Murder Investigation Challenge Part 2
Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Jason rapped on the door of the first cabin at which they arrived. The group stood on the small porch, shivering in the almost blizzard-like conditions. The cabin was well lit, so it was obvious to the four that the occupants of the cabin were there, but there was no answer. "Knock again," Jack nearly shouted to be heard over the tremendously loud whine of the wind. Jason again pounded on the door and this time it cracked open. A man stood at the door. He was tall - at least six feet tall - and was wearing a heavy plaid hunting jacket. "Whaddya want?" he growled. From behind him, a voice called out, "Let them in, Walt." The tall man opened the door the rest of the way and motioned for them to come in.

The contestants looked at each other. "Might as well," said Jack. The four filed into the cabin, joining the four men already present in the small lodging. "I hate a crowd," growled the man called Walt. The man who had called for the contestants to be let in, a man short in stature and with a soft, somewhat high-pitched voice, introduced himself as Phil Huntley. "And you've already met Walt Bell. The man over here in the green sweater is Jim Ward and the guy in the recliner is Kurt Smith. And you're the guys in Dern's game, right? Let me see if I've got it straight. You're Jack. And you over there, is it Gene? Oh, Eugene, that's right. And Jason… and Mitch, right?" he said with a smile.

"Well," said the man identified as Jim Ward, "I guess you'll want to see where the body was. Kurt here was the one who found it. Found the poor guy lying right up there in the loft, dead."

Jason took charge. "Did any of you know the victim?" he asked. "I guess we all did," volunteered Phil. "And you don't have to bother asking. I'll say right now that we all had reason to hate him." Jason groaned. "Great. That makes it real easy," he said. "Well, do you mind if we take a look around?" Phil smiled grimly. "Not at all. Go right ahead," he said.

The contestants took the room apart piece by piece. Eugene took the desk, tearing out each drawer and combing carefully through the assorted items contained therein: a small pocketknife with the name of the resort printed in white lettering on the red handle, a ski guide and general information concerning the resort and the surrounding area, red and blue felt-tipped markers, a variety of pens and pencils, two tablets and in the bottom drawer, a box of ammunition. Eugene slipped the box into the oversized pocket of his coat and began looking through the items on top of the desk. It featured a few loose sheets of paper, a pair of gloves, a worn copy of Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" and a few other items which Eugene quickly deemed irrelevant to the case, such as paperclips and a box of cough drops.

Jack took the furniture, looking in, around and under every piece in the room, but all that he managed to turn up was a few kroners, an American dime and ample amounts of dust. Jason, who had quickly taken into account the entire room, then focused on the small loft - which featured a single cot - where the murdered man had been found. The floor was wooden and slightly damp and when Jason tried the cot, he found that it bowed significantly under his weight. The loft was illuminated by a single window, which Jason estimated to be large enough to allow a man to squeeze through, but the window was latched from the inside. He made a mental note of these observations, then climbed down the ladder back to the main level, where Mitch had just completed his search - with the consent of the occupants - of the four men's bags.

"Well?" asked Jack as the four huddled together in the corner and discussed their findings. "Nothing of interest in the bags," said Mitch. "Just some hunting magazines, changes of clothing, a tour book, airline tickets. You know, the usual." Jack nodded. "I didn't find anything remotely suspicious either," he said. "What about you two?" Jason and Eugene filled the others in on their finds and the four agreed it was time to question the suspects.

"Okay," said Eugene rather nervously, "You four do know this is a game and everything, so you don't mind us questioning you, right?" He bit his lip as he waited for a reply. "Hmmph," said Walt. "Ignore him," said Kurt. "We don't mind being questioned."

"Okay," said Jason. "I'll get the ball rolling. First, when did the murder happen?" Jim stepped forward with the answer. "Sometime during the night is all we know," he said. "The four of us were sleeping down here and Jacob Ivon - he's the dead man - ended up in the loft because none of us could stand the guy. All I know is that when we all settled down for the night a little before midnight, he was alive. When we wanted to go grab some breakfast at the resort before hitting the ski slopes for a morning ski, we decided to do the nice thing and wake him to let him know of our decision. He always slept in late, so it was nothing new or anything that would have made us suspicious. Kurt went up to wake him and found his body, and from there on, Kurt would be able to answer any questions far better than I can."

