Saturday 26 March 2011

A Cold-Blooded Murder

Detective Sergeant River wrapped her scarf closer around her neck and stamped her feet against the bitter cold. It had been below freezing for several days: good news for the skaters, who had already set up a rink over the icy Thames, but bad news for the man who was frozen in the ice just in front of her.

She skated forward a few paces to see the body a bit closer, but as she had only ever skated a few times before, she tripped and nearly fell, incurring a glare from her superior, Detective Inspector Carlton, who was kneeling over the body.

"Finished with the acrobatic show?" he asked snidely, the bad weather making his temper even worse.

She ignored him, bending over the body ineptly. "What have you learnt, sir?"

He straightened up with ease; a competent skater. "A young man in his early 30s, name of George Maxwell. Hard to tell what the cause of death was, the body's been frozen for several hours at the very least."

River frowned. "There's a huge knife sticking in his back. Isn't that a bit of a give away?"

Carlton sighed. "No blood," he pointed out. "It was probably done a short while after death. Before rigor mortis set in, though, so-"

"Enough!" River interrupted him before he got in one of this morbid moods and discussed the body in greater detail. "Time of death?"

"Between 9 and 10 yesterday evening, but he must have been put in the river before it froze over, which was about 9 p.m. in this part."

Carlton helped River back to the edge and she gratefully pulled off her skates. "So what do we do now, sir?"

The answer was waiting for them - two men and a petite woman lined up against the bank, shivering.

"These people all claim to have been with Mr Johnson last night, sir," the policeman said.

Carlton nodded. "River, take statements. I'm going to have a coffee."

And with that, he walked off.

River rolled her eyes, and began questioning.

**

"Here, Carlton," River walked into the cafe where Carlton was still waiting, an hour later, reading the newspaper. Annoyed, she snatched it from his hands and replaced it with her notepad.

He read:

Olivia Howe: I'm George's fiancee, Olivia. We went out last night to celebrate our engagement. It was a good night out - we went to a pub in town near where we lived. At about 10 we noticed that George wasn't with us, and got a bit worried for him... he'd had a lot to drink, you see. We searched everywhere, but never found him. It was such a shock to find he was dead!

Lawrence Finds: I'm George's best friend, we all went out for a good night after we heard the good news about him and Olivia. I guess it's common knowledge that we fought a good bit, but we were mates - I'd never kill him, ever! We had had a falling out, but we made sure to make up at this party - it was also a bit of a celebration for me too, see. I've got a new job, I set up a butcher's not far from here. 

Peter Lewis: I've known Olivia for some years, and I met George through her, last year. I used to go out with her, see. It was great to know that they were finally tying the knot. I never noticed that George wasn't with us, and then when I did I wasn't worried at first, I thought he had just wandered off. I never thought of murder!

Carlton handed back the notepad. "We've had news from the lab," he replied, "Other than an abnormally high alcohol content in George's blood, they can't find anything wrong. No bullet wound, no poison, so other apparent cause of death."

"Do we need it, sir?" asked River. "The knife in his back belongs to Lawrence Finds - I think that's all the evidence we need to send him to jail for a long time."

Carlton smiled and took another sip of his coffee. "Perhaps," he agreed, "But I had my eye on another candidate."

Who killed George, how and why?


Answer (highlight to read): Peter Lewis, jealous that George was getting married to his ex, got George drunk, took him outside and pushed him in the river. At that temperature, hypothermia would have killed him before he drowned, and then he stuck the knife in to incriminate Lawrence.

2 comments:

  1. haha love Carlton :) I got that one :P

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  2. Didn't get that one! One of the best :)

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