More Crazy Blotter Reports

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 27 Comments

Hi everyone!

Can you believe this is the last Tuesday in January?? It seems like only yesterday it was New Years Day!

I now have thirty days to write 26,718 words…so…breaking that down to writing 6 days a week, I have to write 1068words each day…
EXCEPT I need to have those 26,718 words written by February 10th so I can have 18 days to rewrite.
And that means I have to write 2,216 words a day.
And that means my blog posts will probably be brief! 🙂

Last week’s Mystery Question: The year is 1986 and a forty-year-old woman dies from cyanide poisoning from a bottle of extra-strength Excedrin that had been tampered with. Two more bottles of cyanide-laced Excedrin were found. Then a woman called the FBI, concerned her recently deceased husband may have been a victim of the contaminated pain reliever as she had bought two bottles of the pain reliever for her husband. His autopsy recorded the cause of death as emphysema, but he had been an organ donor so the FBI had a sample of his blood. Tests revealed he had indeed died of cyanide poisoning. What was the wife’s undoing? All of the statements are true. Take the clues below and construct the crime:
  1. The wife claimed to have bought the two bottles at separate stores. But of the 740,000 capsules sold throughout the area, only five bottles were contaminated and of those five, two had been found at the victim’s home, bought at separate drug stores.
  2. Traces of algicide used in home fish tanks were found in all of the capsules; a fish tank was found in the victim’s garage.
  3. The FBI agents canvassed local pet stores with a set of photos of middle-aged women, asking employees if any of them had sold Algae Destroyer to one of the women in the photos. One clerk readily identified the wife because she had a little bell attached to her purse that had jingled all over the store.
  4. The victim’s insurance policy paid $31,000 for natural death and $176,000 if he had died from an accident.

Edward did the best job of reconstructing the crime! Here’s his answer:

As the caption of this blog intimates, GREED was her undoing. Here’s my take. She bought Excedrin and laced it with cyanide. After he died and was buried, she planted three more bottles in stores so she would have a basis to contact the FBI if someone else died from the contaminated pills. If I read correctly, only one other person died and they found two other bottles. Once someone had died, she called the FBI to express her suspicions about her husband’s death. Her goal was to get evidence that her husband died an “accidental” death so she could collect an extra $145,000 on his insurance. Instead it backfired and the FBI had sufficient reason for a search warrant after finding cyanide in her husband’s blood. That led to finding the fish tank and other evidence. Greed caught up to her.

Way to go, Edward!

Now for this week’s Mystery Question which has to do with blotter reports. Which report is false? Three are actual reports that are on Police blotters, which is kinda hard to believe…
  1.  A caller from Meadowlark Court reported her purse was missing. Someone had come to look at her house, which was for sale, the day prior and the caller said that person may have stolen her purse. The woman later called back and said she found her purse. Her dog had stolen it.
  2. A caller from Gracie Road reported her boyfriend had gone outside for a cigarette and thirty minutes had passed. She could not find him. The boyfriend was found more than two hours later.
  3. A caller near Lake Place called and reported his wife had put all his clothes in a poke (bag) and set it on the front porch. When the wife was questioned, she readily admitted she had. She had scolded him for coming in drinking and he told her that he didn’t have to put up with that, and she could just put his clothes in a poke and he’d leave. That’s exactly what she did. And locked the door.
  4. A caller near the intersection of Banner Quaker Hill and Banner Lava Cap Roads reported a truck had tailgated his vehicle before passing it over a double yellow line. The driver then stopped his vehicle and confronted the caller, breaking the caller’s driver side mirror in the process. The driver left the scene after asking the caller if he wanted to fight.

Okay, Mystery Sleuths, which report is false? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing for an Advance Release Copy of JUSTICE BETRAYED. Winner will be announced in next week’s blog.

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]Crazy police blotter reports. Which one is not a true report? Leave your answer on my blog and be entered in a #drawing for JUSTICE BETRAYED by Patricia Bradley #bookgiveaway[/tweet_box]

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Comments 27

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  6. Delores E. Topliff

    Good heavens, last week’s wife was totally conniving. I wonder hos she enjoyed the penitentiary (from the root word penitence–let’s hope so). For this week, you have some real bona fide nut cases here–the people at the police desk must be bald from pulling their hair, but I this time I think #1 is false, the dog didn’t do it. As for finishing your current book, I’ve seen you in action. You’re diligent and you’ve got this, in style, and it will be high quality. You go, girl!

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  7. Paula S.

    I think 3 has the best sentence structure,so I say You made that one up! It reminds me of when hubby and I were dating- over 50 years ago! He would call in the evenings and want to talk but I was a busy teen and had homework and dishes to do. In those days we had one phone and it had a short cord and didn’t reach the kitchen. Well he wouldn’t talk… just kinda waited for me to converse. I told him if he wasn’t going to talk, that he shouldn’t call! So…. he didn’t…. for a whole month! LOL. We did get back together- been married 48 years!

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  9. Edward Arrington

    Pat, thanks for your kind words regarding last week. I think that was easier than trying to sort out the false from the true today. As far as I am concerned, they all sound believable. However, since I need to choose one, I am going with #2. Of all of them, I can see #4 happening. It reminds me of a situation that happened to an elderly gentleman in our church not long ago except his incident took place in a local parking lot. In my friends case, it involved a pastor of a church in a church-owned vehicle. Maybe when I have more time, I’ll share the story.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Edward, I can see how it would be easier to take the clues and construct the crime. 🙂 It’s easier for me, too. Thinking up the false report is hard! I’d love to hear the story about your pastor. 🙂

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  12. Trixi

    #4 sounds like it would be a pretty heated situation that few could walk away from. So that’s my guess this week, we’ll see if it stands correct, lol!

    I have a copy of Justice Betrayed so if you would offer a different book, I’m in!

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      1. Trixi

        Oh Patricia I’m so sorry! I got my books mixed up….I have both Delayed and Buried NOT Betrayed since it’s not even released yet…haha! Throw my name in the pot! 🙂

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