MuSR / Who is the most likely murderer?

question

Who is the most likely murderer?

narrative

In the lavish surroundings of a luxury restaurant, Renee's life was cut brutally short by barbed wire; now, Detective Winston must unravel the tangled suspects, Claire and Isla.

Detective Winston had already had a long day, sifting through files, fieldwork, and witness narratives, who mostly tended to exaggerate details. As his long evening unfolded, he was parked outside a well-lit room; light emanating from a window. This was Claire's room, which her neighbor distinctly mentioned lights up late into the night when Claire is at her computer. 

According her neighbor and to her own roommate, Claire is one who never leaves her room whenever she engages in her internet activities, a detail that struck the detective as particularly strange. 

Claire, who happened to be a secretary by day and a waitress at a local restaurant by night, had been on Winston's radar since the case was assigned to him. The restaurant was also coincidentally the murder scene.

As Winston approached her front door, he couldn't help but notice the enclosed garden, embellished with a line of barbed wire for added security. It was an unusual choice of boundary protection for a garden, but it held a surreal beauty in the moonlight. 

"Claire's gardening was a hobby she fancied in her free time," a neighbor once mentioned, adding that she was adept at handling the barbing without ever having an injury, a skill that had surprised many.

In their brief conversation, her roommate had mentioned the elusive yet frequent late-hour typing noises coming from her room and how suddenly they would stop whenever she tried to enter.

"I always found it strange. She would immediately shut her laptop, and I didn't really see what she was working so late into the night. It wasn't like her," the roommate remarked. 

"All these late-night activities don't necessarily mean any harm," Winston murmured to himself.

As the evening progressed, Winston found out from the restaurant's janitor that there was ongoing construction by the restaurant. The presence of the surplus barbed wire stockpile meant that it was a common sight in their vicinity.

Renee, the victim, was more to Claire than just an overseer at the restaurant. Renee, amidst her work, had unexpectedly stumbled upon Claire's illegal embezzlement activities linked to the restaurant's funds. Word was, she was about to expose these allegations, which would have undoubtedly cost Claire her job and possibly lead to incarceration.

As Winston drove back, battling an oncoming headache, he lit up a cigarette. The day had been long, crammed with ongoing conversations filled with facts and stories. As he watched the ember crush under his boot, his instincts whispered that there was a long path ahead before he could find resolution.

Winston sat down at his desk, shuffling through the case files. The file named 'Renee' seemed to be the one that took his interest. He pulled out the notes from the coroner's office; Renee had been found some time earlier at the two-Michelin-starred L'etoile Restaurant.

Shrugging on his coat, Winston walked toward the door, picking up the file enroute. He hailed a cab and slipped the driver an address halfway across town; the scene of the murder - a now-closed luxury restaurant.

Inside, a crowd had made the regular police's work a little more difficult. Separating potential suspects from huddling, shocked patrons was decidedly hard. 

Winston walked up to a uniformed officer and learnt from him that a crowd of people were dining at the restaurant when the crime was committed; among them was a woman named Isla.

A trip to her house later, Winston found himself in front of a woman with an achingly passionate love for her favorite music group. He couldn't help but notice a collection of survival tools on a nearby rack reflecting the afternoon sunlight. As he browsed, he found several open tabs on her computer that linked to various tutorials and forums about survival skills. It was known to him, from a previous informant, that Isla had been learning survival skills through those online sources. He remembered learning earlier that Isla had defended her home against an intruder with a piece of barbed wire once.

As he was about to leave, he noticed a receipt on the coffee table. It was from a local hardware store barely a day old and listed 'barbed wire' as one of the items.

Isla showed Winston out of the house, all the while talking passionately about her favorite music group. They were up for the same award that Renee's group ultimately won. "It ain't fair, you know?" she complained. "My boys deserved it, not them."

A canvas of previous police reports showed that she had been in a couple of discrimination lawsuits. Neighbors had heard her speak poorly of Renee's culture.

Winston made his way back to L'etoile Restaurant. The manager handed him the reservations book. Renee had booked a table for the night of her death. Not far from her entry was another name that seemed all too familiar - Isla.

choices

• Claire
• Isla