Jason looked around the group. "Is that what happened?" he asked. The others nodded in agreement with Jim's statement and Eugene followed up Jason's question, asking where each of them slept that night. This time, it was Phil who came up with the answer. "Jim and I slept in the bed over here. I think Kurt slept over on this side of the bed," he motioned, pointing to the far side of the cabin, "and our amiable friend Walt here laid out his roll right here next to the door." The others readily agreed.

"We were supposed to investigate two cabins, but this pretty much limits it to this one then," said Mitch. "I mean, if someone was sleeping right against the door, no one from the other cabin could get in without opening the door right into him." Walt, wearing a sour expression on his face, nodded solemnly. "No one came through that door," he said. "As you've already observed, the thing opens in, so that door couldn't have opened with me lying there. But there are windows in this cabin, you know. Someone could have entered through one of them." Jason shook his head. "The loft one's the only window that even looks like it could open," he said. "And it was locked from the inside." Phil, wiping sweat from his brow, asked, "But assuming it wasn't locked before, couldn't someone have sneaked in, killed Jake, then locked up the window while it was still open, slipped out and closed the already-locked window from the outside?" Jason shook his head. "Not possible," he said. "Windows can't close all the way if the locks are engaged."

"True," said Phil, "But, but the looks don't work on that window." Eugene stepped in. "How would you know that?" he asked. "Unless of course you searched for some excuse to divert our attention and found the windows to be a suitable choice. And that would mean that you, Phillip, are a murderer."

"No, no!" shouted Phil, seemingly appalled that Eugene could imply such a thing. Jason had made his way back up to the loft and to his surprise found the window exactly as Phil had described it. He slid the window open, examining the area outside of the cabin, but could see little in the snow-filled darkness. He closed the window, which made a loud noise upon closing as it slammed against the aged, expanded wood of the sill. He opened it again and tried to ease the window closed. The window still slammed down hard. "Alright then, tell me this," called down Jason. "Even assuming that someone did lock the window from the inside - which would then have no effect whatsoever considering the fact that the lock doesn't work - and slipped out before closing it, how would the person then manage to get the thing closed without waking up everyone in here? I mean, that thing's loud!"

"Actually, we did hear a loud slam at around seven this morning," said Jim Ward rather sheepishly. It woke everyone but Jake. But," he paused, "I guess he had just been murdered." Eugene stared at them. "You're implying then that the murder was committed at seven this morning?" Jim thought about it. "Guess so," he said. The others can back up my story about hearing that bang," he said. "Woke us all up, as I said, but we figured something fell or some such thing and we all wanted to get another hour of sleep in, so we kind of ignored it. I forgot all about it until your friend here closed that window." The contestants looked around at the others, who admitted to hearing the sound that morning. "Well, it's something to look into," said Jack, who had avoided the conversation for the most part. "Jason, do you want to go talk to the men in the other cabin before we go back to our own cabin for the night?"

"No way!" said Mitch. "He wasn't talking to you," said Jason, but Mitch was adamant. "I'm tired and I'm done investigating. I just want to sleep." As Jason and Mitch began arguing about what their course of action should be, Eugene cut in. "I suggest we compromise and investigate the general area around this cabin, then check the other cabin early tomorrow morning." Jack agreed and the two petitioned Jason and Mitch, both of whom grudgingly agreed to the compromise.

Eugene picked up his lantern and passed on the others to his three co-contestants and the four ventured back into the snowstorm. "Okay," said Jason. "Mitch and I will take this side of the cabin. Jack, you and Eugene can take the far side and we'll meet back at our cabin in, say, half an hour." And with that, Mitch and Jason, heading away, disappeared into the white canvass of snow.

Eugene and Jack trudged on through the snow. "Mr. Allen," said Eugene, "It occurred to me that we might gain valuable time by going our separate ways during this search and meeting back at the cabin." Jack thought about if for a moment. "Guess it can't be that dangerous," he said. "After all, we've both got lanterns. Alright, Eugene. That's what we'll do."

