On October 24, 1953, the student from La Crosse, Wisconsin, was taking care of the 20 month old baby of college professor Viggo Rasmusen. When she failed to check in with her father at 8:30 pm, and his calls to the Rasmusen house went unanswered, he went over there to check. The doors and windows were locked, but he was able to get in through the basement. The baby was safely asleep in her crib, but Evelyn was nowhere to be found. The scene he encountered was bad. Furniture was in disarray, Evelyn’s broken glasses were found in the living room along with her books and one shoe; the other was in the basement. Even more telling, there were unidentified footprints and blood that matched Evelyn’s type, some in the basement and two big pools outside in the yard.
Police believe Evelyn was taken around 7 pm, because a neighbor heard screams at that time and assumed it was just kids playing. A witness stated that at 7:15 he saw a car speeding, one guy was driving and another was in the backseat with a girl, who was slumped forward.
Days later some blood stained clothes were found about 2 miles from La Crosse. In a different location they found shoes that matched the footprints at the Rasmusen’s, and the blood on the soils was the same type as Evelyn’s. Despite these clues, she was never found and her case remains unsolved. At one point Ed Gein was considered a suspect but he always denied it and there’s no evidence tying him to the crime.
Elizabeth Ennen (15)
The family of Elizabeth was good friends with a man called Humberto Salinas. On January 4, 2011, she arrived to the Carriage House Hotel in Lubbock, Texas, to babysit his two younger sons, but she never made it back home. Around 1:45 am of the next day, Salinas showed up at the Ennens’ house and told Elizabeth’s mom Virginia that he had dropped Elizabeth off 15 minutes ago, but she’d left her purse behind. Since the girl hadn’t showed up inside the house, Salinas and Virginia went together to file a missing person report.
The case was initially treated as a runaway. She was listed as such for two weeks before it was switched to kidnapping when police thought to check the surveillance cameras at the hotel. They could see Elizabeth leaving the hotel room in a hurry, looking scared and carrying her shoes in her hand, before Salinas grabs her and forces her back inside. He’s later seen dragging her to the parking lot, and returning half an hour later, alone.
Elizabeth’s body was found on January 24 on a roadside. The autopsy determined she had been strangled. Humberto Salinas, who not only had played the role of concerned friend but had also tried to implicate his 19 year old son in the murder, ended up pleading guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Janett Christman (13)
This case is considered to have inspired the urban legend of “the babysitter and the killer upstairs”, which has been retold in several movies, most notably in When a Stranger Calls. The true story is, of course, much worse. On March 18, 1950, Janett was babysitting the 3 year old child of the Romacks in Columbia, Missouri. When the couple arrived home after 1:30 am, they found Janett dead in a pool of blood in the living room. She had been hit on the head and raped, and there were several puncture wounds on her had, made by a small object like a pen. The actual cause of death was strangling: the killer had used the cord of an iron, taken from the house.
When the Romacks had arrived, they’d found the front door closed but unlocked, and the back door ajar. A window had been broken, but there were no signs the intruder had got in through it. Police theorized it was staged, and he had actually come in through the front door because he was someone Janett knew. Their main suspect was Robert Mueller, a close friend of the Romacks that had met Janett several times and had expressed interest in her. However, the case became muddy and filled with problems among the different law enforcement agencies. After Mueller passed a polygraph test, a grand jury chose not to indict him and he was never charged. Janett’s murder was never solved, but most people connected to it always believed Mueller was their guy.
Stacy Price (15)
The morning of August 7, 1986, Stacy arrived at the apartment of Mari Winzen, who lived across the street from her, to take care of her 3 year old son Tyler. Around 10 am, Stacy’s mother Judith sent her other daughter, Rachel, to check on Stacy because she wouldn’t answer the phone. When the girl opened the unlocked front door, she couldn’t see Stacy or Tyler, but heard someone locking the bathroom door. Judith then came over and, sensing something was wrong, asked her boyfriend for help.
When he managed to open the bathroom, they found the bodies of Stacy and Tyler inside the tub, which was filled with very hot water. Both had been drowned, but Stacy also showed signs of strangulation. It took 5 years before a man called Eugene Fleer was arrested. He was an acquaintance of Mari’s ex husband, and he had keys to her car and apartment because he’d been driving her to her classes on the days leading up to the murder. The main theory was that he killed the two children in revenge for a drug deal gone wrong with Tyler’s dad, but some believe it was after he attempted to rape. He claimed innocence, but was convicted and sentenced to two life terms.
There are no pictures of Stacy and Tyler available, but the story was told in the book Every Mother’s Nightmare, of Charles Bosworth Jr., which follows the struggles of Mari and Judith to get justice.
