Detective Wesley carefully examined the scene before him. He was in a hotel room about 3 miles from the victim’s home. The victim’s body lay in front of him peacefully on the bed. It was January 7th, 3:15 pm; the body was discovered by a hotel maid. The man’s name was Sean Donovin. He was in his late twenties, a successful business owner, a Sunday school teacher, and was soon to be married. The detective shook his head in disgust. He whispered to himself, “Why would anyone commit suicide when he had everything going for him?”
The detective saw this as suspicious. The only potential suspects would have to be people he trusted. According to testimony from his co-workers and friends, he only trusted three people: his sister, Hannah, who was very close with the victim and who often assisted him while he taught at the local church; his brother, John, who owned a smaller, semi-successful business; and his fiance, Jenna.
The apparent cause of death was by the injection of poison. “At least his death was peaceful,” the detective thought. The detective continued to search the hotel room, when he stumbled upon a suicide note. It read:
Jan 04/2009 4:10 AM
My loved ones,
Jenna, Sis, John, I would just like to tell you how sorry I am. Blame God for why I am to die today. Blame Him. Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you. Do not mourn my death. Please move on.
Goodbye,
Sean
The detective saw this letter as somewhat suspicious. His last words were abrupt, almost impersonal. Why would a Sunday school teacher blame God?
The body was taken in for medical examination. Days later, the coroner would determine that the body died from a poison which killed instantly. The coroner would also determine that the body was only dead a mere 3 hours before it was discovered.
The detective then realized that the date and the time used on the note were completely false. All three of those mentioned in the letter agreed the handwriting was indeed Sean’s.
The detective realized that the identity of the murderer was given inside the suicide note. After a thorough examination of the note, Detective Wesley quickly arrested the murderer.
Who was he?
Solution
John, his brother, was the murderer.
The time 4:10 AM didn’t refer to the time but rather to the biblical passage Genesis 4:10, which is an excerpt from the story of Cain and Abel, where an envious Cain kills his brother Abel. Many things point to this. AM referred to the Old Testament.
In the suicide note, Sean, being a Sunday school teacher, hinted to search for God to determine who killed him with “Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you”, which refers to the Bible. Furthermore, he intentionally did not mention the name of his sister, Hannah, when he noted “Jenna, Sis”, which sounds like “Genesis”.
