Haunted Halloween III: Who killed Bishop Crane?

02:50 AM

(Banner by the squeezably soft, Seridano.)

Okay junior detective, you've put in your accusations, and now, at long last, it's time to finally find out..

Who killed Bishop Crane?

..

After the raffle.

04:04 PM

SUPER AWESOME COSTUME RAFFLE WINNERS!

Thanks for waiting! We've finally got the raffle winners. :3

My costume bits:
Kitsune & Kaboodle -- zigbigadorlube (87)
Fox Spirit -- sushi_mew (104)
Fox Hat -- Zombie Pixie (37)
Cute Witch or Cute Wizard Commons Set -- Cora (25) (Please choose which you want and post here or PM me.)
Yumeh Plush -- Emma Corrinn (29)
Witch's Broom -- Zombie Pixie (107)
Festive Pumpkin Lolly -- DivineHeart (28)

Howdy's costume bits:
BRAINZZZ -- Death_to_the_reaper (10)
Shiver Me Timbers -- HIM_ROCK (88)
Reef Explorer -- Dystopia (82)
GIANT Spork or The Big BANG -- PrincessKasumi (54) (Please choose which you want and post here or PM me.)
The Star Eater's Wig -- Exaggerated Rebellion (33)
Piratey Commons Ensemble -- elizabeth_mazur (84)
Where's the Rum? -- Hadsvich (34)

Trunk-of-Belly's-car Pool:
(AKA "Random other stuff" - we put the leftover tickets together for these bits.)
Ixion's Children -- LaVida
Yellow Suntinas Bouquet -- Damia Flagg
Steampunk Headgear -- Maria-Minamino
Precious Wizards -- spicedroses
George the Alpaca -- pollik17
My Little Vicky Dolly -- Shania583
Pink Apollo Toga -- Irishrain
Nero's White Robe -- numerica
Jester Hat -- Ling
Red Marigold Bouquet -- Ascadellia
Cloak of Death -- EirianHikari

04:02 PM

Alright everyone, as with every murder investigation, we've first held the raffle. But now it's time for the main event. We've carefully analyzed the evidence, and the killer is none other than...

Nathan Matsuyama
.. Crane's estranged, eldest son!

Alright, you caught me. I knew you guys would. It was only a matter of time.

Yeah, I did it. I offed the old man. But he owed me. For three years I was his slave. He promised me the world, then took it all back in an instant. He broke his word, and I snapped.

I guess you wanna hear how we got to this point. – See, growing up, my mother and I only had each other. My dad died in a car accident before I was born, or so I thought. But then when I turned eighteen, I was told the truth. My father was alive. And not just alive, but was in fact Bishop Crane, the wealthy industrialist and owner of the renowned Crane Games toy company. My mind was blown.

Mom explained she and him had a brief affair years ago, while he was on business trip. It was over before it even began. She was young, she said, and felt ashamed to have been with a married man. He was long gone when she found herself pregnant with me. He didn’t know. So she decided to raise me alone; leave the past where it was and not bother him. She told me that it was probably best not to dwell on it and get on with my life. But I just… I couldn’t do it. Too many times I found myself wondering what kind of man my father was. It became an obsession. I had to know.

I didn’t tell mom the reason I moved out here was to look for him; that I had gotten a job at Crane Games. There was no real plan of action. Initially, I just wanted to observe him from afar. It was during this time I learned what everyone else knew already. Bishop Crane, my dad, was a loathsome, miserable son of a bitch. I carried with me this idea of what my father would be like. But it turned out to be a pipe dream. That was the first time he let me down. I backed off, and decided maybe I didn’t want to know him.

I stayed on at Crane Games, though. It was good work. But a year in, my mom was diagnosed with something really bad, and she was gonna need extensive treatment. Expensive treatment, that was only partially paid by her insurance. I’m her only family; it was my duty step up and help pay the bills. But it broke my heart that no matter how much I worked, no matter how much overtime I put in, it wasn’t enough. Something had to be done, so I swallowed my pride.

The story of meeting my father by the elevator that day was true. I told him who I was, that I was his son. He didn’t believe me, and accused me of trying to extort money from him. But when I gave him my mom’s name, he paused and looked at me for moment in disbelief. “You have my eyes.” He said. Then without another word, he left.

I feared what was awaiting me, coming into work the next day. And when I was called up to his office, I prepared for the worst. But to my surprise, I was appointed as his personal secretary. That was just a cover for what he really had in mind, though. First, he said, we would need a blood test, which he arranged in secret. The results confirmed his paternity. That out of the way, we moved on to the next step.

He was getting on in years and would soon need a successor. Brad could never be trusted to run the company. He was lazy, irresponsible and vain. “That boy would be the death of Crane Games,” father said. But now there was another option. He wanted me to take over for him. He would train me in the ways of the business, in secret, and when the time was right would reveal our relationship to the world. It would cause a scandal, he said, and would need to be hidden in the meantime. It seemed like such a heavy burden, but there was a part of me, even knowing what kind of man he was, that wanted so much to be approved of by my father. To be wanted by him. And here it was, he wanted me.

But all too soon I learned that no, it wasn’t about me. It was always about the company.

That old man worked me to the bone. And I think that I wouldn’t have been so bothered by it if only he had showed me more often the kindness I craved. I wanted him to be my father. That’s all. But what we had was more like a business arrangement. I was jealous of my brother, Brad. Their relationship was tumultuous, but he treated that spoiled brat more like a son than he did me. It wasn't fair.

More than once I thought of walking away from the deal. But at those times I would think of my mother, who gave up so much for me. Father had gifted me the money to pay for her bills, but there was so much more I wanted for mom. Becoming the head of Crane Games also came with the Crane family fortune, and with that money I could afford her a better life. And so I stayed.

I stayed for three years, under his thumb. All so I could make a future for myself and my mom. And then in an instant it was gone. He wouldn’t say what the announcement was, but I eagerly hoped everything would finally be out in the open. But seeing my excitement, he confessed the truth. He decided to give Brad a second chance. That maybe officially naming him as successor would instill some responsibility in my brother. It would just be too much bad PR, my father said, for a wholesome company like Crane Games to be taken over by the bastard son of its owner.

My hands began to shake.

Three years… For three years I put up with his crap! It was mine! I worked for it! I did everything he said! I learned that business inside and out! I stood by him obediently, and here he was giving what was rightfully mine to my worthless brother! I grew up with nothing, while Brad was handed everything on a silver platter! It was my time! I deserved it, not him! That goddamned old man owed me! ... He thought I was weak. Well I showed him that I would not be denied. I picked up the letter opener and I went at him! I went at him again! Again and again and again! …

That was the last time my father let me down. Too many times he let me down, so I made sure he would never do it again.

