2C: Clue – Playing the Game
Arriving at the mansion, Peter pulled up and waited for the triplets to exit the vehicle and join him where he was introducing the reason for their presence to the police officers standing by the entrance.
Entering the mansion, Peter ignored the flashy details and honed in on seeking to know each triplet's story. "Which one of you arrived first?"
Consulting the beginning timelines for their stories, he learned that Neal had been the first arrival. Directing the man to get on with it, he followed him as he walked through his activities for the evening. They started with the observations of the front of the property, went to the billiard room, and Neal talked about his games there.
Taking notes, Peter mentally tallied Neal's pool skills for future reference. However, his questions were pointed towards details about his companions.
"You are the alibi for Brunette, but did you hear Green or Rose make any comments about what they were going to do next or did you hear them pass the door?" Peter tried to gather whether or not the others were viable suspects or not. Had they continued to play pool, Peter could have taken four suspects out by mutual alibis.
"No, they were still here and I didn't hear them pass the door. They were conversing about her prediction and how it turned out. He wasn't pleased to lose so that conversation could have gone on for a while or not long at all." Neal didn't have much to add as they walked around the billiard room.
"Take us to what happened next," Peter instructed before following Neal through the side door, down the hall, and into the studio.
Pacing around the room, Peter was glad he didn't see any famous works to tempt Neal, nothing but amateur paintings of an exotic woman. Listening, he heard Neal recount some basic observations of the art and what he'd picked up about Brunette's criminal knowledge in the art realm.
"He is interested in breaking into art theft, but he doesn't have the knowledge to be very good at it. A forgery would easily fool him and he might steal a less valuable painting because he thinks it looks better than a more valuable painting he doesn't understand the value of." Snorting, Neal wasn't impressed. "I'd never work with him. Brunette is best at confidence games; he pretends to be European and convinces someone to invest in whatever fake scheme he's selling them."
"Did you notice anything about Scarlet?" Peter redirected the conversation to the other suspect Neal had encountered.
"She was here for a reason and didn't appreciate our interruption. Her position indicates a meeting, and she was cautious so perhaps not someone she trusted. If they met her elsewhere or not, I cannot say." Neal continued to look as if he was picturing what happened and analyzing the interaction for more information. "Heels, Scarlet was wearing heels. They would have hindered her in getting from here to the gazebo in time without drawing undue attention to their noise or if she removed them her lack of shoes might have been noticed."
Moving about the room with his hands behind his back, Neal was working a theory through. "If she was meeting Body, then she might have removed her heels and hurried to a new meeting place out at the gazebo where she shot him. However, first, if he was meeting her here and they changed the location, then she probably didn't need to rush as he'd be just as far off. Second, we're towards the back of the house and it wasn't long after she left that he was shot. She wouldn't have had enough time to get from here to there if she didn't rush and that would have attracted attention."
"Green and Rose would have had longer to go from the Billiard room near the front to the gazebo." Peter mused on the information. "So, we have two suspects, one has you for an alibi, and the third has location and timing in their defense. It's something."
Directing the next triplet to take their turn, Peter walked through each meeting.
Based on the information Cooper had to share, Peacock was a possible suspect as no one else had been in the dining room to alibi whether or not she stayed. White, the maid, was a good person to interrogate as she would have an idea who was where much of the evening so she'd help narrow the suspect list down but she had responsibilities in the kitchen likely tying her to the mansion. Gray could have been in the library from when he left Neal to go there or he could have been outside and then returned to avoid suspicion. The same went for Plumb, but his added symptoms of nerves made him a more interesting suspect.
Saunders didn't have as much information to share. Peach was also a gossip and seemed interested in everyone's activities while none of the triplets knew where she'd gone after failing with Saunders. Then he was with Mustard at the time of the murder proving mutual alibis for both men.
Peter didn't feel like he'd gained much for the effort. He had two suspects down, a few lowered on the list, and several still viable suspects for the murder. Sighing in frustration, he had hoped the triplets would be more fruitful in laying out the events of the evening.
"Hold up, Peter. We might be able to help you more than you think." Neal raised his hands to slow him down before standing in a conference with his brothers as they started bouncing information off of each other.
Drawn into the conversation, Peter helped by relaying the ground details, "Mr. Body was found in the gazebo and he'd been killed by a revolver bullet. The gun was found on the lawn while there was a suspicious hole in the glass of the conservatory."
Pacing around each other, the triplets seemed to be going over each of the suspects they'd encountered and tried to determine who the best suspect was for Peter to pursue.
"Mrs. Peacock is creepy, but I think it's more her affection for birds of prey. She likes death, but doesn't seem interested in causing it."
"Madame Rose is a scam artist. She doesn't seem violent; she's more likely to flee when things get dangerous."
"Peach acts like a flirt, but she is also determined to get her way. I could see her taking more subtle action, but shooting someone is dangerous to her reputation."
"Sergeant Gray is known for being a capable shot, he's good with weapons, and has the contacts to gain access to a clean revolver. However, he's either very calm for a murderer or he wasn't directly involved."
"Mr. Green is definitely criminal, but he seems more likely to go after kneecaps and fingers than to arrange a murder. Maybe he helped instigate something?"
"Although the other guests aren't above suspicion, Mrs. White was putting her ear to a door or scurrying back to the kitchen every time I saw her so she is worth interrogating. Professor Plum though, he was sweating and seemed to be hugging his book to him quite tightly. He makes me curious what was so valuable about a general archeology book on Egyptian history. That book has a secret in it, whether he's trying to carry information, or something more solid, there is something in that book."
