Family comes before crime: Spin off the Criminal Case Files

Kill that runway

Today (outfit 7) when I got to work King sent us back out to the last place I wanted to be which of course was the mall. And why? I'll tell you why! Apparently according to King there was a woman murdered in a clothing store. And some guy named Odell Toole reported the crime. IDK why but every time I get told that someone that ends up being a suspect in a case reports the crime always makes them sound that much more suspicious to me.

Maybe it because I work for 3 Government organizations or because this has happened before where the killer was also the reporter but either way when we would get done with our opening scene we'd talk with him. Which is exactly what we did when we got there. I sent Don and Jones to talk to our first suspect while Farlie and I scoped out the scene of the crime.

I first took a look at the shape our victim was in noticing that she looked like she was just another mannequin and whoever this woman was she definitely didn't deserve to die like this or at all. Watcha got there girl? I asked Farlie. Man me and you we could solve this case just the two of us couldn't we? Like some kind of Nancy Drew team.

Hm.... Her ID says her name was Lucy Campbell and we should probably take her bag with us as evidence so that we can take a look at the inside of it later but for now let's move to the side and let the guys bag her body up so they can get it off to Nathan. So, you guys what did Odell tell you?

Well, he says at first he was just cleaning the alleys and thought she had at first been a cool looking mannequin. Jones started. But.... It turns out he's not all that surprised that our victim ended up dead. Don told me. How come? It turns out that she was the owner of the shop and never let anyone forget it that she looked down on a lot of people.

Jones told me. Right, I can imagine that means that most people would understand why whoever killed her you know killed her. I nodded my head. Anything else? Well Mr. Toole said he heard her and saw her talking with someone this morning before he saw her body but doesn't know who they were or what they looked like. Don tells me. Excellent!

You're telling me, now let's go see what Nathan has to say about her body. We headed back to HQ and went down to visit him. Well gang your victim was dead before she was put onto that mannequin stand she was first strangled with something metallic and there was saliva on her clothes that wasn't hers and I can tell you that your killer drinks diet soda and it's no wonder considering your killer is also diabetic.

That's great Nathan. Jones Don did one of you happen to write that stuff down since you won't let me write it myself? Of course we did because you have the handwriting of a Dr. my brother reminds me. Yeah our Rabbi would say I had the handwriting of a Rabbi. But to everyone else it's just "chicken scratch." (Which is actually true.)

Well, now that we have her bag we should go through it. Already ahead of you Jones. And perfect the biggest clue we'll probably ever get. Her cellphone which of course is locked by code and even if we can get it unlocked we'd still need an address for the person who she last called or that last called her.

Charlie Alex present for you think fast! I toss it at them. This won't take long, I'll have the code part cracked in a couple secs and Alex can look up the address to whoever called her last. Stick around for a sec we'll be right with you. I leaned over to watch and as Charlie got it unlocked turns out this girl Kimmy called Lucy a lot last night and of course without an address that's where Alex comes in.

Watcha got for me Alex? Yeah see the Kimmy that called Lucy so much last night is Kim Aoki and here is her address he says handing me a piece of paper with our next scene to go check out. When we went to go talk to Kim I sat and talked with her it turns out that she'd called Lucy 10 times last night and now that we'd gone and told her that Lucy was dead it was no wonder she wouldn't return her calls.

What happened last night? I asked her. I thought she was just mad at me and didn't want to talk to me. Lucy said she wanted to party last night and we ended up at this bar called the Golden Thimble but we got into a fight and I ended up going home early. Hey I know that place Winters Jones told me. Let's get going. Once we left we headed out to the bar.

But before we could search the place we got stopped by the owner Nina Hunt and she told us that we couldn't search her bar without her permission. We're here on the account that we know that Lucy Campbell was here last night and we found her dead in her store this morning. Jones told her. Dead? How tragic?!

I saw her leave last night with a huge douchebag he kept using my waitresses notepad to hand off his number to all the women. Once we took a look inside we found the notepad she was talking about. Once we revealed that there was a phone number on the notepad we decided it was the probably the mysterious man that kept giving all those women his phone number that Nina was talking about and now that we had it we brought it to Alex so that he could figure out whose number it belonged to.