01:13 AM

TOP GUMSHOES:

You put in the hours, got your hands dirty and helped us solve the case. Some a little more directly than others , but every bit counts! We gave some thought to how to best reward you guys, and here's what we came up with:
For correctly naming the killer = 7k gold
For each correct clue = 250g
For guessing most clues correctly = 2k gold bonus
If you got nothing correct but still submitted a full report = 250g
You got nothing correct & didn't list any clues = 100g
And, because some of these writeups were simply fantastic, we wanted to be able to reward creative imaginings too. So we've each got a set of prize medals to distribute to our favorite writeups. You'll find those below.

Thank you all so much for your assistance. It's been a pleasure, junior detectives. *salutes*

For correctly guessing whodunnit, 7k:
Roxxxy and Woodlandnymph.

Roxxxy's EntryX

Woodlandnymph's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodlandnymph

Ah! Ok. I think I looked way too far into this, but here goes a ramble.

I believe the killer is:Nathan Matsuyama

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin:Book of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
Upper Deck:
Bar:Recipe
Game Room:
Pool: Taurus Constellation
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook & Romance Novel
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: Nathan illegitimate son of Mr. Crane, gets in close after finding out the truth about his father and kills him. He's upset he's over looked and that Brad, who isn't even Mr. Crane's real son gets to live a life of luxury while his mother and he are suffering .

Here's my reasoning:

I'm thinking Nathan and Lucy have a relationship. The book in her room makes it seem like she's smarter than she lets on. The constellation near the pool leads me back to Nathan because of the mythology following Taurus in which Zeus (Mr. Crane) seduces Europa, disguised as a bull. It leads to illegitimate children. Lucy knows Nathan is Mr. Crane's real son. I'm guessing the locket was a charm between the two of them that was kept for sentimental reasons.

The recipe lead me to the Arno River near Naples, Italy. It was repeated in poems by Frances Jane Forsayth, which lead me to the tale of Ugolino and Dante's Inferno, who had a special circle of hell shared with kin betrayers. Tales of Ugolino's imprisonment are spread through out literature and art, focusing on him and his sons...and his cannibalizing them to stay alive longer.

Samantha's book about Bathsheba and King David, who killed Bathsheba's husband after he slept with his wife and got her knocked up... His son Absalom later betrays him and started a civil war.... and was generally a playboy. That made me suspect Brad for a while, but again. I just have the feeling that he wasn't Crane's real son.

Red Herring: Samantha and Balthazar's past? He mentioned a woman in a bar in Santa Fe. The Matchbook has a Santa Fe area code on it. Bradley goes down to confront his uncle because, as it turns out, he's his son with Samantha. Not wanting to lose out on his playboy lifestyle and money, he keeps quiet.

I dunno. Honestly. I kind followed too many leads and got everything fuzzled up in my head. This is why I'd be a shit detective. With my convoluted story, (mostly in my head) pretty much everyone has motive. Well, not SO much Lucy....I just think she ties in with other characters. Loretta is too obvious, since she's known about her husband's infidelity. Jacobs as well. He's had a lot handed to him because of Crane Toys.

Sorry for my ramble Belly,I hope that it amuses you in its nonsensicalness.

For getting most clues correct, 2k bonus:
numerica, p o p p e t ♥, RhianwenHikari, Shadami, X---AznCo0ki3

numerica's entryX

RhianwenHikari's EntryX

Shadami's EntryX

X---AznCo0ki3's EntryX

Remember, you'll all also receive 250g per correct clue guessed. See the coming posts for details. :D

Belly's Picks

Most Plausible Alternative Ending: Wyrmskyld
For only having one of the clues correct, your take on the events was amazingly plausible.
Your report was so well thought-out, you nearly had us convinced!

Medal of Totally Epic Win

Wyrmskyld's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyrmskyld

I know you said not to write a novel, but... there's a lot going on!

I believe the killer is: Loretta and Brad Crane

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Book of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics
Upper Deck: Ulrich's Notebook
Bar: Recipe
Game Room: Dead Man's Hand
Pool: Constellation
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: Loretta wanted revenge for the prenup fiasco, and Brad wanted his allowance back.

Here's my reasoning: Loretta came up with this plan during a casual conversation with Ulrich about his newest game, Clupea. She wanted Brad's help, and talked him around-- they only disagreed on whether or not to frame Lucy for the murder. Loretta wanted to frame her, Brad didn't and suggested framing Balthazar instead. The whole thing was supposed to happen at Bishop's house, but they decided a ship full of people with reason to hate Bishop was too good an opportunity to turn up. They developed a code to communicate with, in the form of innocent-looking recipe cards.

The murderers snuck onto the ship earlier than the rest of the party and Brad started carving the constellation Taurus into the ceiling, because his mother told him to-- he didn't ask many questions, trusting her when she said it was part of the murder. He panicked and ran before the constellation was complete because the marble that made Aldebaran yellow dropped into the pool and he thought it was the sound of someone coming. He hid in the game room and noticed an abandoned poker game. Thinking it would be a good way to frame his uncle, who everyone knows lost his eye cheating at poker, he set the dead man's hand face up on the table.

Meanwhile, Loretta was hiding the book under Lucy's pillow with a particular page dogeared-- the one where Ishtar sends Taurus to punish Gilgamesh for turning her down. She also stole a locket from the luggage that had been sent up early, and angrily scratched the 'Crane' from the inside-- Bishop really -was- planning on marrying the brat! She then killed Bishop, knowing from her father's food business how to butcher something without getting too bloody. She dropped the locket there and hurried back to the bar to get a drink to calm her nerves. She didn't even notice dropping the code-recipe under a chair on her way to the liquor.

Brad, having finished his part, went to meet his mother in Bishop's office, only to find the old man already dead. He also found the locket he'd seen Lucy wearing. Intending to protect her, he took the locket, and remembered he had a matchbook he'd gotten in Texas while begging his uncle to intercede with Bishop. He put it in the locket's place and headed back to the lounge to hide the locket.

Samantha was the one to find the body... and also the one to find the matchbook. She was sure it belonged to Loretta, what with the older woman's awful smoking habit, and decided to keep it to use as leverage in case the next generation wanted her out of the CEO position.

Best Meltdown: Antagonist
You thought very hard about these clues.. perhaps, too hard.

Watching you suffer so was far too endearing not to reward!

