Sometime, late on a warm spring Saturday night, somebody walked into Jim Hammond’s basement office at the Peabody Hotel and stabbed him to death.
Evidently, Jim had been working late, because the time of death was estimated to be around midnight. Jim had been seen by one of the employees at eleven; so the murder, obviously, occurred sometime after that. Jim Hammond was stabbed in the neck and bled profusely before succumbing to his mortal wound – leaving most of his blood on the floor underneath his leather desk chair. Soon after stabbing Jim in the neck, and while watching him die, Jim Hammond’s killer did something strange; the killer cut off the thumb of Jim’s right hand!
Also, even though Jim Hammond didn’t drink, there were two half-full glasses of Jack Daniel’s found on his desk and the freshly opened bottle nearby. Much like he and his killer had shared a drink before the murder.
A maid discovered Jim’s body on Sunday morning, and the hotel detective, Slick Goodrich, was immediately notified. Slick called the police, and within an hour the Memphis and Shelby County Sheriff’s office crime scene units were heavily involved. Detectives were assigned, and the investigation began.
No murder weapon was found, but the coroner determined that a big bladed knife, something similar to a large kitchen butcher knife, stabbed Jim. The thumb had been crudely and hastily removed – most likely with the murder weapon or by some other large bladed and semi-dull instrument. And, according to the coroner, the thumb was severed while Jim’s heart was still beating. Presumably after he was stabbed, but definitely while he was still alive.
The crime scene contained hundreds of fingerprints, all belonging to Jim Hammond and hotel employees who would have had legitimate business in the office. So, their investigation focused on the whiskey bottle and glasses sitting on the desk.
Oddly, the bottle of Jack Daniel’s only contained one set of fingerprints – they belonged to Jim Hammond. But, both drink glasses contained multiple prints – at least four different people had handled those glasses, including Jim Hammond.
What the detectives needed was to find a match for the prints on the glasses, and one of those would be the killer – or so it seemed.
Evidently, Jim had been working late, because the time of death was estimated to be around midnight. Jim had been seen by one of the employees at eleven; so the murder, obviously, occurred sometime after that. Jim Hammond was stabbed in the neck and bled profusely before succumbing to his mortal wound – leaving most of his blood on the floor underneath his leather desk chair. Soon after stabbing Jim in the neck, and while watching him die, Jim Hammond’s killer did something strange; the killer cut off the thumb of Jim’s right hand!
Also, even though Jim Hammond didn’t drink, there were two half-full glasses of Jack Daniel’s found on his desk and the freshly opened bottle nearby. Much like he and his killer had shared a drink before the murder.
A maid discovered Jim’s body on Sunday morning, and the hotel detective, Slick Goodrich, was immediately notified. Slick called the police, and within an hour the Memphis and Shelby County Sheriff’s office crime scene units were heavily involved. Detectives were assigned, and the investigation began.
No murder weapon was found, but the coroner determined that a big bladed knife, something similar to a large kitchen butcher knife, stabbed Jim. The thumb had been crudely and hastily removed – most likely with the murder weapon or by some other large bladed and semi-dull instrument. And, according to the coroner, the thumb was severed while Jim’s heart was still beating. Presumably after he was stabbed, but definitely while he was still alive.
The crime scene contained hundreds of fingerprints, all belonging to Jim Hammond and hotel employees who would have had legitimate business in the office. So, their investigation focused on the whiskey bottle and glasses sitting on the desk.
Oddly, the bottle of Jack Daniel’s only contained one set of fingerprints – they belonged to Jim Hammond. But, both drink glasses contained multiple prints – at least four different people had handled those glasses, including Jim Hammond.
What the detectives needed was to find a match for the prints on the glasses, and one of those would be the killer – or so it seemed.
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