Digitalis Old English folklore said that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence movement and stealthily stalk prey. Healing, pain, insincerity, insecurity
I'm not that concerned, you don't need to comfort me. I think the list would have been a bit much for us to consider on top of everything going on anyway.
[ It was honestly probably for the best -- they'd end up spending time talking about it during the trial, and it's too early for that kind of stuff. ]
It's less about comforting you and more about acknowledging you still had to deal with a man's empty chest cavity. [which sounds rude, maybe, but aerith figures while there are things daan could probably use comfort on, this isn't it.] Considering we really only found two of the three in the last hour with nothing more than a prayer and good instincts? Trying to pinpoint a monster and without knowing all of the rules would've been too much of a mess.
...Hate to say it, but not actually the worst thing I've had to put my hands on in recent times... [ Blech. ] I'm no mortician, but autopsies are mostly simple enough.
[ He always is like I'm not a lot of things. ]
Pretty morbid stuff... anyway, yeah. Didn't help that it looked like everything crossed the beach at some point and we didn't even have Pickles's body...
Am I gonna regret asking what is the worst thing...? [there's a 50/50 chance it's going to be gross or sad and she's not sure which is worse.] They may be simple, but you've seen how some of us react in the face of death.
[badly! some people react badly.]
I wish we'd been able to ask Nona more questions, but I can only hope maybe it wasn't as painless for Pickles as it was for the other two. Erin told me about what happened with Karma, but...I'm still a little lost about Ichiban.
Ah, god. [ He runs a hand through his hair, grimacing a little bit. He looks like he genuinely considers naming something, but decides against it. ] You don't want to know.
[ Sparing Aerith that by making him not think too hard about it. His expression darkens vaguely at the mention of Pickles. I assume you mean that you hope it was painless, help. ]
...Seems like all the evidence I could find just pointed more at Mr. Kasuga himself than his attacker...
I appreciate the honesty as always. [yikes! again, very alarmed by what this man has gone through, but perhaps it's best for both of them if they don't linger on this...also HELP i meant wasn't as painful yeah i think i changed my sentence halfway, but also fuck off future haki if you ever read this i'm sad.]
I keep thinking about those two ponchos. And how someone mentioned it was more likely that Karma's barrel started at the opposite end of the beach from where he was found, in the same place we found the stick and the ponchos. [and...doggie. literally what happened why were they all so beach.] That would suggest the two people working together were Erin and someone else, wouldn't it? And only a handful of people fit the larger poncho.
Yeah. We know it wasn't easy to get up to the roof in the first place, unless you were a fairly skilled combatant. Or, I guess, really tall. [she takes a moment to think.]
The people who could have reasonably fit the larger poncho are Geto, Lavi, Alfyn, Rondo, Gojo, Iwatooshi, Karlach, or Ichiban himself. It doesn't feel right that Ichiban would have killed and then been killed by his chimera match. Three of those people were injured to some degree. Geto and Alfyn were away on that terrible trip through the fog Thursday, and Karlach's fingers are still healing.
So that leaves Lavi, Gojo, and Iwatooshi. All three of them are skilled in combat. Gojo seems like he'd be too lazy to go through with it. Or at least like it wouldn't be worth his while just yet. And I can't imagine Lavi doing anything to someone like Ichiban. But that only leaves Iwatooshi. [...] He told me that when he wasn't on missions at home, he and the others at his citadel would work in the fields doing manual labor and growing their own vegetables. So...he'd know how to use the gardening tools pretty well. And his profile does mention trying not to scare the animals, and, well...
[...]
I don't like any answer I come up with. No matter how much I think on it.
I personally attended to Mr. Greengrass's check, so I can attest that I saw nothing new on him, at the least.
[ Just double-clearing Alfyn here I guess. ]
Mr. Gojo... Not trying to be rude, but I also find it difficult to envision him taking the body out to the field and respectfully laying it to rest and hiding the heart too.
[ Another agreement there. ]
We'll have to place willing suspension on the idea of whether someone is "likely" to do it -- we've clearly all seen that the affliction can make anyone act.
[a small nod to both of those points. an agreement to his agreement, if you will. but she also knows he's right. they have to suspend belief on who could be a killer, especially when they all just saw what happened with nona.]
