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Two of the officers arrest Detective Randy White; one was holding him, while the other was putting handcuffs on Mr. White. You see that the whole Investigation department talking, some whispering to each other. You can't quite make out what they are saying, but in this kind of situation you just kinda know what is going on. You look down to see all 7 victims lying on the floor, covered up with blankets. As you start to kneel down to get a closer look at one of the bodies, all of sudden the body got up! "Why didn't you help us!" the body screamed, "Why didn't you catch him sooner?! I wouldn't have died!" said another victim as that body rises. One by one, every victim's body got up, asking you why you couldn't save them, telling you that this could have been prevented. Everything goes black, as the victims got closer and closer to you, you try to get away, but you are surrounded. You start panicking, constantly trying to look for a solution to get away from them.

As the victims got within arm's reach, your eyes open wide! You quickly got up, breathing heavily through your mouth, sweat drops down from your forehead. All you see is that you are in your bed, tv and dresser in front of you, lights are off. After a couple of seconds, you realize that you were just having a nightmare. You look at your alarm clock, "3:45 AM, March 3rd, 2014" glowing bright red. You still can't get over the fact that you have let 7 people die, 7 families torn apart because you couldn't figure out who the murderer was sooner. "Voted number one detective huh?" you muttered to yourself. You know that you won't be able to fall back asleep that easily, so you decide to go for a walk instead.

Before you head out the front door, you are feeling thirsty, so you walk over to the fridge. You see on the top shelf that there is a jug of water, and a carton of milk. "Hmm, what should I have?" you asked yourself. (Choose One)

Water:

You take the jug and pour yourself a glass of cold water, you gulped the entire glass down in seconds. "That was refreshing, no other beverage can beat it".

Milk:

You take the carton and pour yourself a glass of cold milk, you gulped the entire glass down in seconds. "Who knew something so good can come from a cow".

You head out the front door to go for your walk, as you open the door, a blast of chilly wind hits you. "Brrr, it sure is cold. I better go put on a jacket" as you re-enter the house. You walk down a couple of blocks, you noticed that the streets are much empty, streetlights are on, and the moon shining bright. As you continued walking you, you hear a woman scream. You started running towards the direction of the scream, you noticed that in one of the alleyway, there is someone on the floor, not moving. You slowly approached the person on the floor, while getting ready to right back if someone suddenly appears. When you reached the body, you knee down to get a closer look. You see a young woman, between the ages of 19-23, blonde, around 5' 7", wearing jeans, brown boots, fancy dark blue buttoned shirt.

You look around the small alleyway, the place is dirty, and filled with trash. In the corner, you noticed that there is a rat chewing away at some garbage. You see that the woman was stabbed 4 times in the chest area, you put your hand on her body, the body is still warm. Just when you were about to call for help, you hear sirens. All of a sudden, you see bright lights shining towards you in the alleyway, lighting up every dark corner. several police officers got out of the car, with guns pointed right at you. "Put your hands up!" shouted one of the officers, you then remembered that you did not bring your ID badge with you nor any identification. You tried telling them who you are, but they didn't listen, and none of the officers look familiar to you. The officers handcuffed you and pushed you inside the back of the car, taking you to the police department and threw you behind bars.

Several hours passed, then you see one of the officers let you out. They apologized for not recognizing you, and explained that they are new recruits and have been placed on the night shift duty. You looked at the officer and said: (Choose One)

Passive:

"Don't worry about it, it was an honest mistake. Can you possibly drive me back home so I can get my badge?"

Aggressive:

"You better be sorry! I was in here for hours! Now take home so I can get my badge and continue my work."

"Certainly, and again I apologize for my mistake. It won't happen again" said the officer. You got your badge and head straight to the crime scene. As you arrive, you noticed that the crime scene was already swarming with police and detectives. You cross over the yellow police line, and went into the alleyway. You noticed there are 3 small yellow cones around, you walk over and examine the clues beside the yellow cones. (Choose Two)

Clue 1:

Beside the cone, you noticed that there are only a few blood drops on the ground. You got one of the forensic scientist to come over and take samples back to the lab for analysis.

