actuality, as no blade would ever be practical and useful to him in all honesty, but... Damn. Back home, the only person who carried around such archaic weapons was probably Atomic Samurai. Everyone else was either an Esper, a cyborg, a half-zombie, or... whatever Pig God is supposed to be.

Well, anyway. Back on topic.

"So... uh, let's stop showing off all the sharp pointy objects for a moment and get back on track, since I don't think we'll accomplish much by admiring 'em," Saitama suggested, before crossing his arms, "Before we get much further, I guess we should try to organize what we know. I get lost a little easily so..."

With that, he cleared his throat.

"The girl's body was found like this with her throat slashed by probably a sharp object, though we don't know if one of these glass shards from the nearby mirror did the job, though for the mirror to be so broken in the first place, that must mean that most likely, it had been broken during a struggle, which we could guess is supported by that bruise," Saitama began to speak, holding his chin in thought.

"The paper she had was some sort of schedule that indicated what she was to do, which included... uh, avoiding Melodia, fix the lights, where Jade said she was approached by one of the guests, and then visit the storerooms after talking to Jade. Still, we can't really say if that so-called guest, whoever he or she was, was the culprit, since it's circumstantial, and could, in reality, just be nothing."

Truth be told, he had wanted to use that word for quite a while. Circumstantial. Rolled off the tongue quite well.

"Either way, she also had some wiring on her, though we don't know if there's any significance of this at the moment."

Hmm.

"I just need to know how someone slashed her throat with that gem on her neck... unless it were slashed along with her throat? Maybe that might explain it, but I dunno. I'm not a detective..."

He just punched things, man.

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

"Maybe it was, but..."

"Saitama, did Jade say which guest approached her? If not, maybe there are some cameras we can use to figure out their identity with..." Hajime questioned, giving the superhero an appreciative yet sad smile. While he was happy his new friend was on the same wavelength as he was, he couldn't help but feel sad over the whole case. He had always hated these events, where he would have to eventually accuse one of his friends and in the past... We all have blood on our hands...
​

"AHA!" Papyrus shouts, holding up the piece of glass proudly "I got nothing" he murmurs, examining it for a moment and offering it over to Hajime and the others "It's about the right size to be the weapon though, so it's a possibility"

@Atomyk @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @The Silver Paladin @TheSpringwoodSlasher @Verite @Kaykay @york​

"But still unlikely, I feel... But thank you, skeleton, the help is appreciated."​

 

[Verite]

"Maybe it was, but..."

"Saitama, did Jade say which guest approached her? If not, maybe there are some cameras we can use to figure out their identity with..." Hajime questioned, giving the superhero an appreciative yet sad smile. While he was happy his new friend was on the same wavelength as he was, he couldn't help but feel sad over the whole case. He had always hated these events, where he would have to eventually accuse one of his friends and in the past... We all have blood on our hands...​

"Uh... I don't think he did," Saitama would say with a sudden somewhat absent-minded tone, "Again, though I will say it's a notable piece of info when it comes to recreating the scene, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet."

@The Yuletide Tactician​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

Jeen stumbled upon a crowd of people gathered around what appeared to be a rather messy scene of a dead body. He took his sweet time getting down to the lobby, so he didn't hear what Jade had to say about it, but from the looks of the crowd it looked like whatever happened wasn't part of the evening's plans.

"Someone croak or somethin'? Huh. Damn shame..."

"... Well, I'm hitting the bar now. Anyone care to join in?" He gestured at Ghostface and his little crowd. "How about you, uh... fuck, I don't know your name. Whatever. You in?"

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Verite @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

At this point, pink elephants could have come waltzing through the door and Ghostface wouldn't have minded it one bit. This Pinnochio-looking motherfucker just came, didn't really seem to give a second thought about the death of this kid,

Seemed like his kind of guy!

But just as Ghostface was about to take him up on his offer, ChromeSkull tugged on his partner's cloak.

"..Ah, sorry man. Really I'd love to go grab a drink or two. I'm seriously broken up about this poor girl's death as you can tell. But, Chrome and I are sticking this through to the end, aren't we?"

WE'LL STAY FOR AS LONG AS WE'RE NEEDED. ANY LONGER THAN THAT AND WE'RE WASTING OUR TIME WE'RE NOT HERE TO BE SAINTS. WE'RE HERE TO BIDE TIME.

"Right, right. Listen,you can call me Ghostface. Once we get this whole murder thing solved, we'll go down and grab a pint with ya. Why not chill out here until we're done?"
​

"Sharing weapons, I see~" Sal strolled over to the body, catching the last few words of the twin masked people. Not wanting to look suspicious if they were to find it on him later anyway, he shrugged. "I have a sword on me, does that count~?" He drew it from his suit despite the fact that it practically shouldn't fit in there. A black grip with a red blade, simple and plain looking otherwise. "A fine sword like this isn't suitable for slicing necks, ha ha~"

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Tactician @Verite @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

For a brief moment, Ghostface's mask seemed to change designs. Switching from the original screaming face to more of a eternally confused and surprised face.

"..Dude, Chrome check that shit out! That guy who turned into a shark has an awesome looking sword!"

REALLY IMPRESSIVE.

​

Mirror one, Hajime zero. "Well, at least we know there's nothing hidden behind the mirror..." Hajime muttered as he set the mirror back in place, trying as best as he could skew it as close as it had been before, "Anyways, back to my question, Ghost, could a quick punch really knock the mirror off center like you suggested? I don't think one quick hit would do that..."

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @Atomyk

But just as quickly as it had changed, Ghostface's mask was back to normal.

