Criminal Case: Pacific Bay

Chapter 25: Leap of Death-Part 3

While Marie and Amy were reviewing the case, Chief Marquez approached them and ordered Marie to get to the hotel lobby because Sven Blattner, the head of The International Ski Association, is holding a press conference and he was going to make a statement about Anjulie's death. When they heard that Sven was going to do that, Amy and Marie headed to the hotel to see what he has to say.

At the hotel lobby press conference, Marie and Amy stood in the crowd and they watched Sven approach the podium, clear his throat and then he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming. It is under unfortunate circumstances that we all have been brought together. Anjulie Cruz's death is a great tragedy to the entire skiing community and we cannot afford to let anymore female athletes die in such a manner. Therefore, the Women's Ski Jump category in the Frosty Cup, from here on out, will be banned!" And when they heard that, most of the women in the audience let out a loud gasp and most of them booed at Sven for his decision.

Once the press conference was over, Amy stared on in shock and she looked at Marie and exclaimed, "Did you hear that Marie?! Sven Blattner just banned Women's Ski Jump again! Do you think this was his plan all along?!"

Marie looked on in confusion and she said, "I don't know Amy. Besides, he didn't want women to compete anyway, so maybe having Anjulie killed would be a good excuse to get what he wanted. I think it would be a good idea to talk to him."

Marie also looked at the lobby and she said, "And since we're here, let's have another look around the hotel lobby. I think there's a good chance the killer must have come here to hear the consequences of the murder."

Amy agreed and told her that she'll clear the people out so they will investigate. Before they could look around the lobby, Marie and Amy decided to talk to Sven first. When Sven saw the two female officers, he smiled and said, "Officers, I'm so glad to see that you were at my press conference. Have either of you ladies seen my lip balm? I seem to have misplaced it."

The two female officers glared at the old man and Marie said to him, "No, Mr. Blattner, we haven't seen it. But we did hear that you cancelled the Women's Ski Jump even in the Frosty Cup. Seems it was easy to get rid of the event just like you wanted now that Anjulie is gone!"

Sven shook his head and he said, "This is all just one big misunderstanding officers. I didn't cancel the Women's Ski Jump out of discrimination. I did it for the women's safety! The truth is, we never should have had the event in the first place. At least not with the current ramps we have. It's been scientifically proven that women need longer ramps to gain enough speed for a safe landing. But building new ramps for just a couple of competitors would have cost us millions!

"But Anjulie insisted on getting the event into the Frosty Cup. So we obliged and warned them that it wouldn't be safe. And now she's dead and I hope the other female competitors will back down and leave the ISA alone!"

Once they were done talking to Sven Blattner and he left the hotel, Marie and Amy got to work looking around the lobby. It was then that Marie found a couple clues by the fireplace and Amy thought, good thing we aren't playing Finders Keepers. Otherwise Marie will be the winner. The first clue Marie found was a boycott flyer that said, 'Ban the Frosty Cup! Ban Anjulie!' When they saw that, the two female officers thought that not only did someone have a problem with their victim, but the whole Frosty Cup.

Marie also found a pile of broken pieces and she knew that they must be put back together. The first clue Marie looked at was the boycott flyer and she took her brush and powder and brushed over it until the fingerprints showed up on it. Before she could run the fingerprints through the database, to find out who they belong to, she got to work putting together the broken pieces until they were whole again. As soon as she was done, Marie and Amy saw that the pieces formed Anjulie Cruz's ski helmet.