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Murder in Small Town X: Tale of the Tape
by Jeffrey Clinard
-- 07/10/2002
Episode 4 provided us with some interesting new clues, the most important of which was the answering machine tape of Leita's murder. But is the tape what it appears to be? Are the investigators assuming too much? Is Reverend Crandall hiding something? What other information have we learned?
The killer has struck again, murdering cleared suspect Leita Rose-Blodgett. The killer has also opened up another casket (though this one figurative, not literal) from the town's past.
To start with, I've dismissed the entire $2 Bills track. Why? Several reasons. First, the matter of Abby Flint's car has not been something the killer has brought to the table. It's a sidetrack, and they need to back-burner, if not totally dismiss, this line of pursuit. Jimmy Tinker's story sounds entirely like the truth. He's committed a violent act on property and then finds the murder scene. He panics and steals the car to hide the evidence of his own crime. Later he gets Mary-Elizabeth to ditch it in the drink. The car would have been useful if there was any indication it had been used to transport the missing bodies, but there is no sign of that.
So Mary-Elizabeth works as a stripper in place owned by William Lambert. Jimmy Tinker made an erotic film of his girlfriend Abby Flint. We've got a few nice little juicy bits of information, but it needs to stop now. This track is going nowhere.
Much more promising in the Leita Rose-Blodgett murder track. While the Flint killings have a myriad array of motives and suspicions, there are only two people with a known motive for wanting Leita killed. First off is William Lambert. Motive: Gain and/or revenge. His plan for the hotel can go through now. Leita Rose drove his mother out of Sunrise due to her gossip. Second is General Hayden DeBeck. Motive: Hatred. Leita openly said the General was her guess as the person who dug up Oscar Blodgett's grave.
Three pieces of evidence from the crime scene. The puzzle with the initials F.K. was in the middle of the pool of blood. The cloth matching William Lambert's jacket. Finally, the audiotape of the crime on Rev. Crandell's answering machine, which I think is the most significant clue. They've assumed the crime took place at 10:15 p.m. based on the time stamp. Not a bad assumption, but there are several things wrong with it. Particularly if we put a discrepancy in it's place. Rev. Rusty Crandall answered on redial when Chief Duncan made the call, and told about the call to the bake sale, a call made in the morning. However, if he got the killer call at 10:15 p.m., he hadn't yet noticed his answering machine message. It's a possibility, but it means that he was out at 10:15 p.m., and when answering the redial call he didn't notice the waiting message. It was only later he listened to it and turned it in.
First, assume the killer was unaware of the call. Leita dialed the number, unaware of any danger, and then the killer attacked. 10:15 p.m. is therefore significant. Can any of the remaining suspects provide us with an alibi? I only know of one who cannot: Reverend Rusty Crandall. If he had picked up his phone, we could clear him. Now, we cannot. Rusty has a few other points against him. Whenever he returned, he didn't look at his answering machine, nor did he do so when Chief Duncan called him on redial. He talked of the morning call about the bake sale. If he is not the killer, he must have not noticed the message. Plausible. Possibly. I work nights, sleep days. I don't always look at my answering machine, and I have extension phones I sometimes take calls from would not indicate a message. I sleep heavily and have slept through phones ringing. So it’s possible.
But to assume him to be innocent, we need three pieces of information. Leita Rose-Blodgett called him just before the killer attacked. He was not at home. He did not notice his message until some time after Chief Duncan did his redial. However, let's try innocence. That means Leita must have called him at 10:15 p.m. Suppose Rusty is the killer. No matter who she actually dialed, he could falsify the redial evidence. Hang up the phone. Dial his own number. Hang up. Remember how he made the videotapes of the Flint murders – he could have done so again with Leita’s and could then have replayed the audio portion after resetting the time on his answering machine. Later, he discusses it with Mary-Elizabeth and turns it in to the investigators.
