Sunday, March 11, 2012 ?
The tales of Tale 7: Mystery at Tuition
--- Introduction ---
It was a Sunday, the siren of the police patrol cars sounded around the neighborhood. Many had gathered outside of West’s Tuition Centre. Rachel and Kimberly were having their statements taken by Officer Scarlett. Looze was inside the Tuition Centre. Together with Inspector Max and Officer Tommy, they investigated the dead body on the floor. What had happened?
--- Story ---
One day before the incident, Looze, Rachel and Kimberly were on their way to tuition at 10 am. It was going be their first day attending class as they had recently signed up for tuition lesson.
“I hope the teacher will be really kind!” Rachel shouted excitedly.
“Me too! Will our teacher be a male or female?” Kimberly added on.
Looze felt those 2 girls were overly excited. What was there to be excited about over the first day of tuition? Soon, they reach the door steps of the tuition centre.
“West’s Tuition Centre.” Looze read the signboard hammered on top of the door.
“Must be founded by someone with a surname West.” Looze mumbled.
Just then, from behind, a voice called out to them.
“Are you 3 the new comers today?” the voice reached their ears.
“Yes we are. And you are?” Rachel asked politely.
“I am Ginny West, the head teacher here. You can call me Miss Ginny.” Miss Ginny smiled.
“Indeed it was West.” Looze mumbled again.
“Good morning Miss Ginny! Nice to meet you! Are you going to be the teacher teaching us?” Kimberly greeted with a question.
“You can say so. Alright, let’s all go in. I’m sure the other students are waiting for us.” Miss Ginny invited everyone.
As they entered the tuition centre, Looze noticed that there were 5 rooms up ahead.
“Miss Ginny, are there 3 other teachers around here?” Looze asked.
“Yes there are, how do you know?” Miss Ginny was puzzled.
“Easy, there are 5 rooms up ahead of us. 1 of the rooms must be the staff room, where the teachers place their belongings in. As for the other 4, they are most likely classrooms where individual teacher conducts lessons.” Looze explained.
“Wonderful! You must be the famous high school detective that I have been hearing from.” Miss Ginny clapped.
Soon after, everyone went into the first room just right up ahead of them. As they entered, Miss Ginny started to introduce the 3 newcomers to the student seated inside.
“Everyone, we have 3 newcomers joining as today. On my left, we have Rachel James. Next to Rachel will be Kimberly Max. And on my right, his name is Looze Tale.” Miss Ginny introduced.
“Looze Tale? Isn’t he the famous high school detective?” everyone started whispering among themselves after hearing Looze’s name.
“Alright, all of you quiet down. And the 3 of you please go take a seat.” Miss Ginny smiled.
Just as Looze and the others had finally settled down, there was a knock on the door. It opened and there stood two men and one woman.
“Hey Miss Ginny, I heard the high school detective is here. Is that true?!” one of the man shouted.
“Will you please not shout Mr Carl Kinston?” Miss Ginny requested.
“Oh I’m so sorry. So where is he?” Mr Carl whispered.
“If you are looking for me, I’m right here.” Looze stood up.
“So he’s the one? Quite a handsome young man isn’t he? How I hope there is one in my class too.” the woman commented.
“Are you being attracted by him Miss Joey?” the other man laughed.
“Of course not. Please don’t be spouting nonsense Mr Jonas.” Miss Joey turned a black face.
“Alright, will you please leave? I’m going to start the class soon.” Miss Ginny demanded.
The door shut and the 3 of the other teachers left and went back to their classes. The lesson began to start and everyone focused on what Miss Ginny was teaching.
At 12.30 pm. Lesson finally ended. Looze, Rachel and Kimberly packed their bags and prepared to go home.
“Remember to do your homework people. I will be checking again next Saturday!” Miss Ginny reminded everyone.
Just as Looze had stepped out of the Tuition Centre, he suddenly realized something.
“Oh no, I had left my book in the class. I better go get it, or else I won’t be able to do my homework.” Looze told Rachel.
Looze ran into the tuition centre and towards the classroom.
“Damn, the classroom is locked. Guess I have to go find Miss Ginny at the staff room.” Looze wondered aloud.
Just as Looze was approaching the staff room, he heard loud voices coming out from the staff room. Looze was sure that all voices came from the 4 teachers - Miss Ginny, Miss Joey, Mr Carl and Mr Jonas.
“You better pay me! You have been delaying for too long!” Mr Carl yelled.
“Mine is too low! It is way below what we had agreed for!” Miss Joey shouted.
“Same goes for me! Everyone here wants them now!” Mr Jonas commanded.
Looze didn’t know what they were fighting about. He dare not disturb them and decided that he would come back tomorrow for his book. But he didn’t expect that he would be embroiling himself into a case.
