WHODUNNIT?

[thedirectors]

On the evening of the sixth day, Ernest gathers the passengers and staff for another meeting in the lounge. He fiddles with his label, looking exceedingly nervous. Then again, he's been a mess ever since this whole affair began.

The staff fall quiet. There's a palpable tension in the air. Ernest clears his throat, crossing his arms behind his back.

"I've just received word that the police will be arriving shortly, along with additional help and supplies. I hope you've found whoever committed this horrible deed, for if you don't...well, we can all expect our trips to be delayed."

A pause. He wipes his brow with a blue handkerchief.

"What I want to know is--who did it, and why?"

---

[OOC: Welcome to the parlor discussion. This is where you'll take all the evidence you've gathered so far and determine whodunnit, and why! This will be formatted similarly to a murdergame trial in that discussion will continue until a culprit is determined. At any time, you may cast your vote as to who you think the culprit is and why they did it. Good luck!]

Locations | Cast List | Investigation Notes

Comments

[theobviousculprit]

The police sure took their sweet time to come. It's not like we're blocked by a typhoon or anything similar.

[Eva, there's a lot of snow, geez, give them a break. Still...]

It's not hard to guess there are plenty of reasons to want him dead, but who did it...that's harder. Mahler-san and I explored the engine room. In the incinerator we found...well, he'll tell more. [Yeah, leaving the honors to Eric to bring the other pieces of evidence, two and two for each of us] But here, take a look at this. [She shows a half-melted object of bronze] This was melting down inside the machinery...among ashes and coal dust.

[The implications are clear: don't expect anything Nathan mentions to be intact and usable, leaving aside how the handkerchief was intact enough. If anything, they're lucky the handkerchief wasn't incinerated too]

We also found a champagne bottle in the conductor's cabin. I believe we know who that one belongs to, hmmmmm?

[To the conductor, obviously]

[agoddeal]

A pity they couldn't perform to the Ushiromiya family's timely standards, indeed!

[ Is this the time for picking at each other... Never a poor time for that, honestly. Kotoko leans in curiously to look at the bronze object. ]

May I see that?

[theobviousculprit]

Why, you can! I'm sure we're all so eager to hear what you of all people have to say about trinkets such as this one.

[It's always a good time to venomously poke at each other. Still, she does pass it to Kotoko. Here you go!]

[campire]

[ Nathan is sitting in a comfortable chair somewhere toward the back of all of this with a glass of red wine. It's not the time for this, but it is the place, technically. ]

Oh dear, I didn't expect you to bring up that last bit unless it became relevant. For what it's worth, I gave Mr. Devineaux my own bottle of champagne to give to his wife as an apology for coming home late... in case anyone was going to accuse him of taking something from the train's inventory without permission.

[ Looks over to Ernest with a smile! ]

That aside, yes, there were several things burning in the engine's fire! There were some papers that I imagine that bronze clip may have been holding on to originally... but regrettably, they were so charred that they disintegrated on contact without giving us any indication what might have been written on them!

And, a little more usefully, the remnants of a bloody white handkerchief that didn't burn quite all the way. No monogram or anything that might clarify whether it belonged to Mr. Romero or his killer, unfortunately.

[ He's got it right there, displayed on top of a folded hand towel so that no one has to touch it directly to look at it. ]

[thedirectors]

[For what it's worth, Ernest flinches slightly, then gives Nathan a relieved look.]

Me? Take anything from inventory without permission? Preposterous....

[A tittering laugh.]

[theobviousculprit]

Oh, is that so? I should have kept quiet.

[She fans herself, not very apologetic about dragging poor Ernest's champagne bottles out. At least she didn't mention the family picture, giving him some face]

For what's worth, I don't think Devineaux-san was involved in anything shady. I'd even be willing to vouch for that bottle coming from means that won't get him into trouble -- but I judged mentioning it all as soon as possible was necessary.

[Although, truthfully, her desire to solve Romero's death is inexistent. She would sooner look the other way given who the victim was]

[agoddeal]

An obvious possibility presents itself about the origins of the papers. Perhaps too obvious?

[ Kotoko lifts the business proposals folder she'd absconded with from Romero's suitcase. ]

It would seem Mr. Romero had information files on a number of people here. He used rather distinctive clips with his own initials on them.

[hefring]

Well, let's get this over with. First, I found this interesting newspaper in the bar.

[ Naturally, he has the newspaper with him. He ain't going to be summarizing all that shit though, lol. ]

I think the most important part of it is the fact this project wasn't exactly the most popular among the small business owners. Oh and all the staff were outside dealing with the snow until 4AM.

And 'Ushiromiya ordered two champagne bottles over the trip', according to the ferret.

[toomanynotes]

[Hm, this is all a bother, but since Linhardt is putting in the effort-]

Are you suggesting the other bottle was Eva’s, Lindy?

[hefring]

That's a good question. It's not impossible, in my opinion.

[ He pauses for dramatic effect, and just to gauge Eva's reaction. ]

Oh and in the newspaper it mentioned something about a 'Bloody Mable'? And Laerryn seemed to have worked on the project too...I wonder if either one of them can provide a bit more insight.

[campire]

Oof. I think "the bartender" would have been a little more polite than "the ferret".

[hefring]

[ He yawns... ]

Oh, I suppose it would.

