Typical Day
2:00AM: Rick Pacey, criminal investigator for the Kensington County Police Department, is asleep in flannel pajamas and a retainer. He gets a text from his boss, "homicide, DOA, 4th & Lex. Get here yesterday!"
Rick rolls over, puts his retainer in its case, and gets dressed. He races to the gruesome scene and finds a twenty-seven-year-old male, John Dover, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers on the scene have recovered the name of the victim and the medical examiner declared the time of death: 12:46AM. Residents report they heard an argument and gunshots around 12:30AM. Rick gets to work.
4:00AM: He combs the scene for clues: The mud reveals size thirteen boot prints. DNA samples are set to be taken from under the victim's fingernails in case there is perp skin under there. Officers take copious notes from the witnesses. Unfortunately, no one saw anything; they only heard it.
Rick walks the scene carefully and notices two things. The first is a fresh tattoo of the name "Kelly" on the victim's forearm. The other is a rubber ear bud cover from a set of headphones. Rick bags it and sends it to the lab.
5:00AM: Rick shoots home, takes a quick nap, showers, eats some eggs, and gets back to work.
9:00AM: Rick goes to the victim's home. He talks to his sobbing girlfriend, Rachel. Rick attempts to console her while also getting some information. He asks, "Did John know anyone named Kelly?"
Rachel's demeanor changes. She stares at the ground and then at Rick. "Kelly worked with John. They were friends. Friends." She shakes her head.
"Rachel, was John involved with her in any way?"
"Yep. They had feelings for each other. John decided to wait to tell me until after I finished my exams for nursing school. I took my tests Monday. He told me Tuesday. Happy graduation, right?"
"Rachel, is there anyone John had beef with?"
"I'm pretty sure Kelly didn't know we were living together. He was going to end it with her. You should talk to Kelly."
Rick nods and thanks Rachel. On his way out, he sees a pair of muddy boots by the door. He stops, turns. "I hope this rain stops soon. The ground can't take it. Mud is getting on everything. Oh, I hate to mention this, but you will probably find out soon. John got a tattoo of the name Kelly on his forearm. I'm sorry for your loss."
11:00AM: Rick sits down with Kelly and asks, "So you were hooking up with John? Did you know he had a girlfriend?"
Kelly looks up from her latte, smiles, and replies, "Yeah, but we were in love and he was going to leave Rachel for me. We got tattoos with each other's names on them. See." Kelly reveals a fresh set of ink letters on her wrist, J-o-h-n.
Rick's glance shifts from Kelly's wrist to her iPod on the table. He notices that there are two different sized rubber ear bud covers. He gets up and says, "Hmm. I love music, but I just can't find a good pair of ear buds. I'm always losing those rubber thingies, too."
1:00PM: Rick races to the lab to see what has come of the DNA tests on the John fingernails, the rubber ear bud cover, and the forensics on those boot prints. He knows whodunit. The murderer is…
- A.) Rachel, in a fit of rage, shot her man while wearing boots that were way too big for her.
- B.) Kelly, unable to accept that she and John would never work out, shot him and lost her ear bud cover in the process.
- C.) The two ladies were in cahoots and took out John the Cheater together. Now they're trying to pin the crime on one another.
4:00PM: Rick shows up at court to testify in another case. The scumbag shot up a Chase Bank and drove his getaway car into a Costco lobby.
7:00PM: Rick gets home, has a slice of pizza, brushes his teeth, puts in his retainer, tosses on his flannel jammies, and goes to bed.