The next day at 9 am, Rachel and Kimberly accompanied Looze to the Tuition Centre. Rachel and Kimberly liked Miss Ginny a lot and wanted to see her again.
“I can’t wait to see Miss Ginny later!” Kimberly jumped.
“Me too! Me too!” Rachel gave a high-five to Kimberly.
Few minutes later, they reached the tuition centre. Looze was hoping that his book would still be in the classroom, or else he would be doomed.
“That’s strange. The tuition centre isn’t open today.” Looze frowned.
“But the board on the door states that it would be opened from 7 am to 3 pm on Sundays!” Rachel read off the board.
“Let me call Miss Ginny to see if she is coming. Maybe we are too early.” Kimberly suggested.
Just as Kimberly had dialed the number on her phone, a ringtone started to go off somewhere near.
“Hey, did you hear that? It sounds like a ringtone. Kimberly, hang up the phone and dial the number again.” Looze had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
The ringtone stopped as Kimberly hanged up. It played again right after Kimberly dialed Miss Ginny’s number.
“Rach, kick the door down! The ringtone is coming from inside!” Looze insisted.
“Bang!” the door swung opened upon Rachel’s kick. Looze ran towards where the ringtone was coming from. The non-lighted up tuition centre and the ringtone made the corridor seemed eerie and frightening.
Looze ran all the way ahead, reaching to the other end of the entrance. He ended up in front of the staff room.
“Damn, it’s locked too. Rach! Kick this door down again! QUICK!” Looze shouted across the corridor.
As the door opened, no one could believe their eyes. What was right below their nose was the bloodied body of Miss Ginny lying on the floor. Looze ran up towards the corpse and confirmed that there is no hope to saving her.
“Call Inspector Max here right now, this is a murder.” Looze told Rachel.
As they were waiting for police to arrive, Looze asked Kimberly and Rachel to guard the entrance to prevent anyone from coming in. While he investigates the crime scene before it gets polluted.
“The reason of death should be a stab in the heart with a sharp object. But… where is the murder weapon? I don’t seem to find it. And this room, it feels cooler than outside, weird… The suspects are definitely one of those 3. But all of them seems to have a motive, who could it be?” Looze pondered deeply.
“Looze, you are indeed here. So what had happened?” Inspector Max had arrived.
“You see, my tuition teacher here seemed to be murdered. But I can’t find the murder weapon.” Looze reported.
“Alright, leave this to us. Tommy, bring in the forensic team!” Inspector Max yelled.
“Looze, would you explain to me more on this case outside the tuition centre, while the forensic team does their work. You could tell me about your findings too.” Inspector Max questioned.
“All that I know are that the suspects are the 3 other teachers teaching in this tuition centre. As for the other clues, I can’t seem to find any.” Looze replied.
“Scarlett, I would like you to call for the 3 other teachers here. We suspect that one of them is the murderer. Be quick about it.” Inspector Max gave his orders.
“YES SIR!” Officer Scarlett ran off.
With time ticking by, Looze did not know what to do. There were too little clues in this case. There were too many questions about this case.
Just as Looze was about to lose hope, Officer Scarlett came back with the 3 suspects.
“Inspector, here are the 3 suspects. The female, Joey Cole, 29, is also a teacher working in this tuition centre. She had started working here 3 years ago. The male who is standing on her right is Carl Kinston, 32, started working here 5 years ago. Lastly, Jonas Pane, 30, also started working here 5 years ago.” Officer Scarlett reported.
“Alright thanks for your help.” Inspector Max thanked Officer Scarlett.
As Officer Scarlett walked off, Officer Tommy came out of the tuition centre and reported the forensics findings to Inspector Max.
“Inspector, the forensic team has finished their job. It seems that there were only a few clues that they could find.” Officer Tommy started off.
“What about them?” Looze interrupted.
“The forensic had examined the corpse and determined that the estimated time of death is 11.30 pm to 12.30 am last night. It would seem that the only wound the victim had was the stab right at her heart. The forensics also found something really weird.” Officer Tommy read from his notebook.
“What is it Tommy?” Inspector Max probed.
“The forensic team found that some of the red blood cells on the blood around the body had been haemolysed. The forensic is still working to find the reason why these red blood cells had haemolysed. But they said it was probably due to osmosis into the blood cells.” Officer Tommy explained.
“Where were the haemolysed red blood cells mostly found?!” Looze interrupted once again.
“The forensics team says that they were mostly found on the outer side of the blood, flowed out blood ended.” Tommy replied.
“Thanks…” Looze digested the information.
“Alright, thanks for the information. Right now, we shall go ask the three suspects on what they were doing from 11.30 pm to 12.30 pm last night.” Inspector Max ordered.
After which, they walked towards the three suspects whom were standing at the side. They started their questionings with Mr Carl.
