[GM PRP] Ground work [Shun/Texts]

[shibrogane]

The case file says much of what they've already discussed:

A teenage girl, originally tenuously identified as Ascencion Shore by Detective Shun Kuroda, was found in a clearing in Waite State Forest. She had been dead for three days, give or take a few hours due to the cold weather. Her wrists and throat had been cut. There was no weapon in evidence. The cuts were not clean, evidence of a struggle. Post mortem bruising and footprints at the site around her shoulders suggests multiple people were involved: one set was a man's, of average size. Two sets were smaller: around a men's six or women's eight. One perpetrator had a limp.

The hiker who discovered the body was later cleared of suspicion, as he was proven to be at work in Boston on the prospective day of the murder.

The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was shock associated with hypothermia and exsanguination. An experimental magic-restricting drug was found in the deceased's blood and liver.

The body was not positively identified until late December. It was identified by Dr. Liam Noor as Ascencion Shore and released to him in early January.

Blade Kuroda

beta shun's notes are for you to determine! these are the facts associated, though

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Notes for interviewing the hiker?" Jeremiah inquired, looking things over. Reading again that there were multiple people involved was, somehow, not at all reassuring. Who all would have been involved in murdering Ascencion? In a manner such as this?

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun began to go through the notes, shaking his head, "There is not much. The hiker had been going through the forest and noticed the body up on the rock."

The fact that one of the perpetrators had a limp was possibly one of the reasons why his other self though Jeremiah was one of the murderers. The shoe size didn't quite match up, however. That and the fact that whoever did this had access to experimental drugs like what was used on her.

"I had not ruled out that this might be some sort of magical hate crime."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Is there a mention of name of the experimental drug? Possibly where it would have been gotten from?" Jeremiah paused a moment, looking up from the case file as he was reading. "While we test anti-magic magitech they do not bring those things to us for testing. For obvious reasons."

The reasons involving it was ******** up and wrong and would never be allowed.

"We could be looking at someone who has access to some kind of facility that would allow them to get their hands on what was in her system." A pause. "And, yes, it could have been a magical hate crime but considering that there's a ritualistic element to this almost, I would say not likely." Jeremiah let out a breath. "It could also simply be a hate crime, given the texts and who Sunny is."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun began to sift through the autopsy to find the name of the drug, and any details of who produced it and the like.

"Yes... pretty certain the ones who did it knew Sunny to some degree based on the texts in the very least. I believe one of the sets of footprints may belong to Sonny. But there are two others to account for."

shibrogane

Also double checking - any dna samples in sunny's fingernails due to the struggle?

azuredreams

 

[shibrogane]

The deceased's fingernails had been cleaned meticulously prior to discovery, and doused in iodine to wipe away any lingering evidence.

Blade Kuroda

 

[azuredreams]

"The limp gives me pause but last I checked, my shoe size is not that of an average male. I would assume it would be likely more in the range of yours." Jeremiah was reading over the notes, including that the meticulous cleaning of the crime scene.

"We should go back out to the crime scene," he said, "and look to see if there's anything to discover at it. On this side and the other. Even if ours is not necessarily the one this world was originally tied to ..."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Yes... Your shoe size does seem larger, unless for some reason your counterpart had rather small feet for his height. I do not think this is the case, though."

Shun then nodded at the suggestion, "I will start with the other Ashdown site. It may be less likely to have been tampered with. It has been several months so I am not certain what we can find on this side, but it is worth a shot."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Well," Jeremiah let out a breath. "I can tell you that I am not necessarily as old as my counterpart." The Jeremiah Mercer he had replaced had a few years on him. "... but as the shoes in my closet all still fit, I think we're the same shoe size."

He was looking at the case notes again. "The footprints around her body do imply they killed her on this side." His lips pressed together in a thin line. "Sonny has stated that they do not go over." Which brought something to mind. "They're something of the town secret. As in something that you're informed of once you reach a certain point of authority within Ashdown."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun slowly tilted his head.

"But they do. Maybe not often, though. America called for them when we first dealt with Pax and they showed up then," he noted. It didn't seem like they left the house all that often in the first place.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"That's because America is a Principal. She can command Sonny to do as she wants and Sonny has no say in it," replied Jeremiah.

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

It hadn't really seemed like America was commanding Sonny at the time but... perhaps that had actually been the case.

"I suppose that is a side effect of Sonny being the target of the cage for this world," he commented, furrowing his brow. It was... curious though. Renard didn't have anything like that with the old principals. Not anything that he was aware about anyway.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I similarly wonder if Renard had limited power due to being the focus of the original cage." Jeremiah closed his eyes a moment, released a breath, and then opened them back up.

"I have to wonder what they were hoping to achieve by doing this- It was likely some kind of ritual but to what ends? Especially given the spilled blood." Blood magic was potent, very potent.

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"I wonder the same. The bible verse on the woman from the 20s may give us some insight on what they were attempting to do. Beyond that..." he started, thinking for a moment, "I imagine there are not too many reliable sources on magical blood rituals that are easy to come across."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"No and the one you could talk to about it, I don't know if you should." Jeremiah sighed. "Given that it's the same man who has come to you to see this case handled and handled promptly."

Blade Kuroda