19.13-Scientists believe in things, not people

The 8 contestants on the Smole quickly became 7 when Joshua Kaiser was executed. In the prior mission, contestants had to participate in a martial arts tournament. To their surprise, Chester won himself an exemption. 10/35 points were earned, making the pot 455/860 points. Who shall be the next to leave? Who could this Mole be?

Sue: “So I have the entire house wrapped round my little thumb…imagine the damage I could do. Not that I’m going to do something bad of course…but I can incite a revolution against production, so perhaps if you kept me pampered like a princess, I’ll put my authority to good use instead.”

Gretchen: “You are just a pest to society! You brazen hussy!”

Becky: “I!”

Gretchen: “You what? You admit that you’re a b****?”

Chester: “What’s going on here ladies?”

Gretchen: “You should return my rightful husband to me!”

Gretchen: “We’re going to draw a line in this house. You all support me or you’re against me. What, Becky the B****? Scared?”

Becky: “Go read your journal…”

Gretchen: “You stole my journal? Thief!”

Chester: “There’s no need to put us in a spot here guys…er…girls.”

Gretchen: “So you’re going to stand against me?”

Chester: “I never said that. It’s just that I never saw her do anything. You’re always the one picking a fight. Just stop with the animosity!”

Leonard: “I think everybody will go to whoever Sue picks. Sue, who are you going to stand with?”

Sue: “Hmm…I don’t know Becky all that well, so I’ll be choosing Gretchen. You all don’t have to follow me though.”

Leonard: “We’ll all follow you.”

Gretchen: “Good choice. You’re alone now Becky. Where are you going? Scared?”

Chester: “This is going to be a rainy day. Sorry Becky. I’d like to stand by you, but…it’s us against the whole house.”

Becky: “…I understand.”

Terrence: “I woke up to a whole ruckus. Gretchen and Becky were at it again. Except now she was dividing the house. Sue went for Gretchen, so naturally we all followed her. Now Becky must feel excluded and ostracised. I used to have a classmate who was misunderstood and left out. But I can’t do anything. I’m just a scientist. As Marie Curie said, ‘scientists believe in things, not people.’”

***

 

Sue: “Are you going to ask why I supported Gretchen and not you?”

*Becky hesitantly nods her head*

Sue: “Simple. Because I don’t know you. I hate to see the house split up like that, but she made us choose, so I decided that since she and I were closer, I’d support her. I’m sympathetic towards your plight, however. I hope all this would end soon.”

“Everybody gather round.”

“…Why the tension?”

Becky: “…They are all babies.”

“Did someone say something?”

Chester: “Maybe I should go grab my journal. It could be a sabotage. Or maybe it’s April Fools. Those shows always like to have two peeps fight as a joke.”

“Whatever. This is your next mission. It wouldn’t be complete without a ‘Whodunnit’ this season, would it? This time, we’re going to visit Joshua Kaiser’s home. We decided to pay a visit at his own house and watch his house burn and him die.”

Helen: “What? How could you not do something?”

“Because it’s your job to. 3 of you will go to the morgue while 4 will investigate the house. You will then congregate and decide if you want to share your findings, then give your theory as to how Joshua Kaiser died. For every seemingly correct theory, 10 points are added. The one with the most accurate theory would gain an exemption.”

Of course, we never really killed anyone or destroyed property, because that will just end up getting a lawsuit. We built a replica of his house.

Contestants are headed to Joshua Kaiser’s replica house and the morgue.

Helen, Terrence and Leonard will explore the morgue while Gretchen, Sue, Becky and Chester will explore the house.

Leonard: “We discussed the plan. I want to at least say my goodbyes to Joshua and so does Helen, so we’re both going to the morgue. Terrence is smart, so maybe he’ll find something out in here. We wanted either Becky or Gretchen to join us but Gretchen insisted on watching her so she doesn’t come up with some mischief. And Chester’s insensitive so the better place where he won’t mess up will probably be the house.”

Gretchen: “The phone works. I wonder why he didn’t call for help.”

Sue: “The chair doesn’t feel any different or weird. Becky, what do you see?”

Gretchen: “Hey, where’s Chester?”

Chester: “A bathtub! Booyeah! I hit the jackpot!”

Sue: “Becky, wait! Woah, this room is charred. It even smells like it. This must be the place of murder! Don’t you agree, Becky? Come on, respond!”

Sue: “Becky, I don’t think it’s a good idea to sit on evidence…”

*chair breaks*

Becky: “…Oops…”

Sue: “Great. You destroyed it. You really are trying to sabotage, aren’t you?”

