Inky Forsooth!

[Stevenson]

The case of the killing of Governor Charles Phatt
Aka
The Red herring Mystery

It was a cold night, in late October. Of course, that doesn?t really do the night justice. In Saskatchewan, a cold night is no different than a normal night. But it was cloudy. Not stormy, luckily. It was lucky because if it had been a dark and stormy night the clich? probably would have annoyed a very gifted inspector so much he would have refused to work on any cases that night. Since that Inspector was able to solve the crime, it is lucky that there were no overly clich? weather patterns looming in the sky.
Inspector Jacques ?Inky? Lafayette, Private Eye, strode into the large mansion of Governor Charles Phatt. He was called Inky because he recorded all of his cases in written chronicles. But what does that have to do with the name Inky, you may ask? He writes his profiles only with an old colonial-style quill pen and ink. He has been known to spill the aforementioned ink on other documents, back when he was working for the police, hence the nickname. Now back to the matter at hand. The mansion, a luxurious retreat, was also a bit excessive for the inspector?s tastes. However, it was a crime scene now, as the governor had been murdered over 24 hours ago. The air felt dismal. Most places do have an aura of that nature after a murder has taken place there. As usual, Inspector Lafayette had been called in only after the initial police inspection failed. Typical. Cops didn?t want Private Investigators doing their job for them. Unless, that is, they couldn?t do it all by themselves. Inky figured it was a matter of either protecting their territory or wanting to get enough money for the police force rather than have it go to privately owned businesses. After the chief of police briefed him on the murder, these were the most important facts:
- The police had found out that the manner of death was a gunshot wound
-Forensics showed that Governor Phatt was killed at approximately 6:45 pm.
-He had been in his bedroom, reading at the time of death. The book was, ?Famous Pirate Quotations: More than Just Yargh.?
-The window in his bedroom was stuck shut, and has been that way for years according to his employee.
-His door was locked from the inside, and the Governor had a set of keys on his person.
-He only had one servant, Richard West, who had taken the day off that day to go fishing.
For obvious reasons, Mr. West was the prime suspect. Since he was the only employee of Governor Phatt, he had the only extra set of keys, besides those belonging to the Governor (which were with Governor Phatt, so that set couldn?t have been used to unlock the door) to every door in the mansion. That set of keys also included the key that opened Governor Phatt?s bedroom door. There was even a motive for murder. Mr. West had been employed by governor Phatt for over 10 years, meaning that the governor trusted him with his life, and due to this they had a strong bond.

[Stevenson]

The governor had few true friends, most people he knew as business associates. His trusted friends, such as Mr. West and a few other governmental officials, were all poised to inherit quite a large sum of money and other valuable possessions of the Governor, after Phatt?s unfortunate demise. It just so happened that Mr. West was receiving the extravagant mansion and grounds. So he had a motive. Unfortunately, for the police that is, the all-too suspicious Mr. West had what appeared to be a steadfast alibi. He had both a hunting and a fishing license, and claims to have been fishing all day on that day. He had evidence of this, being a freakishly huge herring mounted on his wall that he caught that day. A boat rental clerk at a nearby lake also claims that Mr. West did rent a boat that day. When asked what he was carrying the clerk answered: ?He had a pretty big cooler, like most fisherman do, and a fishing pole.? The clerk also stated that he had seen West leave the pond with the aforementioned herring. He did not recall the time of arrival or departure, however.
Inky decided that he should have a peek at the current residence of Mr. Richard West. It was a shabby bungalow, but certainly big enough for one person to live. He wanted to take a good look around. The place was not exactly well kept. Of course, why should it be? If you can spend most of your time in a mansion, why spend money improving a run-down bungalow that you sleep in after work hours? The book, ?Famous Pirate Quotations? was on his couch. Strange, thought Inky. The governor had started to read that book on the day he was killed. He was only on the first page when he died.
??Famous Pirate Quotations?. That?s unusual reading material? Inky said, picking it up and opening it. Inside were lines like, ?Yaaaaargh!?-From Rapp Scallion and ?Shiver me Timbers?-From Larry the First Mate and ?We deserve to be out there swinging our swords and swashing our buckles!?- From Rum Rodgers.

[Stevenson]

When questioned, Mr. West said he had begun to read this book after the Governor recommended it to him. After death, he felt it was the least he could do to finish the book.
Inky also noticed a gun rack in Mr. West?s bedroom. Of course, being a hunter, that would be a necessity. He saw the herring mounted on the living room wall, it was very hard to miss. It was bright red, sparkling on the display board above the mantle. ?You say that you caught this at the lake on the day of the murder?? he asked Mr. West.
?Of course.? He replied. ?You don?t forget a fish that big.?
?Very well.? Inky replied, and turned to leave. ?But first, you need to answer one question.? He said profoundly, as he turned back around to face Mr. West. ?How, pray tell, did you catch a salt water fish in a fresh water lake??
Long story short, Richard West was arrested on charges of homicide. How did Inky figure it out, you may ask? Well, it?s quite simple really. While a blue backed herring is a fresh water fish, a normal herring, which can also turn red, is a salt water fish. Since the herring was obviously NOT blue-backed, it was clearly a red herring. In both senses of the term ?red herring?, in fact. West in fact carried the red herring in his cooler, and put it onto his hook after rowing out into the pond. Everyone at the pond would see a man who had just caught a big fish, and was going home to celebrate. But that wasn?t what West had in mind. He mounted the fish on his wall upon arrival, and took one of his hunting guns. Since he was a licensed hunter, there was no good reason that his fingerprints shouldn?t be on them anyway. And there was no question as to why he had purchased the gun. He showed up at the mansion soon afterwards, shot Phatt, and left. Since he was the only employee, there were no other witnesses, and he could easily have unlocked and relocked the governor?s door. He was reading the book Governor Phatt had that day because he wanted to see how the book was. Unfortunately, he had let slip the knowledge that Governor Phatt was reading it. He wasn?t supposed to have known that. The governor had just started it on the day of the murder.
And thus, the red herring mystery was solved, by none other than Inspector Jacques Lafayette, private investigator. West had actually managed to fool the police department with his big fish story. But Inky was too smart for him. West would have gotten away with it, if Inky hadn?t been there to dispatch the red herring on the wall that was a very cleverly placed red herring indeed.

((Yes, I do know it's a cheesy ending. Other than that, what do you think?))

[Josiah]

The ending seems a bit too abrupt for a full on story. However, with a little modification it would make a decent puzzle as is.

[Stevenson]

Yes, that's true....I really should fix that.

But thanks for the review, Josiah.

[Celebifly]

-finally got around to reading this-

Reminds me of the puzzle mysterious our teacher would read us in elemantry school....
You should make mysterious, and we should solve them.
-kashot-

[Stevenson]

*ponders that idea* you may be on to something. *goes off to game time thread*