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Aha! I was right he was calling his solicitor to change the will! Well then, I think it might be time to close the case. Thomson, it seems, was clearly up to some malfeasance at Sipton's, some kind of embezzlement, most likely. Sir Alfred, learning of this, clearly decided he was no longer a fit heir, and called the police to arrest him and his solicitor to disinherit him - presumably Stillwater, having come back into Sipton's good graces, would be the beneficiary, hence why he was invited back to the house. However, Thomson somehow learnt of this and decided to kill Sir Alfred before he had the chance - perhaps seeing an opportunity to frame Stillwater at the same time. He went out to his club as normal, but snuck out to return to the mansion and into Sir Alfred's study via the nursery and his office, killing the old man, although not before he let out a cry. Stillwater, hearing the cry from elsewhere in the mansion, reached the study first - whether from outside, breaking in to help his friend or else entering the study from another angle, since he knew of other entrances that the police - in their direct manner - overlooked. However! When Thomson left the way he came, he found his son awakened by Sir Alfred's death cry. And his son, unknowingly, ruined his scheme, since his testimony placed Thomson at the mansion at the exact time of the murder. There may be further questions for the nanny, since it seems like she should have seen her employer and yet failed to mention it. Can I guess what rooms Holmes visited for his solution for bonus points? I'm guessing Sir Alfred's Study, office, the children's room, and Hofstadter. That seems like it would provide everything needed to determine the truth of the matter.
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May 10, 2020 09:05
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Case 1 Closed I think enough clues have been discovered that it should be no problem to answer the official quiz questions: Part One 1. Who killed Alfred Sipton? (50 pts) 2. Why was he killed? (25 pts) 3. How did the Thomson children figure in the case? (25 pts) The Part Two questions have always been bonus points; in the original set they often were related to the actual Holmes stories by ACD. This time they are generally additional facts in the case that you might have stumbled upon, but often by going in the wrong direction. Such as these: Part Two 1. Who killed Steven Piggott? (20 pts) 2. What happened to the weapon? (10 pts) 3. Why was Steven Piggott killed? (10 pts) Since we have pretty much solved the case, I'll put the answers to Part One in spoilers now. Part Two, however, actually has enough clue points for it that it's going to be a bonus case. After I post the solution for Sipton's murder, we'll work on finding out the answers to those three questions above. 1. Roger Thomson 2. Sipton knew of Roger's embezzlement of Sipton Tea Company funds. 3. They saw their father as he was leaving the scene, thus destroying his alibi. There are a few more details to be revealed about the crime, which we'll see in Holmes's solution. I'll probably have it up within a few hours, and then we can tackle the case of Steven Piggott.
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May 11, 2020 01:33
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Case 1 SOLUTION The Termination of a Teetotaler  Watson is pouring a cup of tea, Sipton tea of course, for Mrs. Sipton, who has just joined us at the familiar table at 221B Baker Street. “I came as soon as I got the telegram, Doctor Watson. What have you found out?” “It must be from Holmes; I know nothing about it. I have neither seen nor heard from Holmes since he left this morning.” Watson pauses at the sound of footsteps on the hall stairs. “That must be him now.” The door opens, but instead of the hawk-like profile of Holmes we are greeted with the rat-like face of Lestrade, an annoyed Lestrade. “Where’s Holmes?” shouts Lestrade as he waves a telegram. “What does he mean, ‘I will clear up the matter of Sir Alfred’s death’?” “If you will step inside, Lestrade, I will be glad to explain,” comes the familiar voice of Holmes from the hallway. Lestrade moves into the room with Holmes right behind him. “Please take a seat, Inspector, and have a cup of tea. I will answer all your questions in due time.” Holmes removes his coat and hat and places them on the coat rack. All eyes follow him as he goes over to the fireplace and picks up his pipe. He rolls it in his hand for a few moments and then replaces it in its rack. He picks up a cigarette instead and lights it. “Come, Holmes, don’t keep us in suspense,” says Watson after Holmes has enjoyed the first puff on his Bradley. “What is this hogwash about Sir Alfred’s death? It’s clear that Stillwater is the murderer!” exclaims Lestrade. “I must admit, Inspector, that after talking with Stillwater that the circumstantial evidence did point to Stillwater and no other, with the exception of Sir Alfred himself.” “Sir Alfred! Are you out of your mind, Holmes?" responds Lestrade. “Quite the contrary, Inspector. It was pure logic, based on the known facts, that led to that conclusion. If it is true that no one else was in the room other than Sir Alfred and Stillwater, and Stillwater himself seems to agree to that, it doesn’t leave many suspects, does it, Inspector?” “Only one is needed,” states Lestrade. “But hopefully the guilty one. This case raised some important questions that had to be answered. First, why would someone kill a dying man? I can think of only two reasons. One, that that person knows something that can do the murderer harm if it is revealed; two, such hatred that the act of murder is more important than the death of the person. Second, was Sir Alfred really that close to death? As it was important to find out the true state of Sir Alfred’s health, I went to see Sir Alfred’s doctor. “Doctor Agar confirmed that Sir Alfred’s health was such that he had only a short time to live; days, weeks at most. Thus, my original problem remained, why