Clue 2:

At first you did not notice anything beside the cone, but then you saw a couple stands of hair. Most of the hairs were blonde color, while one of them is brown/brunette. You got the forensic scientists to come over and put the hairs in a bag.

Clue 3:

You noticed partial shoe prints on the ground made out of blood, from the partial shoe prints, you were able to tell that the first print was in the direction of the alleyway, while the second print was in the direction facing away from the alleyway. The prints were right on top of each other.

As you were about to examine the last clue by the last yellow cone, a bunch of rats came out of the corner of the alleyway and started running around, eating garbage, and destroying the last piece of evidence. Both police officers and detectives ran out of the alleyway as quickly as possible, you knew that the last piece of evidence is now gone. You noticed that the alleyway was right beside an apartment building, so you decide to enter the building to ask if anyone had heard anything that night.

Several hours passed, and You went to almost every unit in the building, no one has seemed to have seen or hear anything. The only clue you have gotten was from a residence on the 2nd floor, the old lady claimed to have hear something along the lines of "I'm tired, I don't want to argue with you as well!" that might have came from the floor above, but she said that her hearing isn't as good as it used to be. Just when you were about to leave, you noticed a young red haired woman about 5' 5" enter through the front door, and enter unit #1. You stop her before she could close the door, "Excuse me, do you live here?" you asked, "Yes I do, I live here with a roommate. We go to school together" she replied. You describe the victim to the young woman, "OMG, that's my roommate, Sarah. She hasn't came home since yesterday evening". You asked if you could interview her, she agreed and let you in her unit.

"Me and her have been friends since like forever, we went to the same high school together and now the same college. We are like bff's" she said, you proceeded to ask her what she was doing, and the last time she has seen Sarah. "I had class in the morning and got home around noon time, I was at home since. Sarah came home around 4-ish, got ready and then left her house to go to her boyfriends place. I haven't seen her since she left". You asked about Sarah, "She's very popular, liked by everyone, male and female. Smart, strong, funny, beautiful, great personality, fun to be around, she had everything going for her". You asked if you could look around,"Please go right on ahead, but I can't believe she's dead now" she said in a sad tone.

you looked around each room. The living room had a 42" tv, with two couches, and a coffee table in the middle. there was dirty dishes, mugs, and a lot of magazines on the coffee table. The kitchen had a stove, fridge, kitchen table, and sink. The counter had pots, pans, utensils, bowls, dishes, and food just lying around. You enter the bathroom, the bathroom is shared between the two so it was a complete mess. you see the usual tooth paste, tooth brush, hair dryer, and towel. You also see a lot of make up, brushes, hair ties, hair dyes, hair curler, perfume, clothes, underwear, accessories, and other items scattered everywhere. You enter one of the bedroom. (Choose One)

Roommate's Room:

You enter the roommate's room, you noticed that it is messy, you see a bed, table, dresser, and clothes everywhere. On the wall you can see many pictures of her friend Sarah, and family members. One of the family pictures is her and her parents outside in the winter time. She was wearing thick winter jacket with hat and hood. Mom was also wearing thick jacket, brunette, green eyes, very beautiful. The father is wearing just a sweater, brown hair, brown eyes.

Sarah's Room:

You enter Sarah's room, you see a bed, table, dresser, and clothes everywhere. She had many pictures taped to the wall, some pictures was of her and her boyfriend, Some pictures were of her and her family and some are her and her friends. You noticed that the boyfriend is tall, nice build, brown hair, blue eyes. the mom and dad both had blonde hair, dad taller than the mom, Sarah taller than the mom but shorter than the dad. In one of the pictures, it is Sarah in between two other friends, the two other friends were turned around, both shorter than Sarah. The one of the left had brown/brunette hair, while the one to the right was a bigger female with blonde hair.

