January is murder mystery month at Kathi Daley Books. The next two blogs will contain a mini mystery for you to solve. Please enter your answer in the rafflecopter and not in the comment section. We wouldn’t want everyone to have the advantage of your superior sleuthing skills.

Answer to last weeks puzzle. All three of Rita’s victims had motive to kill Rita. All admitted that they had visited the flower shop on the night of the murder and none had alibis. In spite of having three strong suspects Ryan believed he had his killer. The assistant said that Rita stayed late and that the killer had not needed keys to get in because she would have left the door open. He also stated that Rita possessed the only set of keys but the door was locked when the assistant arrived the next morning so it made sense that the killer locked up when he left. The assistant admitted to opening up the shop in the morning therefore he had the keys and therefore must be the killer.

Mini Mystery #3

Detective Lopez dispatched to a murder at a local insurance office. When she arrived she was greeted by Lola Upton, the secretary of the murder victim Paul Brandywine.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Lopez asked Lola.

“I came in to work as I do every morning and found Mr. Brandywine dead on the floor. I called 911 and then waited for you to arrive. I didn’t touch anything.”

“When was the last time you spoke to him?”

“Four days ago. He called me when he landed at the airport. He wanted to check on the name of his hotel. The man is certainly absentminded. Normally he will call in every day while he is away but for some reason he didn’t call after the first time during this trip.”

“And where did he fly to for the conference?”

“Vegas. Which is probably why he didn’t call. Between you and me the man has a bit of a gambling problem.”

“Do you have any idea who might of wanted him dead?”

“I have a pretty good idea. Mr. Brandywine was a nice enough boss but he was a snake of a man. He was engaged to three women. Can you believe it? Three?”

“Do you have the names of these women?”

“Certainly. I made a list. I figured you’d want to speak to them.”

Detective Lopez looked at the list. There were three names followed by three phone numbers and addresses. The three names were Gloria, Amanda, and Polly.

“Do you have a reason to believe that any of these women would have wanted Mr. Brandywine dead?”

“All of them. Like I said, the man was a snake. He made all these women believe they were his one and only, but if you ask me the man has never been faithful a day in his life.”

Detective Lopez left the insurance office and visited all three women. Gloria testified that she’d known Paul for seven months and had been engaged to him for six. They planned to marry in just five weeks. The last time she’d seen him was six days ago when he left for a business trip to Vegas. She claimed that she was unaware of any other women in her fiancé’s life.”

Amanda testified that she had known Paul for five months and had been engaged for three. They planned to marry in two months. The last time she’d seen him was five days ago when he left for a business trip to Vegas. She claimed that she was unaware of any other women in her fiancé’s life.

Polly testified that she had known Paul for over a year since she was a client. They’d always got along but never dated. They ran into each other in Vegas three days ago, hit it off, and decided to marry the following weekend. The last time she’d seen Paul was that morning when he’d told her he was going to the office to clear his calendar so they could take a week long honeymoon. She claimed that she was aware of the other women in his life but that he promised to break things off with all of them.

Who killed Paul and why do you suspect this person?

Enter your answer in the rafflecopter. I will randomly choose one winner to receive a $15 Amazon Gift Card.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/df645d05183/?

The answer to this mini mystery will be included in next weeks issue of the blog.