Turns out the number belongs to a certain Joey Manzano Ale told us. Great thanks Alex let's go track him down I told the guys. And this time I'll do the talking ok? Don asked me. Sure thing. Mr. Manzano we found out that you're the last person to see Lucy Campbell alive last night and heard that you went home with her after leaving the Golden Thimble bar last night.

Whoa, am I a suspect? He asks us. Damn I knew that chick was trouble I flirted with her and she flirted with me right back but I didn't go home with her last night she was stuck up like you wouldn't believe I ended up going home with a different girl that night. He told us.

Well let's recap what we know so far we have no tangible suspects, we've got a woman found dead in her own store and her friend Kim didn't really have anything to say to us about her. But Nina and Joey are telling us two different stories. I think we should go back to the bar and while you and Jones talk with Nina again I'll scope out the counter.

Also at some point we need to head back to the mall and take a look at the rest of it see if we can dig up anything else there. Sounds like a plan little sister. We're on it. Ms. Hunt we talked to Joey and he said that he didn't leave the bar with Lucy last night. Don told her. Look, I may own a bar but I only drink diet cola I know what I saw and that's Joey leaving with Lucy at least Kim was smarter than to talk to Joey unlike Lucy.

IDK who to believe Jones said to Don, but my money is on Nina. Yeah? No kidding. Maybe while Farrah is looking around the counter she'll come across something that will tell us when Joey left the bar last night. That I did big brother. What did you find? Well, it's not really what I found but I know the best way to find out that info is to find the receipt and I'm guessing there's one in the cash registrar.

Only, it's locked. Luckily the last time we talked to Nina as a group I managed to get the key to something. It has an R and a $ on it I got lucky and guessed it was for this. So, now we don't have to ask people to crack the code cause we don't have time for that and we don't have to ask Nina and I won't use my gifts since you don't like it when I do that. Well then let's get cracking get that registrar opened.

Well there is only one in here and it's the same time as when Lucy left and there are fingerprints everywhere I'm willing to bet they belong to Joey. Let's go talk to him again and ask why he lied to us. Jones said. I'll talk to him this time he told us. The jig is up Joey tell us why you lied to us about leaving with Lucy!

I'm telling you I didn't leave with her, I'd planned to but she told me that she was only trying to make her lover jealous. And I pity the poor man. Another thing, we see you only bought the one drink and it's diet soda. Why? Ever heard of diabetes? Damn cops and their stupid questions. I'd heard him mumble as we left him.

So, it turns out they were both right and wrong. Sound familiar? Yeah, the time that I put the wrong guy away for murder because he confessed and then it turned out to be the music teacher that liked Opera that killed both of them. The thing about the poisoned cat in a box. Both dead and both alive until we open it. Don agreed with me. Someday you should tell me the stories of all these past cases. Jones smiled at us.

Maybe, but not right now. We now arrived at the main hallway of the mall and before we searched the scene we looked over and saw the security guard Biff Wellington from the case with Trixie. Guess he probably didn't want at the club anymore after what happened to Trixie after we're done here we should say hello. Jones encouraged.

Well, the only thing worth looking into that I see right now is the trash bin hand me a pair of gloves. I put them on and stick my hand in and use my abilities to move the trash around without touching it. There's a hanger in here and it has blood on it after we talk to Biff we should get this to Nathan. Unless we have someone else we need to talk to on our way back.

But for now let's bag this up it could be our murder weapon after all. Hey Biff we greet him. Winters, Eppes, Jones it's good to see you guys again. I heard about Lucy Campbell sounds like everywhere I go there are pretty girls meeting bad ends I only talked to her a couple of times but she seemed nice I bet her girlfriend Kim is devastated.

So, Lucy was dating Kim well she never told us that. Sounds like someone has some explaining to do. Jones reminded us. So, we went back to talk to Kim. But before I could talk to her calmly about it she asked us how it was our business that she and Lucy were dating and Jones jumped to accusations about how it was our business because her girlfriend had been brutally murdered a few hours after their fight.

But Kim said she would never lay a harmful finger on Lucy and that we should come back with evidence that she would otherwise before we go around with such accusations. When we got back to HQ we brought the hanger to Nathan who confirmed that the hanger was the murder weapon and once more he told us that the way it was twisted told us that the killer was also righthanded.

Now that we needed undercover work to be done and normally I'd do it if I wasn't leading these side cases under my brothers watch. So now Ramirez was called in to do that for us and that he would go undercover trying to figure out which of our suspects were right handed. And while he was doing that.... Let's go back to her store and find any other clues and see if Biff can help us. I told the guys.