kill a dying man? I did, however, get a piece of data that entirely changed the fabric of this case. Sir Alfred was physically incapable of shouting as a result of an operation he had eight years ago. Did you know that, Mrs. Sipton?” “No, I don’t think it ever came up. I knew of the operation but not of the fact that he could not shout. I never heard him shout, but Alfred would never have shouted even if he were capable of doing so.” “This, of course, changed the whole case,” continues Holmes. “If Sir Alfred didn’t shout, we can only conclude that there was another person present.” “But even Stillwater says that it was Sir Alfred who called out,” states a thoughtful Lestrade. “I believe that is what Stillwater thinks. Think about what happened, Lestrade. Stillwater enters a dark room, apprehensive, unsure of what he’s getting into and expecting no one other than Sir Alfred. He hears a shout and finds Sir Alfred’s body, and he sees no one else in the room. It is logical for him to jump to the conclusion, as did the police, that it was Sir Alfred who cried out. “Let us take a look at the floorplans to the Sipton mansion. If we look at Sir Alfred’s study (G-22) we can see that next to the fireplace, in front of which the body was found, is the door to Sir Alfred’s office (G-21). If someone had murdered Sir Alfred before Stillwater arrived and then stood behind that door, keeping it ajar, and then shouted at the right time, I think that under these circumstances, it would be taken as Sir Alfred’s voice. We know that one of the officers ran immediately to the veranda door and out onto the veranda and saw no one. A check of the door into the Great Drawing Room showed that it was locked from the study side. “The murderer could easily exit Sir Alfred’s office into the children’s antechamber (G-20) and from there into the children’s rooms (G-17) and out the French window when the coast was clear. If you talked to the older child, Alfred, you learned that he wasn’t able to sleep, and he saw his father come into the room after he heard someone shouting. “Inspector, if you check with Hofstadter and the Sipton Tea Company, I think you will get enough evidence to show that Roger Thomson was embezzling money from the Sipton firm. He framed Stillwater, I believe, in the hope of throwing suspicion on Mrs. Sipton.” “How did he know that he had been discovered?" asks Wiggins. “Roger found out from his mother. Sir Alfred must have told her of his discovery. She told her son, hoping to bring about a reconciliation; instead she brought about a murder.” So why did he run off at the start? No clue. Holmes solved the case in 4 Clue Points. They were: Criminal Court, Old Bailey (36 EC) Dr. Agar (93 NW) Thomson Children (G-17) Sipton Tea Company (39 EC) So I was trying not to influence the case earlier, and unfortunately maybe made it seem like Stillwater wasn't available. He was at the Old Bailey (I think it was mentioned directly, and it's also in the lecture as being where criminals are held before trial). From him you learn that he received a note (in clear handwriting) supposedly from Alfred telling him to come in secret, and that when he arrived at the rear of the darkened study he heard the cry of 'Murderer!' from inside. Donald smashed the window in hopes of rescuing him, went to the body and the police came crashing in. Of course, just going to him doesn't corroborate anything, so you'd likely need to go elsewhere to trust Stillwater's testimony. So we got most of the details but not that Roger had to be impersonating him. The report the police officers gave might have tipped us off to that - note that they never actually saw Sipton; they were told to wait outside until he needed them, quite suspicious if he really wanted protection. It's not totally clear to me if Roger was the one who brought the police in, or if he took advantage of the situation to use them to frame Stillwater. I suspect the former, though, since I don't think Alfred would have been likely to call in the police yet. I will probably go over a few other clue points later... but this case is still semi-active, because we're going to figure out what happened to Steven Piggott. All clue points will be open, with no real limit on the case, since it's not one that Holmes will be involved in. That case will start tomorrow.
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May 11, 2020 05:48
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CASE 1-A The Case of Steven Piggott Saturday, 8 September, 1888 From the Times as the same day as the Sipton case, we have this article (full paper linked previously):  Our job: Figure out what happened to him. We can go anywhere we like, although since this is technically the Sipton case, we might well run into clue points that aren't relevant to us. For instance, going to Scotland Yard won't give us any more information than we got from Lestrade, either. Still, there's no harm in trying any lead. Directory Look-ups (Jackson) Jabez Wilson's Pawnshop.....73EC Jackson, Dr.................64EC Jackson, T. Ebenezer........75WC Jackson's Yard................1S Jackstraw & Co...............11E (Mulock) Mulgrave, Matthew...........77EC Mummer & Baskin..............18E (Piggott) Pickwick, Sir Colin.........58SW Piggott, S..................87WC Pike, Langdale...............2SW This is a new case, so put in up to five votes for locations to visit. The first location to visit will be chosen in about 48 hours. After that, I may go at a fairly quick pace, since we don't have much to start with right now.
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May 12, 2020 05:22
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So, unless we were always supposed to go off on our own in this regard, I kind of feel the Piggott case was supposed to intersect with the Sipton case somehow. But how? I guess we should perhaps start with the scene of the crime (87WC), where hopefully we can talk to Mulock, followed by Doctor Jackson (64EC). For a wildcard, let's try the Salvation Army Hostel (42SE) - we didn't visit it first time round.
