Case #8: Missing robes

[JaFanatic]

There was finally a smooth west wind that plumped the sails of our vessel and carried us beyond what the rowers could have done on their own. When the order came to stack oars, relief was felt beyond the galley itself. Regardless of what people say, it is a difficult thing to hear those cries and moans. And, I think, it rather takes away from our civilizing mission on these Crusades. Or, maybe I worry too much. Anyway, this journal will be safe from prying eyes. Except for Captain Fosters – he’s the only one on the crew who can read. I would doubt that many of the passengers had either the capacity or the interest to read -- certainly not Sir Francis Walters, the leader of this expedition! He prides himself on leaving that sort of thing to Morgan Grant, his clerk. I don’t like him much, I must confess. Imagine taking a first name! His clerk surely puts on airs. Only the quality needs that distinction, in this year of Our Lord 1204. After so many adventures, it was good to finally board a solid English ship once again, thanks to our expedition leader, Sir Francis Walters. He had sent mounted messengers, and arranged for us to be met at Zara along the coast, not far from our victory a year or two ago. Now at least it was safe for an English ship to sail in these waters. I wonder how long that will last. Some may say that our quest was a failure in any event, since we never got to Jerusalem, or anywhere near it. Others say we accomplished our purpose, which was the settling of accounts in Constantinople. Still, it is bothersome that we sacked the greatest city in Christendom, and left the heirs of Saladin alone! That Italian Doge, Enrico Dandolo, was responsible. He had enemies, and we needed his shipping. But I am getting ahead of myself. From Zara we had sailed due west, then taken in fresh supplies at Sicily, paid for with good English gold (taken from the treasury at Constantinople, I must admit). We rounded the sea-lanes past Gibraltar, and were now headed due north, towards England and home.It is odd to think that all of this happened just yesterday. We were taking back to UK, for installation at Canterbury Cathedral, a precious and ancient Robe of the Saints, said by some to have been worn by saints of the early church. It was plain as it has no fancy embroidery of any sort. It was widely assumed that this robe could cure any wound. That was why everyone believes it to be more precious than the other robes, both plain and festooned with precious gems. These fancy robes had been taken to England to safeguard of course. When the chest was first placed on board, it was opened by Godefroy, a villein used for heavy work (requiring muscles and no brain). That was we get a glimpse of the priceless objects contained therein. Each robe had a paper that gave its history and greatness. I got to admit that those Byzantines were certainly scholarly. The robes were then replaced in their proper order by Godefroy, and stored in a massive chest that was stowed in the ship’s hold, and watched over by Godefroy. In this case, he was put in charge to frighten away anyone who might be curious about it. But he clearly failed in his task, and under the lash, gave the following information.His supper had been placed on the floor of the hold as usual, but his candle had guttered out, and he didn’t see who had served it. He smelled the food, relit his candle, and ate and drank. Shortly afterwards, he had fallen fast asleep. When he woke, some hours later, he felt drugged. He saw that the chains on the chest were unfastened, and fearing theft, he had summoned the guard. In the presence of Sir Francis Walters, Morgan Grant and myself, the chest was opened. Morgan Grant looked at each cloth robe that was in the chest, one by one. One robe was missing: the Robe of the Saints. We knew one thing, of course, that the Robe of the Saints was still on board ship. We had not docked since the theft. That information, however, did us precious little good, since the plain robe looked like any other ordinary robe, of which there were dozens on board. But the real one, of course, was of great value. Sir Francis asked me to look into the matter -- discreetly, of course. Smelling the mug, I could detect a peculiar odor, bitter and unpleasant. It smelled like that overpowering herb that the enemy uses to induce dreams and reduce pain when surgery is needed. I’ll say this for the enemy in the privacy of this journal - I’d rather be treated by one of their surgeons than by one of our own! Then all through today I discreetly, as requested, traced the movements of everyone on board, both the crew of 12 and the 41 passengers. The galley rowers I excluded, as they were locked into their galley room, even when not rowing. It would have taken a revolt for them to roam around the ship, and that had not happened. In the end, nearly everyone, including myself, had kept company at the time that Godefroy was given his supper. So everyone could prove, by someone else, his innocence. That included myself, I am relieved to note. Everyone except three people, that is: Captain Fosters, Sir Francis Walters and Morgan Grant. Captain Fosters told me that since it was a rocky sail in the early evening that he had stayed in his own cabin. “You have no idea how inconvenient it is to use a peg leg in a storm, m’boy, and I hope for your sake you never find out!†he said. Morgan Grant spent most of the evening in private prayer. A devout man, he confessed to me that he was terrified of stormy weather at sea, and he prayed that the ship would ride out the storm. Sir Francis looked at me with scorn, and with rum on his breath, said: “I got drunk, that’s what I did - that’s what anyone with a grain of sense would do in a storm at sea, you blockhead!†“That’s all right, Sir Francis,†I said. “I know who stole the Robe of the Saints. And I am sure that with persuasive methods, you will soon have it back where it belongs, with the other robes in the chest.â€

