[Fin] Murder in the Mountains (End)

[wingedcatgirl]

>okay drink time is there some bottled water or something? maybe being HYDRATED will help with the thinking.

The tap works fine, but there's also a crate of bottled water in the pantry as backup.

>examine Malakhiri's window closer

There doesn't seem to be anything off about the window, other than the lock being disengaged.

[PointMaid]

...Well, it's at least one more piece of evidence, that the lock on Malakhiri's window was disengaged. They could've wiped up any snow or water that had fallen in.

> Check outside Malakhiri's window. Can you find the knife there?

[Zanreo]

>does it look like any snow/water might have been cleaned up?

[Kennifer]

Amy gets some water and rejoins the others.

"...so either Malakhiri unlocked their window for some reason, nefarious or otherwise, or someone's trying to frame them. I know they'd have us believe the latter with their big fancy showy attempts at distracting us from the fact they keep saying the same thing over and over, but it'd be nice to be able to prove which it is. Or they just wanted some fresh air. Fresh, cold, snowy air."

[artsyGeek]

“If it were the last option, I wonder why he'd want blizzard air.”

> Investigate Malakhiri's room further

[Zanreo]

"Yeah, this certainly doesn't make them seem any less suspicious... I'm close to putting back my vote on them."

[Kennifer]

"Yeah, I wouldn't know either, but maybe the Seven Circles demanded it or some weird thing like that. But probably they opened it for nefarious purposes or someone wants to make us think they did. Or that lock's just faulty."

> check some of the other places around the room like under the bed, in the closet/drawers, etc.

[Caret]

"I have to agree with Amy. Malakhiri seems awfully insistent on prosecuting Lotus in particular, and Lotus did appear to be the original target for the cultists last night which... unless Knuckles, Lotus, and Kondraki are the cultists, which I really hope they aren't... but what if they... nevermind."

> search Lotus's room for evidence

[wingedcatgirl]

> search Lotus's room for evidence

Lotus's room looks fairly normal, for an alleged stalker.

> Investigate Malakhiri's room further

> check some of the other places around the room like under the bed, in the closet/drawers, etc.

It's filled with ritual candles and other culty stuff you'd expect from the person actively going around calling themself a cultist. They've definitely been used recently, but for all anyone knows Malakhiri just always does a candlelit prayer to their Old Gods every night.

>does it look like any snow/water might have been cleaned up?

... It's water, it wouldn't leave traces of that behind either way.

> Check outside Malakhiri's window. Can you find the knife there?

The blizzard means the window can't be open for more than a second or so at a time, and visibility is completely fucked, but Chip thinks he might've seen something clothing-ish out there...?

[Magolor]

And I'm finally back home! ...and can type in the real color :)

"Geez, I think my room's been ransacked enough times... maybe you like to investigate it?" Lotus gives the most self-congratulatory smile in the history of humanity within the last 0.3 seconds.

[PointMaid]

...Yeah, they would all have to be in it together and lying, I think. And Amy heard the music too, which doesn't make it definitive but does make it less likely, doesn't it?

[PointMaid]

...Okay, I think I saw clothing out there. Maybe it had, I don't know, bloodstains or cut marks on it? That would explain why it was thrown out there. I'll see if I can reach it in a moment, but just one thing...

> Test: If the windows are latched, they can't be unlatched from the outside, right?

[wingedcatgirl]

> Test: If the windows are latched, they can't be unlatched from the outside, right?

The blizzard is blizzing so hard that, while Chip can't get a good look at the outside of the window, he quickly comes to the conclusion that nobody would have ever stood outside for long enough to mess with it anyway.

[Kennifer]

"Well, all of their things are very cult-y, but is it the cult they were in before they got here, or the one that's trying to kill everyone? The candles and stuff are easier to explain than the stuff with the windows, but I didn't find the missing knife either."

[PointMaid]

...I think we can safely assume that if someone opened this window, it was from this room.

> Try to reach the piece of clothing

He shivers, being exposed to that snowstorm so many times. Ada comes over and drapes the blanket they took from the closet on his shoulders.

[Caret]

"Oh! I kinda have a special gift with the winds, so let me help!"

> help Chip in grabbing the rouge piece of clothing

[artsyGeek]

> Raaandom question: What do the candles look like?

[Zanreo]

>also help in grabbing clothing piece

[door-kun]

> Hold the window open - he's dealt with worse temperatures, after all.

[TenOfSwords13]

>I guess I should help with the thing with the window???

[wingedcatgirl]

>What do the candles look like? (Kondraki)
They look like completely normal and unremarkable examples of Malakhiri's ritual candles.

>Retrieve! That! Thing! (Chip+Ada, Nellie, Z, Knuckles, Red)
With a well-focused team effort, the six of you manage to retrieve the item from the snow without getting frostbite or hypothermia.

It looks like a robe.

And was there a glint of light in the snow, or was that just your imagination...?

[TenOfSwords13]

Well, there we have it, conclusive evidence.

/vote Malakhiri

[Florien]

HEY WAIT WHAT?! NO! SOMEONE MUST HAVE FRAMED ME! KNUCKLES PROBABLY!

[TenOfSwords13]

We shall see about that. Farewell, friend.

[Magolor]

"Why would he throw his own robe out his window...?"