Editing File No. 003: A Murder Staged

The three recap what they have learned: Blaise was killed by a single bullet, Clegg was the one who was holding the gun and he had been knocked unconscious, and where the killer stood to take the shot. However, Alfendi finds a problem in the timing, that it was nearly impossible to shoot someone at point blank in the dark. Strapping says that it is irrelevant, being a fluke, and when Alfendi tries to counter, states that he had something of importance. He brings up the death threat, that the note also points to Clegg being the murderer. They find and discuss the note on Blaise's person, which states "You'll pay for betraying me." Saying that this is weird for Clegg to write, Strapping changes his tune to say that an unhinged member of the audience was the murderer.

Suddenly, the Mystery Room gets a call from a producer asking for Strapping. He takes that as his cue to leave, leaving Lucy and Alfendi alone to gather their thoughts. They decide their next plan of action was to determine when Blaise was shot. Lucy concludes that she had been shot during the performance, not after, which Alfendi agrees. They go back into the simulation in order to find proof of this theory.

Lucy finds a remote control in a rubbish bin behind stage, which controlled the squib that would burst with fake blood when the timing was right in the play. Because it was back stage and not on Blaise's person, it can only be deduced that it was never used. Lucy sends the remote to Forensics in order to confirm this. Alfendi brings up two new mysteries to go over: Blaise's scream, and the shot that was heard in the dark.

Questioning Blaise's supposed scream, since she was already dead before then, leads to the two suspecting that it was Knox who screamed. Alfendi points out that in the statements--Clegg's first statement--that Strapping most likely told her to scream when the lights went out. However despite this, Alfendi doesn't believe that Knox was an accomplise.

Alfendi guesses that the shot that was heard was fired by Strapping as part of the deception. Lucy finds evidence of this in the replica gun, which could only fire blanks. Since the gun was found backstage, there had to be proof that Strapping was moving around in the dark. This evidence was the oil stains that were found on the back of the set. As the replica gun used lubricating oil, it must have gotten on Strapping's hands, and the stains were from him feeling his way in the dark in order to knock Clegg out.

Forensics calls back, and it is confirmed that the remote had never been pressed. Due to solving all of their remaining mysteries, the two call in Strapping.

===The Conclusion===

Strapping comes in, and immediately starts to flirt with Lucy who once again displays that she is not interested. Alfendi interjects, saying that they were able to identify the murderer. When asked for a name, Lucy tells him that he was the one who murdered Blaise. Strapping doesn't believe them, stating that it was a member of the audience who did it. Lucy disproves his theory by saying it is impossible for someone in the audience to have killed Blaise, as it was pitch black at the time. Strapping uses this point to say that it wasn't  him, however Alfendi points out that because it was a single bullet, it could have only been him. This is when Lucy points out that Blaise wasn't killed in the blackout, but during the show. He counters that that idea is ridiculous, and asks who it was that screamed in the dark. Lucy states that it was Knox who screamed, not Blaise. Alfendi backs up Lucy by bringing up Clegg's statement about bumping into Knox when he exited the stage, which Strapping refutes. When asked for proof, Lucy shows him the remote control, and tells him that it was found backstage and unpressed. Strapping begins to falter, stating that there was no way that would happen, and that Blaise simply forgot to take it on stage.

Just as Lucy thinks that she and Alfendi have cornered him, Strapping bounces back. He claims that Clegg had framed him for the murder, that he was the one who switched the real gun and the replica gun without his knowledge. This is when Alfendi's "dark side" emerges. He agrees that Strapping was telling the truth. That someone had deliberately made the replica look like the real thing, which pointed to a premeditated crime. Yet everything that followed was ad-libbed to hide the crime. Strapping, despite being slightly afraid of Alfendi's crazed demeanor, agrees with him and states that it was Clegg once again. Alfendi restates what happened, to which Strapping agrees: He shot Blaise in the heart, told Knox to scream, and knocked Clegg out and put the gun in his hand. Alfendi, disagreeing, goes on a monologue about how it was a magnificent and beautiful murder, but it was not Clegg who switched the guns.

It is revealed that it was Blaise herself who was the mastermind behind the entire thing, and that the discarded remote control was proof. It was thrown away on purpose, and she was the one who switched the guns. Strapping, terribly confused, asks what it was that just drove Blaise to do such a crazy thing. The answer was in the death threat. It was revenge for the affair that Strapping had on the side while the two were engaged. She was driven to madness by Strapping, which caused her to take her own life.

===MYSTERY SOLVED===

Justin Lawson returns to the Mystery Room, telling the two that a typewriter found in Blaise's room was the same as the one used to create the note, and that they also found proof that Blaise ordered the gun. He gives the two a bit of praise, and asks just who it was that solved the mystery. While Lucy is confused about the question, Alfendi states that he is leaving early for a TV program.

Once he is gone, Lucy tells Lawson about Alfendi's "sudden change" when he's with criminals. After she explains, he tells her to not to lose her patience with him. He then asks if he ever says any unfamiliar names, to which Lucy says he doesn't. When asked why he was interested, he says it's nothing, and if he ever does mention any strange names, to tell him about it without Alfendi knowing.

'''CASE END'''