NationStates Jolt Archive

This is one I wrote myself. See if you can work out who the murderer is. You can even write an ending if you want, I'm not all that bothered.

A Chance Murder

Just another ordinary day in the life of a police detective. At least that’s what Stan Collins thought as he drove through the gates of the mansion, the home of the latest murder victim in Guilsford. It was soon apparent that this was no ordinary case.
“What have we got?” Collins strolled into the room and was greeted with the sight of a dead man slumped over his desk, surrounded by forensic scientists, taking photographs and dusting for prints. His long-term assistant Peter Clough filled him in.
“John Crawford, successful businessman, murdered at his desk. Looks like he was stabbed in the back several times with a letter opener. Forensics can’t find any prints on it.”
“Any suspects yet?” Collins was anxious to get this over with, so that he could get home and watch the ball game.
“It appears that there are three possible suspects; three clients of Crawford, all came round to settle some business – looks like somebody came to settle him.”
“How about witnesses? Have we got any of those?”
“Do you really think we would have called you if it was that simple? The only other person in the building is the maid, and she’s not allowed in the office whilst Crawford’s in there. S he was on the next floor dusting. We have her on surveillance, and she’s clean.” Collins’ ears pricked up at that.
“Surveillance? If this guy’s got cameras around, can’t we just look at the office tape and see who it is?”
“The office is the only room without a camera – it seems Crawford wanted some privacy in here.”
Typical, Collins thought to himself. “Alright, who are the suspects?”
“We’ve got a Mr. Adam Eaves, a Mr. Frederick Boyle and a Mrs. Polly Innes. All came to clear up some money they owed to our dead friend, so it looks like they all have a motive.”
“Well I’d say this is pretty simple. It’s obvious that the last person to come in and see Crawford was the one who killed him. Case closed.” Collins really did want to watch the ball game.
“Once again, not that simple. You see, nobody knows what order they saw Crawford.”
“What? How could they not know what order they saw him in? They were all here at the same time, weren’t they?”
“They were, but according to the maid, Crawford had a funny way of deciding what order to see clients in. He would put them all in separate rooms, and then roll a die to see which order he would see them in. So if say one or two came up he would see one client, three or four another, and five or six the last client. That way, nobody knows which order they saw him in, because nobody saw anybody else enter the office.”
“Oh for God’s sake, why do they have to make things so difficult for me. Where is this damn die?”
“As of yet we haven’t found it.” At this point one of the forensic scientists called over.
“I think we’ve found our missing die!” Collins and Clough walked over to the desk, where the scientist pointed to Crawford’s left hand. “Under there. Do you want to see it?”
“Sure why not.” If this die has a five on top, I’m going home to watch the game, Collins thought to himself. The scientist lifted the cold white hand and Collins leaned forward to see the top number. There were two dice on the desk, one with a five on top, the other with a one. One and five makes six. Damn luck! Something suddenly clicked in Collins’ mind. He didn’t really here what Clough was saying.
“Well I don’t know how we’re going to solve this one. We tried to use the surveillance footage to see what order they went in, but all the cameras stopped running before the clients got here. Crawford forgot to put new tapes in apparently. I don’t have a clue who did it. Looks like you’re going to miss the last game of the season, Stan.”
“Don’t be so sure Peter. I think we’ve just received a message from beyond the grave, and I’ve got a pretty good idea who our murderer is.”

So, who does Collins think is the murderer, and what is his chain of thought that leads him to this?

Does anybody have any ideas? OK, I'll give you a bit more of the story:

"Remember when you told me that Crawford used a die to decide what client to see first?"
"Yes." Clough couldn't see where this was going.
"Well, if he only used one die, why does he have two under his hand?"

Is that enough for you?

I'm gonna say Boyle planted one die and changed the number on the other.

The Maid. Its always the maid.

I'm going with my gut instinct, which is to choose Ms. Polly Innes...

BTW, this is a very good idea...

Assuming they arrived in the order of Eaves-Boyle-Innes, the message would point towards Boyle.

Crawford rolled one die to decide who he would see. He is found with two. Therefore, this is not a direct message of whodunnit as it is unlikely the killer would have appeared with a die in their possession. It would also be much easier to remove the die then to add another one. Therefore, it is logical the arrangement came from Crawford himself.

Two dice would indicate Crawford had seen two clients - (1) Eaves and (5) Innes. This leaves Boyle unmentioned in the dice roll, which would indicate something special about him.

PS didn't need the hint. Didn't see it until I scrolled back to reread the names. Nice trick though.

Well I like Vastiva's train of thought. The part about it being a message from Crawford is correct, but what is this message? It is something to do with the numbers on the dice. It would be a bit strange to leave a message by numbers though...

Well it was either the Maid, as she has the duster, or he was trying to juggle two dice and a letter opener and had a tragic mishap.

*Bump*

I think it is Adam Eaves as his initials match the numbers on the dice. A = 1 and 5 = E.

Well I like Vastiva's train of thought. The part about it being a message from Crawford is correct, but what is this message? It is something to do with the numbers on the dice. It would be a bit strange to leave a message by numbers though...

Not considering the method by which he chose clients.

The idea of it being "A E" (1 5) is too coincidental. There is no way with the numbers 1 to 6 of making anyone else but Adam Eaves and Fred Boyle the culprit, and these are only chance. Polly could not be excluded or included by the dice.

Again, if he was sending a message, my assumption would be to exclude the client in the 1/2 position (Eaves) and the 5/6 position (Innes), leaving Boyle, who would be in the 3/4 position.

I think it is Adam Eaves as his initials match the numbers on the dice. A = 1 and 5 = E.

By jove, I think he's got it! Just for fun, here's the rest of the story.

"Errr..." Peter was having trouble following Collins here, as usual.
"The reason there are two dice is that Crawford's trying to tell us something, he's trying to tell us who is murderer is."
"But how do dice tell us who is murderer is?"
"Oh God, Peter, you really are dense!" Collins picked up the dice so that the two top numbers, one and five, could be seen. "Look at these numbers. Do you not see anything? Think about it - the first...and the fifth."
"The first and the...aah!" Collins nodded in agreement. "Let's go get our murderer."

An hour or so later, Collins walked into the interrogation room to see Mr. Adam Eaves sitting with his hands clasped together.
"Let's cut the sweet talk Mr. Eaves. You were called in to see Mr. Crawford last. You were under pressure to pay up. You saw an opportunity with the letter opener. Before he could react you grabbed it and stabbed him. Then you panicked - you ran out before checking he was dead. He wasn't. He grabbed two dice, and with his last breath arranged them so that the one and the five were on top - your initials Mr. Eaves!" Eaves was speechless. "Do not try to deny it Mr. Eaves, you have been found out. You'll get life for this. Take him away boys!" Eaves, still speechless, was dragged away by two guards, to rot in prison for eternity. Clough was waiting for Collins outside. Before he could get a word in, Collins pushed him aside.
"Don't talk to me Peter. I've got a ball game to catch."

So there you have it. Wasn't that fun. Well done to Gehenna Tatarus and whoever else got it. Everybody else, don't be too distraught. This was quite difficult. Basically I'm going to do these so that what seems a useless piece of information is really a very important clue, so you have to be extra vigilant. I have a sequel already lined up, so if this was good for you, have a look at my next short mystery, which I call 'Rest In Peace'.

*notes that even I could get him off at trial based on that evidence*

;)

*notes that even I could get him off at trial based on that evidence*

;)

That's justice for you, isn't it?