12:00
Yamaxanadu Courtroom

“All rise for the judge-lady!” Announced the bailiff, who was casually slouched down in a seat beside the judge's podium. At least she was until she was smacked in the back of the head and knocked off her seat by a blow from behind. “Hey!” she exclaimed, picking herself up and whirling to face her attacker... and promptly shrank back from the withering gaze of the judge herself. “... y-yo boss!”

“Don't you 'yo boss' me Komachi! I expect to be introduced properly and I also expect to see my bailiffs maintain a certain level of decorum in this courtroom!” growled the judge, “Now... give me a boost, some idiot put my chair up too high again.”

Komachi complied quickly, deciding not to mention that the chair was at a normal height and her boss was just... really short. “Yes your honor,” she grumbled, grunting slightly as she boosted the judge into her chair. That done she stood, positioned herself in front of the judges pedestal and took a deep breath.

“Presiding judge! Shikieki Yamaxanadu! Pay respect or she'll kick your as- ow!” Clutching the back of her already bruised head, where Shikieki's gavel had just bounced off, Komachi winced and muttered a hasty apology before continuing. “In the case of the murder of Alice Margatroid! For the prosecution! Asthmatic avenger, the newbie crusher, Prosecutor Patchouli Knowledge!”

A slightly embarrassed cough emanated from the direction of the prosecutor's bench, off to Komachi's left. There sat a sickly looking young woman who seemed more intent on not falling off her seat than on a potential court battle. She gave a little wave to both Komachi and the Judge, then coughed again.

“Uh...” the bailiff shrugged and turned to face the defence bench, “So anyway, On the defence, the drunk attorney, Suika Wright!” She peered at the bench for a moment, “and... apparently her son.”

“I'm a girl!”

“You don't look like one.” Observed Shikieki as she waved Komachi back to her seat. “Still, enough of this. Prosecution? If you're ready, may we have the opening statement?”

“Why, certainly.” Patchouli pulled herself up to her... rather unimpressive full height and calmly slid a few documents into place in front of her. “We are here to determine, or rather prove, the guilt of Hakurei Reimu in the heinous crime of murdering Alice Margatroid in cold blood - or, at the very least, in somewhat tepid blood. The suspect, Hakurei Reimu was allegedly the first to find the corpse - however evidence found at the scene of the crime points to her as being the murderer herself. One witness, that stupid black-white -”

“Prosecutor Patchouli,” Muttered Shikieki from her spot, “decorum, please.”

“... fine. One witness, Kirisame Marisa, claims to have found Reimu standing over the corpse. It was her who called our officer to the scene, where the arrest was made and Reimu was charged with murder.” coughing slightly after her speech, the sickly girl made a waving motion towards a red-haired girl standing waiting nearby. “And now, if our good detective would care to explain the finer details of the murder?”

“Very good,” stated the petite judge, “So the police witness, Detective ... Detective...” she seemed to stumble for a moment before whispering something to Komachi and pointing at her documents. After a brief conversation, Shikieki returned to her original upright position. “Since neither myself nor my bailiff have any idea how to read her name, Detective China shall do for now.”

“Whaaaat?” The red-head practically wailed at that, “My name is Meiling! Meiling! Detective Hong Meiling!”

“Really? Well, you've been noted in the records as Detective China for now, we'll just have to fix that afterwards, is that alright Detective China?” Shikieki's voice was quite, calm, and sounded about as kind as a well-oiled guillotine. Meiling got the message immediately.

“I get it...” She moaned as she walked, slumped over, up into the witnesses stand.

“Will the witness state her name and profession?” asked Patchouli the moment Meiling was in place.

“Ah! Yes, yes, My name is Hong Meiling!” The girl exclaimed, seeming happy to have been asked. She was interrupted, however, by a sharp cough from where Shikieki sat above and behind her at the judges pedestal. The girl deflated almost immediately, “... I... I mean, My name is China.... My job? I guess you could call me a detective.”

“Now, Detective China.” Everyone could hear the stress Patchouli placed on the detectives name. “Do tell us about the... circumstances of the murder.”

* * * * * * *
TESTIMONY: 'Circumstances of the Crime'
* * * * * * *



“The body was found at around half-past ten by, according to her original explanation, Reimu herself. As you can see I have prepared a simple diagram of the local area.

The deceased was discovered lying near the north western corner of her own home, a short distance away from both her water supply - an open well - and the edges of the Forest of Magic. Although an examination of the house didn't find anything particularly decisive, there were a few unusual aspects - namely that both front and back doors were wide open and unlocked.

We - that is, myself and medical experts from Eientei - also did a search of the house for anything that could lead to an explanation, but all we found was one of Reimu's outfits... It seemed a little out of place so we bagged it just to be sure.

*Evidence: Shrine Maiden Outfit*

Aside from that there was nothing of any real interest in the house. The grounds, however, proved to be a little more interesting. When we checked the corpse, we found it was surrounded with sealing cards of the kind Reimu uses while hidden nearby was a gohei - that stick thing Reimu waves about all the time. Initial inspection showed it to be covered in blood, and Doctor Eirin later confirmed that blood to have been that of Alice Margatroid. Naturally we took it in as a possible murder weapon.

*Evidence: Seal Cards*

*Evidence: Bloodstained Gohei*

The last unusual thing was the absence of both Shanghai and Hourai. Shanghai was later found in the well nearby, entangled in a brown wig of some kind. Hourai is, at the moment, still missing.

*Evidence: Shanghai and Wig*

Finally, I have here an autopsy report compiled my Doctor Eirin.

*Evidence: Autopsy Report*

That is all your honor.”

*Evidence: Crime Scene diagram.*

* * * * * * *
TESTIMONY END
* * * * * * *

“Wow,” Muttered Suika as both she and Wriggle looked wide-eyed at Detective China. “That's... pretty bad. I didn't know they had so much evidence against Reimu.”

At that Wriggle looked up at her boss with one eyebrow raised, “You... You didn't read the case reports at all, did you?”

“'course not. They never tell me anything useful after all.” The orange-haired attorney glanced over at what seemed to be a smug look on Patchouli's face. That or some of her medicines had begun to kick in. Either way, Suika didn't think it looked all that good for the case. “So, uh... did you read it Wriggle?”

“N... not as such, no.” came the reply, complete with embarrassed attempts to not look Suika in the eye.

“Defense?” interrupted the quiet, but harsh, voiced judge. “If you are done chatting amongst yourselves... Do you have any wish to question the police testimony?”



EVIDENCE LIST: Bloody Gohei, Seal Cards, Shrine Maiden Outfit, Shanghai and Wig, Autopsy Report, Crime Scene Diagram, Detective Meiling's Testimony.




(( So, here you go anon. As of now you guide what kind of actions Suika will be taking. Do you have any questions about the crime scene examination? Do you want to check over the evidence? Do you want to slap Wriggle around the back of the head for not reading the stuff you should have read yourself? It's a free choice - but remember, you'll have to validate your choices to some basic extend. Remember, you can ask pretty much anything as long as it's relevant. Oh, and don't worry, this'll be the only multi-post MONUMENT of text.))

Er, final part because i was an idiot and forgot to attatch the crime scene diagram to China's speech.

Check up all evidence

Present evidence: crime scene diaphragm.

if Reime was slouched over the body, why is the blood stained Gohai not next to her - The place it lies in seems odd.

Press on testimony: The par about the shrine outfit. It makes no sense that a cold blooded murder would leave such an outfit there. Reimu is clearly being blamed.

>>32512
seconding this
additionaly, present the wig, it underlines the fact that someone was just cosplaying reimu to blame her

is there stuff as penalties ?
I hate it to present the fasle evidence and get a penalty for something I thougth that would make sense. Especially if it was the point that would solve the whole trial, but was required to be presented later

Penalties will only be given for, basically, blatantly obvious messing about. As long as you can give some kind of justification for something you press/present, you're unlikely to get a penalty.
I'm gonna see if i can give like... 5-10 minutes for anon to think about stuff after each testimony before continuing.

((Okay, i lied about the walls o' text))

“A few things, I guess...” Suika stated, causing both Shikieki and Wriggle to frown at her apparently lack of confidance. “China, you said that the Shrine Maiden Outfit was found inside the house?”

“Well, uh, yeah. All neatly folded up and everything... I mean, it had a few danmaku burns but around here, who's clothing doesn't?“

“So, is it possible that someone could have worn the outfit in an attempt to frame Reimu for this crime?”

“OBJECTION!” Both China and Suika shrank back as Patchouli's yell cut thought the air, although both had several second to recover as the prosecutor had to gasp for air after her outburst, “Hah... Hah... The witness just admitted the clothing was neatly put away! What kind of criminal would take such trouble to hide a disguise?”

Shikieki, up on her stand, nodded thoughtfully. “Well I would, of course.” She stated, “neatness is a virtue after all, but I am aware that not everyone is quite so... diligent in such matters.” Down in her seat Komachi blinked, pointed to herself and mouthed 'is she talking about me?' to herself. “As such,” continued Shikieki, ignorant of her subordinate's silent fuming, “I would have to agree with the prosecution on this point.”

