OmegaScales

RECAP: Brian Marrilas hired you to find his girlfriend, Sarah Knight. After finding her in Brian’s father’s secret room, you learn that Matthew, Brian’s father, was trying to get Sarah’s parents, who are very wealthy, to give her money they had cut her off from. You left the hospital room and met up with the Chief of Police, who offered a consult position on the force, and a new case… One more thing before we begin. I am going to name recurring characters as I think up names. Like the chief will be Gregory, although I haven’t thought of a surname for him. “So what do you say, Leslie?” You sigh and hold out your hand. “Fine.” “I knew the case would do the trick,” he says, handing a file to you. You notice a large red stamp on it that says ‘CONFIDENTIAL’. “C-confidential? You’re giving me a federal case?” “Not me. My higher ups decided that you’re the right person to trust for this case. I don’t know why they trust you for it, since I don’t know what’s in there. All I can tell you is that if you don’t intend to play by their rules, don’t open that file. I’ve lost a few friends who simply got curious about something. I don’t want the same to happen to you.” Even though you normally find him creepy, you’re happy he cares about you. A note attached to the file said to open it at home, ‘where they aren’t watching.’ Inside you find several old newspaper clippings, along with some more recent ones. Some of the older headlines are: “Chief Found Murdered In Own Home”, “Cop Undercover, Or Under Covers?”, and “When You Thought It Was Safe At Home…” One of the newer headlines catches your attention: “Memorial Service to Be Held for Police Chief”. You remember attending it. Not out of respect, but because that man was your father. “What’s going on? Why am I looking at this?” you think out loud. “That’s what we want you to find out.” You spin around, grabbing your gun, ready to pull the trigger. You see a man in the shadows of your living room, wearing a black Burberry trench coat, black leather shoes (you think they are Cole Haan), and a black fedora. “Everyone who has seen this file has wound up dead. We believe you may be able to do what they couldn’t: Find out why someone would kill over your father’s death, and bring in the killer.” The man steps forward and you can see his face. He has dark, custom-made glasses on, but you can see that he has a V-shaped scar running from his chin through the corners of his mouth and the centers of both his eyes. “Gregory was correct in telling you only to open the file if you are intending to play by our rules.” He puts a paper on the floor, and you see that he is also wearing black leather gloves. “Good luck, Detective.” The lights flicker off then on in less than a second, but the man is gone. There’s no point in wondering how he got away (or in), but you really want to know who he was, don’t you?

Is that pronounced DEAD-ative? Sorry, I just had to do it. Take another look at the CCTV. Try to find any distinguishing features on your attackers. Maybe one of them lost a finger while another has a distinctive birthmark or tattoo?

Your choices and actions led to this ending, and yes, there will be another.

“It’s handwritten. ’Dear Knights, ‘I have your daughter, but you will not see her again if you do not give in to my demands. My son had the misfortune as to make her pregnant and cut her off from your financial aid, which I know he regrets, but not as much as never seeing her again. You will give her the financial aid if you wish to see her again, and I will turn myself in. I just want to protect my son, future daughter-in-law, and grandchild from growing up how I did, living a life of crime and poverty. Please do not make me regret doing this. Sincerely, Matthew Marillas’” Brian sighs. “He grew up practically on the streets. His parents were too weak to do actual work, so they mostly depended on him to steal food and other necessities. That’s why he left me with my mom, so I wouldn’t be influenced by him. He’s always tried to help in his own way, even if it is illegal.” He turns to Mr. and Mrs. Knight. “We don’t need you to give us your money. I will work harder than ever before to keep us well. If you want to, however, we will welcome it, but not if you give it out of pity. I wish to earn happiness by my own hand.” Richard puts a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “You don’t deserve to work yourself so hard. We may have… no. We did overreact. She is old enough to make her own choices, but we didn’t want her to grow up so fast. It is our duty to support our daughter, even if we don’t agree with her choices. But, I reacted too quickly. I misjudged you, and I apologize. You may even be better for my daughter than anyone else she’ll ever meet.” As you walk out of the room, you feel great. Not only did you solve the case, but you brought a family closer together. That’s more than you could ask for. Wait. Why is the chief here, and why does he look so serious? "Ah, Detective. I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that my higher ups want to hire you to work exclusively for the department." "Is the bad news that I have to deal with you every day?" "Ha, ha ha. If you take the job, here's your first case." The End.........?

You tell the officer to turn off his flashlight, and you do the same. You hear a click, and you open the door into a room filled with light. After a second to adjust your eyes, you see Sarah chained to the far wall. You rush over. Sarah! Are you alright?! Who… who are you? I am Detective Leslie Young. Your boyfriend hired me to find you. Brian… did that? What about his f****** father? Where is that b******? Hes in custody. Good. I want to see Brian… and my parents. I need to get you to a hospital first, make sure youre not seriously injured or deprived. And they can come see me? Yeah. Ill make sure of it. In the hospital, Brian and the Knights are visiting Sarah. Brian grabs her hand and furiously kisses it, speaking in between each kiss. I am * so glad * that youre * okay.* I * promise* to * protect * you, * no matter * what. ****** Sarah smiles at him then looks toward her parents. They come closer. Mr. and Mrs. Knight try to talk at the same time, but only Richards voice gets through. We were so worried about you. We got a ransom note, but before we could even think about what to do, we got a call that you were here! Its our fault! Its all our fault! Please dont say that, dad. Its not your fault. Your eyes twinkle when you hear ransom note, and you ask to see it. Marie takes it from her purse, and you start reading it. What does it say, Detective? Brian asks. WIT Do you read it aloud for everyone to hear, or wait until you are alone/at the station?

