You arrive at The Iron Stag on a quiet Tuesday evening. It is a pub like many others scattered across the country. You settle at a table with a drink, observing the other patrons. The barkeeper moves efficiently behind the counter, serving drinks with practiced ease.
Harold Pike is dead. Murdered on the night of March 15th in the backyard of this very pub. The weapon was the kind used on the docks decades ago. Three to four inches of cold steel driven into the back his head. Someone wanted him dead badly enough to plan it carefully.
The six people connected to this murder are?
Find your 1st QR code listing the suspects
The weapon was discovered in Michael Dray's basement at 14 Waterside Lane. Michael inherited the house from his father James, a dock foreman who worked from 1965 to 1995. James Dray owned tools. Many tools. The kind that don't simply disappear.
People connected to the old dock trade knew James Dray kept such things. Leonard Marsh had been to the house often enough in earlier years to know what was stored below. Neville Holt, living nearby and working in dock storage, would have recognised a tool such as this immediately. Jodie Harper had heard men talk in 1987 about James keeping old dock gear in the basement. Amber Finch, after weeks of asking questions, may also have learned where the tools were kept.
But inheritance doesn't automatically mean guilt.
Find your 2nd QR code revealing the weapon
Michael Dray's car arrived at The Iron Stag at 21:12. That much is confirmed. But Michael was not the only person with reason to visit this pub that night.
Find your 3rd QR code revealing a clue to the investigation
At the bar that evening, you might have noticed Neville Holt, the neighbour from Waterside Lane. He claimed to have been passing through, stopping for a quick drink. But Neville was nervous. His eyes kept darting toward the backyard door. He left at 21:20, just as Harold Pike was entering the backyard.
The till receipts showed Michael Dray ordered a drink at 21:14. But they also showed something else. A receipt for a single measure of spirits at 21:13, paid in cash, no name attached. Who ordered that drink? The barkeeper couldn't remember. The crowd that evening made it difficult to track every transaction.
Amber Finch, a local blogger always chasing a story, had been in the vicinity that evening. She had been asking questions about Harold Pike for weeks. Questions about his past. Questions about his investigation. She had been visiting pubs in the area, gathering background information.
What had she discovered? And did she share it with anyone that night?
Find your 3rd QR code for the next pub