Meanwhile, Jason and Mitch had made their way to a small aluminum-sided shed half buried in the snow. It's roof, only around five feet off the ground, sagged under the heavy weight of the wet snow packed atop it. "Guess we better have a look at what's in here," said Jason as he motioned for Mitch to go in first. Mitch ducked down into the shed and Jason followed. "Well, what have we here?" exclaimed Mitch as he shined his lantern towards the left side of the shed. Among the assorted objects in the shed ranging from broken ski poles to a pile of shingles was a steel extension ladder, coated lightly with partially melted snow. "This is almost too easy," Mitch said, turning to Jason. "But it sure looks like someone forced their way through that window."

"True, but someone inside the cabin we checked today could have put this thing out in the snow for a while to send us on a wild goose chase at the other cabin," Jason commented. Mitch scratched his head. "This is a confusing one," he said. "On one hand it's too easy and was probably planted. On the other hand, it's so easy that we'll think it was planted and a person in the other cabin probably would have realized that and made no attempt to hide the ladder or the fact that it had been used." Jason laughed. "If you get any more analytical, we might start confusing you with Eugene. But I get the picture. The ladder means nothing without additional evidence either way."

Twenty minutes later, the four contestants sipped at coffee and hot chocolate inside their cabin and laid out their finds. "Anyways, I think it's significant," Mitch was saying. "After thinking about it, I kind of doubt that anyone in the cabin we were at today bothered to put a ladder out in the snow for a while and place it back in the shed in hopes we'd find it and attribute it to the other cabin. It's possible, but I don't think this thing is that well planned."

Eugene disagreed. "The organization of this game thus far has been superb and I have every reason to believe that they will use their full powers to make this present challenge as difficult as possible. That opens up the possibility of the ladder being placed there to make us believe that someone in cabin two is responsible or even the possibility of someone in cabin two actually using it with the expectation of us considering it too obvious and therefore focusing on the four occupants of cabin one. I feel that at this time, we cannot properly conclude anything from that ladder."

Jason chuckled. "Funny. Mitch said the same thing," he stopped. "Well, almost the same thing, minus the fancy words. Anyways, he basically said just what you said, but when we get here, he says we can forget anything tricky like that. So Mitch, why the change?" Mitch shrugged. "I just think maybe this is a lot easier than it seems," he said. "After all, making it too easy would be the trickiest thing of all because we'd all be looking for the little hints and ignore the things that glare at us. Well, you know; what I mean is that, well, you know what I mean," he stumbled through his thoughts. "I think you need another cup of coffee," said Jason with a laugh.

Mitch then turned to Jack. "Well, what did you two find?" he asked. Jack seemed to not know how to answer at first, then replied, "Well, not that much, actually. I searched around the side of the cabin and didn't find anything, so I walked around for a while and saw something sitting on top of the snow." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shotgun shell. "I'd say that's something!" said Mitch. "No, not really," said Jack. "The man was shot with a pistol." Jason jumped in. "And how do you know that?" he demanded. "We never thought to ask what he was shot with." Jack mumbled something and looked nervous. Eugene jumped to Jack's defense. "The two of you seem to be enjoying attacking Mr. Allen and making him lose his thought process, but if you two would think about the crime instead of new ways to critique Mr. Allen, you may have realized that for the others not to hear the shot or at least to not realize that what they had heard was a shot, a silencer would have to be used. Rifles and shotguns never have silencers." He shot them an angry look.

"Woah, Eugene. Calm down!" said Mitch. But Eugene was angry. "I'm growing weary of the way the two of you have treated others throughout this game. As grown men, I would have expected more from you."

There was silence for a moment, then Eugene added, "Mr. Allen and I went separate ways tonight, and I have nothing to report in the nature of clues to assist in our investigation. I searched the areas between the cabin we examined today and the one we plan to investigate tomorrow and found nothing of even remote interest."

*******

In Odyssey, Tom Reilly turned on the radio as he worked on realigning the tires on his truck. "…in the stock market. It's been another abysmal day, but while the Dow dropped 285 and the Nasdaq lost 49 points, one company brought low due to allegedly scandalous practices saw a surprising resurgence today," the radio announcer said. Tom reached for a handful of screws on the ground near one tire, and then slid under the truck.

"Stock in Andromeda, which fell from almost $28 dollars to a total stock price of $1.57 per share only six months ago after top executives were taken away in handcuffs, nearly tripled its value today, placing it at $4.61 a share. Experts say that yesterday's price was rock bottom for Andromeda and they expect the price to continue to rise, with some speculation that the stock may double again before the week is out. All investment firms are labeling the stock a hot buy after today's surprise turnaround. The dramatic increase can be attributed to an increase in company productivity, new employees being taken on by the company, Wall Street rumors of something big coming out of Andromeda any day now and a re-evaluation of the corporation as a whole.

