* You all split off and head to the room where the half-eaten corpse of Demeter Spyros was found. The body has been removed, as has the goat. * Taro frowns, then takes out a notepad. * Taro examines the floor. * The floor has a few drops of blood on it. * They lead in a thin line away from the bed towards the door. * Shiho peers around the room as well. "Where's the goat?" she asks as she examines random objects. I don't know. We should find him before someone makes him into soup. Probably taken away by whoever handled the body... * Amy bends down to Rocky and talks to him. "Do you think you could try to find him? It'd be ever so helpful. I'll even give you something shiny!" Me? Ah.... Hm. Amy, can any of your animal companions track scents? Or Rocky, for that matter... Yeah. You're tiny and adorable, and hard to notice, so you'd be the best choice! * Shiho frowns. "It wouldn't be good to... no." * The scent of goat permeates the room. Amy, you and I will look. Taro, you stay here with Rocky. * Amy speaks to the adorable widdle wolf. "He says that the smell of goat is too strong." * Taro nods. The others will be along shortly, and if there's any troubleRocky will alert me. Too strong... for what? Probably masking any other scents. Too strong to smell. According to Wolf-chan, the goat smelled strongly, but it also peed everywhere. ... eew. ... * Shiho makes a face. "... Yeah. Let's go find that goat." Poor goat. ;-; It musta been really scared. ... yeah. Okay. But we gotta follow the Buddy System. * Taro nods ... hm. maybe we should go after the goat first, since it can move and the room doesn't. Didn't I just explain that? Someone has to stay here. Can Raccoon-chan fight? Uh....... No? Maybe I can drop a bowling ball on them if you can get them to stand still long enough. * Amy nods. "See! We can't leave Taro here alone. What if he gets ambushed?" And I ain't no chan. Like I said, Rocky will alert me if that happens. B.. but it could be too late... a.. and Taro could get hurt or.. or killed. * Shiho rolls her eyes. "Then leave one of your animals behind, too. * Taro frowns. They won't stay without me. I say we all go after the goat, then all return here. Look, someone has to stay here to meet the others. And we need to go after the goat now, before someone decides to fry it. * Taro frowns. S.. so what do we do? We're uneven, and.. and Taro would be all alone and.. and that creepy fire guy is after him. * Shiho groans. "I just told you." The others are on their way. ... okay, how about we go back to the room, pick up one person, that's two people left back at the room, then two of us can investigate this room, then the other two go after the goat? ^^; * Taro blinks. * Amy gives Taro shinyeyes. "A.. and he's nice and.. he's a detective like Pen-Pen." I.. I can try leaving Wolf-chan. I can't promise she'll stay, because she's very stubborn.. * Shiho growls. "Fine. I'll take Rocky and look for the damn goat myself." Look, we've got six people in total... We have three places to be. We just send two to each area. ^^; But Shiho.. then you'd be alone! Hey, are you underestimating me? * Amy rubs Taro's head again. "You're so smart. ^_^" * Shiho heads out. "I've had enough. If we wait any longer, the goat will be long dead by the time we get to it." n_n * Taro blinks. * Rocky follows Shiho. "Yeesh. These people are so stubborn." Should we look for clues, Detective-sama? ... yeah. ... but I'm worried about Shiho. I am too.. but she's really stubborn! But she seems smart.. ... this room can wait. We can just go get the goat and rush back before the others get here. Let's go. I don't want another death. * Taro heads after Shiho quickly. B..but she told us to stay here! We don't wanna get her mad.. * Amy shrugs and rides after Taro. Mad or not mad, I'm worried about the safety of everyone. Besides... I'd feel bad if a friend were hurt. I.. guess so.. * Amy looks kinda sad. "I just thought it'd be neat if we could be detectives.." We will be. * You begin walking down the corridors, and soon come to a four way intersection of halls, with