Help Ai-chan storm your brain

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan needs help with a detective novel. Basically, Ai-chan needs some ideas. It will be a CYOA where the readers read, and then take choices that lead them to the appropriate clues. In the end, they decide on the culprit and if they got it right, they won the game.

What Ai-chan needs help with is in deciding on the murder method and the motive of murder for the suspects.

Murder victim:
John Spats
Single, rich, former playboy, rude douchebag, has a mansion in the mountains.

Suspects:
1. Henry Frond
Bank manager, rich, sociopath, John Spats's close friend and childhood friend
2. Sophia Melrose
Socialite, sister in law of John Spats (married his now dead brother), mother of two, rich, former Olympic swimmer
3. Penelope Gayle
John Spats's nurse and maid, beautiful, kind, gentle, poor, has 4 siblings
4. Cameron Shayle
Sophia's son, gambling addict, alcoholic, artist, failing painter, horrible money management
5. Samuel Hardy
Race car driver, John Spats's former close friend, reconciled with John Spats years after John divorced Samuel's sister, happy go lucky
6. You
A retired former policeman, hobby fisherman and hobby farmer, opens a seafood restaurant as a chef, once arrested John Spats for assaulting a high school girl

The setting is that John Spats invited all these people for a Christmas celebration at his mansion in the mountains. The Christmas eve went well, everyone exchanged gifts and then turned in for the night. In the morning, it was found that John was lying on his front on the floor, with a knife stuck on his back. He was lying face-down, his head and right hand towards the door, as if trying to reach it. But the door was locked from the inside. It is a locked room scenario.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Ai-chan hasn't decided on the protagonist's names. Ai-chan may not even use your ideas but your ideas could help Ai-chan spark the ideas that would fit the story.


EDIT:
Thanks everyone for the help. Ai-chan has sorted out the murder method. Ai-chan hasn't decided who would be the culprit yet and the complete motive of the culprit.

If anyone wants to give their ideas still, Ai-chan will leave this open. But considering that this thread has been derailed, Ai-chan will have it locked the next time someone says something unrelated or trollish.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[BigHoodieBoy]

No one killed him, it was all a prank :D

 

[Ai-chan]

No one killed him, it was all a prank :D

No it wasn't. He was dead.

 

[BigHoodieBoy]

Ok :(

Ok, you have D.I.D. and you killed him.

 

[ElliePorter]

Penelope Gayle killed him.

 

[Vnator]

Sophia acted extremely kind to Penelope as a means of bringing her to her side. Her relationship with the victim was deteriorating so the money would go to somebody else other than her kids/family, so she needed to act fast. Sophia planted the idea in her mind that if the money went to her Sophia's family, then they would be able to use that money to take care of Penelope better than her old boss. So they come up with the murder plot!

It'll be harder to piece together the motive since it's joint, and if you consider a single person, you won't be able to figure it out. Sophia could've put the pieces needed to kill him together, but then had Penelope do the deed and pin the act on her.

Of course, you could replace Sophia with Henry, but everyone would obviously be looking at him on account of him being a sociopath. That is, if you push that character trait hard enough on the readers.

Anyway, good luck! This all sounds fun!

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Ai-chan needs help with a detective novel. Basically, Ai-chan needs some ideas. It will be a CYOA where the readers read, and then take choices that lead them to the appropriate clues. In the end, they decide on the culprit and if they got it right, they won the game.

What Ai-chan needs help with is in deciding on the murder method and the motive of murder for the suspects.

Murder victim:
John Spats
Single, rich, former playboy, rude douchebag, has a mansion in the mountains.

Suspects:
1. Henry Frond
Bank manager, rich, sociopath, John Spats's close friend and childhood friend
2. Sophia Melrose
Socialite, sister in law of John Spats (married his now dead brother), mother of two, rich, former Olympic swimmer
3. Penelope Gayle
John Spats's nurse and maid, beautiful, kind, gentle, poor, has 4 siblings
4. Cameron Shayle
Sophia's son, gambling addict, alcoholic, artist, failing painter, horrible money management
5. Samuel Hardy
Race car driver, John Spats's former close friend, reconciled with John Spats years after John divorced Samuel's sister, happy go lucky
6. You
A retired former policeman, hobby fisherman and hobby farmer, opens a seafood restaurant as a chef, once arrested John Spats for assaulting a high school girl

The setting is that John Spats invited all these people for a Christmas celebration at his mansion in the mountains. The Christmas eve went well, everyone exchanged gifts and then turned in for the night. In the morning, it was found that John was lying on his front on the floor, with a knife stuck on his back. He was lying face-down, his head and right hand towards the door, as if trying to reach it. But the door was locked from the inside. It is a locked room scenario.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Ai-chan hasn't decided on the protagonist's names. Ai-chan may not even use your ideas but your ideas could help Ai-chan spark the ideas that would fit the story.

Why would he hire MC that arrested him?

