Zara Rufus

Web of Lies

**Zara Rufus** (1988-) was the killer of golf course owner Fred Picklechest in A Place For Peace (Case #17 of An Added Bonus).

In Modern Crimes, Zara was a suspect in the murder investigations of scientist Ernest Bennington in Up To Your Doom (Case #27 of Modern Crimes) and asylum patient Zachary Rutherford in Outplayed By Fear (Case #30 of Modern Crimes).

In Web of Lies, Zara was a suspect in the murder investigation of the team's informant, Colette Abernathy, in Harmful Treatment (Case #26 of Web of Lies).

## Description

In Modern Crimes, Zara was a 19-year-old beautician. In Up To Your Doom, it is known that Zara has a cough, has read *User 404*, and eats chia seeds. In Outplayed By Fear, it is known that Zara uses beauty cream and drinks champagne.

In Web of Lies, Zara was a 21-year-old beautician. In Harmful Treatment, it is known that Zara has knowledge about plants, eats grilled kabobs, and owns a compass.

## Events In *An Added Bonus*

=== **A Place For Peace**
Zara was first spoken to when Eva Stark and the player found a golf club with her name on it near the body of the late Fred Picklechest. When Zara was asked about her golf club, she told the duo that she came to golf regularly as it was a hobby of her boyfriend.

Zara was spoken to again when the team found security footage of Zara screaming at Fred. When Ava and the player encountered Zara again, she said that Fred kicked her out of the golf course due to paranoia that she was out to get him at the fountain. Zara dropped her golf club and left upset.

In the end, it turned out that Zara was Fred's killer.

Upon admitting to the murder, Zara said that her boyfriend forced her to do it or else he would kill her. Zara was put in custody for the time being.

After Zara's arrest, we interrogate her about her boyfriend, and she said that she said it was her boyfriend to throw the team off track, and that it was actually her brother who forced her to kill Fred. She said that his name was Zachary Rutherford, an Anarchist who wanted Fred dead for unknown reasons. She said that after her little brother's death at the hands of a drunk teenager, her parents and brother have gone insane and that wanted nothing to do with them. We release Zara and keep close tabs on her.

## Events In *Modern Crimes*

### **Up To Your Doom**

Zara was first spoken to when we found her old copy of the book *User 404* in Ernest Bennington's lab. We know that since the killer has read *User 404*, this Zara could be a potential suspect. We ask Zara about the book, and she said that she brought it over to Ernest's house, as it is her favorite book and Ernest used to tutor her while in school, as she was struggling in science class.

Zara was spoken to again after Robert Permann told the team that he saw Ernest yelling at her. Zara tells the team that on the way to tutoring she had tripped on Ernest's yard, falling face-first into his flowers. Ernest lost it and started screaming at Zara, telling her that he would never tutor her ever again and that he went far enough to call her a murderer.

Zara was found to be innocent after conspiracy theorist Zachary Rutherford was found guilty of the murder.

### **Outplayed By Fear**

In Ourplayed By Fear, the team interrogated Zara again after they find a love letter from the recently murdered Zachary Rutherford to her. When the team asked her about this note, Zara said that in school, Zachary tried to flirt with every possible girl imaginable, but rarely got his way with them.

Zara was spoken to again after the team found Zachary's phone, which was analyzed by Alex Bennington. Alex told the team that his last text before going to jail was to Zara. The text said, "I know what I did at prom was unacceptable but we can still make it work." Alex also mentioned that it failed to send due to Zara blocking him. We grill Zara about what Zachary did at prom, and she said that during that night, Zachary got extremely drunk and decided to harass Zara, by forcing her to the wall and trying to have his way with her. Zara then said that whoever killed that pig deserves a medal. We tell Zara that if that medal belongs to her, it'll be taken from her before she enters prison.

Zara was found to be innocent again after the Ms. Universe titleholder, Melissa Mcnally, was found guilty for the murder.

After Melissa's arrest, the next beauty pageant took place, and Zara won the title of Ms. Universe and was congratulated by the team. She then started going out with Alex Bennington after the competition.

## Events In *Web of Lies*

### **Harmful Treatment**

Zara was interrogated again when the team's informant, Colette Abernathy, was found dead at her beauty parlor. Zara said that she was doing Colette's manicure and went to the back storage area to get supplies. When she came back, she found her dead and the beauty parlor's door open. She then immediately called the police.

Zara was spoken to again when we find that Colette gave her beauty parlor a one-star rating. We ask Zara why Colette gave her a one-star and she said that Colette was always rather rude while at her parlor. She said that when she came today for her weekly manicure, she snapped out at Zara for getting the wrong color rocks she put under her hands. Zara then snapped back at her, resulting in Colette leaving and giving her place a one-star review. After the review was done, Zara stormed off and left to relax. She came back a few minutes later only to find Colette dead.

Zara was found to be innocent once again after investor Phil Moore was arrested for the murder.

## Case Appearances

* A Place For Peace (Case #17 of An Added Bonus)
* Up To Your Doom (Case #27 of Modern Crimes)
* Outplayed By Fear (Case #30 of Modern Crimes)
* Harmful Treatment (Case #26 of Web of Lies)

## Trivia

* Zara was a suspect in four different cases.
* Zara appeared in one district in An Added Bonus.
* Zara appeared in one district in Modern Crimes.
* Zara appeared in one district in Web of Lies.
* Zara appeared in three different seasons.