no knowledge of which way Shiho went. Taking care of the goat should be a very fast issue. ... never mind. Let's head back to the room, then * Taro heads back to the room. I just hope she's safe. * Taro starts to look over the room as a whole, absorbing the details * Amy heads back to the room and tries to be the best detective assistant she can. She also rubs Taro's head again. ^^; Just watch for any oddities. Things that shouldn't be there, things that should be there but aren't, things that aren't where they should be... that sorta thing * Amy looks around for that stuff. * Taro is also looking around for that kinda stuff. * Taro first checks the basic room layout * Taro takes out his notepad and pencil and starts writing down stuff. * Amy peers at the notepad. "Whatcha writing?" Basic notes about the room layout. It's useful for remembering where things are. Sometimes you can look stuff over, and inspiration will strike at the oddest moments. Neat! Hm. Trail of blood leading from bed to door... Like when Pen-Pen saw that the food the bad guy stole was the same as the food her neighbor, Mr. Squiddy likes to eat. Heh. Yeah. There are all sorts of things in life people never really notice. Everything in this world can be examined... Trying to find out the greater meaning behind it, and how things click together Wow.. that's deep! * Amy gives Taro sparklyeyes. Thanks. ^^;;; Well, yeah. * Taro blinks, then turns around. Hey, everyone. ^_^;; Hello. * Cara waves. "Hi guys! Where's Shiho?" 'Lo, Taro. ... Shiho kinda left to find the goat. I didn't want to leave her to go off alone, but I lost her trail. I only hope she returns here soon. * Daphne rubs Taro's head by way of greeting. * Amy looks at the others and pouts for a second. "Hi!" That was awfully kind of Shiho. No, really. Why did she want to go alone? 'Cause she's Shiho? We wanted to get the goat before something bad happened to it. I suggested we all go together, but Shiho said you guys were heading here... * Ichi nods. So basically, someone needed to stay here while the goat was retrieved. Uh huh. * Cara frowns. So, shall we go to the goat now that we're all together? And we tried to figure out who, and I didn't want Taro to stay alone, because that creepy flame guy is after him.. and Shiho stormed off! That'd be a good idea, but the problem is that we don't know where she went to.... Shiho likes to do things her way... * Taro frowns.... Do any of you guys know where she might have gone? * Cara shakes her head. The room where it happened? Probably investigating things on her own. I guess... * Shiho strides back into the room, with the goat following her, and the evil-looking and sounding guy from last night in tail. * Taro blinks. This is where it happened. Hiya, Shiho. There Are Many People Here. You Have Many Friends. Yay! You found Grandpa-san! Oh, Shiho! Hi. ^_^ I found it. Amy, go ahead and take it. Hi, Mister... umm... Or Perhaps Underlings? ... say, why is here here, anyway? ^_^; That's my guess, yeah. Oh, there she is now. Who's yer new friend, Shiho? * Amy hops off the bear and goes over to the adorable goat. * Shiho chuckles. "Underlings, huh?" I don't think I'm an underling.... You May Refer To Me As... Tulpa. Nah. They're friends. Hi, Tulpa. Underlings Are Necessary For Evil Overlordship. Hm. Not sure it's either, really. H'lo, Tulpa. You Seek To Investigate The Murder? Yes. Yes, I do. * Shiho nods. * Daphne nods. I guess so... That was the plan. I, Too, Have Thought Of Seeking Out This Murderer. Yeah. We gotta find this mean person. * Daphne raises an eyebrow at Shiho after the 'Evil Overlorship' remark. He Would Be A Suitable Evil Underling. An Overlord Is Always In Need Of An Assassin. ... ... I wouldn't say that. Well. 