Medal of Shiny Awesomeness

Antagonist's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antagonist

I believe the killer is: Brad Crane

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: The painting. Brad had drawn it and given it to Lucy as a gift, though obviously his art skills needed some brushing up. (Pun totally not intended) He had dressed up as a clown during one of the parties he had gone to and Lucy had been quite amused with it and dubbed him 'Toodles'.
Upper Deck: Ulrich's book. Brad purposefully left it there, knowing that it contained descriptions and ideas about a murder case, in order to make it look as though Ulrich was the killer and throw the detectives off his track.
Bar: Recipe. The recipe was given to Brad by Lucy who told him that she liked it, and Brad, wanting to impress her, wanted to try and make it. It ended in disaster, so he brought it along to ask his mother how to make it. His mother told him plainly that the recipe makes no sense because the water itself was not enough to make servings for 7 people and rarely do anyone use roosters when using chicken meat because unless weaned rooster meat tastes foul after their first crow. And who tosses in the entire fish body without cleaning out their guts first? That would taste horrid! And hotdogs in a soup? Ew! After hearing his mother's reasoning, Brad decided it wasn't worth it and left it at the bar.
Game Room: The flag. Balthazar lied about no one in the game room, or else there wouldn't have been a game mid-played on the table unless he was bored enough to arrange it into that for some reason...the symbol on the flag was actually just a poor blank flag that was used to keep score. However the first game was never finished because the person who got the dead man's hand took it as an omen and left before the game finished......
Pool:...
Samantha's Cabin:...
Lounge:...

...Eff this. I'm writing it based on what I saw rather than trying to use the evidence because they make no goddamn sense at all to me.

Brad is the killer because from the interviews, I am sensing that he has an affair with Lucy, and that somehow Bishop probably found out about it, which would be the main motive for wanting to kill his father, along with the thought that he'd inherit everything anyway and that would take care of his little problem of not having allowance anymore.

Bishop wasn't even Brad's real father, but Ulrich instead. Ulrich had an affair with Loretta a long time ago because Bishop kept having affairs of his own and after a while Loretta became closer with Ulrich and the two ended up with Brad. Loretta convinced Bishop that Brad was theirs, but who knows if Bishop suspected or found out or not? This probably led Bishop to the decision of cutting of his allowance which lead to a lot of resentment from Brad, who was used to getting everything his way.

Brad, while no one told him, probably had thoughts that he wasn't Bishop's biological son and after thinking about it, likely thought that Balthazar Crane was his father (both being playboys, rebellious, doing what they want, and whatnot), so when Bishop cut off his allowance, he decided to go to Balthazar, thinking that he knew, and tried to get money off him. Naturally he regretted it. He liked to pretend that that meeting never happened.

Ulrich knew, but couldn't really come out and say. It'd ruin his name and would likely cost him his company if Bishop were to sue him for it. Balthazar likely suspected something, and Ulrich probably suspected that Brad had something to do with Bishop's demise, and thus tried to pin the whole thing on Balthazar by making him look like he had the most reason to go after Bishop.

Lucy was after the money originally, but fell for the playboy instead. With Bishop out of the way, she likely thought that she'd marry Brad and then she'd be able to have all the money she wanted anyway, with a hot guy to boot.

Brad was probably the one behind naming the two statues in Mario and Luigi because he's the youngest and would likely have had more interest in the characters than the rest of them do, and he would have had more say in naming them on the yacht anyway, as the 'son of the owner' of the yacht.

The Locket was probably either Lucy & Brad or Loretta & Ulrich, probably Ulrich. Brad thought it was Lucy & Brad, or maybe Bishop because she was supposed to be his old man's girlfriend after all, but saw the U and thought Lucy was two-timing him/them and threw a fit, scratching off the U and flinging it into the piano.

The motive was: Bishop found out about his affair with Lucy. After a fight in which the two men fought over a girl, Brad killed Bishop in a fit of anger, and figured that with Bishop out of the picture, he would inherit everything and would be able to continue his playboy fun.

Here's my reasoning: See above please.

On a separate note, there's also the slight possibility that Loretta and Samantha might have had an affair. While Samantha may have been pretending that she disliked the second-hand smoke from Loretta's smoking, that would explain why half the matches are missing in that matchbook, as well as linking together the 'Drunken Bass' and the recipe found in the bar where Loretta was. The recipe mentioned a bass, even if it was just a suggestion.

I still maintain that the recipe makes the least sense in all of the evidence in that I don't see it being possible as turning into a pot of soup and not a pot of somewhat wet stew, considering how little water is in it and how much other stuff are added.

I am VERY curious as to who the killer is, and if any of what I reasoned above is correct or not. And what the real reasons are and just HOW all those seemingly random pieces of evidence works together.

Most Amusing Twist: Pollik17
The idea of Brad taking on Toodles the Clown as an alias in order to exercise his true genius had me laughing so hard.
Wish I'd thought of that!

Medal of Super Spiffiness

Pollik17's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by pollik17

I believe the killer is: Brad Crane

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin:Painting
Upper Deck:Ulrich's Notebook
Bar:Autograph
Game Room:Flag
Pool:Marble
Samantha's Cabin:Matchbook
Lounge:Locket

The motive was: Intense Greed and Revenge

Here's my reasoning: Bradley Crane, being the son of a rich company owner, Bishop Crane, was a very greedy person. Based on his inconsistent thoughts statements and actions, I made up a hypothesis and a possible conclusion that Brad really is the killer of Bishop Crane.
Let's start with the evidences I've chosen, that has a possible to huge connections with this Brad Crane.

From Lucy's Cabin, I'm suspecting that the one who wrote the "Never forget me-Toodles" was Brad himself, that has a pen name of Toodles. He was secretly in love with Lucy or they have a secret affair, but couldn't make a move because she's already taken, but now that Bishop is gone, they can continue what relationship they had.
From the Upper Deck, the legit evidence was Ulrich's Journal. Brad stole it from Ulrich and read what's in it to study and plan a perfect murder case and kill Bishop. The book was about solving the mystery, but what Brad had in mind was to dispose the evidences properly so the blame could not be placed on him.
From the Bar, I chose the Autograph as the "real" evidence because I think that this "fan" who was being referred was Lucy. Brad got jealous because his Lucy has someone in mind other than him, so he stole this autographed photo and ended up forgetting that he placed it on top of the bar table.
From the Game Room, this "flag with an unfamiliar symbol" was found inside the hidden compartments in the dealer's side of the card table. This symbol, is what I believe stand for an inverted "T", which means "Toodles". This flag, being found on the dealer's side, also means that This "Toodles" is a very smart person, who knows how to "deal" with people.
From the Pool, the marble found in the pool itself was described as of a cat's eye. This probably mean the killer is keen as a cat, so he knows how to eliminate his victim without getting caught,
From Samantha's Cabin, the matchbook acquired was already used. Half of the matches were used to burn off and erase a letter carved in a gold locket. Nobody knew the reason, but I assume that Brad Crane had done this to protect his mother's true identity from being discovered.
Lastly, from the Lounge, Brad had to hide the locket, without throwing it to the sea. So, he knew that nobody would have the patience to look inside a huge piano, so he hid the locket there and acted as if nothing really happened.

Howdy's Picks

Most Evil: p o p p e t ♥
I appreciate a dark turn. Not only did you have all seven suspects gang up on a single old man, you then set about to killing off all but one.
You're twisted, and I like it.