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May 12, 2020 06:43
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Yvonmukluk posted:So, unless we were always supposed to go off on our own in this regard, I kind of feel the Piggott case was supposed to intersect with the Sipton case somehow. But how? I'm comfortable answering this now. While most of the cases have a distraction sideplot, often involving another crime that could be followed up on, this one is a bit unusual in that you most likely will not encounter anything related to the Piggott case in the course of a normal investigation of Sipton. So you really would have to go off investigating it separately. But you wouldn't know that when encountering the quiz. It's actually the whole reason I'm running it as its own sub-case, since it can be treated so distinctly.
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May 12, 2020 16:26
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 1 87 WC Steven Piggott “You have to speak up, I can’t hear too well,” shouts Kingsbury Mulock, Mr. Piggott’s manservant. “What do you want?”’ “We're looking into Mr. Piggott’s murder.” states Wiggins. “Mr. Piggott is dead. He was murdered,” shouts Kingsbury. “We know,” shouts Wiggins, “Can you tell us what happened?” “Don’t know. Last I saw of him he was with Mr. Jacobs in the study. They would play chess together. Yesterday they were just talking, not playing. Then Doctor Jackson came. He said he would wait in the drawing room until Mr. Piggott was free. I went to the back of the house to do some chores. The next thing I knew, Doctor Jackson was back to get me. Said Mr. Piggott had been shot and for me to go and get the police. I did, that’s all I know.” “Do you know who would want to kill Mr. Piggott?” “No, he was just an old man like me. Why would anyone want to kill an old man? Nothing was taken, he had no enemies.” “Well, it looks like he had one.” Lots of people wondering about murdering old people these days. Directory Look-ups (Jacobs) Jackstraw & Co........11E Israel Jacobs........53EC Adolph Jaeger........46SE Next vote will be tallied in about 12 hours, to get the case off to a quicker start. Current Votes 4 Doctor Jackson (64EC) 3 Salvation Army Hostel (42SE)
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May 13, 2020 05:36
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I guess a visit to Mr. Jacobs (53 EC) is in order. Odd how his name didn't come up in the paper...
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May 13, 2020 06:32
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 2 53 EC Israel Jacobs Israel Jacobs lets us into his one small room in which almost all the available space is taken over with books. He is in his late fifties and wears thick, gold-rimmed glasses. “Yes, Steven was a good friend, my best friend. We got together every afternoon to play chess and yesterday was no exception. I went over to his house, but he couldn’t play chess. Steven said he wanted to get a letter out before the two-thirty postal pick-up.” “Did he say what type of letter?” “Yes. Steven felt that the doctor at the hospital was responsible for his wife’s death and wanted her body exhumed and an autopsy performed. He said that he had asked Doctor Jackson to help him with the papers.” “Did you meet Doctor Jackson?” “No.” “Did you see anyone in the house that day?” “Only Kingsbury.” “What time did you leave?” “About a quarter after two.” “Anything else you can tell us?”’ “Not that I can think of.” Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Current Votes 4 Doctor Jackson (64EC) 3 Salvation Army Hostel (42SE) Case is just starting. Place up to five votes for where to go, and make directory look-up requests if desired. Next clue point in a bit under 24 hours.
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May 13, 2020 22:41
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The Doctor seems like a reasonable dude to visit!
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May 14, 2020 02:47
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 3 64 EC Dr. Jackson Doctor Jackson lets us into his private office and waits while we settle into the chairs arranged around his desk. “Can I offer you anything? A drink, cigar? Maybe some tea?” “No, thank you.” “Don’t mind if I do, do you?” Without waiting for a reply, Doctor Jackson pours a glass of scotch, a tall glass. “What can I do for you?” “Could you tell us what you know about the murder of Steven Piggott?” “Mr. Piggott requested that I come by his house yesterday afternoon. I arrived about ten minutes past two and was told by his man that he was engaged with someone in his study. I told him I would wait in the drawing room until Mr. Piggott was free. I waited for over twenty minutes without a word from Mr. Piggott, so I went to check the study. That’s when I found him dead. I heard no shot and saw no one enter or leave the house.” “What was your appointment with Mr. Piggott about?” “He wanted my help on a letter that he was writing to the Coroner’s Office. The letter had to do with an investigation into his wife’s death.” “Were you her doctor?” “No, but I was on hand when she died.” “Was there something suspicious about her death?” “I didn’t think so. His wife was very ill and very old. I saw no harm in easing his mind.” Doctor Jackson has drained his glass and now refills it. “Who did Piggott blame for his wife’s death?” “No one. He just wanted an autopsy done to make sure everything was alright. Now, if you will excuse me I have patients waiting.” Directory Look-ups This is, somewhat curiously, one of the subject headings, which is why I've capitalized it. (CORONER'S OFFICE) Coroner...............91EC Medical Examiner......38EC We've checked a few places now, so where next? Vote for up to 5 places to visit. Don't forget to consider some of the places in Holmes' lecture, or possibly the map to glean further information about the case. Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Current Votes 3 Salvation Army Hostel (42SE)
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May 14, 2020 21:57
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Well, I suppose we should go talk to the coroner at 91EC (I think it's worth noting that at least in England, the coroner isn't the guy who examines the body, hence why there's a separate tag for the medical examiner - since the latter never had a change to study Mrs. Piggott, they'd not be of much use to this case). I'm somewhat perplexed where to go next, since I imagine most of the Regulars' insights will be into the Sipton case. Perhaps Somerset House (17 WC) would provide more details about Mrs. Piggott's death? I guess Sir Jasper (38 EC) would have a look at Mr. Piggott's body? Jacobs & Jackson should have encountered each other by their own testimony, so one must be either mistaken or lying. According to Jacobs, Piggott did blame someone for his wife's death, whereas Jackson says he 'just wanted to make sure everything was alright'. But we need more data to find out more. Maybe drop the Hostel, since that was a blind guess. Edit: could we get the directory lookup for all the Hospitals? I presume Mrs. Piggott would have been treated at the one nearest her home, so if the records office comes up blank we could just figure it out that way and start asking questions. Yvonmukluk fucked around with this message at 08:48 on May 15, 2020 |
