Murder Mystery

Gus walked into the psych office. He looks into the waiting room and sees a Man, Average height, ash brown hair. He says. ”Hello,” and walks into his office space. “Shawn. Why is there a man in our waiting room who is not being tended to? And why is there a bouncy house on my desk?”

“Oh, relax Gus. It will be fine. Look the man is crazy. He thinks he found a murdered body, in broad daylight right off the parkway,” Shawn explains.

The man slowly and slyly walks in. “Hello, my name is Vincent Thornmurg. I seemed to have witnessed an old murder. I found a body in a ditch off the Santa Barbara Pkwy.”

Gus gave Shawn a dirty look and replied, “Ok Mr. Thornmurg. I am sorry, but we will have to-”

“Totally agree,” Shawn interrupts Gus and says, “Thank you, Mr. Thornmurg”. And with that, he left.

“Shawn, we cannot simply take on a murder! We are leaving for Connecticut in three days,” Gus says.

“Oh Gus, don’t be a gooey chocolate cookie. We will solve this right in time for our flight”. And Shawn walked out.

“Shawn…Shawn.” Gus yelled. They went down to the police station, into the coroner’s office.

“Ok, we have a female Jane Doe…I sent her personal items and the VIN number of her car to the lab, but for now she is unknown,” Sergeant Matthews said.

Shawn observed that many follicles of hair were in the hands, and on the shirt of the body. “Chief, I am sensing that this woman wasn’t alone when she died… she was murdered.” Shawn and Gus arrived to the scene. “Wow, Shawn I am starting to think this was an accident. I mean, who would want to kill her? She is clearly an unsafe driver: her mirrors are not adjusted,” Gus said.

“How do you even know that?” Shawn said. “It’s common knowledge, Shawn!” “Ok, let’s focus here, Gus,” Shawn said.

Shawn crept closer and closer to the edge of the pit. He jumped in, and fell flat on his face. “I’m okay,” he said. He murmured under his breath. He noticed a lot of hairs all over the back seat.

“Gus! Oh my gosh! There was a dog here!”

“So,” Gus replied. “That means that some of these hairs, could not be our killer… Lets go back to the station and see what we can figure out.”

So they left. Shawn got a call on the way there. They had confirmed that the body was one Brittany Johnson.

“Lassie!” Shawn yelled as Det. Carlton Lassiter, an extremely uptight detective walked by. “Shawn, I need you to get back in your car, head straight to the ocean and drive straight into it!” He exclaimed.

“Oh gosh Lassie, I would but I am on this case now. I am going to need to see those fingerprint samples you took.”

And Lassie walked away. Gus and Shawn started walking towards the evidence locker to find them. “Hello Shawn,” McNabb said. McNabb was a police officer who was trying to get promoted to the bureau, but was now just an officer.

“Hi McNabb. What are you doing manning the evidence locker?” Shawn asked.

“Oh just putting in some extra hours. My wife Marcy and I saw a red coffee set, and I am saving up to surprise her with it,” he explained. “Ok, that’s great!” McNabb smiled.

“So can I have the evidence from the Brittany Johnson case?” Shawn questioned.

“Sure guys!” And McNabb gave it to them. They brought it to the psych office and started savagely rifling through it.

“Ok let’s see, a watch, a EZ Pass… Oh here we go! The lab results on the hair, and the fingerprints. Talk about succeeding without even trying.”

He looked at Gus. Gus was a pharmaceutical salesman who worked part time with Shawn. Of course, Shawn wasn’t actually psychic. And Gus knew it. But right now, it was time for Gus to make his daily route.

“Gus, why are you taking your Rx case? This is no time for your side project, we have some serious investigating to do,” Shawn said.

“My side project? Oh, you mean my real job? Look, players got to pay bills, your bills I might add!” Gus said and with that he left. Shawn went to his desk and got a corn dog.

Then, he bit in and started looking and the evidence photos and fingerprints. He used a “borrowed” microscope to look at the hair follicles. Then, he used a prize magnifying glass that he got at the bottom of a box of Fruity Puffs the day before at breakfast. He saw that suspect one,

Debbie Decker’s fingerprints were on the steering wheel and that her hair samples didn’t match any of the hairs on the body. She was omitted, because she was driving. Then, he saw that suspect two, Artie

Weissbach’s fingerprints were on the seatbelt and in the car. This was not substantial because he was wearing a seatbelt in the car. His hair was similar to the hair found on the body. There were two different hairs on the body. One of them was confirmed to be his. Suspect 3, Brian

O’Shaughnessy’s hair was found on the body. Suspect 4 was immediately eliminated because… well, he was a dog. Since there were no bite marks, he was not convicted! Shawn dug a little deeper and discovered that

Suspect 3’s fingerprints were also on the trunk handle. This could mean that Suspect 3 put the body into the trunk.

Gus came back and they both went to the hot dog cart, again. Shawn explained it all to him. “…So that’s why Brian is our guy!” “Ok, but how do we know for sure?” Gus asked. “We don’t.” Gus gave Shawn a surprised look. “Until,” Shawn continued, “We interview the guy and check for motive, means and opportunity.” So they went to his house. And he invited him to sit on the couch. “So…. You are from where?” Brian asked.

“The department of Donuts and Wagon Wheels. We are taking surveys to see if people knew the almost famous donut maker, Brittany Johnson.”

Brian started sweating a little, and his eyes got bigger. Shawn and Gus talked to him. “So, are you familiar with Ms. Johnson? When was the last time you spoken to her?” Gus asked.

“I saw her right before her unfortunate passing. I was in the car with her. I got knocked unconscious when the car fell into the ditch. When I woke up, she was dead. I was scared; I ran away. I swear I didn’t do it. I swear that letter opener wasn’t mine!”

Shawn looked at Gus and under a pillow he was holding, he texted Lassie to come.

“Brian, is it?” and Brian nodded. Shawn continued talking.

“We never asked you if a letter opener was found at the scene…”

Lassie busted in the door with his partner Jules. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Brittany Johnson!” Lassie said. And Lassie and Jules handcuffed Brian and left.

Then Suspect 4, Brian’s dog Lassie, walked in with a tennis ball in her mouth.

“Awe, look at that doggie!” Gus said. “Oh Gus, Someone is going to have to take this dog. I think it should be you.”

Gus looked up from the dog he was holding and Shawn ran out. “Shawn! You can’t leave me with this dog… SHAWN!!!!!”