[OmegaScales]

*ALL NAMES AND LOCATIONS ARE A PRODUCT OF MY IMAGINATION! ANY RESEMBLANCE OR MENTION TO ANYONE IN REAL LIFE IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL!*

This has been inspired by the Brian Dennis series. I will use a WIT and riddle system similar (if not exactly the same) to it.

You are a young (about 25yo), female detective. While relaxing in your office, feet up and everything, a rather young man walks in, no older than 21. He’s wearing a white t-shirt that used to have a rather clever remark on it, but is now too worn out to read. His blue jeans have small holes near the knees, and are frayed around his ankles. He has a tattoo twisted around the entire length of his right arm and on the back of his hand in the shape of a dragon. He wears a He eyes you over, obviously taken in by your extremely attractive body. After a few moments, he gathers himself and says, “Uh… excuse me, are you Leslie Young?”

“How may I help you?” you ask in a flat, quick tone. You never liked working, but you need to make a living somehow, and no other fields are quite your cup of tea.

“Uh… um… well, I kinda… you see… my, uh… girlfriend-“

“Nothing to be nervous about, just pretend you’re talking to an empty chair.”

He takes a deep breath. “Okay. My girlfriend, who is pregnant, has been staying at my place, but for the last few days, she hasn’t come back. I’ll get texts from her, but whenever I try to call her, she doesn’t pick up. I’ve talked to her parents, but it’s the same for them. We haven’t had any particularly nasty fights, so I don’t think she’s ignoring me, and… I think she’s maybe… Uh… I think she was kidnapped. I’m scared that I won’t see her again, until…” He starts to cry, and that’s your cue to take the case.

“Okay, okay, I’ll help you out. Just… please don’t cry.”

“Th-thank you. Oh, my name is Brian Marillas, and my girlfriend is Sarah Knight.”

Locations: Marillas Residence

Knight Residence

Your Office

Items: SIG SAUER® P250

Notebook

What is your first move?

[MissKitten]

go to the knight residence and talkto the girl's parents (if they are there).

[OmegaScales]

As you enter the Knight's mansion, you can't help but to marvel at the scenery. Beautiful flowers and statues adorn the entryway, and the gates shine brilliantly.

A butler motions for you to come over. A quick examination of his silk dress apparel shows that he is paid very well. He says, "You must be Miss Leslie. Master Richard says to make yourself comfortable and that he and the Mrs. will be with you shortly."

After a few moments of admiring the lounge, the doors open and a tall, handsome man enters, followed by a tall, bejeweled woman. “Well, detective, it is certainly a pleasure to meet you," he eyes you over quickly while saying this. "Although under the circumstances… So what would you like to know?”

Edited February 5, 2011 by OmegaScales

[Guest]

When did she start disappearing? Did she have any enemies or secret lovers (They wouldn't be very secret if the parents knew about them but oh well)? Did she do anything unusual? What does she look like? Do you have any idea as to why she may be missing?

I know this may seem stupid but it may become relevant later: How many months pregnant is she?

[OmegaScales]

“When did you realize something was wrong?”

Mrs. Marie Knight responds first, and you can make out a bit of a Turkish accent. “We realized something was wrong yesterday. She had always called us on Sundays, but not this time. We only got a text message from her cell phone.”

“Did she have any enemies or secret lovers?

Richard chimes in this time, and paying slightly more attention now, you make out another slightly Turkish accent. “Our enemies are hers, as she is a Knight. As for secret lovers, we highly doubt it. She has always been faithful to whatever or whoever she chose. When she was five years old, she said she would never go into the third floor bathroom, which is right next to her room. Surveillance shows that she never did.”

“Did she do anything immoral or illegal?”

“She only ever defied us once. That’s how she wound up living with her boyfriend, without us backing them financially. As for illegal, she would not likely do that,” Richard seems to tense up a little.

“What does she look like? Can I get a picture if possible?”

Marie comes forward, “This is her.” [Got Picture of Sarah Knight]

“Do you have any idea as to why she may be missing?”

Marie says, “She might have been kidnapped for a ransom. Her boyfriend might not have much, but we would gladly part with our money to keep her safe.”

“How many weeks pregnant is she?”

“She is about 20 weeks pregnant.”

Extra Note: Doctors and such prefer weeks of pregnancy as months are not a stable way to measure time.

Looking at Sarah’s picture, you feel a sense of déjà vu, and for a good reason. She looks very similar to you. The same dark green eyes, same crimson hair down to the shoulders, even the same smile. A birthmark jumps out at you though, right between the eyes. Her eyes that is; a crescent moon shaped brown mark on her otherwise golden skin. Just like her mother. The photo is one week old.

Side Note: Less than 2% of the global population has green eyes.

