AWKWARD ZOMBIE

"Joe still had his own shovel, mrmpht! That might have been the one that we found near Bud's body!"

"In that case, where's Bud's shovel?"

"Wasn't it lost in the river?"

"No..... The shovel was found sticking out of the river. No one else has accounted for a missing shovel, so we have to assume that the shovel in the river is Bud's, unless we find more evidence that proves otherwise."

Sorry for triple post, but no one is talking.

Pierce looks lost in thought.

"Something about this case has been bothering me...."

"We've been deliberating about where Bud was killed and how he ended up at the lake. In other words, the beginning and the end."

"We've been completely ignoring what happened IN BETWEEN those events. I'd say that the answer to this mystery lies there."

"One thing I think we can focus on is how Bud managed to die from a fall."

Cranston piped in, "I thought we established that it happened in front of Re-Tail, on the concrete. The only thing that doesn't make sense to me now is, if Joe killed Bud and Diana moved the body, why Joe didn't see the body in front of his own home on his way back to bury or move it."

"We've beaten that evidence to death, and haven't gotten any closer to an answer. So here's what I propose."

Pierce turns to Isabelle once more.

"Could you make a new scenario, rookie? One only examining what happened in between when Bud was stabbed in the eye and when he was allegedly killed at Re-Tail. We could then examine this scenario along with Joe's testimony, which covers the beginning of the incident, and Diana's testimony, which covers the end."

"Right, I can do that, but what series of events do you want me to use? The ones that Diana proposes of Joe chasing Bud, or the ones where Joe returned home and the body disappeared?"