Frowning at this early sign of judge favoritism, Suika sighed and tried a different approach. “Well, then, what about the wig? That wasn't neatly put away if it was found down a well. And with Shanghai entangled in it too? Seems suspicious to me.”

China nodded at Suika's observation, as did the judge herself. “Yeah, that's true.” Stated the detective, “The rest of the team weren't sure what to make of it though, the wig was pretty much soaked through even though it had been a fair way above the waterline. That, according to Doctor Eirin, meant that it had been there for a at least several hours before the murder.” At this Patchouli seemed about to gloat, but China cut her off by carrying on with her explanation. “Thing is, while the wig had been down there for some time, Shanghai was pretty dry overall. We're pretty certain that for whatever reason, Shanghai had gone down the well and gotten entangled either during the murder itself or not long before or after it.”

In her stand, Patchouli fumed slightly. Still, if the wig had been there awhile before the murder it definitely shot down the idea of the murderer being disguised as Reimu. Meaning, to her, that the murderer must have been Reimu.

“Anything else the defence wishes to ask?” Prompted Shikieki,

“Just... one last thing.” Suika responded, shuffling a few hastily scrawled notes about in front of her. “The Gohei that was found, the one covered in blood? According to the diagram, the Gohei was discovered not only behind the victim, but also around the corner of the building. Doesn't it seem odd that Reimu, if she had done this, would have gone around behind Alice, hidden the weapon, then went back around in front of her like that?”

“Uh...” China's face went blank at Suika's words, “... I never even thought of that.” she muttered after a while, taking a look at her own diagram.

“Objection!” Patchouli called, a smug look across her face. “Why else would she do something like that? She could have merely hid the weapon, then moved back so she could pretend to have stumbled across the body! Unless you have some way to prove it wasn't Reimu who used the weapon, then it's impossible to discount the fact that she could have.”

“Hm. Again I feel I will have to agree with the prosecution,” Stated Shikieki from her perch, “Although I will admit it does seem... unusual... for the weapon to be there, without some kind of proof any speculation on the matter is just that, speculation.”

Patchouli, however, wasn't done yet. “Oh, and my dear defence, before you even bother to say it - I already ordered the item to have been checked for fingerprints. I do think you'll be surprised to hear that Reimu's were on the Gohei.”

“Yeah,” continued Meiling, “As were Marisa's, yours, and several others. There's no real way to prove exactly who held the thing during the murder. Doctor Eirin is good, but even she said there were some things we just can't do.”

“Now,” Patchouli said, “If that's everything you wanted to ask, the Prosecution would like to call it's first witness - Hakurei Reimu.”

Huh.... Well, if the prosecution can't make a strong argument that establishes motive, the defense can probably achieve reasonable doubt due to the wig, extra outfit, unusual placement of the gohei, and the absurdity of the notion of Reimu STAYING at the crime scene long enough for Marisa to bring back others.

Surprised that no one suggested
>>Present Evidence: Common sense

Reimu's yinyang orbs can mask scent, and her outfit is 90 percent red. It'd be a lot more efficient to grab the murder weapon and dispose of it and her sleeves if she wanted to kill someone and make a clean getaway.

Atleast, a lot more efficient than offing someone, running to get changed, and THEN coming back to get the murder weapon.

>the wig was pretty much soaked through even though it had been a fair way above the waterline. That, according to Doctor Eirin, meant that it had been there for a at least several hours before the murder.
>Thing is, while the wig had been down there for some time, Shanghai was pretty dry overall. We're pretty certain that for whatever reason, Shanghai had gone down the well and gotten entangled either during the murder itself or not long before or after it

...lolwut. Gah.

do as you always do during a pheonix wright game

press on all parts of the testimony untill it moves forward

>>32528

To clarify, the wig was absolutely drenched - despite not being under the waterline in the well. This implies it had been soaked over a period of time from weather, spillage from the well bucket, etc. When found Shanghai, despite being entangled in the wig, wasn't anywhere near as soaked. This means that, while damp from contact with the wig she had not been there as long as the wig itself had. sorry if that sounded a bit confusing.

EVIDENCE LIST:

Bloody Gohei - A slightly damaged and blood-stained Gohei. Apparently covered in the fingerprints of several people.

Seal Cards - Small rectangular red cards covered in various sealing texts. Found near Alice's corpse.

Shanghai and Wig - Found in a nearby well. The brown wig had apparently been there some time, Shanghai however appears to have become entangled close to the time of the murder.

Shrine Maiden Outfit - a perfect replica, or even one of, Reimu's shrine outfits. Found neatly folded away in Alice's house.

Crime Scene Diagram - a diagram Meiling (Detective China) made of the murder scene.

Detective Meiling's Testimony - A record of what Meiling (Detective China) said in her testimony.

Autopsy Report - Time of death between 9:30 and 11:30. Alice was covered in numerous danmaku hit marks, none of which were lethal. She was also covered in numerous wounds inflicted by a blunt, thin, object. These wounds were determined to have been, when combined with pre-existing injuries, lethal.

((Off to docs, will put Reimu's testimony up after.))

>>32530
No no, it wasn't particularly confusing...just bizarre.

Query: in this Gensokyo, is Shanghai an autonomous doll, or one the moves only when directly controlled by Alice?
Also: how exactly was Shanghai above the waterline, yet in the well? Was she sitting in a bucket or something? Or just sort of magically hovering inside while tangled up in the wig?

>>32533

Shanghai (and Hourai) are puppets. However they're controlled, or however semi-autonomous they are, they will cease functioning if Alice dies.

Also, it's easy to get caught in a well above the waterline, the details on that perhaps aren't as important... or maybe they are, so i can't tell you. Hohoho.

A few moments later Meiling, aka Detective China, was gone and in her place on the witness stand stood a wary looking shrine maiden.

“Now,” began Prosecutor Patchouli, “Do state your name and job for the court, would you kindly.”

“Hakurei Reimu.” stated the brown-haired girl, “Shrine maiden, protector of Gensokyo and all that crap.”

“Now, miss Hakurei, you are here as the suspect in the death of Alice Margatroid. What do you have to say to that?”

“I didn't do it!” Reimu yelled, smashing her palms down on the rail that surrounded the witness stand. “All I did was find the body! I didn't kill her!”

“Or,” Patchouli started, her voice sounding as smooth as it could get, “so you claim. But as it turns out the only witness we have places you at the crime scene, the evidence all points to you being the killer, and you have no alibi whatsoever. On top of that, I have been informed you actually had a motive to boot - but we'll come to that in a moment. For now, I wish for you to explain, in your own words, what happened when you supposedly found the corpse.”

“Fine...”


* * * * * * *
TESTIMONY BEGIN: 'When I Found the Corpse'
* * * * * * *

“It was about, I don't know, ten or so in the morning maybe? I had been heading to see Alice to apologize for an argument we had the night before.

Anyway, when I got there I knocked on the door to see if anyone was in but I didn't get any answer so I looked through the windows. Since I didn't see her I figured she might have been out the back, drawing water or something. I suppose I could have gone over the roof, but It seemed like a waste of energy so I just walked around the outside of her house instead.

That was when I saw her, she was just lying there - face down towards me. I... paniced... a bit. I mean, I know I'm used to seeing dead youkai and stuff but... This was the first time I'd seen someone I knew well being, well, dead.

I don't know how long I stood there, looking at the body. Either way Marisa cam screaming out of the woods and made me come to. Next thing I know the slacker-cop here is dragging me in saying I've been blamed for Alice's murder.”


* * * * * * *
TESTIMONY END
* * * * * * *

“Well, that was a... not particularly enlightening testimony,” murmured the judge, “Defense, are there any questions you would like to ask?”

Soooo....how does this work, anyway?

Anyways, if there are any questions I would imagine, it would be:
1. Are you missing any of your shrine maiden outfits? (If so, when did they vanish, who would have access to them, how easy would it be to take one of yours, etc)
Side note to 1: check if anyone commissioned a wig or materials that could be used to make a shrine maiden outfit in the human village.
2. Same as 1, except regarding the gohei.
Side note to 2: same as side note to 1, except with gohei.
3. Same as 1, except regarding the sealing cards.
Side note to 3: same as side note to 1, except with sealing cards.

>>32566

It works, uh, pretty much like that actually. You guys put your questions down - if too many different ones are asked, i'll pick either the most popular or most relevant ones and write up the next section.

Well, obviously it'd help to know what the argument was about, but I figure that's coming up.

Ask if the window was ajar, or if the door was unlocked, I guess.

>>32572 Shirou.jpg
Of course the window wasn't a jar. It's a window.

Ask what was the topic of argument between them that happened night before.

Press her about Marisa coming out of the woods... seems a bit suspicious to me wouldn't Marisa fly or something why would see be in the woods?

Lawyer clearly should have pressed Meiling on the Seal Cards. It would have been particularly telling if there had been more than just Reimu's prints on those.

>>32820
Too easy. Marisa lives within walking distance of Alice in the Forest of Magic.