"Eh? Well, probably not average joe you and me. I mean I think of myself in pretty high regards. Went to college, majored in theater, all that fancy stuff. But if I were to punch this mirror? What's likely to have happened is that the shards shooting off from said punch would tear through the fabric of my glove, mutilate my hand and leave me in quite a bit of pain, But maybe it was a combination of these two factors. The kid was struggling so much, the killer lashed out in anger and struck the mirror. Then, once they got a hold of the girl, they smashed her up against the mirror, causing it to shift like so."

As for why the killer would strike the mirror with their face, Ghostface offered little but a shrug in the way of explanation.

"People do crazy things like murder people, you know? So, who's to say the kid didn't irritate the hell out of whoever did this to her and they wanted to take their frustration out on the closest thing. Which happened to be the mirror. Probably not the smartest thing to do but when you're a mix of frustrated and insane, maybe these things aren't really considered in the longrun. More so since they still got the job done.."
​

Her attempt to go unnoticed at failed, unfortunately, as Ghostface gave her a "friendly" greeting. She scowled at the killer, though it was unlikely he minded at all.

As he took out his knife though, she immediately flinched. Seeing him wielding a knife again wasn't something she wished to see.

"Can we not display these things...?"

Displaying them was conducive to the search, but not so much to her emotional health.

Ghostface and ChromeSkull both knew the real reason why Kido seemed so uneasy around the weapons being displayed. She'd been sliced more times than she probably would have liked by Ghostface's hunting knife and to see it again and in such close proximity. But while ChromeSkull kept his attention to the task at hand. Which was to assist these fools with this murder as much as he could without getting too overly invested, Ghostface couldn't help but take another crack at the girl as he slipped the knife away back within his sleeve.

"Why? You scared? Don't worry, we'll catch the killer before they harm you.."

Giving Ghostface a hard nudge with his elbow, Ghostface grumbled but turned his attention away from Kido as ChromeSkull put his own knives away. No more reason to have em out now that the others had seen what they had on their person.

MOCKING THE OTHER GUESTS AIN'T GONNA GET US ANY CLOSER TO FINDING OUT WHO MURDERED RITA, MICKEY.

"Sorry boss.."
​

Alright. That shed a little bit of light, and with these kinds of cases, even just "a little bit" was always important. At least, from what Saitama had seen in the few mystery stories he had read and seen. At the very least, it seemed that everyone was getting somewhere, though before the hero would be able to inquire further, it looked like Jade would go off somewhere else with his own business to attend to. Well, whatever. He wasn't about to bother him then. Now in any case...

Oh, everyone was showing off their cool weapons now? Huh.

Between the guys who were dressed up as serial killers (only to seemingly turn out to be real serial killers), the girl with the sword, and the creepy white-haired guy with his own sword, among other people, Saitama almost felt like an odd man out for not having his own blade. Not that it mattered in actuality, as no blade would ever be practical and useful to him in all honesty, but... Damn. Back home, the only person who carried around such archaic weapons was probably Atomic Samurai. Everyone else was either an Esper, a cyborg, a half-zombie, or... whatever Pig God is supposed to be.

Well, anyway. Back on topic.

"So... uh, let's stop showing off all the sharp pointy objects for a moment and get back on track, since I don't think we'll accomplish much by admiring 'em," Saitama suggested, before crossing his arms, "Before we get much further, I guess we should try to organize what we know. I get lost a little easily so..."

With that, he cleared his throat.

"The girl's body was found like this with her throat slashed by probably a sharp object, though we don't know if one of these glass shards from the nearby mirror did the job, though for the mirror to be so broken in the first place, that must mean that most likely, it had been broken during a struggle, which we could guess is supported by that bruise," Saitama began to speak, holding his chin in thought.

"The paper she had was some sort of schedule that indicated what she was to do, which included... uh, avoiding Melodia, fix the lights, where Jade said she was approached by one of the guests, and then visit the storerooms after talking to Jade. Still, we can't really say if that so-called guest, whoever he or she was, was the culprit, since it's circumstantial, and could, in reality, just be nothing."

Truth be told, he had wanted to use that word for quite a while. Circumstantial. Rolled off the tongue quite well.

"Either way, she also had some wiring on her, though we don't know if there's any significance of this at the moment."

Hmm.

"I just need to know how someone slashed her throat with that gem on her neck... unless it were slashed along with her throat? Maybe that might explain it, but I dunno. I'm not a detective..."

He just punched things, man.

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

GUY IN THE PAJAMAS AND CAPES MAKES PLENTY OF GOOD POINTS. WISH I'D PAID MORE ATTENTION TO HER TALKING WITH THIS OTHER GUEST. MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CAPTURE EM ON CAMERA AND BRING THEM IN HERE FOR QUESTIONING. MAYBE EVEN SETTLE FOR SOME GOOD OLD INTERROGATION. BUT PLACE THIS BIG'S GOTTA HAVE SOME WAY OF KEEPING AN EYE ON IT'S GUESTS AND KNOWING WHERE TO GO WHEN SOMETHING MALFUNCTIONS RIGHT? BE A REAL BIG FLAW IF THAT WASN'T THE CASE.

Whether or not anyone felt inclined to read the text ChromeSkull had just spent the last few minutes deleting and re-typing as people kept talking was up to them. He just hoped someone read it. Because that was a lot more deleting than he was used to when he had to type out a message.

