Part 6:
Detective Thrump's conclusion
Even now, after a couple of weeks, as I sit with a pile of unsolved crimes in front of me, I ponder on what really happened that night...How had Skittles found his grave? Sometimes I think everything was just a massive coincidence, but I for one don't usually believe in them. There were too many people at the right place at the right time. Dawn Summers and her sister Buffy, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenburg and the mysterious Charlie Lampcall I was never able to track down again. It's true some of my theories might've been a little off, but there must have been some truth in them. The trick was to put the right ones head to head. Of course, it took a while until everything matched, but I was willing to go through the trouble, even if it might've been too late. So, for a couple of weeks I drove my fellow detectives and my fiancée to the brink of insanity, but I guess it was worth it, for ultimately, I found an answer. A puzzling answer that sometimes, like today, still made me wonder.
So this is my last theory...Dawn Summers' birthday party - what started out as a little joke between close friends ended up in a cruel prank for the teenage girl. Her friends pestered her about the clown so much it made something inside Dawn Summers snap. The initial madness towards her sister turned towards the clown. Dawn casually slipped out during her birthday bash at the Bronze and called Skittles. Who had she gotten the phone number from? Obviously her sister. She was in it from the beginning. They had reconciled while planning the murder. Nothing brings people back together than a good old fashion murder. The sister came to the Bronze as an excuse for Dawn to leave for an hour. First she was hoping her friends wouldn't notice, but they did, that's when plan B kicked in. The sister wanted to make up with her. Everyone gave the same reason, Dawn herself, her sister and Xander Harris.
Xander Harris was supposed to be considered merely a useful alibi, his true contribution to be never discovered. He would confirm Buffy Summers' departure to the Bronze. But after Buffy Summers went on her way to the Bronze, he went to the graveyard where he conveniently abandoned a shovel for the two sisters to find on their way from the Bronze.
The two set out to the park and on their way stopped at the graveyard to pick up the shovel. They found Skittles and hit him with the shovel on the head. The slime must've been there on the ground. He must've fell right on it. They started digging the hole. At some point Dawn Summers looked at her watch and realized how late it was. She quickly left for the Bronze. Left alone, Buffy Summers seeked help from Xander Harris. When they arrived at the park Xander was still eating his sandwich. Buffy Summers got an idea. If they would shove something down his throat, it might seem like an accident. So they put an olive down his throat. They heard the police car nearing and panicked. Burnt the shovel that accidentally fell on Skittles. They somehow managed to get the shovel out of the way and rolled the body in the hole and ran away before the police got there. Hearing of the happenings, Willow Rosenburg decided to get rid of any evidence - the shoe, the shovel - which might have incriminated the Summers sisters. It didn't work because I was there, so she tried to convince me she had seen them that night and that they were completely innocent. And somehow it had a certain effect on me, without me thinking her story was in any way true. Had she been there that night? It didn't really matter; she would have lied willingly for her friends. She hadn't been an accomplice to the murder itself, but she would have easily committed perjury to make it up to Dawn Summers for what ever she had said or done to her in her junkie days.
So what about Charlie Lampcall? A phony name, a non-existent fingerprint I dusted off my desk and a suspect that didn't seem to exist. The wanted poster is still hanging at the front desk, but no one really seems to recognize him. The chief suggested maybe it was someone out of town who had a little too much to drink and maybe picked on the clown and accidentally killed him and then split town. A little far off if you ask me.
Charlie Lampcall might've been a friend of the family with a record so clean he didn't even have a parking ticket and wanted to help out. Or a computer whiz who had erased all knowledge of his existence and wanted to help the two sisters out of the jam.
Maybe it was the way I figured it out, maybe not. It could've gone a thousand different ways and maybe it did. All I know is the Summers did it, I don't know how, but they did it and next time they'll plan anything murderous together, you know I'll be there to foil their plot. One day I'll book 'em, even if it's just for littering.
This is just another story of society turning good kids into criminal masterminds. In some ways I feel sorry for poor Dawn Summers... One of these days she won't be able to hide her tracks anymore and then her perfect world will crumble. Still, I'd really like to know what the hell happened that night...