'S good that you have such straightforward goals. Anyone can shove a knife through someone's throat. Why bother with this one? ... if he can do this without leaving behind any evidence tha twould let him get aught And I intend to make sure this person is caught. Then how do we catch him? * Cara looks at Shiho. "Why, exactly, is this guy with you?" * Taro looks for signs of a struggled. Marks on the floor, knocked over items, etc. * Shiho shrugs. "We bumped into each other." Being Evil Is No Reason To Be Unfriendly. * Amy looks around. "What kinda clues are we supposed to be looking for?" She Was Alone In The Halls And I Decided To Accompany Her. I'm currently looking for signs of a struggle. Or anything the killer may have dropped. I dunno. I'm an artist, not an investigator. Even if we DID chase a thief before... * Amy smiles. "The Buddy System works well!" ... or shell casings, for that matter. All we know is that she was pierced through the throat. * Amy looks for clues, or perhaps for blue pawprints. Shell.. casings? I'd doubt that it was a gun. Heh. Maybe you can do a composite sketch if we find any witnesses, Cara. Oh, it's doubtful. But still possible. * Cara laughs a little. "Maybe." Gotta explore the realms of possibility. I do too. Then the guy'd have said 'shot through the throat' instead. * Taro continues looking for something that may have been dropped. * Ichi looks around the floor for something that looks like a clue. This doesn't seem like the sort of place where guns would be very popular, though... * Daphne frowns. * Taro also looks for scuff-marks or dents in the floor/wall/bed/cot/door/etc. * Daphne glances around too, while she's at it. Why not? * Shiho nods at Cara. "Precisely." * Cara looks around. Might not have investigative skills, but she's got her eye for detail, at least. * Taro frowns. ... there aren't any. ... there's nothing at all. Somebody must have tried to clean it off. Not too surprising. Hmm.. * Taro inspects the beginning and end of the blood trails in detail, trying to find something that a cursory glance may have missed. * Ichi stops looking for clues and watches Taro instead. Hmm... * Shiho idly scans the room for any clues, but doesn't expect to find them. Hmm.... I.. don't see anything. * Taro examines the blood spots a bit closer. * Daphne keeps looking, out of boredom more than anything. Know anything about dusting for fingerprints, Taro? Or DNA scans? It doesn't appear to have been a very large wound. A little, but I lack the equipment * Cara looks over Taro's shoulder. Hm. Over here, the spots are... amybe an inch or so in diameter. DNA? * Shiho nods. "I was afraid of that." She sighs. "I don't think we're going to find anything here." But look, as you move up... The size rapidly decreases. It's more like drops than a real trail. * Ichi tries to figure out what Taro is getting at. Maybe it splurted out of the wound. * Daphne frowns. "She was stabbed in the neck tho, right? Wouldn't a neck wound bleed a great... hm." Yeah. M..maybe the person cleaned up? Not to mention the goat tearing her open to eat. It Seems As Though The Killer Was Careful To Avoid Bloodshed. Why Leave A Trail At All? But that's a good point. Yeah... It's odd. Stuff that should be here just... isn't here. Why Leave A Trail After Cleaning Everything Else? * Taro nods M..maybe that was Grandfather-san's fault? ... maybe. I doubt it. * Taro is writing quickly into his notebook * Shiho considers. "If he'd been eating her..." She shudders a bit, "It'd be pretty messey." Have to agree, Tulpa. 'Sides, if the wound cut the spinal cord instead of, say, the jugular vein, then there would have been a lot less blood. However, they found the goat eating her. * Taro closes the door, then examines the part of the door facing them. * Daphne frowns more. "That's right. And there's no clean way to do that." So...where did the blood go? * Amy looks kinda ill. So either the staff cleaned up after, or whoever reported the crime is responsible. A vampire? Unless she was drained of all her blood or something, but that's just stupid. A.. vampire? I've heard stories of them.. they're really nasty and mean.. but .. they're not real, right? * Shiho blinks a few times. "Maybe not." ...I dearly hope that's just stupid, anyway. ... or she's been dead for days, and the one we saw yesterday was a fake. But that's not very likely at all I dunno. There Are Evil