@The Tactician @Kaykay @Verite @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @york @Sen ​

 

[Khan of the Mardu]

At this point, pink elephants could have come waltzing through the door and Ghostface wouldn't have minded it one bit. This Pinnochio-looking motherfucker just came, didn't really seem to give a second thought about the death of this kid,

Seemed like his kind of guy!

But just as Ghostface was about to take him up on his offer, ChromeSkull tugged on his partner's cloak.

"..Ah, sorry man. Really I'd love to go grab a drink or two. I'm seriously broken up about this poor girl's death as you can tell. But, Chrome and I are sticking this through to the end, aren't we?"

WE'LL STAY FOR AS LONG AS WE'RE NEEDED. ANY LONGER THAN THAT AND WE'RE WASTING OUR TIME WE'RE NOT HERE TO BE SAINTS. WE'RE HERE TO BIDE TIME.

"Right, right. Listen,you can call me Ghostface. Once we get this whole murder thing solved, we'll go down and grab a pint with ya. Why not chill out here until we're done?"
​

For a brief moment, Ghostface's mask seemed to change designs. Switching from the original screaming face to more of a eternally confused and surprised face.

"..Dude, Chrome check that shit out! That guy who turned into a shark has an awesome looking sword!"

REALLY IMPRESSIVE.

​

But just as quickly as it had changed, Ghostface's mask was back to normal.

"Eh? Well, probably not average joe you and me. I mean I think of myself in pretty high regards. Went to college, majored in theater, all that fancy stuff. But if I were to punch this mirror? What's likely to have happened is that the shards shooting off from said punch would tear through the fabric of my glove, mutilate my hand and leave me in quite a bit of pain, But maybe it was a combination of these two factors. The kid was struggling so much, the killer lashed out in anger and struck the mirror. Then, once they got a hold of the girl, they smashed her up against the mirror, causing it to shift like so."

As for why the killer would strike the mirror with their face, Ghostface offered little but a shrug in the way of explanation.

"People do crazy things like murder people, you know? So, who's to say the kid didn't irritate the hell out of whoever did this to her and they wanted to take their frustration out on the closest thing. Which happened to be the mirror. Probably not the smartest thing to do but when you're a mix of frustrated and insane, maybe these things aren't really considered in the longrun. More so since they still got the job done.."
​

Ghostface and ChromeSkull both knew the real reason why Kido seemed so uneasy around the weapons being displayed. She'd been sliced more times than she probably would have liked by Ghostface's hunting knife and to see it again and in such close proximity. But while ChromeSkull kept his attention to the task at hand. Which was to assist these fools with this murder as much as he could without getting too overly invested, Ghostface couldn't help but take another crack at the girl as he slipped the knife away back within his sleeve.

"Why? You scared? Don't worry, we'll catch the killer before they harm you.."

Giving Ghostface a hard nudge with his elbow, Ghostface grumbled but turned his attention away from Kido as ChromeSkull put his own knives away. No more reason to have em out now that the others had seen what they had on their person.

MOCKING THE OTHER GUESTS AIN'T GONNA GET US ANY CLOSER TO FINDING OUT WHO MURDERED RITA, MICKEY.

"Sorry boss.."
​

GUY IN THE PAJAMAS AND CAPES MAKES PLENTY OF GOOD POINTS. WISH I'D PAID MORE ATTENTION TO HER TALKING WITH THIS OTHER GUEST. MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CAPTURE EM ON CAMERA AND BRING THEM IN HERE FOR QUESTIONING. MAYBE EVEN SETTLE FOR SOME GOOD OLD INTERROGATION. BUT PLACE THIS BIG'S GOTTA HAVE SOME WAY OF KEEPING AN EYE ON IT'S GUESTS AND KNOWING WHERE TO GO WHEN SOMETHING MALFUNCTIONS RIGHT? BE A REAL BIG FLAW IF THAT WASN'T THE CASE.

Whether or not anyone felt inclined to read the text ChromeSkull had just spent the last few minutes deleting and re-typing as people kept talking was up to them. He just hoped someone read it. Because that was a lot more deleting than he was used to when he had to type out a message.

@The Tactician @Kaykay @Verite @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @york @Sen ​

Hajime managed to sneak a peek at the last text by Chromeskull and nodded at his idea, "Agreed, Chrome. If this place doesn't have cameras or they've been tampered with... Then I think we might have been set up to be involved in this mess... Anyways, where did Jade walk off to? If anyone can get us access, he can." Plus he could be messing with the cameras as we speak...​

 

[Atomyk]

"... Anyway, it would be best if you joined the others back downstairs."

Jade descended back to the first floor of the lobby. He overheard the mention of cameras and quickly spoke up. "I'm afraid cameras are only set up in the offices and storerooms. Really, mainly just to catch thefts. Camera technology can be... unreliable so close to dimensional rifts." Jade said that last part with a smile, as if it was rather amusing to him. "The Prinnies are usually around to guard anything important. Strange that some aren't here right now..."

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body

​

 

[Mu]

For a brief moment, Ghostface's mask seemed to change designs. Switching from the original screaming face to more of a eternally confused and surprised face.

"..Dude, Chrome check that shit out! That guy who turned into a shark has an awesome looking sword!"

REALLY IMPRESSIVE.​

​

"Really, now~" Sal grinned at the serial killer, flashing white, sharp teeth. "Your little knife looks far fancier than what I have, design-wise." He waved his hands about, a nonchalant expression on his face. "Mine was designed to open doors, believe it or not~"
​

Hajime managed to sneak a peek at the last text by Chromeskull and nodded at his idea, "Agreed, Chrome. If this place doesn't have cameras or they've been tampered with... Then I think we might have been set up to be involved in this mess... Anyways, where did Jade walk off to? If anyone can get us access, he can." Plus he could be messing with the cameras as we speak...​

"... Anyway, it would be best if you joined the others back downstairs."

