Murder by The Dozen
(c) BrainBank, Inc.

CASE SOLUTIONS
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Typed from original booklet by Underdogs for Home of the Underdogs, http://www.theunderdogs.org/

Case #1. OTTO TELCHER.

To win, you must have:

1. Named Jeanette O'Neil as the murderess.

2. Explained Jeanette's motive by mentioning EACH of the following:

   A. She was in desperate need of the money because her son, Robert, was dying and needed a kidney operation.
   B. Otto Telcher was no longer willing to pay further medical bills for Robert.
   C. Otto Telcher was inthe process of cutting Jeanette and Robert out of his will.

Note: Although Jeanette's motive on the simplest level was a need for money, ALL THREE POINTS must be covered in your explanation or you have NOT correctly solved the case.

THE STORY: Jeanette O'Neil had placed an advertisement in the News Herald asking Telcher to meet her at eleven o'clock in the parking lot of Telcher's Chemical Plant. He had been paying her $5,000 every three months for the last eight years in child support. They always met secretly. Telcher always paid in cash.

When they met, Telcher told her that he had been looking over Robert's medical records at Dr. Reznick's office when he noticed that Robert had Type A blood. Knowing that both he, Telcher, and Jeanette were Type O, it was genetically impossible for Robert to be his son. Therefore, Telcher would be damned if he was going to pay another cent to Jeanette. Telcher also informed her that he was in the process of cutting both Jeanette and Robert out of his will. He told her she had seen the last of his money.

Realizing that Robert would die without a kidney operation, a distraught Jeanette decided to kill Telcher immediately, before he had a chance to finish changing his will. She knew that even if she were caught, Robert would still inherit, and live. So, she ran Telcher down. Twice.

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Case #2. WALLY SNARK.

To win, you must have:

1. Named Hector Bigby as the murderer.

2. Mentioned any four of the following six sets of clues:

   A. The nylon rope used to tie up Snark was identical to the rope at the loading dock to which Bigby had access.
   B. Snark weighted 197 pounds. Two attendants struggled to cut him down. Bigby was as strong as an ox. He could lift
      200 pound crates "like they were nothing."
   C. The blow to Snark's head was struck by a left-handed person. Bigby was left-handed.
   D. Snark was killed between 11 P.M. and 2 A.M. Bigby had arranged to meet him at the Warehouse at 11:30 P.M.
   E. A freshly-painted brown school door had been jimmied open. Bigby had a crow bar in his car that had streaks of 
      brown paint on it.
   F. Snark died as a result of an overdose of heroin. Bigby, being a drug dealer, had access to heroin.

THE STORY: Hector Bigby wanted to take over Wally Snark's lucrative High School Territory. Bigby hoped that spiking Snark's cocaine with arsenic would be enough to discredit Snark with the student body and drive Snark out of business. When that did not work, Bigby decided on a more direct approach. He arranged to meet Snark at the Warehouse at night. When they met, Bigby knocked out Snark, gave him a massive overdose of heroin, then drove him to the school. Bigby used the crow bar in his car to pry open the newly-painted brown side door. Then, using rope from the loading dock, he tied Snark to the gymnastic rings where he was found, dead, in the next morning.

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Case #3. MICHAEL BRENNER.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Leman Lewis as the murderer.

2. Located the bonds in the linen closet of Lewis' apartment.

Note: Being an extremely honest cop, you returned all the bonds to the bank and did not mislay one for ten thousand dolars which would have helped your retirement along considerably!

THE STORY: Leman Lewis listened to Gienda Fell's warning that Michael Brenner had broken the computer's security program. Having written the program himself, it was easy for Lewis to trace which account Michael was putting the money into and to order the computer to notify him in the event Michael transferred the money out. On Friday, the money was transferred and Lewis started following Michael. When Brenner came out of the restaurant holding his briefcase full of negotiable bonds, Lewis decided it was the perfect opportunity to kill Brenner and steal the bonds.

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Case #4. ADRIENNE BISHOP.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Calvin Burr as the murderer.

2. Explained that an argument over money and/or gambling led to the unintentional murder. The motive was the white-hot passion of the argument.

Or,

Described the scratches on Calvin Bur's arms and back as the one piece of evidence which supports your case.

THE STORY: Vincent Guancial was holding gambling markers for fifty thousand dolars from Calvin Burr. Calvin told Guancial that he was tapped out, but was waiting for a trust fund check, due the following week. Guancial didn't trust or believe Burr, so he called Adrienne Bishop, Burr's fiancee, and told her that if she wanted Cal in one piece at their wedding, she'd better cover his debt. She agreed on the condition that Guancial would no longer accept Cal's bets. Guancial agreed. Burr came over to Adrienne's that night. The next morning, before Cal dressed, Adrienne told him she was meeting Guancial that afternoon and paying him off. But Cal was either going to have to give up gambling or she would leave him. They had a violent argument which ended with Bur killing her. During the struggle, Adrienne scratched Burr's back and arms, but his shirt covered the scratches when he dressed.

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Case #5. CLAUDE FINLEY.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Tex Plowman as the killer.