Sue: “Well, let’s see if the fridge has anything to offer. This mini-fridge is burnt on the outside but the inside’s still working. How about you Becky? Hmm, the fridge seems fine. Maybe it’s because it’s made of metal so the heat’s conducted away quicker.”

Sue: “I just want to say this: bad choice for a kitchen. Wood? In a kitchen? Seriously? Now, as I was going to say, Becky just refuses to say anything. I ask her but she doesn’t reply. I have to stop and look up to see what she’s doing and what she’s found. Like when we entered and she looked at Joshua’s past achievements, she didn’t say anything. She also just sneakily entered the kitchen without telling anyone. Well, so did Chester, but he’s innocent.”

Sue: “There’s no water. No wonder he couldn’t put anything out.”

Becky: “Ow.”

Gretchen: “BEAKER-BAKER BARKER-BECKER!”

Gretchen: “B****, how dare you leave without me knowing!”

Sue: “Gretchen, don’t worry. You were still trying out the phone so I followed her in to prevent her from doing anything.”

Gretchen: “Thankfully there’s you, Sue.”

Sue: “But…she broke some evidence. She sat on a chair and broke it.”

Gretchen: “You fat *****! How dare you try to sabotage! You are the Mole, I just know it!”

***

Chester: “I feel so fresh.”

Sue: “I’ll just leave those two to it.”

Sue: “…Am I supposed to be surprised that he has all these posters? And most of them being girls?”

Sue: “Mmm….this bed is comfy.”

Chester: “Hey Sue! I can see you from in the bathroom!”

Sue: “Why does he have a see-through door to the bathroom? Unless he’s a pervert.”

Chester: “Or it’s because he lives alone? Anyway, I’ll be exploring the rest of the house.”

Sue: “Come, stay and chat.”

Chester: “I’d love to but we can’t…”

Sue: “Then at least tell me what you found. It’s just you and me in this bedroom.”

Chester: “Er, well…he’s got a great tub and his dresser is inside there.”

Sue: “Oh, no wonder you smell so fresh!”

Chester: “Heh. Thanks. You smell wonderful yourself too. Er…I gotta go.”

Chester: “Hey cool! So many stereos!”

Gretchen: “Oh there you are Sue! Hey, have you tested the TV?”

Sue: “Nope.”

Gretchen: “Well, nothing much here.”

Chester: “This room is so big but it’s so empty…hey! There is exercise machinery outside!”

Gretchen: “I’m going to enter the bathroom to see what’s inside…oh, Becky! Did I interrupt you?”

Becky: “…Shoo…”
Gretchen: “Sorry? Couldn’t catch you there?”

Becky: “…Go away…”

Gretchen: “What? You want to pee? Am I stopping you? If so, just say it?”

Becky: “Gretchen…”

Gretchen: “LOUDER!”

Meanwhile, at the morgue…

Terrence: “Hey, I didn’t realise there was something there. I need to take a closer look. Oh! It’s information about Joshua Kaiser!”

Helen: “This is the people? The…suspense? Suspeks? Suspects?”

Terrence: “Let’s just listen to them Helen.”

Goby: “I’m Goby, Joshua’s good friend. He invites me over often. I was held up at work unfortunately so by the time I got to his house I saw a lot of smoke. It was around 6.15pm when I got to his house for a regular gathering. I saw nothing inside but a charred Joshua. It was horrible!”

Marina: “My name is Marina. I am Joshua’s ex-girlfriend. I can’t say I’m sad he’s dead but I’m not too pleased I’m incriminated. I never maintained contact ever since we broke up. I only learned about his death when the police came knocking. I had just come home from my weekly spa treatment so I was stressed when I heard the news.”

Matt: “Hi I’m Matt, Joshua’s uncle. We often exercised together and played basketball together. I was way taller than him so I’d always win. We were quite close. Sometimes when he ends up breaking light bulbs in his valiant attempt to change them, he’d call me reluctantly and I’d help him. I’m tall enough to reach the ceiling in his house. I’m practically his repairman! Oh, good times…”

Leonard: “Oh Joshua, you died a horrible death!”

Terrence: “Shush Leonard! We don’t need your weeping!”

Helen: “They all touching. No of them could kill Joshua.”

Leonard: “I agree. Only one ever mentions being at his house. When did he die?”

Terrence: “According to this, 5.30pm. He was burnt to death.”

***

Sue: “Alright we don’t have much time before the others arrive. What did we find?”

Gretchen: “Becky trying to sabotage!”

Chester: “He did?”

Sue: “Yes. Becky destroyed some evidence in the kitchen and didn’t inform any of us anything.”

Gretchen: “Anyway, the phone was working, but the door leading to the kitchen was badly burnt. It must have been hot to touch.”