Janet Bonilla (13)
Described as funny and outgoing, Janet agreed to take care of her neighbors’ kids in El Paso, Texas, while they went over to Juarez for the night. When the neighbors came back in the early hours of November 26, 1977, they found Janet dead on their bed, with a rag around her neck. Police think her killer (s) broke in the house through the window of an unocuppied room and attacked her. There was nothing taken from the house and the children weren’t hurt, so it’s likely Janet was their target.
A witness saw two men outside of the house around midnight, and police tried to find these suspects, investigating even a teenager who was said to have been infantuated with Janet. But nothing came of it, and 40 years later the case remains unsolved. Janet’s brother stated recently that he’s pretty sure of the identity of the killer, but unless someone comes forward with information they can’t arrest him.
Pondering about the fact that TGG consists of five cases and there are also five tasks for Sherlock to solve at Sherrinford in TFP ... I suddenly remembered that the number five ... connected to cases ... actually comes up a third time in Sherlock BBC. After taking a closer look at the scipts (thanks @callie-ariane ) I think I've probably spotted another rather intriguing and joyful pattern.
The five CASES of The Great Game
Sherlock receives four pips but there are five cases ... the fifth and last case brings the story full circle to the beginning.
The five TASKS of The Final Problem
Sherlock is given four tasks ... the fifth task can only be solved through the collected conclusions of the previous four.
The five FUNNY STORIES of The Sign Of Three
Sherlock mentions five 'funny stories' before he decides to tell the wedding guests about the case of the 'Bloody Guardsman' and the one of the 'Mayfly Man'. Turns out that both cases are actually just one. But that's not the point.
My focus lies on the five 'funny stories' Sherlock just mentions randomly.
Under the cut for anyone who is interested.
THE HOLLOW CLIENT
Someone put clothes on John's chair in the living room of 221b. A complete outfit. Suit, shirt, trousers, shoes ... everything. Layed out like the owner had somehow 'leaked' out of them and vanished.
Just clothes. An empty shell. A cover? A facade one can use to hide the true self? Hiding behind the facade of a sociopath? Nothing else matters but the work? Brain over heart? Who needs a heart anyway? Just a shell.
Why are the clothes lying on John's chair? Well, would be a bit too obvious if they were on Sherlock's.
Sherlock in Series One?
THE POISON GIANT
The audience sees a 'person of short stature raising a blow pipe to his lips' ... blowing the little arrowheads at Sherlock and John who run after the man in pursiut ... despite the danger.
Maybe one (or two) of the little, poisoned arrowheads did hit the target? Maybe right into the heart? And who is this poisonous giant with the short stature? Maybe LOVE?
Someone who views LOVE as a thing of simple chemistry but still very destructive, as a dangerous disadvantage found on the losing side .... maybe such a person would also think that LOVE is a poisonous giant?
Sherlock in Series Two?
THE INEXPLICABLE
Sherlock opens slowly a cardboardbox. It contains a small but very brightly glowing light ... illuminating Sherlocks whole face. His smile radiates joy and delight. Must be something very beautiful. :)
So .... Sherlock sees the light? THAT LIGHT? Sherlock deduces himself into love in this series.
Also ... this is the sereies where little Rosie comes to life. The elephant in the womb/room. Not born yet ... but growing. Little Rosie ... the FUTURE. ( @loveismyrevolution wrote a lovely meta about it (X)
Sherlock in Series Three?
OSCILLATION ON THE PAVEMENT
If I had to describe S4 I would say it is a constant repetition of everthing that ever happened prior to this series. Everything is taken up again - played with it again - just in a different clothing. Cases, hiatus, pool, planes, serial-killer, shooting, bombs, the fall ... just everything. The whole story is repeating itself in circles. The whole story is oscillating.
'Oscillation always means there is a love affair' says Sherlock. He's probably right. :))))
Sherlock in Series Four?
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
.......
Sherlock in Series Five?
July, 2017
I leave you to your own deductions. :)))
@gosherlocked thank you for pointing me to another Five Pip Meta. 'The Five Pips' by @fellshish (sadly Tumblr wont let me link the meta directly but I will reblog it together with this post) Here’s the link from the reblogg.
There's also 'Five Pips' by @sagestreet who connects the five pips with five (planned) sereies of Sherlock BBC as well.
In 'Four stages & four cases' I wrote about a similar topic
Five Cases from the Greatest Law Firm that Never Was
Bonus content for the Five Scenes universe. Summaries of five cases Mia and Diego took on while Phoenix was off scamming poker players and pretending to play the piano. Just on the kink meme for now.
