A Mysterious Dismemberment, What's This About?

This is Jarold XVI, he lives in the town of Gerome that his family founded. He, as any would assume of his name, is of the 16th generation of the town's founder, Jarold Gerome I. Jarold was outside of the manor playing with his dog Reese. "Go fetch, boy!" Jarold exclaimed. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the bugs were buzzing. The perfect day to be outside, had it been possible Jarold would've been on a picnic with his family like many families do. "Good boy Reese, now, GO FETCH!" he threw the stick again and watched his beautiful German shepherd, Reese run off to go grab the large stick the two had been playing with all afternoon. Jarold was content, but he wanted a challenge, some sort of puzzle, a mystery, anything would do. "Go fetch," he threw the stick again. Little did Jarold know that his wish would be granted, just with higher stakes than he had ever seen before.

"Jarold!" Jarold's father, Jarold yelled, "There's a guest here to see you!"

"Coming father!" Jarold yelled back. He ran back into the manor, Reese in tow, only to be met with the sight of his grandfather, Jarold XIV having tea with the police chief and his father.

"Ah lovely of you to join us, Jarold. Please, take a seat," his grandfather said with a hidden demand, Jarold decided that it would be a great idea to not become homeless or grounded, so he sat for tea.

"What's this about?" Jarold questioned, "Did something happen? Did I do something wrong? I don't think I did, but it's always a possibility-"

"Calm down my boy, you did nothing wrong. In fact it's quite the opposite, you have always been good at solving difficult puzzles and we need that expertise in solving a crime... You up to it boy?" police chief Fronds calmly explained to a rather flustered Jarold.

"Of course I'm up to it! Why hadn't you asked any sooner rather than asking to have tea, it's always better to skip the small talk in times such as this," Jarold cried, barely keeping his volume down to appease his elders.

"I could have, however my boy, I have some important details I need to share before you can fully agree to this. Although I love the enthusiasm," chief Fronds replied, calm as ever, "Like how you may have a personal connection to this case. The Victim is believed to be a worker at the Gerome manor. She was a young lady with blonde hair in a braid. On top of that, the most peculiar thing was found on the scene, a single cleaned out jar of peanut butter with a ripped off label."

"That is indeed peculiar, do we know who this young lady was? I presume not, since you never mentioned a name. Perhaps I may be able to help, I know all the workers within the manor and some have been off elsewhere, I thought nothing of it," Jarold added, intrigued, "Shall we go, chief?"

Off we go to solve something new Jarold thought. He followed the chief with Reese in tow. Jarold never leaves Reese behind even to formal events and family dinners. They walked in silence, right, left, right. Jarold's mind began to wander. Who died? When? Did no-one notice they never made it home? Should they have even been off? Do I... know them? Did no-one notice they were gone? I'm sure someone did. Maybe we could look into recent missing persons files to see if we can identify them, I'm sure that would work. Who killed them? What was the motive behind it? Were they the only one killed? Was there an accomplice or was the murderer working alone? Was it planned? Perhaps a crime in the heat of the moment... Maybe for love or to keep a secret. What is Reese doing? You know what I don't care about that right now. Is there something the police missed? I should do a thorough search of the scene just to be sure, Reese can help me find clues close to the ground. Why the peanut butter? Is it a coincidence or part of the crime? Before Jarold's mind could wander any further he began to observe the nature nearby.

It was a beautiful day. The wind gently rustled the leaves in the treetops. Walking on the path, no-one could step on the leaves as they had all been cleared to the edge of the path. The only sounds to be heard were the gentle patter of footsteps, the clink of a dog's collar, and distant birds chirping. Looking at the leaves on the sides of the path, they were all dead and mushed up while the leaves on the branches were all a vibrant green. It was warm, not too much so, just warm. Breathing in, you could smell the mornings' campfires, now extinguished. The path was ever so slightly wet yet no puddles were to be seen, even within the small dips. There was the occasional dog walker heading to and from nearby parks, only one had no dogs or walkers within it. This was the place the body was found.