"Andromeda, parent company of Novacom, whose Nova Boxes broke into the national news scene earlier this year, is expected to re-launch the Nova Boxes soon and some speculate about a potential next step involving a complete integration of this stunning technology into our culture. And while some watchdog groups are crying foul, most in the technology sector hail the systems as a boon to the science and technology fields. While once seen as another disaster company in a long line of corporate failures, many stockholders now believe Andromeda will see resurgence and will soon be back to its former, highly profitable status. Andromeda, Inc never filed for bankruptcy…"

Tom, who was by then standing by the radio, spun the volume dial. "Andromeda," he thought. "What are they up to now?"

Murder Investigation Challenge Part 3
Thursday, October 17, 2002

The glistening rays of the sun shone brightly on the snow-covered ground, their glaring refraction intense. "Is that thing right?" Jason yawned as he glanced sleepily at his alarm clock. "Eight o'clock," said Jack, looking up from his reading. "I've been reading for about two hours and Mitch's already been gone and back. He went to the resort to buy a box of doughnuts. We saved one for you if you want one."

"Well, yeah, thanks," said Jason. "Only, I think I just got warm and I don't want out of these covers quite yet." Eugene, who was writing busily at the desk, joined the conversation. "Jason, we have a great deal of work to accomplish today and I feel it is necessary that we begin posthaste." Jason yawned again. "I guess so," he said, "But I've never felt so comfortable." Eugene laughed. "You say that every morning."

Mitch, who sat in a chair enjoying one of the doughnuts, chuckled. "Jason, you're really beginning to hold us up here. Get out of bed and get ready to get to work!" Jason finally complied, peeling off the covers and stretching. "Let's get to work," he said a few minutes after slipping on a ski outfit. The four contestants grabbed their heavily lined coats from where they hung, slipped them on and opened the door. The frigid air burst into the cabin. "They forgot to turn on the heat out here again," Jason muttered.

The group slowly made their way to the third cabin, which was nearby but was completely hidden from their eyes by the torrential sheets of snow that fell so continuously. "It can't be much farther," said Jason, turning to face the rest of the group. "Hey," he said. "Is everyone still back there?" Three muffled voices answered yes. "Well that's good," said Jason. "'Cause I can only see two back there."

At last, the four contestants stood on the small porch of cabin three. Jason knocked on the door, which swung upon almost immediately. "Come in, come in," said a young man cheerfully. "I'm George Orson and the three gentlemen over here are Craig and Don Lyman and Sean Colmes." The four contestants looked over the men, trying to gain a first impression. "I guess you're here to find out if any of us committed that murder," said Sean with a smile. "That's about the gist of it," said Mitch. "You mind if we start looking around the cabin?"

"You got a search warrant, buster?" snarled Craig Lyman and Jack shrunk back slightly. Then Craig laughed. "Just kidding," he said. "Search all you want!" Jack smiled as he headed again for the furniture. Mitch decided to take the loft and Jason took the desk, leaving Eugene with the task of searching the bags. "Alright, guys. Let's go!" said Jason as he pulled out the first desk drawer and rummaged through it. A few combs, a resort-issue pocket knife similar to the one in the previous cabin they had searched, pens, paper, Styrofoam cups, a few old skiing magazines and a few resort guides and pamphlets. The top of the desk was nearly bare, with only a single pad of paper and a pen resting there.

From the loft, Mitch called down that there were flecks of dried paint lying on the floor beneath the windowsill. "So?" called up Jason, not seeing any significance in the find. "Don't you see?" asked Mitch, but before he could continue, Jason cut in with a laugh. "Well, no, I don't. You've gotta understand that I'm down here and you're up there and I can't see what you see." Mitch groaned. "Your jokes are getting really old," he said. "What I was about to say is that the window looks like it was painted over and someone just recently forced it open. They clean these cabins between each occupant's stay, so it was someone who is in this cabin right now."

