The Woman is Dead

The rain was at that intermediate stage where it was neither dry nor a storm, an annoying drizzle that somehow got you soaked through in seconds. The uniforms had been standing around in this weather for half an hour already, but brightened when they saw the headlights of the sleek black car race towards them.

The car door slammed, and Detective Inspector Carlton got out and assessed the grim scene.

"Why can't people die in daylight hours?" he grumbled.

River, who was standing behind him, chuckled. "Let's leave the moaning for a bit, and find out who's dead."

One of the uniformed officers stepped forward to fill them in. "The body of a young woman was found stuffed in a skip just here," he began, indicating the skip. "Found by a man about half an hour ago who heard the screams. He saw a puddle of blood and the body, and called us round."

Here the uniform pointed to a body, which had been spread out on a plastic sheet by a couple of officers. Carlton leaned over to get a closer look.

"Four - wait, no, five stab wounds to the chest and stomach with a pen knife or something similar. Nasty," he grimaced. "Pretty girl, though, I'd stab a guess at mid-twenties. Stab a guess, get it, River?"

River shot him her most exasperated look. "Pockets are empty," she noted. "No form of ID, no purse, nothing. And look."

She pointed at a tan line on the girl's finger. "She wore a wedding ring, but someone removed it."

"Robbery gone wrong," mused Carlton, and looked up suddenly at the uniform. "Why call me if it was just a mugging?"

The uniform held out a small bag filled with jewellery and a pink purse. "This was found in a bin a few streets away," he explained.

"A bin?" Carlton asked. "Why kill someone, rob them, and then throw away your spoils?"

"Could have dropped them as he ran, soon as he heard someone coming," River pointed out.

"Not in a bin," Carlton countered. 

"Then this was someone trying to make it look like a mugging gone wrong." replied River.

Carlton nodded. "Who was around?"

"Talk to him yourself," replied the uniform, pointing to a young man.

The pair walked over to him, and Carlton got out his notebook. "Are you the man who found the body?" he asked.

"That's right. My name is Charles Johannes." said the man. "I was walking home and heard some screams. I raced down here as quickly as I could, and saw a pool of blood, and heard some footsteps running away. I followed the trail of blood and opened the skip, and I saw that lady's body, so I called the police."

"How long after you heard the screams did you arrive here?"

"A few seconds, no more," Charles replied.

"Leaving the criminal just enough time to bundle the body into the skip when he heard you coming," said River.

"Exactly," answered Charles.

Carlton frowned and walked away. "Who else was around here at this time of night?" he asked.

"The uniform's just swept the area," answered River. "Apparently, the only people they've found were two homeless people, a drug dealer so drunk he can't remember his own name, and the victim's husband, who came out to look for her when she didn't come home. He didn't know where she was, so he's just been wandering around trying to find her."

Carlton nodded sagely. "In that case, I know who killed her," he answered.


Answer (highlight to read): Charles Johnannes must be lying. If he found the body only a few seconds after she was killed, the murderer would not have had time to remove the woman's purse and jewellery, and even wrench a ring from her finger. Therefore, Charles is the murderer.