Hmm.. this made me download Phoenix Wright ROMs and play it. (For those without Nintendo DS - lurk for emulators. DeSmuME works almost perfectly for me.

>>32846
>>DeSmuME

No$GBA is a lot better.

“Mm... Only two things really come to mind,” Mumbled Suika, “This argument you mentioned, it was with Alice right?”

“Well, yes.” Came Reimu's response, “You should know this Suika! You were there after all, Wriggle too... Not that I have any good idea of why she's been hanging around the shrine lately.”

“Who? Alice or Wriggle?”

“I meant Wriggle,” murmured the shrine maiden, a thoughtful frown forming on her face. “But... Now that you mention it, Alice had been hanging around a lot recently too... I mean, she usually visits fairly regularly, but for the past week or two it's she's been showing up every day for a short while, leaving, then coming back later to hang around some more.”

“Interesting,” prompted Patchouli from her stand, “But it hardly answers the question - one the prosecution wishes to have answered also. Do, please, tell use about the argument you the suspect had with Alice the victim.”

Over at the defense bench Wriggle winced at Patchouli's words. “Damn,” She whispered, “She wanted us to ask about the argument - It must be the motive she mentioned Reimu had earlier.”

Her boss merely grunted in response, obviously not pleased about that. Still, she knew it was something that simply had to have been asked now while she could control it, rather than later when Patchouli could easily spin the argument to her advantage.

“Alright. The argument, if that's what you want to know then fine, I'll tell you about it.” Grumbled the witness, she was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath before beginning her explanation. “I suppose it was something that had been building up for a while, Marisa had been a pain lately so I hadn't exactly been in the best of moods that day to begin with. She'd been accusing me of all kinds of crap and Alice kept taking her side on almost everything. Last night Alice offered to take part in some danmaku practice and, well, Alice blew up my donations box.” Reimu looked away for a moment before continuing in a quieter voice. “At least... I thought it was her, at the time I mean. I yelled at her and, well, we argued. It wasn't until Alice left and I got to repairing my donations box that I realized, it hadn't been one of her shots that hit it, it had been one of mine.”

“So... That's why you went to see her this morning?” Suika prompted, “To apologize for blaming her over the destruction of your donations box?”

The shrine maiden nodded frantically“Exactly! I just went to apologize! Not to kill her!”

“Or so you claim,” cut in Patchouli, who was now standing up and looking particularly smug, “now what the prosecution thinks happened is that you did blame Alice for destroying your donations box, you spent all night planning on what to do and the next morning you visited her home, acted like you wanted to talk and then, when her guard was down, savagely beat her to death!”

“OBJECTION!” Suika roared, causing Patchouli, as well as both Shikieki and Reimu to visibly flinch back at the force of her yell. “That's nothing more than a guess! Isn't it still possible that Reimu was innocent? The murder weapon has not, after all, been proven to have been used only by her. The fingerprint evidence didn't prove a thing, and the only other solid evidence towards Reimu is the fact her seal cards were near the corpse!” Suika smirked to herself and looked towards the girl In the witness stand. “And how easy, do you think, would it be to make fake cards? Or even just pick some up after one of Reimu's battles, huh?”

“Not too hard,” Reimu sta

“Not too hard,” Reimu stated, “I mean, they're just cards. Anyone could take some card, some ink and just copy a few of them. They'd be pretty useless unless you have the divine energy to work the seals but... Anyone can make the things. Same with the Gohei actually, they're not hard to make. Or steal even, I'm forever throwing out damaged ones - they're not exactly durable you know.”

The Oni lawyer nodded, pleased with Reimu's answer. “Now, on the subject of fakes... The outfit and the wig. Reimu, do you know anything about these?”

“Uh... not really.” Reimu shrugged as she answer, “I mean, I make all my own outfits and I'm not exactly a top seamstress so anyone with enough skill could make their own. It can't be one of mine though, since I had all mine the last time I checked.” the brown-haired girl went silent for several moments as she considered what little she knew about the other item of evidence, the wig. “I... don't know about wigs.” She said at last, “but I'm pretty sure there are a few people who can make them, I know Alice used to make little ones for her dolls - thats practically the same thing, just smaller, right?”



((ugh, damn character limit... also damn thing not letting me delete the cut-off post. Oh well, here's the rest of it. Now, if you have anything more to ask or point out go ahead. if not i'll bring in the next witness sometime later))

>>I'm forever throwing out damaged ones

Reimu must have some kind of luck blessing. That shit should be picking her up jinxes.

Do amulets count as danmakus? If not, present Autopsy Report.

>>32890
I think, they do, actually. BUT
>they're not exactly durable you know
I suppose the ones that were found are in perfect shape. Present it.

>>32891

Why present it? It's just Reimu's word that they would be broken.

Who the heck would trust the testimony of the killer?
Find something better.

[ ] "Who else might have had a grudge against Alice?"

SOMEONE murdered her, if it wasn't Reimu it was someone who can loot Reimu's shrine, or can make stuff up.

Wait, wouldn't Beating someone to death do more damage to a Gohei, if Reimu's constantly throiwng them out, Than just slightly damage it? One would think that if you were gonna beat someone to death with a Gohei, it'd end up in pieces, not just slightly damaged.

>>32906
Kira=Awesome.

[ ] May I see one of your Gohei?
[ ] Smash it against your head. A lot.

See what breaks first. The gohei, or your head.

>>32906
Even moreso considering Alice is a youkai, and (unlike Patchy) not known for physical frailty. Youkai are especially durable. The gohei in evidence is thus likely not the actual murder weapon.

(( Monument of Text Incoming ))

Suika frowned, this inquiry didn't seem to be getting her anywhere. Without any actual proof that would at least cast doubt on Reimu's guilt, the case was likely to end badly. Quickly too - she could see that Shikieki was beginning to get more than a little bored with the fact that nothing new had really come to light.

Behind her Wriggle let out a shocked gasp and... vanished right out of her clothes, only to be replaced by a significantly more womanly figure who's body definitely stretched the little tomboy's outfit to the limits.

“Suika,” she whispered, causing the Oni to jump and spin around to face her in shock.

“My god!” came the excited shout, “It's my dead mentor Yukari, and she's possessing Wriggle's body!”

“Exactly! My, you are quick to realize the situation, aren't you my little apprentice?” Yukari smiled at Suika's obliviousness. As well as that of almost everyone else in court, who were currently whispering amongst themselves about how Wriggle suddenly looked so much more mature than before. “Now, I do believe you happen to be having a little trouble, hm?”

- - - - - - -
Elsewhere...

Wriggle shivered and cursed Yukari loudly with every shaky breath. This wasn't the first time Yukari - who everyone seemed to be convinced was dead - had gapped her mostly naked out into the middle of no-where. From what Wriggle understood Yukari did it to deliver sage advice to Suika while convincing everyone she was possessing her body. How the hell no-one seemed to notice that it was Yukari simply swapping places with her was... well... Wriggle was pretty certain that aside from herself and possibly Yukari everyone in Gensokyo was mentally deficient in certain key areas.

Namely all of them.

So, clad in only her underwear, Wriggle looked around to work out what godforsaken place Yukari had left her in this time. From what she could see there were flowers.

Lots of flowers.
Everywhere.
This was probably a bad sign.

“Why... hello there,”

Wriggle's eyes went wide. She knew that voice! She also knew that voice was most definitely not a good thing to hear. Turning slowly, the little insect youkai came to find herself face to face with one of the most feared youkai in Gensokyo.

“Aw....” She breathed as the infamous Kazami Yuka made a move to grab her, “... Damn you Yukari!”

- - - - - - -
Courtroom

“And that's the situation Yukari!”

“So, let me see if I have this right my apprentice,” Murmured the famed (and supposedly dead) youkai of borders. “Unless you can come up with something to throw doubt onto Reimu's guilt, she's going down.”

“Pretty much master, but I can't see anything!” Suika sniffed, she didn't want to let Reimu down! Not after all the trust that had been placed in her. Besides, if Reimu got locked up, who would pay for all her alcohol?

“Hrm... Well, I suppose I can remain a while longer. But I can't stay too long or Wriggle's body might suffer serious damage.” Smiling at the small Oni, Yukari reached out to ruffle her hair in a reassuring way. “For now though, why don't you take another look at the murder weapon? I'm sure if you think hard about it you'll see a clear contradiction in the evidence.”

“The murder weapon? I already looked at that, there's not much to go on.” grumbled the smaller girl, “It's covered in blood but I have no idea who it belongs to - I remember doctor Eirin once said she can't test for that kind of thing. There are fingerprints, but those are all inconclusive too. It's only a little damaged which is kind of... wait... This was used to beat Alice to death, right?”

Yukari merely nodded in response, causing Suika's eyes to light up as she realized she was on the right track.

“Alright!” Turning back to the court at large, Suika allowed herself to sport a feral grin. “HOLD IT!” She yelled, causing everyone present to wake from the naps they had been taking during Suika and Yukari's chat. “There's a clear problem with the evidence!”

“Oh? Now what could it be?” Inquired Patchouli, “Please enlighten us.”