"Oh, I get it," said Jason. "Well, guys," he said, looking at the four occupants of the cabin, "I'd like to know where each of you slept on the night of the murder." Sean spoke up. "Craig and Don got the bed, George took the floor on the far side of the bed and I took the cot up there," he said, pointing to the loft. "And as for the window, George and I got it open last night. It was like an oven up there. Sweltering heat, so we just had to get the thing open."

Coming down the ladder from the loft, Mitch looked crestfallen. "Shoulda guessed it," he said. "Nothing I find ever amounts to nothing. So the only thing up there's a cot and a book called 'Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.' Well, let me tell you: Whoever murdered that guy's gonna need a lot of that grace!"

Suddenly, Eugene let out a cry of excitement. "Look at this, guys!" he shouted, holding a pistol aloft and waving it about excitedly. "Woah, Eugene. Stop swinging that thing around before you kill one of us!" said Jason and Eugene, looking terribly embarrassed, placed his find on the bed. "Where did you find that?" asked Jack. "In Craig's bag," said Eugene triumphantly. "Not true!" shouted Craig angrily. "I didn't kill anyone and I have no idea how that gun got in my bag." Mitch laughed. "That's what they all say."

"Now," said Eugene, taking charge, "I want to know what everyone did the night of the murder," he demanded and pointing to Craig, said, "You first." Jason cast an odd look at Eugene. "I've never seen you so… animated and un-Eugene-like," he said. "Well," said Craig, ignoring Jason, "We all were on the ski slopes that evening, then I returned straight here. Must have been around seven o'clock that I got back and I didn't leave this cabin again until we all went up to the resort the next morning."

"Who was the next to arrive?" questioned Eugene, and George Orson spoke up. "Sean and I stopped off at the resort for a cup of cocoa after we finished skiing and got back to the cabin at maybe twenty after seven or something like that. Craig was already back, like he said. I tossed my coat on top of his on the rack and we played draughts for a while. Don wandered in shortly before eight." Don smiled. "I brought back a late dinner," he said.

"Wait," said Jason. "What's draughts?" Craig was about to answer, but Eugene beat him to it. "It's the European name for checkers," he said. Then, turning back to the four men they were questioning, he asked, "Do all of you agree with what's been said?"

"I'm fully in agreement that draughts and checkers are the same," said Craig. Eugene scowled, and Craig laughed. "Boy, you have no sense of humor, do you? Yeah, yeah, everything's exactly as the others said." Jack then asked the men, "Did anyone leave at any time after eight pm that night?" All quickly replied no. "And where were all of you the next morning between the hours of, say, six and eight?" he followed up. "We went to the 'early-bird' breakfast at the resort around a quarter after six," he said. "Then we all got in our motorcar and went sightseeing. We arrived back at the resort shortly before noon."

Mitch leaned over to Jason and whispered, "So much for one of them being the murderer. Everyone in the other cabin agreed that the window slammed shut somewhere after seven." Jason nodded solemnly. "One of them must have done it to throw suspicion of himself, but it sounds risky. What if they caught him coming down the stairs? Oh, and how'd that gun get in here if no one here is involved in this crazy thing?" Mitch shook his head. "Don't look at me," he said. "I'm just as confused as you are."

"Uh, Craig, did you say it was? Would you mind explaining how that gun may have ended up in your possession?" Craig glared at Jack. "How would I know?" he nearly shouted. "All I know is that when I got some things out of my bag at about seven last night, there was no gun in there. That's the last time I looked into that bag. It's not my gun and I repeat, I have no idea how it got there." Jack pondered the situation for a moment. "So, tell me, when did you guys get back last night?" Craig thought for a moment. "I'm not really sure," he said. "About nine," volunteered Don. "We came back on snowmobiles."

"There's one other thing I've been meaning to ask," said Jack, a smile spreading across his face as he pulled the shell of a .38 caliber bullet out of his pocket. "I found this right by the coat rack," he said. "Anyone know anything about it?" The four men looked at each other, puzzled glances on their faces. "Who has the green coat?" Jack asked. "Sean," said Don and George in unison. "I noticed that it had a hole in the left pocket," Jack said. "Sean, do you have anything to say about this?"

