LM12: The Singular Case of the Woman with the Red Jewels

[Eyes]

"And that's where you're wrong!" said Marlena. "One other person did see Gerald Knots that night, only it wasn't at a bar, and it wasn't here at the house." Marlena went to a door in the room and opened it. In walked a bedraggled young man of about 25 years of age. At the sight of this new person, Knots leaped o his feet.

"Tom Watts! You're selling me out!! BASTARD!!!"

[frankthetriviaman]

"What the bloody hell? Marlena Gent, you'd better explain yourself right now!" Detective Byrne stated.

"Ok, ok. This is Tom Watts, and his significance is..."

[Eyes]

"I think I can tell it myself," said Watts. "I'm a cocaine addict, and Gerald Knots over there is my supplier. On the night in question, he was with me. I was making a purchase. He was making a profit. He didn't kill Mrs. Murples, unless he's a guy who can be in two places at once."

"And given Knots's earlier exclamation I believe we have all the proof we need," said Marlena.

"It seems so," said Byrne. "I have only one question - how did you find Watts?"

[frankthetriviaman]

"Before coming here I asked around if anyone could determine where any of these six suspects were at the time of the murder- he was the only one who could confirm the location of one of the six suspects" Marlena explained.

"Ok, but the other five have alibis... so since you can't prove anything, it would seem that I have no choice but to wait for the lab to get back to me with the fingerprints that were found on the hatchet. Three nice and clear ones also; doesn't happen often, but it should yield good results" Byrne explained.

"But if the others have solid alibis then who is the murderer?" One of the officers asked.

[Eyes]

"I already told you, didn't I? The murderer is Simon Goodrop!"

"But how? What about the alibi?"

"There have been many other alibis that were a lot stronger, and yet broke just as well as ones that were clearly shams. There's a simple explanation on how the reverend's alibi was fake, and that is..."

[frankthetriviaman]

"...only going to take a couple minutes to explain. You see, Goodrop..." Marlena began.

"Could NOT have committed the murder because I was in bed, as backed up by both Hammond and our groundskeeper!" Goodrop snapped.

"I'm sorry Ms. Gent, but I have to vouch for him; he was with me that night; he actually fell asleep before me; I got caught up in a book and didn't go to sleep until an hour after he did" Hammond explained.

"Marlena, this is your only warning- if you cannot provide evidence to prove what you are suggesting, I am ending this charade before it drags on any further" Byrne said sternly.

[Eyes]

Suddenly a policeman bolted into the house. "Detective Byrne, sir!" he said.

"What the devil-"

"Gent wanted you to be informed..."

"About what?"

"Next door... old lady... hatchet murder..."

Byrne was out the door and in the neighbor's yard before the other policeman (Hotchkins) could catch his breath. In the meantime, the room became pandemonium, and in the muddle, Goodrop, Knots, and Wilma all managed to slip out before Marlena had a chance to wrap her mind around it.

[frankthetriviaman]

Knots did not get far though; as he was someone already in Police custody he was handcuffed the whole time, and wound up getting stuck at the gate, unable to open it. One constable had him restrained before he could get away.

Wilma tried to get away in her car. Unfortunately for her, it failed to start and she found herself just sitting there, trying to get the engine to go. Two constables came up to her and she was forced to surrender.

Marlena came outside, wondering just what was going on. She managed to see Goodrop slip away... only to stop outside the gate of the house and look on, shocked. Marlena ran up to him. "Reverend, what are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"The pandemonium of that room reminded me of the bombing raids during the war. It brought back dreaded memories of a time I would rather forget. I... I had to get out of there, I did not want to be reminded again of that awful time" the Reverend said.

"You mean you didn't just try and get away because you're the killer trying to escape arrest?" Marlena asked, confused.

"Of course not! I couldn't have killed her, there's two people who can vouch for my alibi, remember?" Goodrop explained as the police and detective Byrne finally regained control of the situation.

"All right, now that everything is under control, I want to know exactly what is going on right now" Detective Byrne asked.

Hotchkins came up, "It's very simple sir, you see..."

[Eyes]

"The woman who lives here has been murdered in an instance that seems suspiciously similar to the other murder. Going by the doctor's estimate, the body has been dead for about 8 hours."

