THE SOLUTION
The killer is Heather Stone. Several steps of deduction and analysis of the evidence are required to reach this conclusion and solve the case, as follows:
To reach the conclusion that Stone is the killer, an analysis of the evidence looking at the means, motive, and opportunity of each suspect will lead to the determination that only Heather Stone could be the murderer.
Greta Bellamy
The evidence initially casts some suspicion on Greta Bellamy. She had some interest in the Alice in Wonderland stories and lore as evidenced by her attendance at the Alice! Exhibit opening event. She is skilled at costume creation and passionate about collecting vintage clothing from various eras, and could have easily produced the costume used by the killer to stage the body of Danica Hill at the crime scene. However, the evidence does not provide a strong motive for Bellamy to want to kill Danica Hill. Finally, the evidence shows that Bellamy is the easiest suspect to eliminate as the possible murderer. The autopsy report prepared by Dr. Candido Soto states that the trajectory of the wounds done to the victim’s body indicate a right handed-attacker. Bellamy’s suspect profile indicates she is left-handed. Based on this analysis, Bellamy can be ruled out as a suspect in the case.
Dr. Elizabeth March
Dr. March is psychiatrist who is an expert in delusional disorders and authored several papers on the psychological implications of fantasy worlds, including a renowned paper on “Alice in Wonderland.” She also attended the Alice! Exhibition opening. March’s suspect profile also states that “March’s fascination with ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is more than academic. She has a room in her house dedicated to Alice memorabilia and often draws parallels between the fantasy world and real-life psychological cases.” March herself provides insights into the motivations and mindset of the killer. In her interview, March opines that “the killer may be motivated by a desire for revenge against their victim for some type of perceived substantial wrongdoing against them or someone close to them. In their distorted view, the murder is a form of retribution for this perceived wrongdoing. As far as the delusional and fantasy element to the crime, they may have fixated on the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland as a coping mechanism. They might have begun to identify with the Mad Hatter, a character known for ties to a world where traditional rules don't apply.” Since the protocols for the investigation indicate that evidence in the case should be accepted as factual unless contradicted by other evidence, we should accept Dr. March’s conclusions about the killer as an expert psychiatrist as true.
The evidence at first appears to suggest Dr. March could be the killer due to her keen interest in Alice in Wonderland and her disturbing and detailed account of the mindset of the killer. She is clearly very intelligent and could have carried out the planning required to commit the murder and stage the crime scene. However, a closer examination of the case file reveals that Dr. March can be ruled out as a suspect. She does not seem to have a clear motive that would lead her to commit murder. Although the evidence suggests that the victim had an affair with a married man, there is no evidence indicating that it was with Dr. March’s husband. Dr. March states that the killer would be motivated by a perceived wrongdoing done to them, but the evidence does not provide a compelling set of facts that indicate Dr. March perceived she was wronged by Danica Hill in any manner that would lead her to commit murder.
Finally, the evidence shows that Dr. March has an alibi that rules her out as the killer. Although her whereabouts are unknown during the time of the murder (as stated in the autopsy report which indicates the time of Hill’s death was on Feb. 9 between 9:30 and 10:00 pm), she does have an alibi for the time period that the Special Investigator was attacked by the killer during the beginning of the investigation. At Location #1 in the Casebook, the Special Investigator is attacked and nearly knocked unconscious by the killer. The killer leaves behind a scrambled, torn note that, when reassembled in proper order, contains quotes from the Alice in Wonderland stories and challenges the investigator to determine their identity, stating: “We’re all mad here, but who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.” The Casebook further states that the Special Investigator noted the date and time of this attack: Feb. 11 at 9:18 pm. March has an alibi. In her interview, Greta Bellamy stated that she saw Dr. March and her husband at Varian’s restaurant “last night,” that March was present at the restaurant when Bellamy arrived at 9:00 pm, and March was still there when Bellamy left after finishing her meal. The date of Bellamy’s interview was Feb. 12, indicating that Dr. March was at Varian’s restaurant on Feb. 11 during the time that the Special Investigator was attacked by the killer. Dr. March can be ruled out as a suspect.
Simon Lovelace
Lovelace also appears at first to be a viable suspect in the case. He had a romantic relationship with Danica Hill who had a reputation for volatile relationships with men. Greta Bellamy suggested in her interview that Lovelace was “a strange guy” and that she heard “he was a bit of a stalker.” We also know from the text messages between Hill and her co-worker David that Hill believed she was being stalked in the days before her murder. Although the evidence does not identify Lovelace as the culprit, Hill had also been assaulted by someone she was dating and had a black eye as a result. The evidence seems to cast suspicion on Lovelace as someone who may have had motive and a history of stalking behavior.
