HoF+Report

Capt. Barra:

We’re faced with an unusual case of a child found dead with a gun on his stomach, no witnesses to his death, and a circulation of rumors that indicate the mother may be the culprit. Our main question, however, is this: should we believe rumors regarding the boy’s mother? Since any good detective should take everything into account, I have tried to find as much information as possible and to get it from as many sources as possible. Without question, this crime requires a lot of further investigation, particularly of the crime scene, as I believe that this could have possibly been an accident involving the child’s own folly.

To begin, someone who had severe arthritis would be unable to use a small gun, as the amount of fine movement required with the hand would certainly be a problem. Thus, the plans spoken of in the rumors most likely never came into fruition, as Jane would not have been able to pull the trigger or accomplish the task with only one bullet. Similarly, it is very unlikely that the parents had any involvement in this, as they all strongly favored keeping Joe, and someone is not likely to change a strongly and long held opinion. Additionally, someone who commits a murder is very unlikely to leave the weapon at the scene of the crime. In our scenario, the gun was in plain sight and no effort was made to conceal the gun. Therefore, it seems unlikely that a murderer was involved at all. Also, the child was found dead next to Bob’s gun rack; I suspect this to be a paramount piece of evidence in our investigation. Bob, a forgetful person, is known to forget to unload his guns after using them. Therefore, it is likely that the rack contained at least one loaded gun at the time of the murder. Furthering this, the gun is known to have been fired at close proximity and is also known to have been on top of the boy. Someone who shoots his or herself with the gun pointing directly at his or her body is likely to fall backwards with the gun also falling back onto the person’s body. Lastly, the gun was recently oiled; an oiled gun is significantly easier to fire, so easy that even a child is likely to be able do it.

For these reasons, I believe that this is not a murder case. Rather, this is a case of poor parenting and bad luck. The evidence has led me to believe that Joe had merely shot himself while he lacked parental supervision. I strongly recommend that the parents have further questioning to rule them out of any murder charges, and that the crime scene is tested for any traces of foreign DNA to ensure that no one else was present. Additionally, I also recommend a close look at the child’s body in a detailed autopsy; the angle of the bullet could certainly prove very useful. In addition, although I lack empirical evidence for this conclusion, I strongly believe I have figured out the full story. Little Joe, while his parents were out at a party, was able to reach into the gun rack and take out a gun. Unfortunately for Joe, this gun was loaded as a result of Bob’s poor memory. Joe, while playing with the gun (as any four-year-old would), had pressed the trigger while the gun was facing him, resulting in his untimely death. Do what you may with this initial explanation, but I would place my career on its veracity.

Thank you for your consideration,

Det. Johnson