2. Interviewed Boris Wier, who saw and wrote down the license plate number of the car in which the killer drove away. The car belonged to Tex Plowman.

Note: There is other suggestive evidence in this case. For example, the Cuban cigars. But all such evidence is not conclusive. Two of the prime suspects smoked the identical brand of cigar, so it proved nothing.

THE STORY: The Texas Construction Company, owned by Tex Plowman, was in trouble. It was in the middle of a huge construction project for the city, but the only way it could keep costs under its bid was to use cheaper materials than those required by the specifications. So Texas Construction made a payoff deal with Councilman Johnson, their standard operating procedure when in a bind.

Tex Plowman was very concerned about the exposes the News Herald had been running on Johnson's activities. If Texas Construction's latest payoff came to light, the project would go down the tubes and Texas Construction would be bankrupt. When Lenny Yarrow told Plowman that Finley had been looking over the books, Plowman put two and two together and realized that Finley was the News Herald's source of information. Plowman then realized that unless he acted quickly, Texas Construction was through.

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Case #6. LISA FENTON.

To win, you must have:

1. Stated Lisa was murdered.

2. Named her son, Carl, as the murderer. He was motivated to kill her because to his psychologically unbalanced mind, his mother was the cause of all his problems.

THE STORY: Carl knew that the other boys whispered about his mother behind his back or heard their parents discussing her. He knew that they laughed at his father, the person who loved him and raised him, for putting up with her. When she left, a huge weight was lifted fom his life. Carl could begin living normally without snickering and snide remarks. Then his mother came back. And his father accepted her; was willing to make a fresh start! Carl decided then that he had to kill her if he ever wanted a real life for himself.

Carl emptied his bottle of Thorazine into his mother's brandy at the poolside bar. He stayed awake that night. When she had gone to sit in the monlight, Carl sneaked into her bathroom and emptied her Valium into a cup and made sure it dissolved. Then he spilled it down the sink, leaving just a slight residue for the police to find. He then went downstairs and waited for his mother to collapse from the Thorazine. When she did, her glass of brandy fell and smashed on the patio. He rolled her into the pool, cleaned up the broken glass, but missed a shard that landed under the bush nearest his mother's chair. He then switched the poisoned bottle of brandy for a good one. When she was discovered in the morning, he felt everyone would think she had taken the Valium and fallen or jumped into the pool. Her death would be considered an acceident or a suicide.

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Case #7. THEO DEMARCUS.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Freddy Erikson as the murderer.

2. Explained that Erikson's motive in killing Demarcus was to protect his gang and/or warn other would-be informers to keep away from the cops.

3. Found the blazer with the missing sleeve button to match the button found clenched in Demarcus' fist. It was located in the master bedroom of Erikson's apartment.

THE STORY: Theo Demarcus was an undercover cop working out of Robbery. he had been assigned to the Warehouse to discover who was responsible for the large number of thefts there. He was approached by a gang member when he let it be known that he needed money and wasn't too particular about how he made it.

As it turned out, the gang's next job was going to be at Liebman's Jewelry Store, not at the warehouse. Because he didn't trust Demarcus, Rodriguez decided to follow him after the robbery to see what he did. Rodriguez overheard Demarcus call Captain Parker of Robbery from a phone booth. Demarcus set up a meeting in front of St. Peter's after services the next day. Rodriguez figured him for a police informer and told the ringleader of the gang, Freddy Erikson, everything he'd learned.

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Case #8. WALTER KENT.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Vaughn "Viper" Rozzelli as the murderer.

Note: any form of his name is aceptable for a correct solution.

THE STORY: All three of Kent's underlings resented his trying to take back what they had held for eight years. Victor Rozzelli decided to act. He knew that Kent loved old Cagney movies so when he saw that "White Heat" was going to be shown, he knew Kent would be there. Viper got to the theatre early and sat in the back. He waited until Kent came in, then moved to a seat in Kent's row, but off to the side. When the movie's gun battle started, Viper stood up and walked along the row towards Kent, as if he were leaving. Reaching Kent, Rozzelli hot him four times, continued to the center aisle and left. He was long gone by the time Kent's body was discovered.

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Case #9. WENDY FLETCHER.

To win, you must have named Ar Fletcher as the guilty person.

THE STORY: After a messy divorce and an even messier custody fight which he lost, Art Fletcher decided to get custody of his daughter, Risa, outside of the law. The divorce and the custody fight left him bitter and by now, he genuinely hated Wendy, his ex-wife. He knew that if he kidnapped Risa, he would probably be found and Risa would be taken back. He decided to kill Wendy, instead.

Working his construction job, Fletcher sneaked out two sticks of Tovex, a plastic explosive, by pretending to add one extra stick to two different charges, then taking the extra two unexploded sticks for his own purposes. Fletcher used these two sticks to kill Wendy by wiring them to her car. Having spent a lot of time at Guancial's Bar (AA), Fletcher knew Guancial made book, so he wrote the letter nad slipped it under the door to focus attentiion on other bookies. Did it work?

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Case #10. JEREMY TODD.