...I mean, I wish it wasn't anyone at all, but that's not an option, huh? [she just looks less than thrilled by narrowing this down.] They've both been really nice and good to talk to. And they both seem to want to help us get out of here. They'd...kind of be prime candidates for something like this, wouldn't they.
[if this scrap is from lavi's headband/uniform somehow i'm gonna kill yaywon actually.]
...Lavi was pretty upset about what happened with Nona yesterday. And Iwatooshi and I spoke a little last night, too, about trying to find an answer before the third monster strikes again. He also pointed out that if they strike again, we can at least compare what they do next to what we know of Ichiban's death. Try to find a pattern.
[ Wasn't Lavi doing all the black clothing checks on people lol. It'd be very funny. ]
The part that's probably the most strange is how they got on the roof, and the subsequent hole left behind without a tool. An easy guess would be some kind of flight, but...
We'll see, guess we'll see. If patterns repeat again, or we'll find somebody new.
It's possible to think that people fell through the roof, but if it was something heavier that broke through first...you wouldn't be able to tell at all. [she's not sure if she'd be able to surmise it herself even if she did have a closer look.] But you're right. Guess we'll see, and all we can do is keep our eyes peeled. Maybe whoever it was will slip up before it's too late and we can...take care of it from there.
Of course I do. Karlach's the tallest person we have, followed by Iwatooshi...there's a pretty big difference between him and the rest.
Lavi, Geto, Alfyn and Ichiban were all about the same height, and Rondo and Gojo are slightly taller. But only slightly. [so why would you need a poncho as large as karlach...?]
They may be our tallest, but the difference between Mr. Geto and Karlach is very notable.
[ ...Mm. ]
With the way the evidence was going, I didn't want to waste time on discovering another piece of evidence just belonged to Mr. Kasuga himself again, but...
It's odd, to say the least, to see that level of violence and the only blood trace to be from the victim themselves. Unless they wore a protective, waterproof covering?
We were speculating, weren't we? That the ponchos were meant to shield from blood and wine. It's possible that someone helped Erin with Karma, and then went to take care of Ichiban on their own while Erin rolled the barrel into the sea. That material meant that nothing would stick very well. Everything would wash away.
Only two options now. [kill, or let them kill again.] Without a definite answer, we risk hurting someone who's innocent. But without acting, we're putting someone else at risk anyway.
It's a hard call to make because it's not like we can post a sign someone casting suspicions. And I think even Kanda would...probably hesitate before stabbing someone without certainty they're to blame.
We can keep an eye out for now. Maybe see if other people have noticed, too. And try to make sure people aren't alone for too long.
Thank you, Daan. I might mention it to a few others who were looking into it to see if they might have noticed anything unusual or anything to make a more solid connection. [...] I'm sure you're the last person I ever have to say this to, but just be careful in the meantime. Okay?
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[ It was honestly probably for the best -- they'd end up spending time talking about it during the trial, and it's too early for that kind of stuff. ]
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It's less about comforting you and more about acknowledging you still had to deal with a man's empty chest cavity. [which sounds rude, maybe, but aerith figures while there are things daan could probably use comfort on, this isn't it.] Considering we really only found two of the three in the last hour with nothing more than a prayer and good instincts? Trying to pinpoint a monster and without knowing all of the rules would've been too much of a mess.
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[ He always is like I'm not a lot of things. ]
Pretty morbid stuff... anyway, yeah. Didn't help that it looked like everything crossed the beach at some point and we didn't even have Pickles's body...
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[badly! some people react badly.]
I wish we'd been able to ask Nona more questions, but I can only hope maybe it wasn't as painless for Pickles as it was for the other two. Erin told me about what happened with Karma, but...I'm still a little lost about Ichiban.
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[ Sparing Aerith that by making him not think too hard about it. His expression darkens vaguely at the mention of Pickles. I assume you mean that you hope it was painless, help. ]
...Seems like all the evidence I could find just pointed more at Mr. Kasuga himself than his attacker...
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I keep thinking about those two ponchos. And how someone mentioned it was more likely that Karma's barrel started at the opposite end of the beach from where he was found, in the same place we found the stick and the ponchos. [and...doggie. literally what happened why were they all so beach.] That would suggest the two people working together were Erin and someone else, wouldn't it? And only a handful of people fit the larger poncho.
