Born in Denver on April 30, 1988, daughter of the deceased Roger and Alexandra Bennet, Mallory Laurel Bennet will be remembered for her guitar compositions, her love of doing crosswords with her family, and her contagious enthusiasm for life. She enjoyed backpacking and bird watching, with an eye keen enough to spot a warbler from a mountain away and an ear keen enough to invent campfire songs on the fly. A skilled and intuitive musician, Mallory could be found performing every Saturday morning on the sidewalk at the Farmer’s Market and every Saturday night for friends and strangers at Road’s End Steakhouse. Her work days were spent at Spring & Sprocket Bicycle Repair Shop, where she charmed every customer and fixed every bike. Her bright laughter and wild grin will be missed by all.

She is survived by her twin, Alex Bennet.

A sudden overabundance of coyotes in the forests around Warlington have led many farmers in the area to apply for hunting permits. The scourge has involved the massacres of a number of chicken coops and death of several hundred livestock, and the disappearances of several neighborhood cats have been attributed to this presence. “They’re like a plague,” says Daniel Newman, owner of Newman Farm, one of the farms hit hardest by the Warlington Park packs. “Chasing them off, putting up outdoor lights, new chicken wire, prayer… none of it works. I’m about ready to snap. If I so much as see something moving out there, I’m liable to take care of it with my rifle instead.”

Newman, and many of his fellow farmers, have been licensed to take their fight into the nearby forests of Hickory Hills, Warlington State Park, and Sandy Creek Woods. Hikers are advised to wear bright colors and stay on the trails.

Hello, Cycle Enthusiasts!

I’m sure you all know the news about Mallory Bennet by now, so I’ll spare you the sobs and get right to business. Many of you probably heard that Mallory was slated to take over ownership of Spring & Sprocket, but since she’s no longer able, Lara Oaks has passed that privilege for me to take up after her retirement at the end of the month. Payments will transfer to myself as well.

Your repairs may take a bit longer than usual as we reshuffle our leadership and schedule. We promise you’ll get your bikes spick and span and back to you as soon as possible. Rest assured your repairs are in good hands.

A few of you have asked if we’re holding any memorial for Mallory, and the answer is no. Right now, the shop is focusing on getting your orders back on the road.

Yours Truly,

Veronica Zhang
Spring & Sprocket Bicycle Repair

Local psychic and medium Alex Bennet was forcibly taken to a psychiatric hospital after a mental breakdown yesterday evening. Neighbors alerted the fire department after smelling smoke, and upon arrival, Bennet was found crying and screaming, surrounded by burning shredded newspapers. Parts of their house were found deformed and warped, with unintelligible scratchings and black squares scribbled across the walls. The property has been marked off and dubbed structurally unsound.

“I don’t know what happened,” says a neighbor. “Alex was so sweet, didn’t bother anyone, showed up to picnics to do tarot readings, tame stuff… this isn’t like them at all.”

“It was Mallory,” another says. “Her death, I mean. It really got to them. I hadn’t seen them outside for days.”

Bennet will remain under close supervision for psychiatric rehabilitation but shows no signs of recovery thus far.

Barely a week after the murder of their sibling Mallory, Alex Bennet was discovered dead inside their Warlington home. Their body showed bullet wounds and blunt force trauma, suggesting that Bennet was shot after being overpowered by the intruder.

Investigations are still underway, but police suspect the murders of Mallory and Alex are connected. “This was likely a retaliation killing,” Sheriff Trang reported. “It seems as though Alex was attempting to investigate independently… whatever they were doing spooked the killer enough to come out of hiding again. Perhaps Alex found something.”

Any evidence Bennet may have collected remains to be seen; aside from a pile of unsolved crossword puzzles, it’s unclear what Alex had been doing that provoked the killer again.

“Maybe it was just in remembrance of her,” says Maria Martinez, a friend of Alex’s and pathologist for the WPD. “If there was one thing Mallory loved to do with Alex, it was crossword puzzles. They both would’ve hated to leave one unfinished.” She sighs. “I just hope we can solve this one last puzzle for them.”

A memorial service for the twins will be held next week at South Cemetery.

If the player solves the mystery, they’re rewarded with a newspaper article under the headline “Warlington State park Murder Solved by Local Psychic’ that explains what actually happened. The game then ends.

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JOHN BREWER

Not even a week after the tragic disappearance and death of Mallory Bennet, her sibling, psychic medium Alex Bennet, cracked the case. Claiming the spirit of their sister spoke to them through newspaper clippings and her beloved daily crosswords, Alex went to the police with an accusation of John “Bear” Brewer. Alex claimed Brewer, the morning after an argument with Mallory, had followed her into Warlington State Park and shot her. The Brewers were immediately called in for questioning.

John Brewer initially claimed he had gotten up early to clean the bar the morning of the murder. This evidence was refuted separately by his wife Sarah’s recollection of arriving at noon to sticky beer puddles on the bar countertop, which indicated that John had not cleaned since the night before. Sarah did, however, attest that he was absent when she awoke and he didn’t return until that afternoon, when he reappeared drunk and sobbing. She assumed it had to do with the argument between him and Mallory and didn’t think more of it.