"I see," said Byrne.

Meanwhile at Murples's, Marlena was trying to...

[frankthetriviaman]

Get everyone back together and to calm down. It was about 15 minutes before everything finally settled.

"All right, so who are we taking into custody then?" The sergeant asked.

"Knots, on account of the drugs, and Wilma, on account of the stolen Jewels" Marlena explained.

"Ok, then what about the murder?" The sergeant asked.

"Don't say it was me! I already told you my alibi" Goodrop fumed.

......

Byrne was looking over the body in the yard. In the distance was a bloody hatchet, and a couple shoeprints in the nearby yard.

"all right, cast those shoe prints and make sure that ax is preserved; given the separate murder weapons no doubt we are looking at two separate cases. I'm calling Gent; we're going to need another detective to tackle this case while I work on the Murples case" Byrne explained as he went to make a phone call.

[frankthetriviaman]

With Chief Gent updated on the situation, another detective was sent in to deal with this case. As for Byrne and the Murples case, things were wrapping up rather well. Byrne had called the lab and had news to share.

"The fingerprints analysis is complete. Based on the examination of the ax, which mind you was the murder weapon... Mr. Knots, they were your fingerprints. You are under arrest for the murder of Mary Murples" Detective Byrne declared.

"What? But the sale..." Watt said.

"Tell me... what time did you meet with Knots?" Byrne asked.

"About 9:30 at night" Watts answered.

"And how long did you meet with him for?" Byrne followed with.

"About five minutes" Watt replied.

"... leaving plenty of time for Knots to commit the murder; no alibi after all" Byrne noted.

Marlena was dumbfounded. "But... but I could have sworn it was Goodrop" she said.

"There's two people who can vouch for me and you are still pursuing that?" Goodrop asked, annoyed.

[Eyes]

"Of course if the people were lying..."

"Oh please!" said Goodrop. "Besides, my back isn't that great. She was killed in a chair and subsequently dragged over to the living room, right? I couldn't do that, let alone swing an axe."

"Oh is that how it happened?" asked Marlena to Byrne.

"Marlena," said Byrne with a confused look on his face. "We made sure to keep most of the reporters away, and those we kept were never filled in on the details of the death. Yes, the body was killed in a chair and dragged over into the living room... but no one outside of the police force could have known that."

As realization dawned upon Goodrop how he had made such a dreadful mistake, Byrne summed it up.

"Marlena... you were right..."

And suddenly they heard a bang.

[frankthetriviaman]

They looked out the window. They saw that one of the patrol car's engine's had misfired. Smoke was coming from the hood.

"What the heck?!" Byrne called out.

"Sorry sir; not entirely sure what happened. We're going to call a mechanic down here right away" the officer explained.

Byrne turned his attention back to the people in the room. "Now then, it would seem that..."

"Wait a minute! Even if my guess was lucky that's still just a theory. There is only one solid piece of evidence here, and you yourself said that the ax had Knots fingerprints on it!" Goodrop fumed.

"Well, maybe Goodrop wore gloves..." Marlena began.

"It doesn't work that way. If Goodrop wore gloves. The fingerprints already on the ax would have been smeared and damaged. But these were sharp and clear, and there were three of them, mind you."

"Then I couldn't have done it; my fingerprints are not on the blade" Goodrop said.

Byrne then concluded, "I'm sorry Marlena, but the evidence is clear- the only fingerprints that were present were Knots' so he will have to be taken in" Byrne explained.

"But... but that explanation" Marlena pointed out.

"Yes, it is suspicious, but that doesn't change the fact that physical evidence links Knots to the crime and Goodrop has an alibi" Byrne explained:

"Am I free to return to my church then?" Goodrop asked.

[Eyes]

"No!" said a voice from the back of the room. All eyes turned and stared at the man who had entered.

It was Gent.

"Dad?" Marlena said, puzzled by his appearance.

"I arrest Simon Goodrop, or should I say Hermann Meltzinger, for high treason and murder."

"What?!" shouted Goodrop. "What the devil are you talking abou-HEY!!"

Two police officers clapped handcuffs on his hands and led him away.

"Gent, sir!" said Byrne, surprised. "What is going on?!"

