A/N: And we have another follower! All right! Welcome, Psycho Tangerine. Glad you like the story so far. How'd you know I was going to post a chapter today, anyway? (I usually aim for one every Sunday, just so everyone knows. Last week I was having technical issues and yesterday I just plain goofed)
And Cylon One, you might want to go back and re-read chapters 2 and 3 (chapters 3 and 4 from 's perspective, since I used chapter 1 as notes and disclaimers and my chapter 1 was chapter 2 according to the site). I added some stuff that I hope addresses the two issues you had before without contradicting myself or either canon somewhere else in the story.
The next morning, after breakfast, Adrian told the Buckets and Willy that he planned to go over the crime scene.
"Willy and I will come with you," Charlie said
"I don't think that's a good idea," Natalie said.
"Why not?" Charlie asked.
"Because people believe that Mr. Wonka committed the murder," Adrian explained. "It would be a very bad idea for him to go outside at all, much less be seen where he supposedly murdered someone. He could be mobbed. Or arrested."
"I guess you're right," Charlie said.
Willy grinned. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "An excuse to stay put in the factory. Charlie's always dragging me outside for one reason or another."
The Buckets all laughed.
Adrian and Natalie slipped out the side gate of the factory. Following Charlie's directions on how to get to the alley where the crime had taken place, they soon arrived. Adrian immediately began his investigations, looking at the walls of the buildings and the ground in the area through the "window" he formed with his hands.
He suddenly turned towards Natalie. "She was actually shot where the body was in the picture," he said.
"How do you know that?" Natalie asked.
"There are blood specks on the wall over there but not on the wall of the dead end," Adrian said.
"But there's a large blood stain on the ground back there," Natalie said, pointing at it.
"That was created by the killer," Adrian explained. "Look down."
Natalie did. The ground was unpaved and was covered in a sandy substance. She squinted, but didn't see anything.
"There are small particles of bloody sand," Adrian explained. "The killer transplanted the bloody sand from killing Ms. Tryon to there. During the process, some of the sand leaked and made a very faint trail. The police didn't notice it when going over the crime scene."
Natalie suddenly spotted something. "Look at this," she said. She walked over to a nail sticking out from a sign that had been nailed to one of the buildings and removed a small piece of plum red colored fabric with a gold button.
After Natalie had placed it in a baggie, Adrian examined it. "It's the bottom button," he said. "There's no way this could have just caught there and ripped. It was too low on the coat. The person who was pretending to be Mr. Wonka ripped this off his coat and put it here."
"How do you know it's the bottom button?" Natalie asked.
"Two perpendicular sides of the cloth it's on have been hemmed," Adrian responded.
Later, back at the factory, Adrian brought out the button. "This was found at the crime scene" he said.
"I wonder why the police didn't see it," Charlie said. "It looks like something that would point directly to Mr. Wonka."
"Maybe they didn't feel like they had to look around too thoroughly," Julie suggested. "After all, they had an eyewitness who said it was Mr. Wonka."
"Mr. Wonka," Adrian said. "Would you take your coat off and place it so the bottom button is next to this one I found?"
"Uh, sure," Willy said. He carefully removed his coat and laid it where Adrian had requested.
Adrian leaned over and examined the two buttons. "Look at this," he said. "The button we found at the crime scene has four holes, but the ones on Mr. Wonka's coat had only two."
Charlie suddenly picked up the baggie and opened it. He felt the cloth, and then touched Willy's jacket. "The cloth doesn't feel the same, either," he said.
Natalie poked a finger into the bag and felt the cloth, too. "It's not real velvet," she said.
"And, of course, mine is," Willy said, putting his coat back on. "It's just more proof that I'm not the real killer." He grinned. "So when can we go to the police and clear my name?" he asked.
"We should probably wait until we know who did do it," Adrian said. "Yes, we have evidence, but the police here don't know me. They wouldn't take this little piece of evidence seriously."
"Okay," Willy said.