Jade descended back to the first floor of the lobby. He overheard the mention of cameras and quickly spoke up. "I'm afraid cameras are only set up in the offices and storerooms. Mainly just to catch thefts. Camera technology can be... unreliable so close to dimensional rifts." Jade that last part with a smile, as if it was rather amusing to him. "The Prinnies are usually around to guard anything important. Strange that some aren't here right now..."

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body

​

"What kind of silly hotel is this? No cameras? It's safe to assume that this killer attacked the poor thing whilst most of us were still inside our rooms. I was hoping there was footage of the bastard sneaking out. What a shame."

"But it also makes things more interesting, doesn't it~?"

 

[Arlathina]

Alright. That shed a little bit of light, and with these kinds of cases, even just "a little bit" was always important. At least, from what Saitama had seen in the few mystery stories he had read and seen. At the very least, it seemed that everyone was getting somewhere, though before the hero would be able to inquire further, it looked like Jade would go off somewhere else with his own business to attend to. Well, whatever. He wasn't about to bother him then. Now in any case...

Oh, everyone was showing off their cool weapons now? Huh.

Between the guys who were dressed up as serial killers (only to seemingly turn out to be real serial killers), the girl with the sword, and the creepy white-haired guy with his own sword, among other people, Saitama almost felt like an odd man out for not having his own blade. Not that it mattered in actuality, as no blade would ever be practical and useful to him in all honesty, but... Damn. Back home, the only person who carried around such archaic weapons was probably Atomic Samurai. Everyone else was either an Esper, a cyborg, a half-zombie, or... whatever Pig God is supposed to be.

Well, anyway. Back on topic.

"So... uh, let's stop showing off all the sharp pointy objects for a moment and get back on track, since I don't think we'll accomplish much by admiring 'em," Saitama suggested, before crossing his arms, "Before we get much further, I guess we should try to organize what we know. I get lost a little easily so..."

With that, he cleared his throat.

"The girl's body was found like this with her throat slashed by probably a sharp object, though we don't know if one of these glass shards from the nearby mirror did the job, though for the mirror to be so broken in the first place, that must mean that most likely, it had been broken during a struggle, which we could guess is supported by that bruise," Saitama began to speak, holding his chin in thought.

"The paper she had was some sort of schedule that indicated what she was to do, which included... uh, avoiding Melodia, fix the lights, where Jade said she was approached by one of the guests, and then visit the storerooms after talking to Jade. Still, we can't really say if that so-called guest, whoever he or she was, was the culprit, since it's circumstantial, and could, in reality, just be nothing."

Truth be told, he had wanted to use that word for quite a while. Circumstantial. Rolled off the tongue quite well.

"Either way, she also had some wiring on her, though we don't know if there's any significance of this at the moment."

Hmm.

"I just need to know how someone slashed her throat with that gem on her neck... unless it were slashed along with her throat? Maybe that might explain it, but I dunno. I'm not a detective..."

He just punched things, man.

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

Bingo. Already, the case was becoming clearer to him, as though he was watching the act of murder as it went on, "Rita was punched at some point in the underside of the chin. The punch knocked her head back, smashing the mirror and causing the shards we found to fall to the ground. Once Rita was dazed, the murderer slashed her throat and left her to die here..."
​

"Maybe it was, but..."

"Saitama, did Jade say which guest approached her? If not, maybe there are some cameras we can use to figure out their identity with..." Hajime questioned, giving the superhero an appreciative yet sad smile. While he was happy his new friend was on the same wavelength as he was, he couldn't help but feel sad over the whole case. He had always hated these events, where he would have to eventually accuse one of his friends and in the past... We all have blood on our hands...
​

"But still unlikely, I feel... But thank you, skeleton, the help is appreciated."​

Like a turbulent sea, Morrighan's inner-rage began to thunder with the strength of a surging waterfall. As the true injustice of the girl's death, Morrighan's compulsion to seek revenge for those who had been wronged began to show itself more and more. A man, whom Morrighan had heard addressed as Hajime, pointed out that the answer to the mystery before them may be in the tapes of the hotel's security cameras. This was all the incentive Morrighan needed to voice her opinion.

A dark, brooding voice emerged from Morrighan's throat, "We must find those responsible and take revenge for the girl. She deserves that much." This voice was much changed from her earlier carefree tone. It might have sounded like an entirely different person if she had spoken with the other guests a bit more. As she spoke, her eyes flashed open, glowing white with an arcane intensity.

Just then, Jade announced that the cameras were not set up at the scene of the murder, and thus could yield no information to the group. This dampened Morrighan's resolve considerably. However, as the adage states, when one door closes, another opens. Morrighan's luminescent pupils traveled the length of Jade's form as she questioned inwardly, 'What is he hiding?' Morrighan had more than a fleeting suspicion that their host knew more than he was letting on, but made sure to show know signs of her suspicion as they were lead back to the main dining hall.

@CrunchyCHEEZIT @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @Anyone else next to Rita's body.

 

[Cromartie Sarkissian]

​

... And the Doctor had to bring it up again with promise of fixing it. Though, from what Gilgamesh noticed Kilgrave never actually pulled off anything so it would be useless. "Hmph! The man never pulled it off, so unless if what you're offering is a form of immunity what's the point? And how would that even work?". Then, addressing the next point to Ryan "Your mind, your choice though. Though if his offer is valid, I'd expect only a fool to reject it". Gilgamesh kept up appearances the best he could right now, if this man had a tool he could utilize then it would be most welcome. But that would simply be using a tool, once his use evaporates, and Ryan is out of sight he'd have to learn to teach some proper manners and humility to the man.