"Simple really. You sent me pictures of the suspects involved in this case, and the one of the reverend jogged my memory. Hermann Meltzinger was born in England but had a heavy German ancestry. He became a secret agent for the Germans during the war. Murples was the agent we put on his trail to take him down. It was brilliant really, who would suspect a spinster like her? He eventually did find out, and rather than possibly lose his skin. We lost all trace of him until today."

"But what of the alibi?"

"Oh yes, the people who lied for him were his partners in treason. You can take them away too."

"But why not tell me? And aren't you retired from the field?"

"The reason I didn't tell you earlier was because I only got confirmation this morning from West Germany. His fingerprints and picture matched. As to the latter, this was a personal case for me, I used to know Murples when I was younger. Plus there was my daughter..."

"And the second murder?" asked Byrne.

"Was intended to confuse the police. It didn't work however. Now then, haul them away, I'd like a chat with my daughter."

The two of them entered the bedroom where the jewels had disappeared from. Gent spoke first, "Marlena, you still have a lot to learn about the art of detection, it seems. Intuition and instinct aren't the best things to use when trying to solve a crime. Proof is also needed."

"But I did have proof!" Marlena insisted. "If that detective fellow had ever let me finish, I would have shown him THIS!" And she held up a...

[frankthetriviaman]

...pair of bloody gloves. "I had found these hidden in the church garden. I wasn't sure at first, but if you'll let me bring these to the murder weapon, I think we can effectively link Goodrop to the murder" Marlena explained.

......

"But Knots' fingerprints are on the axe! How could I have swung that ax to kill her if his fingerprints are on the blade!" "Goodrop" pointed out.

[Eyes]

"There are ways of taking one's fingerprints and putting them on something without the person even touching said thing," said Byrne. "It's actually quite simple really."

"Actually," said Knots, who had been brought into the room, "I think it's my fault. I found my aunt lying dead on the floor, and absent-mindedly picked up the axe, before setting it down again. I was afraid I'd be blamed for the crime, and thus didn't alert anyone."

"Well then, that's an even simpler answer," said Byrne.

[frankthetriviaman]

Wilma, Knots and Goodrop had been brought to jail to be held until their trials could begin. At the same time, Marlena was demonstrating to Gent and Detective Byrne how the gloves fit into the scenario.

"There is blood on both the ax and gloves. But notice how the blood patterns on both abruptly end and become flat. By wearing the gloves as such, and holding the ax like this, I think the picture is clear" Marlena explained. Low and behold, the blood spatter patterns lined up perfectly; a smooth connection between the evidence existed.

"It's a variation of the void pattern sir; it's pretty solid evidence" the analyst explained.

"And if we look here... you'll see Goodrop's name stitched into the seem; they're his gloves" Marlena explained.

"Looks like a solid case here; now we just need to tie him to the second murder and we'll have a solid case there" Byrne explained.

Around that time, Hammond and groundskeeper had been brought in as well on suspected association with "Goodrop" in the treason. "It's a sad day for that parish; after this debacle; I doubt anyone will want to go there anymore" one officer mused.

Marlena still has something on her mind though, "wait Dad... why is it you were willing to go into the field to arrest her... but you wouldn't come looking for me when I was kidnapped?" Marlena asked, confused.

[Eyes]

"In truth, I didn't even know about the kidnapping until after you had been found. I'm sorry if I seemed uncaring."

Regarding the gloves, the insides were also tested for fingerprints, and were found to be those of "Goodrop's". Marlena explained how she found them.

[frankthetriviaman]

PAUSE
Gent did know about the kidnapping, remember? He received the letter and map on page two and ordered the search party to find her.  And then there was the exchange with "I'm surprised you didn't come looking for me" and "you know I'm retired from fieldwork"

UNPAUSE

Marlena did not pick up on her Dad's lie, and simply went on talking about the gloves. "The gloves are made out of an extremely unusual material; quite frankly I'm not even sure what it is. Normally, gloves don't contain fingerprints, But it is quite ridged over here, where you hold it in order to put it on. So you see, over here, if we dust as such, we do have a couple fingerprints" she explained.

[Eyes]

(Oh whoops.)

"How did you find them though?" asked Gent. "The police didn't, what drew you to them?"