You asked her where Sarah's boyfriend lived, she told you the address and you drove there. You drive about 30 to 45 mins until you arrive at the boyfriend's place, you ring the door bell. Someone opens the door, "Can I help you?" the boyfriend said. You tell him that you are a detective and about the news of his girlfriend, "What?! I just saw her last night, how can that be?" the surprised boyfriend said. He lets you enter his place, you ask him where he was and what he was doing the night of the murder. "I had class in the morning till around 3-ish, i came home, and texted Sarah to come over to hang. After she arrived, we were watching tv and made dinner". "What else, that can't be all that happened" you said, "Well, we got into an argument. It was a pretty bad one too".

You asked if you could look around the place, he nodded. You look around the living room, you see a 42" tv, stereo, gaming console, leather couch, coffee table. The table had a few things on it, but it was certainly cleaner than the other place. You enter the washroom, you noticed a tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, hair dryer, gel, shaver, shampoo, soap, and towel. The kitchen had food and dirty dishes everywhere, probably from the dinner he and sarah had the other night. The kitchen had a stove, fridge, sink, dinner table, and a garbage can. On the counter table, you noticed that there is a knife holder, with a couple of knives missing. You enter his room, you see a bed, table, dresser, closet, clothes everywhere, a couple of adult magazines here and there. You then asked the boyfriend what happened after they had the fight, "I don't know, we had the fight and then she left in anger. I assumed she went back home, I haven't talked to her or tried to contact her since the fight".

Just when you were about to leave, the boyfriend turns around and said "Try investigating someone named Simon G, he is Sarah's ex-boyfriend". You head back to the police station and asked them to help you find Simon G, "Come back tomorrow, and we will have the results back for you" said one of the officers. You head back home to get some rest, you start pondering about the case, thinking how weird this case is. As you were coming on to something, you fell asleep due to the lack of sleep you had the other night. In the morning you head over to the police department, one of the officers gave you the address of where Simon lives, you took no time getting there. When you arrive, you see a man exercising on the front lawn. He has no shirt on, shorts, shoes, boxing gloves, brown hair, muscular. You went up to the man asking if he is Simon, "Yeah, that's me" he said trying to act all tough.

You tell him about the news of Sarah, "Sarah's dead?! how? when?" he said. You asked if you may enter his house, he hesitated at first, but eventually lets you in. As you enter, you notice that he has a huge trophy case with many trophies. You walk over to see that he has trophies and medals for football, rugby, hockey, lacrosse, boxing, muay thai, and many other sports. "You like my trophy case? Got it custom made the way I like it, it was a hefty price" he said with excitement and pride in his voice. You asked him where he was and what he was doing on the night of the murder, "I was home alone, just working out, watching some tv, and all that. I didn't commit any murder if that is what you are thinking" he replied. "May I take a look around?" you asked him, he paused for a couple of seconds, "Sure, but don't go making a mess!" he replied. (Choose Two)

Bedroom:

You enter the bedroom, it is dark because he has the blinds closed completely. You see that the bed is a mess, there are pills scattered on the floor, protein powder on the night stand, empty crushed energy drinks on the floor, table, and bed. On the floor somewhat hiding under the bed, you see a ripped picture. you pick it up, it seems to be a picture of him and a woman, you can't make out who the woman is because it has been torn in half-ish. All you can tell is that the woman had blonde hair, and that she is shorter than Simon.

Kitchen:

You see that the kitchen is clean, not messy, no dirty dishes, nothing out of place. This seemed suspicious to you, but you can't seem to find anything wrong from this kitchen.

Washroom:

Washroom is a mess, and dirty. There are work out weights on the floor, energy drinks here and there, two full bags of trash beside a already full trash bin. Near the sink, you noticed that there are some brown strands of hair, but you didn't think much of it.

Basement:

You head down to the basement, when you get to the bottom you see that the basement has been transformed into a work out room. you see cardio machines, weights, chin up bar, bench, stereo, and mats on the floor. There are empty energy drinks on the floor, a bottle of pills on the table, and protein bars on the bench.