@Cromartie Sarkissian @Savannah-Clause​

"You know what, Camelot? I don't like your attitude!" The Doctor cried, adjusting his marvellous jacket. Nobody makes a food of him and gets away with it! "And just for that I will not be helping you friend!" He took a quick dip of somebody else's drink "She can remain his little hand main as long as he like, or until you apologise. No! Until you beg!" A grin crawled across his face "Yes! Beg for me to use my memory transfer! Go on! Do it!"
@Savannah-Clause @Gen. Magic Senpai @C.T.
Mobile post

 

[Khan of the Mardu]

"... Anyway, it would be best if you joined the others back downstairs."

Jade descended back to the first floor of the lobby. He overheard the mention of cameras and quickly spoke up. "I'm afraid cameras are only set up in the offices and storerooms. Really, mainly just to catch thefts. Camera technology can be... unreliable so close to dimensional rifts." Jade said that last part with a smile, as if it was rather amusing to him. "The Prinnies are usually around to guard anything important. Strange that some aren't here right now..."

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body

​

"How convenient... No cameras, no Prinnies as eyewitnesses... It's almost like this was all set-up, for a girl to actually be murdered to create a great mystery for the other guests and your lady's amusement," Hajime narrowed an eye at Jade, eyeing the smile he held, "Tell me, why are you smiling...? This hotel's obviously ruined after this little event, plus a young employee of yours who you personally just died... Yet you're smiling at an obstacle in our path? It seems rather odd of you to do."​

 

[Hazel-rah]

Her attempt to go unnoticed at failed, unfortunately, as Ghostface gave her a "friendly" greeting. She scowled at the killer, though it was unlikely he minded at all.

As he took out his knife though, she immediately flinched. Seeing him wielding a knife again wasn't something she wished to see.

"Can we not display these things...?"

Displaying them was conducive to the search, but not so much to her emotional health.​

"It's probably not a good idea to just leave with a murderer on the loose, you know?"

@Arlathina @Alyto @Atomyk @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician​

Jeen shrugged at Kido's hesitation. "The hell's it matter? There's a killer on the loose no matter where we are." He narrowed his eyes. "And besides, who's to say they're even here anymore? We're in the lobby, kid. The way to the front door ain't exactly a maze, you know. And with a group this big, it's gonna be hard to account for everyone. Probably shit themselves and ran off, if they had half a brain to pull off a stunt like this."​

At this point, pink elephants could have come waltzing through the door and Ghostface wouldn't have minded it one bit. This Pinnochio-looking motherfucker just came, didn't really seem to give a second thought about the death of this kid,

Seemed like his kind of guy!

But just as Ghostface was about to take him up on his offer, ChromeSkull tugged on his partner's cloak.

"..Ah, sorry man. Really I'd love to go grab a drink or two. I'm seriously broken up about this poor girl's death as you can tell. But, Chrome and I are sticking this through to the end, aren't we?"

WE'LL STAY FOR AS LONG AS WE'RE NEEDED. ANY LONGER THAN THAT AND WE'RE WASTING OUR TIME WE'RE NOT HERE TO BE SAINTS. WE'RE HERE TO BIDE TIME.

"Right, right. Listen,you can call me Ghostface. Once we get this whole murder thing solved, we'll go down and grab a pint with ya. Why not chill out here until we're done?"
​

For a brief moment, Ghostface's mask seemed to change designs. Switching from the original screaming face to more of a eternally confused and surprised face.

"..Dude, Chrome check that shit out! That guy who turned into a shark has an awesome looking sword!"

REALLY IMPRESSIVE.

​

But just as quickly as it had changed, Ghostface's mask was back to normal.

"Eh? Well, probably not average joe you and me. I mean I think of myself in pretty high regards. Went to college, majored in theater, all that fancy stuff. But if I were to punch this mirror? What's likely to have happened is that the shards shooting off from said punch would tear through the fabric of my glove, mutilate my hand and leave me in quite a bit of pain, But maybe it was a combination of these two factors. The kid was struggling so much, the killer lashed out in anger and struck the mirror. Then, once they got a hold of the girl, they smashed her up against the mirror, causing it to shift like so."

As for why the killer would strike the mirror with their face, Ghostface offered little but a shrug in the way of explanation.

"People do crazy things like murder people, you know? So, who's to say the kid didn't irritate the hell out of whoever did this to her and they wanted to take their frustration out on the closest thing. Which happened to be the mirror. Probably not the smartest thing to do but when you're a mix of frustrated and insane, maybe these things aren't really considered in the longrun. More so since they still got the job done.."
​

Ghostface and ChromeSkull both knew the real reason why Kido seemed so uneasy around the weapons being displayed. She'd been sliced more times than she probably would have liked by Ghostface's hunting knife and to see it again and in such close proximity. But while ChromeSkull kept his attention to the task at hand. Which was to assist these fools with this murder as much as he could without getting too overly invested, Ghostface couldn't help but take another crack at the girl as he slipped the knife away back within his sleeve.

"Why? You scared? Don't worry, we'll catch the killer before they harm you.."

Giving Ghostface a hard nudge with his elbow, Ghostface grumbled but turned his attention away from Kido as ChromeSkull put his own knives away. No more reason to have em out now that the others had seen what they had on their person.