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May 15, 2020 08:36
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Directory Lookup for category HOSPITAL Charing Cross..........91WC Chelsea Hospital.......45SW King's College.........71WC London Hospital........ 92E Middlesex Hospital.....10NW Royal Greenwich Hosp....65S St. Bartholomew's......38EC St. George Hospital....57SW St. Thomas Hospital....29SE Incidentally while looking through other clues for the case I discovered that most likely Alfred Sipton did ask for police assistance before confronting his nephew. But since the murder would likely have made at least some noise, I'd guess Roger Thomson was the only one who spoke to the police from inside the room, so by the time they arrived he was dead. Kangra fucked around with this message at 17:11 on May 15, 2020 |
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May 15, 2020 17:05
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 4 91 EC Coroner's Office “I just got the report from Meeks on Piggott’s autopsy,” Randel Ffoulke, Coroner of London, informs us. “Death was caused by a bullet that entered the back of the head and lodged in the brain. Death was instantaneous.” “Any idea what type of gun?” “No, I haven’t gotten Murray’s report yet. According to Meeks it looks like a small calibre gun; it was fired at close range but did not exit the body.” “Is there anything else you can tell us?” “Yes. I was expecting to hear from Piggott, but not in this manner. I got a call from him the other day concerning his wife’s death. He felt that there was some negligence on the part of the hospital. He wanted to have her body exhumed and an autopsy performed. I told him he would have to request it in writing along with the statement of at least one doctor that there was possible cause for such an action. If he did that, I would then take it to the Coroner’s Jury for a ruling. In nine out of ten cases the Jury will honour such a request.” “Did you ever get the letter?” “No, I was expecting it today. I told him that the jury meets once a month and for it to be considered this month, I would have to have his request today.” “Is this type of request unusual?” “Not that unusual; we get three or four a month and unless someone contests the action, it is usually approved.” “Do you know what he suspected?” “I don’t think he suspected anything specifically. It was a feeling he had that she shouldn’t have died. I explained to him that ninety-nine times out of a hundred nothing wrong is found, and he accepted that possibility.” Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Current Votes 4 Somerset House (17 EC) 3 Jasper Meeks, Medical Examiner (38 EC) Vote for any location next. ~24 hours until the next clue point.
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May 16, 2020 05:51
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I have a feeling Piggott was killed to prevent the autopsy being performed, that much is clear. I think perhaps after Somerset House, we might stop by Murray at 22 Regency-street and see if we can get his report in person.
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May 16, 2020 18:32
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 5 17 WC Somerset House Wiggins thinks better of it and asks for a refund. Nothing to be found here. Remember Mrs. Piggott's death is still rather recent... Sipton's will, incidentally, splits most of his assets (the company stock) between his wife, sister, nephew and younger brother not mentioned anywhere else. A large bequest goes to the Salvation Army. He leaves sizable sums (up to £5000) to Stillwater, Hofstadter, and the remainder of his long-time staff. 22 SW H.R. Murray (Criminology Lab) “Hello, Wagins. What brings you here?” Murray is sitting behind one of his large work tables on which his feet are resting. A large sandwich is in his right hand. “I thought it was going to be a nice quiet day today.” “Sorry to interrupt your lunch. We're looking into Sir Alfred Sipton’s death.” “Sipton! Oh my god!” Murray springs to his feet and rushes across the room to another work table covered with chemical apparatus. He removes a steaming flask from the ring stand. “My tea, forgot all about it.” Murray pours the contents from the flask into a large beaker and takes a sip. ‘“What was it you wanted, Wakins?”’ “Wiggins, sir.”’ “I have nothing on a Wiggins. When did he die?” “No, sir. I'm Wiggins. We are looking into the murder of Sir Alfred Sipton. Have you found anything?” “I found blood on the knife that matched Sir Alfred’s. As the knife was found at the scene of the crime in the suspect’s hand, I have no reason to believe it is not the murder weapon. That’s about all.” “Nothing else?” “Nothing else.” “Thank you, Murray.” “You're welcome, Wagins.” Nothing else. Honestly a bit surprising. Usually if there are multiple deaths in a case something shows up. Of course one issue is that the murder weapon has not been found yet. And we may as well round out the dead ends. 38 EC Medical Examiner We find Sir Jasper Meeks in his office, sipping a cup of hot tea. His feet are resting on the desk top, his glasses are resting on his forehead and his left hand holds a report which he is reading. As the door to his office opens, Meeks looks up from his report and, squinting, recognizes us. “Hello, Wiggins. Haven’t seen you for a while,” greets Meeks as he adjusts his glasses to their more useful position. “What are you looking into today?” “We’re looking into the death of Sir Alfred Sipton. Have you done the autopsy yet?” “Yes, but there’s not much to tell. The knife entered the chest and punctured the left lung. A nice clean cut, didn’t do much tissue damage. It was chronic congestive heart failure that caused his death. His liver was three times normal size. The congestion in his kidneys and intestinal tract was the worst I have ever seen. He was not long for this world, a matter of days or weeks at most.” “So it wasn’t the stabbing that killed Sir Alfred?” “No, the stabbing brought on the heart failure. So, in that sense, it was the cause of death. The ironic thing is that if the murderer would have waited, nature would have done his work for him.” “Anything else?” “No, that’s about it for Sipton.” Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Coroner (91 EC) Seems our leads have been exhausted. Vote for where we should check next. I'll give about 48 hours.