Use spoiler tags for your answers guys :icflove: Case #7: A murder in the family

[moniker]

Easy one this.

The suspects are captain Fosters, Sir Walters and Morgan Grant. The rest either had alibis or were locked in (the rowers). Among the suspects only the captain and the Morgan Grant knew how to read. Since the robe looked like any other robe, without reading the paper that came with the robes the culprit couldn't have known which robe is the "Robe of the Saints". Among these two, the captain was one-legged and couldn't have made it through the storm to go and steal the robe. That leaves Morgan Grant.

[JaFanatic]

Anyone ?

[BlueBee]

What is this game?

[helperononline]

Captain Fosters he stole it because he felt it would cure his broken leg ( robe can cure any wounds ) and also he can read makes it easy for him to steal that particular robe

[JaFanatic]

What is this game?

Read the case and find out what actually happened!

[helperononline]

OP better post the answer and start a new case

[JaFanatic]

OP better post the answer and start a new case

I'll post the next one when someone solves this case seems posters are more interested in the murder cases! Let me post a small story for you which I found somewhere but dont ask me for the solution for that one I've no idea :P

[JaFanatic]

Here you go..

When the detective arrived he found a corpse, and a gun. Both were in the master bedroom. Both were cold. The maid told him she’d heard the shot, and upon going upstairs, had found the man, her boss, dead, and had promptly called 911.That was at 7 o’clock at night. The wife had not arrived home until 8 p.m., nearly. She had been, she said, jogging. They had called her cell phone, but then found it in the bedroom, charging, the ring alerting them to the phone’s presence. The detective found no bullet holes in the bedroom, which was all the more curious given that the dead man had not been shot, making the gunshot’s meaning more a mystery. The maid had been, she said, cleaning up after the children's dinner when she heard the gun go off. The man's glass of brandy had poison in it, and of course that was what had killed him. The man, the children said, had poured his own brandy, just after watching the news. He had gone upstairs to change, as he was expected at his weekly poker game that night, a game he would have left for around 7:30. The children, too, had heard the gunshot. Too little to really know what it was, they had, heading, frightened, down the front stairs, run into the maid, heading up them, apparently feeling the same. None of these facts made the man's death less a riddle, mused the detective.

[moniker]

I'll post the next one when someone solves this case seems posters are more interested in the murder cases! Let me post a small story for you which I found somewhere but dont ask me for the solution for that one I've no idea :P

You find any flaw in my solution? Looks pretty straightforward. :dontknow:

[dial_100]

Wife was going for Jogging after dinner??? that's a big flag. So wife poisoned the drink and killed the husband. She went out and fired the shot and went on her jogging trail. Because it was fired on the first floor, Maid herd it loud enough but kids heard a faint shot. Kids were upstairs because they came running down after hearing the shot. Maid was cleaning the dinner table after dinner.

[JaFanatic]

Anyone ??

You find any flaw in my solution? Looks pretty straightforward. :dontknow:

That was a good try though :good:

[JaFanatic]

@dial100:

There was no bullets found in the bedroom and the gun they found there was cold so, definitely the gunshot sound was not from the master bedroom. Yes, jogging at 7 p.m does look suspicious!