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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 20:16:01 GMT -5
"We're dealing with a rather intelligent man" Poirot observed. "He tried to hide the murder weapon, rather than run off with it." He then looked it over. "But look at this gun; the ivory handle, the silver plating; this is a custom-order, very distinct. This was special made for a particular client. You need to order these special, and if I am not mistaken" Poirot turned the gun over to look at the bottom of the grip, and sure enough, there were the initials "L.C." in a fancy script.
"Ah yes, personalized with initials; makes it more distinct you know" Poirot observed. "Either this gun belongs to the killer with these initials, or it was stolen from a man with these initials" he explained.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 15, 2016 20:17:37 GMT -5
"But no!" said Gunnarson. "Why would he leave it behind with his initials on it? That narrows it down somewhat at least. No, I think they aren't his initials, he used fake ones instead."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 20:24:08 GMT -5
"Well, there is only one gun store in London that does work like this; I'll go down there with Hastings and see if there is anything we can find out; work like this they keep a ledger of" Poirot explained. "Do you think you can handle looking at the rest of this crime scene on your own?" Poirot asked.
"I think we can manage" Gunnarson said.
"hey Gunnarson! I found something!" Hartley said. He directed Gunnarson's attention to what looked like a seemingly normal brick.
"huh?" Gunnarson asked. "Feel it" Hartley showed him. It was much lighter than it really looked. And when shaken, there was something heard inside. "Sounds like he is trying to hide something" Hartley said.
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Post by Tug on Jun 15, 2016 20:27:31 GMT -5
Just then an officer came up and said, "Hey those four aren't cleared to be on the crime scene! I have orders from Prosecutor Taylor to escort them off, especially the blonde one!"
Before the a group of officers could remove Gunnarson and his crew, an unfamiliar voice responded, "It's alright, they've been cleared, come look for yourself..."
The officer came over to the man and saw all the right paperwork, and then said, "Seems in order, let them go boys and back to what they were doing..."
Gunnarson and his crew were let go and went up to the man, who was revealed to have a partner...
"Thank you gentlemen, now who might you two be?" asked Gunnarson
"Oh sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves, I'm Cpt. Jeremy Conrad and my partner is Lt. Eric Johnson, we work with your friend Detective Stein... He sent us to come help you after he heard the news your skills were being called into question... He would have come himself, but he got a call on a new case in the country involving a banshee and a milkmaid so he had to leave this morning and asked us to stay behind and help... Were basically here to help you get access to places legally with Scotland Yard's help, and Stein even filled out your paperwork allowing you access to the criminals in custody for the Assassin's Case to not being able to physically be with you in this time of need..." answered Conrad
"Well thank you gentlemen, anyways, back to the cases at hand, mind tagging along with us you two?" asked Gunnarson
"Not at all" replied Johnson as the group got back to the case at hand...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 20:31:45 GMT -5
"Anyway, this brick; just feel it. There is something hidden in here" Hartley explained.
"Ok; so how do we open it" Gunnarson asked.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 15, 2016 20:33:34 GMT -5
"Like this," said Johnson, and he dropped the brick on the floor, smashing it.
Conrad facepalmed. "Nice going, Blunderbuss...."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 20:40:25 GMT -5
"Anyway, you gentlemen best step aside while I take a look through the fragments to find what was in here" Gunnarson said as he began sifting through the broken pieces.
......
Poirot and Hastings had taken a cab and arrived at the gun store in question. They came up to the clerk.
"We are investigating a murder; we have reason to believe the owner of a custom weapon may be linked" he said.
"Anything I can do to help; what was the gun?"
".38 revolver; silver plating, ivory handle. Initials L.C. on the bottom"
The gun store owner took out a ledger and looked through the names, serial numbers and customizing.
"Ah, yes, that one. Ordered by a... Mr. Lawrence Cook"
"Lawrence Cook? Thank you. We'd best get back to the crime scene and tell Gunnarson" Poirot said.
"Let's hurry" Hastings said as they took off.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 15, 2016 20:49:43 GMT -5
Meanwhile...
"Let's see... ah, what have we here?"
"What is it?"
"Inside that brick was a....
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 20:52:51 GMT -5
...key, with the number 28 on it. And a small, metal figurine. It looked like a soldier.
"Why would he keep these things hidden?" Gunnarson asked himself.
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Post by Tug on Jun 15, 2016 21:49:02 GMT -5
"Hey I've seen this type of key before... It's for a lock box at the Barclays Bank in Sutton!" said Johnson
"Then maybe we'll find our answers there, Hartley, you stay here with Johnson, Conrad and I will go investigate the lockbox, we might need Scotland Yard's authority for access to it..." said Gunnarson
"Right!" replied Hartley as Gunnarson and Conrad left for Barclays Bank
Just then, Poirot and Hastings had come back...
"Where's Gunnarson?" asked Poirot
"You just missed him, he and Conrad went to follow up on another clue..." answered Johnson
"Eh?"
.....
Gunnarson and Conrad soon arrived at the bank, they were let in relatively easily with Conrad's credentials...