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May 17, 2020 05:56
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If we're stumped for clues, I'll say that investigating the hospitals was a good idea; just choose which one and we can visit. Also, since we didn't get anything new about the crime scene, I'd say we can assume that the police did in fact do an adequate job searching the room and the people found present at the scene (the servant Mulock and Dr. Jackson), but did not find a weapon. The police would have arrived at the house at roughly 2:45 p.m.
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May 19, 2020 04:12
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It's kind of tricky to figure out which is closest with the map split in segments. I think St. Bartholemew's 38EC is actually closest to Piggott's home, so let's start there, followed by King's College, 71WC, then Charing Cross 91WC, depending on if we get results relevant to the case previous.
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May 19, 2020 07:16
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Based on the information so far, it seems reasonable to suspect Dr. Jackson of the murder - he was the last person to see Piggott alive, and mentions he was there when his wife died, so he'd have the most reason to want Piggott silenced before he could make the autopsy request. Likely, he made some sort of error that led to her death. This is all supposition, and it doesn't answer the question of what happened to the gun, either. So clearly there's more work to be done. I agree with trying to find the hospital Mrs. Piggott was treated at, and will defer to the order posted earlier because I'm terrible with maps. Regarding the murder weapon - I'm trying to figure out how we can find a lead there. There's some sort of body of water not too far away that it could be disposed of in, and it's certainly possible the doctor had the time to do so after the murder, but that's pure speculation. Even so, it doesn't look like a place we could investigate.
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May 19, 2020 09:04
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Yvonmukluk posted:It's kind of tricky to figure out which is closest with the map split in segments. We actually went to 38EC just now to see the medical examiner and it didn't turn up anything related to Piggott, but I'll second 71WC and 91WC.
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May 19, 2020 21:28
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Can we go to the post office? It might be interesting to see if the letter made it to them but was intercepted after the fact, or if the postman has anything to report.
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May 20, 2020 02:45
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 5 As pointed out, St. Bart's is where Meeks works, so we had already visited there and did not get anything new. Kings College (71 WC) seems to be the next most likely option, but we get nothing from there. So instead we're heading to Charing Cross. 91 WC Charing Cross Hospital The clerk in the administration office of Charing Cross Hospital informs us that Doctor Bolander was Mrs. Piggott’s physician. We are told we can find him in Ward B, and we do. Doctor Bolander is a young man, about twenty-five, thin, tall and full of nervous energy. “Yes, I was Mrs. Piggott’s doctor,” Doctor Bolander answers as we walk with him down the corridor. “She was admitted on my shift, so she became my patient. I diagnosed her problem as bronchial asthma. She had a mild attack. An attack may last from an hour to several days, and between attacks the patient is usually quite at ease. But notwithstanding the intensely distressing character of the attacks themselves, asthma is not one of the diseases that shorten life, except by way of secondary changes in the heart, and that’s the great danger to someone of Mrs. Piggott’s age.” “So it was her heart that failed?” “That’s what the Death Certificate said.” “You didn’t fill out the certificate?” “No. I was not on duty the night she died. The attending physician at the time of death fills out the Death Certificate.” “Who was that?” “Doctor Jackson.” “Is he here?” “No, he has a private practice and only does rounds once a week.” “What was the date of Mrs. Piggott’s death?” “Let me see, it would have been. . . I'm sorry, I've been here for eighteen hours and it’s hard for me to think. I'll tell you what, ask at the front office and they can show you a copy of the Death Certificate.”  “Did you ever talk to Mr. Piggott?” “Yes. He was understandably upset. I had talked to him when his wife was first brought in and gave him every indication that she would recover with little difficulty, and then she dies. I can understand his feelings. When you see him—" “You haven’t heard that Mr. Piggott has been murdered?” “No. When did it happen?” “Yesterday afternoon.” “Poor old man. That’s a shame.” “Do you know anything about it?” “No, I only met him twice.” “So there’s nothing more you can add?” “No, I am sorry. I must get on with my rounds.” Directory Look-ups No results for Bolander. (Anyway, we just spoke to him.) We did get a request for the Post Office. We need to specify which one, though. He's the category look-up. (POST OFFICE) EC District............93EC SW District............32SW WC District.............6WC Investigations Dept....12WC Post Office Banks.......6SE Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Coroner (91 EC) Somerset House (17 EC) - No results H.R. Murray (22 SW) - No results Jasper Meeks, Medical Examiner (38 EC) - No results Current Votes 10 9
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May 20, 2020 04:38
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Can we get a lookup for the witness, please? It's kinda hard to make out her name on the death certificate (Clarinda Kentnor, I think?). We should definitely pay her a visit. But for the time being, stopping by the regional post office 6WC seems to be in order.
