The Science of Deduction, Friday - 9/10

[3patchproblem.livejournal.com]

Today, the class was left a note to meet in the Danger shop instead of the normal classroom. Because someone had been given the chance to recreate a crime scene for the students without all those pesky little details about child endangerment and contaminating evidence.

The room was empty save for a woman in an alarming shade of pink from head to toe. She lay prone, face down and unmoving on the floor.

"One of my more recent cases," Sherlock said in lieu of greeting the class. "Suicide. In a manner of speaking. Like this woman, three others before her had gone to a place they had no known reason to be and taken the exact same poison. No signs of force, they've clearly taken the pill, chewed and swallowed it all on their own. Serial suicides according to the police."

He stepped around the body with the care of someone accustomed to crime scenes. "Unlike the previous three, this one has left a note scratched into the floor as she died. R-A-C-H-E was carved into the wood with her fingernails." One might take note at the chipped, worn down appearance of what had once been perfectly manicured nails on the hand next to the letters.

"Your task is to pair off and ascertain as much about the scene as you can manage," Sherlock informed them, pulling out his phone to check it for messages. "And for anyone who may have discovered my colleague's blog, you will need to explain your reasoning for each step. Doctor Watson left a number of the important details out in his attempt to make it more--" He sighed. "--romantic."

Comments

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"They're - they're rather cracked, actually," he observed, leaning forward as much as he dared without risking actually touching the body. "As if they were ground into the floor."

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Could have been seizures from the poison, or..." Scully shuffled forward, and frowned when she found the scratched-in note on the left side. "R.A.C.H.E. Okay. That's.. disturbing." Death-bed messages always were. "That had to take a while. The killer must have left her here to die." She shivered, then re-focused. "Wedding ring. Very expensive, like her clothes." She looked around the ugly room again and wondered, "Did she come here to meet someone? Or did the killer bring her here...?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley looked around. "She seems... she seems rather the sort not to willingly associate with those who would live in these conditions," he ventured. "Given the expensive nature of her clothes and jewelry, it seems more likely that she was brought here for some reason." He glanced up at Scully, hoping for confirmation one way or the other.

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"She met the killer somewhere else, then. I think you're right, she must have been compelled to come here. She wouldn't be discovered soon, and they wouldn't be interrupted. Where, though?" Scully looked around, then frowned. "No purse?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Is it possible that the killer met her at her home?" he guessed. "He or she might have broken in and simply kidnapped her..."

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"She's wearing an overcoat, though. She could have put that on if she were held at gunpoint, I suppose, to disguise the killer's intentions if they were leaving her house or apartment, just two people going out somewhere together, but..." She stopped to crawl down and examine the woman's shoes, and pointed. "There's no way she walked very far in these. And her coat's damp." She frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose and trying to think it all through coherently.

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley ventured, "Perhaps she was just heading out? Which suggests that the killer was familiar with her schedule, and knew when she would be leaving?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"That seems more likely," Scully agreed, then frowned. "Let's look through her pockets. If she has a wallet, then she may not have had a purse, but if there's no ID, then either the killer took it with him or her, or... well, I suppose someone could have stolen it before the body was reported." She looked at the message again as she started searching the woman's left-hand pockets. "Rachel? Any other word you can think of that would start R-A-C-H-E?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"None that I can think of," he mused. "Perhaps we might consult a dictionary? Although - if she was writing Rachel, and that was the name of the killer, doesn't it seem likely that the killer would have covered it up somehow to protect herself?"

He pointedly did not check the victim's pocket. He wasn't that brave yet.

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"So it must have another meaning. Her own name, to identify her?" Scully frowned, not finding anything in the woman's pockets, and sat back on her heels, then raised another pointed eyebrow at Wesley. She didn't say anything - yet - but continued, "Although it's a lot of work to scratch in your own name, if there was any chance you thought you'd be missed. She's definitely dressed like someone who would have a missing person's report filed on them, especially if her husband is still alive."

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"That seems rather impractical," Wesley said, thinking it over. "Unless - well, she's face-down, but perhaps her face is mutilated to the point that she couldn't be recognized. Though that raises the point that if she were that badly beaten, it's doubtful she would exert the energy to carve in her own name. So perhaps Rachel is someone else - not her, not the killer, but someone intended to lead us to the killer?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"That would make more sense," Scully said, pointing to him. "Okay, help me turn her over. We should double-check that the killer isn't the kind to leave taunting clues as well. Grab her shoulders, please?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh, yuck. Why'd he have to say that when he knew it would just end with him having to touch the corpse?