"Now let's see this lock box, shall we..." said Gunnarson
"Yes right this way sirs..." replied the teller as he took the duo to the vault where they kept the boxes...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 21:55:58 GMT -5
"Lock box 28; right here" the teller said as he came to the box in question. They took it out and proceeded to look through it.
"Looks like there's a fair deal of stuff in here; where do we start?" Conrad asked.
......
"So what did you two find out?" Johnson asked.
"Well the L.C. on the gun is a Mr. Lawrence Cook, which means he either owns the gun and had it stolen, or he is the killer" Poirot explained.
"Check the address book again" Johnson said.
They looked through the book in question... and low and behold, there was an address and phone number for a Mr. Lawrence Cook.
"Should we give him a call?" Hastings asked.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 15, 2016 21:59:48 GMT -5
"No" Poirot replied.
"Why not?" Hastings asked.
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Post by Tug on Jun 15, 2016 22:00:54 GMT -5
"I think it might be a better idea to meet him in person... unannounced..." said Poirot
"Alright, I'll go with Poirot and check out his address, you tw ostay here and wait for Gunnarson and Conrad to return..." said Johnson as the others agreed and he and Poirot left the crime scene...
.....
"Probably with anything that looks suspicious like this..." said Gunnarson as he pointed towards...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 22:05:20 GMT -5
Johnson agreed to keep an eye on the scene, and anything of interest would be saved if found. Poirot and Hastings made their way to Mr. Cook's address.
......
Gunnarson pointed towards another little metal soldier... just like the one from the brick.
"another one?" A confused Conrad asked.
"There seems to be a pattern here" Gunnarson observed.
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Post by Tug on Jun 15, 2016 22:19:11 GMT -5
"Could these soldiers be apart of some sort of war game, or even just for display? We might want to check out a few toy shops later... Anyways, let's shift through the rest of this..." said Gunnarson as the duo continued to search the box
Gunnarson soon stopped his eyes on pieces of paper that looked strangely familiar...
"Hey do they have some sort of code on them?" asked Conrad
"Wait... I've seen this code before... It was on the papers in the Farley Case!" shouted Gunnarson
"Wait you mean the one with the Assassin... I heard you and Gent cracked that code, so what do these papers say then?" asked Conrad
"They say..."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 15, 2016 22:30:14 GMT -5
"Alpha- the valuables are mine; epsilon had to be killed, but the safe was opened and we have what we were looking for. Meet me at 2000 at 30 Caldwell Street, then we can cash them in. -Delta
"Assuming Epsilon is Edwards... this note was left by "delta" to alert "alpha" that he stolen the goods... but he did not intend to kill Edwards" Gunnarson concluded.
"So delta is the burglar and murderer, and alpha is the accomplice"
"correct. So what do we do?" Conrad asked.
Just then, an man walked in with a different teller from before "Yes, box 38 should be right over here and... wait a minute, do you know them?" He asked.
"Halt! You're under arrest!" Conrad said. "Alpha" ran out the door as Gunnarson and Conrad gave chase.
......
Poirot and Hastings came to the address of Mr. Cook and knocked on the door.
"Hello? Hello, Mr. Cook? We would like to have a world with you" Poirot called. The door opened.
"Yes?" The man asked.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 16, 2016 8:35:32 GMT -5
"Hello, we are from the Westinghouse bullet company, and were wondering if you'd like to order some bullets from us anytime soon. We're making a survey."
"What?" whispered Hastings.
"Trust me, if you want information, don't ask for it outright!"
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2016 10:32:41 GMT -5
"But the gun store..."
"Different circumstances" Poirot clarified. So they asked.
"So sir, do you own a firearm?" Poirot asked.
"Yes." Cook replied.
"Very good. Now, is it a recent purchase, or gave you had it a long time?"
"I've had it a little over a year."
"Do you prefer to keep ammunition on hand, or buy as needed?"
"I keep about 30 rounds on hand for my revolver; .38s are not that big so the rounds are cheap" Cook replied.
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Post by Eyes on Jun 16, 2016 10:42:59 GMT -5
"Could we see the gun? That way we can figure out the best ammunition for it."
"Sure thing." And he should them a plain-looking revolver.
"You don't have anything else, do you?"
"Nope."
"All right, I'm going to be honest with you - I'm a detective, Hercule Poirot."
"THE Hercule Poirot?!"
"Yes."
"Wow! What an honor."
"We need you to come to the gun store. Don't worry, you won't be arrested."
"Sure."
At the gun store....
"No, that's not the Lawrence Cook I sold the gun to."
"I see. What about him?" And Poirot opened a newspaper and showed the man the picture.
"That's the one!" exclaimed the owner. "That's the Lawrence Cook I sold it to!"
"Hmm... this is getting very interesting," said Poirot.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2016 10:49:20 GMT -5
"I'm not sure I understand; are you saying that someone else bought a gun as Cook?" Hastings asked.
"Someone bought a gun in my name?!" A shocked Cook said.
"Yes; they want to mislead us" Poirot observed.
"But who... Is it the third party?" Hastings asked.
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