DETECTIVE BROWN-Case 1: MIRA Murder Mystery

5:05 p.m., 9/28/2020

DEAD BODY REPORTED
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"Agh...Alright, I can confirm, now: it's NOT Brown. There's only one Impostor loose up here, and I've had my eye on her the entire time, just like I said I would."

He wasn't exactly flattering about it, but I was at least pleased that Black wasn't pointin' fingers at me anymore. And I was even more glad that him bein' on my tail instead of off doin' whatever confirmed the fact he was legitimate, too, so I made sure to speak up on that matter.

"Same goes for Black. He hasn't been anymore than three feet away from me since the last meeting."

Blue was the next one to speak up.

"Good to know. But as for who the Impostor IS, I think we're all on the same page...We all know who the last person to come out of there was."

Once again, every head in the room turned to look at Green. His arms were folded across the table, and he just stared down at them. He didn't stand up to defend himself, didn't point any fingers, he didn't even raise his head to look at any of us back. He looked just like any criminal in the interrogation room that knew he'd been busted, and knew he was gonna pay the price.

"I thought there was somethin' weird about him as soon as I stepped out of the elevator...Guess I should thank my intuition."

Black's intuition, however, seemed to have its doubts.

"Hang on. There is one thing we're overlooking here...Impostors, be they human or alien, know how to travel through the air vents scattered across our base and aircraft. They serve as shortcuts connecting different rooms, hiding spots, escape routes from a crime scene to feign innocence, etcetera. I've heard of an incident like this before with an alien Impostor loose on the Vit Orn; only two out of the seven crewmembers survived the massacre, and it was only when they caught the culprit escaping one of the crime scenes through a vent that it was apprehended and disposed of."

"Huh. I see..."

"With that in mind, I'm honestly surprised that Green didn't think to use the vents to escape the scene, and simply walked away from the body instead, considering there was nobody there to witness it at the time. Impostors, especially the alien one we're dealing with, are known and feared for their high levels of intelligence. And if it was Green who took Pink from us, I'd say that was a bloody stupid move he pulled."

"Maybe it was a reverse psychology trick," Purp chimed in, snapping his fingers as best he could with a heavy-duty glove on. "A way to get us to think he's innocent by doing something that would get him caught too easily."

THAT theory really grabbed my attention. Masking the murder by NOT masking it? I have yet to see a case like this back down on the ground, but I didn't doubt the possibility of the Impostor using psychological manipulation to pull a fast one on us. Especially if they're as smart as we're told.

"Interesting proposition, Blue. But either way, in response to something Pink said earlier, his thumbs look a lot more RED than green now...If only she'd seen it coming."

Blue gave me a nod before turning to face Green again.

"I second that. So. Green...Before we dispose of you, do you have anything else to say?"

He wasn't looking down anymore, rather he was staring at the empty seat that Pink had occupied during the last meeting, just off to his left.

Before any of us were able to cast our vote, Black spoke up again.

"Hold on a moment, everybody. I know Green isn't exactly in the best light right now, but...I feel as though we might still be missing a piece of the puzzle here. Especially with the vents in the picture."