Starlite photo of Marie Oates.
[This is more of a question-answer round as there are so many questions and I am still busy assisting my seven groups of students]
Marie Oates dies shortly after having arrived at the local hospital (Monday late afternoon). Her poor mother identifies her.
The boyfriend & soldier Robert Charles Brown has not reported his gun stolen as he had not noticed it wasn´t in the box under his bed where he left it several months ago. Robert´s superiors confirm the gun has been issued to him in 2009.
Marie´s mobile phone (her only phone): Marie Oates called Robert Sunday afternoon around five o´clock, and her sister Daisy Oates called her Sunday evening around half past ten. She has not been in touch with any of the other models since she left work Friday. They saw her take the bus as usual.
There might be several jealous girls as Marie was very beautiful (some ´friends´ hint that she thought it was fun to steal their boyfriends just to prove that she could).
The relationship between Marie and Robert started two-three months ago. He visited her in her flat Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday after lunch. He went back to his room in Sherwood because he had an appointment with three other soldiers. They went out drinking heavily, and Robert did not really surface until Monday afternoon. He claims he and Marie were very happy.
The police have tried to contact Marie´s sister but she is neither in her home nor at work.
The flat: The door was locked from the inside, and the key was left in the key hole. The only other exits are two windows facing the backyard.
It seems as if Marie Oates´ has slept in her bed several times since she changed her bed linen. There are traces of semen though hardly very fresh.
Ms Oates was dressed, and she had been out shopping Monday morning. She went to the local baker to buy two cream cakes and milk. The baker (who seems partial to her beauty) remembers having seen her around twelve o´clock. The cakes are still in her fridge, but someone has opened the carton of milk.
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9 kommentarer:
Well that clears one or two things up.
The boyfriend and the missing gun still bother me though. Has he really just noticed its missing?
Door locked, only two other exits are windows - where these open/shut? Broken (what with?) and if so was the glass inside/outside the room?
Sheets, semen stained. Hmmmm, difficult to collect evidence from I would have thought, I presume they have been collected for evidence.
Is this the point where we need to be asking for bodily fluid samples or am I way ahead of myself?
Dorte, you have got me hooked on this. Husband dearest is even beginning to wonder if I'm planning the perfect crime.
Dorte - Thanks for this information. I'm going to have to take today and sift through it...
Margot and Petty Witter:
Blogger seems unable to find your comments, but I have received them via my mail.
Here is a copy of the questions (so other commentors can see them):
The boyfriend and the missing gun still bother me though. Has he really just noticed its missing?
Door locked, only two other exits are windows - where these open/shut? Broken (what with?) and if so was the glass inside/outside the room?
Sheets, semen stained. Hmmmm, difficult to collect evidence from I would have thought, I presume they have been collected for evidence.
Is this the point where we need to be asking for bodily fluid samples or am I way ahead of myself?
YES, you can ask for bodily fluids, fingerprints etc, but you will not always be able to get answers immediately.
Dorte, the investigators need only to remember two words: family and friends. Somewhere in those two words is your culprit. So, given that notion, what do you mean "poor mother"?
Warning: Real criminal investigations are generally boring, boring, boring! And did I mention they were boring? Writers of police procedurals can get bogged down in the details and forget the required elements in fiction: conflict, characterization, etc. So, while we wade in with suggestions for investigative tactics, keep your eyes on the prize (as you always do): scintillating story telling.
We have the gun, can we match the serial number to employer's records? It is probably Robert's gun, but that doesn't really help us much because Robert/Marie/Someone-Else could have used it.
Semen sample would only help us if it was *not* Robert ... then she was two-timing him. (Assuming that she changed the sheets in the last 3 months ... yeuch!)
The baker's evidence is important (assuming that we can rely on it). Robert may still be in the frame.
Suggest door-to-door enquiries to see if neighbours saw anyone in the area on Monday afternoon.
Has it been confirmed that the cause of death was from the gunshot? We need to know more about that....
Does the bullet match the gun owned by Robert? Were shell casings found? At what angle was the entry wound? Could it have been inflicted during a struggle over the gun?
I think the others have covered my additional questions.
R.T.: you are right, but this time my DCs are in charge just like my students were in charge this week. They did very well, actually, but then they spent several hours on the project every day.
Tim: hardly three months, but perhaps a few weeks ;)
Kelly: I posted round five tonight by accident, but I will try to add a bit more about the gunshot tomorrow as it is such an important question.
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