Killer Bay

Death at the Circus

"Hey, Adalet! Is it true you've already solved a murder AND a robbery? And we've only just arrived in Paradise City!" Amy remarked, impressed.

"I wouldn't say we stopped a robbery, more like we're on the way to stopping one," Adalet corrected.

"And guess what: I've just heard that the circus is in town! Adalet, can we go and have a quick look? The circus is such a fascinating world - the animals, the clowns, the magicians... Pretty please?" she begs, giving the older woman her best puppy dog eyes and pout.

The captain laughed, "yes, we can go to the circus!"

She clapped her hand in excitement, "great! Surely nothing bad can come from a quick stroll by the circus and some cotton candy! Let's go!"

At the Circus...

"I knew that was going to jink us..." Adalet sighs as she looks up at the body hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh no, Adalet! That girl... she was hung by the neck with that red rope! She's... dead!" Amy gasped, taking in the blue tint of the unknown woman's face.

"The way she's suspended above the stage, it's like someone put her on display on purpose..." she remarked.

"Adalet, there's no doubt this wasn't an accident - it's another murder!" she agreed, "but I see you're already onto something, Adalet! The acrobat on that poster you found looks like the victim, the costumes are identical... And there's a name on the poster, too: "Annie Capri"! We've identified our victim, Adalet!"

"And check this out," Adalet points to the addition recently made to the poster, "someone wrote "Die" on this poster! It's a threat from the killer!"

"And the poster has some white substance smeared on it! Could you collect a sample?" Amy inquired before spotting the other item the captain was holding, "wait, you've picked up a megaphone? I see, there's some faded writing on it. Go on, work your magic so we can read it!"

Adalet examines the victim's promotional poster first. She scraped off a sample of the flaky, white powder substance and transferred it into a dish for transport.

"Nicely done, Adalet! You collected a white substance from the poster you found at the circus! Let's get it to Yann!" Amy says while taking the sample to hold onto it.

With the poster finished, Adalet picked up the yellow megaphone. Grabbing her brush she dusted the side of the megaphone and brushed it until it was covered in the black powder. Shaking the powder off, they could now see the name printed on the megaphone in a circus-inspired font.

"Adalet, the megaphone you found at the crime scene has the owner's name written on it: "Ziegfeld"!" Amy read.

"If Ziegfeld works in a circus and has a megaphone, chances are he's the ringmaster!" Adalet guessed, looking around, "so it won't be hard to track down Mr. Ziegfeld and ask him about the victim! Let's go!"

Leaving the scene of the murder, Adalet and Amy exited the circus tent and began searching for the ringmaster. They found Orsino Ziegfeld near the entrance to the fairgrounds setting up the ticket booth.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages! Welcome to Paradise Circus!" the ringmaster greeted them with a tip of his hat once Adalet had gotten his attention, "Orsino Ziegfeld at your service: how may I entertain you, Capt. Adalet?"

"We're here on serious business, Mr. Ziegfeld. We're is investigating the murder of Annie Capri. She performed in your circus as an acrobat, correct?" Adalet inquired.

"What?! Annie's dead? But... she was my most breathtaking attraction! Annie was the most amazing acrobat who ever walked the earth... I mean the air! She was going to turn my circus into the most spectacular show in town!" Orsino praised sadly, "what am I going to do without her, Capt. Adalet? The circus is a tough world, and talented artists are hard to find!"