MOCKING THE OTHER GUESTS AIN'T GONNA GET US ANY CLOSER TO FINDING OUT WHO MURDERED RITA, MICKEY.

"Sorry boss.."
​

GUY IN THE PAJAMAS AND CAPES MAKES PLENTY OF GOOD POINTS. WISH I'D PAID MORE ATTENTION TO HER TALKING WITH THIS OTHER GUEST. MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CAPTURE EM ON CAMERA AND BRING THEM IN HERE FOR QUESTIONING. MAYBE EVEN SETTLE FOR SOME GOOD OLD INTERROGATION. BUT PLACE THIS BIG'S GOTTA HAVE SOME WAY OF KEEPING AN EYE ON IT'S GUESTS AND KNOWING WHERE TO GO WHEN SOMETHING MALFUNCTIONS RIGHT? BE A REAL BIG FLAW IF THAT WASN'T THE CASE.

Whether or not anyone felt inclined to read the text ChromeSkull had just spent the last few minutes deleting and re-typing as people kept talking was up to them. He just hoped someone read it. Because that was a lot more deleting than he was used to when he had to type out a message.

@The Tactician @Kaykay @Verite @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @york @Sen ​

Jeen let out an irritated sigh. His head was pounding. He just wanted to have his fun and get out. It looked like Lady Luck had other plans, though. Weighing his options, he finally relented. Besides, if he got a drinking buddy for a day out of it, at least the night wouldn't be a total loss.

"Eh, what the hell. I'm not planning to drink myself stupid alone in a ritzy dump like this, anyhow. Name's Jeen. So, what have we got here?"

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @Kaykay​

 

[CrunchyCHEEZIT]

Like a turbulent sea, Morrighan's inner-rage began to thunder with the strength of a surging waterfall. As the true injustice of the girl's death, Morrighan's compulsion to seek revenge for those who had been wronged began to show itself more and more. A man, whom Morrighan had heard addressed as Hajime, pointed out that the answer to the mystery before them may be in the tapes of the hotel's security cameras. This was all the incentive Morrighan needed to voice her opinion.

A dark, brooding voice emerged from Morrighan's throat, "We must find those responsible and take revenge for the girl. She deserves that much." This voice was much changed from her earlier carefree tone. It might have sounded like an entirely different person if she had spoken with the other guests a bit more. As she spoke, her eyes flashed open, glowing white with an arcane intensity.

Just then, Jade announced that the cameras were not set up at the scene of the murder, and thus could yield no information to the group. This dampened Morrighan's resolve considerably. However, as the adage states, when one door closes, another opens. Morrighan's luminescent pupils traveled the length of Jade's form as she questioned inwardly, 'What is he hiding?' Morrighan had more than a fleeting suspicion that their host knew more than he was letting on, but made sure to show know signs of her suspicion as they were lead back to the main dining hall.

@CrunchyCHEEZIT @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @Anyone else next to Rita's body.

I AGREE

A voice suddenly reverberated through the minds of those surrounding the body. It was as if two voices were talking at once, in perfect unison, but also changing in pitch and tone at random. It was then at this time when everyone suddenly blinked-- and he was there.

W.D. Gaster was standing there, looking down at the body. Papyrus had just seen him vanish a minute ago, but it seems he returned. The doctor had his hands together, a twisted smile as he glared down a the corpse. He seemed to be giving his own cursory examination of the body, before suddenly snapping his head back up to look at the investigators.

THE PRINNIES

I ADVISE QUESTIONING THEM, AND LOCATING THE MISSING ONES IMMEDIATELY
​

"How convenient... No cameras, no Prinnies as eyewitnesses... It's almost like this was all set-up, for a girl to actually be murdered to create a great mystery for the other guests and your lady's amusement," Hajime narrowed an eye at Jade, eyeing the smile he held, "Tell me, why are you smiling...? This hotel's obviously ruined after this little event, plus a young employee of yours who you personally just died... Yet you're smiling at an obstacle in our path? It seems rather odd of you to do."​

Gaster looked to the young man in the glasses, the crooked figure suddenly glitching and appearing near his position

DO NOT BE SO QUICK TO JUDGE

PERHAPS SHE IS DIFFUSING THE SITUATION

I ONCE KNEW AN INDIVIDUAL WHO ALWAYS SMILED

NEVER ONCE FALTERED IN HIS SMIRK

IT HELPED HIM GET PAST HIS OWN BAD TIMES

HE WAS QUITE JUDGMENTAL HIMSELF, AS A MATTER OF FACT

For a split second, it looked as if Gaster was staring at Papyrus for a moment-- but his look was fixated on Hajime.

@Arlathina @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @Anyone else next to Rita's body.
​

 

[Kaykay]

Fortunately, Chromeskull more or less strong-armed Ghostface into leaving her alone. Probably for his own benefit, but it worked out for her all the same. Sighing in relief, she took another look at the body. Nothing that hadn't already been said really came to mind. Except perhaps one thing.

"If she was carrying a schedule around, wouldn't it make sense for someone who knew her schedule to have done it?"

She didn't have much else to add for now and turned her attention to Jeen.
​

Jeen shrugged at Kido's hesitation. "The hell's it matter? There's a killer on the loose no matter where we are." He narrowed his eyes. "And besides, who's to say they're even here anymore? We're in the lobby, kid. The way to the front door ain't exactly a maze, you know. And with a group this big, it's gonna be hard to account for everyone. Probably shit themselves and ran off, if they had half a brain to pull off a stunt like this."

