Mystery on the Excelsior - Chapter Two

[Tariq j]

I'd like to check under the desk for any clues.

Seymour pulls out some pairs of disposable lab gloves. 

"I think it's important we wear these, wouldn't want any fingerprints getting on the evidence."

[jimmynick]

Emily looks guiltily around the room, privately admitting that the EMILY SMASH strategy is not destined to work well.

”Sorry everyone. I’ll be more responsible in future.”

The mysterious letter to Alfie piques Emily’s interest. What “product” could the author be referring to?

Emily cranes her neck around Alfie’s body and regards the stab wound. Is it a pencil hole, she wonders?

“Also, what’s the deal with these doors? Do they lock automatically when the power is on? Did someone lock Alfie’s door deliberately? Who has a pass for all the doors besides the Captain and the Steward?”

[Bob]

9 hours ago, Trekkie99 said:

I'd like to bring the locked suitcase to Alfie and use his cold dead finger on the fingerprint scanner to unlock the suitcase.

Oliver unlocks the suitcase. Inside it are some papers and folders, as well as a few small mechanical devices that you don’t seem to recognize. Oliver can’t tell how they work or if they go together. 

9 hours ago, Kristel said:

Thinks out aloud "Teapot explains the blunt force trauma, but w appear to be missing a knife."

I'd like to see what is under the bed.

*we

The bed is bolted to the ground and there doesn’t appear to be anyway for it to get underneath. This is probably why it was able to stay in it’s position during the turbulence earlier. 

9 hours ago, Hinckley said:

"Oh fine, make me look like the asshole. "

"Don't make me like you. Nobody's my friend when my ship has been sabotaged."

I'd like to further inspect this stupid frog as I only got a generic description the first freakin' time.

The frog is a dark bley little statuette that appears to have been bought wholesale for the express purpose of keeping in guest rooms. It doesn’t seem to have any purpose. It seems to weigh a lot, which would explain not only it’s purpose as a paperweight of sorts but also explains why it didn’t move. There doesn’t seem to be any blood or hair on the frog and it looks like it was recently cleaned, perhaps during the turnover between this lot of passengers and the last one. You can’t tell if it’s been used by anyone. 

7 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Perhaps it might make sense at some point to transport the body to the kitchen, the cold storage should keep it from smelling too bad."

Arthur inspects the body as to whether the stab was to the corpse's front or back.

The stab wound appears to be on the back of the body. The stab wound appears to be very jagged. 

5 hours ago, Tariq j said:

I'd like to check under the desk for any clues.

Seymour pulls out some pairs of disposable lab gloves. 

"I think it's important we wear these, wouldn't want any fingerprints getting on the evidence."

The desk is similarly bolted to the ground. There’s a waste paper basket underneath the desk that has a few scraps and tissues in it.

4 hours ago, jimmynick said:

Emily looks guiltily around the room, privately admitting that the EMILY SMASH strategy is not destined to work well.

”Sorry everyone. I’ll be more responsible in future.”

The mysterious letter to Alfie piques Emily’s interest. What “product” could the author be referring to?

Emily cranes her neck around Alfie’s body and regards the stab wound. Is it a pencil hole, she wonders?

“Also, what’s the deal with these doors? Do they lock automatically when the power is on? Did someone lock Alfie’s door deliberately? Who has a pass for all the doors besides the Captain and the Steward?”

It doesn’t appear to be a pencil stab wound, it seems to be something larger and less even. There’s also no graphite or anything around the wound. 

[Darkdragon]

"Does that broken shard...um I mean the one we found before Emily created a bunch of shards...look like it made the stab wound?"

Looking toward Gabriella.

"Do you have the separate broken shard or is it all mixed together in your bag now?"

[Waterbrick Down]

Arthur tries to remember whether the doors automatically lock or unlock during a power outage.

"Considering the stab wound, Mr. Peck must not have seen his assailant, which means they either entered during the black-out or had access to a key."

 

[Hinckley]

1 hour ago, Darkdragon said:

"Does that broken shard...um I mean the one we found before Emily created a bunch of shards...look like it made the stab wound?"

Looking toward Gabriella.

"Do you have the separate broken shard or is it all mixed together in your bag now?"

"I haven't touched the original missing shard yet. I just picked up the pieces stupid Emily smashed on the ground."

I would like to examine the mechanical objects in Alfie's briefcase.

[Waterbrick Down]

"Did the pot shard covered in blood come from the teapot originally or was it from a different pot?"

