Homicide - Remote Control

Last time, we had a pretty good lock on the events surrounding our two murders. We still have some loose ends to tie up though. Let's get to it!
At our church crime scene we have prints and blood that tied both Scott Marin and Gabe Babbett to the scene. We also have a parking ticket stub that linked Babbett's truck to the church location, so let's see if a canvas of the area turns up any witnesses. Since it's summer, it's more likely our witness is a staff member, not a student. Time for some Mythic GM questions:

• Q1: Any witnesses that saw any of our three thieves entering/departing the church? (unlikely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q2: More than one witness? (very unlikely)
• Answer: No
• Q3: Was the witness a member of the church staff? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme no
• Q4: University staff? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q5: Can they positively identify the thieves? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q6: Did they notice any injuries among the thieves? (somewhat likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Q7: Did they notice a gun? (50/50)
• Answer: No

OK, with further evidence against our trio of thieves secured I think we have enough evidence to insure we can hold Babbett for a while. With his criminal record, violations of parole, and evidence tying him to theft and murder, he's pretty well screwed. Let's see what our Delaware investigators have turned up. If you recall, they'd managed to trace Babbett's movement to a religious institution.

• Q8: Does the Delaware site have security? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q9: Any evidence of Babbett? (50/50)
• Answer: Yes
• Q10: Camera? (50/50)
• Answer: No
• Q11: Secure entrance / visitor log? (likely)
• Answer: Extreme yes
• Event: Focus: NPC Action. Meaning: Guide Illusions

So we know where Babbett went, and the event indicates Babbett, the only active NPC in Delaware, did something important. Guide Illusions doesn't suggest a lot to me, but, hmm. What if Illusions indicates a forgery? Maybe Babbett's contact in Delaware reveals that the documents he brought were fakes. That's... pretty nice actually.

Given that event and the information above, it sounds like our investigators in Delaware should be able to secure some additional information for us:

• Q12: Can we tell who Babbett visited? (very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q13: Can they positively ID Babbett? (very likely)
• Answer: Yes
• Q14: Can they positively ID the documents he had with him? (near sure thing)
• Answer: Yes

Another nail in the coffin for Babbett's parole violation and transporting stolen goods charges. That suggests a question:

• Q15: Did Babbett have the stolen goods with him when apprehended? (50/50)
• Answer: No
• Q16: Were they left in Delaware? (50/50)
• Answer: No

So our surviving thief has dumped the fake documents.That's too bad, as having them in hand would help strengthen our case, but it's not a terrible loss.

Looking back over our game summary, we've pretty much locked down the various NPCs and threads. The suspect NPCs all have alibis:

• Rose Marie Orr and Albert Burns - with each other, with additional phone/internet records to match.
• Mike Lewis - vacationing in the Great Lakes region
• Marin's parents - with each other, with phone records to match.
• Kevin Woods - no motive, but no alibi either.

Most of our threads have been pretty well closed too:

• Who killed Marin? Babbett
• Who killed Allen? Babbett
• Who was in Allen's apartment? Woods and Babbett
• What was stolen from Allen's apartment? The murder weapon and the stolen religious documents.
• Who stole the rental records? Woods, at Babbett's request.

Our theory is holding up. Given Babbett's record of  violent crime in the past, I don't think either of our investigators has a problem with him just losing his temper and shooting his accomplices. The main question mark left is why steal the apartment records? I don't really have a good answer there. Maybe Woods was meant to steal employment records to cover Babbett's tracks?

Anyhow, we're about done here. I think one more turn, which will focus on Babbett himself, will see us done. Until next time -- queue theme music.

• The next (and final) post in the series.