“Sure I will!” Indicating the bloody Gohei, which sat with the other evidence on a small table a little way in front of the witness so everyone could see it,, Suika began her explanation. “This gohei, as claimed by the prosecution, is the weapon used in the murder of Alice Margatroid. Correct? The prosecution also claims that the victim received numerous, solid, blows from this weapon. Correct?”

“That is Correct.” Mumbled the purple haired prosecutor, “I don't see how this is important however, both these facts are well established already.”

“Ah! But that's where you're wrong!” Suika grinned again as both Patchouli and Shikieki shot her confused looks. “As Reimu just stated, she's always throwing her Gohei out because 'they're not very durable'. So now I have to ask, how durable is a Gohei? Can one even be used to hit a youkai that many times, that hard, and still remain in one piece?”

“That, Defense, is a very interesting question.” as she said this Shikieki turned to level a harsh glare at Patchouli. “Well? I would like to see this tested and frankly, I'm disappointed that you did not order such tests yourself already... Unless you have something to hide, of course.”

“The, ah, the prosecution has nothing to hide your, ah, your honor!” choked out the sickly girl, in between puffing on her inhaler. “In, ah, in fact we actually possess an identical, though perfect condition, gohei right here - it was taken as evidence from the shrine itself!”

*Evidence: Perfect Gohei*

Patchouli motioned for Meiling, who had been sitting off to one side, to hand the perfect-condition Gohei to the judge. For several moments Shikieki examined the item from several angles, then swung it about a few times and giggled to herself. “I always wanted to try this,” she mumbled, only barely audible. A few moments later she sobered up and nodded to herself. “Very well, let us test the defense's claim that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to beat someone without such an item breaking.”

Glancing around Shikieki's gaze soon fixed itself on her bailiff who, as she had been for some time now, was lightly snoring away in her chair beside the judges podium. Shikieki's eyes narrowed as she drew her hand, holding the gohei, back for a good swing. Suddenly there was a blur of wood and streamer followed by a sharp crack ash the gohei impacted firmly with the back of Komachi's sleeping head - knocking her forwards off her chair to end up sprawled on the floor. The gohei itself, however, had snapped in two with only a tiny bit of bent and splintered wood still joining the two halves together.

*Evidence Lost: Perfect Gohei*

*Evidence: Broken Gohei*

“Well,” she said, ignoring Komachi's wails of protest and pain. “That, it would seem, would answer that. I am forced to concur with the defenses argument, the gohei it seems could not have been the murder weapon as the force used to kill Alice should have snapped it in two with ease.”

“And now,” she added, “I shall call a short recess, then we will see to the next witness when we return.”

Supreme. I suppose since this is Case 1, there'll be no Evidence Gathering events for now?

>She was also covered in numerous wounds inflicted by a blunt, thin, object. These wounds were determined to have been, when combined with pre-existing injuries, lethal.

If gohei is innocent... I blame broom!

>>32988

yeah, no evidence gathering yet. not 100% sure how best to do such bits at the moment anyway.

>>32990

Broom seems like a pretty obvious thing right about now considering our key witness is generally always guilty in the first trials

(( Okay, Marisa's stuff coming up, knock yourselves out since you guys do technically have enough info to potentially piece everything together now.))

- - - - - - -
2:15
Yamaxanadu Court Lobby


“Well, that was a good result at the end there,” proclaimed Suika before chugging down a goodly volume of sake from her gourd. “We proved the Gohei wasn't used to kill Alice. That's their most important bit of physical evidence we shot down!”

“Hwah?” Over in the corner of the lobby room Wriggle was leaning against the wall. Her hair was a mess, her face flushed and more than a few bright red marks were visible over her face and neck. She'd returned shortly before everyone had filed out after the recess had been called and, so far, hadn't recovered in the slightest. Or sat down for that matter. Come to that, Suika had noted that Wriggle had been walking kind of funny when they left the courtroom - but she'd put it all down to the strain and exhaustion of having Yukari possess her body. It was obviously the only explanation.

The last person in the room, Reimu, was looking significantly more confidant than she had been that morning. “I take it back,” she said after a while, “maybe you're not as useless as I had expected you to be.”

“Kyahaha!” Suika laughed, hands on hips and chest thrust out with pride. “I'm just that awesome! Now we got the weapon shot down all we have to do is trash the witness testimony and we got enough to at least throw serious doubt on your guilt!”

“What happened to proving me innocent, huh?” asked Reimu, one eyebrow raised slightly. “I thought you were going to prove my innocence entirely!”

“Well, yeah, but to do that we have to prove someone else did it,” came the oni's response, “and that's not exactly easy since we have no idea who else could have. So, for now, we'll settle for proving that you didn't do it at least.”

At that moment there came a knocking from the lobby door and Komachi entered - both to collect Reimu, who was still technically under arrest, and to signal that it was time for the others to return to the courtroom.

“C'mon Wriggle,” Suika commanded, “lets go kick Patchouli's pasty prosecutor rear.”

“Wha? Bu' I don' wanna put that there~” was the dazed reply,

“... You're so weird Wriggle.”

- - - - - - -
2:30
Yamaxanadu Courtroom


Shikieki, having mounted her seat once again with the aid of Komachi, smacked her gavel hard - causing everyone to fall silent in order for her to speak. “Well, after that interesting discovery before the recess, I believe that now the prosecution will have to work somewhat harder to prove that Hakurei Reimu is, in fact, the murderer of Alice Margatroid.” She explained, “Now, prosecution, I believe you wish to call your next witness?”

“That is correct your honor,” intoned the magician-turned-lawyer, “calling to the stand, one black-white thief commonly known as Kirisame Marisa.”

“Hey!” The yell of outrage came from a girl in a black and white witches outfit who was angrily stomping her way up to the witness stand. “I resent that-ze! You can't talk about me like that-ze! Can she talk about me like that-ze?” this last question was directed at Shikieki, who merely shrugged.

“Well well, seeing you there does so make my heart beat faster.” Patchouli murmured, “though if only you were there as a criminal, not a witness. Oh well. Only a matter of time I suppose.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean-ze?” snarled the black-white girl, “I'm pretty sure you're implying things you're not allowed to be implying, you know-ze?”

“... whatever.” Shuffling a few papers the purple haired girl calmed herself before continuing. “Now then. If you would be so kind as to state your name, black-white, and your profession, thief.”

“My name is Kirisame Marisa-ze!” Marisa declared, hopping up to stand on the railins that surrounded the witness stand, arms folded across her chest. “My profession is that of a lovely witch-ze!”

“Very well Marisa-ze.” muttered the judge, clearly not happy with her act. “Do tell us what you saw at the murder scene.”

“Eh... my name isn't Marisa-ze, it's Marisa-ze.” came the, petulant, response.

The girl above and behind her blinked and frowned, “So it is Marisa-ze then?” she asked.

“No, it's just Marisa, not Marisa-ze-ze.”

Shikieki's eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously as she glared at Marisa. “ I don't have time for this... Say 'ze' one more time and I'll send you to hell myself.” she stated, a note of definite finality in her voice.

Marisa laughed nervously, “Fine-z... uh... Fine. Fine. No more 'ze'... ze.” at the last 'ze' she clapped her hands over her mouth and glanced up at Shikieki fearfully.

Rather than be angry, the judge just held her face in one palm, “ugh... just get on with it.”


* * * * * *
TESTIMONY BEGIN: 'Witnessing the Murder'
* * * * * *

“Well, I had been walking around the forest gathering mushrooms y'know-ze? I found loads and loads of different types, but none of the ones I was after - that's when I got hungry-ze. Since Alice's house was nearer I decided to go ste- uh... I decided to go 'borrow' some food from her for a before-lunch snack-ze.

I was nearing Alice's house when I heard the sounds of a fight, lotsa danmaku explosions and the like-ze. I thought it'd just be Alice having to nuke some of them little youkai freaks, the non-human ones-ze. There's always a few that are ether too stupid to stay away or actually think they're strong enough to take her on-ze. So, what I thought I'd do was pretend to be one of those deaf-mute ones, the kind that jump out at people - y'know, to scare her-ze. It would have been soooo funny to see her scream when I jumped out at her-ze.

But she screamed before I jumped out-ze. Wondering what it was I peeked out of where I was hidden to see what had happened-ze. That's when I saw her-ze. Reimu, standing over Alice's body. She had that stick-thing and it was all covered in blood-ze. Alice... Alice wasn't moving-ze.

Reimu killed her-ze! She's been crazy for the past two weeks-ze! She's been jumping out and attacking me and Alice at random-ze! She even blasted me in my own house-ze! She's crazy and she killed Alice-ze!”

* * * * * * *
TESTIMONY END
* * * * * * *

“...” Shikieki was silent for several seconds at both Marisa's testimony and her outburst at the end of it. Eventually, however, she spoke up. “I hope, I so dearly hope, that after this I never have to lay eyes on you ever again-ze.” the girl paused, then her eyes widened at what she had just done. “Gah! Now you have me doing it-ze!”