Yep!

It's a metal door, and fire is not the answer.

First of all, you cannot just barge into a suspect’s home, but you don’t have to tell them you’re coming. Second, you can bust down the door if no one answers it after fifteen seconds. I know this from a show I watch. You take a few officers with you to Matthew’s house. After fourteen and a half seconds, the door opens, although you wish it hadn’t. You and two officers move in and start searching while another officer starts to explain the situation and terms of the warrant. Before she even finishes a sentence, one of the officers has already found a bag of meth. The officer takes him into custody while the rest of you keep searching. You find a plate, fork, knife, and spoon matching the drugged mug, and your own mug. You can tell it’s yours because you put an invisible mark on it in lemon juice, and shining the fluorescent light on it makes it visible. After a careful search, the GHB and roofie mix is found. You feel you should apologize to Brian for both suspecting him for your near death experience and not being able to find his girlfriend. As you are about to leave, one of the officers beckons you over. He had found a secret passage, and thought it should be investigated before you leave. You follow a twisting, turning path deep below the house. You come to a locked white and black door with a sign on it. “Without light, I cannot exist. Without me, light cannot exist. I will unlock this door, if you give me to it.” How do you unlock the door?

“So what’s the verdict?” you ask. The officer blushes and tries to hide it behind the results. “It’s a mixture of gamma-hydroxybutyrate and flunitrazepam. That’s-“ “GHB and roofies. How did the culprit get it in your tea though?” the chief asks. “I grabbed the mug from the cabinet. I only keep one mug in the office. I bring one from home every day, and bring it home at the end of the day. He could have laced the mug with it.” “Okay, so why use both drugs? Isn’t one enough?” The nervous officer chimes in. “That depends how long he wanted her out. Lacing a mug like that would only keep her out a few hours if he used one of them. A combination of both drugs can cause permanent damage if too much or a bad ratio is used, but will otherwise keep someone out longer. Also, the ratio he used is consistent with one of our records. It’s an unsolved case, involving the body of a previous detective. His body was found after the demolition of the old town library. I think the cases are connected.” The chief looks at him quizzically. “How do you know this?” “Uh… it… he was… my father…” He tears up and starts to leave. You go over and hug him. “Oh… I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll figure this out, for your father.” Another officer comes over and stares for a few seconds.”Uhh…” You look at her and let go of the officer you were consoling. “Riiight… I’m here to report on the backgrounding of Brain Marillas.” The chief comes over. “So what do you have?” “Well, Brian is cleaner than snow. If you put Brian and snow in a lineup, snow would go to jail.” “Why does that sound familiar?”(I borrowed it from a show I watch. Couldn't help it.) “However, I went a little deeper, and found out that his father, Matthew, has served several times. They both have the same birthmark, and are around the same height and weight, but a work record I found on Matt shows that he helped install surveillance cameras in several buildings, including…” The chief smiles. “So we have probable cause to search his home for any dishes matching the mug.” Maggie chimes in. “I actually have that mug at home, too. It’s part of a kitchen set I got as a housewarming gift.” [Warrant obtained] [Matthew Marrilas’ residence unlocked] NOTE: I wrote down the stuff about the mixture of drugs as it came into my head. I have no idea if it is true or not, since this is a work of fiction.

Yay! hmmmm got it! Welcome to BD!

Right idea. It can sometimes take a week or more to eat all of it. A hint: It can only be made in November...

Is the target on a poster or board? To be more specific, can you remove the target from the wall?

@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...

Thank you for the comments. I showed this to my English professor, and he asked to submit it to the college newspaper!

So, axe on the spikes, shoot the bars off, and bomb the door?

“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.

No it is not.

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)?

How about air?

First of all, what exactly do you mean by elegant? Do you mean one that is like the nobles of programming languages? Or maybe the language that is best overall for the majority of projects? Second, I haven't actually used any programming languages, but I am going to be learning Java this semester .

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?

When you look forward to a new post on the "Eggs and Canoes" topic here on BD.

q=(ne1cit?-2tplz!)/(b4+cul8r) Using the above, what does the following translate to? Xx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xx xx x xxxx xxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxx. Note: 1006% of the Earth's popultion has a qwert, but -200004% has a trewq.

It's a math goof where 1=2 by dividing by zero. Trust me when I say you don't want to get mixed in with dividing by zero. It gets too confusing. For those that want to see it go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iceFDrhK73U.