Before I reread Episode 1, I’d like to try to tackle some of its mysteries using the revelations from this Episode and my crappy memory. Alright let’s go. My notes basically just consist of these images and my legendarily bad memory.
Alright the mysteries in this episode will hereafter be referred to as “!garage!”, “!chain!”, “!kanon!”, “!parlor!” and “!natsuhi”.
As said by Battler on the topic of !garage There’s nothing strange about the murder of the six relatives that were found in the gardening shed at the start! key suspects are obviously anyone who survived til the end if we assume one culprit or a group of culprits co-operating. it is possible for others to be the killers but I’ll get onto that later.
Initally one would assume George to be above suspicion for this crime, as his lover was brutally murdered. However, it is established by Virgillia in the third game that scenes not narrated by Battler have the potential to be unreliable. In addition I believe no-one spoke of seeing Shannon after George’s proposal under the arbor. At the very least this did not happen while Battler was watching. Therefore, it is possible that George had an abusive or manipulative relationship with Shannon that the reader was not shown. He may have mudered her in a fit of anger after she rejected his proposal in the arbor, or perhaps because her acceptance wasn’t passionate enough by his standards. He may have simply moved the ring after the murder in order to maintain the facade.
Then in a moment of clarity he remembered the witch’s epitaph, and then killed the group in the dining hall to set up an atmosphere that would reduce people’s ability to think rationally, reducing the chances of him being discovered.
This theory is backed up by how Eva and Hideyoshi were not murdered, it is possible that by some method George knew that they would leave and then attacked after they did. His reasons for this could be due to either A, not wanting to kill his parents, B, wanting to wait till the number in the dining hall matched the number he needed to kill to match Line 1 of the epitaph, or C, he knew he would find it difficult to overpower his Mother due to her knowledge of Martial arts, and that having her and Hideyoshi leave the room would give him the easiest time in killing the group in the dining room.
Unfortunately, I do not currently have enough information regarding !chain, so I’ll need to wait till after I reread Ep 1 before I can tackle it.
However I think I may have an answer for !natsuhi. But first we’ll need to some supplementary reading
If the suicidal person is not acting out of his own free will, then assistance is punishable by any of a number of homicide offences that the criminal code provides for, as having “acted through another person” (§25, section 1 of the German criminal code,[55] usually called “mittelbare Täterschaft”). Action out of free will is not ruled out by the decision to end one’s life in itself; it can be assumed as long as a suicidal person “decides on his own fate up to the end […] and is in control of the situation.”[54]
Free will cannot be assumed, however, if someone is manipulated or deceived. A classic textbook example for this, in German law, is the so-called Sirius case on which the Federal Court of Justice ruled in 1983: The accused had convinced an acquaintance that she would be re-incarnated into a better life if she killed herself. She unsuccessfully attempted suicide, leading the accused to be charged with, and eventually convicted of attempted murder.[56] (The accused had also convinced the acquaintance that he hailed from the star Sirius, hence the name of the case).
Apart from manipulation, the criminal code states three conditions under which a person is not acting under his own free will:
- if the person is under 14
- if the person has “one of the mental diseases listed in §20 of the German Criminal Code”[57]
- a person that is acting under a state of emergency.
Under these circumstances, even if colloquially speaking one might say a person is acting of his own free will, a conviction of murder is possible.
German law puts certain people in the position of a warrantor (Garantenstellung) for the well-being of another, e.g. parents, spouses, doctors and police officers. Such people might find themselves legally bound to do what they can to prevent a suicide; if they do not, they are guilty of homicide by omission.
Therefore, provocation to commit suicide could be considered homicide in certain parts of the world.
Even though Beatrice said: “Natsuhi’s death was a homicide!” it is still possible for it to be a provoked suicide.
The contents of the letter Natsuhi read prompted her to commit suicide. She did so using a second gun she was holding onto, not “her gun” that we repeatedly see throughout the story. This second gun could have been identical in appearance to “her gun” and she could have hid “her gun” elsewhere before killing herself.
The only person who could have written a note that could encourage Natsuhi to kill herself who did not die very early on is her daughter Jessica Uroshimiya. Therefore, I suggest that the letter was written by Jessica Uroshimya, not the Golden Witch Beatrice. As the letter is not seen by Battler its contents could be anything, the handwriting and paper type could even be completely different to the other letters, this theory does not suggest Jessica wrote any of the other letters, just the one Natsuhi read.
The letter might not have even been intended to prompt suicide, it could have just been a private final confession from Jessica to Natsuhi, as Jessica felt she or her mother would die soon and wanted to give her a private message before she died. This explains why the letter was placed in one of Beatrice’s envelopes, Jessica re-used a previous envelope to guarantee her mother would place reading it at the top of her priority list, without having to present it to her Mother herself as that would make her have to withstand her Mother’s reaction to the news.
Now that he have established the possibility of Natsuhi committing suicide, it’s time for the final blow.
The perpetrator in the killings is Natsuhi, after losing the emotional crutch she had in her husband. Her plan was to pin the killings on Kinzo, as although she surely knew that Kinzo was dead, she claimed to have met him in his study. This explains the slight tactical error of everyone finding Kinzo’s body. She then placed the envelope in the study herself or though the use of Genji or Nanjo as an accomplice and killed them by some method. It is possible that Genji/Nanjo knew that they would die, but it is also possible that they were merely used. While the red denies the possibility of trap X for a number of the killings across the games, that guarantee is never made for Kanon’s death.
While my motive may not be particuarly substantial, I think the rest kind of works out. I’ll iron out this theories once I reread Ep 1. Does anyone want to respond?
PS: Also, for the “I will now…kill you” thing.
Beatrice is the concept of the Rokkenjima Killings. Therefore, if Battler kills himself from stress amassed from the killings, then it could be said that “Beatrice killed him”.