Angels and Angles, Part One: Cupid & Psycho


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The Shaman

First Post
Ricky skims over the report. “Doctor, how was she strangled and how were those wounds made? Were they made immediately after death or over the course of the intervening three days?” He pulls out his notebook and jots down the coroner’s answers, then pulls out his business card. “It would be a big help to us if we could get the address and a telephone number for the deceased’s parents. Also, would it be possible for us to borrow this picture? I can get a copy made but it make take a day or two, and I’ll be sure to get the original back to you for your files.” Diplomacy: 20

As Ricky prepares to leave, he asks the coroner one more question. “Doc, have you seen any other cases come in with a similar M.O., cause of death, or wounds?”
 

Committed Hero

Adventurer
Psychobabble

“Doctor, how was she strangled and how were those wounds made? Were they made immediately after death or over the course of the intervening three days?”

My guess would be a heavy pillow, maybe she had already gone to sleep and was prevented from really struggling before it was too late. I would guess that there was a romantic relationship between them. By the time the killer may have tried to show any remorse, it was too late.

As far as the post mortem wounds, they were probably a reaction to the death. I've read about cases where the victim's identity influences the perp's pathology. It usually takes an external stimulus - something that profoundly affects the identity obsession - to convince him to finally dump the body.


“It would be a big help to us if we could get the address and a telephone number for the deceased’s parents. Also, would it be possible for us to borrow this picture? I can get a copy made but it make take a day or two, and I’ll be sure to get the original back to you for your files.”

I'm going to assume this is an official request, so there's no problem. I'll contact the mother and let you know.

“Doc, have you seen any other cases come in with a similar M.O., cause of death, or wounds?”

Like I said, other than reading about similar things in medical journals I've never come across it personally. Nothing here in the city.
 
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The Shaman

First Post
Ricky thanks the corner for his help. After the two agents return to the car, Ricky sits for a moment scratching in his notebook. “BODY: suffocated ---> pillow – post-coital? Post-mortem mutilation to face – ‘reaction to death.’ Body retained by killer (?) – ‘external stimulus’ to dispose ---> why there? what stimulus?” He flips the notebook shut and sets it on his lap.

Ricky glances at Trask. He’s quiet. From his pocket he pulls the photograph of Michelle Dowling. Pretty girl. Ricky tucks the photograph in his notebook, places it in his coat pocket.

“Now to the Vermont crime scene?” he asks his partner.
 


Candide

First Post
(sorry I haven't really posted good entries, I'm just not familiar with crime investigation protocol)

Trask was holding the photo of the girl, lost in thought. Shaken out at his partner's question, Trask responds "Capital idea, chum."

Trask thinks to himself, What would drive a person to do such a thing to a top gal like her? She was quite a looker, not anymore. To think her good looks marred by this bastard AFTER she died." Artemis sits and stews in his anger.
 

The Shaman

First Post
Committed Hero said:
Just wanted to point out, no evidence of this in the report.
Ricky's just speculating on his notepad - I'm trying to play him as a WIS oriented detective, not an INT oriented detective, going with hunches.
Candide said:
(sorry I haven't really posted good entries, I'm just not familiar with crime investigation protocol)
No worries - I'm just trying to make sure you have a chance to ask questions and offer opinions.

Now let's check out that dumpster...
 

Committed Hero

Adventurer
Candide said:
(sorry I haven't really posted good entries, I'm just not familiar with crime investigation protocol)

As far as investigative details are concerned, I don't think I'm going to trip you up with minute details, but on the other hand I don't want to railroad you. I'm pretty confident you will wind up where you need to go - plus you just started on the case this morning.

***

Vermont Avenue is a mix of small shops and blocks of apartment flats. You find the bin in an alley behind a row of stores. Police signs are still evident around the bin, and it doesn't look like it has been disturbed since the body was recovered.

[If you guys like, I'll just put the investigation rolls you need to make after each little blurb. Here we need a Search roll, and a Diplomacy roll if you want to check out the clerk's story since she's close by]
 

The Shaman

First Post
A little bell tinkles over the doorway as the two G-men enter the shop. “Good morning, Ma’am, I’m Special Agent Garces, this is Special Agent Trask, we’re with the FBI. May we speak with you a moment?”

“We’re investigating a homicide that occurred last week. We understand you found the young woman who’s body was left in the dumpster out back. Could you tell us what you saw and did on the day you discovered the body?” Diplomacy: 16

After taking the woman’s statement, Ricky follows Trask around to the rear alley, sizing up the details. Search: 20 – natural 20!
 

Committed Hero

Adventurer
"I was going out back to take the trash out after lunch, when I saw her leg and foot beneath some other garbage," sniffs the clerk. She is in her forties and you're confident she is telling the truth. "At first I thought it might be a mannequin from one of the other stores, but when I got closer - sorry -." She breaks off, holding back a sob.

None of the employees in the store recognize Dowling. Her apartment is only ten or so blocks east, so it's not unlikely that she would have frequented this area.

Ricky takes a thorough look at the bin behind the store. He's pretty sure he hasn't missed anything - as a matter of fact, it looks like his search was the first real one that was done here. It doesn't look like any of the trash underneath here was checked in any way - newspapers and such are dated earlier than when Dowling was found, and so forth.
 

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