Ambrosia Investigations - Case #7 - The Bad Cop(Solved)

[Andrew`]

Long overdue, but we're back!

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Case #7 - The Bad Cop
Plot: San Fransisco Police Department is challenged to investigate a crime scene where 2 people's arguement lead to one of them getting shot by the other.
In the meantime, a police officer is being offensive to his Captain and heading to a suspension. Find out what happened and solve this strange but difficult case that will eventually surprise you!

San Fransisco Scrapyard, September 2011, Friday, 5AM.
It was quite dark, but you could hear the cars and people coming and going from the streets nearby. The scrapyard was closed, but that didn't stop Jake from getting in. He jumped over the fence, and went in the yard. He saw a man waiting for him.
-Yo, are you him?
-Yeah, I got the money.
It was too dark, Jake could barely see his face. The man gave him the bag, Jake opened it and counted the money. He soon realised something's off.
-Hey man, this isn't the whole amount.. suddenly, the man punched him and pulled out a knife. Jake tried to fight back, he punched him once and the man fell on one of the wrecked cars. Jake started running and screaming for help, but the other man was faster. He grabbed him by his jacket and stabbed him on the back. He then took the bag and ran away.
The police arrived there shortly. The sun was coming out.
-Good morning, Captain.
-Morning officers. What do we have here, Lieutenant?
-Jake Mall, 32 years old, he was a low life, mostly drug trafficking, had also been arrested for 2 car thefts, stabbed on the back. Couple of people heard him screem shortly before that, but when they arrived there was noone else here. We also found some blood on this wrecked car, probably the victim's though as there's also a fresh mark on his face.
-Ah, so there was a fight. What is that big mark next to the car?
-Looks like a bad was lied down. A pay-off?
-Looks like it.
-Yes, Captain. Apparently there was a fight and a pay-off, we all know that, said officer Mason, in a not so friendly tone.
-Is there a problem, officer? asked Captain Rade.
-Maybe there is. Maybe some of us are sick of an old man running things, maybe it's about time someone else took over.
-Watch your mouth, Mason, said the Lieutenant, while the Captain was getting angry.
-I'm just stating the obvious. I mean, he can't even handle his wife. You know where Karen was yesterday morning, Captain? Because I do.
The Captain lost it and punched him in the face. Mason fell on the wrecked car.
-Captain! No no no, calm down. Everyone got in the middle and held both the officer and the Captain, to calm him down.
-Aaah! My tooth! I lost my damn tooth! You're gonna pay for this.
San Fransisco Police Department, Friday, 11AM.
The Commissioner was quite upset.
-Not only you ruined our department's reputation, not only you lost your temper forgetting your position, you tampered with the crime scene! There's blood from officer Mason all over the car's hood, we can't find any from the suspect or victim!
-I.. I'm sorry, sir. You're right, I shouldn't have. But..
-There's no "but". Officer Mason will be suspended, and you'd be too, but I believe this won't happen again, so you'll take anger management sessions.
In the meantime, the police station received a call. Officer Ridge responded:
-911, what's your emergency?
-I know who did it, I saw what happened. I know who killed that guy, Jake or whatever, in the scrapyard.
-Hold on, sir.
-No, it's too dangerous, I can't talk now. Meet me at Hamilton Street, appartment no46. He hung up.
The police headed to the appartment an hour later, but it was too late. The witness, Rick Crip was found dead, stabbed with a knife. He was lying dead on the couch. No fight marks, he was probably taking a nap or he was drugged/high when someone broke in and caught him off guard.
Back at the police station:
-So what do we got so far?
-Well, 2 victims, same weapon used, they were both connected to the case, the suspect was probably left-handed and about the height of Jake. There was probably a pay-off going on in the first murder, probably some drug deal, but it went wrong. That's all we know so far. The first crime scene was tampered with, can't find any DNA of the killer, plus Mason's tooth after Captain's hit.... and no further clues on the second crime scene.
-I see. And by the way, officer Ridge, I know you're here for only a month, but when you receive such a call, you don't take your time filling a document about it, you run straight to us and let us know first.
-Sorry Commissioner, you're right sir.
-Alright lads, class dismissed. Keep looking for more clues, and find out the people Jake worked for, I highly doubt he was in it alone. Officer Mason, you stay.
Everyone left the office, it was only Mason and the Commissioner.
-Soo, checked your file. Suspect for burglary, drug trafficking, car theft... Joined the force in October. My question is, how the hell did you manage to get in with this record?
-Meh, I know a guy or two...
-Well it doesn't matter. You're off the force and you'll be held in a very dirty and a very grey cell for disrespecting your Captain and being a suspect in that burglary and the car theft, at least till the trials.
-Ooh, sounds fun.
--------------
-Put your right thumb here, we need your fingerprints. Not this one, the other thumb..
They took Mason's prints and locked him in.
Not long after, the police managed to find out Jake Mall used to work for a drug lord. They paid him a visit. His "shack" was in one of San Fransisco's "dark" alleys, and on the inside it looked more like a basement. It had a bar, some dancers and a lot of his bodyguards.
-Pablo Reeds, SFPD, we're here to ask you some questions.
-What is it this time, cops? What is it I did this time, that once again you can't prove?
-You killed one of your guys, Jake Mall.
-Jake? And why would I do that?
-He was a low life, you realised you didn't need him, too much of a loser for your gang, you sent someone to pay him his "salary" but the real purpose was to get rid off him. It was either you or maybe your assistant, the heights match. And then you killed the witness, Rick Crip.
-Nah, I wouldn't do that to Jake. I'm not a monster, he was a good guy, he worked for me. He was a little expensive, but I only do people I don't like, and I guess you guys can't prove shit. Last night I heard he had a deal with someone, sold him drugs, but I don't care about his own trades as long as he does mine. And who the heck is that creep you're talking about?
-Where were you this morning, at around 5AM?
-Sleeping, alone, but that's none of your business, you should find Jake's killer.
-One last question. Is your assistant a leftie?
-Yeah, is that a crime as well? Anyway, I don't wanna waste your time any further fellas, you should get going, I've nothing else to say, call my lawyer.
The police left, but they did keep him in their suspect list.
-Soo, this guy had a motive, his attitude stinks, has got a record and he's rubbing it in our faces. He's also a leftie, and so is his assistant, the height matches with the angle of the punch and stab on the victim, I believe it's enough to lock him in.
-I feel like something doesn't match, at least not yet. Something feels wrong with one of the murders.