Cringing, he took the woman's shoulders and helped to turn her over. He needed some hand sanitizer. Yuck.

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

He was wearing gloves! And the fake-body wasn't even fake-oozing!

Scully rolled her eyes, then brushed the hair off the woman's face, checking her skull for signs of damage, and saying in a detached voice, "No signs of head trauma, no bruises or contusions; also no signs of injection around the skull or neck... further examination recommended, though."

Okay. Stop talking like you're speaking into a recorder for an autopsy, Scully. She shook herself. "No signs of any out-of-the-ordinary markings. Anything you would look for, as a Watcher?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Bite marks?" he suggested hesitantly. "Though there don't seem to be any of those, nor would I expect there to be. Also - well - pus, but it seems quite unlikely that there is any of that either. Really my expertise tends more toward the supernatural, and as far as I can tell, this murder seems to have been quite - well - natural." Not the best word choice, but whatever.

"Given that she appears to be quite recognizable, it seems distinctly less likely that she was writing her own name," Wesley mused. "I suppose she might have been writing the killer's name, perhaps, if the killer had left already..."

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"No bitemarks or pus. Check." Scully noted the possibility of pus in future supernatural deaths (interesting!) and then settled back down, frowning harder. "Possible. And yet..." She shook her head. "Something to look up, I suppose. To see if she knew anyone named Rachel, once we've identified her. Also, how she got here. If she didn't walk-- and this doesn't look like somewhere she'd walk to-- then it was either bus, car, or maybe taxi. Someone might have seen her arrive here, with or without the killer. More work for the beat cops, following up on that." She grimaced, staring at the body. "We might be missing something besides a purse."

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Well - the appeal of taking the victim's purse would be twofold, yes?" Wes reasoned, trying to work it out. "First, obviously, concealing her identity. Which suggests that the killer knew he or she could be connected to the victim, perhaps because they were known friends or rivals or something to that effect. But also, based on the woman's clothing and jewelry, it's likely that her purse was very expensive, and perhaps she was carrying quite a bit of money in it as well. Credit cards. So perhaps the killer may have taken something else of value?"

Damn. That was some good reasoning right there. He was pretty proud of that.

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

It was, actually, and Wesley got a pleased smile for it. "Also possibly memorable. Given how expensive everything she's wearing is. They might have taken the cards and money... although I'd think they'd take her wedding ring too. Unless they couldn't get it off?" Scully frowned, and lifted the woman's hand, trying to slide the ring off; it came off easily, then went back on. "No, that's not why. Well, maybe the killer realized it could be traced more easily than money from stolen cards?" Hmm. "More checks for her credit cards once she's identified. And maybe a look out for an expensive stolen bag." She looked down at the woman, and dryly added, "Odds on it being pink?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wes gave a tiny smile at that. "Most likely, yes," he laughed. "Perhaps there was something in her bag," he ventured cautiously. "Something valuable enough that would make the wedding ring negligible by comparison. And that might have been the incentive for the murder?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"That might be part of it, or why they kept it. A netbook or PDA; something along those lines. Easier to transport and go through a purse and a computer somewhere else." Scully tilted her head. "Assuming he was telling the truth about the other three poisonings though, it's more likely a serial killer. A theft may be covering their tracks."

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Given that he was from 1999, Wes had no freaking clue what a netbook was. "Er. Netbook?" he repeated. "And - " he was a bit amused by this - "why do you refer to Professor Holmes with such hostility?"

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"It's a new small kind of computer," Scully said, gesturing so he could get the idea. "It's the size of a paper tablet. Very light, easy to transport. I spent two days at Turtle & Canary picking one out, when I first got here in May."

She made a face, and darted a glance at the Professor, finding it hard to quantify. "He's very good at what he does. Very intelligent. Observant." And she hadn't liked what he'd picked up on about her. Her own fault. She rubbed the back of her neck. "He reminds me of someone. Only he's more merciless. It's... unsettling."

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

A small computer. Huh. The mental picture Wes formed was of a flatscreen desktop computer that would be termed, by modern standards, exceptionally large.

"Merciless?" Wesley asked. "You gathered that from the two lessons we've had thus far? I - well, I wouldn't call him personable, certainly, but I wouldn't go so far as to call him merciless."

Re: Examine the Scene

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"What would you call him?" Scully asked, getting to her feet, and looking around the room to see if they'd missed any signs of a computer, purse, or other thing that could be the victim's.

Re: Examine the Scene

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley followed, not that he was really expecting to find much. "Oh... reticent, perhaps?"