All three brothers stopped pacing and seemed to have come to an agreement.
"I think we've got everything figured out here." One stated, and then he turned to Peter. "Check Plum's book for residue from the gun and cut out pages to hide it while the weapon probably has his prints. It seems the murder was by the Gazebo, and the Conservatory was known to have a hole in it but it's a decoy for tonight's murder."
Following their lead, Peter pulled out his phone and called in the necessary orders. Plum was to be printed, his book searched, and the findings compared to the gun. If the evidence matched the theory, they might have their suspect. To be safe, Peter also relayed the rest of their summaries for consideration since Sergeant Gray was the second most likely suspect in their list. Just because he was an officer didn't clear him. He didn't have a valid reason for being present at the party, yet he was amongst those rounded up when the police raided the event.
Walking back out of the mansion, Peter escorted the triplets away from the scene. They had aided in solving the crime, but their involvement was done. Reaching the front, he offered to give them all a ride. If he was lucky, they'd lead him to hotel rooms or somewhere public near their destinations.
"Tsk-tsk," Neal shook his head at him. "We aren't going to give you any more information this evening. You know more about us than I ever intended so anything else you get you'll have to work for. A taxi will suit us just fine."
Directing them to continue following him, Peter then lead them down the driveway towards the street. "You'll have to call for a taxi this time of night and on this road. They don't come by here."
Pulling out phones, the three made their calls while they walked and each ordered their own driver through a different company.
Shaking his head, Peter wondered how they could disperse without catching up. Then he decided that they'd either contact each other later to have that discussion away from him or maybe they didn't want to talk. Just because they were brothers didn't mean they were close.
At the street, Peter then stood by watching the triplets as they waited for their taxis to arrive.
Watching their body language, he noticed that Neal was the one who remained nearest to him. He was relaxed but serious. The other two were just plain serious. It wasn't easy to tell Saunders and Cooper apart, but Neal's familiarity with him helped.
"So, that's it? You're just going your separate ways now, after what, not seeing each other since you were eighteen?" Peter decided to shake them up.
Snorting, one of them wasn't impressed.
Another turned to glare at him before frowning at his brothers.
"Nice try, Peter. My brothers and I, one encounter isn't going to solve everything. Don't worry about us. We're fine enough, and any rough spots are our problem, not yours." The nearest kid lifted an eyebrow at him before shrugging and turning to look up the street as a taxi approached.
Apparently, it was the wrong company as Neal turned away while one of the other triplets stepped forwards towards the curb. When the car pulled up, he verified it and opened the door before sliding in. Pulling away, the taxi drove up the street and turned the corner to disappear in the darkness.
The next taxi was the same. This time the second triplet left so Peter stood alone with Neal.
"I guess we're going back to our chase. What, the clock starts first thing in the morning?" Peter tried to get Neal to talk to him. The kid was more vocal than his brothers and might give him a better picture now that they were alone.
"You could say that. This wasn't a fair round so we're resetting the board. However, you learned a little bit and so did I. The next round won't be so easy for either of us." Neal grinned at him enjoying the teasing. It was a game to him.
"No, we aren't resetting the board. I'm still after you for the bonds, you only got off on whatever you might have been attempting to do tonight, which I will be looking into by the way. And, I had better not discover that your little shadow man friend who supports you did something. This had better be a legitimate release of some kind." Peter warned the kid. He hadn't forgotten his suspicions or how Neal's brother called him Danny. However, he didn't want to remind the kid that he'd learned a new name for the evening, two including the alias.
Another taxi approached and Neal moved towards the curb as it was obviously his ride. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Peter." Then with a smirk, he turned to get into the cab.
Looking at the driver, Peter noticed that the man could match their information on Neal's little friend. However, he had something on his head and that fur on his face didn't look natural. Smirking, he figured it was probably Neal's friend but he'd come prepared. Neal hadn't verified the driver after all so he obviously knew the man.
Turning to head back towards the mansion, Peter had an investigation to finish.
While he walked up the driveway, he made another call for information through his team. Providing the aliases and descriptions, he asked for his team to see what they could find about the triplets. He was certain they wouldn't get much, but he wanted to follow his hunch by himself.
A few mornings later, Peter headed into the office to check on the results. Meeting the team in the conference room, it was heartening to find that Professor Plum had been arrested for the murder.
Following the triplets lead, they'd checked Plum's fingerprints against those found on the gun. The prints matched while the bullet in Mr. Body had been tested against the gun to find matching barrel markings. It was only icing on the cake to find cut out pages in his book with gunshot residue on them.
Reviewing the information, Peter suspected that Plum had killed Body for some reason or another; interrogation would sort the motive out, and then fled the scene. He missed when the revolver fell out of his book as he hurried back to the mansion and then he was reacting to the adrenaline rush when Cooper saw him in the library shortly after.
Then some additional arrests were mentioned. This only semi-surprised Peter as he'd expected other agencies to be closing cases as well, but something about them added to his hunch.
The FBI had made headway in a large money laundering ring. Mr. Green had been caught for his involvement with a Washington firm as he'd streamed his ill-gotten gains through them in exchange for the cleaner funds.
Sergeant Gray had been picked up by the NSA. Apparently, he had been meeting Plum about weapons and had even been the source for his revolver.
Then Mrs. White had been so interested in other's people's information, she hadn't realized she was the focus of attention for her gossiping habits. She'd been traced to information sales by the CIA and was facing the repercussions of her side income.
With the cases all but closed, Peter and the team dispersed to their offices to do their reports and finish up the paperwork aspect of any cases they had associated with Mr. Body.
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