Greener Pastures

Greener Pastures is the first case in Criminal Case: Shadows of Belton. It takes place in the Oakdale Hills district of Kingsford.

Plot
The player is tasked to their first job upon transferring into the Kingsford Police Department in the serene rural district of Oakdale Hills. The murder comes as a shock to the locals because violent crime has been unheard of for a decade.

The player and rookie cop Telford Brooks check out the crime scene at a dairy farm to fine the body of Eliza Eric decapitated while being tied onto a tree. During the first third of the investigation, the mayor of Oakdale Hills, Patrick Rover issued a curfew in the district until the killer was caught. Judging by the wounds left on the body, coroner Delia Atkins concluded that the killer was right handed. Looking into the victim's belongings, the player and Telford found a coded threat issued to Eliza on sheet music meant for piano. This meant that the killer played piano.

The player first informed the victim's husband, Jackson Eric of his wife's demise, much to his pain. He couldn't think of any reasons or people who would want to hurt Eliza due to her popularity within the community. The player also checked with the victim's neighbor, Melissa Davies on potential leads, with nothing to show except that the victim frequented the local piano bar in town, causing the team to investigate there, too. There they met Orlando Marchand, the pianist at the bar who mentioned the victim always liked his playing and would tip generously. However, there were no other leads. Later, while investigating the barn, Telford was chased by an angry cow only to be saved by local farmer Bryan Reeves.

In the middle part of the investigation, the team asked Bryan about the victim, who said she was a somewhat quiet but well-liked woman that would come say hi to him on his morning route to town on the bus. This prompted the team to ask the bus driver Penelope Logan who saw the victim frequently as well, but aside from idle small talk, she did not know anything about the victim.

Later, searching the victim's room showed that Eliza was planning to divorce Jackson after he had been found cheating on her with an unknown person. When Jackson was interrogated about this, he admitted that Eliza had been making him feel lonely due to her neglect of him in recent years, so he discreetly hooked up with Bryan Reeves after a drunken night at the piano bar.

The team also questioned Bryan who felt bad about what he had done, but he also loved Jackson too. Later on, the team would have to break up a fight between Jackson and Orlando at the piano bar.

After breaking up the fight with Orlando and Jackson, since Orlando was the one who told Eliza of Jackson's unfaithfulness, the team further questioned Orlando who admitted that he knew a lot of things that happened in town due to being in the piano bar a lot.

He also let slip that Eliza almost destroyed his piano after drinking at the bar and becoming rowdy. The team then found out evidence of Penelope Logan's involvement with the victim as the victim had bullied her in high school and never apologized. However, Penelope said that the past is the past and she has no further grievances.

Lastly, the team questioned Melissa Davies after it was found out the two had argued loudly the day before. Melissa admitted that Eliza was a nosy neighbor and would often peek into her windows to see what she was doing. Angered by this breach of privacy, she confronted the victim about it, who thought that Melissa was the one Jackson was cheating with.

After enough evidence, the team arrested Melissa Davies for the murder. After confessing, it was found out she killed Eliza because she was the one that caused her son to go into a coma by encouraging her own daughter who had the flu to hang out with him in order to take out another competitor for top of the class. However, she didn't expect Melissa's son to react very badly to the illness, causing him to become comatose. After being told that her son likely wouldn't make it out of the coma, Melissa strung Eliza up to a tree and then chopped off her head.

Post-trial, mayor Patrick Rover congratulated the team but asked them to continue patrolling the streets to help the residents so that they may calm down about the murder and life could return to normal. After helping Bryan Reeves with his farm, the team went to aid more of the residents who had been shaken up by the murder.

However, it was found out that Melissa was given a note that detailed what Eliza had done to her son, as she initially just thought he was unfortunate with the flu. Knowing that it was intentional, she committed the crime. This was curious as the sender was anonymous, so the team was further on the lookout for who did this.

After wrapping up operations and deeming the coast to be safe again, tensions returned when Bryan Reeves reported his brother's body being found on their family farm.

Victim

 * Eliza Eric (Found tied to a tree, decapitated)

Murder Weapon

 * Axe

Killer

 * Melissa Davies

Suspects

 * Bryan Reeves (Local Farmer)
 * Jackson Eric (Victim's Husband)
 * Melissa Davies (Victim's Neighbor)
 * Orlando Marchand (Local Musician)
 * Penelope Logan (Bus Driver)

Killer's Profile

 * The killer is allergic to dust.
 * The killer has brown eyes.
 * The killer is right handed.
 * The killer wears gloves.
 * The killer plays piano.