"You can't drag me into this mess," Sean growled. "After all, the pistol was in Craig's bag," he said. "It's not very hard to plant a gun in a bag," Jack replied calmly. "Well, the morning after the murder, Craig's coat fell off the rack. I remember because the slob wouldn't even pick the thing up. Maybe the cartridge was in his pocket and rolled out then." Jason laughed. "You're not good at making up stories," he said. But George jumped in, saying, "It's true that Craig's coat fell. I remember it now, because he and Sean had such an argument about it at the time. Craig was reading a book or something and Sean was yelling at him to pick up his mess. But still," he said, turning to Sean, "Doesn't it seem unlikely that a cartridge would have rolled out of the pocket when the coat fell?"

Sean muttered angrily, and Eugene spoke up. "I believe we have successfully determined the necessary facts in this matter and now must simply discuss them amongst ourselves in our own cabin to determine what the correct conclusion to this intriguing game of deduction may be, so I suggest that we begin our journey to our temporary habitation now, if it is agreeable with everyone."

"Can't you use little words just once, Eugene?" asked Mitch. "Anyways, if I'm getting you correctly, I agree. Let's get back to our own cabin and figure this out. If we have to, we can come back, but I think we've probably got enough to work with by now."

Back in the cabin, the contestants argued among themselves about the facts of the case. "I cannot believe that Mr. Craig Lyman is responsible for the reprehensible act we are investigating," said Eugene. "If he were the guilty party, he would surely have taken great pains, to borrow the colloquialism, to remove any shred of evidence that would lead us to believe that he may have been involved." Mitch cut in. "Au contraire, Eugene. My guess is the guy knew that if he made it so obvious that he was the killer, we'd figure it had to be one of the others. To tell you the truth, I think Jack hit the nail right on the head when he confronted that Sean fellow. Let me hand it to you, Jack. You've said very little, but what you have said so far has been pretty hard-hitting," said Mitch. Jack smiled his appreciation.

"Then again," said Mitch, "you could have framed Sean, for all I know. After all, you certainly have seemed like the mole on more than one occasion and none of us actually saw you pick up the bullet, to my knowledge. The first time we saw it was when you pulled it out of your pocket. And even the gun being found in Craig's bag could have been by your plan. You and Eugene split up the other night and if I remember right, the guys in that cabin said they were gone all night. So you probably could have snuck in and planted that gun. I mean, I doubt they locked the door and even if they did, surely you could have managed to get a key from Dern."

Eugene responded, slight anger in his voice, "Mr. Mitchell, you continue to accuse Jack on pure speculation. I had equal chance to do the acts you described, if they were truly committed, as I was left alone as well that night. And you insisted on bringing us breakfast this morning and I distinctly remember the occupants of that cabin discussing eating early breakfasts and it is probably safe to assume that they did so this morning as well, so you would have also had an opportunity to, as you said, plant the phony evidence."

"Speaking of mornings," said Jason, changing the subject, "You guys sound convinced that one of the men in the second cabin committed the murder, but at the time when the guys in cabin one report hearing the window slamming shut, all of the men from cabin two were at the resort!"

"Yeah, well, I guess our murderer's pretty smart and figured out a way to trick the people in cabin one," said Mitch. "I'll say that Craig is our man. Jack? What do you think?" Jack waited a moment before answering. "I can't make up my mind," he said. "I'm between Sean and Craig, but I think I'll agree with you and make my choice Craig." Jason jumped in. "Well, even if we ignore the fact that the window slammed shut at seven in the morning, meaning neither of those men could be the murderer, how do you suppose your men could have left their cabin without others noticing?"

"If the murder was done during the night, I doubt it would be too difficult," put in Jack. "Unlike the other cabin, no one slept in front of the door, so that's always one way out. And they did pry open that window, so someone could have exited that way, perhaps." Jason laughed cynically. "Long jump," he said. "I didn't see anyone with a cast on.

"While I disagree with the basic premises of Misters Allen and Mitchell, it behooves me to point out that with at that time more than two feet of snow on the ground, a jump of ten or twelve feet would not prove extremely difficult or hazardous. However, there is the logistical issue of returning through the window without a ladder, as if the guilty party used a ladder, he would have had no way of returning it until morning, when it would be seen. So even assuming someone from that cabin did commit the crime, which I believe to be unlikely, I do not see any reason for them to use a window from the loft when the door would be so easily accessible."

