Killer Bay

Hanging by a Thread

"And we know a Freddie," Adalet recalled.

"Hm, you're right. Isn't he the guy who organizes the Carnival?" he inquired.

She nodded, "and Freddie's parents were also killed by the Puppeteer!"

"What a coincidence!" he mused, "but what's this artist versus toy thing - was Freddie controlling her in some way?"

She hums, "we'll have to go see Freddie and find out!"

"Did you find anything useful in the victim's bag, Adalet? Some kind of invitation?" Frank says as he picked up the card, "It's for a booze cruise! Or steamboat party, or whatever you want to call it."

"And this invitation was clearly addressed to our victim and could be vital in solving her murder!" Adalet argued.

"It reads: "Welcome aboard the Abigail". Well, let's go check it out... I just hope you don't get seasick!" he laughed.

Frank and Adalet left the storage room and drove through the town. They stopped by the park to talk to Freddie about the message Dinah had left on her trophy, and then they would head over to The Abigail.

"Well. Capt. Adalet, our paths keep crossing, often for unpleasant reasons. What can I do for you this time?" Freddie asked politely.

"Dinah Cooper was just murdered. You could explain why she would accuse you of treating her like a toy for a start," Adalet answered holding up the trophy.

"Dinah was killed?! That's terrible! ... We were working together for the Carnival. I hired her to dance on the main float.," he explained, with a deep sigh, "but it turned out the woman had two left feet! I tried to teach her but she kept getting it wrong. She got annoyed and claimed I was too controlling, but I was just doing my job!"

"So Dinah claimed you were too controlling, only to end up strung up like a puppet. See where we're going with this?" Frank questioned.

"Dinah was murdered... by the Puppeteer?! You mean the killer has started killing again after all these years?!" Freddie gasped, "I can still remember the day the Puppeteer murdered my parents like it was yesterday... The poor girl, she didn't deserve to die like this!"

Aboard the Abigail...

"Glad you picked up on those clues Adalet, maybe I should just let you do the work while I sit back and enjoy a boat ride!" Frank teased.

"Careful, or I'll dump this ice right over your head!" Adalet warned holding up the bucket.

"Why did you pick up that champagne bucket?" he questioned, "the bottle's missing, we can't even have a drink! ... oh, you still want to look through it, Adalet?"

"Yes," she answers picking up a photo.

"And nice," he smirks, "you also found a phone! People always leave private information on their gadgets. Good luck decoding it!"

Adalet picked up the cellphone once again. She powdered it on and took a looked a the keypad. She could see faint fingerprints on some of the keys and used a combination of those to unlock the phone.

"I'm impressed, you unlocked that phone you found on the steamboat way faster than I expected! And that guy looks familiar, doesn't he?" Frank says referring to the man on the phone's background image.

"That's Stanley Bullock!" Adalet told him.

"Oh right, now I remember: he's that nut we met during the Civil War reenactment!" he stated, "I don't know how this phone fits into the current investigation, but you're right: we did find it on a crime scene so let's send it to the lab!"