 

[greyblob]

motives

Sophia is sleeping with Cameron. he's using her to finance his addictions and she's using him to get his father's money since her expensive lifestyle is draining her fast.

Samuel fell in love with the nurse. their relationship was kept hidden as he wasn't on the best of terms with john. one day he notices the nurse not being herself. he gets her to talk and finds out john had forced himself on her.

methods

knife in locked room seem too difficult but here's something anyway

John is walking back to his room. someone comes up behind him and stabs him in the back. he trips inside quickly turns and locks the door. goes to reach his phone by the bed but it has no signal/not there. he lost too much blood by now. tries to go back to the door but fails and passes out halfway there and ultimately dies.

John is hopped up on some pretty strong drugs/is gas-poisoned to a degree where he can barely feel his body. someone stabs in the back before he gets in his room. he doesn't feel it, goes inside locks up, and gets ready for bed. finding himself spewing blood, he gets out and walks to the door but can't. again: lost too much blood, passes out, dead


if you end up using any of this let me know (for my own curiosity)

 

[LilTV1155]

Wait. If you say a sociopath is among the group, surely there's a psychopath too?
.
If we talk about characters with dubious motives. It would be Henry Frond, Penelope Gayle, Samuel Hardy, and the player (You) themselves.

 

[Agentt]

Alright, we have
Motive
1. Girl saw him murdering someone else/blackmailing someone/accepting bribes.
2. For sports
3. Ruining the life of his friend
4. To pin the murder on anyone else, either for sport, or that person is a witness to any of the above mentioned crime scene.
5. Accident. They were in a fight, or they could be not, and she slipped. Afraid, he hid the body.
6. The girl is heir to lots of money, the only reason she hasn't gotten it is that she isn't 18 yet. So once she dies, it will go to next nearest relative.
7. Someone paid them for assassination.
8. Someone hypnotised them to kill her.

Now methods of murder.
The accident one is quite easy, she can slip anywhere, bang her head on hard tiles or edge of a table, or electrocuted by broken water heater or something.

A classical approach is to knife her while wearing gloves, put the body in the living room.
You can smother her in her sleep, suffocate her with a pillow.

A famous one is, to choke her to death. And then hang her, making a fake suicide note. The reason this is famous is that it's easy for new authors to write, "the marks on her neck are caused by some sort of cloth or arms. These aren't rope marks."


There exist her tea was poisoned, but the gate of kitchen is usually left open and unguarded so anyone can come in anytime.

If poison isn't available, you can crush some glass into powder, and mix it with milk. Sure, it sounds unbelievable, but it has been used for assassination many times.

Allergies. She can be allergic to bee sting, grass snake(thry don't have venom but some people are allergic to their saliva) or asthma. Hide her inhaler, she dies, after that, keep her inhaler under her bed or something so it seems it accidentally slipped there.

You can overdose on sleep pills, or, you can add sleep pills just before she goes for bath, so that she drowns in her bath tub.

 

[LilTV1155]

The question would be. What do each suspect care about so much that they would kill for it?
Face?
Pride?
Money?
Sex?
Love?
Trust?
Lies?
Shit?

 

[LABmaiL]

Cameron is obviously set up to be a red herring, as the most unhappy suspect. What if he blackmailed or hired somebody without a motive to do it. There'd be a double red herring of him being an obvious suspect before it turns out that he would not be physically capable of committing the crime in some way or that he has a proven alibis that protects him. Then he's revealed to be the suspect anyway since he forced somebody to do it rather than committing the crime himself! I dunno. I'm not the most experienced writer.

 

[LilTV1155]

What we need are clues and alibis and testimonies from the crime scene.

 

[atgongumerki]

Why was I even invited?

 

[Ai-chan]

Why would he hire MC that arrested him?

He didn't hire the former policeman. He just invited him to the party out of the blue.

Why was I even invited?

Yes, a big question, isn't it? Why would he invite the officer who arrested him? The answer is, he just thought it would be fun to screw with the one dude who dared arrest him.

 

[ABCGUY]

Are we playing Cluedo?

 

[Florestes]

Ai-chan needs help with a detective novel. Basically, Ai-chan needs some ideas. It will be a CYOA where the readers read, and then take choices that lead them to the appropriate clues. In the end, they decide on the culprit and if they got it right, they won the game.

What Ai-chan needs help with is in deciding on the murder method and the motive of murder for the suspects.

Murder victim:
John Spats
Single, rich, former playboy, rude douchebag, has a mansion in the mountains.