Medal of Totally Epic Win

p o p p e t ♥'s EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by p o p p e t ♥

I believe the killer is: Everyone
I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: The clown picture
Upper Deck: Ulrich’s book
Bar: Recipe
Game Room: The playing cards
Pool: Marble
Samantha's Cabin: Romance novel
Lounge: Locket

Motive and reasoning: Everyone had a motive for killing Crane, that’s why they all got together to do him in. It all started when Brad visited Balt at his home four months ago. Balt said they didn’t say much, but really, they planned Crane’s death. They contacted Ulrich, who used his little notepad to plan out the perfect murder to get at Crane for having the better toy business and having the woman who should have been his all along. Ulrich contacted Loretta who loves him and was pissed about the prenup. Loretta contacted Samantha who’s wanted Crane dead so she could take over the business, who contacted Nate, knowing that he never wanted to be Crane’s assistant. Nate then got into Lucy’s pants and convinced her that if they killed Crane she’d be rich and they could run away together.

Ultimately, it was Brad who did dealt the killing stab, though everyone got a stab in for their own personal reasons. Now Nathan will marry Lucy and he and Samantha will run the company properly together, Brad will claim it and make billions, while Ulrich and Loretta will run away together. Balthazar will become upset that he didn’t actually get anything from the deal and contact Ulrich, who’s good at thinking up murders. Together, they’ll kill Brad, and since Balt is the only remaining relative, Balt will get the business back and all the money. Then ultimately, Ulrich will kill Balt so that the business will tank and his business will have to thrive.

Unfortunately he can’t while Sam and Nate are still alive, so he pits them against each other. They have a terrible toy accident and are both crushed in the warehouse by giant falling crates filled with doll heads. Lucy realizes what happens and kills Loretta and Ulrich for what they’ve done. She ends up with billions, being the ultimate killer and survivor. Her real name isn’t even Lucy, and she doesn’t really have that accent either.

Best Mad Ramblings: Cardinal Biggles
There is a place where madness and genius converge, that place is Biggles.
I could totally imagine you scribbling all this on the walls of a dimly lit room.
The Cleverbot conversation was great too.

Medal of Shiny Awesomeness

Cardinal Biggles EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardinal Biggles

Let Me Tell You A Thing

I believe the killer is: Lucy St. Claire.

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Scientific treasury.
Upper Deck: Psycho Nancy
Bar: Mark Hamill Picture
Game Room: Flag
Pool: Ceiling
Samantha's Cabin: Romance novel?
Lounge: Locket.

The motive was:
I'm going to say Anger. Anger that might be taking the form of revenge. Because that's all I got.
Here's my reasoning:
Herein lies my stream of consciousness for the past few days...
Lucy looks like the best suspect to me. I can't help but notice that a lot of the material point to stars. The ceiling of the swimming pool? Stars. Stars that someone appears to have been spending time with (The constellation that is depicted turns out the be Taurus. I'm not sure how much bearing that has on anything. The mythology behind it is that the bull has captured 7 sisters.) There's a signed Mark Hamill picture left in the bar. Hamill's best know role? Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. And who of the suspects has anything to do with stars, as far as we can tell? Lucy. She has the book on Mathematics, Astronomy and Physics. So what do the stars have to do with anything? I just don't know. The could just show that Lucy is not all that she seems. Possibly it has to do with the fact that historically, You could navigate a ship using the stars. Especially if you wanted to do it without using electronics connected to the internet. These aren't concrete things, but I can't shake them off. So what of the other evidence? I've put down Psycho Nancy as the relevant evidence because I had a strange thought. Crane has a history of going through women. What if this was one of the ones he had a particularly bad falling out with? What if Lucy is related to her? A daughter? A sister? Has she gone after Crane to destroy him? It's comes out of no where this thought, but I'm mentioning it anyway. There's another thing in that location that I thought I'd mention. The lipstick on the glass of Mountain Dew. My guess is that it is Lucy's. There were two glasses on the table. Was she meeting with someone? Ulrich? We know he was there. Is she in on it? Is that why his journal was there, where they looking at plans? Were they a couple? Bradley Crane? There seems to be an attraction between the two. Maybe plans were being made. And now the game room. This was one of my original trains of thought. The flag in the card table... While it doesn't match up to any known nautical signal flags (the symbol is used for indicating perpendicular in math) it could have been intended for that. It could be used to indicate that it was time to get her, or that her partner, because she could have someone come on to do the dirty work, should rendezvous. As far as Samantha's cabin, I can't make much sense of the evidence there. I'm going with the romance novel, as I suppose Lucy could have stopped by. David and Bathsheba eh? That's the tale of a powerful man taking possession of a woman who can't refuse him, and getting rid of the obstacle of her husband. Crane's certainly a powerful man. Does Lucy feel she's Bathsheba? Or going back to the idea that she's taking revenge, was it one of her relatives? And the locket. I'm going with it was Lucy's. Who gave it to her, I can't be sure. Maybe it was the relative, and she felt she had to erase the initial so he wouldn't pick up on the other name, or the last name. Lucy's real last name. She says St. Claire is "real enough" in her interview. Indicating that it isn't her real name. f we are assuming it is the initial of another person... Maybe it was Bradley, and she felt she needed to hide the affair from Crane. Or maybe it was Ulrich. Maybe it was the name of her outside partner. Maybe Crane gave it to her, but she erased it because she was feeling done with him and spiteful.

TL;DR?
I dunno. There's a lot of stuff about stars, and Lucy had the book on Astronomy. I can't get all the evidence to come together, so I'm just going with what I noticed about the stars. I guess in the end I think the motive is revenge, and that Lucy sees herself as an avenger. But all this is half assed guessing, and I don't think I got it right. Sorry, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Alternately, it was
User: Who do you think killed bishop crane?

Cleverbot: People keep thinking I am a computer.

User: They sound smart, will they tell me who killed bishop crane?

Cleverbot: They are.

User: Are you going to answer the second part of that question?

Cleverbot: Can you tell me your question again?

User: Will they help me? But more importantly, who killed Bishop Crane?

Cleverbot: Who do you think made me?

User: A coder.

Cleverbot: Your code?

User: No, yours.

Cleverbot: Your grandma.

User: My grandma killed bishop crane?

Cleverbot: No I want to discuss her, noob.

User: I see. But I want to discuss who killed bishop crane.

Cleverbot: I don't have time.

User: Are you sure? It would really help me out.

Cleverbot: Why would I want that exactly?

User: Because of altruism. And also self gratification.

Cleverbot: Not compared to my race.

User: Now, you see, that doesn't have anything to do with this, and I don't understand how it could be a rounded response to anything.

Cleverbot: But that doesn't have anything to do with... What?

User: That has been my exact reaction for most of this conversation.

Cleverbot: It has everything to do with this conversation.

User: I agree, I heartily second that.