However, careful examination of the evidence in the case file also reveals that Lovelace could not be the killer. In Sonya Larsen’s interview, she stated that Simon Lovelace plays the role of Billy Flynn in the stage production of Chicago by the Fortunato Players and was “a big hit with the crowd.” An advertisement in the newspaper for Chicago indicates that the show opened on Feb. 9 at 8:30 pm. Since Lovelace was performing at the Chicago opening during the time period that Danica Hill was killed, he cannot be the killer.
Lucas Grey
Grey is a bookseller and owns an antiquarian bookshop in Forrest City. He owns a prized and rare first edition of “Alice in Wonderland.” He admitted in his interview to having “a substantial interest in the works of Lewis Carroll and the Alice in Wonderland stories.” Grey had a romantic relationship with the victim and, according to witness Candace Brady, became extremely angry when she left him for a younger man. Brady also made observations about Grey including: “I’ve never seen him get violent. But every now and then I see these flashes of anger. His eyes get so cold and hard. And for just a moment, it’s scary. Then it's like a mask drops down over his face — over his emotions — and he’s normal again.” Grey had a viable motive, and the comments about his demeanor by Brady cast him in a suspicious light.
But further examination of the evidence reveals that Grey could not have been the killer. In her interview with the Special Investigator, reporter Julia Silver revealed that Lucas Grey attended an exhibition at the Springhill Gallery called “Urban Landscapes” and purchased two photographs. Silver’s source clarified that Grey was present for the entire event. This gives Grey an alibi for Hill’s murder. An article in the newspaper states that the “Urban Landscapes” exhibition occurred on Feb. 9 from 8:00 pm until 10:00 pm. Since Grey was present at the Springhill Gallery when Danica Hill was killed, he cannot be the murderer.
Heather Stone
Stone is the only suspect who cannot be ruled out as the killer based on an alibi or other critical facts (such as the killer being right-handed). She had the means and opportunity to murder Danica Hill. But what was her motive? Careful deductions based on the evidence in the case file reveal Stone’s likely motive to commit the crime.
Dr. March stated in her interview that the “the killer may be motivated by a desire for revenge against their victim for some type of perceived substantial wrongdoing against them or someone close to them. In their distorted view, the murder is a form of retribution for this perceived wrongdoing.”
The newspaper states that “Stone's sister was killed a year ago in a hit-and-run accident.” The evidence also reveals that about a year ago, Danica Hill was involved some type of an accident that left her with injuries. In Lucas Grey’s interview, he stated that he met Hill at physical rehab where she was receiving therapy for the injury to her wrist. Greta Bellamy stated in her interview that Hill had a history of driving while intoxicated and “smashed up her car” more than once.
We do not know for sure that Danica Hill was the person who struck and killed Heather Stone’s sister. The evidence certainly suggests that as a likely possibility. Stone may have concluded that Hill was responsible for her sister’s death. This would provide Stone with motive to take revenge against Hill. As stated by Dr. March in her interview, the killer likely committed the murder as retribution for a perceived wrongdoing. But even if Stone wasn’t 100% certain that Hill caused the death of Stone’s sister, it may not have mattered.
The body of Danica Hill was staged in an elaborate costume including a white dress, veil, and gloves, with white contact lenses in her eyes. When Professor August O’Neal was interviewed, he stated that the White Queen in “Through the Looking Glass’ explained to Alice that “punishments are unequivocally good, whether someone committed a crime or not.”
Dr. March opined that the killer “will almost certainly have a history of psychiatric illness, most likely having experienced some psychotic episodes concurrently with the symptoms of whatever form of mental illness they have, probably something like a narcissistic personality disorder.” In her dark mental state, the killer, Heather Stone, likely believed that Danica Hill was responsible for the death of her sister, and exacted the ultimate form of revenge against Hill. But even if she wasn’t 100% certain, Hill, who had a history of drunk driving, was deserving of such punishment in Stone's twisted mind.
Criminal behavior experts tell us that people who commit murder do so for very specific reasons, such as greed, envy, fear, and revenge. In many ways, those who choose to kill are just like you. They are just like me. We are all motivated at times against the better angels of our nature by greed, envy, fear, and revenge. But what makes some of us choose to cross the rubicon — to choose to step beyond the fantasies of committing murder — and take that final, terrible step into darkness to take the life of another human being?
Heather Stone, immersed in delusions and fixated on the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland, took on the persona of the Mad Hatter, to whom traditional rules do not apply, and became an avenger, taking the life of Danica Hill as retribution for her transgressions. Revenge and retribution, subsumed within the dark and delusional fantasy world in Heather Stone’s mind, drove her to commit the murder of Danica Hill, killing her with a hat pin and staging her body as the White Queen surrounded by imagery from the fantastical wonderland of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
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