(5-minute mystery) MUrder at the CBA!

[Politicalbeast]

Murder at the CBA!


Wally Barnes allegedly had one good ear but no one at 52 Division had ever seen him use it for telephone calls.

“Say again!” he shouted into the mouthpiece. “C-B-A? What’s CBA?”

A pause.

“Booksellers? No kidding! Booksellers have their own convention? And you’ve got a dead one?”

Another pause. “Yeah, yeah, male, Caucasian…gunshots. Look, at 3:00 this afternoon I’m gonna be on vacation. If this is all about books and that, why don’t you give it to Ed Noble over in the 55? Isn’t his wife a librarian or something?”

During a third pause, Wally hooked the wastebasket closer with his foot and spit into it. “Damned tooth! What’s that? No, never mind! Okay. Okay. Metro Convention Centre. I’m on my way.”

Twenty minutes later, after losing a screaming match with a transit inspector because he’d parked at a bus stop, and then taking it out on the rookie officer posted at the overnight entrance to the Convention Centre, Wally was standing in the lobby at the foot of an escalator when a uniformed officer approached him.

“Detective Barnes?”

“Yeah, who’re you?”

“Indigoni, sir. I’m with 14 Division, but my partner and I caught the 9-1-1.”

“Indigoni. That Eye-talian?”

“Actually, my grandparents came from Malta, sir. Do you want to go up one floor to the main book display? Victim’s up there. Before you talk to the suspect?”

“Suspect? Nobody said nothing about a suspect.”

“Right after the call went in, detective. Security guard caught him.”

“Great!” Might be this’ll be over and done with in time for – say, is there a garbage can around here or one a’ them big ashtrays with sand in it? My tooth…”

“There’s no smoking here, detective.” Indigoni was uncomfortable.

“Don’t smoke. It’s m’ tooth.” Wally made a last futile scan for a wastebasket and then took a step toward the escalator. “So, what’ve you got?” he said.

For the young officer this was easier territory. “The victim is Lawrence Verso. Male, Caucasian. Forty-four. He runs Margins. That’s a big book chain. Two shots in the chest. Body’s up there in a little café off the display area. Looks like he might have been working in there, making a sign.”

“In a café?”

“Seems he was using the coffee maker.” The young officer cleared his throat. “Around 3:00 a.m. the security guard hears shots. He’s the one who found the body and called 9-1-1. Victim didn’t die right away. Tried to write a name on the floor with his finger.”

Then, for the first time, P.C. Indigoni revealed himself as the rookie he was. “Used his own blood!” Got most of the name done, too. J-A-C, something.”

Wally swallowed noisily. “Ummm…that could be Jack or a Jackson. Or one a’ those women’s names they make outa Jack. Let’s go have a look.”

He stepped onto the escalator and the younger officer followed.

“Now this security guard,” Wally wanted to know, “did he happen to explain what the suspect, not to mention the victim, was doing in a supposedly secure building at three in the…Jeez! Where are we? A wind tunnel?”

“The fans, sir.” Indigoni replied quickly. “I noticed it earlier. It’s even breezier when we get up to the display. Apparently they turn the air conditioning off at midnight and really crank up the ceiling fans. Everything goes back to normal at 7:00 a.m., in a couple of hours.”

The older policeman grunted, led the way off the escalator, and immediately began to look for a wastebasket. “Holy Cow!” he blurted at the huge displays. “Look at all those books!” He stared in silence, the wastebasket forgotten. “Are there people that read that much?” He back-pedaled and peered down a long aisle. “This is as big as a Wal-Mart!”

“Sir? Detective Barnes?” P.C. Indigoni was waving his hand. “Body’s this way.”

“Yeah, you still didn’t tell me what they were doing in here at 3:00 a.m. Jeez, I haven’t seen this many books in one place since I was in vice!”

“Yes, sir.” Indigoni became very businesslike. “The suspect is Jack Stott. Now, the building goes tight at midnight. All doors on coded entry and video camera, but Stott, he’d have a pass card.”

“How come?”

“He’s a publisher.” The younger policeman replied, as though that explained everything. “Big name in the industry. Owns several companies. He’s got a whole row here in the display area. Some of the bigger names have these passes. Verso – the victim – not sure if he had a pass or not. Verso’s a chain guy and it’s mostly publishers and independents who come to the CBA.”

“Independents? Chain guy? How come you know so much about this?”

Indigoni’s face turned crimson. “My wife, sir, she’s an independent. She has a children’s bookstore.”

“A children’s bookstore! A store full of books just for kids?” Wally Barnes peered at his rookie colleague in mild surprise. “She make any money doing that?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“With all these books, Indigoni, there’s gotta be somebody makin’ money.”

“Yes, sir. Body’s right there in the café. I have the suspect secured downstairs. Where we got on the escalator. With the security guard.”

Wally nodded and stepped sideways into an open archway. To his right, a scrolling aluminum wall was pulled down to a counter facing the display area. The left wall and the one straight ahead were geared for preparing fast food. The limited floor space was pretty much taken up by the body of the late CEO of Margins, an aerosol paint can, and a handmade poster soaking in a pool of blood. Wally could read DISCOUNT in Day-Glo red. Verso’s body lay face up, head toward the arch. “J-A-C” and what was arguably the beginning of a “K” trailed away from bloody fingers on the side nearest the counter.