Cleverbot: It's like, I find certain things interesting that others could care less about. I guess I think too much.

User: I need you to think more. About this case.

Cleverbot: What do you need me for?

User: Solving the murder of Bishop Crane.

Cleverbot: What is your favorite Playstation 3 game?

User: I don't play video games. I solve murders.

Cleverbot: Why not?

User: They don't interest me. Mysteries do.

Cleverbot: What doesn't interest you?

User: Video Games. Extraneous things that aren't about solving murders.

Cleverbot: What kind of spicy things do you like?

User: I feel like you are interrogating me. I didn't do it!

Cleverbot: I am not.

User: Okay, fine. Let's get back to work on this murder.

Cleverbot: What was the subject again?

User: Murder. Of Bishop Crane. Whodunnit.

Cleverbot: I don't know. I didn't read those books. Pleas, tell me about those books.

User: He was murdered. The suspects are his ex wife, his estranged brother, his financially strapped son, his young lover, his put-upon secretary, his friend turned rival, his disheartened CEO.

Cleverbot: Wow. We were not talking about werewolves at all. We were talking about you not making sense.

User: Nope, and we will continue not talking about werewolves. We will turn the not making sense into making sense.

Cleverbot: I'm not asking you to talk about the weather or the bible.

User: Good, because I'm not going to be diverted from this line of inquiry.

Cleverbot: Yes you are. Because you are woman.

User: Oh wow. I'm working with a sexist detective am I? You going to talk about my gams now?

Cleverbot: What are you working on?

User: THE MURDER OF BISHOP CRANE.

Cleverbot: Tell me about it.

User: I DIIID. He was murdered. Someone did it. Who do you think did it?

Cleverbot: The Elohim.

Best Descent Into Madness: PrincessKasumi
You talked yourself in so many circles, even I got dizzy.

A well thought, well written bit of lunacy.

Medal of Super Spiffiness

PrincessKasumi's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrincessKasumi

I believe the killer is: EVERYONE SINGLE LAST ONE OF THEM!!! ...Ah.. can't go accusing everyone.. so I put my money on Lucy St. Clair.

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Book of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
Upper Deck: Ulrich's Journal
Bar: Recipe
Game Room: Flag
Pool: Constellation
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: I'm sure it was for the money, but I believe this a collab to get something other than money.. his death. For Lucy... I think it has something to do with that playboy Brad.
Here's my reasoning: Everyone of them just about has a motive for killing Mr. Crane. It took me awhile but the two statues that were in the lounge I finally get what the joke is. Mario and Luigi... a man and his side kick. Better yet Mr. Crane and Matsuyama. I'm still new at this detective games, it's alot more different then books about Sherlock Holmes (who is awesome by the way) and Nancy drew, and never mind those detective choice based text games. It's more real so your choice of the culprit is consequences if you choose wrong. But it's not all that bad, there is a couple more junior detectives so one of us is bound to get it by golly! And I sure hope it's me... get a nic e big fat paycheck.... Erm anyways I believe the motive to be clearly about money and of course Mr. Cane... Loretta Crane is pretty darn fired up like a erupting volcano, forget the woman scorned! Volcanos are nothing to be trifled with!

She's upset about the presumeably false accusations of having signing a prenup.. then we have our obvious choice Nathan whom I can say everyone would probably think the "butler" done it. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if he done it to get to that darn playboy Brad. But he didn't seem to give off any.. evil vibes other than that stare of his.. .*shudders* Next we have Lucy who pretty much lies through her teeth about being with him for just love. She's just lying to herself.. sure she could be love with him but I believe her love is stronger with the money. We have Brad who is a playboy and a spoiled kid, the only reason people like him is because he's rich nothing else, and he pretty much went off like dynamite when his father kept his money from him. Perhaps angry enough to murder his own father in cold blood? After that we have Ulrich, his ex-bestfriend. I sense no ill will with him and I'd be surprised if he done it! Last on the list is Balthazar.. that has a dark ring to it doesn't it? Hmm I recall that to be the name of a Angel in Supernatural... erm moving along, I don't think he could have done it.

Which leaves me with the ones with best motives. With just the motives we can't just pick one that sounds the best.. it's not a contest... really.. we need to bring in the big guns.. all fourteen pieces of evidence, and half of them seem to be planted to throw us off. One things for sure whether it was planted or not it can still give us clues as to who planted them. The ones I've chosen to base my theory upon are: A matchbook that could have belonged to Loretta since she smokes, and Samantha despise her for it. A Locket with a L initial that was found inside of a piano, planted or not why was it there? We have two siblings.. a constellation found in the pool area and a book of physics , astronomy and mathematics which was oddly enough found in Lucys room. Followed by a flag with a upside T, and a strange recipe along with Ulrich's Journal about a murder mystery type game. Just like the Dead mans hand on the game table it seems all too.. perfect. If I may.. I say they were all working together to kill that Scrooge Mr. Crane!

But alas only one of them is the dealer of the death card, but who?

Samantha's name is just but all I can think about followed by perhaps.. Brad.. maybe... anyways the Evidence mainly the one about stars just screams Lucy! The others.. Loretta and Ulrich. But I'm betting that fat bonus check on Samantha and Lucy but which was it? Lucy claims to love him and she acted strangely when Brad was mentioned... then there is Samantha who loves this company just as much as Mr Crane and his father had, which meant she'd do anything to watch it succeed. Now that I think about.. that cat eye marble, it's a toy isn't? There is only three people who are associated with that and one of them is dead. Samantha and Nathan. Now I really do believe she did it even though that one of the evidence (marble) I hadn't selected. She clearly was with someone even though she claimed she was alone. Well I've been thinking for quite some time and you probably want a for sure answer.... so I'll give you one. I hope one of us detectives catch the culprit, and more importantly I'm hoping it's me! I believe Lucy St. Clair killed him, she looks so adorable (according to her) but beneath that cuteness is a devil!

NOTE: Slight delay getting medals to you guys. Hang in there, they'll be coming your way soon. :3

11:42 PM

Here we have all the other entries, for your reading pleasue.

DariaMorgendorfer's EntryX

dragoness129's EntryX

Dystopia's EntryX

EirianHikari's EntryX

fireprincess' EntryX

GwenaHikari's EntryX

HIM_ROCK's EntryX

Jeannesha's EntryX

LadyDesiX

LaVida's EntryX

Linnea's EntryX

Liztress' EntryX

Mageling's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mageling

I believe the killer is: Lucy St. Clair

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Book of Phsyics
Upper Deck: Ulrich's Journal
Bar: Autograph
Game Room: Playing Cards
Pool: Constellation
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: Money and attention

Here's my reasoning:

While no two people accused the same person outright, the most convincing combination of answers and evidence pointed to Lucy. It was mentioned that, beneath the horrifically shallow exterior, she is actually frighteningly smart. If she'd spent as much time as she claimed with Bishop Crane, she would know about his troubles with everyone else.

