MYSTERY SOLVED!

PRESS RELEASE:

Breaking News – Patti O’Tooles Identified as The Nightingale, Notorious Jewel Thief and Fugitive

July 27, Pickerington, OH – Chief Cheney, Pickerington Police Department, in cooperation with Interpol Inspector Foyle D. Steele, made a globally impactful arrest. For decades, no one has been able to identify the international jewel thief known as The Nightingale…until now.

After an exhaustive investigation, with the help of the community and amateur sleuths, the two investigative bodies have uncovered the identity of The Nightingale, found the priceless and stolen Empress’ Heart, and arrested a murderer.

The murder of Robin Berry escalated the investigation into the jewel thief, and suspects in the Pickerington community were vast and varied.

First, Jewels “JJ” Joplin (Janis Francis), the owner of The Humble Crate Artisan Marketplace, was considered. A bag of considerable cash—in a Humble Crate bag—was found in the victim’s car at the crime scene. It turns out, JJ was operating an illegal poker game in the back of her shop, and Robin was her partner and the community bookie. Was Robin paying JJ a fair cut? Was she looking to become a “Sole Proprietorship”?

Fortunately for JJ, she was seen walking to her shop from Combustion Brewery during the timeframe Robin Berry was killed. And the cops were on to her backroom poker games. They had her under surveillance!

Roger Picket (Dave King), owner of Capitol Fence, had enough gambling debts to make killing Roger and his IOU worthwhile, plus the added benefit of managing the Pickerington Lions Club's money from Robin's life insurance policy. But even though Roger may play the fool now and then, he isn’t dumb enough to use his own fence post as a murder weapon. Instead, he resorted to blackmail, trying to extort the full amount of his debt from Patti O’Tooles after seeing her break into customers’ homes.

Tank Waterson (Mike Matheny), owner of Ohio Water Heaters, was alibied out due to his love of strawberry shortcake from Bob’s Backyard Barbeque. Robin was drugged at Combustion during or after the Chamber Networking event, and since Tank skipped it, he was off the hook for murder. Although, Chief Cheney will be shutting down the moonshine enterprise he has doing with Swifty Speedwell. They were transporting the illegal elixir in water heater tanks and couriered via Swifty’s fleet of trucks.

Swifty Speedwell (John Woodruff), owner of TimeSavers Courier, was outed as a true Taylor Swift fan by Rags 2 Riches. This “Swiftie” disliked the murder victim…especially after his “Hurt By A Truck” campaign, which made him look Guilty as Sin. But he was seen trying to get his souvenir map back from Danilets Detailing who stole it out of his rig. Look at what they made him do!

It was revealed that Cash Payton (Marc McTeague), owner of SeibertKeck Insurance Partners, needs to abandon his insurance fraud schemes, and maybe with Robin Berry gone, he’ll be less tempted to live a life of crime. But Danielle at Ruby Joy Boutique witnessed him doing some window shopping between Combustion and Violet Community Fitness during the time of the murder.

Scarlet W. Kaplan (Cathy Frederick), ServPro - Fairfield County, has since entered the Federal Witness Protection Program. She realized her “family” wasn’t doing her any favors, and once she learned the island in the Hudson River was fake, she was tired of being taken advantage of…and tired of cleaning up after others.

Summer Holmes (Susie Braskett) of Coldwell Banker Realty, on the other hand, learned nothing from Bernie Madoff. Her greed and pride revealed her Ponzi scheme and uncovered the false marketing of an “island” in the Hudson River, for $31 million nonetheless. The evidence collected by Abel Financial Strategies and Ohio University Forensics Department got her sent to prison.

Finally, Patti O’Tooles (Jennifer Hewitt), owner of Columbus Hardscapes, to her detriment, let Roger Picket see her superior lock-picking skills. It was then discovered that she robbed the veterinarian office of Ketamine, drugged Robin Berry at Combustion Brewery, lured him to the Depot with an invisible inked note, donned a wig to hide her signature red hair, stabbed him joust-style with a fence picket, and managed to drive him away…in Robin’s car. Then, upon seeing the cops on routine rounds, was spooked into wrecking into City Hall where she escaped on foot.

Some of her MO is oddly similar to the crime in Lark County. Law Enforcement suspects the skeletal remains discovered there belonged to one of Patti’s crew during the theft of the Empress’ Heart. Somehow, he ended up incarcerated for a stint, and when he got out, he came looking for Patti and his cut. She had to eliminate him and buried him in concrete.

Investigators discovered that Robin Berry was very close to discovering Patti's true identity as The Nightingale, and then she'd be connected to the murder in Lark County. Patti couldn’t give any of her crew a cut because she never intended to sell this long-lost family jewel. The murder of Robin was to preserve her current identity and way of life.

And what about the Empress’ Heart…? Patti’s maiden name is Robinson, distant relative of the jeweler/postmaster John Robinson from the 1900s (as reported by the Historical Society) who “dropped” the Empress’ Heart in the mail during World War II. Finding this brightly shining diamond was so important to her, it was her undoing. Chief Cheney arrested Ms. O’Tooles on the spot.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first Pickerington Murder Mystery Night. Best Team Costume went to team Replanted, who won trophies and four $25 gift cards to Ruby Joy Boutique.

Detective CJ and the Crew were named the Best Team of Sleuths, and they won trophies, four $25 gift cards to Ruby Joy Boutique, four $20 gift certificates to Humble Crate, and a four-person bike and kayak tour at Buckeye Lake from 3XP Tours.

Thank you again to all of our sponsors and everyone who participated!

See the chamber's Facebook page and Pickerington Online for additional info and photos: https://pickeringtononline.com/photos-chamber-murder-mystery/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FIRST CLUE/RIDDLE to SOLVE

What runs around the whole yard without moving?
Hint: Suspect Roger Pickett (shown below) might know the answer... (Stumped? Scroll to bottom to see answer).