“Last night? I was outside with my friends at the bar. You could check with them to find out.” Mr Carl answered.
“Now, Joey Cole, what were you doing from 11.30 pm to 12.30 am last night?” Inspector Max questioned.
“I was shopping with my friends from 9pm till 11 pm. After that we took a cab home together at 11.30 pm.” Miss Joey replied.
“Where were you shopping at?” Looze asked.
“Gallant New Mall. Why?” Miss Joey wondered why Looze asked that.
“Jonas Pane, what were you doing at the same time period last night?” Inspector Max continued.
“I was at my neighbour’s house. We had been playing poker since 10 pm till 2 am. I won quite a lot yesterday you know.” Mr Jonas answered.
“Alright, Tommy, go check out their alibi to see what they were saying is true.” Inspector Max ordered.
“If what the three of them are saying is true, then all of them will have perfect alibi. Miss Joey was shopping at Gallant New Mall. It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to drive from there to here. Mr Carl and Mr Jonas were with their friends.” Looze thought to himself.
“Wait a minute… If I wasn’t wrong the staff room was much cooler than the corridor when I entered. That must be the case!” Looze smiled and ran back into the staff room.
“Now, I’m right, the killer definitely made up a fake alibi for him or herself. If that’s the case, I would need Officer Tommy’s help again.” Looze smirk.
“The alibi trick has been solved. What about the murder weapon? Where could it have gone to? It couldn’t have just vaporised into thin air right?” Looze looked lost.
“Vaporise… I had finally solved it! Now I know the disappearing weapon trick. That explains why some of the red blood cells had been haemolysed.” Looze jumped with joy.
“Now that I had solved all the tricks solved, all I need to do now is to wait for Officer Tommy to report back to me. Meanwhile, I could find some solid evidence in case the culprit denied everything.” Looze snapped his fingers.
Around two hours had past since the body had been found. All that is left on the ground of the staff room is the pool of dried blood. The corpse had been taken back to Gallant City Forensic Headquarters’ for an accurate autopsy.
“Inspector, could we go now? I’m sure we have told you everything. I have things to work on.” Miss Joey pleaded.
“That’s true. You people had been here since more than an hour ago. I guess you can go now.” Inspector Max allowed.
“NOT SO FAST! I’m sure you wouldn’t want to easily let go of the culprit who is standing in front of you Inspector.” Looze interrupted.
“The culprit you say?! Did you solve the case?” Inspector Max asked.
“That’s right. I am going to reveal who that cheeky person is, the one who made all of us think that he or she wasn’t the one who killed Miss Ginny, the one who faked an alibi.” Looze smiled.
“What are you saying? You mean to say that the culprit is one of us?” Mr Carl shouted.
“I know you are a brilliant detective, but you can’t go around assuming that one of us killed Miss Ginny.” Mr Jonas added on.
“Well, I would suggest all of you to quiet down and listen to my reasoning. I am sure you will understand after I explained all of it to you.” Looze tried to calm everyone.
“First of all, I was sure that one of you killed Miss Ginny is due to the fact that I accidentally overheard the four of you quarrelling inside the staff room yesterday. This proves that each of you held a grudge and had a motive to kill her.” Looze started.
“Is that true?” Inspector Max faced the 3 suspects.
“Yes, that is right. We were quarrelling about our pay. Miss Ginny being the head teacher was supposed to give us our pay every month but, recently, things have been going wrong.” Mr Carl explained.
“She started to decrease our pay every month. She had even gone too far and decided not to give us any. When we ask her about it, she would say ‘Next time, next time. I will definitely give it to you’.” Miss Joey added.
“This is why we will not kill her! If we did, we wouldn’t get a single cent from her.” Mr Jonas was affirmative.
“Will you people calm down? Let’s continue and listen to what Looze says.” Officer Tommy placated the 3 of them.
“Thanks Officer Tommy. I shall continue then. The confirmed alibi that the three of you gave to Inspector Max cannot be used as a reference to this case. This is due to the fact that the actual time of death of Miss Ginny is not 11.30 pm to 12 am. But instead it is earlier.” Looze continued his reasoning.
“But how is that so?” Officer Tommy was puzzled.
“When I had arrived at the crime scene, I noticed that the staff room was cooler than the corridor. If I am not wrong, the air-conditioner inside the room had only been turned off not too long ago. When this happens, the body temperature of the corpse would be lowered. And you do know what will happen right?” Looze turned and faced Officer Tommy.
“The rate of rigor mortis is slowed down. And the estimated time of death will be inaccurate!” Officer Tommy exclaimed.
“Not only that, the surrounding temperature affects the rate of drop of body temperature, when the surround temperature is changed, the coroner cannot determine an accurate estimated time of death from the liver temperature.” Inspector Max further added.
