Crime Scene -

A lot of things bother me about this case. When a person (whether mentally unstable or not) confesses to a murder knowing that the death penalty is on the table, or if a suspect is cornered and knows there is no way out of the situation and doesn't want to go to jail, it is called "suicide by cop." They get someone else to do the job because they don't have the courage to do it themselves. Is Melvin's situation so bad that he thinks suicide is the answer? Question: If he is so eager to be arrested for the murder and wants to hurry up and be strapped to the table, so he says, then why did he wait 9 days before confessing to the crime? Wouldn't he have confessed when it happened if he was so proud of his work? Is he covering for someone?
There is apparently something going on with the "acquitted" note on Monica's desk. She was apparently looking back into the case for some reason.
I would like to know about the photos and who the people are that are in them. I think that may be an important clue.
Maybe we are trying to solve two crimes. Seems to me that they might be related. Do the photos have anything to do with the rape case? Was it her investigation into the rape case that got her killed?
Why won't is Rich talking to the blog? It doesn't make him look any better by talking to them and still not showing up. They should make him come back, vacation or no vacation.
I also want to interview the Mayor. There is something funny going on there as well. How is the Mayor involved in all this?

Anyone could clock him in and after a stroll around the store, he could have told them he was going to his office for a while. If he lived close enough to the store, he could have snuck back to his house, raped the girl and then returned to the store and went around talking to people and they would never know he left. Then all he had to do was clock back out and go home again. Who is going to bother the boss when he's in his office? Especially if he doen'st want to be disturbed?

You've got a lot of really good questions. The AtD might give us some answers on those.

I like what you said about Melvin wanting to die. It's possible that he 'is' trying to take the blame for someone else. Maybe members of his family was so fed up with Monica's comments about him, plus the fact that his store is folding, made them take matters into their own hands and killed Monica. That would be a twist.

I still haven't thrown out the idea that Melvin did it himself, but it is pretty strange the way he's acting.

We need a lot more documents and I can't wait to learn more. We still have a lot more suspects to consider.

I wonder if that safety deposit box has some information hidden away in it about the murder, rape, or something on someone else that she's been investigating for a story she wants to write for the paper.

So many interesting twists. Do you think Melvin is covering for the Mayor? If so, it isn't about the rape case but Melvin has to be sure they will get him off again. Bad business or not, I just can't see him that willing to be tried for murder. Then again, there are always those people who will call in and confess to anything, hoping to get a little attention. Don't think that is the case here. It would be something else. Might be what is in the safe deposit box that the Mayor is afraid of. He sure has been avoiding her.
Can't wait for more information and the ATD.

There are so many angles and we've got a long way to go before we get all the files. At this point, I don't think that Melvin is confessing just for attention. Something else is going on with him.

I was re-reading the evidence docs and just realized that Nicole's visits to the office were very late at night and on that visit she made to Rick, it showed the time she entered, but there was no time listed for when she left. That's curious. We don't know how long she stayed. I'm wondering if she actually left with Rick.
I think I'm going to have to start printing out all these docs, so I can study them when I'm sitting here at the computer.

I also noticed that the time she left was not listed. I get the feeling that although she and Monica were friends, they weren't "best" friends.
No, Melvin is definatly not confessing for attention but I think he is doing it for some specific reason.
I print everything out about the case and put it in a folder so I can study it without having to be on the computer. I have done it on every case I have worked on. Makes it handy for making notes right where I have a question. Then, since all this happens in the same town, I have references on other cases if people turn up in a different case, like Kyle.