Before you can enter into the next room, Simon stops you, and tells you that there is nothing in his house, and tells you to leave. You can see clearly tell that he will take no as an answer, so you leave the house. He closes the door, as you think to yourself how strange this man is. You head back to the forensics lab to see if they have any results back from the clues you picked up on the night of the murder.

"Yes, the results have came back, you are actually just in time. The results came back not too long ago" one of the forensic scientist said. "Ok, so here are the results". (Choose The Same Two Clues You Chose Earlier At The Crime Scene)

Clue 1:

So the DNA has come back from the blood sample, the DNA seems to point towards Sarah. All the blood drops seems to be from her.

Clue 2:

There were no roots attached to any of the hair strands, so we could not tell who the hair strand came from. All we know is that it is blonde and brown/brunette hair.

Clue 3:

We did some analysis on the shoe prints. The blood that made both shoe prints are from Sarah, but there is something weird about the prints. What we found is that the print that was pointing towards the alleyway was dry, and the prints heading out was not as dry. The prints heading out was on top of the prints that were heading in to the alleyway.

You ponder about the clues, then it hit you. You know who the murderer is!

Who is the murderer?

Answer is posted under the Answer section.

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    $\begingroup$ Players Choice: Don't worry about choosing the right path or not, i made sure that no matter which path is chosen, there is enough information for find the murderer. Also, when posting answers, please let other users know which path you have chosen, and in the yellow hidden answer box, state your answer. Thankyou $\endgroup$ Nov 14, 2014 at 19:29
  • $\begingroup$ Try not to cheat and spoil it for others $\endgroup$ Nov 14, 2014 at 19:30
  • $\begingroup$ So are we going to have to wait another week for the solution again this time? $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ @generalcrispy Answer has been posted $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 14:05
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    $\begingroup$ Awesome. Nice explanation. $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 15:29

4 Answers 4

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Wadsworth Constant for this question applies, y'all.

I immediately suspect

the roommate.

Here's my reasoning.

Sarah's boyfriend corroborates where both he and Sarah's roommate were when they last saw the victim. (Sarah left her place around 4, around the same time boyfriend got back home and texted her to come over.)

Simon's apartment was a mess except for the kitchen, where one would keep the murder weapon... for some reason, in pristine condition, but full bags of trash could have indicated that he probably doesn't cook much.

At first, it would seem like Sarah's boyfriend would have a motive with the fight, but he wouldn't admit it directly to a detective investigating her murder without knowing it would arouse suspicion. One can tell from the objects found in his apartment what the fight could have entailed, but this is never brought up.

However, I think there is something to be said about the roommate's hair color. Redhead. This doesn't make much sense; redheadedness is a recessive gene, and is unlikely when both your parents have brown hair. Furthermore, the stray hair at the scene is incredibly suspicious, along with the long hair in the washroom... which makes me think that the roommate and Simon are in cahoots. Also, there are no other footprints at the scene aside from the victim's, and in an odd configuration at that. Given the scene of the crime's proximity to the apartment building, she seems the most likely suspect... and probably under the motivation of Simon.

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    $\begingroup$ You have the correct answer, also you have given a lot of information, thus giving you the accepted answer. $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 14:09
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    $\begingroup$ This answer made me look up the Wadsworth Constant. I wasn't disappointed. $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 14:17
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    $\begingroup$ Also, @DemonicBirdFlu, I just started playing a board game called Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. You'd like it, and it might serve as good inspiration for future mysteries. $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 16:43
  • $\begingroup$ @generalcrispy Thanks for the recommendations $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 16:47
  • $\begingroup$ I don't understand the answer. How do you know it is the roommate and not some other person with brown hair? $\endgroup$ Aug 11, 2015 at 9:35
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ANSWER

The Murderer is the roommate.

1) when you opened the door, a blast of cold air hit you, so you went to grab your jacket. This means that it is really cold outside, if that is the case, Sarah, the victim, would have been wearing a jacket/coat. Thus, sarah has been killed inside then brought to the alleyway after.