Komachi snickered, earning herself a harsh glare from the fuming Yama, who promptly turned to yell at Suika. “Defense-ze! Any questions-ze? Before I kill the witness for making me talk like this-ze!”

>>I decided to go ste- uh... I decided to go 'borrow' some food from her for a before-lunch snack-ze.

Motive, and how she got some of Reimu's stuff right there. Alice caught her and she jacked some of Reimu's stuff.

>>I was nearing Alice's house when I heard the sounds of a fight, lotsa danmaku explosions and the like-ze. I thought it'd just be Alice having to nuke some of them little youkai freaks, the non-human ones-ze. There's always a few that are ether too stupid to stay away or actually think they're strong enough to take her on-ze. So, what I thought I'd do was pretend to be one of those deaf-mute ones, the kind that jump out at people - y'know, to scare her-ze. It would have been soooo funny to see her scream when I jumped out at her-ze.
>>But she screamed before I jumped out-ze. Wondering what it was I peeked out of where I was hidden to see what had happened-ze. That's when I saw her-ze. Reimu, standing over Alice's body. She had that stick-thing and it was all covered in blood-ze. Alice... Alice wasn't moving-ze.

If she caught Reimu right after the crime, how'd the bloody outfit get inside Alice's house?

>She had that stick-thing and it was all covered in blood-ze.

No She didn't. That Stick thing was stuck around the corner of the house.

>>I was nearing Alice's house when I heard the sounds of a fight, lotsa danmaku explosions and the like-ze. I thought it'd just be Alice having to nuke some of them little youkai freaks, the non-human ones-ze. There's always a few that are ether too stupid to stay away or actually think they're strong enough to take her on-ze. So, what I thought I'd do was pretend to be one of those deaf-mute ones, the kind that jump out at people - y'know, to scare her-ze. It would have been soooo funny to see her scream when I jumped out at her-ze.
>>But she screamed before I jumped out-ze. Wondering what it was I peeked out of where I was hidden to see what had happened-ze. That's when I saw her-ze. Reimu, standing over Alice's body. She had that stick-thing and it was all covered in blood-ze. Alice... Alice wasn't moving-ze.

Doesn't seem to be consistent... if Marisa heard danmaku battle as she was nearing Alice's house, wouldn't that mean Reimu would had heard that danmaku battle as well (since practically, she's already at Alice's house) and probably rushed to see what was happening? Reimu didn't mention anything about the sound of a danmaku battle. Someone is lying here. And that wig on the well, what color is it? Does it resembles Reimu's hair? How about the outfit, does it look really look like Reimu's outfit? (Down to the last detail. Since Reimu sew the same outfit of hers, there's probably a standard design she uses and that would make all of her clothes the same, down to the last detail. If the outfit that was found at the crimescene lacks consistency, it probably isn't Reimu's outfit.)

>>33030
>Alice caught her and she jacked some of Reimu's stuff.
...I misread that as "and she jacked Reimu off."

I have a further point - remember Meiling's point about both the front AND back doors of Alice's house being unlocked?
That seems more than a little suspicious, and points to Marisa having been in the house already.

Second, we've already proven that the gohei could not possibly have been the murder weapon, so Marisa's testimony of finding Reimu standing over alice is contradictory to the evidence. Further, Meiling's diagram has Alice's body being placed next to the killer's position, with the gohei being on the other side of the body - again, an inconsistency.

Third, there's the matter of the miko outfit inside the house. Why would it be there? Reimu makes her own, and she's too lazy to go into Alice's house, change clothes, fold the old set, and put it away inside the victim's house, far away from the body. Wouldn't it be simpler to merely throw it down the well, or burn it?

Press Marisa on every aspect of her testimony. It's FULL of holes.

I'm pretty sure Alice had been attempting to build a life-sized doll replica of Reimu. The extra outfit and wig are things Alice could've made, and she (or perhaps Marisa) could have taken the gohei and cards, or made their own replicas.

I'm also almost certain Marisa is the criminal here, since her broom is one of the few things owned by anyone in this case that could have withstood being used to beat a youkai to death. (Unless it was actually Shikieiki with the punishment stick of hers, but I doubt it.)

>>33044
>>...I misread that as "and she jacked Reimu off."

That'd make an interesting testimony.

One more question about the corpse. The victim is heavily beaten right? And from the autopsy's report, a stick was used. Gohei is a stick but a thin stick not much like Marisa's broom. If she was badly beaten by a stick, how *thick* is the bruised mark on the body? It surely had left some bruise mark right? Because if it didn't you wouldn't know that some sort of stick was used to beat her. And since the bloody gohei has been counted as something that would break first before it kills Alice, there's got to be a much stronger weapon (probably a stick from a broom) that was used.

Anyway, another question... if Reimu found her already dead and she didn't notice any sound of Danmaku battle just a few minutes after she found her, how long the body has been dead?

(( If your question isn't answered here, don't worry. Either i feel it's been answered before, or doesn't quite fit in with the current line of questioning and i'll try and fit it in later. I can't answer everything in one go after all, or i'll be writing all week.))

“This testimony,” Suika began, her voice growing louder with each word. “Has so many holes in it I don't even know where to begin!” Taking a few moments to shuffle her notes... most of which were actually blank, she was just doing it to annoy Patchouli, who was frowning at the delay. “Alright, lets start here. The witness claims to have heard 'a danmaku battle' taking place, but Reimu's testimony made no such mention of anything like that.”

“Objection!” Patchouli cried, “Of course Reimu would not have mentioned it! She was obviously the one firing the danmaku Marisa heard!” Smirking smugly at Suika the girl shurgged her shoulders and held her hands up in lamentation at Suika's obvious (to her at least) stupidity. “This is simply a case of one witnesses lie being caught out by another witnesses truth. It's a pity that you can't see this for yourself my poor, poor defense attorney.”

“Pff...” snorted the Oni, “Isn't it possible though that Reimu was the one telling the truth and Marisa is the one that's lying?”

Patchouli merely smirked more at that, “Oh, it's definitely possible. But lets consider just which of the witnesses currently has a mountain of evidence pointing to them being the murderer, hm? Marisa certainly has nothing to gain from lying, so even though I would normally trust her only as far as I can throw her - which isn't a lot - I see no reason to doubt her testimony on this point.”

“Ugh... Fine. You think Marisa's testimony is the truth? Then lets see her explain this!” Declared Suika, “How did you catch Reimu standing over Alice with the Gohei? According to the crime scene diagram the Gohei was found behind Alice's house on the far side of her body!”

“Oh, that's easy-ze!” Marisa replied, grinning at everyone. “I watched her go around and hide the thing after she killed Alice with it, that's all. It was pretty obvious because she only had that and a few cards in her hands when I saw her, so it was easy to spot when she left the gohei behind.” As she finished her explanation Marisa became aware of the fact that Patchouli was frantically puffing on her inhaler and that both Suika and the finally recovered Wriggle were grinning like sharks in the defense stand.

“We were hoping you'd say something like that,” Suika stated, with Wriggle nodding in agreement, “because there's something a little wrong with your explanation... The Gohei was never used to kill Alice at all!”

“Objection!” Gasped the prosecutor, “That's irrelevant! Just because it isn't the weapon doesn't mean she didn't see Reimu with it! Your honor, the defense is grasping at straws here!”

“Objection!” This time it was Suika's turn to yell, “If the gohei isn't the murder weapon, and the autopsy states Alice was killed by a thin blunt object, and Marisa has testified that Reimu was only the gohei and her sealing cards... then...” Suika's grin threatened to split her face in half at that point and the size of it made both Patchouli and Marisa feel distinctly uncomfortable with where this was heading. “then... WHERE WAS THE REAL MURDER WEAPON!?”

The magicians, both youkai and human, flinched back as if they had been hit - Suika's triumphant yell had been loud, ridiculously so. Up in the judges stand things had been slightly worse as the shock of the yell had caused Shikieki to fall off her chair. Luckily she had landed on her bailiff, meaning no-one important had been hurt.

“Would you,” began Shikieki, even as the now bruised Komachi helped her back up into her chair. “perhaps explain your reasoning here Defense? Just because no-one found the murder weapon itself does not mean that Reimu is innocent after all.”

Suika just grinned, again. “That's true,” she began, “but consider this. If Marisa saw Reimu just after she had killed Alice as her testimony claims, carrying only her gohei and sealing cards... Then how, exactly, could Reimu have killed Alice? Neither the cards or the gohei were used to do it, but Marisa has admitted Reimu had nothing else on her person - and if she did indeed see Reimu hide her gohei, then surely she would have seen Reimu hide any other weapon she could have used to kill Alice too.” Suika paused for this to sink in and then nodded towards the evidence table. “Also consider this, if Reimu had hidden another weapon it would have had to have been hidden very close to the murder scene - but the detectives and medical experts found nothing of the sort when they searched through the area.”

“Wh-what are you getting at?” Patchouli stammered, in between several frantic puffs on her now somewhat abused inhaler. “Lack of murder weapon doesn't prove innocence! Reimu could have used anything! A broom! A washing-line pole! Even a stick from the forest! They'd all make the same marks! So what are you getting at?”