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There was also the black scrap of fabric from the hole in the barn roof.
...
What are your thoughts?
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Yeah. We know it wasn't easy to get up to the roof in the first place, unless you were a fairly skilled combatant. Or, I guess, really tall. [she takes a moment to think.]
The people who could have reasonably fit the larger poncho are Geto, Lavi, Alfyn, Rondo, Gojo, Iwatooshi, Karlach, or Ichiban himself. It doesn't feel right that Ichiban would have killed and then been killed by his chimera match. Three of those people were injured to some degree. Geto and Alfyn were away on that terrible trip through the fog Thursday, and Karlach's fingers are still healing.
So that leaves Lavi, Gojo, and Iwatooshi. All three of them are skilled in combat. Gojo seems like he'd be too lazy to go through with it. Or at least like it wouldn't be worth his while just yet. And I can't imagine Lavi doing anything to someone like Ichiban. But that only leaves Iwatooshi. [...] He told me that when he wasn't on missions at home, he and the others at his citadel would work in the fields doing manual labor and growing their own vegetables. So...he'd know how to use the gardening tools pretty well. And his profile does mention trying not to scare the animals, and, well...
[...]
I don't like any answer I come up with. No matter how much I think on it.
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[ Just double-clearing Alfyn here I guess. ]
Mr. Gojo... Not trying to be rude, but I also find it difficult to envision him taking the body out to the field and respectfully laying it to rest and hiding the heart too.
[ Another agreement there. ]
We'll have to place willing suspension on the idea of whether someone is "likely" to do it -- we've clearly all seen that the affliction can make anyone act.
...
Do you wish it was anyone else?
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...I mean, I wish it wasn't anyone at all, but that's not an option, huh? [she just looks less than thrilled by narrowing this down.] They've both been really nice and good to talk to. And they both seem to want to help us get out of here. They'd...kind of be prime candidates for something like this, wouldn't they.
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It's not an unusual wish to have, to want to choose somebody else. You could keep an eye on them, of course, see how they behave.
Mind the black scrap.
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...Lavi was pretty upset about what happened with Nona yesterday. And Iwatooshi and I spoke a little last night, too, about trying to find an answer before the third monster strikes again. He also pointed out that if they strike again, we can at least compare what they do next to what we know of Ichiban's death. Try to find a pattern.
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The part that's probably the most strange is how they got on the roof, and the subsequent hole left behind without a tool. An easy guess would be some kind of flight, but...
We'll see, guess we'll see. If patterns repeat again, or we'll find somebody new.
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It's possible to think that people fell through the roof, but if it was something heavier that broke through first...you wouldn't be able to tell at all. [she's not sure if she'd be able to surmise it herself even if she did have a closer look.] But you're right. Guess we'll see, and all we can do is keep our eyes peeled. Maybe whoever it was will slip up before it's too late and we can...take care of it from there.
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[ Thinking, quietly. ]
...Mr. Iwatooshi is right between.
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Lavi, Geto, Alfyn and Ichiban were all about the same height, and Rondo and Gojo are slightly taller. But only slightly. [so why would you need a poncho as large as karlach...?]
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[ ...Mm. ]
With the way the evidence was going, I didn't want to waste time on discovering another piece of evidence just belonged to Mr. Kasuga himself again, but...
It's odd, to say the least, to see that level of violence and the only blood trace to be from the victim themselves. Unless they wore a protective, waterproof covering?
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We were speculating, weren't we? That the ponchos were meant to shield from blood and wine. It's possible that someone helped Erin with Karma, and then went to take care of Ichiban on their own while Erin rolled the barrel into the sea. That material meant that nothing would stick very well. Everything would wash away.
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The problem with that being what we do with this information, of course.
[ The fact is, they let one get away. ]
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I am a pragmatist, even if I don't like it...
[ Scratches his ear... sighing. ]
Oh, but I really don't like it. I'm no good at trying to broach this sort of thing.
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We can keep an eye out for now. Maybe see if other people have noticed, too. And try to make sure people aren't alone for too long.
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[ So. Presumably he'll be able to keep an eye on Iwatooshi and if he dies, c'est la vie. ]
So I'll keep an eye out.
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You too.