“What’s rigor mortis, and what do you mean by the drop of body temperature?” Rachel voiced out from behind.
“When someone dies, rigor mortis will set in about 3 hours later. This means that the body will become stiffer and stiffer and eventually hard. This is how the estimated time of death can be determined by the stiffness of the body. But, the surrounding temperature affects the rate at the body becomes stiff. A cold surrounding will slow down the rate of rigor mortis.” Looze explained clearly.
“As for the drop of body temperature, the body temperature will drop at about 1.5 degree Celsius after death in room temperature. But when the surrounding temperature is lowered, the rate at which the body temperature drops will is slowed down.” Looze further explained.
“Oh! So you mean that Miss Ginny is killed much earlier than 11.30 pm?” Rachel asked in awe.
“That’s right. If I am not wrong, Miss Ginny should have been killed at around 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm last night. The cause of death is of course a sharp object droved into her heart.” Looze concluded.
“No wonder Looze asked me to investigate those things.” Officer Tommy finally understood.
“What did he ask you to investigate?” Inspector Max asked.
“Looze told me to find out what the suspects were doing from 5 pm to 10 pm.” Officer Tommy answered.
“And what were the leads Officer Tommy?” Looze was eager to know.
“Mr Carl was with his friend at a coffee shop from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm afterwards, he went to meet his friends at a bar. As for Mr Jonas, he entered his condominium at 5.43 pm as stated in the CCTV. And then he never came out.” Officer Tommy revealed.
“What about Miss Joey?” Looze stared at Miss Joey.
“She was still at the tuition centre from till 6 pm since she still had lessons till then. It seems Miss Ginny also had lesson till 6 pm too. But afterwards, there seems to be no witness against Miss Joey.” Officer Tommy continued.
“Hence, there should be no alibi for Miss Joey during the estimated time of death of 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. This means that Miss Joey, you are the murderer!” Looze pointed his fingers.
“What?! It definitely isn’t me!” Miss Joey’s face turned pale.
“At 6 pm, both you and Miss Ginny ended your last lesson. Both of you thus went into the staff room and Miss Ginny prepared her things to go home. You took that chance to quarrel with her, allowing time to pass so that all the students could leave the area around the tuition centre. By the time both of you quarreled finished, you took out the murder object and killed her.” Looze deduced.
“But what is the murder weapon?” Inspector Max yelled.
“ICE. It was basically ice. You brought an ice which was shaped sharp and pointed at the tip, just like a cone. You placed it inside a plastic bag, wrap it and place it into an icebox full of ice so that the shape can be sustain from the morning until the time you can finally kill her. After u killed her, you went ahead and make sure the air-conditioned would be at its lowest temperature. After that you left the scene.” Looze deduced.
“But you knew that if the police were to find out that the air-conditioner was on when the body was found, they will definitely suspect that it was a trick that was set up. So you came early this morning, to turn off the air-conditioner. Of course, the ice that you had used to stab Miss Ginny probably melted over the night and also evaporated. This is why the some of the red blood cell found had been haemolysed, due to the osmosis of water into the cell from the melted ice.” Looze explained.
“You probably knew about the rigor mortis trick since you are a biology teacher. I am right aren’t I?” Looze smiled.
“Hahaha, very nice deductions, but all of those are just plain theory. If you think that it really is me, show me solid proof!” Miss Joey laughed.
“You want it, I have it.” Looze held up a shiny object between his thumb and index finger.
“That is…” Miss Joey was loss for words.
“I’m sure that this looks very familiar to you, since can see them most of the time on your finger nails.” Looze walked towards her and picked up her hand.
“A perfect match!” Looze compared the shiny acrylic diamond on Miss Joey’s nail decorations to the one between his fingers.
“Where did I find it? You must be thinking. I found it at the pool of dried blood after Miss Ginny’s corpse had been taken away. It was near the edge of the dried blood stuck to the ground. This acrylic diamond must have stuck onto the ice that you were holding due to the fact that you didn’t wear any glove. Why will you wear gloves when the ice is going to melt right?” Looze assumed.
“After the ice melted, the acrylic diamond fell off and got stuck onto the blood on the ground. If you didn’t kill Miss Ginny, why will this be here?” Looze questioned.
At this moment, everyone was silent. Miss Joey stared at the ground with tears dripping down the eyes. She fell onto her knees and did not say anything, she was full of regret. Officer Scarlett then handcuffed her and brought her to the patrol car.
After questioning Miss Joey at the police station, they found that Miss Joey really needed the money as her mother was diagnosed with an illness. She regretted killing Miss Ginny as she failed to get any money in the end. And also, she had to be put in jail, unable to take care of her sick mother.
--- END ---
Blogged @ 11:57 PM