End Part 6
One down, one to go! The Epilogue is next! Don't forget to check it out if you're at least a bit curious to find out what *really* happened :)
Detective Thrump's conclusion
Even now, after a couple of weeks, as I sit with a pile of unsolved crimes in front of me, I ponder on what really happened that night...How had Skittles found his grave? Sometimes I think everything was just a massive coincidence, but I for one don't usually believe in them. There were too many people at the right place at the right time. Dawn Summers and her sister Buffy, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenburg and the mysterious Charlie Lampcall I was never able to track down again. It's true some of my theories might've been a little off, but there must have been some truth in them. The trick was to put the right ones head to head. Of course, it took a while until everything matched, but I was willing to go through the trouble, even if it might've been too late. So, for a couple of weeks I drove my fellow detectives and my fiancée to the brink of insanity, but I guess it was worth it, for ultimately, I found an answer. A puzzling answer that sometimes, like today, still made me wonder.
So this is my last theory...Dawn Summers' birthday party - what started out as a little joke between close friends ended up in a cruel prank for the teenage girl. Her friends pestered her about the clown so much it made something inside Dawn Summers snap. The initial madness towards her sister turned towards the clown. Dawn casually slipped out during her birthday bash at the Bronze and called Skittles. Who had she gotten the phone number from? Obviously her sister. She was in it from the beginning. They had reconciled while planning the murder. Nothing brings people back together than a good old fashion murder. The sister came to the Bronze as an excuse for Dawn to leave for an hour. First she was hoping her friends wouldn't notice, but they did, that's when plan B kicked in. The sister wanted to make up with her. Everyone gave the same reason, Dawn herself, her sister and Xander Harris.
Xander Harris was supposed to be considered merely a useful alibi, his true contribution to be never discovered. He would confirm Buffy Summers' departure to the Bronze. But after Buffy Summers went on her way to the Bronze, he went to the graveyard where he conveniently abandoned a shovel for the two sisters to find on their way from the Bronze.
The two set out to the park and on their way stopped at the graveyard to pick up the shovel. They found Skittles and hit him with the shovel on the head. The slime must've been there on the ground. He must've fell right on it. They started digging the hole. At some point Dawn Summers looked at her watch and realized how late it was. She quickly left for the Bronze. Left alone, Buffy Summers seeked help from Xander Harris. When they arrived at the park Xander was still eating his sandwich. Buffy Summers got an idea. If they would shove something down his throat, it might seem like an accident. So they put an olive down his throat. They heard the police car nearing and panicked. Burnt the shovel that accidentally fell on Skittles. They somehow managed to get the shovel out of the way and rolled the body in the hole and ran away before the police got there. Hearing of the happenings, Willow Rosenburg decided to get rid of any evidence - the shoe, the shovel - which might have incriminated the Summers sisters. It didn't work because I was there, so she tried to convince me she had seen them that night and that they were completely innocent. And somehow it had a certain effect on me, without me thinking her story was in any way true. Had she been there that night? It didn't really matter; she would have lied willingly for her friends. She hadn't been an accomplice to the murder itself, but she would have easily committed perjury to make it up to Dawn Summers for what ever she had said or done to her in her junkie days.
So what about Charlie Lampcall? A phony name, a non-existent fingerprint I dusted off my desk and a suspect that didn't seem to exist. The wanted poster is still hanging at the front desk, but no one really seems to recognize him. The chief suggested maybe it was someone out of town who had a little too much to drink and maybe picked on the clown and accidentally killed him and then split town. A little far off if you ask me.
Charlie Lampcall might've been a friend of the family with a record so clean he didn't even have a parking ticket and wanted to help out. Or a computer whiz who had erased all knowledge of his existence and wanted to help the two sisters out of the jam.
Maybe it was the way I figured it out, maybe not. It could've gone a thousand different ways and maybe it did. All I know is the Summers did it, I don't know how, but they did it and next time they'll plan anything murderous together, you know I'll be there to foil their plot. One day I'll book 'em, even if it's just for littering.
This is just another story of society turning good kids into criminal masterminds. In some ways I feel sorry for poor Dawn Summers... One of these days she won't be able to hide her tracks anymore and then her perfect world will crumble. Still, I'd really like to know what the hell happened that night...
End Part 6
One down, one to go! The Epilogue is next! Don't forget to check it out if you're at least a bit curious to find out what *really* happened :)