[MissKitten]

Go to the police (I assume you can do that) and put out a BOLO in the state, as well as the surrounding states, but tell them to stay low in case its a kidnapping, as it may cause the kidnappers to panic and kill her.

do you have any lie detectors, tasers, etc?

[Guest]

I know who did it!!!

nah, I'm just kidding...

I want to know the obvious questions (courtesy of Law and Order )

Where was she last seen and by whom?

Does she go there often?

Does she have a very consistent daily routine?

and most of all: Why was she not supposed to go into that bathroom?

[Guest]

Who are your family's enemies and why?

[OmegaScales]

“Do you mind if I ask who your enemies-“

Richard interrupts you rather loudly. “YES! I do mind.” Marie gets up and goes behind her husband. She starts massaging his shoulders, quietly singing a song you can’t quite make out. He apologizes in a softer tone. “Sorry. I got involved with some… bad blood when I was younger. If it comes down to it, I’ll handle them, detective. Okay?

You go to your friend in the police department and ask her to put out the BOLO. Explaining the current details of the case, she is very careful as to the specifics of the BOLO. You are about to ask her to background Richard Knight when the chief of police notices your presence and asks you into his office. You always hate talking to him alone, since he keeps hitting on you. He’s not that bad looking, but he can be creepy.

“Detective, I have a little problem of my own that you may be able to help with, but first things first.” At this point he has that creepy twinkle in his eyes, but it soon disappears. “I have an associate working for the Knight’s. He told me that if you came over to warn you not to dig into the Knight’s background, or you will suffer greatly.”

“Okay, I understand.” You get up to go, but he blocks your path. That ominous twinkle is back. He tries to grab your arm, but growing up with 3 brothers prepared you for situations like this. He goes down fast and you’re out of there before he can even get to his knees.

According to your research, which is rarely faulty, the last person to see her was her boss, Elizabeth Wittman, the manager of the local hotel, 7’s Heaven.*New location available* You head over to interview her.

“Mrs. Wittman-“

“Please, call me Eliza.” She sounds very Australian.

“Okay, Eliza. Now, for the record, Sarah Knight was last seen leaving around 2200 hours, or 10pm, by you, Elizabeth Wittman, on Friday April 14, 20XX, correct?”

“Correct.”

“And she works here every day?”

“’Cept Tuesdays an’ Thursdays.”

“And she always leaves around the same time?”

“More or less. She likes to keep her day organized. Get in ‘round 10 in the mornin’, do the first floor rounds, check her Facebook if she has time before lunch at 12pm, third, fourth an’ fifth floor rounds by 7pm, an’ tenth floor after dinner. I’ve had at least one other employee with her so she doesn’t hurt herself what with the babe an’ all.”

“And you didn’t see anything suspicious lately?”

“Not a one. An’ just to be clear, I’m not making her work, she wants to work to get as many tips an’ such as possible. I offered to give her maternity leave, but she don’t want it jus’ yet. Wants to wait for the right time.”

You have access to all the things a detective gets, and you have friends in most branches of law enforcement.

Who said it was really a bathroom?

Edited February 6, 2011 by OmegaScales

[Thalia]

Who were the employees working with Sarah? Any connections to the Knight family in the past?

[Guest]

Check the third floor 'bathroom'. Also try and find out what the texts that she sent said, and try to track her phone.

[OmegaScales]

First, let me clear up the bathroom confusion. It is a bathroom, but Sarah slipped inside and severely injured herself. From then on she never went in there. So technically, for Sarah, it's not a bathroom, but a bad experience. It has nothing to do with the case. Her father was just making a point.

You call up and ask your friend to track Sarah’s cell phone, because you are not going back in. You decide to call up Brian and Richard to find out what the texts they received said. None of them are particularly interesting, but you notice that after 10pm on Friday, she sent three short texts, then three long ones on Saturday, and three short on Sunday. She cleverly sent an SOS. She had been kidnapped!

Answer this riddle to get results from the cell phone tracking. "What goes down a chimney up, and up a chimney down?" I know I made it too easy, just answer it.

[Guest]

An umbrella

[OmegaScales]

Yep.

A call comes from your friend in the police, and she says that Sarah’s phone is being blocked, as no clear point of origin can be found, but that at certain times, which you match to the texts, the signal is lost completely. It makes no sense that she could text from her phone while it’s turned off, but that’s what you like about this job; the mysteries.

Suddenly, you feel lightheaded. You look at the cup in your hand and finally realize it’s not yours. You’ve been drugged!*THUD*

You wake up in a locked room with no cell phone or communication device of any kind. You try to get up, but your hands are bound behind your back and your feet tied together. Lucky you just had your nails done, since you have the edges made to cut through string, fabric, and now the rope holding you down. After an hour or so, you manage to get free… sort of. What to do now?

[Guest]

Investigate the room, call the police to see if they can help, see if there is anything interesting in the room.

[OmegaScales]

Remember, no communication devices. I'll make this first room escape easy.