Sounds good Jones and I will talk with Biff and you can search the store. On it come on Farlie let's go. But before I could search I ran into Mr. Toole who offered me a diet soda that he says he much prefers regular but that he has diabetes. No thanks I shook my head. I don't drink soda unless it's sprite or Baja Blast when I can get my hands on it. (Still a real thing, since Lemonade is it's own category)

But now I knew that Mr. Toole drank diet soda and has diabetes. I'd be sure to tell the guys that so that they could write it down but he also told me that if I was still looking for clues he saw something in her shop. Which was where I was heading in the first place. Once I did I wondered if our killer wanted to get caught.

Why? Because I'd found a bloody glove on the scene and needed to get a sample of it for Grace to look over. This killer was either stupid or cunning. So, I hit the home button on the watch and brought the evidence to Grace to look after and then while she did that I called the guys to see what they got while talking to Biff.

Me: Hey guys any luck with Biff? Don: Sure did turns out that there's a security camera that over looks the whole west alley. Me: That's great guys! Jones: Except.... All the tapes got erased. Me: Oh no. Don: But he told us that they have a failproof system by the escalators and we were on our way there now and Ramirez stopped by and told us that everyone except Biff is right handed.

And since you're calling instead of just coming to us you've got info and you're at HQ. My brother guessed. Me: I sure do. I found a bloody glove on the scene and ran into Mr. Toole just before he drinks diet soda and is also diabetic. Jones: That's great! But also stupid on the killer's part. Me: Grace has more for me she said it's not the victims blood but it is the killer and she can't tell whose blood it is or the type because it's so contaminated but she did tell me that whoever it is does have green eyes.

Don: Well I think after we get this camera off to Charlie and his friends and get them to help us put the camera back together we can get any one of them to tell us what was found on it. Me: And I can always pull them to HQ with me at the push of a button. They can help Charlie put it back together. With all 3 of them working on it, it shouldn't be hard.

Jones: Great well we're coming you way now. Me: K I'll beam them up Scotty. Don: You do that kid. See ya. Once I get Larry and Amita to HQ I tell them about the case and what I need their helping doing. We hand them the camera once Don and Jones get back and once they're done the 4 of them work together to give us our last and final clue.

Whatcha guys got Alex? Well the lights were off so it's hard to see who did it but I can tell you this. Your killer is 6'3. Now with enough info we were able to arrest Odell who was wondering when we'd put the pieces together hoping he'd get arrested. You guys remember that case with the fires? And how the college student admitted to setting them? And then Charlie was talking about how the guy in London who burned down the bridge admitted that he did it even though we wasn't anywhere near it when it happened?

Just like that case it was all about getting attention. That someone would remember his name and that no one would laugh at him anymore as just the cleaning crew guy and laugh at him being poor that Lucy looked down at everyone and was stuck up and he was glad he did it and he had even helped us. And he ended up getting 20 years in jail after being told that everyone's life had value and that when he got out he'd be sure everyone would remember what he did and who he was.

But Jones said that a BBQ weekend was enough scapegoat for him and even invited us to a BBQ with him next weekend if we weren't busy. We'll find time to come over Jones thank you. My brothers and our gang will surely appreciate that. When we returned we were told that there was a complaint about Nina selling absinthe even though it was illegal and that we would have to talk to her about it. And we should check on Kim and Jones wanted to talk to Biff since we barely got to talk to him at all.

Great well Don go to the bar talk some sense into Nina, Jones come with me you talk to Biff and I'll go to the shop and talk to Kim. Sounds good. So, Jones talked to Biff who liked his new job but lost his MP3 player and was board without his music so Jones went to escalator to go look for it.

There he found the cleaning trolley and on it was an MP3 player but he wanted to check the database before giving it back to Biff and once he did we found out that Biff likes classical music like Mozart and that Jones prefers country music and Biff thanked him by offering him a burger on him while he listened to his country music.

Meanwhile at the bar Don went to go talk to Nina about the absinthe. But she said she'd never sold someone absinthe but then Don looked around the place and found a spoon with it on it and got the sample to Grace who confirmed it and he went back to make her pay the fine for it. Wait, I have to pay for a spoon?! Am I responsible for the stuff my clients leave at my bar? Unfortunately yes Ms. Hunt and I'd pay that fine off as fast as you can.