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May 20, 2020 07:12
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Directory Look-up for (Kentnor): Kent House.................7WC Kentnor, Clarinda.......26EC Kepner, Oliver.............56EC
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May 20, 2020 16:09
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Well then. We must visit Ms. or Mrs. Kentnor (26EC) posthaste.
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May 20, 2020 17:46
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Ok, yeah, this doctor is definitely dirty. Any doctor worth his/her salt knows a severe asthma exacerbation from a mild one, and people don't die from mild asthma exacerbations so suddenly. And if she had an underlying heart condition, it's weird that Bolander didn't know about it beforehand. Clearly, the cause of death is wrong, which is why Dr. Jackson would kill Mr. Piggott to prevent the coroner's inquest. Concur full-heartedly with interviewing this witness. Hopefully she can shed light on whatever shenanigans led to Mrs. Piggott's death. Interestingly, she didn't sign the death certificate until 2.5 hours after the patient died. 6WC is the post office right by the Piggotts' residence. I'm not sure how it'd be related to this case, though, as I don't think Piggot would have sent his letter since it was missing a doctor's signature. He was trying to meet with Dr. Jackson right before the 2:30 deadline at the time of his death, after all. I also don't think it could be related to the missing murder weapon, since it's not like one could just mail a gun to get rid of it. I'd wait on that unless we've exhausted all other potential leads.
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May 21, 2020 03:34
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 6 26 EC Kentnor Residence “Yes, I was on duty the night Mrs. Piggott died,” says Clarinda Kentnor. “She was in great pain after having an attack. I called Doctor Jackson and he told me to give her five cc’s of morphine. I did, and that seemed to comfort her. I checked her an hour later and she was dead.” “What did Doctor Jackson say?” “He said it was heart failure.” “I noticed that there is a two hour difference between the time of death and the time the Certificate was signed; is that normal?” “It should be done right away. I had trouble getting Doctor Jackson...” “Why was that?” “Well, Doctor Jackson drinks... Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good doctor, but at times he drinks and passes out." The handwriting on the death certificate makes her timeline seem odd, but it is accurate. What I think happened is that Jackson filled it out based on what Kentnor told him, and then she signed it with the time. Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Coroner (91 EC) Somerset House (17 EC) - No results H.R. Murray (22 SW) - No results Jasper Meeks, Medical Examiner (38 EC) - No results Kings College (71EC) - No results Charing Cross (91WC) Current Votes 4 WC Post Office (6WC) We've nearly got this one figured out, now.
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May 21, 2020 04:30
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...well. My guess is either the morphine killed her, or it was her heart and he missed a heart attack/etc. by just tossing morphine at it. Though, even if her death was unavoidable and not the result of malpractice, "the doctor gets too drunk on the job to check on dying patients" is enough of a threat to his continued employment. We still don't really have any leads on the murder weapon, which was the other question on the quiz. Honestly not even sure how we'd start tracking that down to begin with; the nearest body of water to the crime scene, which would be a good place to dump a gun, doesn't even have a number on the map. I'm guessing that means we can't investigate it.
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May 21, 2020 05:54
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Could we get a lookup on pawnbrokers? Maybe our perpetrator offloaded the murder weapon that way. Although I'm sure even the most jaded pawnbroker might raise an eyebrow at a literal smoking gun. Looking at the map in segments is a dang nightmare sometimes. Yvonmukluk fucked around with this message at 18:38 on May 21, 2020 |
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May 21, 2020 18:36
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 7 So recall that this isn't really the main case here, and it's no easy task to keep bugs out with so many possible clue routes... 6 WC Post Office We head into the post office but can't seem to find anyone who knows who delivers the mail to Piggott's place. We point out that it's barely a minute's walk away, just across the railway. One clerk says, "If it's on the other side of the rail line, isn't that Eastern Central?" We point to the map on the wall which clearly shows that the line dividing WC and EC includes the building. Wiggins grows irate. "87 WC, really, you can see the bl**dy place from your window!" Finally someone passes by who seems to understand the situation. "Ah, that building there? You'll be wanting Dave, then. But he's, er, not here today. He works out of the EC office on the weekend." We don't even bother trying to ask why someone would work two postal jobs in different locations, and trudge off to find Dave while silently cursing the Royal Mail. 93 EC Also a Post Office “Yes, I know Steven Piggott, a nice old bloke. I deliver his mail and pick it up.” “Did you pick up a letter yesterday?” “No letters yesterday, only a package.” “Do you know where the package was going?” “Funny that you should ask. I did notice. I used to work in the South West district and that was where the package was going—150 Cadogan Street. Cadogan Street didn’t go that high when I worked there, so I was wondering what rebuilding was going on there. Haven't been up there in years.” “Do you remember the name?” “No, I just looked at the address.” As pointed out, a street address plus the post district is how the map is labeled and how clue point codes are determined. But none of the numbers go past 100... Previously visited Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Coroner (91 EC) Somerset House (17 EC) - No results H.R. Murray (22 SW) - No results Jasper Meeks, Medical Examiner (38 EC) - No results Kings College (71EC) - No results Charing Cross (91WC) Clarinda Kentnor (26EC) Current Votes Directory Lookup for (PAWNBROKER) Hoch's...................26E Jabez Wilson........73EC Saul Leibowitz........1E Zebediah's.............47E Okay, I think we can wrap this up this weekend. Vote for where we need to go next!