2) You hear a woman scream, this could have been either sarah or the roommate as that you don't know, thus excluding the boyfriend and the ex-boyfriend. The reason for the scream would be either for sarah about to be murdered and screamed, or that the roommate saw the mouse and screamed. The actual reason is after the roommate brought sarah to the alleyway, she saw the rat and screamed.

3) when you found the body, it was still warm, thus stating that she has been killed not too long ago. Thus again excluding the boyfriend because he lived 45 mins away. This also points towards the roommate, because of how close the alleyway and the unit is, as well as the reason why sarah was not wearing a jacket, she was inside her house/unit.

4) Clue 1: only a couple of blood drops have been found, and not a pool of blood. This means that sarah was killed somewhere else then brought to the alleyway, and the lack of spilled blood means that sometime has passed for the blood to dry and stop bleeding but not long enough to comlpetely stop the blood from dripping.

5) Clue 2: finding the blonde and brunette hair really helped, if you were paying attention, in the bathroom of sarah and the roommate, hair dye was mentioned. when you met the roommate, she has red hair. But if you enter sarahs room, you can notice that one of the picture is the roommates back and she has brunette/brown hair, since it did mention that sarah is taller than the roommate. If you enter the roommates room, you can see that the picture of her and her immediate family, both her parents have brunette/brown hair, thus a very great chance of the roommate having the same color hair.

6) Clue 3: When the roommate killed sarah, she stepped in some of her blood, as she walked into the alleyway with her body, it made the foot print heading in, the intense cold air would freeze/dry the blood quickly, and when the roommate came back out, it made the foot print on top of the dry prints that pointed in. Thus again excluding the boyfriend, since he lives 45 mins away, the blood would have dried long time ago or be wiped off.

7) when the old lady told you that she heared something the lines of "I'm tired, i don't want to argue with you as well!", it was indeed sarah talking to the roommate, that statement proved to be sarah because earlier sarah and the boyfriend had a fight, sarah decided to head back home, and then had an arguement with the roommate, thus stating her saying "i don't want to argue with you as well".

8) when you asked the roommate to describe sarah, she kinda went on a rant there, implying that she might be a bit jealous of her and her popularity, and being treated like a sidekick, thus giving her a possible motive.

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    $\begingroup$ Fantastic job on this one, @DemonicBirdFlu! I really enjoyed this mystery. You clearly learned from the last one you posted. I hope to see lots more from you in the future!! $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 15:28
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I chose Clues 1 and 3, Sarah's room, and the kitchen and basement at Simon's house. Also, milk and a passive response. =D

I suspect:

Sarah's roommate

My reasoning:

The woman upstairs heard someone say "I'm tired; I don't want to argue with you as well." Assuming that was Sarah, it seems when she came home her roommate must have tried to argue with her. But her roommate specifically said she hadn't seen her since she left for her boyfriends house, and that would be a lie. Also, I think the second footprint, the one leaving the alleyway was probably the detective's!

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks @DemonicBirdFlu. Fun puzzle! I really like all the details you put in, and that some of the details that seem irrelevant are actually key clues. I hope you keep making them also. $\endgroup$ Nov 17, 2014 at 22:12
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I chose the clues #2 and #3 at the crime scene, Sarah's room, and the kitchen and the washroom at Simon's house.

My guess:

Sara's boyfriend

My reasoning:

Before the murder, Sara and her boyfriend had a fight. Though it may seem too obvious, I think that whatever this fight was about, caused the boyfriend to kill her. Knives were missing from his kitchen and the boyfriend has brown hair. Also, he suggested that the detective investigates Simon G. Also, he didn't try to call Sarah and apologize. Most guys would, even if they are right, call the girl or at least text her after a fight. I don't think it's Simon because, even though he seems like a jerk, it doesn't seem like he would have any reason to kill Sarah I think that the clues at his place are pointless. I don't really think we need any of the clues, and the boyfriend's house is the only place we don't get them.

While everyone is thinking outside the box, I'm gonna think inside the box and take the obvious clues.

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