MuSR / Who is the most likely murderer?

question

Who is the most likely murderer?

narrative

When Wendy's life brutally ended under the sharp end of a pickaxe at the local roller rink, it was up to the shrewd Detective Winston to untangle the web spun around two prime suspects, Marianne and Sidney.

Winston ran his fingers through his tangled hair as he fixated on the aged screen of the department’s underfunded monitor. It projected grainy CCTV footage of his suspect - Marianne. She was there at the roller rink, on the night poor Wendy met her end. Not only was Marianne there - she was seen shouting at Wendy, their voices escalating until they pierced the rhythmic hum of the skating wheels. The timestamp of the argument, and subsequent footage of Marianne lingering, suggested she was there for quite some time after her dispute with Wendy.

He thumbed through a thin folder tucked beneath a closing pizza box resting on his cluttered desk. Marianne had a criminal record, it revealed a past fraught with moments of explosion, of violence - including an assault arrest five years prior. The Marianne on the screen, the Marianne in these documents had been caught in the wrong before. Winston began to feel a creeping uneasiness as he parsed this correlation. 

Several pictures tumbled from the folder as Winston shuffled its contents. The pictures were snapshots of Marianne: caught in the midst of her day-to-day, widely recognized by the community - not just for her nature but for her frequent use of an old pickaxe. It came as no surprise since she had spent several years working in the mines before her marriage. She was seen using her pickaxe for numerous tasks such as chopping firewood or loosening soil in her garden. 

"Did you see what she was doing last week?" a seasoned woman down the road had mentioned as she was reversing her car out of the driveway. Marianne was seen cleaning her well-worn mining equipment that she'd kept stored in an easily accessible tool-shed next to her house in clear sight. It seemed she wasn't shy about flaunting her past or the tools she used while in the mines.

Commotion at the precinct broke Winston from his thoughts. The crime-scene analyst reported the murder took place in some remote corner of the roller rink. Despite the public dispute that took place earlier between Wendy and Marianne, this location seemed isolated, uncanny for such a busy locale.

The analyst's words seemed to chisel further into Winston's thoughts as he returned to the grainy images. Her mining equipment was never far from reach, and Marian's cacophony on the night of Wendy's murder was caught on tape. 

Pieces started falling into place; too many strings tethered Marianne to the night Wendy was murdered. With a sigh, Winston allowed himself a quiet moment. Then, taking a deep breath, he began his descent into the intricacies of the case before him.

Winston stood at the entrance of the roller rink, eyes scanning the room. The images from the crime scene report replayed in his memory. Poor Wendy had breathed her last in what was supposed to be a place filled with the rejuvenating sounds of retro music and flashing lights.

Sidney, who was a geologist, had been seen with Wendy at the roller rink multiple times. According to the staff, Sidney was even a regular here. It was a curious detail but not unusual, people had hobbies apart from their professions. Sidney's passion besides analyzing layers of earth was rollerblading. He frequently carried his tools, including his pickaxe, from his daytime geological survey sites directly to the roller rink in the evenings.

Checking his notes from the previous conversation with Sidney, his eyebrows knitted slightly as he remembered the desperation he sensed from Sidney. It revolved around Wendy, who apparently knew something he coveted as a secret. She had been sharing this secret with her friends and it seemed it held the power to publicly humiliate Sidney if it ever came to light. Sidney, for his part, vehemently denied any secret of such scale.

Winston gestured for the barista to come over. The young man with a skater haircut glanced at Winston's badge before he ordered a black coffee with no sugar. While waiting for his order, he asked, “Did you notice Sidney here during the time of the incident?”

The barista nodded, nervously biting his lower lip. "Yes, Detective. Sidney was here. I remember seeing him."

Winston nodded as he continued his observations. His gaze lingered over Sidney's station where he parked his geologist’s gear, including his trusted pickaxe, which he used during his geological field trips, when he visited. He noticed the stains of usual wear and tear and a freshly cleaned pickaxe leaning against the wall. Nothing unusual for a geologist. Taking down notes, Winston silently queued the information; the same Pickaxe might have been used for the murder.

His phone buzzed breaking his trail of thoughts, He took the informer's call. He glanced at his watch noting down the time of the conversation before disconnecting the call. He finished his coffee and left the roller rink. He had to confirm if Wendy was indeed telling the truth about that secret or Sidney was just an innocent geologist who loved rollerblading and hated gossips.

choices

• Marianne
• Sidney