That is all you need. Find who the killer/s is/are on the murders, connect them with clues and find out what exactly happened that got both victims killed.

Good luck.

[Smiley:)]

Okey well this is my first, I'll probably do bad xD
Btw i enjoyed reading it good job.

-Find who the killer/s is/are on the murders, connect them with clues and find out what exactly happened that got both victims killed.

I'm sure it's not only one killer but for now I only got one suspect and it's Mason the police officer!
-I think that he is the one who killed Jake!

So we know that there was a fight ' Jake tried to fight back, he punched him once and the man fell on one of the wrecked cars' ''-Ah, so there was a fight. What is that big mark next to the car?'' '-Looks like a bad was lied down. A pay-off?'

So that big mark could've led them somewhere. But out of nowhere Mason made his captain get angry and even more when he started talking about his wife so 'The Captain lost it and punched him in the face. Mason fell on the wrecked car.' So they were near or infront of the wrecked car!

So why would mason do that maybe cause he killed jake last night and he got angry because he left an evidence behind (since people came shortly after the murder cuz jake screamed for help so Mason didn't have much time, took the bag and ran away). So he knew that his captain had anger issues, making him mad and get him to hit him would be a great way to remove any evidence. As you can see : ''you tampered with the crime scene! There's blood from officer Mason all over the car's hood, we can't find any from the suspect or victim!''

Also Mason's file wasn't clean : 'Suspect for burglary, drug trafficking, car theft..'

And he is left handed i suppose. '-Put your right thumb here, we need your fingerprints. Not this one, the other thumb..' I bet he gave them the left thumb since he is left handed.