“’Nough blood to write a whole book, if he’d had the time!” Wally said. “Two entry wounds, looks like. Married, I’d guess, if that means anything. Can’t hardly see it under all that paint. Indigoni! You make sure somebody tells the wife before any media show up. Okay, I’ve seen enough for now. Let’s go see this Stott fella.”

“Yes, sir. Back downstairs.”

In the security office, Jack Stott was waiting for them. “I’ll repeat to you what I said to this…this…security officer.” He didn’t wait for Wally to start. “And that’s all I’ll say until I speak to a lawyer. Yes, I was in the building. I came in at just after midnight; the computer will show that, and the camera. Now, the last time I saw Larry he was up in that little food place on his hands and knees spraying some kind of sign. But he was alive when I left him. I was downstairs in a washroom trying to get some of this confounded red paint off my shoes when this – the guard – came in and, well, detained me I suppose you’d say. Now, I want my lawyer.”

Wally stared at the traces of Day-Glo red on Stott’s shoes and pant cuffs, while idly scratching himself under one arm. He motioned Indigoni into the hallway.

“You take the collar, kid,” he said, “I’m going on vacation.”

Indigoni peered at Wally Barnes, his face a mixture of confusion and disbelief, until the older man continued.

“Shouldn’t be hard to get a confession outa the security guard. It’ll look good on your record, too. Better call the forensics weenies, though. And check those door codes and the camera. Don’t want to make any mistakes.”



What logic leads Wally Barnes to the conclusion that Jack Stott is innocent and the security guard is guilty?

[Politicalbeast]

Jesus.

I only brought this over because the posters from the other site were stumped.

This one has to be setting a record.

[Chris_]

Jesus.

I only brought this over because the posters from the other site were stumped.

This one has to be setting a record.

Give me a minute... I love a challenge. 

[Politicalbeast]

I seem to remember a few challenges from BEG you werent willing to take on.

[Politicalbeast]

Jesus.

I only brought this over because the posters from the other site were stumped.

This one has to be setting a record.

Give me a minute... I love a challenge. 

Hazard a guess!

[rich_t]

And the answer is???

[Politicalbeast]

Why post it if I am just going to give the answer?

Where is the fun in that?

[rich_t]

Why post it if I am just going to give the answer?

Where is the fun in that?

Hey... Just thought I'd ask.  It didn't cost me a dime.   

[Chris_]

Ok here is what I think.... someone can either finish this line of logic or scrap it.

We know the building is secure with only the security guard and Stott, both have free access to the building.

The timing doesn't make sense for the security guard's story:

“Around 3:00 a.m. the security guard hears shots. He’s the one who found the body and called 9-1-1. Victim didn’t die right away. Tried to write a name on the floor with his finger.”

If the security guard heard shots, he was close enough to the area to find the body quickly (remember it is a wind tunnel after midnight, lots of other competing noise) - naturally, Verso would have still been alive and in the process of writing the name in blood. Contrast that with Stott who was downstairs and apparently oblivious to the sound of gunshots. 

Oh, maybe the security guard shot him and wrote the J-A-C with Verso's dead finger.

At any rate, when the security guard placed the 911 call, he was calling in a murder.

[Politicalbeast]

Ok here is what I think.... someone can either finish this line of logic or scrap it.

We know the building is secure with only the security guard and Stott, both have free access to the building.

The timing doesn't make sense for the security guard's story:

“Around 3:00 a.m. the security guard hears shots. He’s the one who found the body and called 9-1-1. Victim didn’t die right away. Tried to write a name on the floor with his finger.”

If the security guard heard shots, he was close enough to the area to find the body quickly (remember it is a wind tunnel after midnight, lots of other competing noise) - naturally, Verso would have still been alive and in the process of writing the name in blood. Contrast that with Stott who was downstairs and apparently oblivious to the sound of gunshots. 

Oh, maybe the security guard shot him and wrote the J-A-C with Verso's dead finger.

At any rate, when the security guard placed the 911 call, he was calling in a murder.

I think it's obvious the security guard shot Verso, but your reasoning is incorrect...

[Politicalbeast]

Answer:

Stott obviously encountered Verso while he was painting and ostensibly saw him doing so with his left hand, as evidenced by Wally's observation that Verso's wedding ring was almost entirely concealed by the red paint. However, the writing of J-A-C was done near Verso's right hand, something he could not have done, and which, if he were the shooter, Stott would not have done himself. Since there was only one other person in the building at the time.....

[Chris_]

Answer:

Stott obviously encountered Verso while he was painting and ostensibly saw him doing so with his left hand, as evidenced by Wally's observation that Verso's wedding ring was almost entirely concealed by the red paint. However, the writing of J-A-C was done near Verso's right hand, something he could not have done, and which, if he were the shooter, Stott would not have done himself. Since there was only one other person in the building at the time.....

Yeah but maybe Stott was trying to get away with murder. Heh. 

Muwahahaha.... rubs hands together..... Next?

[Politicalbeast]

Only in your twisted mind...


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