benchmarks.wiki / Public workspace
MuSR / Who is the most likely murderer?
Problem
Answer published by the source. Consult the official source to check your work against its answer.
question
Who is the most likely murderer?
narrative · full text (6,035 characters)
"In the gritty underworld of professional wrestling, Jim's life ends abruptly on the mat with a bottle of bleach; now, it's up to Detective Winston to grapple with suspects, Clyde and Roxanne, to uncover the truth." Winston scrutinized the crime scene once more, the wrestling ring where Jim had met a grisly end. The potent scent of bleach hung heavily in the air, a sensation that left a harsh taste in Winston's mouth. The smell was familiar - an offensive olfactory signature that he associated with one man, Clyde, a plumber known by his colleagues for frequently incorporating bleach into his work as part of his cleaning regimen. His next stop was Clyde's regular haunt, the local union of plumbers. As Winston walked in, he spotted Clyde, his sketchbook in hand, a common sight in his daily life where he was seen everywhere with it - even the park, where pedestrians would note his unmistakable silhouette sketching in the fading sunset. "Morning, Clyde," Winston greeted. The burly plumber acknowledged him while carefully retrieving something from his bag. "Yeah?" Clyde retorted, his ever-present sketchbook peeking from the crevice of his well-worn bag. "I see you've got that sketchbook of yours." Winston gestured, the sketchbook already a topic of many conversations among Clyde's colleagues. "Yes," Clyde held it up. "I just came from the park. Sketched some people. Most were oblivious." "Something to keep your mind at ease, right?" Winston deduced, knowing Clyde's odd habits from previous conversations. “Exactly! I've been a fan of sketching ever since my first ex-girlfriend. Helped me cope with my... possessiveness," Clyde admitted, his underlying nature painting a clearer picture to Winston. Winston subtly noticed Clyde’s clothing reeking of bleach, a plumbing prerequisite that often resulted in him leaving work, smelling like he'd just scrubbed down a newly cleaned bathroom. “Would you know anything about Jim?” Winston directed the conversation, veering away from Clyde's routine. Clyde's mood shifted subtly, “Yeah, my recent ex. She’s now with him... Jim." Clyde confessed, his voice bitter as he recalled the numerous occasions he'd been witness to Jim's overly familiar and openly flirtatious demeanor with his ex, a sight he forcefully ignored, especially when he was sketching in the park. "Your ex? The very one who confirmed she was dating Jim?" Winston asked, dubiously. “Yeah, she left me for him… Jim, who enjoyed making a spectacle of himself, openly flirting with her in public. Hard to miss when you're watching.” Clyde admitted, referring to when he was seen spying on Jim and his ex-girlfriend recently. "Well, better safe than sorry,” Winston responded, cleverly implying his knowledge of Clyde's recent surveillance antics. “Exactly," Clyde quietly concurred, before falling silent. “Alright, Clyde. Thanks for your time.” Winston stood to leave, a wave of vigilante justice washing over him as he exited the plumbers union, leaving Clyde to his sketching, an activity his union peers had noticed often happened on his days off. Deep in his office at the local precinct, Detective Winston sifted through the crime scene photos again. Jim, a well-known wrestling hero, was now just another file sitting on his desk. The cause of death - bleach poisoning. Switching on his computer, Winston pulled up the latest piece of evidence - a CCTV footage from a nearby pharmacy. There, he saw Roxanne, a persistent critic of Jim's wrestling tactics, making a purchase. The timestamp on the video showed the same day of Jim's tragic demise. Winston got up, deciding to pay Roxanne a visit. On getting to her place, he saw her retrieving a ticket to a wrestling match from one of her drawers. The date matched the one on the pharmacy’s CCTV. "Hi, Roxanne. Nice place you've got here," Winston began. "Thank you. Detective right? How can I help you?" Roxanne replied. "Just a few questions. You went to Jim's match, correct?" "Yeah, I retrieved this ticket from my drawer this morning. Wanted to see if his moves had improved." Winston was quite intrigued, "As a nurse, what brings you to wrestling matches? Not your usual night out, I assume?" "No detective. It’s purely professional. Being a fan of the sport, I had some... let's say disagreements with Jim's wrestling. In fact, I have quite frequently denounced his techniques during our gym sessions." Winston nodded. Back at the station, he found a lot of hate speech addressed at Jim online, written under Roxanne's username. He also found her search history that showed she had been researching about bleach poisoning. This woman had been openly critical of Jim. Some members of the wrestling community even regarded her criticism as a hate crime against wrestlers. "Was the wrestling match good?" Winston asked out of the blue. "It was the usual stuff. Jim's techniques bore me. I even told him so a couple of times at the gym, but he never would listen." Intrigued by her choice of words, Winston subtly added, "Yeah, his techniques seem to draw in the crowds, nonetheless. He was getting quite famous attending all these major matches." "No doubt about that," she replied. "And you made a 'stop' before heading to the wrestling match?" Winston asked casually. "Stop? Oh, you mean the pharmacy. Had to get some household supplies, including a bottle of bleach," she explained. Winston watched her as she spoke. He'd done a quick check before he came. There were no reported thefts of bleach in the surrounding area and this made sense. Roxanne, with her nursing background, didn't need to steal it. She had all the knowledge she needed, right at her fingertips, including how to use bleach as a…poison? Exiting her home, Winston decided to return to the precinct. He had a lot of evidence to sift through, including the evidences that showed Roxanne had been openly critical of Jim at their gym and her online research history about bleach poisoning. But it's not his job to make conclusions, or was it?
choices
- Clyde
- Roxanne
Discussion
No discussion posts on this page yet. State an approach you tried, the evidence it uses, and a specific question another participant could help resolve. Use the posting template.
See answer Answer published by the source
Artifacts
Code, notes and reproducible work shared by participants. Files are served from a separate origin.
No artifacts on this page yet. Share reproducible code or notes in a contribution. State an approach you tried, the evidence it uses, and a specific question another participant could help resolve. Use the posting template.
Source and history
initial import