Suspects:
1. Henry Frond
Bank manager, rich, sociopath, John Spats's close friend and childhood friend
2. Sophia Melrose
Socialite, sister in law of John Spats (married his now dead brother), mother of two, rich, former Olympic swimmer
3. Penelope Gayle
John Spats's nurse and maid, beautiful, kind, gentle, poor, has 4 siblings
4. Cameron Shayle
Sophia's son, gambling addict, alcoholic, artist, failing painter, horrible money management
5. Samuel Hardy
Race car driver, John Spats's former close friend, reconciled with John Spats years after John divorced Samuel's sister, happy go lucky
6. You
A retired former policeman, hobby fisherman and hobby farmer, opens a seafood restaurant as a chef, once arrested John Spats for assaulting a high school girl

The setting is that John Spats invited all these people for a Christmas celebration at his mansion in the mountains. The Christmas eve went well, everyone exchanged gifts and then turned in for the night. In the morning, it was found that John was lying on his front on the floor, with a knife stuck on his back. He was lying face-down, his head and right hand towards the door, as if trying to reach it. But the door was locked from the inside. It is a locked room scenario.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Ai-chan hasn't decided on the protagonist's names. Ai-chan may not even use your ideas but your ideas could help Ai-chan spark the ideas that would fit the story.

I'm honestly reminded straight away of "Detective Conan", so I'm going to imagine it in that way. (More description of the room would have helped. Are there windows? Furniture? Old air shafts? Modern doors?)

Samuel Hardy found out something that ruined his life plans. John Spats, that piece of shit is going to lose all his fortune according to his financial manager. He pleaded Samuel to reason with John, to stop his idiotic plans. Samuel agreed, but only on the surface. He was raging mad inside. John has promised his sister compensation during their divorce, but now it looks like they will get nothing. Why did he forgive that piece of shit? He will pay, before he can burn the money so that he can get his cut.

A final gift. A remote control toy car. Samuel knows his former friend. He knows that John will take his expensive present to a private study room, to play with it when everyone has retired for the night.

What John doesn't know is that the remote control is fake. A intentionally made electronic hazard. Strong enough to knock unconscious a fully grown man and perhaps kill him if Samuel is lucky.

Samuel knows the layout of this mansion, easily navigating the corridors in the dark.

A prone figure greeted him in the study. Time to clean up the real evidence and fabricate a story, with a knife!

The fake controller replaced with the real one. The toy car placed in front of the door. A tin wire looped over the rotating wheel axel. One end attached to the inside lock, the other passed under the floor. Samuel has tried this setup before. As a "friend" he visited the mansion and tested this setup. Now the final touches... STAB!!!...The body spasms its last, reaching out for help.

Samuel is already planning his next move: I need to quickly dispose of these two fake controllers down the mountain. I'll have plenty of time to hide and then completely erase the evidence from existence with all this confusion going on. Maybe they will think that a killer came in from the outside? Some special gear to unlock the window, then lock it from the outside? Matters not. Rest is hell, old friend.

 

[Arkus86]

Reminds me of Hercule Poirot's Christmas

------------------

Penelope is John's illegitimate child. He left her poor mother when she became pregnant, leaving her with some meagre shush money. Penelope's mother soon after married someone so she would not be a single mother rising a child on minimal income, so Penelope got her stepfather's last name and John did not realise she's his daughter. The affair remained secret, until the mother told Penelope on her deathbed who her father is, though not what kind of person.

After that, Penelope wanted to know what her real father was like, so she got employed as his nurse and maid - and over time learned just how much of a douchebag he is. So being the psychopath she is, hiding behind a mask of gentle beauty and kindness, she starts plotting his demise and the celebration presented the opportunity.

She injected him with enough adrenaline to induce overdose when she was supposed to give him another drug (I assume there is a reason he needs a nurse) and when it set in, started monologuing about her revenge. When he tried to crawl away and find help, she stabbed him in the back, with a knife that just about everyone touched that evening.

Then she got out of the room through the window after locking the door from inside and closed the window with a string attached to the latch/handle. She makes sure to remove the string in the confusion and panic as they find the body.

 

[LilTV1155]

He didn't hire the former policeman. He just invited him to the party out of the blue.

Yes, a big question, isn't it? Why would he invite the officer who arrested him? The answer is, he just thought it would be fun to screw with the one dude who dared arrest him.

Or the cop wasn't invited at all.
To be fair, the V screwed up almost eveyone life I think.

Let summarize that V's bad history. A huge majority is based on assumptions.

- Assaulted a HS girl (Who?)
- Got arrested by cop for assault
- Divorced from SH's sister, had fallout with SH
- - Likely to be cheating with one or more women
- Rich = money drama
- Playboy = Love trouble
- Douchebag = Asshole miser who like to trample the lower classes or the weak
- Rich + Playboy + Douchebag = Potentially spoiled childhood or money corrupted = Potential involvements with embezzlement/ fraud/sex crimes (may have been covered up)
- Killed after giving Christmas gifts at party one night
** Christmas gifts or "repentant" speech strongly agitate Suspects
.
.
Just a question. Victim was killed in his bedroom correct? Or whose room was it?
.
Victim killed trying to escape toward door
= Ambush setup / fear of someone he know
.
But one thing really bug me is the victim's posture. It's like he got stabbed out of surprise than fear.
So what was position of Victim's left hand?
We gonna need height of the suspects too.
How tall is Victim?

 

[K5Rakitan]

Can one of the murder weapons be a condom?