The Game is Afoot

[dave]

Hi there, welcome to the solve a mystery room. Heres the deal, you come in as sherlock (or your favourite detective if you want) and i will give you a detailed scenario. you can ask 10 questions then try to solve the mystery. im just going to be making these up off the top of my head so please do bear with me, lol. Also this is my first discussion so if i am not doing my best certainly let me know and i will do what i can to be better. hope you have fun, the game is afoot!

heres what i was thinking on how the game would be played. introduce yourself (dont worry, im friendly) and i will say hi, ask you what detective you want to be and how difficult youd like your case to be. your 10 questions can be directed to me or to any of the witnesses or police that are mentioned in the scenario. if you havent solved the case by the 10th question you can ask for a mulligan. thats 3 more questions but you can only ask the witness or suspect or police informants one thing, they wont answer after the mulligan question. hmm, i guess thats about it, i hope to have some fun, make some friends and entertain. as i said before, the game is afoot!

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Hello

[dave]

hi there emelia, welcome. i guess youve read the rules of the game so who would you like to be and how hard would ya like this mystery to be? keep in mind youre also my first detective to so bear with me as i work out the kinks in my game, lol. lets have some fun

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Hey, I'd like to be sherlock (obviously) and could I start off easy? And I don't mind- take as much time as you want :)

[dave]

great, sounds perfect for the first case. all right, the game is afoot

Case #001 - The Case of the Carved Canvas

a small, disheveled, unassuming man has come to 221b bakers street looking for the help of the world famous detective. he introduces himself as mr john haggleton, the curator of the Charles Dickens Museum, a small building in london housing Dickens' paraphernalia and things from his past. he sits in front of the fire as sherlock lights his pipe and sits back to listen to mr haggleton's tale.

"well mr holmes, first off let me thank you for seeing me. ill get straight to the point, someone has defaced one of our most important portraits of mr dickens. also some of our treasured original manuscripts were thrown about the room the portrait hung in. some pages were damaged beyond repair. but its the painting that hurts us the most, it was a portrait of mr dickens in 1870, the year he died. someone has taken out a large piece of the painting, cut out his heart it seems. the painting is now unfortunately lost to us, but perhaps if you can help us find those responsible we can at least get the law in to get some justice for me. if the piece of canvas cut from the painting is still in ok condition we might even be able to fix it. here are the facts:
-the museum closed up as always at 9 p.m.
-the gaurds, 2 of them, kyle natal and izzy port, did their rounds as usual. their rounds include the room the portrait hung in, and as of 1120 p.m the room was clean and normal.
-some time between 12 a.m and 120 a.m. someone broke into the room (the doors werent locked) and destroyed the aforementioned exhibitions.
-the police were unable to find any kind of breaking and entering evidence, and labeled it as mischievous youth coming in to have some fun
-the manuscript that was destroyed was one of the original copies of a christmas carol, that plus the painting has us at a loss of over 900,000 pounds.
-i suspect it was more of an inside job as the guards should have been able to hear what was going on from any point in the building.

so thats it, what do you make of it mr holmes?"

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

where were you at the time?

[dave]

question 1-
"i was at home with my wife. i left the museum locked up and waved good by to kyle and izzy at around 9ish. was home by 930 and in bed by 10. i was woken up at around 130ish from a call from izzy about the damages. he told me he called me right away so i told him to hang up and call the police. by the time i got to the museum the police were there."

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

what were the guards doing?

[dave]

question 2-
"according to their logs they did their rounds as usual like every night before. the room that was defaced is on the usual rounds. the whole walk takes about an hour to check everything, and they must do this walk every 3 hours. we dont have the luxeries of cctv so theres no way to verify it though. according to the log kyle checked in the room at ll20. did his walk, then returned to the gaurd station to join izzy at the only cctv camera we have which faces the front door. they admitted to me personally that they were watching a show til about 1, when izzy went for his scheduled round. he discovered the room and called me. kyle also admitted to falling asleep briefly while watching the movie, but izzy insists he was awake the entire time and heard nothing."

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

was it Izzy?

[dave]

question 3-
"izzy has been checked by the police and there was absolutely no evidence of him taking place in the destruction of the manuscript or painting. all though i too suspect him. hes a 24 year old rookie that ive had to admonish a number of times due to his lack of responsibility. he is definitely a sound suspect in my mind"

(dont forget you can talk to police, witnesses and suspects. also you can visit the crime scene. hope im doin ok so far on my first mystery, lol)

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

can I visit the crime scene?
(you're doing great)

[dave]

the crime scene is a small room on the upper floor of the building. there is one window which leads to a fire escape out the back, but the window is intact. paper is still thrown about the room as historians and police officers pick through them looking for clues or savable work. the room was once Dickens' bedroom, a big bed in the middle of the room. normally the bed is made but now all the blankets are crumpled about and there is some mud on sheets. the painting is above the fire place mantle, a large portrait of charles dickens with a piece of the canvas missing. its the bottom left corner and takes away part of his chest as well as his left arm. it seems to be cut, not torn. there is broken glass in the fire place, but there is nothing glass missing or broken in the room. the fire place chimney has been blocked off for many years. the window has no identifiable problems and has been locked. the only thing that has been touched in the crime scene is the picking up of the manuscript, which is still happening as you look around. the police are there as is the curator mr haggleton. all of dickens' table side items are still there however an antique feather pen has been moved from next to the bed to on top of the mantle. there is a faint smell of tobacco in the room but none of the people in it are smoking and there are no smoking signs.