"Yeah, great," said Jason. "Anyways, I say it's Walt from the first cabin. Eugene, who do you pick?" Eugene replied quickly, "Judging from the evidence provided, I lean towards Phil." Mitch beamed. "Well, guess that means that Jack and I won out. Craig's the majority choice!"

An hour later, the contestants expounded on their investigation and told their decision to Bryan Dern over a late lunch in the cabin where the 'murder' had been committed. "Well," said Dern, "Oh, by the way, Eugene, you get an exemption this round. Your name was randomly drawn from a hat and you won." Mitch scowled. "Dern, get to the point. Did we win?" Dern then replied, "Well… I'm impressed. You guys are absolutely right and earn a hundred grand for it!" Jason looked dumbfounded. "But what about the window?" he stammered. "And you mean to tell me that it was that easy and all we had to do was find the gun in the guy's bag and that's it?" Dern smiled. "Well, hold on a second," he said, reaching for his cell phone. A minute later, he hung up and told the contestants, "Craig's on his way over. You can ask him any questions you have."

Craig arrived ten minutes later. "So tell me, Craig, how'd you manage the window thing?" asked Jason after telling him about the noise the window made. "Simple," replied the man. "I placed a thick icicle upright on the sill and closed the window down onto it after I crawled out. I knew the window wouldn't close until the icicle either melted or broke and either would give me time to secure an alibi," he said, grinning. Jason slammed his fist on the table. "I should have figured that out," he said. "The floor was damp by the window and I never even thought about it. Melting ice. Dumb, Jason. Real dumb."

Mitch then posed a question. "So Craig, was the gun the clue we were supposed to find?" he asked. Craig grinned again. "Oh, there were several clues," he said. "One of them I didn't expect to come out and when it did, you all passed right over it. You guys asked us when we arrived in the cabin the night before the murder was committed. I said I came in first, which would mean that my coat would be the farthest back on the rack. But when Jack showed that cartridge, Sean saw a chance to throw another clue out there and said that my coat fell off the peg. So, if the night before the murder, it was the last coat on the peg and the morning after, before any of us admitted to leaving the room, it was at the front of the peg. And none of you caught it. So that means that sometime that night, I must have worn it, which is pretty strong evidence that I was the murdered, considering that I said I didn't leave the cabin after eight."

Eugene groaned. "I wondered how your coat fell off if it was in the back, but never considered it as a clue. What other clues did we uncover and fail to identify?" Craig laughed. "Actually, you missed all the rest of them," he said. "So the gun wasn't a planned clue?" asked Jason. "No comment," said Craig, smiling. "Well, I guess it's time to book you," said Mitch with a laugh. "I hope for your sake they don't decide on the death penalty, if they have that here."

Craig smiled and walked over to the desk where Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" set. He picked it up and flipped to the end and began reading: "The man in red who reads the Law, Gave him three weeks of life; Three little weeks in which to heal, His soul of his soul's strife; And cleanse from every blot of blood, The hand that held the knife."

Jack smiled and softly continued the poem from memory. "And with tears of blood he cleansed the hand, The hand that held the steel: For only blood can wipe out blood, And only tears can heal: And the crimson stain that was of Cain," he said, looking around the room, then continuing slowly, "Became Christ's snow-white seal."

Speculation Week 9
Friday, October 18, 2002

Mitch: "Another day, another challenge and another step closer to a nice chunk of change. Wow, am I sounding poetic? Anyways, I’m a little confused this time. It sure seems to me that Jack could easily have faked the evidence, but then why would he plant it on the right guy and then vote for him? It’s like he planted evidence to make us win, but that doesn’t make sense! So then that leaves Eugene and Jason. I don’t think it’s Jason, but I’m not so sure that it’s Eugene either. I don’t know if I’ll answer the test assuming the mole’s Jack or Eugene. I’m really confused."

Jack: "Jason and Mitch are positive that I’m the mole, or at least that’s what they keep saying. As for me, I’m starting to lean towards Jason. He certainly has the talent for this type of thing and in recent challenges he’s been rather suspicious. If he is the mole, he’s getting away with it without too much attention being drawn to him, but I guess that’s what makes the perfect mole."

Jason: "It’s Jack, obviously. It’s almost too obvious. The guys running this thing made a mistake picking him because he just can’t hide what he’s doing. The odd thing is, with everyone knowing Jack’s the mole, we’ll all be answering the same on our tests. That means elimination comes down to how well we know Jack and how well we pay attention to him, I guess. This ought to be a close one. The others do think it’s Jack, right?"

