LogFAQs > #958658182

Trial Part 3 begins! Just before the trial starts, Gregson brings us the Professor's autopsy report due to a request by Sholmes. I take a quick look through it and it doesn't seem to say much. It'll probably be important in someway anyways, though. We enter the courtroom and, as we were told before, the Apprentice is with Van Zieks this time.

The first witness is also an expected one. Enoch Drebber takes the stand. Drebber claims that all he did was build the machine based on the specifications given to him and that the machine was real. He also brings up that making a trick work would require a body double and Asman didn't have a twin. We know from fingerprint data that the Asman on stage and in the Crystal Tower were the same person. Drebber would have also known this from setting things up which is how he knows to bring it up. So there must be another trick to this. At the very least due to inconsistent damage on the bird cage relative to eyewitness reports, we can show there were likely two different birdcages. One on the experiment stage with Asman in it and one that fell on the Crystal Tower. Then at some point they got switched! I was originally thinking only Asman's body was moved but I guess swapping the entire bird cage works as well.

Drebber wants to point out another issue. If Asman's birdcage didn't fall out of the sky, how did it fall 30 feet? But, that's not really a problem since that's about how high the experimentation stage was so the bird cage just needed to fall to the ground through the hollow stage. The stage is still intact so it can be examined for a hollow area. Can we ask the person who built the stage? That wasn't Drebber, right? Van Zieks points out a problem here. Even if Asman was killed when he fell through the stage that doesn't get him to the Crystal Tower. After the explosion, everything was locked down by the police so Drebber couldn't have switched the birdcages after that. So how did the bird cage go from inside the stage to on top of the Crystal Tower? If Drebber couldn't do it then Ryunosuke says Drebber must have had an accomplice! I have no idea who it could be, though. The game wants me to name the accomplice already?! It's mostly a blind guess but I go with Sithe since that's what the game is hinting at even thought I'm not really sure that makes sense but I don't see anyone else who might work. That's apparently the right answer. Ryunosuke wants to implicate the head of the Forensic Investigation Team as being an accomplice! Let's go! The only way the bird cages could have been switched is after the Forensic Investigation Team gained control of the site. Therefore, they must have helped with it. In the past, I had suspected someone dressed as a police officer messing with the scene, not this! Ryunosuke wants Sithe brought to the stand!

Van Zieks won't have that until we can sort out some other issues. First off, he wants to know what was originally in the bird cage that fell on the Crystal Tower. I'm not entirely sure why that is important. Like let's say it was empty. Would that be a problem since the bird cages will be switched anyways? In any case, it should be the Professor waxwork that was inside it. The one that is apparently in the middle of the courtroom that I never noticed until now. >_> Now Van Zieks wants to know why a wax work that looks nothing like Asman was used for the body double. We run out of answers here. Ryunosuke wants Drebber called up to answer that since Drebber was the one who stole and returned the wax work. Why did Drebber return the waxwork anyways? I guess it doesn't really matter since even if he kept it we would have found it when we raided his workshop. But, he could have destroyed it and that might have worked out better for him. Van Zieks is done with humoring our accusations and calls for the jury to make a decision. And they do. 6 Guilty votes. I had a little hope that No. 3 or No. 4 would hold out but nope. It's summation examination time!

From Juror No. 6 we find out that Sithe's maiden name was Stevens which matches the Professor's autopsy report. So there's a connection between Sithe and the Professor there. We claim this could be why Drebber used a wax work of the Professor and could lead to a link between Sithe and Drebber. This honestly sounds pretty flaky to me but it's enough to get Juror No. 2 and No. 6 to change their vote so the trial can continue. I don't think Juror No. 4 really gave a good answer on why he is voting guilty when he doesn't believe in the all important teleportation step of the prosecution's case. But he is open to more evidence for our case and we present Crystal Tower glass found on the Professor as evidence that he was in the bird cage. That gets No. 4 to change his vote and No. 5 decides to copy him. So that's our 4 Not Guilty votes!

Even so, we still need to work out a number of issues. Like the wax work really doesn't look like Asman so why was it used? Maybe Drebber was using it to blackmail Sithe regarding the true identity of the Professor. But would the waxwork even have an accurate face to begin with? Van Zieks wants to call in Tusspells to answer questions about the Professor waxwork. Can she also unlock the helmet? The court goes on a 45 minute recess to call her in.

During the break we go over how everyone involved in the case seems to be connected to the Professor, except for Harebrayne. Harebrayne confirms he has no idea what is going on and has no connection to the Professor. I think he was also in Germany at the time. Sithe then suddenly shows up. Sithe says the Stronghart has forbidden Van Zieks from calling her in as a witness. Is Stronghart in on the deception was well? I don't think that he is and I'm sure Sithe will get called in anyways. Sithe came to tell us she has no regrets in the way she fights crime. So maybe somehow she was working with Drebber voluntarily and wasn't being blackmailed? With that she leaves. Sholmes is also about to go back to the gallery but gives us one last hint. He said we should pursue to truth to the bitter end.

Trial Part 3 done!

This sure escalated quickly! It sounds like we've mostly figured out the secrets behind the magic trick. Asman fell to his death through the stage. At the same time, the green balloon popped and dropped a second bird cage with the Professor in it on to the Crystal Tower. After that, the Forensic Investigation Team sealed off the area and Sithe rearranged the crime scene.

Even now, we're lacking a lot of information about the Professor case so hopefully we find out more soon.
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My bracket looked like random picks compared to his.
Congrats to azuarc for winning the GotD 2020 Guru Contest!