MuSR / Who is the most likely murderer?

question

Who is the most likely murderer?

narrative

In the bustling mayhem of the city mall, a man falls fatally to the seldom-seen weapon of a sai; it's up to the cunning and relentless Detective Winston to interrogate his only leads, Peyton and Isolde.

Detective Winston swirled the last of his coffee around in his ceramic mug. He'd been mulling over the crime scene photos of Guy strewn across the cold shopping mall floor all day - it was a grim sight. The neon clock on the wall read 10 pm, the same time the murder had happened.

He shoved the photos in their manila envelope and, clearing his heavy thoughts, he decided to pay a visit to the niece of Guy, Peyton. 

Reaching the site Peyton worked during her daytime shift, smoke and the clamour of heavy machinery engulfed him. He could see men bustling about the site in hard hats and safety vests. He spotted Peyton in her fluorescent safety vest and hard hat, her face smeared with dust. 

Observing the bandage-covered wounds, Winston asked, “Are your colleagues, the ones over there, as uninformed as they seem about your injuries?” 

Peyton gave a shrill laugh before admitting, "To be honest, they really don't have a clue about it. They're kept in the dark, which is how I prefer it. Some things are better left unspoken, detective." With a shrug, she diverted the conversation towards the construction progress.

Winston sighed, he'd heard about her evasiveness from her colleagues. 

A few days later Winston was back, this time at Peyton's martial arts training institute. The instructor was a burly guy, with massive tattooed arms. The man confirmed that Peyton had been training with him and she was proficient in handling a sai. 

As Winston turned to leave, he asked, “Does she train often?”

“Regular as clockwork, she's here weekly. She is, indeed, dedicated.” The instructor replied. 

Peyton’s dedication found its way to Winston’s mind on his way to her house - the same dedication she put into her hobby. The house was filled with all kinds of trinkets and weapons, but what caught Winston's eye were the sais. Winston could see an empty spot in the case where three sais were supposed to be.

“I knew Guy,” she said after a moment of silence, jostling Winston out of his thoughts. “In fact, I was in the same shopping mall that night, you know, just for shopping.”

Winston tilted his head, studying her closely. “Indeed?” 

“Yes...”  She muttered distractedly, “I shop there often. You can say 'shopping' is one of my few indulgences.”

Winston nodded, thanked her for her time, and started for his car. There were too many questions bouncing around in his head, so he chose to retreat for the day. 

As Winston was leaving the driveway, he took one last glance at Peyton's house, “At least one thing’s for sure... she really does love that shopping mall.” He mumbled to himself and drove off into the night.

Winston looked at the crime scene photos, strewn across his desk. A shopping mall of all places. And a sai as a murder weapon - the forensic team had already confirmed that it belonged to a set like the one behind Isolde's bar counter. The victim, a decent-looking chap named Guy. His family had reported he frequently voiced displeasure about a certain bartender... a woman named Isolde. He complained about how she would neglect his orders and how she threw racial slurs his way.

Guy's coworkers had even confided in Winston that they'd overhead him telling stories of racial slurs made by Isolde. The hostility had elevated to such a degree that Isolde officially refused to serve him a drink, for the reason that he belonged to that certain ethnic background she had indisputable prejudice towards.

What was also interesting was that Isolde held a high rank in the local martial arts school. She was a formidable black belter specializing in sai, the very same weapon that ended Guy's life. This revelation deepened Winston's suspicion as he found out that Isolde was seen practicing with sai at her school quite frequently.

Winston printed out a map and set a route to pay Isolde a visit at her bar.

As he entered the bar, Winston's detective instincts took over, his gaze passing over the customers before finally falling on Isolde, busy at work behind the counter. "Miss Isolde?" Winston called, striding up to the bar. 

Isolde turned, offering a thin smile that didn't meet her eyes. "At your service." 

He launched into his questioning, starting simple. "You were working at the time of the murder?"

Isolde nodded, her dark gaze unwavering. "I work here every day, morning till evening. This is my bar."

"And you had Guy here at your bar that day?" Winston asked.

"He always came here," Isolde replied, her gaze shifting to a spot behind Winston's shoulder before confirming, "Yes, he was here."

Winston, then, noticed something peculiar. He followed her gaze to an area at the corner of bar. It was a display stand that usually held a pair of sai, one of them was conspicuously missing.

Winston pulled out his phone, showing Isolde an image amidst a series of them. It was a CCTV grab. Guy, entering the bar. 

"Heard you mentioned Guy was here," he said, looping back to his original topic. "You were seen talking to him, even arguing."

Isolde sighed, rubbing her thumb over the stained counter. "I won't lie. We had our disagreements. He wasn't fond of some of my... posts."

Winston brought up the topic she was alluding to - the derogatory comments she'd posted online about Guy's ethnicity. While Winston couldn't accuse or press suspicion onto her, it was one more piece in the puzzle firmly logged in his mind.

Winston ended the questioning with a final request for her to remain cooperative during the ongoing investigation. With a polite nod, Isolde agreed as he left, leaving him under no illusions; this case was far from being cracked.

choices

• Peyton
• Isolde