Murders of the Past

Shear Murder

"You've been doing a smashing job at the Flying Squad since your arrival in Concordia, Argo. Not the least of which is keeping any hint of complicated work off my desk!" Arthur smiles, gesturing to his paper-free desk, "not only have you solved four murders, you've already uncovered pockets of corruption within the Concordian Police Department! A young officer, manipulated into destroying important evidence under duress from one of this city's most undesirable individuals, was found to be responsible for starting the Concordian fire!"

"At the same time, there are rumours that large numbers of Irish immigrants are being exploited as cheap labour," Argo states, "to top it all off, according to my source, as annoying as he can be... A leading member of the Irish community may not be as respectable as we all think."

"But with the Irish population in Concordia growing by the day, your search is going to be difficult. We-"

"I'm afraid that will have to wait, Arthur. I have just been informed that a dear friend of mine, Maximillian Poe, has been found dead in his greenhouse!" Talmadge Baldwin announces as he marches into the Chief's office, "Max is... or was... a keen businessman who's had a rough time of late. His wife Valeria tragically passed away six months ago."

"Understood, Commissioner. Argo," Arthur faces the detective, "you're going to have to put everything else on hold. I need you and Detective Bontemps to get down to the Poe residence, quick smart!"

Argo salutes, "we'll leave subito, Chief!"

Argo left the Chief's office and grabbed Isaac from his office and Dick from the morgue, briefing the older men on the case as they exited the airship. They drove to the address Commissioner Baldwin provided and located the large greenhouse garden in the back of the home where Maximillain's body was reported to be. They walked into the hot room made of glass and immediately found the victim's body lying on his back on the cement floor with a pair of gardening shears plunged into his chest. While Dick got to work getting the body into a bag for transport, Argo searched the crime scene and found a cake server on the glass table in the corner of the room. Blue frosting was smeared on the server, and he made out a fingerprint in it.

"Unless death by garden shears is a leading cause of accidents in New Haven, the Master of the house appears to have been murdered!" Isaac says, "I'm no coroner, but it does not take an expert to realize this man was stabbed with those garden shears."

"An astounding observation, Isaac," Dick yawns.

He rolls his eyes, "just inform us when you are finished with your autopsy, Richard."

"Thank heavens, the Flying Squad!" a young woman in a maid's uniform cries as she rushes into the greenhouse, "poor Master Poe... this is so..."

"Calm down, my dear. What is your name?" Isaac asks gently.

"Audrey Scott. I..." Audrey sniffles, "I work in the Master's kitchen."

"Try to relax, Miss Scott. Detective Argo will need to have a word with you in a moment," he requests, "I also notice you've astutely observed a fingerprint in the icing on that cake server, Argo. With luck, it will be a good enough specimen to find a match in that catalogue the Department is compiling."

"And hopefully, it will help lead us to our killer!" Argo replies, "the Commissioner and the Chief are counting on us to solve this murder! We mustn't let them down!"

With Dick almost done preparing the body for transport, Argo and Isaac asked Audrey to show them inside so they could speak with her about the murder.

"Now, Miss Scott. Is there anything you can tell Detective Argo and I about what happened here?" Issac inquired.