Check Out Time Is At One!

Detective Dudzinski finally passed the exam and earned his gold shield. Seven times he took the exam, but now he had made it. He was a Detective. Shuffling through his caseload he was unimpressed. A lost watch here, a break in there, but wait, down on the bottom was the cream of the crop. For Dudzinski held in his hand a hotel murder. And not just any hotel, it was the plush five star Ardmore Hotel downtown.

Hitting the streets in his unmarked Impala, Dudzinski raced to the Ardmore.  There he was greeted by the jittery manager Mr. Phillips. “Please detective, solve this case fast. Nothing like this happens at the Ardmore. We are among the best, not some sleazy joint for bums.”

“Rest assured Mr. Phillips, we will resolve this matter as soon as possible and try to leave little disruption to your fine hotel. Now take me to the murder scene please.”

Mr. Phillips took him to the top floor, the penthouse suite occupied by the former Dawn Malvoa, heir to the famed Malvoa Watch Company fortune.  Inside was a dead woman in her 40’s lying in front of a large glass door that exited to a patio overlooking the ocean. It was late afternoon and Dudzinski could just see the sun setting over the ocean through the door.

Standing off to the side were five women, all looking horrified and the scene before them. Walkos the beat cop for this area briefed Dudzinski on the situation. Ms. Malvoa rented the suite for a vacation with her daughters Victoria, Jasmine and Elizabeth. She also brought along her daughter’s friends Alex and Nikki.  All five of them agree that Dawn was alive last night at ten when they returned from the theater. This morning at six she was found dead by the door.

The coroner has done a liver probe and states that Dawn died around one in the morning. Cause of death appears to be stabbing from the large butcher knife that was found in her back. We dusted the knife, but there were no prints to be found on it.  We found a pair of white cotton gloves stained with blood in the stairwell. We believe that the murderer wore these gloves. We also found a copy of her will on her laptop. The latest save on the will was this morning so we think she was changing her will when she was murdered. We were just about to get statements from the suspects but since you are here we will let you gather them.

First to give her statement was a slender redhead wearing blue crocs, black shorts and a green tee-shirt. “My name is Victoria; I am the oldest daughter of Dawn. We all went out to enjoy Cats at the theater last night. We got back around 10. We were still all a little tired from the plane trip, so most of us hit the sack early.  I fell asleep around eleven, but I could hear my mother talking in the other room.  I woke up about twelve thirty and was feeling thirsty so I came out to the kitchen for a glass of water. The suite was dark and everyone was asleep. I didn’t see anything until this morning about 6:30 when I woke up to a scream. I rushed out here and saw Nikki and Jasmine standing over the body of my mother.” With tears streaming down her face Victoria sobbed, “I loved my mother and would never kill her.”

Unmoved by the theatrics, Dudzinski tossed Victoria a handkerchief and turned to the athletic brunette standing beside her. She was wearing a grey sweat suit and purple sneakers. “My name is Jasmine,” said the brunette. “I am the middle daughter of Dawn. Like Victoria said we all went out to see Cats last night. I was still worn out from the plane trip so I went straight to bed when we got back around ten.  This morning I awoke around 7 and came out to the patio to watch the sunrise over the ocean. But beautiful view of the sun was marred by that horrid sight of my dear mother laying there. I was horrified I couldn’t move, and then I screamed. Nikki was the first to join me, and then the others followed her out. I loved my dear mother, I would never kill her.”

Dudzinski then turned to the long haired blond standing next to Jasmine. She was wearing pink crocs, green shorts and black Cats tee-shirt. “My name is Elizabeth. I am Dawn’s youngest daughter. Last night I went to go see Cats with my mother and sisters, while we there my mother bought me this shirt. We got back to the hotel around 9:30 or so. Since we were all tired, we did not stay up too late. I stayed up until 11:00 talking with my mother then I went to my room to sleep.  This morning about 7 I w as woken up by a piercing scream. I ran out here and found Jasmine and Nikki standing over the body of my mother. I loved my dear mother and would never do anything to harm her.”

Next Dudzinski turned to a dirty dishwater blond wearing a pair of flip flops with butterflies on them, an orange pair of sweat pants and a brown shirt with a blazing meteor on the front. “My name is Alex,” she said. “Dawn has been a friend of my mother my whole life. I am like another daughter to her. If fact we are so close she invited me to come on this vacation with her. Last night we all went out to see Cats at the theater. We got back about 9. I was still tired from the trip here so I went to bed right away. This morning about 7:30 I was woken by a loud scream. I rushed out here and saw Victoria, Jasmine and Nikki standing over the body of Dawn. She had this huge knife sticking out of her back and blood was all over everything. I loved Dawn as if she was my own mother and would never kill her.”

Lastly Dudzinski turned to a wiry short haired blond who was wearing red slippers, blue shorts and purple tee shirt with a heart in the middle. “My name is Nikki. I am Jasmine’s best friend and a pretty close friend of Dawn.  When Jasmine found out they were coming here on vacation she asked her mom if I could come also.  Last night we all went out to see Cats at the theater and got back around 9:45. I was tired but stayed up until around 10:30 talking with Dawn and Lizzy.  When I went to bed I slept the whole night until I was woken by a scream around 7:30.  I came out here and saw Jasmine crying over the body of her mother so I went over to comfort her. Shortly after that we were joined by Lizzy, Alex and Victoria. I liked Dawn, I would never kill her.”

Dudzinski thought for a moment and then he turned to Walkos and announced “Officer I now know who the killer is. Call for a car to transport her to the station. The killer is………….”

Who stabbed Dawn, and how did Dudzinski know who did it? Scroll down for the answer:

The door is the key.  Jasmine stabbed Dawn. She claimed to have seen the sun rise through the window when the detective saw the sun set through it. But the sun rises in the East and sets in the West so Jasmine could not have seen the sun rise if Dudzinski saw it set.  Dawn was rewriting her will and Jasmine was unhappy about getting a smaller portion so she had an argument with her mother and stabbed her with the knife.