Homicide - Sins Discovered

When we left our investigators, they had just finished up their interrogations of Albert Burns and Rose Marie Orr, the roommates of our murder victim, Scott Marin. Both had alibis for the night of the murder, and our primary suspect, Gabe Babbett, is looking better and better. Evan and Jeff's next move was to head over to Michelle Allen's place of work, a local religious center, and poke into the stolen property that seems to be the core motive for these murders.


With Jeff behind the wheel Evan spends a few minutes on the computer starting a search on rental car and flight records in Babbett's name. We'll also check status on his vehicle, and notify airport security at Indianapolis and Chicago, the nearest large airports, that Babbett is a wanted fugitive, along with a description of his vehicle. A quick check on Babbett's status...

• Q1: Has his car been recovered? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q2: Has he been captured? (Unlikely)
• Answer: Yes

Well, that was easy. The dice say Babbett's car is at Chicago airport. We'll have it impounded, and organize a forensics recovery. We are pretty sure Babbett is in Delaware, so let's check.

• Q3: Was Babbett captured in Delaware? (Near sure thing)
• Answer: No
• Q4: Was Babbett captured in Chicago? (Has to be)
• Answer: Extreme yes

Sounds like our criminal was caught trying to return to his vehicle. That's probably a bad sign for recovering the stolen goods, but puts him within reach. Sounds like it's time to arrange extradition and get him and his car back down here. I'll handwave this for now, and say it's in progress. Let's move on to our followup at the church.

I don't really care about the group beyond the fact that it's a religious organization, it had something valuable stolen, and it's near the Purdue campus, since it provides services to students. We'll visit the offices of our mythical organization and talk with the head administrator (spam folder says), Heather Graham. We have two main focuses here, finding out what was stolen, and who had access to the item, Scott or Michelle. We'll also inform Graham about the two murders, and see if she knows Babbett. Let's begin:

• Q5: Inform Graham of the two murders. Does she react appropriately? (Very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q6: Is Graham aware of any theft from the church? (Very likely)
• Answer: No
• Q7: Are there any valuables stored at the church that the dead would have access to? (Has to be)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q8: Can Graham check those items? (A sure thing)
• Answer: yes
• Q9: Is it missing/are they missing? (A sure thing)
• Answer: Yes

Well that explains the lack of reported theft. It sounds to me like the items are something not obvious or publicly visible. Given the nearby university, let's say they're important historic documents, stored in the church archives. Specialized enough that a trip to a distant state might be needed to sell them off. For now we'll get forensics here to process the scene and see if our two dead folks left behind evidence. We'll also lock down a few more details. Graham tells us the last time she saw the missing documents was the 5th, three days before the murders.

• Q10: Does Graham know Babbett? (Very unlikely)
• Answer: Extreme no
• Q11: Does she recognize his mug shot? (Very unlikely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q12: Has she seen him recently? (50/50)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q13: Since the night of the murder (the 8th)? (Likely)
• Answer: No
• Q14: With Michelle Allen? (Very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q15: With Scott Marin? (Likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes

OK we've established Babbett, Allen and Marin were all probably at the church. The extreme answers sounds like some kind of memorable event took place and that it was prior to the murder. That sounds like an argument or altercation. This is sounding more and more like some sort of forced cooperation to steal the artifact. Given Babbett and Allen are related and Marin had some sort of difference with Allen, it seems likely that Babbett and Allen were forcing Marin to help them. Let's see who had access to the documents. I'm guessing Marin, and a d100 roll bears that out (barely).

Our theory is holding up. Babbett and Allen force Marin to give them access to the missing document. They steal it and Marin ends up dead. Allen and Babbett fight, and Babbett kills Allen too. He panics and tries to hide their bodies. I'm guessing we'll find blood evidence in his truck when we process it. With his partners dead, Babbett flies out to Delaware to sell off the document, then gets nabbed on the way back (hey stupid criminals are stupid). Sounds like Babbett will be...

Behind Bars Soon

Good progress this turn. Babbett and his truck have been located, we've ID'd the stolen item, and our whole case is becoming more and more solid. Time to close for now.

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