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May 22, 2020 04:08
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Did... did he just mail the gun? I thought that was too ridiculous to even be a possibility, but then again, I guess postal security would be much more lax in 1888. Anyway, if the location doesn't exist, would the package bounce back to the nearest mail office (32 SW, I think, though apparently the mail districts are super wonky)? Or would it just get dropped off at the closest address? Cadogan only has 64, 65 on one side and 50, 51, 52 on the other. Alternately, they could've delivered to 50 if they thought the 1 was in error... or maybe it just went to the Investigations Department at 12WC. Of these options, I guess I'd try 32SW first, followed by 12WC and lastly 50SW if all others were duds. But if someone else has better knowledge of how the Royal Mail handles packages with incorrect addresses and presumably no return address, I'm all ears.
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May 22, 2020 06:35
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differentiating posted:Did... did he just mail the gun? I thought that was too ridiculous to even be a possibility, but then again, I guess postal security would be much more lax in 1888. That seems reasonable. So, assuming the gun was posted out at 2:30, it's fairly clear that Jackson arrived at 10 past two like he said, presumably concealed himself until Jacobs left at quarter past, did the deed and posted the gun, then 'discovered' the body after the mail was collected - he says he waited 20 minutes, which would line up with 2:30 on the dot.
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May 22, 2020 12:48
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I concur with the above order. Let's wrap this one up!
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May 22, 2020 17:44
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Case 1-A, Clue Point 8 32 SW Post Office, SW District Wiggins has requested Inspector Tobias Gregson to accompany us to the post office. Gregson shows his Scotland Yard identification to the clerk. “What can I do for you, Inspector?” “Do you have a package that was addressed to 150 Cadogan Street? There is no such address. Could you check for me?” “Sure.” The clerk goes to a wall covered with pigeon holes of various sizes. After a moment he returns with a small package. “Is this it?” “Let me check.” Inspector Gregson takes the package and looks at the address.  “Let’s take a look inside.” Inspector Gregson opens the package and removes a small revolver. “Good work, Wiggins.” CASE CLOSED We found everything we needed. It won't take long to match the handwriting, and Dr Jackson will undoubtedly break down with regret over his actions soon enough. Good work, indeed. Clue Points visited: Steven Piggott (87WC) Israel Jacobs (53EC) Doctor Jackson (64EC) Coroner (91 EC) Somerset House (17 EC) - No relevant results H.R. Murray (22 SW) - No relevant results Jasper Meeks, Medical Examiner (38 EC) - No relevant results Kings College (71EC) - No results Charing Cross (91WC) Clarinda Kentnor (26EC) WC Post Office (6WC) (EC Post Office subbed - 93 EC) SW Post Office (32 SW) Just to review the Quiz: Who killed Steven Piggott? Dr. Jackson What happened to the murder weapon? Dr. Jackson mailed it from the scene to himself. Why was Steven Piggott killed? Dr. Jackson feared exposure by Mr. Piggott for overdosing Mrs. Piggott. Those are the official answers, but I'm not sure I fully agree with them. Perhaps Jackson intended to show up at the SW Post Office as 'Jack Davis' and retrieve the weapon, but we had no indication of it. It's also not definite if it was an 'overdose' or just an incorrectly administered drug, but that's a minor complaint. It seems just as likely Jackson just didn't want his drunken state brought to light. There will be one more wrap-up post on the remainder of Case 1, and then we can move on to the official Case 2. If you have any questions on the witnesses or other clue points for this or the Sipton case, ask them now.
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May 23, 2020 02:05
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So was there a point where the Sipton case intersects with the Piggott case at all, or were we specifically supposed to seek it out?
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May 23, 2020 13:36
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Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch to say he "mailed it to himself" when he sent it to a fake address under a fake name. More accurately, he hid the gun in a package and moved that package via the postal system to a seemingly unrelated location.