Sue: “The sink wasn’t. I think he didn’t pay the water bills.”

Chester: “But the bathtub works! There’s water! Oh, this is the hardest case yet! No clues!”

Gretchen: “Thanks to some destroyer! Why are you so silent, Becky? Guilty conscience?”

Sue: “I heard footsteps. The others are here.”

Terrence: “What did you all find? The kitchen looks burnt to hell.”

Sue: “Nothing, that’s the thing.”

Gretchen: “Because Becky destroyed some evidence!”

Helen: “Becky! Why?”

Terrence: “She’s a biased source. Sue, is what Gretchen said true?”

Sue: “Yes. I saw it myself.”

Chester: “Everything is normal except for the kitchen. There’s no water in there.”

Leonard: “Oh. Say, this reminds me of my army camp when…”

Terrence: “Whatever. All we know is Joshua died at 5.30pm and was burnt to death. Goby, his friend, Marina, his ex-girlfriend, and Matt, his uncle, are the only suspects. They don’t provide any clues to anything.”

Leonard: “They were being irrelevant. Only Goby said he visited Joshua at 6.15pm to find smoke and him dead.”

Contestants must now give their theory.

Leonard: “Marina must have done it because she has the biggest motive and the only one happy to see Joshua dead, or at least not unhappy. She made sure there was no water supply in the kitchen, locked the doors and then left the stove on while Joshua was in the kitchen doing who-knows-what.”

Terrence: “I think Matt did it. There was so much description of him. He said he was tall enough to reach the ceiling. I noticed on my way in the lights were candles above. I think he took one of the candles down, invited Joshua over for candlelight dinner and then burnt the place with the candle, making it seem accidental. He pushed Joshua into the fire when it got big enough and fled.”

Becky: “…”

“Speak up, Becky.”

Becky: “!!!”

“Can someone get her a mic?”

Becky: “Can you hear me? Ah, I can hear myself. I think…the uncle killed Joshua…because he did not like Joshua…knew everything about him…some inheritance issue…fought and toppled some food and caused a fire…uncle fled through window…”

Gretchen: “The uncle, Matt. My intuition says it’s him. I checked recent contacts on the phone and the latest person Joshua called was Matt, at around 4.20pm. Maybe Matt came over with a lighter and arson and set the woody kitchen on fire while Joshua was inside.”

Sue: “Goby must have killed Joshua, I think. He probably brought a grenade and exploded the place or something. Gah, I don’t know! He’s the only one with anything relevant to this case! He probably brought a gun to shoot the place to produce smoke! Okay, the grenade one sounds better. I’m sticking with that.”

Helen: “Marina kill Joshua. They breakup, she not happy. So she happy happy pretend cook meal, then leave stove alone, creating fire. Boom! Joshua enter when he smell some smoke and die because Marina lock Joshua inside.”

Chester: “Marina’s the killer, man! She hates his guts. She’s an ex-girlfriend, so she must hate Joshua and wanted to burn him alive! She destroyed the pipes leading to the kitchen sink, then sealed all the doors, then she left something burning on the stove and with Joshua inside! How did she escape? Hmm..ah! The windows! She then shut them so Joshua couldn’t escape. That’s all I got. If only everything inside there wasn’t burnt to crisps and if only Becky didn’t destroy useful evidence.”

Terrence earns an exemption for being the closest.

The killer is Matt, the uncle. The door was not broken in, which meant Joshua allowed someone close to enter. The last person he called on the phone was Matt as Goby was late. Thus, he opened the door when Matt came. Joshua then went to do his own thing in the bedroom while Matt went to the kitchen and reached for the lights above. All the lights had a giant hole in the centre. This was because Matt took them down. They were candles in a box. He brought arson along which he later brought back with him, sprayed it all over the wooden floor, then  placed candles at strategic places. He then called Joshua to enter the kitchen while he stood by the door to the living room. When Joshua entered, he dropped some remaining candles onto the floor near the bedroom door, then ran to the living room door and did the same with the remaining candles, then fled through the door. This is why the two doors leading to the kitchen were burnt. Joshua died in the fire. Having knowledge on repairing things, Matt had also tinkered with the pipes, causing no water to reach the kitchen sink. The wax was actually present in the kitchen, but were dried up and burnt black, making it hard to see. Had the contestants not worn shoes they might have felt the dried wax. The motive? Inheritance. Joshua’s father had died and he had willed that his son would inherit the money, or if the above was impossible, his brother, so Matt wanted to inherit the money.

Sue also gets a hidden exemption for having the most absurd theory. Since only Gretchen and Terrence vaguely mentioned something close to the actual scenario, 20/70 points are earned, making the pot 475/930 points.