AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Polls continue to be suffering. *sob*

A note with this one, you can revote as much as you want as the trial goes about. I want to see how opinions change over time.

And no, I'm going to assume that everyone is going to be in the town hall at this point. Part of the benefit of waiting to start the trial was to make sure everyone was aware that shit is going down, so I hope everyone is ready to participate when they're needed.

As people make their ways to their podiums, Isabelle begins to explain the rules.

"Trials will proceed in a number of ways. We can discuss specific evidence and see how it ties into the crime, we can cross examine villagers or town members for their insight on the night (though they can withhold whatever they think would solve the trial too easily), and we can make use of my skill, which is to organize information about the case efficiently into a plausible series of events, also known as a "Scenario"."

"In any of these cases, if someone says something contrary to the facts (or at least the facts that you believe are facts), you can object to what they're saying and point out the flaw in their logic. By the end of the trial, we should be able to craft a scenario that is perfectly plausible with no contridictions or unaddressed points, at which point the culprit shall be voted for and executed."

"But keep in mind, the culprit knows better than all of you how the events of last night played out, and they can lead you astray with false leads. if they press to hard though, they may end up revealing themselves..."

Isabelle grabs a pile of paper sout of her pocket and begins to sort through them quickly.

"With that all being said, let me start by giving you all a simple scenario to consider."



SCENARIO 1

"So let's start from the beginning. The murderer had the knife and decided to confront Bud by the river.

Bud was carrying his shovel at the time, and the assailant knocked the shovel away in an attempt to murder Bud.

The two of them struggled in the mud by the riverside, leaving their footprints behind.

The murderer then struck Bud in the eye with the knife, the shock of the impact pushed bud backwards and he hit his head on the ground, concussing himself and resulting in death.

If this is the case... then the two involved in the struggle would be the victim and the murderer, which would mean Bud and Joe.

Ergo, Joe is the murderer."

"Is this scenario plausible to you all?"

"And before I get asked, those footprints at the scene of the crime are not fresh."

Does this seem like a possible occurrance?

"Hold on a minute!"

Pierce turned to Isabelle and crossed his arms.

"Just to clarify.... The culprit is really one of us, and ONLY one of us?"

Tom Nook sighs.

"Yes, one of you bastards is responsible, and even if two or more people conspire to kill, only the person who did the actual killing would be able to try paying off their debt."

"In that case, an accomplice, co-conspirator, or a co-murderer would be more apt to betray the true murderer to stay alive than to help hide the murderer, the same as if someone had witnessed the murder."

"So in summary, one of you is the murderer, and only one of you could have murdered the victim."

"I have no reason to lie about this, my word is always... dead honest, upupu~"

Pierce nods.

"All right, then."



Evidence Bullet: State of the crime scene



"I find it hard to believe that the killer and Bud met at the river."

[img][img]http://i.imgur.com/ACBDlgv.png?1[/img][/img] "There's evidence at the crime scene suggest that Bud's body was dragged or pushed from another location!"

This is possible. Was there anything hard to hit Bud's head on? The ground had to be relatively soft to leave footprints wouldn't you think?

"Something about that scenario seems odd...If he concussed his head on something from a fall...it would probably have to be something hard.
Is there anything like that around the river?"

"This is indeed possible, but couldn't the same result happen from an impact that could push the body backwards, causing the feet to drag? After all, only the legs seem to have been dragged on the ground."

Maybe I should have been more clear on that, whoops.

"Besides which, how do you plan to account for the signs of struggle between Bud and Joe? Joe certainly wouldn't be fighting with a dead man, would he?"





"I've marked the scene of the crime on the map for future reference. And I've also marked the rocks in the town, since it's pertinent information."



"So there were no rocks at the scene of the crime, but it doesn't really take much for a neck to break or a concussion to be gotten. Especially from a hard impact. I would know, upupu..."

"With this much uncertainty about the scene of the crime, maybe we should start there on our discussion of the clues we have."

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

"So, where should we begin with this? What specifically seems confusing here?"



Kinda, but not really. When a matter is solved, Isabelle will direct you to another topic to discuss, and if she does that, it's very likely that you've solved the issue surrounding the issue.

"Bud's shovel could have been the blunt object," Whitney offered. "It was where we found the body--however, I don't believe that was where Bud was murdered, so it's puzzling...if the shovel was the murder weapon, why would the murderer carry it with them when they took Bud to the river? It's just another thing to weigh them down."
She paused and looked down, frowning.
"Also...at Bud's house, the front door was covered in gashes and scratches--from a knife, most likely. I think Bud was killed at his home. Or just outside his home."

Evidence Bullet: Shovel at the crime scene

Sore we chigau yo!

"No, that's not possible. The shovel found at the crime scene had no dents on it. It was a brand new shovel."

"Does a shovel always dent up so easily, though? I know they're not indestructible, but isn't there a possibility of it receiving no clearly visible damage upon contact?"

"I suppose that could be true, but there's more evidence that disqualifies the shovel as the murder weapon."

Evidence Bullet: Cranston's Testimony

"Cranston examined the body, and found that the trauma on the back of Bud's head is due to falling."

"I suppose it's a little too convenient if he hit his head on the shovel if it was on the ground, huh..."

Whitney is quiet for a moment, then her thin eyebrows perk up.

"Did anyone check inside Bud's house? Were they able to search it a bit?"

"Whitney and I both searched Bud's house. His shovel was missing, and his door had several gashes from a sharp implement."

"I examined those gashes and discovered that they were caused by the same kind of knife found in Bud's eye."

"What differentiates a fall on the back of the head from a blow on the back of the head, exactly?" Whitney rolled her eyes slightly. "Whatever, he fell I guess."