The Locked Room Murder
Detective Sarah Thompson arrived at the crime scene, a posh apartment in the heart of the city. The victim, a wealthy businessman named John Hartley, lay dead in his study, a single gunshot wound to his head. The door to the study was locked from the inside, and there were no signs of forced entry.
Sarah examined the room, her keen eyes taking in every detail. The only window was sealed shut, and the room was on the 15th floor, making it impossible for someone to have entered or exited through it. The gun, a .38 caliber revolver, was found near the body, with only John's fingerprints on it.
As Sarah interviewed the witnesses, she learned that John had been in a heated argument with his business partner, Mark Evans, earlier that day. Mark claimed he had left the apartment hours before the murder took place.
The detective also discovered that John's wife, Emily, had been having an affair with his best friend, Tom Wilson. Both Emily and Tom stated they were together at a restaurant during the time of the murder.
Sarah was puzzled. How could someone have killed John in a locked room and disappeared without a trace? She decided to take a closer look at the crime scene photos and suddenly noticed something peculiar. In one of the images, a small piece of glass was on the floor near the window.
The detective rushed back to the apartment and re-examined the window. She realized that the seal had been carefully cut and then resealed, making it appear untouched. Sarah dusted the window for fingerprints and found a match: Mark Evans.
Confronting Mark, Sarah revealed her findings. Under pressure, Mark confessed that he had used a special tool to cut the window seal, entered the room, shot John, and then resealed the window before fleeing. He had planned the murder to look like a suicide, knowing that John's life insurance policy would pay out to their company, saving it from bankruptcy.
With the mystery solved, Sarah closed the case, proving once again that no crime is perfect and that even the most seemingly impossible murders can be unraveled by a sharp mind and a keen eye for detail.
