The Labor Day Mystery

"What a way to spend Labor Day afternoon," the Chief thought to himself.  His family beach  picnic had gone out the window when his Lieutenant called about a young girl found face down in some sea grass about 10 yards off the main path to the South West Beach.

He'd stopped at the scene before going to the station.  Elizabeth Crowley was dressed in a blood soaked Waverly Academy lacrosse jersey.  The early report was that she'd been dead since around 11:00 PM the previous night.  The likely cause of death was a crushing blow to the forehead.

His officers had brought in the two young people that had found Elizabeth, and two others who had been planning to join then for a South West Beach picnic.  Two picnics not going on this Labor Day.

The file described Elizabeth as a local high school Junior.  The people that had been brought in were the children of Summer folks, and all seemed to have some connection with Waverly Academy, an Ivy league prep school up near Greenfield.

As he entered the first interrogation room, he introduced himself.  "I'm Charles Devon, Chief of Police here in Barnstable."  With a look down at his file, he continued.  "And you're Susan Franks?" he asked for verification.

"Yes."

"According to my information, you and Michael Brothers found Miss Crowley.  Is that correct?"

"Yeah," whispered Susan.  Her eyes started tearing up.

The Chief handed her a tissue, and gave her a minute.  Then he continued, "How did you find her?"

"We were on our way to South West Beach, to setup for the Labor Day picnic.  Michael saw Elizabeth first.  She was face down, and we didn't know it was her until Michael turned her over.  She had on a Waverly lacrosse jersey, just like this," grimacing as she pointed to what she had on.

"Did you know Elizabeth?"

"I'd really only gotten to know her this Summer.  She spent a lot of time with my dorky brother."

"That would be Richard?"  asked the Chief, looking at his notes..

"Yes," Susan answered.

"What was Elizabeth like?"

"She was a nerd like Richard.  I think that's why they got along so well."

"Were you out at all last night?" asked the Chief.

"We'd been over to Carol Atkins' house for a while, but I wanted to get an early start this morning, so Michael brought me home early.  Made up my food basket for today, and then turned in about 10 o'clock.  I heard Richard on his computer as I went to sleep; playing one of his online games.  I was surprised, because I thought sure he'd still be with Elizabeth.  But maybe she called it an early night too."

As the Chief moved on to the next interrogation room, he made a few notes.  Susan and Michael were paired off, with Elizabeth and Richard another pair.  That left his next interviewee. 

"Carol Atkins?" he asked for verification.

"Correct," Carol replied.

"We're investigating the death of Miss Elizabeth Crowley.  Did you know her?"

"I met her this Summer.  She was dating a friend I knew from Waverly," Carol stated.

"And who would that friend be?" asked the Chief.

"Richard Franks.  I'm a Senior at Waverly, along with Richard and his best friend Michael Brothers.  I've known them both since we were Freshmen.  Michael and Richard played Lacrosse together at Waverly right from the start.  They were so close, that sometimes I thought Richard was jealous of Michael and I."

"Richard jealous of you and Michael.  I don't understand," queried the Chief.

"Well, Michael and I were going together for over a year.  But this Summer..." she trailed off.  And then continued, "Michael met Richard's baby sister, Susan.  Richard was consoling at first, but then he met Elizabeth.  It wasn't the best Summer I ever had."

"Did you see any of them last night?" asked the Chief.

"All of them.  They were all at my house until about 9:00 o'clock.  Then Susan asked Michael to take her home.  Elizabeth and Richard left just minutes later.  With nothing to do, I curled up with a book.  I've been doing that a lot lately.  Couldn't keep my eyes open past 10:30, so turned out the lights and went to bed."

As the Chief moved on to the next interrogation room, he made a few more notes.  Two couples, and an odd man, or girl, out.  Must have been tough on Carol.

"And you're Michael Brothers?" he asked.

"That's me," answered Michael.  "Susan Franks and I found Elizabeth.  Sue took it pretty hard.  Elisabeth had been seeing Sue's brother Richard, and we'd all gotten pretty close."

He shook his head before continuing.  "And Elizabeth was really messed up.  How can anyone do something like that?"

"Any thoughts on who might have done it?" asked the Chief.

"Not a clue.  Everyone liked Elizabeth.  Although things were tough on Carol.  We'd been seeing each other, until I got to know Susan this Summer.  Then I thought maybe Richard and Carol might get together, until Elizabeth entered the picture."

"Where were you last night?" asked the Chief.

"Early on I was at Carol's, along with Susan, Richard and Elizabeth.  Just hanging out, and planning a beach picnic for today.  Sue wanted to get a good night's sleep to be ready for it, so she asked me to take her home about 9:00.  I dropped her off, then headed back to Carol's to see what the rest of the gang was doing.  But when I got there, it was all dark.  So, I went back to my place."

"When I checked my e-mail, I found that Richard was online playing World of Warcraft.  We haven't done that in a while, so I joined in.  It's easy to lose track of time when you're playing.  So it was easily 2 or 3 in the morning when we both finally signed off."

"About what time did you go by Carol's?" queried the Chief.

"Hmm... let's see.  I dropped Sue of and walked right back, so that didn't take long.  I'd say I went by there about 9:30".

"Michael, one last question.  When you found Elizabeth, she had on a Waverly lacrosse jersey.  Any idea how she got one?"

"Richard might have given her his.  I gave mine to Susan a few weeks ago.  It's kind of a tradition at Waverly."

As the Chief moved on to the next interrogation room, he made a few more notes.  Sounded like two guys enjoying their school years.

"You're Richard Franks?"

Picking his head up, Richard looked to the Chief like someone in need of help.  "Yeah, that's me," he said.

"What can you tell me about what might have happened to Elizabeth?" asked the Chief.

"Oh my God, I don't know.  This is so awful.  I was beginning to think I was in love with her.  And now she's gone," Richard mumbled.

"Were you together last night?"

"Yes.  We were all over to Carol's house.  Susan and Michael left about 9:00.  Since we were done with the picnic planning, Liz and I left a few minutes later.  We walked to her house, and said good night.  Liz had decided that Susan's idea of an early night was a good one."

"What did you do after dropping Elizabeth off?"

"I went on home, fired up my computer, and went looking for some World of Warcraft action.  WoW is played online, usually between teams.  Fortunately, for me, before I got slaughtered, my old team mate Michael joined in.  We were able to do some serious damage before finally crashing for the night."

"Did you give your Waverly lacrosse jersey to Elizabeth?" asked the Chief.

"My lacrosse jersey?  That's a strange question, but no."

The Chief came back into the squad room, and spoke to his Lieutenant. 

"I'll tell you who to get the arrest warrant for, and you can let the other three go," said the Chief.

Who's guilty?  Try to figure it out before reading the Clues and Solution that follow.

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The Clues and Solution:

1.  Susan still had the lacrosse jersey Michael had given her.  Susan is innocent.

2.  Michael had given his lacrosse jersey to Susan, so wouldn't have had another one to give to Elizabeth.  Michael is innocent.

3.  Richard could have lied about his lacrosse jersey, and have given it to Elizabeth.  But Michael confirmed his alibi for the murder time.  They were playing World of Warcraft.  Richard is innocent.

4.  Therefore, Richards answer to the Chief's question about the jersey was that he'd given it to Carol early in the Summer.

5.  Carol claimed to have been awake reading until late, but Michael said her house was dark by 9:30.  Carol is guilty.  She believed that if Elizabeth was out of the picture, she'd have a chance with Richard.  After all, he'd given her his lacrosse jersey.