An Axe To Grind

"The Night Of A Dreadful Death" is a case appearing in the Criminal Case instalment, Justice Department. It is the thirty-seventh case of the season and the opening case of the district Town Of Wisterias.

Plot
Upon arresting the serial killer terrorising Aphroditopolis, the Acropolis Justice Defence Force receive the news that crazy scientist Julian Ackroyd broke out of prison. Elliot arrived with news that he was able to track down Ackroyd in the Town of Wisterias, the home of Acropolis' Founding Fathers. The team then heads on to the Town of Wisterias.

Chapter 1
However, as soon as they arrived, Chief Watkins informed the player and Lt. Thatcher that a murder was reported in the northern streets. The two detectives arrive in the crime scene, where they find young man Duke Sawyer hacked to death. After investigating the murder scene, the player was able to find a locket with the victim's face and a young woman's face on it and a torn party invitation.

The young woman was identified as Penny Carey, Duke's girlfriend. During Penny's interrogation, she was able to tell the player between sobs that Duke was the only one truly accepted her as who she really was and the only one who cared for her when her parents abandoned her.

Through the torn party invitation, Lt. Thatcher and the player find out that the victim attended a Halloween party by a certain Denny Lockhart. They arrive at Denny's residence, where the party took place. The detectives were able to speak to Denny about Duke, Denny claimed that they were inseparable best friends since elementary. However, despite knowing about each other, Denny stated that he did not know who wanted to kill Duke. While investigating the Halloween party scene, the detectives were able to find a faded business card and the victim's phone.

The business card belonged to Duke's sister, Rosalind Sawyer. The detectives broke the news to Rosalind that her brother was murdered. Rosalind was only able to tell the detectives that she raised him when their parents died and was distressed that the only one she has left was dead.

Upon Elliot's analysis on the victim's phone, Elliot was able to tell the detectives that the victim received a message from the killer for a meeting on where he died, luring him there to kill him. Elliot was not able to trace the message from its sender because it was a burner, but he was able to determine that the killer uses a Redberry phone, as other anonymous burner messages was also from a Redberry phone.

After finishing the autopsy on Duke, Dr. Graham Fraser was able to inform the detectives that Duke died of blood loss from repeated lacerations with an axe-like weapon. The coroner was also able to find traces of Tomb Raiser cocktail on the victim as he struggled with his killer before meeting his end. The victim drank a different beverage and Dr. Fraser was not able to find any Tomb Raiser cocktail in his system, determining that the killer drank Tomb Raiser cocktail before killing Duke.

Sgt. Bertie Summers reported that someone had been lurking around in Duke's house with the door broken down, fearing that the victim came back to life. This ended the first chapter and triggered the second chapter to commence.

Chapter 2
Lt. Thatcher and the player arrive in Duke's residence to find out who broke in. Teddy Groves emerged from the darkness and claimed that he was the one who broke in, as he was Duke's landlord and he owned the house. Upon investigating Duke's garage, they were able to find a torn poster, a registration plate and a repair receipt.

Teddy was interrogated by the police regarding Duke's murder, he claimed that he knew nothing personal about the victim except for the fact he received complaints regarding Duke's loud and abrasive noises. Teddy also expressed that the complaints were giving him such a headache, drinking Tomb Raiser cocktails to numb his pain.

The poster was revealed to be a gangster insignia that belonged to the El Fantasma with the written threatening message. According to profiler Stefan Martin, the writer of threatening message was a professional woman with a business background, pinpointing Rosalind as the one who was threatening her brother. Rosalind was encountered once again about her threat. Rosalind claimed that, ever since Duke became independent, he started hanging out with shady people. When she found out that Duke became associated with the El Fantasma gang, Rosalind freaked out and practically begged to her brother to stop seeing them. She thought that the message on his poster was the last resort to persuade him to leave the gang.

The registration plate read "JP4 EVA" with the "EVA" crossed out with dark purple lipstick, which belonged to Penny as, it was part of her Frankenstein's Bride costume. Penny was confronted again by the player and Lt. Thatcher regarding the vandalised registration plate. Penny explained that she found out that Duke was only using their relationship as a way to attract other girls, stating that Duke's sympathetic actions had led him to use it to make girls fall for him. Penny further explained that she argued with him on the pavilion and threw her Tomb Raiser cocktail at him. When asked about Duke's involvement with El Fantasma, Penny was aware of his friends, but was unaware that they were a criminal gang.

The receipt from Duke's garage showed the transaction between the victim and a certain Jake Wallace regarding his car being repaired. Jake was visited by the police regarding his involvement with the victim. Jake simply stated that Duke was the only mechanic who provides better service than anyone in the Town, he did not know him personally.

Coming up with an idea that the killer could be in the party and stalked Duke. Lt. Thatcher and the player goes back to Denny's backyard to search for clues, there they find a bloody hatchet. The hatchet had traces of black substance on the handle, they sent a sample to forensic analyst Candy Orson for analysis. upon finishing the analysis, Candy was able to determine that the black substance was motor oil used for off-road vehicles, specifically all-terrain quad-bikes (as confirmed by weapons expert Travis Wilkes), coming up with the conclusion that the killer drives an all-terrain vehicle.

Chapter 3
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Additional Investigation – Experimental Control (1/6)
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Victim

 * Duke Sawyer (hacked to death on the street)

Murder Weapon

 * Hatchet

Killer

 * Denny Lockhart

Suspects

 * Penny Carey – Victim's Girlfriend
 * Denny Lockhart – Victim's Best Friend
 * Rosalind Sawyer – Victim's Sister
 * Teddy Groves – Landlord
 * Jake Wallace – Wealthy Socialite

Quasi-Suspects

 * Gavin Van Ness – Acropolis Scroll CEO

Killer's Profile

 * The killer uses Redberry phone
 * The killer drink Tomb Raiser cocktails
 * The killer rides an all-terrain vehicle
 * The killer has brown eyes
 * The killer wears prosthetics

Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 3
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Experimental Control (1/6)
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Trivia

 * The title of the case, "The Night Of A Dreadful Death", is a parody to the 1968 sci-fi horror thriller film "Night Of The Living Dead".
 * Helm Street is a parody of Elm Street on the film "A Nightmare On Elm Street"