Rituals That Require Great Quantities Of Blood. * Cara blanches a bit. * Taro looks for windows or other ways of entering the room Yes, but how many draw the blood from holes in the neck? No, then there'd still be blood. Slitting The Neck In Some Way Is An Excellent Way To Gather Blood. They could have drained her with needles, I suppose, but that wouldn't explain the neck. And the neck was pierced, not slit. ... You're really scary, you know that? Didn't they say she was stabbed? Pierced through the neck. * Taro looks at the cieling for air ducts. Well, it was a pierce and not a slit, but that'd still work, depending on where you pierced. I guess they probably wouldn't let anyone look at the body... * There is an air duct. It's about two feet across by one foot wide. * Shiho shrugs. "Don't know enough about atonomy, I guess." ... hm. * Taro looks long and carefully at the ceiling. But it sounds to me like we're over complicating things, is all. ... I wonder... Whatcha' lookin' at, T? Did you find something? That air duct over there. * Taro squints and tries to see if it's marked up or anything * Ichi looks over there. .... Okay, even MORE suspicious. The grating is spotless. M..maybe it was a ghost? Why's that suspicious? It's clean. Waaaaaay too clean. If you need help lookin', I can give you a hand up. * Shiho looks up. Like someone took steel wool to it. * Cara goes and looks at the grate. We'll have to check with management to see if it's been recently replaced. * Shiho nods. Recently? * Daphne looks up. "Hm." Yeah. It'd get dirty real quick. Sounds like a plan. Air's filthy. Loads of dust. This thing is too perfect. Perhaps they used magic. ... way too little mess on the ground. Way too clean grating... Hm. * Taro looks at the goat. ... say, Amy? Maybe the cleaning lady is the murderer! Maybe... * Shiho follows Taro's gaze. "I doubt it." Can you get one of your animal friends to talk to the goat? Maybe Grandfather can tell us what happened. * The wolf is eyeing the goat hungrily, even as the goat has its eyes on Rocky. I.. I can try. Thanks... * Cara blinks. "Hey...that's a good idea." * Rocky eyes, uh... Taro! ... and your wolf looks pretty hungry. ^^; What is it, Rocky? Wolf-chan is always hungry! Yeah, but he's looking at Grandfather kinda funny * Amy kneels and says some stuff to Wolf-chan. Wolf-chan is a she. And Grandfather is a goat! Don't worry, Wolf-chan won't eat him. Ah. ^^; Sorry. Wolf-chan doesn't speak goat. Drat. What about the others? I'll ask! Thanks * Rocky mutters. "Big surprise. Who does?" * Amy talks to Eagle-san. * Cara 's face lights up. "Hey! If none of Amy's animals can do it, I might be able to use a spell..." * Amy waits a second. "Eagle-san says that Grandfather says that Grandfather was sleeping, but it was very hot. Also, can Grandfather eat Raccoon-san?" ... ^^; Thanks, Amy. Sorry Cara, thta doesn't seem to be necessary yet. NO, HE CAN NOT! I guess not. I don't think Rocky would be good to eat. ... say, what kinda spell? Well, I was thinking of making Grandfather able to speak human. * Amy says something to Eagle-san, who presumably relays the message. * Amy eyes Cara. "Yo.. you'd use magic on a poor animal?" * Ichi tries to figure out how you could draw a goat speaking. Um...well, I wouldn't hurt him...I could probably just make myself understand goat. Or something. ^^; That's terrible. ;_; * Amy patpats Cara on the head. "Don't worry. I understand lotsa animal languages, and Eagle-san is very smart and knows some even I don't!" I'll translate for you. Hm... * Cara nods, ashamed. Does Grandfather remmeber much other than that it was very hot? Sorry. Very hot? * Shiho holds her chin. "Hm." * Amy talks to Eagle-san. "He says that she .. uh.. tasted really good." ... ah. * Amy blushes. ... Ooo-kay. Does he see anything different from when he woke up, and the way the room is now? Other than the body thing ... some to think of it, ask if there was a lot of blood, too * Amy asks. "Eagle-san says he doesn't think so.. but Goats don't have good memories, he says." * Taro nods Hm... Animals Are