Then what Pablo said to the officers 'Pablo Reed : Last night I heard he had a deal with someone, sold him drugs' Maybe it's true maybe it's false.

So overall I would say that Jake sold drugs to Mason but Mason didn't have enough money to pay him so he tried to kill him.

-I'm having second thoughts about this whether if Mason did it or he's trying to cover it for someone else. But i'm sure that Mason is one of the killers.

-As for the second victim Rick Crip, I have no idea.
Any info about him ? his file ? because we know him as the witness and that's it.

[Cracky]

Well my conclusion of the case is
1-First of all Mason is left-handed seeing that he gave his wrong hand to the commissioner "probably his left thumb" not much else known about him
2-The drug dealer's assistant is left-handed as well which makes him a major suspect "his height matches as well" and the drug dealer says he loved Jake plus he had a alibi for the time of the crime, his assistant tho is clearly missing at that point i'm assuming his assistant is Mason seeing that he was locked in at that time and Mason has a bad record as well "Drug trafficking" "Car theft" which clearly makes him a major suspect
3- Taking away the drug dealer we're only left with his assistant "Mason" so the drug dealer tells Mason "his assistant" to eliminate Jake for some reason "maybe cause he betrayed him" and Mason goes to do so, there he faces a problem which is clearly Jake fighting back he hasn't planned for that, next day he sees that he left evidence behind so he tried to ruin the crime scene by making the Captain angry and making the captain punch him  "which clearly worked props for that Mason 10/10 master criminal" at the time of the police visiting the drug dealer Mason is in a cell and the drug dealer's assistant is no where to be seen which leads me back to Mason, when the call is made Mason hear's it and seeing that officer Ridge took his time to fill in the form's Mason took this opportunity to eliminate the final lead of the case, but of course Mason forgets that i exist to solve the case


So the killer is the drug dealer's assistant which is Mason the corrupt police officer

[Andrew`]

Very good job so far guys, but you're missing some important things. Firstly, they do know the drug lord's assistant, and it's not Mason, but I left that out on purpose, because the assistant is irrelevant.
Secondly, to answer Smiley, the 2nd death is also irrelevant, HOWEVER, there is a big clue that can find you the killer.
Thirdly, we need proof and connections. Smiley figured out a part of clues, but not entirely. Let me help: it is connected to the first crime scene. There is not a single indication about anyone "forgetting" anything in the crime scene. You just need to pay more attention to the details, than look for more things that are not there. Everything you need is in the case, if something is not mentioned, it simply means it's not necessary.

And let me give you a small, very important hint: someone helped the killer a little, so there are 2 suspects, BUT, 1 killer.

Good luck.

[Red Wolf]

Wel, from what smiley said we have half the case solved. If the drug lord wanted to kill Jake, he surely wouldnt do it himself, nor ask the assistant. He had plenty of bodyguards and people working for him.
Secondly, we know Mason was not that clean, and he already knew someone who helped him get into the police. About the first murder, i think it was Mason alone (im not sure whether he was ordered by someone else or not).
In the 2nd murder, Mason would be able to hear the call, but I doubt he would have time to kill the suspect, unless  Ridge delayed it on purpose (or probably one of those "one or two guys" helped him.

-I see. And by the way, officer Ridge, I know you're here for only a month, but when you receive such a call, you don't take your time filling a document about it, you run straight to us and let us know first.

 
Why did Mason do that? Maybe he was ordered by the drug lord, but we really have no evidence to link them together. However i suppose there is a slight chance Mason already knew Jake, since they were both drug dealers and had similar records.

The blood on the car clearly wasn't Jake's blood, as it was Jake who punched the killer. As smiley said, Mason should have known that, and figured out a way to mess with the crime scene.

