Green shook out her appendages and let out a burst of mana into her surroundings to loosen her muscles. The mana was ineffective, and wasteful but it was the one bad habit she'd kept after her parent's training, and it was somewhat special to her in a strange way.
Green let out a long breath and looked the Judge in the eye. "I'm not making my guess when I say this. But it is you. You are the one responsible for the three deaths and no other"
"Oh" Judge straightened his back and added a little to his height "You mean to accuse the judge as a murderer? That is quite the claim young one. And yet you said it isn't a guess? Are you saying that you know for certain? Or are you not actually accusing me?"
"Both. I said I want to go through everything one more time, but if I'm right, then I know it's you" said Green projecting a confidence she rarely truly felt. This time though it was real. She was a scout, she had seen the clues, gathered the hints, and figured out the answer. It was a puzzle she loved, and was actually quite thankful that Thyme came up with it at all.
"Let us start with the clues that didn't involve the victims, shall we? The first thing I noticed that you said 'now that the light of justice has shined down upon the accused' at that point in time, you had those same lights shine upon you, and one of the rules is that there is no lying to be done. That means that all of the lights represented an accused, including yourself.
"That made me go back and think, when you introduced Doctor you didn't say they were the final accused but the third, which, and perhaps I'm cheating a bit hear, simply isn't how you talk. You love to have final or finally at the end of your lists" said Green
"Oh? But that reveals nothing about the victims does it? And you said I committed all the murders? Conclusively? Are you sure about that?" replied Judge staring intently at Green matching her gaze.
Green faltered "Eh, um, yes I mean"
"Where did all the confidence go Green? Weren't you certain that I committed the murders Green?" asked Judge as she took two heavy steps forward, one each time he said Green.
"Ye- Yes, yes um…" Green activated her enchantment that let her fade in the background and the enchantment to give her a speed boost and hid behind the mural of the first body.
Dismissing the two enchantments as she hid behind the display, she activated a third, one on a necklace hidden from sight that projected her voice. "Looking at this first body here. The implication is that Builder killed him. But this is surely impossible, both Builder and his hammer are short and this man was struck from above. That is why his clothes are dyed red. Which also means the blood was placed very deliberately. This isn't you real blood Thyme it should be a different colour
"This means that even the blood splattering's are part of the clues, dryad blood is green, much like how my own is blue. The next thought then would be that it was actually the Beggar. The dirty cloth and the bricks strewn around imply that perhaps they were dropped on the victim's head. But then where are the bloody bricks? Not a single one has a drop of blood on them.
"Finally, the cloth, this actually pardons the Builder further as despite his profession his clothes are very clean. It seems to indicate Beggar, but Doctor, and Judge are implicated just the same. So it all comes down to the bricks. The only way to inflict that much trauma without them is with a blunt weapon… Much like your gavel… scythe thing… actually what is that?"
"I don't believe you get a second question" said Judge
"Really? That's your problem. I'm trying to be brave and accuse you of murder, and you respond that I can't ask more questions"
"I believe that too is a second question. Or would you consider it a third? I suppose it would depend how you want to judge these things… Oh wait I'm the Judge. I say third" said Judge
"Is this a joke to you?" asked Green
"Fourth Question" said Judge
And Green couldn't help it. She really did laugh. Her anxiety was building, and she was accusing the clearly most powerful person in the room of being a murderer. Sure it was a game, but if they were playing the character of judge and executioner what was stopping them from just attacking her? Thyme… Thyme and his sense of humour.
"Thanks Thyme" Green whispered, dropping the voice amplification for a moment, but knowing Thyme would hear.
Moving places to hide instead behind the second victims mural Green continued "So, this one got me thinking in a number of ways. The apparent dagger wound was too obvious. I didn't think it could ever be the answer. This was confirmed when you answered about the poison, but we won't get to that just yet. The main issue is that Beggar's dagger couldn't make such a clean cut. Not in the flesh of the clothes… is it flesh? Thyme or Judge, what do you call living dryad wood? Is it flesh?"
"Fifth question" said Judge
"Right right, anyway, that wound is too clean and it looked like this person died of suffocation, but their was no marks around the neck, so the conclusion I had to draw was that poison was used. This instead implicated the Doctor, and honestly I wasn't too suspicious at this point. I thought Beggar was the culprit for the first one back before I thought about the cloth properly and Doctor killed the second one.
"However the third victim is when I really started to formulate the idea that perhaps you were in fact the killer Judge. See, victim three" said Green as she moved to the final mural hiding behind the wall "has clearly been impaled… multiple times. Builder has those pegs and maybe Builder killed 3, Beggar Killed 1, and Doctor killed 2, but you never actually said that all three were killers and those pegs don't look even close to the spikes, not to mention the number you would need to carry.
"In fact, I kept getting the feeling that I was looking at the challenge wrong. Why did I need to match them up to the murders and that's when I remembered. Judge, you lifted the accuse with magic, wood magic. A very high level of magic that not just anyone can possess. Perhaps if you were a dryad yes, but in this you aren't Thyme, you are Judge, and Judge clearly demonstrated wood manipulation.
"That's what got me to look back on the other things, and so when I asked you about the poison it was actually a trap" said Green poking her head out to look at Judge for the first time since starting her explanation on the victims.
She was of course surprised to see Judge directly next to her once poked her head out. Jumping back slightly in front Judge just laughed. "Well, how did you trap me? I do believe that I said I'd answer any question not identifying the murderer yes?"
Green smiled awkwardly, and used her speed enchantments to hide behind Doctors pillar, keeping an eye on Judge the whole time. "Well, you said you would only tell me if poison was used. But here is the thing. How did you know they were poisoned? Only the killer would know that, especially with Last Breath as it's very hard to identify, though the ingredients you listed were wrong, I was willing to overlook that part
"Nevermind though. The fact you could identify the poison meant you were familiar enough with them to make it… and I mean, you also said it was expensive, and none of these three could afford it" Green started to bumble a bit at the end as Judge showed no reaction to her words.
"And I mean, ah, I know this is sort of wrong, but um it's a puzzle right? So it wouldn't be something like the local mayor hired Doctor, or Beggar so they didn't need to pay right? Because um, that wouldn't be fun?"
Judge remained still clearly waiting for something else. Green swallowed. He wants me to say it. *That Judge is the murder. Am I prepared for what will happen though? But I mean what will happen?*
Steeling herself once more Green said it. "Judge, I accuse you of the murder of all three victims"
Judge burst into laughter as a grin split his face quite literally. The smile cracking the wood on Judge's face as it extended into his ears. "Now, for the execution"
Judge picked up his weapon and turned the blades edge to his neck. In one swift motion his decapitated himself and the body quickly decomposed and vanished before Green's eyes.