My point is that we cannot clear Rusty, nor can we convict him. If Rusty is the killer, he could easily have faked the evidence of the tape. If he is not, well, we have to take all three things about it as fact: He was not at home, he did not check his machine, and he did not recheck it after the redial call was placed. Of course, there is an alternative theory. The killer knew who Leita called, either directly, or indirectly (by hitting redial), and the killer then called and played back the sound from his videotape. This means the killing took place before 10:15 but the killer wanted to disguise the time. The killer knows which people are still suspects and which he has cleared. If he hit Rusty's machine, then the killer could disguise the time of the killing; make it seem like 10:15 when, of course, it was earlier, a time for which the killer could have an alibi. Of course, until the team has evidence that 10:15 is not the real time, they should also find out who has an iron-clad alibi for that time period.
No matter what the events were, the tape is obviously very significant. Rusty needs to be investigated, to be cleared or convicted. The investigators need to find out where his answering machine is, ask which telephone he picked up the redial call from, assure the time on his machine is correct (if he is trying to fool the investigators, he certainly would have fixed it, but if he’s innocent, the machine could still be off due to normal, everyday reasons). Good answers will clear him, even if they are shameful (he has a weakness to women; if he could admit this or eventually the team finds evidence that he was entertaining a lady friend in his bed, I could understand him ignoring a call). The team needs to find out his explanation for why he didn't check his answering machine when he came back (after 10:15 p.m.) and why he didn't notice it upon Duncan's redial. The team needs to work on clearing people. If Rusty is upfront and honest (and a man of God), he will give truthful answers. And if his answers ring true (even if he admits to sins of the flesh), I will clear him. If he lies, or is evasive, or tries to cover up... he remains a strong suspect.
The jacket isn't evidence. Lambert can easily account for that. He was trying to convince her to sell land to him. It's not a bit unlikely he paid her a visit and tore a piece of his jacket. The puzzle also isn't much in terms of evidence. It may not be Frank's, or the real killer could have obtained it from Frank somehow and left it as a red herring, or he might have dropped it days before. Leita certainly would have been interviewed by him after the Flint killings, so he had a good reason to be there.
One interesting side note: Frank is adopted. Could Frank be a Flint? I'd hesitate to put a complete track on that matter at this time, but I would love that piece of knowledge.
The Sunrise Fire of 1941 and the killer clue dug up more of the town background. The year 1971 also comes up again with the Burnt Man suicide at Trekkers (the Bonnie Rose accident also took place in 1971). Does the killer consider himself to be another victim of the town? I'm not yet certain what to make of this evidence.
In order, the killer clues are the Bonnie Rose, the canned fingers, the film of the Burnt Man, and the Duchamps memorial to those lost at sea. Three of these are accidents or tragedies involving the town. The other is literally "pointing the finger" at the sardine factory. My personal take is that Duchamps is possible murder disguised as a sea accident, just as Oscar Blodgett is a possible murder disguised as an accident.
Drew Chambers is cleared. This is more useful than the past clearings have been. Of course, I have to wonder if he should have been cleared by the investigators before now. The information I don't have is whether or not he's an outsider. If he was an outsider who started the club in Sunrise, he would not have the needed background information on the town. If he was an insider, then it's nice to have him cleared. I've personally also put Jimmy Tinker and Mary-Elizabeth Merchant on the back burner, and G.D. Thibodeaux I've cleared long ago. Personally, I expect the next person to be cleared will be Prudence Conner. Her affair with Nate Flint has been exposed, and she's not contributing much to the storyline anymore
Sweepers are still everywhere. What the team apparently hasn't figured out yet is that they are Mind/Science Philosophy agents reporting to General DeBeck. Only the General has the legion of followers needed to explain their presence. When a sweeper put the General's tape in at the town meeting, it confirmed their loyalties. The sweeping business is pretty bizarre, but it's just symbolic; they are keeping the town clean – just the way the General likes it.
I was glad to see Stacey go. Her voice and manners really were grating my nerves. And this volunteering bit? It made it easy on Brian, but that was no way to play the game. You're out, Stacey, and you brought it all on yourself. As for the others, best strategy is to keep putting up Kristen. It makes it more likely you're not up on the chopping block, since one seat is already taken. She's beating the odds, and to be honest, I'm amused by it.
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