And with Kim at the mall.... Hey Kim how are you holding up? I asked her. Well next week is fashion week and I wanted to pay a tribute to Lucy in it but I can't find the sketch of her latest design. Will you help me look for it? Of course Kim this shouldn't take me too long. I look around the store and the only thing worth searching was a cardboard box.

To which I find some pieces of paper ripped up which should be the sketch. So, with no one else here I put the paper back together again my way so that I could turn it around and give it right back to her. Here you go Kim Lucy was a talented young lady. Terrific! I'm so glad. BTW you got a first name Ms. Winters?

How about the name Jade? Ok then Jade. I wanted to make a spring collection in memory of Lucy called Lucy's dream. I'm sure she'd love it. And I wish you luck with you're collection. But.... Why did you ask for my name? Because look at you?! One you're not dressed like a cop/FBI person so you must be an undercover cop, you look about college age.... You're also totally beautiful! She squealed.

You'd be perfect to be a one of my models for the upcoming fashion show I'd be holding when I'm done making the collection. What kind of makeup do you use? And what kind of mascara do you put on your eyes? I don't I shake my head. You don't what? Neither. I hate makeup with a burning passion and my eyelashes are naturally thick and naturally this long and naturally this dark.

No way I'd kill to have your eyelashes girl. Or you know of course not literally sorry bad choice of words. But working with a natural beauty as my model would be amazing and it would be so much to me since it's a tribute to my late girlfriend. Please say you'll help me? How can I refuse? MT: Seriously how can I say no especially since it would be such a nice thing to do?

You didn't tell me that. Charlie nudges me as we're all now sitting in Chris's bakery at the end of another case as we promised to come by and tell him about our cases once we were done with them since we've been ending up here after every case anyways. Well I just did. Kim is out of her mind! I shake my head. But there was no way I would've been able to turn her down.

Why do you say that? Chris asked me. Which part? The being out of her mind part. IDK how much more clear I can be here Chris I shrug. Charlie do you know where she's going with this? He lifts an eyebrow. Charlie rolls his eyes. She doesn't take compliments well like at all. She thinks she's out of her mind because she doesn't think she's beautiful and clearly not beautiful enough to ever be considered a model.

Why would you think that? Chris asks me. Because I don't look like other girls all the other girls have boyfriends and wear makeup or are actually models for a living. Besides I'd rather be nice than pretty. You're saying you can't be both? Chris questions. Chris if there was one song I could think of at the top of my head in this situation it would be that song that band sings that "You don't know you're beautiful" song. That I hear on the radio all the time.

Of course my brothers would say that family is always gonna try to build your confidence and make you think things that aren't true just cause they're your family and want to cheer you on. Watch you succeed. But I'm not a sibling of yours. Chris points out. You might as well be. Everyone and every team I've ever been a part of is like a family. Related or not. And that includes my theatre family at school so that includes Justin and Jack.

You sell yourself short too much. Charlie tells me. It's not a lie if it's true facts aren't lies. It's not a fact it's an opinion. Ok but that's like saying Justin is talented is a fact even though a lot of people don't like him. (Something my once said) And if you need a 3rd unbiased opinion Kim said she wants you to be a model in her show. When the line is finished.

And you promised her you would. But she doesn't even know me. Exactly my brother agrees. She's unbiased. You wanted another opinion there you go. There who go? Farrah got asked by Kim to be a model in her spring collection show when he collection is finished as a tribute to her girlfriend Lucy since she thinks she's so beautiful and would love working with a natural beautiful model.

Well she's right Farrah is beautiful. Anyone who meets her would think the same thing. Yeah except for herself. Yeah, well you didn't tell me that part Angel. Well now everyone knows. And I only said yes because there was no way I could say no literally. I tried I just couldn't find the words.

Can't you just say thank you and move on with your life. Take a compliment every once in a while. Been trying to tell her that for 18 years. That may be a slight exaggeration since I'm only still 17. And barely turned. She also thought I was a college student. Technically you should be 18 and just barely turned. Why's that? Chris asks.

I was gonna ask the same thing. Jones says. We're not getting into that complication right now. We'll explain at a later date sometime after I turn 18. (In the main story vs a spin off cause in the main story I'm already 18) And on that note, we'll be seeing you all later. Bye Chris goodnight Jones. Both: Night guys.