"...I think you misunderstood me. We can figure out who it is here. I doubt we can do the same at the bar. But I won't force you into doing anything, so do what you will."

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Atomyk @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician ​

 

[Verite]

"... Anyway, it would be best if you joined the others back downstairs."

Jade descended back to the first floor of the lobby. He overheard the mention of cameras and quickly spoke up. "I'm afraid cameras are only set up in the offices and storerooms. Really, mainly just to catch thefts. Camera technology can be... unreliable so close to dimensional rifts." Jade that last part with a smile, as if it was rather amusing to him. "The Prinnies are usually around to guard anything important. Strange that some aren't here right now..."

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body​

Like a turbulent sea, Morrighan's inner-rage began to thunder with the strength of a surging waterfall. As the true injustice of the girl's death, Morrighan's compulsion to seek revenge for those who had been wronged began to show itself more and more. A man, whom Morrighan had heard addressed as Hajime, pointed out that the answer to the mystery before them may be in the tapes of the hotel's security cameras. This was all the incentive Morrighan needed to voice her opinion.

A dark, brooding voice emerged from Morrighan's throat, "We must find those responsible and take revenge for the girl. She deserves that much." This voice was much changed from her earlier carefree tone. It might have sounded like an entirely different person if she had spoken with the other guests a bit more. As she spoke, her eyes flashed open, glowing white with an arcane intensity.

Just then, Jade announced that the cameras were not set up at the scene of the murder, and thus could yield no information to the group. This dampened Morrighan's resolve considerably. However, as the adage states, when one door closes, another opens. Morrighan's luminescent pupils traveled the length of Jade's form as she questioned inwardly, 'What is he hiding?' Morrighan had more than a fleeting suspicion that their host knew more than he was letting on, but made sure to show know signs of her suspicion as they were lead back to the main dining hall.

@CrunchyCHEEZIT @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @Anyone else next to Rita's body.

"Yes, yes. We're all working on it. We'll bring whichever villain did this to justice in no time," Saitama would simply say to Morrighan with something of a reassuring smile. The force of good never failed him before, and hopefully, the same would be said for this situation at all.

"Just quit with that scary look and voice, please."

When the others would arrive alongside Jade, the hero would look at them all with something of a surprised expression.

"Ah, hey. Any of you find anything useful?"

@Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Atomyk @The Yuletide Tactician​

 

[York]

Hajime cupped his chin for a moment, thinking to himself for a few moments, before nodding, "That's a good idea, Sal... Oh, and thank you for showing me your blade..." He walked back over to the body, gently lifting the deceased's head up to be able to look it over for any sort of bruising, nodding at Slavya's question, "Perhaps it occurred during a struggle?"​

"... The only clue related this fake murder was the trail of blood up the stairs. Rowen will make sure all the fake clues are discarded."

@york @Raven

---

Hajime would find a bruise in the underside of Rita's chin. The majority of her neck was obscured by the jewellery, but the slash across her throat was just above the item.

Papyrus would be unsure if one of the mirror shards were used to cut Rita's throat just by looking at them, but one shard did seem to fit the size of the wound.

@Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Those Around the Body​

Alright. That shed a little bit of light, and with these kinds of cases, even just "a little bit" was always important. At least, from what Saitama had seen in the few mystery stories he had read and seen. At the very least, it seemed that everyone was getting somewhere, though before the hero would be able to inquire further, it looked like Jade would go off somewhere else with his own business to attend to. Well, whatever. He wasn't about to bother him then. Now in any case...

Oh, everyone was showing off their cool weapons now? Huh.

Between the guys who were dressed up as serial killers (only to seemingly turn out to be real serial killers), the girl with the sword, and the creepy white-haired guy with his own sword, among other people, Saitama almost felt like an odd man out for not having his own blade. Not that it mattered in actuality, as no blade would ever be practical and useful to him in all honesty, but... Damn. Back home, the only person who carried around such archaic weapons was probably Atomic Samurai. Everyone else was either an Esper, a cyborg, a half-zombie, or... whatever Pig God is supposed to be.

Well, anyway. Back on topic.

"So... uh, let's stop showing off all the sharp pointy objects for a moment and get back on track, since I don't think we'll accomplish much by admiring 'em," Saitama suggested, before crossing his arms, "Before we get much further, I guess we should try to organize what we know. I get lost a little easily so..."

With that, he cleared his throat.

"The girl's body was found like this with her throat slashed by probably a sharp object, though we don't know if one of these glass shards from the nearby mirror did the job, though for the mirror to be so broken in the first place, that must mean that most likely, it had been broken during a struggle, which we could guess is supported by that bruise," Saitama began to speak, holding his chin in thought.

"The paper she had was some sort of schedule that indicated what she was to do, which included... uh, avoiding Melodia, fix the lights, where Jade said she was approached by one of the guests, and then visit the storerooms after talking to Jade. Still, we can't really say if that so-called guest, whoever he or she was, was the culprit, since it's circumstantial, and could, in reality, just be nothing."

Truth be told, he had wanted to use that word for quite a while. Circumstantial. Rolled off the tongue quite well.

"Either way, she also had some wiring on her, though we don't know if there's any significance of this at the moment."

Hmm.

"I just need to know how someone slashed her throat with that gem on her neck... unless it were slashed along with her throat? Maybe that might explain it, but I dunno. I'm not a detective..."

He just punched things, man.

