Big City Police Department
Constabulary Avenue
Big City, PU 11235

October 28, 2002

Calculus Student
Franklin & Marshall College
Lancaster, PA 17604

 

Dear Calculus Student,

It is my sad duty to inform you that Peter Moss has been murdered.

Although you are not a suspect in this case, we have evidence to indicate that you had indirect contact with the victim, and that you may have information which would enable us to aprehend his murderer. We therefore request any assistance you can give us.

If you have read the local papers, then you know that Peter Moss died a week ago when the F.A.R. Train engine that he was driving crashed into a second train, which was stopped on the line. Fortunately neither train was carrying any passengers at the time, although both were pulling flatbed cars loaded with valuable cargos of papier-mâché angels, kittens, and cows.

Although the newspapers reported this as an accidental collision, we now have incontrovertible evidence that the engine Peter Moss was driving had been tampered with. What the papers did not report was that, clutched in his hand, he had a scrap of paper with your address at the top, and the words, "None of the buttons work! If I die, the calculus students can sol . . ." The note ended there.

The two occupants of the stopped train, Walter Moss and Gaston Olson Overby-Fitzpatrick, were held for questioning and then released with instructions to remain available for further questioning. No arrests have been made yet, although we strongly suspect that one of these two men is responsible for the crash. Their statements contradict one another's, and we can not tell for certain which of these men is telling the truth.

Both men agreed that their train set out from the station in Shoe Chew on Saturday morning at roughly 8 a.m. The second engine, with Peter Moss driving it, followed roughly two minutes behind the first. (Peter Moss had been fired from his regular job on the line a month ago, but has driven occasional trains on a contract basis since).

Walter Moss claims that Overby-Fitzpatrick became increasingly agitated and belligerant during the ride, and yelled, "I'm going to get you both!". Eventually, the harsh words led to a scuffle (so Moss claims). During this scuffle, Overby-Fitzpatrick handcuffed Moss to a handle at the rear wall of the engine, pushed the "decel" button at the front of the engine, and jumped out of the train into a pile of hay.

Overby-Fitzpatrick tells a similar story, but with the characters reversed. He claims that Moss "had it in for him", and that Walter Moss threatened to kill him and take the railroad back again. Finally, Moss shoved him out of the train into a pile of hay. It is his theory that Moss then pushed the "decel" button and handcuffed himself to the handle on the rear wall in order to frame Overby-Fitzpatrick. His theory is supported by the fact that Moss managed to escape by pulling the handle off of the wall and jumping out of the engine, seconds before the collision that killed Peter Moss. Overby-Fitzpatrick can not explain why Moss would have wanted to murder his son, except to say that Peter Moss was "uppity and obnoxious", and to repeat that Walter Moss intended to frame Overby-Fitzpatrick.

From here the two stories agree again. It is clear from examing the scene of the crime that Overby-Fitzpatrick landed&emdash;with considerable speed&emdash;in a pile of hay; that Moss senior jumped out of a stopped train 420 feet down the track (more than a football field away from the pile of hay), and that the Peter Moss's engine collided with the stopped flatbed car somewhat later, scattering papier-mâché angels, kittens, and cows across the landscape

As both engines are now totalled, we can not test the stopping distance, so we can not tell whether Overby-Fitzpatrick exited the engine before or after the "decel" button was pushed. The engine specifications claim that the "decel" button slows the train from 60 to 0 m.p.h. in 12 seconds. If you could provide us with any clue as to which of these men is telling the truth, the Big City Police Department would be most grateful.

I should explain that the towns of Shoe Chew and Sugar are both so small that neither has a regular police force; this is why I am on the case. Big City is only somewhat larger, and I am the only officer on duty here. It is true that Walter Moss is a distant cousin of mine, but I will nonetheless do my best to be impartial. Please do not try to spare my feelings as you consider this case.

If we do not wrap up the case within a month of the murder (that is, by November 21), then the case will be turned over to the State.

 

Sincerely,

Sonia Kovalevskia

Officer Kovalevskia

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