“I think Reimu was framed! How, who, or why, I don't know. But as the evidence we have shows, framing is more than just conjecture now.” was Suika's response. “Either way, I would like Marisa to think very carefully about what she saw, and perhaps amend her testimony.”

“F... Fine-ze!” Marisa exclaimed, “Maybe I was wrong about that-ze! But that doesn't change that I saw Reimu over the body-ze! She had a motive too-ze! Alice blew up her box-ze! Reimu's been angry at me and Alice for the past two weeks-ze! Alice told me all about how Reimu kept attacking her without reason-ze! And Reimu attacked me several times too-ze! She must have done it-ze!”

HOLD IT
Reimu already testified that it wasn't Alice's danmaku that destroyed the donation box.

>Marisa had been a pain lately so I hadn't exactly been in the best of moods that day to begin with. She'd been accusing me of all kinds of crap and Alice kept taking her side on almost everything.

Forgot to ask this question:

Q: What was the thing Marisa accusing Reimu about? It could be used as evidence against Marisa.

>>33188
Unfortunately, since Reimu has left the stand she can't be asked that now. As this is the first case it's also unlikely she'll be coming back.

But, since this is the first case, i'll give you a tip: Marisa has already answered your question.

>>33195
I take it we won't get a direct answer from Marisa. Oh well, it's not like she's subtle or anything.

>She's been crazy for the past two weeks-ze! She's been jumping out and attacking me and Alice at random-ze! She even blasted me in my own house-ze! She's crazy...

>>33157
This.

Reviewing Reimu's testimony:
>“I suppose it was something that had been building up for a while, Marisa had been a pain lately so I hadn't exactly been in the best of moods that day to begin with. She'd been accusing me of all kinds of crap and Alice kept taking her side on almost everything. Last night Alice offered to take part in some danmaku practice and, well, Alice blew up my donations box.” Reimu looked away for a moment before continuing in a quieter voice. “At least... I thought it was her, at the time I mean. I yelled at her and, well, we argued. It wasn't until Alice left and I got to repairing my donations box that I realized, it hadn't been one of her shots that hit it, it had been one of mine.”

Reviewing Marisa's testimony:
>"She had a motive too-ze! Alice blew up her box-ze! Reimu's been angry at me and Alice for the past two weeks-ze! Alice told me all about how Reimu kept attacking her without reason-ze! And Reimu attacked me several times too-ze!"

Sorry, AngryDesu, but this doesn't uncover any leads.

>Reimu's been angry at me and Alice for the past two weeks-ze!

Ask if she has any clue why Reimu would be angry at Them.

Does Marisa make her own clothes?
She coulda made a replication of Reimu's. I mean, she is around her often.

>She was also covered in numerous wounds inflicted by a blunt, thin, object. These wounds were determined to have been, when combined with pre-existing injuries, lethal.

How durable is the broom? Probably a lot stronger then a Reimu's Gohei, and if you whack someone with a broom enough, they'll get straw cuts.

>>33195

Actually, I was thinking of asking Marisa what's this thing she's been accusing Reimu about and ask if she has a proof for that. Press her on things she's using against Reimu. I mean, all Marisa does is accuse Reimu. Does she have any strong proof? All she did was see Reimu standing there with a weapon that was proven won't kill Alice. If she indeed saw Reimu kill her on the spot, then she probably have seen the real weapon that was used. Anyway, Reimu already testified that she was indeed angry at Alice but that's because she didn't know the truth and only came to apologize. Also, I don't think a mere donation box would give Reimu enough grudge to kill (maybe? Well, donation box destroyed or not, it doesn't change the fact the not much donations are inside.)

>>33293
>She coulda made a replication of Reimu's. I mean, she is around her often.
Yeah, but Alice is the more likely one to do this. She makes doll clothes all the time, and the wig provides something of an indicator for what Alice was up to.

>How durable is the broom?
Marisa uses it as a blunt weapon all the time in Immaterial and Missing Power.

>>33292
That's good. Ask about that.

>>33295

Yeah, and Reimu uses the gohei as a weapon in a few of her attacks too.

>>33307
Reimu, however, doesn't use her gohei as a BATTERING RAM. Marisa, with her broom, does. 214A/B, not to mention her spellcards Magic Sign 「Stardust Reverie」and Comet 「Blazing Star」.

Also, Reimu only uses her gohei directly for weak attacks; the rest just use her gohei as a channel for her mikomiko power. Conversely, almost all of Marisa's broom hits are strong ones that knockdown.

Finally, Marisa only uses the one broom. It's special, and has acquired its own magic power (according to Akyu). Reimu, on the other hand (in this thread) has stated that she makes new gohei all the time and throws the old ones away.

(( I do love how you guys get close to an important key concept... then veer away from it at the very last second. Still, more clues incoming~ ))


“Marisa,” cut in the Oni attorney, “You've complained about Reimu attacking you a few times, now you've interested me because I don't recall Reimu doing anything like that while I was at the shrine. Care to tell us more?”

“What is there to tell-ze? Reimu kept showing up and blasting me-ze! You want proof-ze? I have danmaku bruises all over-ze! I had to cover 'em with that 'makey up' stuff Rinnosuke sells 'cuz there were so many-ze!” So saying Marisa yanked the bow off her hat and began to furiously rub at her arms with it. After a few moments a string of bruises began to fade into view as the bow started turning flesh-colored where it was picking up the 'makey up'. “See-ze!” she declared once the injuries were visible enough. “There's more if you want to see them-ze!”

“Er... As much as the prosecution seems to be drooling at the idea of that,” Suika began, earning herself an angry glare from Patchouli... who had indeed been drooling slightly at th thought, “I think we've seen enough.”

“Oh... okay-ze.” agreed the black-white, “Anyway, Alice kept telling me all about how she got attack by Reimu too-ze. She had bruises too-ze! Not as many though-ze. I guess being a youkai means she doesn't bruise easily-ze. Must be nice, not having to worry so much about having your perfect look ruined like that-ze.”

“Huh...” Suika was puzzled, “Do you have any idea why Reimu started attacking you and Alice?”

“No-ze!” came the vehement reply. “I've done nothing wrong-ze! ... except stealing her riceballs-ze. And her curry-ze. Then there was that time I borrowed her sacred orbs to try copying them-ze. Oh, and I Master Sparked her vegetable garden that one time too-ze. Nothing I haven't done before-ze! She never got mad at any of it the last times-ze!”

It was then that Wriggle tugged on Suika's sleeve. Looking down Suika watched her make a few 'come here' motions and, figuring that Wriggle wanted to say something in private, the Oni ducked down slightly so the smaller (though not by much) bug-youkai could whisper in her ear.

“Don't you think,” the tiny girl said, “It's a little odd?”

“What is?” Suika whispered back. Admittedly she did agree that something was odd, but she hadn't been able to work out what it was.

“Reimu.” came the reply, “If she was attacking Alice... why was Alice always so friendly when Marisa wasn't around?”

“Hey... yeah,” the Oni's eyes widened, “That's right! Reimu said Alice had been visiting a lot in her testimony but she never mentioned Alice accusing her of anything, just that she kept taking Marisa's side when Marisa accused her of stuff!”

“I... I think that's important.” Wriggle admitted, “I just don't know how, or why yet.”

Suika stood up and placed one hand on Wriggle's head, ruffling her hair slightly. “Neither do I!” she declared, grinning at the smaller girl. “But great work spotting that! I'll make you into the best successor ever!”

Forced downwards slightly under the force of Suika's ruffling, Wriggle could only sigh in defeat at her 'mentor' “... I don't even want to be a lawyer...” she muttered, being careful to make sure Suika couldn't hear her complaint.

>>33320

Anyway, no murder weapon no evidence, all Marisa can say is Reimu battered Alice with a gohei which has been proven impossible to kill without breaking in two first. GOOD END!

Anyway, ask Marisa if she can show everyone her broom and turn the table against them. Ask if it's possible that a broom was used to beat Alice to death.

Uhh.. can't think of anything right now, but going back to previous Marispeech...

>Reimu could have used anything! A broom! A washing-line pole! Even a stick from the forest! They'd all make the same marks!

And how would you know exactly what sort of marks brooms leave on dead body?

>>33322

Actually, you can't clearly tell about it since a broom stick could either be made of metal (something like a pipe) or wood (bamboo or just plain wood). I'm not really sure what's Marisa's broom stick made of. If it's made of bamboo, it would leave thick marks and lines (those lines that divides a bamboo, something like this |=====|=====|=====|. If a thin gohei was used, it would look more like a whip mark actually that's why I asked the thickness of the bruise on the corpse before. But like Patchy said, Reimu could have also used that kind of weapon. The problem is, why didn't Marisa saw the real weapon just after she testified she saw the scene right after Alice screamed? There's also another question, you can kind of determine/guess how long the stick by looking at the length of the bruise on the body (assuming the person who battered Alice is holding it at the edge.)

straw\ /--hit with this part--\
straw=|=hold here=|====|====|====|====|
straw/

or probably reversed if straws are found at the body.