Notoriously Short Of Memory. So she didn't bleed a lot while being eaten? Heh. ^^; What about elephants? .. I don't wanna ask that Taro. It's gross. ;-; Do I have to? I did not know that. Elephants Are The Worst. Short Mememories And Slow Thinkers. * Daphne smirks. Yeah, sorry. ^^; We really want to make sure this person is caught. Raccoons are the best! ... and we're making wonderful progress. I didn't expect this much information just from investigating the crime scene * Tulpa tosses a shiny quarter in the air. * Rocky leaps for it! Yes, Raccoons Are The Best. Really. * Tulpa lets Rocky catch the quarter. * Taro stretches a bit * Amy asks Eagle-san. "The goat doesn't really know. He was too busy eating to pay attention to that." Alright * Daphne chuckles. * Rocky holds it to the light and watches it shine. I...see. ... does he remember who took the body away? I'm sure a goat would remember someone if they took away food. ^^; * Amy asks. "Tasty-looking Zebra men." Zebra men? The referees Oh. Huh. * Daphne chuckles. * Grandfather takes a chunk out of Daphne's shoe. @_@ * Granfather chews happily. ... Eheheh... * Cara moves AWAY from Grandfather. Amy? Get Grandfather away from me before he's hurt. * Ichi takes a few steps away from the goat. "..." * Taro steps away as well * Amy gets Grandfather to move a bit away. "He's just hungry. ;-;" * Grandfather backs away from you meanies. Look, we'll get him something else to eat later. Something other than my shoe. Hm. Okay, so from what we've established so far, she had her throat pierced, somebody cleaned up the grating up there, the floor is spotless aside from a few very unlikely drops of blood.. Oh yeah. And it was very hot. I'm just about worn out of ideas. Any of you guys have any? Stuff to look for, at least. Nope. ;-; I'm sorry, but no. Nothing comes to mind. * Cara shakes her head. Hm. ... hm. I suppose we should find suspects and interrogate. ... but first.. What about that Mui guy? * Taro walks over to the cots and starts examining them. If it was him, her body would be badly burned. Not really. Other than asking the maintenance... hm. And this whole building would be ablaze. I doubt it was him. He's a jerk, but he's no murderer. * Taro continues examining the bed. Hey, Tulpa. Any of those blood-using evil rituals you mentioned have the effect of bathing oneself in fire? I'm hoping there's something here... He was looking for the goat before; if he were the killer, he would have fried it when he killed Demeter. Yeah, you're right. I mean, she was probably asleep. She was just discovered this morning, right? Not Generally. There Are, However, A Number Of Fire Based Fighters Present In This Tournament. * Taro blinks. Where can we find information on them? In Particular, Mather Froelich And Ryo Wildfire. Ah. What can you tell us about those two? * Ichi listens. I Know Little Of Them. You Would Have To Interrogate Them. * Taro nods I Know The Schools, However. The Raging Dragon School And The Wildfire School Are Both Composed Entirely Of Fire Techniques. * Taro nods Hm. What's the Raging Dragon School? Mather Froelich, eh? That's who Spyro was gonna fight next. * Taro blinks. ... yeah. It Is The Raging Dragon School. Weapon Of Choice Is The Great Scimitar. Most Special Attacks Involve Fire. Hm. What about the Wildfire school? Great Scimitar, eh? Not the best weapon for making a discreet cut in someone's throat. Wildfire School Is An Offshoot Of My Own, And Uses Twin Katana. Ah. * Ichi nods, "I see." What is your school like, anyway? Hmm. B..but would the person who ki..ki..killed actually use their own weapon? My School Is... A Secret. ... ah. Probably. ... * Taro blinks. * Ichi blinks. "Why? If you fight wouldn't people see it?" Who is Mather going to fight now? Why use something you're unfamiliar with? I Do Not Remember The Entire Tournament Bracket. * Taro nods. Alright. Hm... alright, so aside from finding out more information about those two, and actually interrogating those two, is there anything else we need to handle? Nothing right now. Alright, then. [Session End!]