@TheSpringwoodSlasher @The Yuletide Tactician @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @Atomyk @The Silver Paladin @DapperDogman​

"AHA!" Papyrus shouts, holding up the piece of glass proudly "I got nothing" he murmurs, examining it for a moment and offering it over to Hajime and the others "It's about the right size to be the weapon though, so it's a possibility"

@Atomyk @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @The Silver Paladin @TheSpringwoodSlasher @Verite @Kaykay @york​

Bingo. Already, the case was becoming clearer to him, as though he was watching the act of murder as it went on, "Rita was punched at some point in the underside of the chin. The punch knocked her head back, smashing the mirror and causing the shards we found to fall to the ground. Once Rita was dazed, the murderer slashed her throat and left her to die here..."
​

"Maybe it was, but..."

"Saitama, did Jade say which guest approached her? If not, maybe there are some cameras we can use to figure out their identity with..." Hajime questioned, giving the superhero an appreciative yet sad smile. While he was happy his new friend was on the same wavelength as he was, he couldn't help but feel sad over the whole case. He had always hated these events, where he would have to eventually accuse one of his friends and in the past... We all have blood on our hands...
​

"But still unlikely, I feel... But thank you, skeleton, the help is appreciated."​

I AGREE

A voice suddenly reverberated through the minds of those surrounding the body. It was as if two voices were talking at once, in perfect unison, but also changing in pitch and tone at random. It was then at this time when everyone suddenly blinked-- and he was there.

W.D. Gaster was standing there, looking down at the body. Papyrus had just seen him vanish a minute ago, but it seems he returned. The doctor had his hands together, a twisted smile as he glared down a the corpse. He seemed to be giving his own cursory examination of the body, before suddenly snapping his head back up to look at the investigators.

THE PRINNIES

I ADVISE QUESTIONING THEM, AND LOCATING THE MISSING ONES IMMEDIATELY
​

Gaster looked to the young man in the glasses, the crooked figure suddenly glitching and appearing near his position

DO NOT BE SO QUICK TO JUDGE

PERHAPS SHE IS DIFFUSING THE SITUATION

I ONCE KNEW AN INDIVIDUAL WHO ALWAYS SMILED

NEVER ONCE FALTERED IN HIS SMIRK

IT HELPED HIM GET PAST HIS OWN BAD TIMES

HE WAS QUITE JUDGMENTAL HIMSELF, AS A MATTER OF FACT

For a split second, it looked as if Gaster was staring at Papyrus for a moment-- but his look was fixated on Hajime.

@Arlathina @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @Anyone else next to Rita's body.
​

Slavya & Yulia
@Atomyk @Arlathina @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @People at the body @Raven

"Yes! That does sound like what happened! But, I feel like we're missing something..." Slavya said, scratching her head, she looked to be thinking for a moment.... Yulia in the meantime appeared to just nod a little before heading downstairs, inspecting the scene a few times, taking a moment before she spoke.

"Wait... Wouldn't the killer have cut their hands using glass like that? Or, at least torn something maybe... Unless they were wearing something that was able to resist damage from a shard of glass when it was held." Yulia said, thinking a little, she looked to be uncertain if this was the case, but, it certainly sounded like a good possibility.​

 

[Atomyk]

"Oh, ha, ha, ha..." Jade physically waved off Hajime's accusations. "Can't a man smile at an amusing memory? My goodness... My hotel's not ruined by an event such as this. There's certainly not any others of its kind I have to compete with and the matter will hopefully be handled before the evening is over. I don't know if you noticed, but my hotel is quite large. You can do more than enjoy a pleasant stay or visit other worlds. Attempted murder is not a rare event in my hotel. It comes with a hotel this size, with so many open doors..."

"I've prevented more crime than you could imagine, but it's impossible to stop them all. Really..." Jade's smile waned, his face adopting a more annoyed look. "... The nerve of them, threatening to ruin a very important evening for our hotel... Before you accuse me, I think you'll need to find out why exactly the Prinnies weren't here. If you're truly suspicious of me, do know that I had visited the banquet hall in-between the time you were locked inside your rooms and when I met you here in the lobby. I have to wonder, one of you must have been able to get out of your locked room..."

Jade cupped his chin in thought. He was silent for a moment. "... Speaking of which, do you all still have your role cards? You may as well hand them back now that the game has been cancelled."

You all would recall that no role cards had been waiting for you in your rooms.

"And, ahem, you'll find I'm a male, Gaster."

@CrunchyCHEEZIT @Raven @Arlathina @Alyto @Kaykay @TheSpringwoodSlasher @york @The Silver Paladin @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Hazel-rah @Sen @The Great Detective @Krieg​

 

[DapperDogman]

Slavya & Yulia
@Atomyk @Arlathina @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @Atomyk @People at the body @Raven

"Yes! That does sound like what happened! But, I feel like we're missing something..." Slavya said, scratching her head, she looked to be thinking for a moment.... Yulia in the meantime appeared to just nod a little before heading downstairs, inspecting the scene a few times, taking a moment before she spoke.

"Wait... Wouldn't the killer have cut their hands using glass like that? Or, at least torn something maybe... Unless they were wearing something that was able to resist damage from a shard of glass when it was held." Yulia said, thinking a little, she looked to be uncertain if this was the case, but, it certainly sounded like a good possibility.​

"Unless they weren't human" Papryus rebuts somewhat bluntly "I would have little to no risk of injury using glass as a weapon" he pauses and then adds "But it wasn't me, you guys know that, I was with..." he turns around and looks for Gaster, but cannot spot him "I was with someone, I promise"

Such a rock solid alibi!

@Atomyk @Verite @The Yuletide Tactician @The Silver Paladin @TheSpringwoodSlasher @Verite @Kaykay @york​