Eugene: "I have yet to determine at this somewhat late stage of the game exactly who is responsible for the acts of sabotage committed in this game, although it is my personal belief that Mr. Allen is not responsible. Jason has silently but consistently pursued his own plans throughout the course of this game and I find the possibility of him being our saboteur becoming more and more apparent with each passing challenge."

Elimination Week 9
Sunday, October 20, 2002

"Well," said Dern, "It’s time for the fun!" The four contestants, Robert Mitchell, Eugene Meltsner, Jack Allen and Jason Whittaker, had filed into the resort’s restaurant and seated themselves at a table where Dern had his laptop computer set up, eagerly anticipating his chance to announce the elimination of yet another contestant. "There you go again," said Mitch with exasperation. "Do I look like Mondale to you?" quipped Dern, chuckling at his attempt at humor. "Carter," said Mitch curtly.

"Yeah, sure. Anyways, uh," Dern faltered. "There. You see what you did?" he said angily. "Made me lose my train of thought. Train of thought? Why would thoughts be in a train? Oh, yeah, anyways, we are gathered here in this dining hall to eliminate one of you guys and set up the remaining three contestants for the last challenge of the game." Jason grinned. "Hard to believe we made it this far, huh Jack?" he said. "I’m amazed that I’ve survived this long," Jack responded.

"Yeah, well, that’s real nice," said Dern. "Now can we please get on with this?" He waited, and the contestants said nothing. "That’s better," he said as he typed "Eugene" into the computer. Jason, who couldn’t see the monitor from where he sat, whispered to Mitch, "What does it show?"

"Green," said Mitch. "Well," said Dern, "looks like our little genious here is going to advance to the final challenge. Congratulations, Eugenie." Eugene seethed. "My name is Eugene," he snarled. "Hey, hey! What is with you?" Dern asked in surprise. "You’ve been on edge for weeks!" Eugene sighed sadly. "My apologies," he said.

"Yeah, uh, moving on," said Dern as he typed in the next name, "Let’s see how Jack fared this time." Jack smiled, but admitted, "I’m a little nervous." But there was nothing for him to fear – this time around, at least – as the screen was bathed in a sea of green. "Okay," said Dern. "Two left. Let’s go with Mitch next." And to Mitch’s dismay and Jason’s relief, the screen turned crimson. "Well, we’ve got a loser!" said Dern excitedly. "Pack up your bags, kid! We’re not paying your bill any longer."

The contestants said goodbye to Mitch and watched as he made his way out of the resort's restaurant, found his bag on a cart inside the lobby and checked out. "The bus is waiting to get you to the airport," Dern called out. "And now," he continued, lowering his voice, "with just three of you guys left, who here has the best possibility of winning?" asked the host. "Mr. Allen," said Eugene. "Me," laughed Jason. "Jack’s too old," he said, jokingly. Dern smiled, a rare event. "So, Jack, are you going to let age affect this game?" he said, holding up a microphone to Mr. Allen and motioning to a cameraman. "I want you to know that I will not make age an issue," said Jack, chuckling. "I am not going to exploit my opponents’ youth and inexperience. Or at least, I haven’t figured out how to do so yet."

Reactions Week 9
Monday, October 21, 2002

Jack: "As I have said before, I’m sorry to see anyone go, but this didn’t really surprise me. With his intellect, I was rather sure Eugene would make it to the final round and Jason has what it takes to play this game. His adventurous nature has served him well. As for myself, I can only say that I am greatly relieved and rather surprised to have made it this far. Mitch will be missed, but I must say that I’m happy with this final three."

Jason: "I’m just glad it wasn’t me. And since I know Jack and Eugene so much better than I know Mitch, I like this arrangement. It should be fun and I can’t wait for the last challenge. Sorry Mitch lost and everything, but it’s pretty good this way. Besides, Mitch has been useless since Connie left."

Eugene: "Mr. Mitchell provided little towards a positive outcome of this game and for that reason I believe it is conducive to a successful final challenge that he was the one to be eliminated. However, I do feel a level of gratitude to him due to his infiltration of a common enemy, as it were. Still, I am pleased with the outcome and look forward to an enjoyable conclusion to this game next week."