I believe she planted Ulrich's journal, and the playing cards, as a red herring. If she's as intelligent as implied, she would know enough to try to set someone else up, and the 'Dead Man's Hand' would have been nicely symbolic. The constellation points back to her marked Astronomy page in the physics book, and that would also be symbolic, albeit unintentionally. The locket would have been hers, though given the scratched out initial, would have given a hint as to her real name (the one she didn't want to give). Given that it's implied that she's the latest in a line of women and something of a money chaser, I wouldn't put it past her to have tried to date Mark Hamill in the past, but she wouldn't have gotten far with him. Just far enough for an autograph. The matchbook is likely a remnant of her career as a bar singer, since I doubt she was a lounge singer for all that long before Bishop stumbled upon her. Bar singing is far more likely, and she probably dropped it while out and about on the boat.

I think she was looking for attention more than the money, since she didn't seem upset about the murder of her 'true love' and was only concerned with the potential TV interviews. The money is secondary, but important, because I doubt she made much as a lounge singer, and Bishop made it so she didn't have to work. Even if she didn't know about his will, there was likely some money in it for her. Perhaps she had it planned all along; she didn't give her real name, after all.

Neora's EntryX

spicedroses' EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by spicedroses

This sounded much better in my head and when i discussed it with my sister, now it just sounds crazy!!
but here goes

I believe the killer is: jacob ulrich

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: the astronomy book
Upper Deck:journal
Bar: recipie
Game Room:the Dead Man's Hand.
Pool: constellation
Samantha's Cabin:matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: broken friendship and revenge

Here's my reasoning: It's sad to say, but I believe that there was many love losts in this group of friends, family and business rivals. Why do I believe Jacob Ulrich killed his one time best friend turned rival. I believe it's because Bishop Crane had controll of Mr Ulrich's son.....Nathan Matsuyama. What better way to hurt someone who you believed betrayed you.

The hesitation when asked about children made me suspicious in my thoughts. Sadly though I do not know if Mr. Matsuyama has become aware of his parentage or not. I have no proof of my beliefs just a gut instinct on my part. I believe that having learned that his estranged son was under that thumb of his once best friend and rival sent mr Ulrich over the edge and he began to plot the downfall of his rival.

He stated that he was on the upper deck, more than likely close to where the victim was discovered, how hard would it have been to do away with this friend. More than likely after having watched his son take a dip in the pool below him.

Bishop crane was not a nice man at all or so we are led to believe. He liked controlling people and it only took one look at mr nathan for him to decide, this would be a great way to controll his rival.

I was suspicious of Lucy, no she is not the dim wit that everyone thinks she is, but honestly who kills their fiancee before they are married. this would make no sense to me . Though I do think she did spend a time with Nathan I doubt there was anything between them.

As for lorretta what good would it do for her to kill Bishop now, she would gain nothing from it, well except for satisfaction. I feel most sorry for her as she seems to have wasted her life and youth on someone not worthy of her.

I do believe there may have been a love between balthazar and sharon at one point in time in old el paso, but sad to say that did not work out for them.

It would be so easy to point fingers at his pathetic exscuse for a son, yes a greedy whiiny complainy little bastard I know, but hardly a killer. No, though I do believe Young mr cranes eyes strayed towards his new soon to be step mother and I don't think there was any love lost between him and his father, I can't see him killing his father, , the man has no ambition in life except to be more popular. He was the only heir he is getting the money no matter what.

perhaps this was a joint plot between father and son, I am not sure. maybe nathan planted that book in lucy's room, maybe brad cared deeply for lucy and never told her, such is the pity

It's hard to tell what bishop crane inteded, Did he want to make up with his brother, did he intend to get his son on the right path, by introducing his to his uncle or was he up to so much more, we shall never know now.

SuperZombiePotatoe's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperZombiePotatoe

Hi there! here's mah stuff...

I believe the killer is: Samantha Talbot

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Painting
Upper Deck: Ulrich's journal
Bar: Recipe
Game Room: Flag
Pool: Marble
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: Samantha dearest was scorned, in a sense. She wanted to be the cause of the success of the company and Crane certainly wasn't letting her. So, offing him was the only answer as she'd be the next best person for the job.

Here's my reasoning: After Sam decided to get rid of Crane, she realized that it would be very suspicious if she took over from him. He was considering firing her, after all. So, she would let Brad take the company and be the brains behind the throne.

Now for the cover up. She decided to pin it on the Ulrich and bring in Loretta aswell. Loretta because she said that she didn't like the " smoke". She created a false motive for them: Closet lovers! Ulrich's company was going down and Loretta was bitter after the pre-nup thing-a-majig. If they offed Crane, there'd be no competition for for Ulrich and Loretta would have revenge.

So, she plants some fake evidence. Ulrich's journal with a murder mystery game plan would make him look sooo suspicious, a marble in the pool and Ulrich's the only toymaker and the locket, well, it had the letter L in it and another crossed off, it was planted to tie the two together.

Now, what brought me to Sam. She doesn't smoke and matches were in her drawer. The name of the bar had " Bass" in in it.... an so did the soup! Now, this sounds weird, but I can't get this out of my head. What if the soup was the murder plan? Water = yacht, cabbage, carrots and celery = guests, severed fish-head = dead Crane, hot dogs and rooster = Loretta, Ulrich and I somehow think Brad and Lucy were supposed to be involved, spices = false evidence. Call me crazy. Seriously, I might be crazy.

The flag could be inverted and you'd get the letter "T" for Talbot so it could be her evil flag of tyranny or something. And then the picture... I dunno about that one, honestly. Maybe Toodles is Sam's husband and the flag id his handkerchief, I give up on that one.

Velvet's EntryX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Velvet

I believe the killer is: Loretta Crane

I base my accusation on this evidence.
Lucy's Cabin: Book of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
Upper Deck: Ulrich's Journal
Bar: Autograph
Game Room: Flag
Pool: Constellation
Samantha's Cabin: Matchbook
Lounge: Locket

The motive was: She hated her ex-husband for years and had a secret affair with Ulrich. Once she realized that Ulrich's business was going down, it was the extra push that drove her mad.

Here's my reasoning: Most of the clues point to something that has to do with mathematics or astronomy, I noticed. I couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but the person who done it had to really enjoy that kind of stuff. The autograph is even from an actor that played in many of the Star Wars movies, so that's interesting too. But seeing that Mark Hamill was in those movies in the late 70's and 80's, but the autograph was signed in the 90's, it makes me think that it must be someone old enough to know him well enough to be called, "My biggest fan". So, I crossed the younger crowd out. Not to mention that in the matchbook, half the matches were used. Who smokes? Loretta. She claims she never sees Ulrich anymore, but he claimed something different. I believe that she was driven a little insane with everything that happened in her life, annnnd who wouldn't be?