She was more right than she knew. During police questioning, Brewer eventually broke down and confessed to having propositioned Mallory and attempted to touch her inappropriately. She threatened to tell Sarah, then left the bar. He tracked her down the following morning to one of her favorite trails in Warlington State Park, where she often walked to clear her head. After another confrontation, where she reaffirmed her intent to tell his wife, Brewer shot her three times at close range. He dumped her body deeper in the forest in the hopes that the coyotes would deal with the evidence.

Brewer has been promptly arrested. He claims to regret his actions. The court date for his trial has not been set, but he will likely be charged first-degree murder.

To reporters, Alex said simply, “My sister can rest easy now.”

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SARAH BREWER

Not even a week after the tragic disappearance and death of Mallory Bennet, her sibling, psychic medium Alex Bennet, cracked the case. Claiming the spirit of their sister spoke to them through newspaper clippings and her beloved daily crosswords, Alex went to the police with an accusation of Sarah Brewer, owner of Road’s End Steakhouse. Alex claimed Brewer, in a heated argument, had lashed out in violence then attempted to cover it up. Brewer was immediately called in for questioning.

Initially, Sarah Brewer vehemently denied the claims, claiming a close and friendly relationship with Mallory, pointing to the altar she’d set up at the bar and the victim’s frequent patronage. This, she said, should disprove the fit of rage Alex Bennet accused her of. Her husband John “Bear” Brewer, however, admitted under individual questioning that Sarah and Mallory had not been close at all, and in fact, there had frequently been tension in their marriage over Mallory’s friendship with Bear.

Furthermore, forensic analysis of Mallory’s body found shards of glass and remnants of alcohol in her wound. Authorities have identified blunt force trauma as the cause of her death, suggesting that Mallory was hit in the head with a bottle of liquor. Close examination of the bar found remnants of blood and particles of glass between the floorboards.

Upon presentation of this evidence, Brewer proudly admitted to the murder, claiming it was justified and that Mallory had “seduced” her husband. Mallory’s death, she says, saved her marriage from Mallory’s homewrecking. John Brewer, however, denied that Mallory had ever made advances on him, revealing instead his own unreciprocated interest in her that led to their argument shortly before her death. He has since filed for divorce.

Sarah Brewer has been promptly arrested. The court date for her trial has not been set, but she will likely be charged first-degree murder.

To reporters, Alex said simply, “My sister can rest easy now.”

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VERONICA ZHANG

Not even a week after the tragic disappearance and death of Mallory Bennet, her sibling, psychic medium Alex Bennet, cracked the case. Claiming the spirit of their sister spoke to them through newspaper clippings and her beloved daily crosswords, Alex went to the police with an accusation of Veronica Zhang, a coworker of Mallory’s and newly promoted owner of Spring & Sprocket Bicycle Repair. Alex claimed Zhang committed the murder to secure the ownership that former owner Lara Oaks had promised to Mallory. Zhang was immediately called in for questioning.

Zhang refused to answer police questions after pointing out that there was no way to prove Mallory had come to the bike shop that night—the reason Zhang had not initially been considered a suspect. Parts of Mallory’s disassembled bike, however, were found in a nearby dumpster. Also found in the dumpster was a heavy wrench that was identified as the missing part of an incomplete set of wrenches belonging to Zhang. Forensic analysis of Mallory’s body found flecks of metal in her wound, and a closer examination of Mallory’s workbench revealed dried blood caught in the gears of a bike she’d been assigned to repair.

Upon presentation of this evidence, Zhang defiantly admitted to the murder, claiming it was justified and that Spring & Sprocket should have been passed to her to begin with. Oaks’ decision to give the business to Mallory, according to Zhang, was a betrayal of Zhang’s seniority and hard work and evidence of Mallory stealing business from her. Zhang’s actions, she claims, were only fair.

Veronica Zhang has been promptly arrested. The court date for her trial has not been set, but she will likely be charged first-degree murder. In the meantime, Spring & Sprocket has returned to the care of Oaks.

To reporters, Alex said simply, “My sister can rest easy now.”

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DANIEL NEWMAN

Not even a week after the tragic disappearance and death of Mallory Bennet, her sibling, psychic medium Alex Bennet, cracked the case. Claiming the spirit of their sister spoke to them through newspaper clippings and her beloved daily crosswords, Alex went to the police with an accusation of Daniel Newman. Alex claimed Newman, in the early hours of the morning, had mistakenly shot Mallory in a hunting accident, then attempted to cover it up. Newman was immediately called in for questioning.

Newman, who’d recently been taking advantage of a hunting license to kill coyotes in the woods around his farm, initially denied having hunted near any hiking trails. Upon a police inspection of the area, however, his bullets were found embedded in trees close to East Creek Trail. Furthermore, he’d likely been out hunting near dawn, which is both when the coyotes would be out and a favorite hiking time of Mallory’s, especially when agitated, as those who knew her attested. John “Bear” Brewer further confirmed that he’d had an argument with Mallory the night before, likely the cause of said agitation.

Even upon the presentation of this evidence, Newman staunchly denied Bennet’s accusation, but the new evidence in conjunction with the rifle bullets found in Mallory’s body and the location of her death on East Creek presented a strong case against him.

Newman was promptly arrested, since which he’s been silent on the topic of guilt or innocence. The court date for his trial has not been set, but he will likely be charged first-degree murder.

To reporters, Alex said simply, “My sister can rest easy now.”