Something seems odd, I've seen the entire case but I'm confused on something. We only have Alice's word to Marisa about being attacked by Reimu a few weeks before the murder. Just a question did Marisa ever see it herself at all? Anyone else see this odd thing?

>>33323
It's bamboo. Pic shows it clearly.

>>33324
I found it odd, too. I think Alice may have been trying to make Marisa jealous, and succeeded too well.

>I don't recall Reimu doing anything like that while I was at the shrine.

This was about when I realized what was going on.

>Alice told me all about how Reimu kept attacking her without reason-ze!
>You want proof-ze? I have danmaku bruises all over-ze! I had to cover 'em with that 'makey up' stuff Rinnosuke sells 'cuz there were so many-ze!”
>“Reimu.” came the reply, “If she was attacking Alice... why was Alice always so friendly when Marisa wasn't around?”

>It can't be one of mine though, since I had all mine the last time I checked.”
>Shrine Maiden Outfit - a perfect replica, or even one of, Reimu's shrine outfits. Found neatly folded away in Alice's house.
>Shanghai and Wig - Found in a nearby well. The brown wig had apparently been there some time, Shanghai however appears to have become entangled close to the time of the murder.

Alice has a Wig that looks Like Reimu's hair in a well, which was hidden there a short while before the murder. Alice also has an Exact replica of Reimu's Dress in her house clean, folded neatly. There's little reason for whoever would frame Reimu to undress, wash the dress, and fold it neatly and put it in the house before anyone would notice her body, therefore the dress is most likely not part of the crime and was there before. Also, Reimu was not missing an outfit, which means someone skilled in sewing must have made it for it to be a perfect Replica, i.e. Alice herself.

Was it ever explained how recent Alice's Bruises were? I'm willing to bet they were all recent. Because there was no way Alice and Reimu fought each other in the previous two weeks. Of course, the reason for this is obviously because...

>Alice was attacking Marisa, Disguised as Reimu.

She only acted mean to Reimu when Marisa was around, so that Marisa would continue to think Reimu was the aggressor.

>>33346
Marisa has no reason to cover it up the way she did if thats the case

>>33346
Further more...

>Shanghai (and Hourai) are puppets. However they're controlled, or however semi-autonomous they are, they will cease functioning if Alice dies.
>Shanghai and Wig - Found in a nearby well. The brown wig had apparently been there some time, Shanghai however appears to have become entangled close to the time of the murder.

During the Struggle, Alice sent Shanghai into the Well to find the wig. It had to have been at the time of her death because that was when Shanghai stopped moving. She ended up caught in the side of the well. The Wig was probably down at the bottom, in the water, which explains why it was so soaked in a short amount of time. The Killer must have discovered Alice with the Wig, and she must have thrown it down the well to hide it. That's the only explanation I can muster for why it was in the well in the first place. As for why she wanted to get the Wig back in her dieing moments, are at this point unresolvable until the true murderer is found.

>Hourai is, at the moment, still missing.

If I remember correctly, Hourai is Alice's Strongest Attack Doll (PBC, Final Spellcard, Hourai is only used on Lunatic.) And is also her attack doll of choise in Imperishable Night. This leads me to believe that Hourai was used in the Struggle against the Killer. The reason it could not be found was because the Killer must have run off with it, Leaving Reimu to find Alice's Corpse alone. It could also be possible that Alice sent Hourai to find something else that was very distant, but there is no way of telling what that might be at this moment.

>>33348

Cover what up? I didn't say Marisa was covering anything up besides the Bruises with Makey-up.

>>33350
>Alice was attacking Marisa, Disguised as Reimu.
Implies that Marisa killed Alice after finding out.
If this is the case, we know the Gohei was stained with Alice's blood, it means Marisa killed her when he was wearing the outfit, or at least while Alice was frantically trying to get rid of the outfit. She had the Gohei with her, at least. Marisa probably saw the outfit inside the house, which sparked this. The way it was covered up, if this is true, doesn't make much sense. Moving the bloody Gohei and ignoring the outfit inside, I mean.

>>33351

It could also imply that Alice attacked Marisa and Marisa (accidentally) batter her to death as Alice attacks or even tries to kill her. Marisa couldn't have beaten Alice while Alice is in disguise because that would put blood on the outfit. Have to concentrate on motives here, if Reimu doesn't have any clear motive for the crime Marisa might have one.

>>33352
Speaking of Motives, Why was Alice Dressing up as Reimu and Beating up Marisa? The only thing I can see her gaining from this is becoming Her Ally at the Cost of Reimu's Friendship.

Marisa was constantly being attacked by Reimu, right? So if Marisa broke into Alice's house to steal food, and found the shrine maiden outfit. . . . What do you think would happen? 'cause Meiling said that the doors were open and unlocked. Which likely means that Marisa was in the house. She probably came out the back door, found Alice with the wig, and after seeing the shrine maiden outfit, put two and two together. I mean, even Marisa isn't that stupid. She probably chased Alice, and killed her with the broom for attacking her constantly.

Either that, or like, Marisa comes out of the woods and sees Alice dressed up as Reimu. Marisa thought Reimu was attacking Alice, and so she went after her. Then knocked the wig off during the beating. And oh-shi. It's Alice. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Washed outfit, threw shanghai and wig down well, Ran to the woods, probably taking Hourai with her.

>>33355
She washed the outfight, but ignored the bloody Gohei?

>>33355
>threw shanghai and wig down well,

The Wig fell into the Water, but Shanghai didn't. Also, shanghai picked up the wig after it fell, which means she doesn't dead then.

Your first Theory however is sound as far as we know, but it doesn't pin the word murder onto that witch's hat for lack of evidence.

>>33358
Where's Marisa's broom then?

>>33361

It wasn't taken in as Evidence, so the only answer for that is "Where it shouldn't be."

Likely in the same place Hourai was stashed, if Marisa is the Murderer.

Theory time:

Alice, dressed as Reimu (having showed up repeatedly the last few weeks at the shrine in order to copy Reimu's behavior more convincingly) has been attacking Marisa in order to drive a wedge between them, likely hoping to catch Marisa on the rebound.

After a danmaku fight (in which, again, Alice has impersonated Reimu), Marisa decides she's had enough and follows 'Reimu' after the fight. The trail leads to Alice's house.

At Alice's house, Alice has changed out of the fake miko clothes and neatly folded them up, but while going outside for some reason or another, has some kind of accident that results in the wig falling down the well. She sends Shanghai to fetch the wig.

While the wig is being fetched, Marisa sneaks in the back door of Alice's house (picking the lock along the way, thus explaining why it was unlocked). She sees the fake miko clothes, puts two and two together, loses her temper, and attacks Alice, beating her to death with her broom. Afterwards, to cover for it, Marisa arranges Alice's stolen/faked miko gear to look as though Reimu committed the murder. Reimu's arrival on the scene after this made it all the more conspicuous.

As for Hourai, perhaps Alice used Hourai during her and Marisa's last danmaku fight, thus giving Marisa the lead to her house. I would call for a search of Marisa's house.

((WARNING - incoming monument of text.))

Suika didn't notice Wriggle's complaint. Even if she had been able to hear it, the fact something very nasty had just settled down in the back of the Oni's mind would have made her oblivious to it all the same.

“Marisa...” she asked after a short while, her voice quiet and seemingly slightly sad. “Where is your broomstick?”

The reaction was immediate, and pretty damning if what Suika had thought was actually true. The witch seemed to jump in shock and stared at the small defense attorney in horror. “Wh-where is it-ze?” She stammered before, it seemed, she managed to pull herself back together. “Where do you expect it to be-ze? It's at home-ze! Since I got a ride from Komachi I didn't need to bring it with me-ze!”

“At... home?” Even Patchouli seemed a little stunned by Marisa's admission. “But you never leave your broom... at... home...” the prosecutor trailed off, her eyes widening as she shot Suika a horrified glance. In response Suika merely nodded once, causing Patchouli to gas and start fumbling for her inhaler.

“Eh-ze? What's everyone sound so surprised for-ze? That thing is heavy-ze. It's not like I'm gonna carry it around when I'm not even gonna use it-ze.” Marisa nodded to herself. Her explanation made perfect sense... but to Suika, and apparently Patchouli, it was simply not good enough.

“Marisa...” half-whispered the Oni, before she asked the question that was preying on her mind. “Did you kill Alice?”

The room fell silent at the soft accusation. Even Komachi, who had been on the verge of falling asleep again, was suddenly giving a hundred percent attention to the situation.

“Wh-what are you saying-ze!” the witch demanded, stamping her foot in anger. “You know Reimu killed Alice-ze! That's why you brought her in-ze!” Suddenly she turned on Patchouli, “You-ze! Shouldn't you be saying something-ze!”

“Eh?” the youkai-magician stared at Marisa blankly for several seconds before she realized what the black-white witch meant. “Huh? Ah! Ob-Objection! Th-there is no proof! Without pr-proof y-your conjecture is meaningless!” she declared, although she didn't exactly seem to be very confidant in her declaration.