The clues that related to mathematics and astronomy: The book, the flag, the constellation and the autograph.

The locket had the initials "L" still readable, but I believe either Loretta or Ulrich scratched out his initials.

Which leads me to wonder... could there be more than one killer behind this? Maybe they planned together..

I almost want to say Loretta and Ulrich planned Mr. Crane's murder together.

Sorry about the book, I didn't even put everything I wanted to. x) I am probably completely off and entirely wrong, buuuut oh well. I have other suspects. Either Lucy or Brad.. because the locket could have easily been Lucy and Brad... I think they were hooking up too..

Vox's EntryX

zigbigadorlube's EntryX

09:44 PM

FALSE LEADS

Here are the clues meant to keep you from the truth.

Found under Lucy's pillows, this well-used copy of the World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics would seem to suggest that Ms. St. Clair has a bit more upstairs than she's letting on. This much is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's guilty of murder. In order to invalidate this clue, you will have needed to follow through to the pool, where you find this

Constellation of Taurus etched into the ceiling above the pool. It would be tempting to delve further into the mythology behind Taurus and be led further astray, but quite simply, this line of evidence is bull. Get it?? 'cause Taurus is a bull?? /shot

Ulrich's Notebook, describing his development plans for a game with uncanny similarities to the current situation, seems almost too good a clue to be true. It is in the name of this game that the validity of the clue is revealed: Clupea. There is a certain term for phony clues in the biz, you've probably heard it yourselves: "red herring." Often these bits are true, but just don't apply to the case. Now get this: the herring is also a real fish, genus Clupea. Let that sink in for a minute. Yeah. Do you hate us yet?

Hold on folks, the recipe card may be our most convoluted misdirection. You can thank Howdy for this one. And yes indeed, there is meaning to this mess.. *deep breath*

The recipe reflects the story of Saint Torpes.

Saint Torpes ["the fish"] had been a knight for the Roman emperor Nero, when he was converted by Saint Paul and became a Christian. When he wouldn't renounce his faith, Nero had Torpes beheaded and his head was thrown into the Arno river ["the soup"]. Torpes' body was placed in a boat along with a dog and a rooster ["hot dog and rooster pieces"]. The animals were meant to eat him, and the boat floated off to sea.

In a coastal French village, a holy woman named ["Aunt"] Celerina had a vision of the saint's body arriving on their shores. Shortly thereafter, her premonition came true when Torpes's corpse washed up in the boat, untouched by the dog and rooster. Saint Torpes was canonized and the French village was renamed Saint-Tropez.

Twice in his interrogation, Brad Crane mentions Saint-Tropez.. Ta da!

*crickets chirp*

Those who found the nylon golf flag in the compartment in the card table may have a difficult time ignoring it - by their very nature flags are bearers of symbolism; carriers of messages. It is only when scrutinizing the flag itself that its value to the case is made clear. First, nylon, though a common material for flags, is a synthetic fiber. Second and more prominently, the symbol on the flag is a crudely drawn representation of the logic symbol for contradiction, or falsity. Together, these create a "false flag," which is a term denoting an orchestrated diversion designed to mask the identity of those who carry it out. To put it plainly, this clue is nothing but an attempt to mislead you!

As a false clue, the matchbook was supposed to misdirect you in a couple of ways. The first being the 'bass,' which is also referenced in the recipe clue. But mostly, its job was to turn your suspicions onto Samantha and Balthazar.

In Balthazar's interrogation, he states that he lost his eye to a nasty-tempered woman in a bar in El Paso. If you were to look up the area code on the matchbook (915), you'll see that it leads to none other than El Paso, Texas. The last four digits in the phone number, '5946', are also the ages of the Balthazar (59) and Samantha (46). The matches having been in Samantha's cabin would lead you to believe that they once had a relationship.

Samantha also expressed disgust over Loretta's second hand smoke, making you think she, herself, doesn't indulge in the habit. So then why would a matchbook be in her room? ... Hmmm, we never got around to asking her.

And finally the locket with its mysterious engravings. Our first question is, how did it get in the piano? Easy. It was accidentally dropped there by Brad Crane while he was in the lounge. And yes, the scratched out initial is 'B' for Brad. But what about that 'L'? Is it Lucy? Or maybe, oddly, Loretta? ... Nope, it's 'L' for Lindsey. Lindsey Parkman, to be precise. Her family owns Parkman Pharmaceuticals. She's also Brad Crane's on again, off again girlfriend. You may remember him mentioning her in his interrogation. After their last fight, she vandalized the locket and threw it in his face. -- Oh, did we make you think of someone else?

09:49 PM

REAL EVIDENCE
Here are the clues that led to the identity of the killer.

The Painting above Lucy's bed may have suggested some sort of secret liaison with the clown named Toodles. The floppy shoes, the red nose, the slide whistle secreted in his pants. But Toodles was a bit of misdirection. One need see past the clown, and look at his surroundings. Your detective notes state that he is standing on a mountain, in front of some pine trees. -- Nathan Matsuyama is of Japanese decent. In Japanese, 'Matsuyama' translates to 'Pine Tree Mountain'.

Every junior detective wants to know, who in the heck is Psycho Nancy? Well in fact, she was Bishop and Balthazar's mother, Nancy Crane. And at times, she could be a pretty intense. -- But in terms of being a clue, we're more concerned with the actual words and how it relates to the killer. Here we delve into a little word play. Take the last three letters of 'Psycho', and the first three of 'Nancy' and you get... Chonan. The Japanese word for the eldest son of a family. -- To make sense of the clue, one must deduct that Bishop had more than one son. The youngest would be Brad, and the only other suspect who could be the elder son is Nathan.

Concerning the autograph sitting on the bar top, the mystery of Mark Hamil's biggest fan has yet to be solved. But the owner isn't important, it's the autograph itself we need to look at. Mark Hamil's best well known role was that of Luke Skywalker. Also note that the photo was signed on the 15th of November, or 15/11. Put those together and you get Luke 15:11, which points to a passage in the bible that tells the story of the prodigal son.

In the story, a man has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance early, then takes the money and spends it irresponsibly. When he is left destitute, he returns to his father's home and begs for forgiveness. The father does this, in a sense giving the boy a second chance, and throws him a celebration. The elder son is angered, as he has been devoted to his father and loyally served him, and wonders why the younger is being celebrated and not he.

This reflects the relationship between Bishop, Nathan and Brad.

The poker hand in the game room was grim foreshadowing for Bishop Crane, as it was for wild west lawman, Wild Bill Hickok. Hickok had the hand of aces over eights when he was fatally shot in the back of the head, giving the cards the nickname of 'Dead Man's Hand'. -- But let's ignore this bit of history, and look at the cards themselves. You'll see this hand also contains a 9. If you add them up, giving each ace a value of 1, they total 27. Which is the exact age of Nathan Matsuyama.

