Conch Kingdom

(This is your internal thoughts)

Morning sunlight lazily struggles through the opaque smog of London. You crouch over a dead body in the alleyway of Lilt Street, thumbnail between your teeth in thought.

It's a Frenchman that's been shot point blank with a small caliber pistol in the chest. He lies cold and motionless in the alley. From body temperature and rigor mortis, you set his time of death late last night, around eleven or midnight.

His clothes are old but well kept. He has a head of short black hair (This guy was using a peach gel in his hair. Smells nice. Looks like he also just got a haircut, though it's messier on the left side) and thin marks on his face around his eyes (Was he a frequent goggle wearer? Perhaps a pilot or chemist). A broken pair of glasses lies beside the body.

You look at his weathered hands. There are small chemical burns on his fingers and bits of charcoal and sulfur underneath his nails. Further up his arm you see an old scar (Was this guy a mercenary? Soldier or assassin perhaps? Maybe he just got in a violent scuffle a while back) from a bullet wound that's healed up from at least a year ago.

There's a half-smoked cigarette beside the corpse. Interesting...

You pick up the burnt cigarette, hand rolled in red argyle paper, and waft in the distinct smell of tobacco. Your encyclopedic mind whirs as you analyze the scent.

Thuoc lao You're sure of it. This is a rare Vietnamese strand of tobacco that's very potent. Judging by the guy's teeth he's been smoking for a while.

There's two small piles of thuoc lao tobacco ash beside the body.

"Looks like a random mugging," says your partner, Duby. You're both detectives for Conch Yard. "No identification on the victim. He was shot point blank, and his wallet was stolen. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It wasn't a random mugging," you reply.

"You just want this to be exciting because the chief took you off the mystery bomber case (The chief doesn't like you very much. You were taken off the high profile terrorist bomber case even though you're the best detective in London) ," laughs Duby.

You need some evidence to show Duby that this wasn't random, how about the fact that the corpse was...

...once a chemist

...smoking a cigarette

...familiar with combat

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(This is your internal thoughts)

If you have just joined us now, check out the first Episode of the Conch Mystery HERE to get in touch with the storyline.

Last time on Conch Mystery : You need some evidence to show Duby that this wasn't random, how about the fact that the corpse was smoking a cigarette.

+ Deductive Reasoning

"There are two small piles of tobacco ash on the ground," you say. "The victim must have been here for long enough to smoke most of his cigarette, which means he was standing here in the alley for a suspicious amount of time. Perhaps he knew his killer (The victim and culprit usually know each other. Duby couldn't kill me if he tried)."

Duby scratches his chin. "We still don't know who he is, or why he was killed."

"Well there is something distinct about the victim," you say. "Maybe it can help identify him."

You point out the uniqueness of his cigarette.

"His tobacco is a rare Vietnamese strand," you say. "It's called thuoc lao. Only a handful of smoke shops in London sell that strand. Plus the rolling paper is a distinct red argyle. We can go around to more exotic smoke shops in London until we find one that sells both thuoc lao and red argyle rolling paper."

"I suppose there aren't too many foreign shops to check out," says Duby.

You and Duby find yourselves at the Gentleman's Flame, an exotic smoke shop in the Balham district. You see they sell both thuoc lao and red argyle rolling paper.

Browsing different pipes and strands of tobacco you see a beautiful young woman. (The woman seems out of place at the smoke shop, and uninterested with the products that she's browsing. Her clothes are rather plain and inexpensive, aside from a silver necklace that gleams in the window's sunlight.

There are short dog hairs near her ankles on her dress. Short. Looks like the hairs of a terrier. )

She has long almond hair and a set of pearly white teeth.(There is a small fleck of garlic between two teeth, but it's hardly noticeable even to you.)

Behind the counter you see the store owner (He's a creepy looking bloke. He wears dirty old clothes and has a devious twinkle in his eye. There's a long brown hair stuck to his shirt) arguing with his wife. She's fuming mad, ranting about missing profit from last month and his regular absence from home.

(Apparently the store owner misplaced £35. That's a lot of money to misplace. He was also missing from home last night and didn't show up until the morning. She's really getting at him about it. The guy seems like a creep. You recall that about 1 in 3 female homicide victims are killed by current or former lovers. Hopefully this guy doesn't snap.)

"How can I help you, gentlemen?" asks the man as he pushes his wife away. He fans the room's thick air with a weathered top hat, revealing a head of diminishing wispy white hairs.

(The hat is old and smoke stained on the underside of the scratched rim at the nose. As the store owner fans the hat a few short black hairs fall out and you catch the smell of thuoc lao again. Has he been smoking the same tobacco as the victim?

You also catch another scent. Peaches? )

"Have you sold any thuoc lao recently?" asks Duby as he puts his hand down on the counter. "It's part of an investigation."

"Hmmm, I don't recall off the top of my head," chuckles the man, grinning a crooked smile of white teeth and rapping his fingers (His fingers are old and bony. He wears a dirty wedding ring, slightly above a ring-shaped tan line. His fingernails are heavily stained by tobacco. Looks like a small bite on his wrist from a small dog.) on the counter expectantly. (The man's breath has a harsh garlic smell. He wants a bribe. Greedy greedy.)

What to do?

Threaten that you'll tell his wife about his affair

Tell him you know he's a murderer

Please post your option in the RMB or ping me on discord

Read through the text carefully and decisively pick your option