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May 23, 2020 18:44
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Yvonmukluk posted:So was there a point where the Sipton case intersects with the Piggott case at all, or were we specifically supposed to seek it out? About the only way you might get into it is if you visit Porky Shinwell, who mentions that Piggott was a regular (he lived close to the inn). From Porky you get the news about Piggott's wife having died at Charing Cross, and that Piggott had suspicions about it. But since he's the underworld informant, it's really unlikely you'd be visiting him about the murder of this wealthy businessman. That makes it kind of remarkable how complete this case is. I don't know if it was intended to be a full case and they never fleshed it out, or if it's just something thrown in on top. I'm pretty glad we ended up checking out the post office on our own. There really isn't any indication of what happened to the murder weapon unless you happen to stumble in to the right post office, and the fact that they mistakenly put it in the wrong clue point makes it that much harder. You might be inclined to believe the mention of catching the mail has no bearing on the Piggott case, especially if you suspect that he never got the document signed by Jackson. So in addition to having all of the clue points related to Piggott, which has no bearing on the Sipton murder, there is another red herring: Agnes Thomson (that's Alfred's sister, not Roger's wife) was having a lot of dalliances with men, including an apparent gigolo. You can find a few of the servants gossiping about it and some speculation on the carriage driver. It seems maybe they think she's fooling around with him, but more likely she just has him take her out at various odd times to meet her men. Speaking of carriage drivers, this is one case where visiting the Stables gives you some information; you find what is presumably the trip that Roger took back early, as it dropped him off at a nearby address. You get no names from the Stables, just times and locations and the implication that the ones you get might be important. Finally, there's what must be the most confusing clue point if you're having trouble with the Sipton case: Normally you can go back to 221B (42 NW) and get a clue from either Holmes or Watson. In this case, if you go, you get Watson giving his medical opinion. Without any additional explanation, he just states that morphine would not be indicated for asthma as it might depress respiration. You'd be wondering what the heck he's on about because even if you talk to Dr. Agar, you'd never get anything related to Sipton and morphine. Incidentally I tried to see if that was the prevailing opinion in his time. The best I could find is a text from the 1940s that seemed to think it was fine, except for the fact that morphine is addictive and a lot of doctors though it wouldn't be so great to be giving their patients addictive opioid drugs. Good to know medicine has come so far since then. Old Grey Guy posted:One thing that keeps nagging at me is a mention in Sir Alfred's obituary where it says he returned after six years in the US with an entire £ 100 to start his company but no further details are given. What was he up to over there that got him that money? This is from way back, but I didn't want to drop any hints about possible leads in the case. Although in general the persons depicted in the game are not meant to resemble any real-life people, the name 'Sipton' is too obviously a play on Lipton for there not to be some intended parallels. Sir Thomas Lipton did in fact make his fortune in America first, before starting a successful tea business and returning to England. I think he was in either ranching or meatpacking. Another parallel is that Sipton started a chain of grocery stores, which is something Lipton also did. In other news, I recently discovered that Space Cowboys (the publishers of the remake of these games) is set to release a brand new set of cases, the Baker Street Irregulars, on June 29th of this year. They also actually remade the Mansion Murders as the 'Carlton House' and have it with The Queen's Park Affair as a set, and then the West End Mysteries along with a Jack the Ripper case. Sadly we still haven't seen a remake of Adventures by Gaslight/L'Affaire de l'Oiseau de Papier, which I'd love to get but is very rare and super-expensive. They've done a good job reviving interest in these games, and it's good to see them still releasing more. Another nice thing is that they also have one of the full original cases as a free download (The Mystified Murderess). And within that set, there is a pdf of the full London map, which is still in pieces but might be of use to have as a single file. Even more useful is that the entire directory is included, too, with fully searchable text. All of that can be found at the game's website (if you want the map & directory, click on 'free case', not the 'demo'). Next up will be Case 2, which will actually keep us away from the mansion for a bit, as it's the one full case in the set that doesn't involve the mansion. It's also a bit of an oddball. Also, it will spoil the culprit of The Case of the Mummy's Curse from the original game. If you don't mind being spoiled or just want to review it, I recommend Rocket Baby Doll's ongoing LP of the video version. The Mummy's Curse starts here.
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May 24, 2020 23:42
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Kangra posted:About the only way you might get into it is if you visit Porky Shinwell, who mentions that Piggott was a regular (he lived close to the inn). From Porky you get the news about Piggott's wife having died at Charing Cross, and that Piggott had suspicions about it. But since he's the underworld informant, it's really unlikely you'd be visiting him about the murder of this wealthy businessman. Oh, thanks for the link to the free stuff, it'll make things much easier! Are you going to replace the map in the OP? RBP's LP just covered the Mystified Murderess too, actually. I'm considering getting the game for lockdown purposes, actually.
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May 25, 2020 09:38
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Kangra posted:This is from way back, but I didn't want to drop any hints about possible leads in the case. Although in general the persons depicted in the game are not meant to resemble any real-life people, the name 'Sipton' is too obviously a play on Lipton for there not to be some intended parallels. Sir Thomas Lipton did in fact make his fortune in America first, before starting a successful tea business and returning to England. I think he was in either ranching or meatpacking. Another parallel is that Sipton started a chain of grocery stores, which is something Lipton also did. Ah, thanks. I'm entirely aware of Lipton's and their history, I simply didn't expect such a blatant copy of actual history. It's pretty obvious in hindsight.
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May 25, 2020 17:00
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Yvonmukluk posted:Oh, thanks for the link to the free stuff, it'll make things much easier! Are you going to replace the map in the OP? RBP's LP just covered the Mystified Murderess too, actually. Good idea; link has been added to the OP. And this is a pretty good way to spend a large chunk of free time. It's at its best when you can just dive into a case and keep working on it. Old Grey Guy posted:Ah, thanks. I'm entirely aware of Lipton's and their history, I simply didn't expect such a blatant copy of actual history. It's pretty obvious in hindsight. The good news is the next case will not include a blatant copy of actual history. Fictional history, on the other hand...
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May 26, 2020 21:11
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