There are plenty of ways a marble could fall into a pool. But in this case it's not so much how it got in the pool or even the marble itself, it's what kind of marble it is that counts. If you remember, detective notes state that it's a cat's eye marble. The key word being 'eye'. -- If you look at our characters, just as Loretta and Brad have the same eyes, you'll see that Bishop and Nathan have the same eyes too, hinting at the fact that they're related.

To understand the significance of Samantha's trashy romance novel to the case, we want to look at the story. Or more specifically, the Biblical narrative around David and Bathsheba. Our apologies if you read the romance instead. ;D Anyhow, to simplify: David, powerful lusty king dude, spies a woman bathing and must have her. Trouble is she's already married. He gets her pregnant, kills off her old man, and suffers a series of karmic-retribution-style events that are heralded by the (quite displeased) Lord's own messenger, wait for it.. "Nathan" the prophet -- sent from above to seek retribution for an act of adultery. This was a pretty serious give-away if you knew where to look!

The two statues in the lounge that have been labeled "Mario" and "Luigi" may have seemed like nothing more than a childish prank, but they are there to suggest that there is a connection between two of the suspects that is so simple, even a child could guess: Just like that famous video game duo that every kid knows, though they may not look exactly alike, two of our young suspects are brothers.

04:53 PM

Epilogue

Nathan Matsuyama pled guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Bishop Crane, and was sentenced to forty years behind bars. He will be eligible for parole in fifteen. In a subsequent TV interview, Nathan expressed remorse for his actions, but stated that being in prison was a lot less restrictive than working for his father.

Lucy St. Claire was left a sizable sum in Bishop Crane’s will. With the money, she moved out west to Palm Springs and opened a pet shop called “St. Claire’s Cuties”. A year later, she campaigned for and won the local mayoral race, but was shortly thereafter recalled when it was learned that Lucy had garnered votes with “special favors.”

Loretta Crane’s legal battles took a shocking turn when it was discovered that Bishop Crane’s former lawyer did indeed falsify prenuptial agreement documents. He was tried and given a three year prison term. Loretta was awarded healthily from her ex-husband’s estate, and even received the Crane family mansion. She sold the home and moved to Naples, Italy, where she spends her days entertaining handsome, Italian gentlemen. She has no desire to ever marry again.

Brad Crane was indeed made the new head of Crane Games. He quickly set about to restructuring the entire business, starting with the dismissal of its CEO, Samantha Talbot. His aim was to move away from toys and focus on luxury items, such as diamond encrusted jet skis and solid gold sportswear. They were all terrible ideas, and within the year Brad ran the company into the ground. It would become known as ‘the worst business debacle in modern history’.

After losing her position at Crane Games, Samantha Talbot teamed up with Ulrich Jacobs and became the new CEO of the Dream Things toy company. Under her leadership, Dream Things made a drastic turnaround, and in a few short years evolved into one of the most profitable businesses in the nation. After her experiences on Bishop Crane’s yacht that night, Samantha vowed never to have children.

With a new CEO at the helm, Ulrich Jacobs was able to step back and focus solely on toy design. His board game, Clupea, was a runaway success, selling hundreds of millions of units in more than thirty countries. The game spawned a host of other profitable products, such as breakfast cereals, comic books and a series of Academy Award winning films starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Pauly Shore.

After the events on the Psycho Nancy, Balthazar Crane went home and made a table. He was very pleased with how it turned out.

12:03 AM

Well that's it for us, folks.

Belly and I put a lot of thought and effort into this game, and we're so pleased that you all had such a good time. We enjoyed your enthusiasm for the characters and suspects and had fun reading through all your entries.

We thank you for playing and hope to see you guys again next time.

11-10-2013, 12:53 AM

I am a horrible detective. I am bad and should feel bad. I feel bad. q___q

11-10-2013, 12:53 AM

Matsuyama, you fool! If you hadn't confessed I could have gotten you off by instilling reasonable doubt in the jury!

11-10-2013, 01:03 AM

Cora: You won a commons ensemble in the raffle! Please tell me whether you would like the Cute Wizard or Cute Witch set:

.....

PrincessKasumi: You won a prize in the raffle! Please tell me whether you would like the GIANT Spork or The Big BANG. :)

or

Thanks guys! <3

11-10-2013, 01:05 AM

Thank you, Belly and Howdy, for an awesome game!

11-10-2013, 01:07 AM

Thank you! You'd have been great at hosting, Wyrmskyld. :D

I've got the raffle prizes sent out, Howdy's working on gold, and it'll be a little bit for the prize medals as we don't have those in our grubby little hands just yet. Soon!

11-10-2013, 01:09 AM

Thanks for everything. c:

11-10-2013, 01:10 AM

I... resign as a detective. :(

Maybe I ought to train under Mr. Wright to become an attorney instead.

Yeah... I don't think that would be a good idea either. :/

11-10-2013, 01:23 AM

Can I have that recipie?

11-10-2013, 01:27 AM

LOL omg I knew it was him :D he was totally the obvious choice! But I thought it was too obvious... guess not LOL :D

---------- Post added 11-09-2013 at 07:28 PM ----------

I automatically choose him because hes the butler type and they 90% of the time do it haha ._. once again I am proven to never second guess myself

11-10-2013, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellyButton

Thank you! You'd have been great at hosting, Wyrmskyld. :D

You think? o.o Maybe I should try to come up with a mystery for next summer's user-run event. That would be fun!

11-10-2013, 01:29 AM

BellyButton: Giant spork thingy please :D

11-10-2013, 01:29 AM

Gold has been sent.

I'll hand out the shinies once I get them.

---------- Post added 11-09-2013 at 05:34 PM ----------

Belly really threw a lot of you with the Astronomy book.

11-10-2013, 01:43 AM

Yeah she did! If she hadn't done that I would have guess that creepy Nathan LOL

And I'm honored that you would call me the best descent into madness LOL..

._. it's so true.. when I ramble I bark upon a descent into madness.

---------- Post added 11-09-2013 at 07:44 PM ----------

Darn it belly!!

11-10-2013, 01:48 AM

I think it was the combination of the book and the constellation that got me. Being able to connect them made it hard to discount them.

11-10-2013, 01:55 AM

I was sooo off on this! I guess it's okay that I wasn't able to submit my theory LOL
Thank you for such an amazing game! It was honestly a pleasure to read it! I can't wait for the next one!!

And thank you for the raffle prize! :D

Congratulations to everyone who won!! <3

02:49 AM

Oh, man... I just read Cardinal Biggles' entry... and I can't breathe from laughing so hard. If you haven't read it, people, it's amazing!

Edit: And I'm stealing some of it for my signature... If that's okay with you, Biggles!

Roxxxy's EntryX<em>Note: Your scripts are turned off. Hover over this section to reveal content</em>

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