To win, you must have:

1. Stated that Todd was not murdered, but committed suicide.

2. Mentioned any four of the following nine clues in support of your case:

   A. The telephone, which wasoff the hook, had no fingerprints on it.
   B. Todd's body had three times the prescribed dosage of morphine in it.
   C. Todd's neighbor, Cindy Jordan, said she heard him yell, "I only wish I could live to see you hang, Opal!"
   D. Todd arranged for the Drug Store to make a delivery. he disapproved of deliveries, considering them a waste of money.
   E. Todd insisted the delivery be made at two in the afternoon, when he knew he'd be home all day.
   F. Todd knew he had inoperable cancer and wouldn't live to see his case get to court.
   G. Todd had told his psychiatrist that he would kill himself when the pain became severe.
   H. Todd hated Lawrence Roebuck. Todd blamed Roebuck for Todd's failres.

THE STORY: Jeremy Todd wasa loser. A few years ago, he loaned his best friend, Lawrence Roebuck, $10,000 to start a Flower Shop. A couple of months later, Todd was given the opportunity to buy into a small computer company at a good price. He asked Roebuck for the moneyb ack, but Roebuck had already spent it on the store. Todd lost the opportunity which, as it turned out, could have made him a millionaire, and from then on Todd hated Roebuck. A few months ago, Todd started a suit against Roebuck hoping to bankrupt him.

Then Todd found out he had terminal liver cancer. Already in pain and knowing that only more pain and death lay in front of him, Todd decided to kill himself and frame Roebuck for his murder.

Todd called up the Drug Store and arranged for some sleeping pills to be delivered at exactly 2:00 P.M. He circled the date on the calendar and wrote in that Roebuck was coming over to talk. Todd knew that day, between 11:30 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., Roebuck took inventory in his cold storage room and made up orders for his suppliers. So Roebuck would be unable to provide a decent alibi.

Todd then set the stage by wiping most of the surfaces in his kitchen to make it look as if someone had tried to hide the fact that they had been there. This is where Todd made his biggest mistake. After taking the phone off the hook, he wiped it clean of prints. Obviously, if he was reaching for it while dying, his fingerprints should have been on it.

Todd then set the bread and sandwich meat out and left the front door ajar. He took three of his morphine pills, and, in an impulse born of impotent rage, shouted, "I'm only sorry I won't be alive to see you hang, Old Pal!" Then he stabbed himself, knowing that the Drug Store delivery boy would be along in a couple of hours to discover his dead body.

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Case #11. LEONORA TIBBET.

To win, you must have:

1. Identified Penny Marlowe as the murderess.

2. Named one of the following two clues in support of your case:

   A. Penny grabbed the metal bedpan and threw it on the floor.
   B. Penny's fingerprints were the only ones found on the bedpan.

THE STORY: Penny Marlowe hated her job and when her wealthy aunt had a serious heart attack, she thought her whole life was about to change. But her hopes were dashed when her aunt survived and began regaining strength.

After work, Penny went to the hospital to pay a visit and found her aunt asleep. While sitting and waiting for Aunt leonora to awaken, Penny began to think how easy it would be to smother the woman with a pillow and then slip the pillow back under her head. Penny was alone and knew her arrival had not been noticed. An 82-year-old heart attack victim dying in her sleep in a hospital would not arouse questions.

Without any conscious decision, Penny suddenly found herself pressing a pillow into her aunt's face. Surpsingly, Aunt Leonora put up a terrific struggle. When her aunt's hand reached the nurse call button, and pressed, Penny panicked. If Leonora Tibbet lived, everyone would know what had happened.

Penny grabbed the first solid object she could find, the metal bedpan, and beat her aunt on the head until the struggling stopped. She then heard footsteps in the hall as Nurse Abromovitz was coming to answer the call button. Penny squeezed into the closet just as the nurse entered the room. When Nurse Abromovitz left to get help, Penny slipped out of the closet, went to the door, and started screaming. She did not have to fake hysteria.

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Case #12. JOSHUA GIGGLE.

To win, you must have:

1. Named Joel Stelbright as the killer.

2. Explained that Stelbright felt the foreman's job was rightfully his and that Joshua Giggle had taken it away from him. This jealousy was Stelbright's motive.

3. Mentioned two of the four following clues in support of your case:

   A. Stelbright smoked Marlboros, which were found on the scene of the crime.
   B. Stelbright is right-handed.
   C. Ater having had a few at the bar, Stelbright confided that the foreman's job was as good as his, even if no one else
      knew it yet.
   D. Phillip Ball saw him commit the murder.

THE STORY: Joel Stelbright resented being passed over for the foreman's job. He particularly resented that he was passed over due to pressure from his fellow workers, with whom he was popular. They, however, felt promotion to the foreman's job was a just and deserved compensation for Josh who had been the victim of an injustice.

Stelbright hid his resentment, going so far as to arrange a little party to celebrate Josh's rehiring and promotion at Guancial's Bar. As soon as work was finished, Stelbright left, not even taking time to clean his hands thoroughly. He knew Josh would be walking through the park. Stelbright found a heavy branch, hid behind some trees and waited for Josh to appear. While Stelbright waited, he smoked and trimmed the branch into a club. As soon as Josh passed his position, Stelbright stepped out and clubbed him.

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