Killed In Action

Someone got to the thief before the police, and it didn't end well.

**Killed In Action** is the 27th case in The Origins, the 2nd case to occur in the Northeast Region, and the 362nd case overall.

## ***Plot***

After getting an anonymous tip about a lot of suspicious police activity going on in Providence, Rhode Island, the team decides to head there to stop a jewel robbery. The team's chief, Jessica Charles, tells Ursula Gemini and the player to be careful, before sending them off to the jewel store to arrest the culprits. When we arrive, we find an old friend of ours, Hugh Smith, standing anxiously in front of the jewel store. When the duo asked him why he's at the jewel store, Hugh admitted to sending the anonymous tip to them. He said after they solved Colonel Blackbourne's murder, he thought to always tip off us instead of other police forces when something bad happens. In this case, it was the jewel robbery, which Hugh heard about through gossip. He didn't know whether to believe it or not but when he heard it happen he immediately tipped off the team. We tell Hugh to step aside as we enter the store, only to find the mastermind behind the robbery, Thomas Patel, bashed on the head with a crowbar. We search the cashier to find a badge belonging to the store's cashier, Susie Seed. We manage to find Susie at the public library, and we interrogate her about the murder. She says that she knew Thomas, as he was a librarian at the public library, a place she visited often to study jewelry, as they had great books for different types of jewels. We head back to the crime scene to investigate again, only to find Brendon Jordan investigating the scene by himself. He sees a bloodstain on the wall and asks us where the body is. Ursula tries to tell him it's in our custody, but he didn't listen. Instead, he incarcerated Ursula, as he says he has "evidence" that she killed him. Ursula tells the player to run back to base, which the player does. We then tell Jessica what happened with Ursula, who tells the player to finish the investigation with Max Snowcone instead. Jessica said that Brendon could very well arrest Ursula for the murder if we don't find the true culprit fast. Immediately after, we get the results for the victim's body from the team's coroner, Maria Caulfield. Maria tells the team that she found a GPS tracker in one of Thomas's pockets and that she sent it to the team's tech expert, Imogen Caulfield, for further analysis. Imogen tells the team that, from the GPS tracker, she managed to locate the exact coordinates of the victim's hideout, where we find Damian Cochran, another burglar involved in the jewel robbery. We put Damian, in our custody and ask him if he saw the victim get killed. He told the team that he hated the life Thomas was putting him in, and that he wanted out. Thomas said that if he did this one task with him, he'd let him go. Damian arrived a little late and entered the room only to find Thomas's dead body. He managed to run away and was almost caught by Hugh. He decided to remain in the hideout until it was safe to come out again. We keep Damian in our custody and search the library again, where we find a to-do list. We send the to-do list to Aaron Hall, the team's profiler, who tells us that the handwriting matched Thomas's perfectly. He said that the last thing he was supposed to do before rob the jewelry store with Damian was to have an appointment with one Ashley Stones. The duo was confused, but Aaron told them that Ashley is a psychiatrist who is a good friend of his. He then decided to replace Max with the player in order for him to talk to Ashley again. Hence, Aaron and the player head to talk to Ashley, who told Aaron that it was nice to see him again and that Thomas was one of her patients. She said that ever since he was a child, he's always had a hobby of stealing. She proceeded to help him as he grew up, but then she was arrested for murder and didn't have the time to reunite with him until now. She said that he hasn't shown up yet, and we tell her the news about Thomas robbing the jewelry store and dying in the process. We later decided to re-search the library, where we found a jewelry book belonging to Susie. We ask Susie about the book, to which she replies that instead of doing his job, Thomas always used to read books on jewelry too. She found it suspicious but didn't do anything about it. We later try to persuade Brendon to release Ursula, but he refuses, saying that there is "undeniable evidence" that she is the killer. Max and the player leave, as there's nothing they can do except arrest the real killer. We later decide to interrogate Ashley, as she probably knew more about the victim than anyone. She tells the team that the real reason Thomas wanted to meet with her was that he needed her lock picking skills for the operation. Ashley refused to help, as she didn't want to go to jail again, so she threatened to call the police. At the time she did so, Hugh had already tipped off the team. We recheck the victim's base and find all the remaining evidence needed to arrest the killer.

## ***Killer And Motives***

The killer turned out to be Susie.

Upon admitting to the murder, Susie told the duo that her house burned down after a burglary that took place there, which was planned by Thomas. She lost her parents, her younger sister, and her hair in the process. When she saw Thomas entering the store, she couldn't handle her anger. She snatched the crowbar he used to break in out of his hands and started bashing him on the head with it. Judge Virgo sentenced Susie to 2 years in prison with a chance in parole in 1 year.

## ***Cherry Patch, Duck Pond, Cash Register (2/5)***

After arresting Susie, Ursula is released and we talk to Thomas's accomplice, Damian, and ask him about their plans and history. He tells us that Thomas never had enough and that he always wanted more and more. The Seed family attack happened 10 years ago, and Damian wasn't there. He said that Thomas was never caught, but Susie remembered him very well. Damian never really wanted this life, but he was short on money, and the flow caught him in this mess. Damian was brought to court alongside with Susie, and he got 10 years in prison. After the court, we head back to the station and help Aaron get flowers to give to Ashley, an old friend of his. We also received an encrypted message from Olivia. She tells us that she needs urgent help because someone's after her. We couldn't track her location, but we got a lead from Ronda, telling us The Summoners were seen in Lewiston, Maine. She told us that there's been a murder in a local church and that it could be a case The Summoners are involved in. Hence, we head to Lewiston next.

## ***Suspects***

Hugh Smith (Traits: 1, 3)Susie Seed (Traits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)Brendon Jordan (Traits: 1, 2, 4, 5)Damian Cochran (Traits: 1, 2, 3, 4)Ashley Stones (Traits: 2)