Do you have what it takes to catch the killer?

Our local modern day alchemist and co-proprietor of The Painted Stave was closing up Camp Wannadrinkawhiskey late one night when at 9:37 PM, he stepped out back to dump the trash and lock up for the night.

By 9:45, he was dead.

The weapon: something thin and sharp, taken to his neck, and still there glinting under the parking lot’s light as the police arrived.

No noise, no struggle.

Just silence, blood, and suspicion.

Now, all eyes are on the only two people who could have done it:

two coworkers who claim they never left the building, with two versions of the night that don’t quite match up.

One of them is lying.

Both are still nursing their closing drink.

Take a sip of what they’re having while you try to catch the killer.

It might just be your last.

Sarah’s Alibi

Statement taken by Detective Jinn, 10:45pm.

JINN: So, closing time?

SARAH: 9:00pm, I was bartendending up front. We had stragglers until about 9:10. As they were leaving, I was cleaning up like normal. Door was locked, sign was flipped to closed. We shut off the music at nine to give them a clue but it usually takes a bit to get everyone moving and out at the end of the night.

JINN: Where were you once the final guest left the building?

SARAH: Well, we were running bit of a skeleton crew today. Seems a bit morbid now calling it that in retrospect. It was just Katelyn, Ron, and I, so after I finished cleaning up the bar as usual, I moved on to putting up the stools in the gallery space. Usually we have at least one more set of hands, if not more, to help out closing down so I figured we had a bit of a ways to go before we were done for the night.

JINN: So this wasn’t a normal night for you?

SARAH: Oh no. More than two others called out today and no one was able to cover. Apparently, the summer “ick” is going around again.

JINN: So what time were you done with clearing the gallery?

SARAH: Uh, it must’ve been around 9:40?

JINN: And what was Katelyn and Ron doing at this time?

SARAH: Katelyn was serving tonight, so she was in charge of cleaning the patio and bathrooms, and of course helping with the dishes when she was done since we didn’t have a dishwasher tonight. Ron had been keeping on top of the dishes all night so he was in the back room washing dishes as far as I know. When he was done, he would’ve come out and cleared out the drawer to tip us out and thank us for the night like usual, but he never came back up to the front.

JINN: Did you see Ron leave the building at all as you were cleaning up?

SARAH: No, I didn’t.

JINN: But the back room’s door and the side door are visible from the gallery space?

SARAH: Yes. But I can’t see them easily when I’m at the front bar, and he could’ve left while my back was turned. I was doing my job ya know, Ron’s a real stickler for a clean place when we end for the night. If we leave with dirty floors, we WILL hear about it.

JINN: So, Ron’s a tough boss to please?

SARAH: He has… high cleaning expectations that… occasionally get missed.

JINN: Did you hear any unusual sounds or see anything in the time that Ron was unaccounted for?

SARAH: No, the bar gets pretty quiet once the music stops and people leave for the night. I heard a bit of noise early on from the back room, but it was just the normal dishwashing sounds so I didn’t pay it any mind. Katelyn was outside so it was all around pretty quiet. She tends to be the one that projects better.

JINN: So who found the body?

SARAH: Kate did. She was taking the trash out from the patio and I heard her shout.

JINN: So you went out?

SARAH: Yeah of course I went out, she screamed. What if she was being grabbed or something? We joke about it I know but still… Are we done here yet?

JINN: We’ll try to have this wrapped up as soon as we can. If you have anything else for us, I’ll just be over there.

Katelyn’s Alibi

Statement taken by Deputy Rhumrunner, 10:43pm.

DEPUTY R.: What did the end of the night look like for you? Start from when your last guest left.

KATELYN: My last guest left at about 8:45 off the patio. I had cashed everyone out at last call and most of them got up and left right after. Since there wasn’t anyone left in the gallery space or patio, I started clearing and cleaning.

DEPUTY R.: Do you have a timeline for what you did?

KATELYN: Uh, I started with the gallery, at about 8:45. Cleared and wiped down the tables and sent the dishes to the back to Ron to be washed. Set the water bottles over to the side to be taken care of all at once later. Then I moved outside to the patio at about 9:07? Same thing, clearing dishes, wiping everything down, sent the dishes back to Ron.

DEPUTY R.: Ron was still in the back at this time?

KATELYN: Yup, still washing. Dishes never seem to end here. Just when you think you’re done, BAM, more dishes. And with the specials this week, one of the drinks have these tiny picks that we have to clean and reuse on top of the usual glasses. Absolute vibe killer. Anyway, so I was back outside, tipping chairs,

DEPUTY R.: When was this?

KATELYN: Around 9:20ish? So I got all the chairs tipped up, then had to turn off the fire pit and take out the trash on the patio. I was done by about 9:30ish? I still had to get to the bathrooms.

DEPUTY R.: Where was Sarah while this was happening?

KATELYN: She was cleaning the front bar, taking her damn sweet time with the regulars up front.

DEPUTY R.: And once they left?

KATELYN: She put up the chairs in the gallery and gathered up the trash there. She must have started to fill up the water bottles as well. Some of them were back in the fridge, but I totally heard one of them break on the floor while we were cleaning up.

DEPUTY R.: When did you hear the sound?

KATELYN: Oh, probably around 9:22.

DEPUTY R.: When you finished outside, you did what?

KATELYN: Rounded up all the trash and took it all out the side door. That’s when I saw Ron on the ground. Of course, I didn’t KNOW it was Ron when I first saw it.

DEPUTY R.: Did you see anything else around? Anybody else around the body or any noises?

KATELYN: I didn’t see anyone else, the parking lot was empty except for our cars. There was some recycling around him, looked like he got caught taking it out. There was broken glass from some bottles all over the place. Do you think that he was killed with something glass?

DEPUTY R.: There doesn’t seem to be any glass on his body. Cause of death is suspected to be from something else. Coroner is looking into it now and I’m not at liberty to give out speculation. Was there any other details of the night that you think may be of help in this investigation?

KATELYN: Nothing that I can think of.

Who do you think did it?

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