Watercolour Crime

**Watercolour Crime** is the 1st episode in the series.

## Plot synopsis

DI Knight and DS Slater are called to Angel Docks in Mortcliff after the discovery of the body of local artist Patricia Frint found lead tied up in fishing nets in the harbor.

## Victim and Suspects

### Victim -

Patricia Frint - She was 40 and was a former accountant turned artist.

### Suspects -

Bob Tanzer - Is a local fisherman who is in love with Patricia but this is not reciprocated by her.

Janine Hanks - is a local fishmonger who was good friends with Patricia.

Jeffery Frazer - Owner of the gallery whose family has moved away to Spain.

Darren Treadwell - is a businessman who specializes in the importing of goods .

## Armchair Detectives

The armchair detectives playing in this episode are Roger, Kathryn and Wisdom.

Here are the armchair detectives prime suspects after each round:

 Round 3
 Round 4
 Accusation

As Kathryn was the only person to identify the killer she won the golden magnifying glass trophy.

## Evidence

### Round 1 - Crime Scene

#### Video evidence -

DI Knight and DS Slater meet with SOCO Simmons at Angel Docks following the discovery of the body of local artist Patricia Frint found. Simmons tells them that she has water in her lungs but there is possibility that she may of been strangled. The exact time of death can't be determined as she has been in water for so long but is presumed to be the day before. Patricia's phone is found as well. The person who found Patricia is fisherman Bob Tanzer who is seen heading to Hank's Fishmongers to see fishmonger Janine Hanks. It is revealed that Bob had unrequited love for Patricia and one of Patricia's paintings was stolen the day before from the gallery in which Bob was going to buy.

#### Free Evidence -

The detectives are shown a picture of the Art Lover's gallery opening of Patricia's exhibition featuring some of the people present at the opening and a close up picture of one of Patricia's painting.

### Round 2 - Last Movements

#### Video Evidence -

The day before the murder, Patricia is hanging her paintings in the gallery. Jeffery Fraser (the owner of the gallery) has paper work for Patricia to read. Later that day at the opening, Janine and Patricia make amends. We are introduced to importer Darren Treadwell who wants to buy her painting and Bob shows interest in buying it even though Janine insinuates that he is strapped for cash. Darren starts to make negative remarks towards Janine with Patricia telling him she would never sell to him. Darren upsets Bob and Jeffery kicks Darren out the gallery. Darren also dropped his watch. Patricia asks Bob to leave her alone.

On the morning of the murder, Patricia hears, on the radio in her in her car, that the gallery has been broken into and one of her paintings has been stolen. We see her travel and go into the gallery. We then hear raised voices and some destruction being made.

#### Extra Evidence -

The first three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* Paperwork on Jeffery's Desk
* Darren's watch
* **Pictures of the Gallery break in**

The pictures were taken by Jeffery Fraser on his phone. They include the empty easel which the stolen painting once was, some balls of twine and the door of the gallery with some marks in them.

### Round 3 - Police Interviews

#### Video Evidence -

##### Janine Hanks -

Janine explains having known Patricia for 10 years. She had asked Patricia for a loan as her fishmonger business was not doing that well, however Patricia refused because of no spare cash which Janine did not believe. Janine says she was at the shop on the day of the murder and that Patricia texted her saying that she may be able to give out a loan and that they should meet up.

*Note: The smell of fish from Janine caused DI Knight to run out of the room at the end of the interview.*

##### Jeffery Frazer -

Jeffery talks about the annoyance of Bob and Darren towards Patricia at the opening. Jeffery says that Patricia sent him a text about how she was concerned about the burglary and was having second thoughts about buying the gallery and that she came into the gallery, they talked, she left undecided in her decision.

##### Bob Tanzer -

Bob openly admits that he was in love with Patricia and that she had been hurt following an ex boyfriend who turned out to be a fraudster and embezzled her money and was sent to prison making her lest trusting of men. Bob says he knows from a crystal and that he's psychic. Bob says he texted Patricia a lot of texts letting her know she wasn't alone even though she asked him to stay away. Bob says that he texted Patricia on the day of the murder but went fishing and didn't receive the reply text until the next day which he said was not like her usual self.

*Note: The smell of fish from Bob caused DI Knight to drink a lot of water during the interview to distract himself but stayed in the room throughout and asked DS Slater to get a coffee for him afterwards.*

##### Darren Treadwell -

Darren says he has collected art before and like Patricia's work. Darren says that Patricia didn't want to sell him the painting as she wanted to sell the entire collection together. The detectives remark his fancy expensive watch .On the day of the murder, Darren says he was working then doing chores.

#### Extra Evidence -

The three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* **Paperwork on Jeffery's Desk**

* Darren's watch

* Text messages from Patricia's phone

The paperwork shows the agreement for Patricia to buy the gallery from Jeffery and a post it note with 4 U 2 sign written on it.

### Round 4 - Dig Deeper

#### Video Evidence -

Two weeks before the murder, Patricia is seen at the docks painting which depicts what she is seeing in front of her, which is Bob unloading a cargo crate off his boat and handing it over to Darren. Darren approaches Patricia and tries to buy the painting from her there which she refuses and he leaves. Bob approaches as well, Patricia tells him to leave her alone.

Extra Evidence -

The three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* **The manifest of the contents of the shipping crate**

* Darren's watch

* Text messages from Patricia's phone

The manifest entails that the crate contains 450 cartons of 1L Orange Juice and that the crate has come from China.

### Round 5 - Final Clues

#### Video Evidence -

DI Knight and DS Slater learn that Bob receives a small crate of "orange juice" from Edinburgh once a month for Darren which comes from China. The rain retreats them to their car and they speculate about what else could be in the crate. Simmons calls and confirms that Patricia was strangled to death before being put into the water and that the phone records from Patricia's phone have come through. DI Knight and DS Slater visit Darren at his office, where they see the frame from Patricia's painting. Darren admits to breaking in and stealing the painting then discarding on the painting. There is a bunch of watch boxes seen on his desk.

*Note: DS Slater lies to Simmons saying that they had left the docks when she mentioned that she wanted them to get some fish for her. This was to protect DI Knight and his aversion for fish.*

#### Extra Evidence -

The final two pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* Darren's watch

* **Text messages from Patricia's phone**

The texts messages are between her, Jeffery, Janine and Bob.

#### Unseen Evidence -

Darren's watch shows that they are knock off watches called Bolex.

## Solution

It is revealed that Jeffery Frazer is the killer.

Jeffery wanted to sell the Gallery so he would have enough money to join his family abroad. Patricia came to Jeffery after hearing about the break in to tell him take she was having second thought about buying the gallery as she wanted to sell all the paintings as a whole collection and without that money she would not be able to buy the gallery, keep it running and give Janine the loan.

Jeffery tried to persuade her that the burglary was a one off but she didn't buy it and said the deal was off. An angered Jeffery grabbed a ball of twine and used it to strangle her to death. He then placed her body in his car. He then drove to Patricia's house and sent a text from her phone to Bob making it look like she was not at the gallery when she died and was still alive then. The difference is texting styles fave Jeffery away. He waiting until dark till he dumped her body into the water.

## Notes

* *We find out the DI Knight has a massive dislike and is possibly allergic to fish as the smell makes him feel sick.*
* DI Knight had an early dentist appointment making him late for work.