[Smiley:)]

Very good job so far guys, but you're missing some important things. Firstly, they do know the drug lord's assistant, and it's not Mason, but I left that out on purpose, because the assistant is irrelevant.
Secondly, to answer Smiley, the 2nd death is also irrelevant, HOWEVER, there is a big clue that can find you the killer.
Thirdly, we need proof and connections. Smiley figured out a part of clues, but not entirely. Let me help: it is connected to the first crime scene. There is not a single indication about anyone "forgetting" anything in the crime scene. You just need to pay more attention to the details, than look for more things that are not there. Everything you need is in the case, if something is not mentioned, it simply means it's not necessary.

And let me give you a small, very important hint: someone helped the killer a little, so there are 2 suspects, BUT, 1 killer.

Good luck.

Oooooo okey

I noticed something here, when jake fought with him
'-Hey man, this isn't the whole amount.. suddenly, the man punched him and pulled out a knife. Jake tried to fight back, he punched him once and the man fell on one of the wrecked cars.' .
 'Jake started running and screaming for help, but the other man was faster. He grabbed him by his jacket and stabbed him on the back. He then took the bag and ran away.'
'We also found some blood on this wrecked car, probably the victim's though as there's also a fresh mark on his face.'

That blood on the wrecked car was actually Mason's blood because as u can see, 'Jake tried to fight back, he punched him once and the man fell on one of the wrecked cars.'
Then jake run away. So jake wasnt near the wrecked car it was actually mason.

about 'There is not a single indication about anyone "forgetting" anything in the crime scene.'
Is it his tooth ?  Mason's tooth ? I'm guessing when he had a fight with jake, he lost his tooth. because it's mentioned twice which is weird :
'-Aaah! My tooth! I lost my damn tooth! You're gonna pay for this.'  '..can't find any DNA of the killer, plus Mason's tooth after Captain's hit....'

So Mason made this whole scene to cover for himself.

Okey we know that Mason is the killer but i can't find the other suspect whether it's Ridge who helped him or maybe the captain himself cuz why not. I think that Pablo Reeds had nothing to do with this. So whats left is Mason and Ridge.

Idk i'm so curious!

Edit : I just noticed u said that red wolf  ''The blood on the car clearly wasn't Jake's blood, as it was Jake who punched the killer''  xD

[Red Wolf]

+the drug lord isnt really a drug lord unless he is in prison or hiding somewhere. And definitely the drug lord should be arrested cuz he admitted being a drug lord already

[Andrew`]

The police had everything they needed. The paid a visit to officer Mason's cell:
-Hey, Mason.
-Commissioner, officers.. what is it the time?
-Just letting you know, the Captain's coming back, you'll be staying in your cell much more than you originally expected.
-What? What are you talking about?
-You killed Jake Mall, and possibly Rick Crip as well. We have all the clues we need.
-What the hell, I didn't kill anyone.
-Here's what happened: You have been into drug trafficking for a long time now, you were even arrested once but there were not enough clues, so you were released. 2 nights ago, you had a job with Jake Mall. He had given you the merchandise, and you had to pay him back. You either had some financial difficulties lately, or simply thought you could save some money from a low-life, we may never know, but what we do know is you had a fight with him, he punched you and you left some blood and possibly a tooth on that car, after receiving a punch. You knew you had to do something, but Rick Crip saw you, so you panicked and ran away with the money.  The following day, all you needed was to find a reason to make someone hit you next to that car, and the Captain has some anger issues, it was easy.  But what about the witness? Well that was pure luck. Officer Ridge kept an ear in case the phones would ring, and soon after it happened. He found out where the witness was and he either did it himself, or probably told you and you killed him as it was the same knife, that's why it took him so long to report it to the Commissioner, he was informing you. Noone else could possibly know, it was an inside information. We can easily prove it from your DNA on that car, simply because there is no other sample, only yours. Plus the fact an officer saw you using your left hand when you were giving your fingerprints, plus the killer was left handed, and of course your height which is similar to Jake's. We have everything we need, and officer Ridge will be arrested as well. You'll be meeting your friend really soon.
Mason started clapping ironically.
-Well done, SFPD, well done. Mark my words though, this isn't over.
-It quite is.

Case #7 Solved by the San Francisco Police Department. Credits also go to Queen Smiley, Red Wolf and partly Cracky PineApples for finding clues and helping with the case.