Can you solve a murder?

Are you an amateur sleuth in the making? Have a strong sense of justice? Want to make sure the bad guys and girls always pay for their crimes?

Then this mystery is for you!

Read this short murder mystery, pick out the clues, and catch the killer.

I'll give you all two weeks before revealing who did it (killer revealed in the comments on April 1.)

Summary of Victim

Beth Greenlee was thirty-three when she died. She’d had a busy day at the boutique tailoring store where she worked, but the day had been unremarkable.

She’d been killed with a single stab wound to her thigh at approximately nine-thirty in the evening, severing an artery. It was a cruel way to kill someone and it would have taken her several minutes to die.

Detective Brewster’s statement

The victim had been searched and all valuables were taken. Her coin purse, watch, and all jewelry was missing.

She was discovered leaning against a door in the alleyway behind the Opal Restaurant, her clothing muddied and her pantsuit bloody.

A pair of rubber gloves and a long, thin knife were discovered behind a trash can in the alley. These were covered in the victim’s blood.

There were green fibers on her pants and pink and orange lint bobbles were also found in the victim’s hair, suggesting it was something she worked with during her day as a boutique seamstress. No fibers of this description were located in the alley.

Questioning the local criminals and thieves revealed no useful information. There were no clear fingerprints inside the gloves.

Detective Brewster questions the suspects

SUSPECT 1: Bobbie Peters was released from jail three weeks ago, after serving time for robbery at knifepoint. He is thirty-three, five foot eight, prison muscular, and wore faded suit pants and a frayed green sweater. He isn’t a fan of law enforcement.

Although claiming not to have seen anything, he was seen in the area at the time of the murder, taking a walk alone. No one can vouch for his whereabouts.

SUSPECT 2: Michael Knight, currently of no fixed abode, is a young man of nineteen. Unemployed with a history of violence and excessive drinking. His favorite weapon is also a blade. A nervous man who made money by stealing metal and selling it to scrap dealers.

He visits the alleyways nightly to hunt for metal. He wore a mud brown suit and black boots. No one can vouch for his whereabouts.

SUSPECT 3: Jason Avon is forty with graying blond hair. A reformed thug, he was nervous when interviewed but claimed a demanding job as a chef and a new baby at home left him exhausted. He was interviewed at his place of work, and I can confirm the place was busy and he was shouted at several times.

He walked past the alley during his work break. He was alone. Jason has ample access to knives through his work and was dressed in his chef’s whites at the time of the murder.

Which one of these men killed the victim, and what evidence points to them?

Consider the following:

• Motive
• Opportunity
• Means

Did the chef need more money to support his family?

Did the homeless young man need money for more alcohol?

Did the newly released prisoner need money for food or drugs?

Did they all have access to a knife?

Comment below which clue sets Detective Brewster on the right path to find the killer!

CASE CLOSED! SKIP TO THE COMMENTS TO LEAVE A RESPONSE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ WHO DID IT RIGHT AWAY.

Well done to everyone who figured out it was suspect 1. The green fibers from the sweater were the giveaway. For those who sleuthed the answer, perhaps a new career as a private eye awaits