Looking around, you see nothing to aid in your escape. However, you notice that the door is old and may not need more than a good kick to open. One good kick later, you’re out of the first room, and into another. Your cell phone and other effects are on a white table in this white room. You grab them and head for the exit. This door is not locked, and you manage to navigate outside somehow. When you get outside, a bunch of people gathered around the building gasp. Then you hear an enormously loud crash behind you, from the wrecking ball that could have killed you if you stayed in there any longer. Either you really pissed off someone in one of your previous cases, which you did, or someone really doesn’t want you solving this case. Your friend from the police station, who was conveniently one of a few officers stationed at the demolition site, rushes over and hugs you.

“Oh my God, Leslie, are you all right?!”

“Other than having my eardrums practically destroyed, yeah.”

“What happened? I called you so many times, but you weren’t answering! I thought something was wrong, but I couldn’t call it in for being missing less than twelve hours. How did we miss you in there? We checked everywhere for people! When-”

“Okay, okay. Calm down Maggie. Let’s get to the station first.”

A sample is taken to determine what drug or drugs knocked you out. A bunch of officers gather around asking questions, but the chief comes and breaks it up. For once, you are glad to see him. He brings you to his office, Maggie as well, for questioning.

“Let’s start at the beginning. What’s the last thing you remember before waking up?”

WIT

How do you answer him (lie, truth, mix)?

[Guest]

You tell him that you were just reading into the texting issues with the phone (the truth) and was drugged. Ask for a CCTV of your office to see what happened to the mug. Make sure that you CHECK your mug, and continue investigating in to the case.

Anyway, what's so bad about the truth?

Edited February 6, 2011 by Shortdude3000

[OmegaScales]

“I was checking the texts Richard and Brian received from Sarah. I discovered a form of SOS. Three short texts followed by three long ones, and another three short ones. Then Maggie called and told me about Sarah’s cell phone signal being blocked. After that, I started to relax a bit, but felt that something was wrong. I had been drinking green tea with honey, no sugar, like I usually do around that time. Then I started to feel lightheaded, and realized the mug I was using wasn’t mine, and I fainted. I know I fainted because when I woke up, the back of my head hurt like hell. The last time it felt like that was when I leaned back too far and… yeah. I suppose you’ve sent people to pick up the surveillance tapes?”

“Yes. Did you want a look at them?”

“Yeah.”

A figure is seen going into your office, but faces away from the cameras. The figure also wears gloves, so you can’t get any fingerprints. You do, however, see something on the back of the culprit’s neck. A tattoo perhaps? Zooming in, you can make it out. It’s not a tattoo, but a birthmark in the shape of a rabbit, more or less. It feels familiar somehow. Maybe it’s from a known criminal? Maybe, but none you know. A client? That sounds right…

“That’s it! Background Brain Marillas. I’m certain he has that birthmark.” But why would he hire me if he didn’t want her found?, you think to yourself.

“Okay, second question. Wanna grab a bite to eat?” You and Maggie stare at him angrily. “Okay, okay.” Under his breath you hear him say, “Can’t blame a guy for trying.

“So, Maggie, what did you tell her exactly?”

“I said that the signal from Sarah Knight’s cell phone could not be completely tracked, that something was blocking the signal. The signal was dispersed, but still functioning, except at certain times. At those times, the signal was lost completely. Either a second blocking function was used, or her phone was turned off. “

A young man comes up. “Sir, the toxicology reports are back.”

Just as a reminder, different choices for WIT will result differently. For example, if you had lied, you would not have seen the video, and mixing truth with fiction might have gotten you some extra information. I say might because I didn't give it too much thought.

Here’s a riddle to determine the results of your drug testing. “What takes longer to eat than to make, assuming it was made properly?” It may be harder to guess, so I’ll give you some time.

Edited February 7, 2011 by OmegaScales

[Guest]

a sandwich

[Guest]

Does make include it growing or whatever (like if it was a vegetable, all of the growing time)? Or is it just something ridiculous completely unrelated with food?

[OmegaScales]

@sayalzah no

@Shortdude No, growing is not included, because then it would end up taking longer to make than to eat. It is related to food. It is related to a certain time of the year as well...

[Guest]

Ice or Ice cream? They don't take long to freeze...

Edited February 7, 2011 by Shortdude3000

[Guest]

a lollipop? because it takes a long time to suck it.

or pot noodles? pancakes?

[Guest]

Are you just guessing random foods ? I think that we have to think of something that can be made very quickly

[Guest]

Are you just guessing random foods ? I think that we have to think of something that can be made very quickly

Exactly that was the idea in my guesses. The first and second one definitely take longer to eat than to make

[Guest]

Maybe its a trick and its something to take hours to eat, like medication that you can only take once every few hours, or a food that you have to wait for it to melt in your mouth for hours like a mint or something?