“Then we'll go fetch the proof.” came Suika's reply. “All we need to do is send China or Komachi here to go fetch it.”

“And what proof would that be?” Shikieki asked, curious as to how Suika was going to prove her claim. “I am perfectly willing to allow a recess in order to fetch it if you believe it to be... important. However,” her gaze hardened, “if it turns out to be worthless I will have to penalize you most stiffly, and at this late stage in the trial - with an accusation so serious, rest assured it will be a penalty you will not be coming back from.”

“Marisa's broomstick of course. It should be at her house.” stated the Oni, though inwardly she was quailing... If she was wrong about this... Penalties were bad enough, but Shikieki usually gave a few out before she punished people for wasting court time. Suika had heard about such punishments and, well, she was not willing to face one herself. Maybe she could convince the judge to take Wriggle instead?

“H-Hey-ze! You can't do that-ze! It's private property-ze! My property-ze!” sputtered the witch, before glaring at Patchouli. “Say something you useless bookworm-ze!”

“Ah... ah.... Objection?” the sickly girl said quietly, feeling secretly reliived when Shikieki waved her objection down immediately.

“This court,” the Yama judge ordered, “Will go into temporary recess until Detective China returns. We will soon find out the truth of this matter, of that I am certain.”

- - - - -
5:15
Yamaxanadu Courtroom

The courtroom was quiet as Shikieki took her seat for the third time that day. “Everyone back?” she asked, glancing around to see everyone back in their positions - with Marisa once again behind the witness stand. Although this time Komachi was standing guard to one side of the witch while Meiling stood on the other. “Detective China.” Shikieki began, “do now tell the court what you found while searching Marisa's home.”

“Yes your honor!” Meiling yelled, saluting as she did so. “We found a mess!”

There was silence for several seconds before Shikieki calmly leaned forwards, reached over her podium, and smacked Meiling in the back of the head with her gavel. “I meant,” she growled, “what things of actual relevance did you find at her home!”

Clutching the back of her head, Meiling sniffed a few times. “We found two things,” she said at last. “M-Marisa's broomstick and... and...”

“And?” prompted the judge.

“We found... we found this.” Meling held up one hand. Sitting upon it was a small, and highly familiar, doll.

Patchouli's eyes widened in horror. “Hourai!” she exclaimed.

“... there's more.” Meiling whispered, “The broomstick we found... was covered in blood. Doctor Eirin has already confirmed it to be of youkai origin.”

Through all this Marisa had been silent, but now she seemed to slump forwards onto the stand's railings, her face buried in her arms. “I did it-ze.” she admitted, sniffing slightly. “I... I killed Alice-ze. I didn't mean to-ze! It... It was an accident-ze!” She raised her head, revealing two rivers of tears flowing down her face. “I killed Alice-ze!” she wailed, clearly distraught.

“... can you tell us what happened?” Suika asked after Marisa had seemingly calmed down enough to be coherent again.

Sniffing the witch nodded. “I... It was an accident-ze. Reimu had been sneak attacking me a lot-ze... so I thought I'd sneak attack her back-ze. Wh-when I saw her coming out of Alice's house it was... it was too perfect-ze! So I blasted her-ze. Reimu would dodge right-ze? She always dodges-ze.” Marisa wailed then, fresh tears covering her face. “She didn't dodge-ze! It wasn't Reimu-ze!”

“The outfit and wig...” Wriggle murmured, echoing Suika's own thoughts on the issue. “Alice was disguised as Reimu, wasn't she? It had never been Reimu attacking Marisa, it had been Alice dressed as Reimu - that's why Alice visited the shrine a lot, to learn how to copy Reimu better.”

“Yeah... she probably had Shanghai attack her so she'd have bruises to show to Marisa - it's not like she could show up and attack herself in front of Marisa after all.” replied the Oni, quiet enough for the witch not to hear her above her own wailing.

It took several minutes to calm Marisa down again, but eventually she was capable of continuing. “She didn't dodge-ze... My... My danmaku all hit her head on a-and she just... just fell down-ze. Her wig came off when she fell-ze. I panicked, I'd killed her-ze! I'd killed Alice-ze!” That sparked another round of wailing. By now Komachi was practically having to mop the floor thanks to how much Marisa was actually crying. Over in the prosecution stand Patchouli seemed surprised and shocked - she had never known Marisa to cry. Ever. Seeing her bawling her eyes out like this was... disconcerting at best.

“I threw the wig in the well-ze. Th-then went and changed her clothes-ze.” continued the witch after she had calmed down again, “I hit her with my broom a few times, I was gonna... I was gonna blame it on a wild youkai attack or something-ze. But then Reimu showed up-ze. I ran and hid in the forest with Alice's stuff while Reimu found the body-ze. When Reimu ran to get help I came back-ze. I hid the gohei near Alice, and threw the cards down all over-ze. The outfit I put away, I remember folding it when I heard China an' everyone coming-ze. I was gonna put it in a drawer or something to hide it but... I didn't have time-ze. I ran out the back and ran home to hide the broom and hourai-ze. Then... then I came back-ze. And told them I saw Reimu kill her-ze.”

Marisa broke down again, and behind her Shikieki looked on coldly. “Take her away,” she said at last, indicating for Komachi and Meiling to escort the broken girl out of the courtroom.

A short while later and they were back, with Reimu no standing at the witness stand. From the look on her face it was obvious she had been crying too.

“Hakurei Reimu.” Shikieki intoned, “In the name of myself, Shikieki Yamaxanadu, and in the name of this court. I hereby find you... NOT GUILTY.”

- - - - - - -
5:40
Court lobby

“So. Doesn't feel like much of a victory, huh?” both Wriggle and Suika were sitting in the lobby, Suika's gourd resting between them both. After a few moment Suika picked it up, downed a few gulps and handed it to Wriggle.

“Not really...” said the small bug-girl, as she took a few sips of the liquid inside. “It's... pretty depressing.”

“Yeah,” Suika agreed, as she took the gourd back and had another long pull at it. “I'm guessing Alice was trying to break Reimu and Marisa apart - probably to get Marisa on the rebound y'know? Pity it had to end like this though.”

There was silence, broken only by the sounds of alcohol being consumed, for several long, long moments. Then Wriggle finally spoke up. “... Master...” she said, “There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?”

“... yeah.”

“Alice... Alice wasn't dead was she?”

“When Marisa knocked her down?” the Oni sighed and moved to stare up at the ceiling. “No... she wasn't. That's why Shanghai was down the well, she must have gone in to retrieve the wig for her master. It's... stupid. Marisa killed Alice because she thought she'd already killed Alice.”

“It's too sad.” wriggle muttered, before taking a deep slug at the gourd - and coughing at the burning sensation of the alcohol afterward.

“Yeah.” Pulling herself to her feet, Suika stretched. “But then, a lot the this attorney crap tends to be like that.” Reaching out she grabbed Wriggle by the hand and helped the girl, who obviously couldn't hold her drink that well given how she was swaying, to her feet. “C'mon. I'll buy you some grilled eel - then we can go beat up Mystia for you, 'kay?”

“... 'kay.”

CASE 1 - END

And THAT'S a wrap.

You guys weren't 100% correct in what happened - but you all generally came close enough to the answer that I figured I could count you as having succeeded.

There were a few clues you missed, which would have helped in some ways - but you did good regardless.

There will, hopefully, be a second case. But first I have to, y'know, finish getting all the details of it right. These things are harder to write than I thought they would be... I was constantly worried i was going to backtrack or mess up information which you would need. In fact, i did - twice - can you guess where? I managed to tweak things a little so they fitted fine, but in a more complex case it could cause problems.

Metagame theory (re: Reimu is innocent, thus it must be the only witness - marisa) held up here - but i should be running more witnesses next time... so don't expect the murderer to be quite so obvious. (then again, in PW1 all the murderers were pretty damn obvious from the start... It wasn't really until the last case that we saw any doubt over who it could have been)

I, for one, fully enjoyed this and looking forward to next case.

>>33637
Oops, forgot my >[x]Genuflect, brilliant writing, AD.

>I, for two, fully enjoyed this and looking forward to next case.

Great job, Desu! I really enjoyed playing this one out. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Well, I'm sure quite a few people wrote out danmaku on the grounds that it isn't lethal and it wouldn't have really played into the equation at all since we had a broom as a murder weapon. Still seems a bit odd for Marisa to panic after using danmaku. You'd think she would remember it isn't lethal.

>>33833

Well yeah, but you'd probly go in to shock after thinking along the lines of:

"Reimu always dodges. That's how she's saved the world so many times. So if I run up and attack, I think I'll get my message across without actually hurting her"

When she didn't dodge, that screwed up Marisa's "plan", and she started to panic because she never planned for her attack to succeed. Besides, if Alice wasn't screaming or anything (As implied be the fact Marisa thought she was dead) then she must've been knocked out. If she was knocked out, then the danmaku Marisa was using must've been rather powerful.

So it's actually rather likely that she'd mistake her unconciousness-inducing danmaku for something lethal.

Well written Desu, looking forward to the next (Hopefully longer) one.