100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 114: The Artist II

Apartment Building, Sussex Rd

After Davies explained the situation in hand to Sam. They proceeded with their investigation in the apartment building. Davies interviewed each of the tenants with Marco, whilst Jones instructed the small team of forensic techs of their tasks.

Levi on the other hand stayed inside Michael Scott’s flat, looking over the victim’s possessions to build a psychological profile on the man.

Their priority was to figure out whether or not the building was a threat to its residents and their neighbors. And so, they placed the apartment building in lockdown, in search of the source. And since the paint was the common source of lead, the techs tested the walls with a portable x-ray analyzer first.

Water, air, and the cooking utensils in Michael Scott’s abode were also collected to be tested for any trace of lead.

The team swept the area in the flat, and around the common areas in the building, and wiped it with sterile wipes, and collected the dust. They then put it in a sterile container to be analyzed in a lab, to see the dust level of the building and especially his home.

Sam followed behind Levi, as he assessed the victim’s flat. The man lived alone, and he didn’t have a lot of belongings, to begin with.

His home was neither messy nor overly clean. He had several books scattered around his flat, a clear sign that he spends a lot of time either reading or painting based on the piles of painting in every corner of the flat.

Levi picked a random book out of the shelf with his gloved hand, and he examined the spine and read the title, ’The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien’ it said.

"He had read this more than once, the spine has been broken numerous times." the slicked blond thought out loud, while Sam scanned the area. The painting stack on top of each other in a corner of his living room piqued her interest the most.

With a gloved hand, she picked one on the top. It was an oil painting of what looks like a wave of the sea but in red paint. From her observation, it wasn’t long since he painted it. Her estimation is within the past 5 months, but she wasn’t an expert. She needs to examine the paint scientifically to make it definite.

Levi watched her as she moved around, slowly looking at her surroundings. He knew he needed not only her skills in forensics but also those eyes.

"Penny for thoughts?" he asked, wondering what was going in her mind. She just learned that there was another person like her, albeit all too late, but that changes things in someone. The knowledge that you’re not alone, that someone out there was just like you...that knowledge is a powerful thing.

"Artist, Landlord, what else is he?" the redhead asked curiously. Levi scanned the living room they were in, creating his profile on the spot.

"A recluse, who enjoys reading fantasy novels based on his collection on the shelf." He started, earning a raised brow from the redhead. Even she can figure that out.

Levi scanned the place, noticing the landline in a corner, a notepad on its right side, and a pen. "Right-handed." he said, then maneuvered to find more clues.

He eyed a wooden drawer beside a small table in the corner of the living room and picked it up. A pile of journals from his observation, "He was institutionalized," he concluded, skimming through the notes. Journaling even after getting released from a mental institution is something very common, it’s a routine that is practiced by most patients.

"He had attempted to kill himself 10 years ago, give or take a few" he concluded, looking at the number of journals, and doing the math in his head. Sam’s eyes widened, if he had a history of suicide there is a huge chance that the case was also suicide.

What a shame, she thought. Sam pondered if she too would have done the same if the roles were reversed? She reckons he had difficulty handling the ability when he was young too, just a simple image of one scary thing when she was a child brought her great misery. She recalled having seen a trailer of the movie ’A nightmare to Elm street’ when she was young, and it was imprinted in her mind. And every time she slept, she saw him.

And it seems like Michael had not fully mastered it even in his adult life.

She wondered, were they really the same? But if they were, how come his life turned so different?

Did the fact that she was raised in a loving home, supported, and that she had every means of help available at her disposal during her developmental years made such a difference?

It was highly possible. So, maybe if she wasn’t so lucky, she scoffed at the thought.

Lucky?

If she wasn’t lucky enough to have been born a Fredricksen, would her life have been the same? And would his life have been any different if the circumstances were reversed? She couldn’t help but fathom.

"I guess we also had that in common, frailty of a genius," she muttered, turning away to look at a painting on the wall. It seemed to be his favorite, having had it displayed on top of his fireplace. A painting of a woman in her late 20’s or early 30’s, she had wavy long blond hair and was wearing a white long-sleeved dress, sitting on a red velvet chair. Both her hands were placed on the armrest. A red gem around her left ring finger. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Who could this be?" Levi asked out loud, standing behind her. Looking at the same portrait. "An ex-girlfriend perhaps?" Levi wondered to himself.

Sam tilted her head looking at the face, scrutinizing it with her eyes. "It’s his mother," she said, and Levi whiplashed towards her with his brows furrowed together.

"No, no. His mother is being interviewed by Davies as we speak and she has brown hair," he claimed, earning a curious brow from Sam.

"Is that so? Maybe I’m wrong" she replied with a shrug, turning away and moving towards the other rooms in the flat. Levi scowled, he knew from her tone she didn’t mean what she just said. And if that’s the case, was he the one mistaken?

He fished his mobile from his breast pocket and sent a text to Davies, with a frown on his chiseled face. He continued to scrutinize the home waiting for the detective’s reply.

Minutes later he received it, ’Diana Scott is the victim’s stepmother. His birth mother Elise Scott died 31 years ago when he was only 7 years old. His father remarried 2 years after.’ it said.

Sam moved towards the victim’s bedroom, skimming through a book that was on his bed. And art book, she flipped through the pages, absorbing each subconsciously. Oddly, she was good at art too, when she was younger she had no problem sketching, but she didn’t particularly fancy it, but she appreciated it.

Michael had plenty of artwork laying around, some having the same feel to it, hopelessness, darkness, misery.

Black and white hues while his most recent work were bright and hopeful and filled with joy, of which she found odd.

A hopeful person wouldn’t just kill himself, or was she looking at it the wrong way? She turned when she felt a presence behind her and there stood a dissatisfied Levi. The look on his face she knew, she was right on her previous claim.

"What’s the craic?" She asked in a mock tone, earning a glare from the slicked blond. "You were right, Diana Scott is his stepmother. The woman in the painting is Elise Scott, she died 31years ago." He said, expecting a victorious grin from her but instead, she shot him a grim look.

Sam chuckled darkly, "Another thing we have in common again." Her mother, no, not just her mother. But her parents died when she was young.

"Next thing you tell me, genius runs in the family." Sam joked, "Unfortunately other than his stepmother and stepsister, he has no known relatives. His father used to work in an apothecary, but he wasn’t anything special based on his records." Levi informed, earning a nod from Sam.

"So what do you think?" Sam asked Levi, they both know at the moment the case was leaning onto suicide, the only thing missing is the suicide note and the source of poison. It was so easy to order lead pellets online. He could have liquified it and dosed himself. However, so far there are no signs of it in his flat. But the slicked blond plans to do a thorough background check on the victim, figure out more about what he had been doing the past months,

"I have a few ideas, but nothing definite so far." The blond admitted, "I had the techs take samples of the paints he used to paint, just in case." He added, earning a nod from the redhead.

So, was it accidental, suicide, or was it homicide? They needed to figure that out.

Sam sighed, then shook her head. She needed to focus, she had to look at the case like she would any other case.

Michael Scott was just a case, nothing more, nothing less.

"I’ll have Davies collect the journals and some of the paintings to be analyzed. I trust you’ll consult on the forensic examinations." He said, and she nodded in confirmation.