Murder in Small Town X: Credit Where Credit Is Due

I'm happy to be able to give the team a lot of credit this week. They did a lot of things well, and so credit is due. They still haven't put as many of the pieces together as I would have liked, but they showed resourcefulness and observation.

The Duchamps clue has led to another death at sea, this time in the spring of 1941. Just as I drew a connection between the Burnt Man suicide and film in 1971 with the Bonnie Rose, I'm going to make a connection between the Duchamps and the Miracle Fire.

Frank has lost his wife, his puzzle was at the crime scene before it was a crime scene, and he has no alibi for the Leita Rose-Blodgett murder. Indeed, he had motive to kill her. The team was absolutely correct to want to see the inside of the boathouse - it is an isolated private site, which could easily hide the four missing bodies. He's also conveniently provided the team with the banking information. The team scored big points by figuring out the shredded paper. They found the bag, recognized the value of it, and figured out a way to sort the wheat from the chaff. It took brains and hard work to piece this puzzle together.

There are several interesting aspects about the bank account. I originally thought of blackmail, but eventually dismissed the idea. Only three people would have been in a position to pay that kind of money; General Hayden Debeck, Leita Rose-Blodgett, and William Lambert. However, it's more likely Flint himself was pulling the money into and out of the account. Possibly he was embezzling the money from KingFisher, but the sudden withdrawal indicates he wanted to buy something in a way it couldn't be traced to him. What that might be is not known, but the fact remains that he must have had that cash in the house, or perhaps in a safety deposit box that wasn't traceable to him (after death, the police, along with an IRS agent opens up known boxes, so a large amount of cash discovered would have been revealed by now).

So we have robbery as a possible motive. However, for it to be a motive the killer must have known about the cash. This isn't something Nate would have been advertising. However, if the killer is the seller of the item in question, Nate might have called them up and said "I've got the cash, we can do the deal tomorrow." The only thing up for sale where this value might be relevant is the land Leita Rose-Blodgett had, and she's dead. She could have leaked it to somebody, but she probably would have revealed the pending transaction to the investigation team. So I think that is out.

The most likely people to have known about the cash are William Lambert, Nate's business partner, and Frank Kovick. William might have been privy to the transaction knowledge. However, we know Frank Kovick was actively investigating Flint and KingFisher. In this episode he again claimed to have been digging. Well, he was digging before, and if he had been monitoring it, he might have known about the withdrawal. He already had a motive due to the libel lawsuits. So evidence on Frank is starting to mount. He has no alibi for Leita's death, and he did have a reason to kill her. Talking calmly with her? He has a temper. I wouldn't put it past him to barge in on the house with a bang stick.

So, if Frank is guilty, why does he tell about the money? Probably to cover up his own motive for the killings. If he did kill the Flints, he could have grabbed the money, either to keep or to plant on somebody else.

The drama with the bang sticks (see left) was nicely staged, and the investigators picked up on it. I originally thought they didn't need to get Prudence's, since if they couldn't do a match, any bang stick would do for testing. However, after some thought, I realized that if they could trace any human blood or skin bits on it, then they would have the murder weapon, and could trace it to a suspect. It didn't work out, but it was a good idea. What we also learned is that at least two people on the suspect list have bang sticks; Prudence and William Lambert.

The argument between G.D. and Prudence is quite interesting. G.D. knows Prudence has information she is withholding, and wants her to tell the team. He cares for her. I imagine he is afraid for her – afraid that her knowledge may make her a target of the killer. She should come clean with the team; she's in danger.

With the red envelope game, Kristen got the answer right; Angel didn't know. This is the only question I didn't have a the right answer for, but it would have been difficult to get it, since we didn't get a complete scene. Whatever else she is, Kristen is both observant and very lucky. Deanna Harris was tossed out of the suspect pool, and I'm not surprised. I don't think there has been one conversation with her; she's irrelevant to any clues so far. My pick for the next eliminated suspect is Emerson Bowden. He's only contributed one small piece to the game, and even in that he was a friendly source of information.

The killer clue is another piece of the Burnt Man film. This film is still not complete. We have an early part of the film, and what appears to be the last part of the film. The first part gave background; the last part method and confession of the murder of Oscar Blodgett. Logically, the middle part of the film explain motive. There are two likely motives: revenge or gain. If the Burnt Man blamed Oscar for starting the Miracle Fire, it's revenge. Or the killing could have been some sort of a paid hit. Motive is a huge part of the puzzle. I also believe there is a section of film at the beginning that is missing. The film is a confessional. Logically, the absolute beginning of it would have been the Burnt Man giving his name. Could it be "My name is X Flint," followed by his earliest memory about the fire? Three of the killer clues can now be connected up: the Bonnie Rose and both parts of the film. Only the Duchamps and sardine fingers haven't tied in yet.

The assault on G.D. doesn't fit the general pattern. Logically, he should have been bang-sticked, or not there. There are four possibilities that come to mind. One is that his assault was done by a person other than the killer. Second, the killer was taken by surprise and didn't have his bang stick with him. Third, the killer wanted G.D. alive, but injured. Finally, the wound might be self-inflicted. Toss out the last one, and completely toss him out as the killer. He could not have been injured in his cabin and killing Brian at the same time. I'd also tend to toss out the second one. The killer has taken precautions all along. He would have made sure G.D. was out if he planned to leave the clue there, or would have finished him off. So that leaves either option one or option three. If option one, then the killer must have known about the assault and taken advantage of it. If option three, it was a risk the killer took, but it must have been a safe one. I hope we get more of G.D.'s story of the assault.

In all, a rewarding episode with a lot of good information.

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