[Hinckley]

51 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Did the pot shard covered in blood come from the teapot originally or was it from a different pot?"

"It'd be easier to tell if Emily hadn't smashed the freakin' pot. We could try to piece it all back together to find out. "

[Darkdragon]

2 hours ago, Hinckley said:

"I haven't touched the original missing shard yet. I just picked up the pieces stupid Emily smashed on the ground."

"Ah good then they aren't mixed up. Whoever has that shard please let's see if it looks like it made this stab wound, at least then we will have something figured out."

 

[jimmynick]

6 hours ago, Bob said:

Oliver can’t tell how they work or if they go together.

"Oliver, being an artiste most formidable, may have no mechanical intuition but perhaps Gabriella @Hinckley does? Would you kindly inspect these items and help us out?"

Emily considers the room again. Lacking a pencil wound, her theory that Sophie lectured Alfie to death seems to be a non-starter. She wonders if the party has yet inspected everything in the room, though.

I would like to peek under the desk.

14 hours ago, Tariq j said:

I'd like to check under the desk for any clues.

4 hours ago, Hinckley said:

I would like to examine the mechanical objects in Alfie's briefcase.

This is what Emily gets for drinking too many martinis: she fails to listen properly to the conversation.

I retract my previous action and choose instead to inspect the scraps and tissues inside the bin.

[Bob]

7 hours ago, Darkdragon said:

"Does that broken shard...um I mean the one we found before Emily created a bunch of shards...look like it made the stab wound?"

Looking toward Gabriella.

"Do you have the separate broken shard or is it all mixed together in your bag now?"

Taking this to be an action, it does appear that the shard that Gabriella picked up that was in the drawer does fit the stab wound. You can probably tell that it's the shard because it's very bloody.

6 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Arthur tries to remember whether the doors automatically lock or unlock during a power outage.

"Considering the stab wound, Mr. Peck must not have seen his assailant, which means they either entered during the black-out or had access to a key."

 

The doors automatically unlock during a power outage, as the security system goes offline. 

5 hours ago, Hinckley said:

"I haven't touched the original missing shard yet. I just picked up the pieces stupid Emily smashed on the ground."

I would like to examine the mechanical objects in Alfie's briefcase.

You examine some of the mechanical objects in the briefcase. Some of them appear to be out of your field of comprehension, but there's other pieces that seem to function as starting mechanisms and some that appear to be used in creating a stable power supply. There doesn't seem to be any logical way to put them together. They seem to be pieces taken out of a larger device that doesn't appear to be present anywhere else.

43 minutes ago, jimmynick said:

"Oliver, being an artiste most formidable, may have no mechanical intuition but perhaps Gabriella @Hinckley does? Would you kindly inspect these items and help us out?"

Emily considers the room again. Lacking a pencil wound, her theory that Sophie lectured Alfie to death seems to be a non-starter. She wonders if the party has yet inspected everything in the room, though.

I would like to peek under the desk.

This is what Emily gets for drinking too many martinis: she fails to listen properly to the conversation.

I retract my previous action and choose instead to inspect the scraps and tissues inside the bin.

The tissues are used, so I'm not sure if Emily wishes to inspect those, but the scraps of paper are space-lottery tickets and a bet on a race on the Martian colony. 

[jimmynick]

1 minute ago, Bob said:

the scraps of paper are space-lottery tickets and a bet on a race on the Martian colony.

Emily reads out the numbers on the lottery ticket, as well as the participants in the Martian race.

[Lind Whisperer]

7 hours ago, Bob said:

Oliver unlocks the suitcase. Inside it are some papers and folders, as well as a few small mechanical devices that you don’t seem to recognize. Oliver can’t tell how they work or if they go together.

I inspect the papers and folders for anything that stands out to me as a businessman.

52 minutes ago, jimmynick said:

This is what Emily gets for drinking too many martinis: she fails to listen properly to the conversation.

I retract my previous action and choose instead to inspect the scraps and tissues inside the bin.

"Dear, when I'm done, could you use your legal acumen to go over these and find anything I miss?"

[Waterbrick Down]

Arthur searches for Mr. Peck's room keys to see if he still has them on his person.

[Kristel]

21 hours ago, jimmynick said:

Emily smashes the teapot she noticed was missing from the lounge.

Noah approaches the lawyer and asks "Why did you do this?"

 

20 hours ago, Hinckley said:

"Speaking of trampling evidence, if the teapot was used to kill Alfie, then Emily has just destroyed it. I thought she was being clever and continuing her earlier habit of breaking the lamps, but now I'm not so sure. I hope the remaining shards are big enough to search for fingerprints, if we ever end up with the capability to do so. I highly recommend the Captain place Mrs. Dawson under arrest."