[ Said like he doesn't really care all that much. ]

[hardyboys]

[ Mabel stands off to the side, seemingly in thought for a bit as she tries to get her thoughts together, then, she starts: ]

When I was in Romero's room after Ernest found his body, I found a few things, mainly his journal with some specific-yet-vague business dealings, and his cabin key, which had some black soot on it.

The journal talked about receiving a business proposal, which I couldn't find in the room, so I went to look around the luggage car. Turns out someone stole my luggage and dumped all its contents on the floor. [ Which she looks annoyed about! ]

The floor of the break room seemed kind of sticky, and it looked like there was evidence that there was a meeting there, as well as a nasty spill, since there was two glasses shoved in a drawer and presumably a broken champagne bottle in the trash.

[campire]

Well, that was awfully rude of them.

[theobviousculprit]

A broken bottle? Was there any blood on it?

[Could it be that what hit Romero in the head?]

[hardyboys]

I didn't see any.

[ Mabel looks at Kotoko, in case she saw something different. ]

[hefring]

...A business proposal? Looks like whoever he had met with to talk about this proposal with decided to kill him instead.

[ At least, that's what he's thinking... ]

[leywright]

[ There's a thunk as Laerryn drops the trunk onto the floor of the lounge upon her entry to the meeting. It's got latches but not a lock, and most importantly it's labeled.

She doesn't speak right away, instead casting her gaze around at everyone gathered, wondering at who it might rattle just for the sight of it. Whoever last handled it probably never expected to see it turn up again, after all. ]

Who's in #8?

[ Of course she hasn't really been keeping track of who is where. ]

[hardyboys]

[ It'd be weird for her to mention it went missing and then not claim it, so she straightens up. ]

Where'd you find that?

[hematocritic]

I brought it up before, but might as well mention it again in case anyone has questions. [Ozaki has chosen a space to sit slightly to the side of the others, near a window.]

I examined the body. Cause of death was strangulation with his own tie between the hours of one and two am. It was tied backwards, so the killer or their accomplice would know how to tie a tie but not be able to get it on in the same fashion he wore it--could have also just tried to replicate his knot and got it backwards, or can tie it on themselves but not on others, we have some options here. [Perhaps a tie tying check is in order?]

Our body here didn't have any defensive wounds that I found, but the hit on the head that soaked him with alcohol would have stunned him if not knocked him straight out. He had some glass shards and blood from the hit in his hair, the tie, and his jacket collar. It was pretty obvious someone tried to wipe the blood and alcohol away afterwards for the record. There was also bruising under his hair, so death wasn't immediate after the hit. Strangulation--ligature or otherwise--can take anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes, depending on the people involved.

[How blasé! Ozaki sounds barely more invested than if this was a crossword. Intense, invested with finding an answer, but not exactly the most concerned.]

[agoddeal]

I see. So in your opinion, he was strangled at some point after the altercation with the bottle? In which case, there could have been more than one attacker involved.

[ Kotoko sounds equally matter-of-fact about this, mildly curious. ]

According to the testimony of—hm!—certain staff, Romero had a meeting at midnight in the break room above the luggage car. He ordered a bottle of champagne prepared for it, but it seemed to have met an untimely end shortly before the man himself.

catherd

[leywright]

Right. So here's what we know.

Romero left my room just after midnight, supposedly to go meet with whoever he set up the appointment with in the baggage car. He had arranged a bottle to be sent up. Going by the state of the trash, that bottle was used there to knock him out. Whoever did that then went down to the baggage car proper, dumped Mabel's trunk, and used it to transport Romero's body to the sleeper car.

I found scuff marks on the side of the train - scuff marks from polished shoes - and a thread from Romero's suit. I believe he was alive, even semi-conscious then, but weakened from the blow, due to the fact he hid his telegram in the trunk. The evidence to me suggests a last token struggle to save his own life as he was hauled up and held by his tie through the window.

Now, conscious or not, that's a two-person job. We all just watched Edgy [ Laerryn, you know damn well-- ] try to murder Ozaki. And no matter what he claimed, the fact the same flower was found in both his and Romero's private, locked journals means they had dealings with one another. The lawyer's journal has evidence of arsons perpetrated over and over in order to claim land rights to what was left behind.

But he was seen in the lounge until 1, wasn't he?

Then there's the matter of the smoke stack going off around that time - someone destroying evidence of what happened in the baggage car. Did anyone see anyone heading towards the engine room at that point?

[ She's trying to think herself on who she saw. ]

[hefring]

Oh, yes, it appears they certainly had dealings with one another indeed.

[ Though he turns to face Eiji, who may have been given room to breathe because ferrets can't just remain all over him for the entirety of this. ]

...This is a real sad state of affairs, but if you've anything more to say, well. Now is the time, unless you think you've said enough, I suppose.

[ He has certainly done enough, really. But he has a personal interest in understanding things a bit more. If there's even time for that...he holds back a sigh. ]

Honestly, even without the whole maneuvering the luggage around, this seems like quite a lot of effort on the killer's end.

[agoddeal]

I did see him in the lounge until 1, yes.

[ Wouldn't that be convenient... Kotoko nods towards Mozart. ]

The two of them left at about the same time. Unfortunately, nearly everything is "towards the engine" from the lounge.

[campire]

So the accomplice was the one who went to the midnight meeting, and Mr. Biwasaka actually strangled Mr. Romero sometime shortly after 1, after he'd left the lounge and when he no longer had an alibi. Is that the idea?