[M] Endless Nights - Daybreak

[Blackrune]

Replace string with Gumshoe's bandages. Legit.

[DeeYo]

Spoiler : :

Well, if someone wants to look for the source of the worldplay, it must have to do with the keys and the locked doors. I'm too lazy to search for it, but if anyone still cares about this, then they should check the sentences that convey (or at least, try to convey) something like "the key taped to Franny's forehead was the only thing that could open the door" and "a human being cannot pass through without a key". If there is no wordplay there, then it is logic error.

[DWaM]

Ninja'd my edit, too. Some people just want to have it all.

THROW IN KNOX 4 FOR GOOD MEASURE

...Because in terms of execution, the actual trick doesn't need to be nearly as complicated.

[Blackrune]

Figured as much.
Then there's probably some more wordplay that'd make most of that unnecessary.
Keep looking, gentlemen.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : cue DWaM's despair in 3, 2, 1... :

Large bombs.

[DWaM]

Spoiler : :

No bombs.

[Ferdielance]

You know, I looked for this in the reds, and didn't see anything that excluded it. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I've just... cut the Gordian Knot entirely.

Spoiler : Weep at the beautiful simplicity :

Either Franziska or Larry is the culprit. Let's assume Franziska, with Larry as an unwitting accomplice.

Feeling suicidal after yet another courtroom loss, she decided that it was time to die, and take the most annoying, worthless person she could think of with her. She felt most comfortable at the Prosecution bench, so that was where she decided it would happen, and in a truly baffling way.

She invited Larry into the courtroom for a talk, then locked the door behind her. She then told Larry that they were having a date, a LAW DATE, and that he should sit at the Defense bench. Of course, he was ecstatic to comply. She taped the key to her forehead, explaining that it was for a trick.

Then she shot him, put the gun on his body, sat down at the prosecution bench, and shot herself with the other gun.

At no point did you say it couldn't be partially suiiiicide!

[DWaM]

Spoiler : :

None of the victims commited suiciiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!

[Ferdielance]

REVISION!

Spoiler : Can't stop me that easily :

Same theory as above, but Larry wrestled with Franziska for the gun when she pulled it out, causing it to discharge and hit her. Her finger was on the trigger, so he wasn't a 'second culprit.' But she didn't commit suicide, either; it was an accident.

He managed to get the gun away from her, but didn't realize that she had a second gun. She distracted him for a moment, then shot him with the second gun.

She then set up the crime scene and expired.

[DWaM]

Spoiler : :

The two victims, at no point, physically attacked each other (this includes wrestling for the gun).

...

On this gameboard.

[Enthalpy]

I'm purposefully ignoring others' theories to avoid possible spoilers, so I apologize if this has already been guessed:

Spoiler : :

Person V left the lobby, unnoticed by Kristoph. Person V has multiple personality disorder, and seeing an opportunity to kill, took it. Person V forced Larry and Franziska into the room at gunpoint, locks the room, forces them to stand at the benches, tapes the key to Franziska's head, and shoots both. Person V's non-dominant personality kicks in. Aghast at the scene in front of him or her, Person V accidentally falls through the window. Because Person V didn't attempt to go through the window, Person V's legs are not broken.

[Ferdielance]

Spoiler : Ridiculous solution but what the hell :

You barred supernatural agencies as a detective technique, but not as a murder technique. And the culprit has to be a human being, but the victim doesn't necessarily have to be...

Franziska was killed before the story began. Maya channeled Franziska (this isn't 'disguising'). You defined 'persons' as 'human bodies.' So if two people shared a body, there would be room for an eighth person. And since there can't be any person who wasn't mentioned, it has to be the Judge. The Judge was the accomplice, who passed the invitation letter to channeled Franziska. He convinced her to 'pretend to still be alive' and that Maya was on her side. This is why she went through all the motions of going to the bathroom, not telling anyone she'd been murdered, etc.

Maya shot Larry, put the gun in his hand, and taped the key to her forehead. She then channeled Franziska to confront her with the corpse of her secret lover. Horrified, Franziska realized she'd been tricked! In an attempt to get revenge on Maya, she shot the body she was inhabiting, but it was just a flesh wound to Maya. She was stunned to catatonia, and was still inhabiting Maya's body when the people broke in.

Note that at no point in this theory did one victim attack another victim.

[DWaM]

@Enthalpy:

Spoiler : :

The culprit did not in any way pass through the window.

@Ferdie:

Spoiler : :

Franziska was very much alive at the time this game began. Same with Larry.

But it's good that you're thinking crazy.

[Ferdielance]

Spoiler : Minor revision :

Same theory as before, except that Maya murdered Franziska at the very beginning of the game, not before - possibly on the way to the bathroom or inside it.

Edit: To avoid creating a gunshot - Maya used a silenced pistol to kill Franziska, then removed the silencer.

[DWaM]

Spoiler : :

There is no channeling involved in this game.