Noah thinks out loud, "We should check if we have fingerprint scanning technology on board this magnificent ship".  

She turns to the Captain @Shadows and asks, "You seem content to stand back and let the others do the work.  As Captain, I would have thought you'd be more interested in getting to the bottom of this."

 

20 hours ago, Bob said:

The bathroom also appears to be barren. The bathroom itself is the standard one in all rooms. There's a toilet, a large bath/shower, a sink with a medicine cabinet, and a mirror. There's also space to keep towels and other toiletries. It appears that Alfie was in the process of unpacking for this room as well.

Noah opens the medicine cabinet to see what is inside.

Noah looks around and asks "Has anyone seen Charlotte?".

[jimmynick]

35 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Arthur searches for Mr. Peck's room keys to see if he still has them on his person.

"I was wondering about that earlier. Do you know who besides you and Captain Bennett have all-access passes, by the way?"

39 minutes ago, Lind Whisperer said:

"Dear, when I'm done, could you use your legal acumen to go over these and find anything I miss?"

Emily smiles in a coy fashion and says "Sure thing, daaaahling. But I didn't know you had any business connections with the deceased? Please elaborate."

5 minutes ago, Kristel said:

Noah approaches the lawyer and asks "Why did you do this?"

"I wanted to see if anything was inside..."

6 minutes ago, Kristel said:

"You seem content to stand back and let the others do the work.  As Captain, I would have thought you'd be more interested in getting to the bottom of this."

"She's a slippery character all right!"

7 minutes ago, Kristel said:

Noah opens the medicine cabinet to see what is inside.

Good idea Chef!

[Trekkie99]

"Doctor do you have any pills for headaches? LoL like I'd take them."

[Waterbrick Down]

1 hour ago, jimmynick said:

"I was wondering about that earlier. Do you know who besides you and Captain Bennett have all-access passes, by the way?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but the security system does shut down in the event of a powerfailure to prevent passengers from becoming trapped. So his assailant may have snuck in during the black-out."

[Hinckley]

1 hour ago, Kristel said:

Noah thinks out loud, "We should check if we have fingerprint scanning technology on board this magnificent ship".  

 

Gabriella thinks out loud, "Perhaps Noah @Kristel missed it when I said we don't currently have that, which is why the terminal where the culprit shut the FTL drive down from has been quarantined until we do gain such capabilities."

2 hours ago, Bob said:

You examine some of the mechanical objects in the briefcase. Some of them appear to be out of your field of comprehension, but there's other pieces that seem to function as starting mechanisms and some that appear to be used in creating a stable power supply. There doesn't seem to be any logical way to put them together. They seem to be pieces taken out of a larger device that doesn't appear to be present anywhere else.

I'd like to hide all the evidence, the machine parts...and the frog...in my underwear so that I know they will be secure.

[Shadows]

2 hours ago, Kristel said:

She turns to the Captain @Shadows and asks, "You seem content to stand back and let the others do the work.  As Captain, I would have thought you'd be more interested in getting to the bottom of this."

"You clearly don't understand what it is to be Captain. We oversee others who do the work, give advice and make important decisions at the right moment. I think Gabby and the rest have things under control for now."

9 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Considering the stab wound, Mr. Peck must not have seen his assailant, which means they either entered during the black-out or had access to a key."

"Not the most creative theory, certainly not all the possibilities. Perhaps he knew his assailant, who entered the room with him while discussing whatever arrangement was to be reached. Something goes wrong, they argue and fight, there is a struggle, things are thrown around and broken and then the stabbing. However it went, it seems somewhat unplanned, wouldn't a killer bring a more suitable weapon if it was planned?"

*continues* "I do suspect that someone involved in this could easily have suffered an injury of their own, perhaps we need to make note of anyone with cuts or bruises or anything of the sort. Like Ms. Young, for example, with the odd pencil wound. I don't even understand why people are still carrying around pencils in this day and age. Perhaps to keep logs of engine grease. Makes about as much sense."

"As for the door, it would let that person out and lock behind them, as all the doors to the private cabins and other secure areas. This isn't exactly a locked door mystery and I doubt anyone climbed a trellis to get in the window, leaving muddy prints in the roses below. Saw that one in a holovid once. The butler did it. We don't have a butler, but perhaps a steward would do. No, I'm not serious. "

[Bob]

3 hours ago, jimmynick said:

Emily reads out the numbers on the lottery ticket, as well as the participants in the Martian race.

