365 Days of Jazz Hands - Day 222

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10th, 2013

Case Study #3

It is probably worth noting that today marks the two-thirds anniversary of 365 Days of Jazz Hands.  This fact alone is worthy of some hearty hand jazzing.  It is a beautiful Saturday morning, coffee in hand, exciting new adventures in the foreground, the weather looks quite accommodating and above all else, we have arrived at day two-hundred and twenty-two in one piece.

Although there is something electric in the air, ripe with potential, this day begins just as most do with standard ritual behaviors such as coffee drinking and jazzing hands and writing the documentation of said jazzing hands.  How many other days begin like most others, but transition into nothing short of extraordinary or catastrophic?  

Just ask Becky and Keith.

Our final case study that I present to you likely takes place on a day that begins just like any other, possibly full of coffee, commutes and potential.  The events to follow, however, severely deviate from the mean, fitting squarely within the realm of extraordinary and/or catastrophic.

Unfortunately, as many unsolved cases go, we have nobody to call Our Hero, nor do we have anyone to consider Our Villain.  I will leave to you the responsibility of determining who Our Criminal is...but you should know, all we have for now are two people known as Our Potential Suspects...and it is a messy affair, to say the least.

I will spare you some of the arbitrary specifics, but the following is what we know regarding the case thus far:

Authorities arrive to the scene of a crime, responding to an emergency call from an office building in the middle of a day that began much like any other.  What they find is a considerable amount of blood, and evidence of a struggle...but not much else.

This particular case is defined just as much by what they do not find than by what they do.  What they do not find at the scene are victims.  Moreover, there are no witnesses of any sort.  

Authorities consider this a missing persons case as much as anything else, as two co-workers are completely unaccounted for, save for an adequate amount of blood for one of them to have completely bled to death, or both of them to bleed out enough to be rendered completely incapacitated.  As we already know, it takes the loss of approximately three pints of blood for one full-sized human being to lose consciousness.  In this particular case, there is at least six pints found splattered and pooled about the relatively confined space.

Investigators can only surmise that one of the missing persons is Our Villain, and one Our Hero.  They suspect that one or both have lost a significant amount of blood, and if there is a trail to be found, there is sure to be a victim at the end of it.

Therein lies the problem.  There does not seem to be a trail.

Here are the relevant specifics:

A large group of coworkers depart for a holiday lunch outing, depleting an entire department for an extended period of time, save for two employees that stay behind for reasons unknown.  Perhaps they have a pile of work to accomplish, perhaps they are anti-social, perhaps they do not adhere to the beliefs of said holiday and prefer to abstain from celebrating the occasion.  

Upon returning from the lunch outing, the two employees that refrained from participation are missing, in their stead large quantities of blood, and evidence of an apparent struggle.  

The bloodmess is contained within one modestly scaled employee commons area, where computers are still humming along and music is still softly playing in the background.  Although there is a single set of bloodied shoe prints leading to the exit door, that's where they cease.  Based on the visual evidence it's possible, but not certain, that the owner of the prints has been injured, or is perhaps carrying something heavy, based on the irregular walking pattern left behind.

Outside of the office walls you would not be aware of anything horrific occurring within.  Due to the lack of population throughout the duration of the potential crime, nobody heard a sound or saw a thing.  This is the result of either extreme calculation or impeccable timing, or both.  Even if there were a stray janitor somewhere in the building, this particular department is isolated in a way that there is nothing unusual regarding the lack of witnesses.

Both of the missing employees' vehicles still sit in the parking lot of the place of business, with nothing unusual found within either of them.  There are surveillance cameras placed throughout the facility, but like many surveillance systems, are strictly decoration, and in place to persuade outsiders from wrong doing.  They are, of course, useless in this investigation and are commonly referred to as an inside joke amongst employees.  There is no evidence of any form of weapon at the scene of the alleged crime, no apparent motive for violence between the two missing employees, or much else for that matter.

What do we have here, a murder?  A murder-suicide?  An accident?  Was there self-defense involved?  All signs point to foul play of some sort, but authorities can't justly consider it anything other than a missing persons case, with a great potential for a violent crime with two possibly dangerous suspects.  If one is found alive, we have likely found ourselves Our Criminal, unless of course a third, unknown party is involved somehow.  Nothing can be ruled out at this point.

That's your case, detective.  If any additional information is revealed, you'll be informed of it.

Based on the information, do you have any ideas at all?

This is the type of case that makes a crime scene investigator drool, much like a meteorologist masturbates in the face of a perfect storm.  It's a puzzle without all of the pieces, which is a challenge to even the most hardened, experienced forensic scientists.  The hope is that there are pieces that will be revealed through proper examination and patience.  Our missing villain, whichever missing employee it turns out to be, is bound to have slipped up somewhere along the way.  

Today's Jazz Hands celebrate our two-thirds anniversary and a good old fashion mystery!

Day one-hundred and twenty-two complete.