(thanks a lot. this doesnt count as a question as a crime scene visit is all part of the game, so youre on question 4 and doin great)

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Does anyone smoke?
(you or guards)

[dave]

question 4-
"i dont smoke but both kyle and izzy have been caught smoking on the fire escape on more then one occasion. the last time they were with a couple friends of theirs who took off when i told them to stop smoking and get back to work. this was about a week ago"

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Can I talk to Kyle?

[dave]

kyle comes in to the room, still in his gaurds uniform. looking uncomfortable and tired.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

what were you doing at the time of the break in?

[dave]

question 5-
"at the time of the break in i was in the guard lounge watching this show. i kinda fell asleep at my post. i woke up to izzy telling me theres been a break in and calling mr haggleton. do you have to tell him i was asleep? i really need this job," he leans in close as if someone was listening in "honestly you should talk to izzy, i was asleep so i cant guarantee his story is accurate. also i know how much he hates this job and haggleton."

you have finally received the police report from one of your informants

-no sign of break in
-mud on sheets from outside, the same type as the grounds of the museum
-4 different sets of footprints were found at the bottom of the fire escape
-2 sets of foot prints found on the bed, as if someone was jumping on it
-there was a report of a few drunken revelers in the neighborhood just after the break in. police stopped them and took their names, they are now able to be questioned, 3 men, all 25, said they were just celebrating another long day being finished. ash, alex and jim. at the time the officer noted that they all had mud on their shoes and pant cuffs even though they were spotted and rounded up on the concrete road.
-izzy has a criminal record, nothing terrible, just some fights and drunken misbehavior. no prison time but lots of fines.
-kyle has a clean record
-mr haggleton has a clean record other then speeding tickets

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Can I talk to Izzy?

[dave]

izzy sits down, still in his guards uniform. he smells strongly of tobacco. he is looking around a lot, and before you can ask your question he defensively starts making a statement:
"you cant just bring people in for questioning like this. the cops all ready said i could go home. i dont need this. i did nothing. im sick of this damn museum and want to get out of here. if youve got questions feel free to ask but i will only answer what you all ready know. ive made my statement. i have no idea what happened."
after his little rant he lights up a cigarette and begins to sit and smoke quite nervously.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

can I look at his shoes?

[dave]

question 6-
izzy, still in the same uniform he was wearing last night, has on regular steel toed boots. unfortunately there is no mud on them, but there is a black substance that could be ink.

Police report update
-the broken glass found in the fireplace was also covered in a black substance. lab analysis has confirmed it is ink. mr haggleton has reported that one of charles dickens' ink wells is missing from the room across the hall.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Where did the ink on your shoe come from?

[dave]

question 7-
"ink? i dont know anything about that. probably just stepped on a pen or something..."

he lights another cigarette and gets up angrily

"look i dont have to take this crap, youre not a cop. im out of here"

he storms out of the room, leaving the familiar scent of tobacco lingering.

police report update
the 3 men spoken to on the night of the crime all have criminal records, 2 of them, ash and alex, small misdemeanors and traffic tickets, the third, jim, has a number of tickets for graffiti and tagging public property.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Do any of the men know Izzy?

[dave]

question 8-
yes, all three have been verified as being friends with izzy. in fact all four men were arrested in a street brawl a little over a year ago.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

What state are their shoes in?

[dave]

question 9-
as stated in the officers notes from the night of the crime, the 3 men all had mud on the shoes and cuffs.

(i think youve got this sherlock)

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

I reakon that Izzy *drugged?* Alex and when he was asleep, went to the room and let in the men through the fire escape. They left via the same route.

[dave]

very very good sherlock, youve almost deduced the whole scheme. but what happened to the canvas? youve got one more question to go, or you can ask for a mulligan and get 3 more questions, but i think you know what happened to the painting. all the evidence is there, and so is the answer. so make your deduction or use the last question wisely, but either way id say youve pretty much solved the mystery :)

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

They broke the ink well as a way of cutting the canvas. Jim has been in trouble for tagging public property before, this was probably his next big challenge

[dave]

so not going to use the final question? going for the deduction that izzy drugged alex, let his friends in through the fire escape where they destroyed the room and property. jim being a graffiti guy was going to tag the painting and for some reason they broke the inkwell and used it to cut the painting? its good, its just about right, theres just one thing missing. why did they take the piece of canvas with them?

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Izzy is using it as payback- he hates Haggleton. He took it so he couldn't fix his picture, his passion. The fact that the heart was taken was another jab at his boss.

[dave]

what about the feather pen moved to the mantle from the desk. everything youve deduced so far is perfect, theres just one aspect that youre missing. the motive, other then hatred of his boss, of izzy taking that portion of the painting. does izzy seem like the type of guy to see the symbolism of stealing dickens' heart just to break haggletons? there might be something else behind it. remember youve still got one question to go, but i think you can piece it together.

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

I will get it eventually, don't worry :)

[dave]

im not, i have full faith in ya sherlock

[Emelia{Get out. I need to go to my mind palace} {geronimo!}]

Thank you :)