It seems they're losing lottery tickets and the race is also one that's been lost.

3 hours ago, Lind Whisperer said:

I inspect the papers and folders for anything that stands out to me as a businessman.

"Dear, when I'm done, could you use your legal acumen to go over these and find anything I miss?"

George is able to read application papers to the United Earth Patent Office. He's not able to understand the technical schematics that are also included in those documents, however he is able to see that the patent is pending a review.

3 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Arthur searches for Mr. Peck's room keys to see if he still has them on his person.

Alfie's room keycard is on his person in his pocket. 

2 hours ago, Kristel said:

Noah approaches the lawyer and asks "Why did you do this?"

 

Noah thinks out loud, "We should check if we have fingerprint scanning technology on board this magnificent ship".  

She turns to the Captain @Shadows and asks, "You seem content to stand back and let the others do the work.  As Captain, I would have thought you'd be more interested in getting to the bottom of this."

 

Noah opens the medicine cabinet to see what is inside.

Noah looks around and asks "Has anyone seen Charlotte?".

Inside the medicine cabinet are some various toiletries like a toothbrush and some Blue Star Soaps, as well as some prescription medications.

59 minutes ago, Hinckley said:

Gabriella thinks out loud, "Perhaps Noah @Kristel missed it when I said we don't currently have that, which is why the terminal where the culprit shut the FTL drive down from has been quarantined until we do gain such capabilities."

I'd like to hide all the evidence, the machine parts...and the frog...in my underwear so that I know they will be secure.

Gabriella hides the machine parts...and the frog...in her underwear. I think if she tried putting anything else in there, it would be quite uncomfortable. 

[Hinckley]

Just now, Bob said:

George is able to read application papers to the United Earth Patent Office. He's not able to understand the technical schematics that are also included in those documents, however he is able to see that the patent is pending a review.

I would like to attempt to read the technical schematics and read the names involved in the patent review.

Just now, Bob said:

Gabriella hides the machine parts...and the frog...in her underwear. I think if she tried putting anything else in there, it would be quite uncomfortable. 

You let me worry about that.

[Shadows]

1 hour ago, Hinckley said:

You let me worry about that.

*thinks* I think it's safe to say we're all a little worried about that.

"Carry on."

I would like to examine the prescription medicines, specifically who they belong to, what they are for, who prescribed them. when and how many are missing/left..

[Waterbrick Down]

2 hours ago, Shadows said:

"You clearly don't understand what it is to be Captain. We oversee others who do the work, give advice and make important decisions at the right moment. I think Gabby and the rest have things under control for now."

"Not the most creative theory, certainly not all the possibilities. Perhaps he knew his assailant, who entered the room with him while discussing whatever arrangement was to be reached. Something goes wrong, they argue and fight, there is a struggle, things are thrown around and broken and then the stabbing. However it went, it seems somewhat unplanned, wouldn't a killer bring a more suitable weapon if it was planned?"

*continues* "I do suspect that someone involved in this could easily have suffered an injury of their own, perhaps we need to make note of anyone with cuts or bruises or anything of the sort. Like Ms. Young, for example, with the odd pencil wound. I don't even understand why people are still carrying around pencils in this day and age. Perhaps to keep logs of engine grease. Makes about as much sense."

"As for the door, it would let that person out and lock behind them, as all the doors to the private cabins and other secure areas. This isn't exactly a locked door mystery and I doubt anyone climbed a trellis to get in the window, leaving muddy prints in the roses below. Saw that one in a holovid once. The butler did it. We don't have a butler, but perhaps a steward would do. No, I'm not serious. "

"I figured the stab in the back meant he was caught unawares, but perhaps your theory holds some water. I still have my key and if both his and yours are accounted for, that would leave your theory about Peck knowing his murderer or the black-out theory the only options. Assuming of course neither you or I are the murderer... We also have Mr. Parry to worry about. I do hope he hasn't befallen the same fate."

[Hinckley]

3 hours ago, Shadows said:

"Not the most creative theory, certainly not all the possibilities. Perhaps he knew his assailant, who entered the room with him while discussing whatever arrangement was to be reached. Something goes wrong, they argue and fight, there is a struggle, things are thrown around and broken and then the stabbing. However it went, it seems somewhat unplanned, wouldn't a killer bring a more suitable weapon if it was planned?"

"So, the person brought the teapot for friendly purposes? Where are the teacups, then?"