Homicide - Loose Ends

I'm starting to feel like this game has gotten a bit sloppy, so I'm going to do some bookkeeping and clean up and organize things a bit. There are a bunch of open threads, some of which may be irrelevant or easily closed off, and I want to be sure the main summary page is up to date.

Let's clear the board of any alibi checks we need to finish off, they're pretty easy, and right now they're just clutter.

We already know that Mike Lewis, the property manager, checks out. He was on vacation and has receipts to show that. Our detectives were holding that information back to use as leverage, but Lewis has been cooperative, and we just caught his office thief for him, so this seems unnecessary. We'll move his whole alibi status to closed threads.

Richard and Anna Marin also had alibis. They spoke with Scott the night of his murder, from their home, and both vouch for the other's presence.

• Q1: Does Richard and Anna Marin's story check out? (a sure thing)
• Answer: Yes

Phone records confirm the call and its timing. They live in the area, but at least far enough away that a trip back and forth after the call seems very unlikely. They also have no apparent motivation to kill their own son. We'll move their alibi thread to closed.

Let's confirm some of our physical evidence. We have prints in the apartment where Marin's body was left, and prints on the gun found in Michelle Allen's car, along with copious amounts of blood. Let's see if they match up. I'm bending the timeline here a bit, but in the interests of getting focused, I'm OK with that.

• Q2: Does the bloody print from the apartment match Gabe Babbett? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q3: Do the prints on the gun match Gabe Babbett? (very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q4: Does the blood in the car match Scott Marin? (very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q5: Is the gun registered? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes

Well... Mr. Babbett is looking like our man. His prints are on the gun and at the body site. The gun is registered, but Babbett is likely not the owner, since he has a serious felony record. My guess is it's either stolen, or belonged to Allen or Marin. Let's go with 50/50 here.

• Q6: Was the gun stolen? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q7: Did it belong to Allen? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q8: Did Allen report it stolen? (likely)
• Answer: Yes

Allen has apparently been robbed blind recently. Let's find out if the same gun killed both Allen and Marin. It seems pretty likely that that's the case.

• Q9: Did the same gun kill Allen and Marin? (very likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q10: Was it the gun found in the car? (has to be)
• Answer: Yes

So Allen's gun, but stolen, and reported so. Since the gun was in the car, and it seems unlikely the car was moved / accessed since Marin's murder, let's use the dice session to determine when the gun was reported stolen. The dice say six days ago, which means June 4th.

A few questions suggest themselves here:

• Q11: Is Allen's time of death close to Marin's? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q12: Could Marin's body be seen from outside the apartment? (unlikely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q13: Are there any signs that Allen's body was moved into the apartment? (unlikely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q14: Are there any signs that Allen was killed in her vehicle? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes

OK then. Our timeline is something like this:

• Someone steals the gun June 4th.
• Anna Marin talks with Scott via phone at midnight, June 7th. Scott was with Babbett when the phone call took place.
• Scott is shot and killed within a few hours of the phone call. His body is moved to his former apartment. Babbett's prints are on the gun and on the wall in the apartment, along with blood traces.
• Allen is shot approximately the same time.
• Both victims were killed in Allen's car and their bodies moved.
• On June 10th the police receive an anonymous tip about a body in an apartment.
• Allen's body is discovered shortly thereafter.

Sounds complicated. Why move the bodies, buying time to flee? We need to get a handle on Babbett ASAP. We've already flagged him as wanted for questioning. I think we have enough evidence for a warrant to search is house too, especially given his criminal record. I think he's our man.

One last loose end, the anonymous tip. Let's see if the recording tells us anything.

• Q15: Is the voice male? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q16: Can we identify it? (very unlikey)
• Answer: No
• Q17: Does Anna Marin recognize it as Babbett's? (unlikely)
• Answer: Yes

Babbett is our tipster? That seems a bit dumb, but may give us a clue as to his location. The tip came from a very distant place. Let's find out where. The dice tell us our caller is over three states away, to the east. That puts him square in the mid-Atlantic region. Let's pick Delaware. If he's on parole we can check with his parole officer and see if he reported that he was traveling.

• Q18: Does Babbett's parole officer know where he is? (unlikely)
• Answer: No

OK, he's officially wanted for murder. Too much evidence points to him, and he's already done time for a serious crime. Let's get notices out to state police in Delaware and surrounding jurisdictions.

All that does a pretty good job of cleaning things up. I feel a lot better about the focus of the investigation and where we go from here. We still have some people to check out, but Babbett, with his direct ties to the victims and prints everywhere, seems to be our man.

Next time we'll move forward with the usual scene-based play. For now, signing off.

• The next post in the series