When I walked on the scene, the sight was beautifully disturbing. Rose petals were sprinkled across the man's body lying on top of the silky white sheets. The scene was like a work of art, each stroke of the mans blood had a purpose behind it. The glasses of champagne were spilled right onto the man's tie lying on the floor beside the bed. By the looks of things, what was left on the floor indicated that he was out on a date. Suit and tie, overcoat at the door, he was also wearing a wedding ring; he was most likely out for dinner with his wife.

Quick to check the mans records, he was apparently never married. The files must've been lost because there was a cake in the refrigerator that said "Happy Anniversary!". It was laced with a violet ribbon around the edge with the knife in it ready to cut the first piece.

It was too obvious of a clue to be left behind to be true, but I took it back to the station anyway. Now, of course, as expected, no prints on the handle. But, there was one shocking piece to this puzzle. There was a trace of the girlfriend's blood on the blade. Attempted suicide? Could he have stabbed her first? Could it have been an intruder that killed both of them? No, why would one body be left behind and not the other. Not enough time for the killer to take out the trash? Could he have taken the girl and had to kill the man in the process? But, all of these questions didn't add up in my mind as to why the whole scene was so artistic.

It all made it seem to me as if the girlfriend had orchestrated this. There have been too many instances for me to count where the girlfriend has let out a jealous rage because her man had been cheating on her. It was this kind of passion that normally went into murders like this.

I couldn't put it together until I found the letter that was inside of the cake.

You are my happiness. You are my world. You are my first and last thought of the day. But, I can't live with this world anymore. I know you'll miss me, but I'll be watching over you every night. Just remember I'll be there with you and guide you through this.

It was clear that she left that note for him as a last word before she would have killed herself. She never showed any sign that she was ever angry with him though. So, she must not have murdered him before she died.

When I asked the man's family members about his girlfriend, they stated that she had committed suicide a year ago, to the day to be exact. Is that what the cake was for, the anniversary of his girlfriend's death? He couldn't have killed himself, the scene looked like some arrangement was done a significant amount of time after he had died. The story had made no sense, and no connections were made to previous ex-girlfriends of this man.

Months later, a report was sent to me from the Putton County Jail. An inmate was found that was an old friend of the man. He wanted to tell me what he knew about this man, though at this point, I didn't believe any significant advances would be made in the story. When he arrived, he told me that he had been hired by that man to kill him. The man had staged his own death by hiring a close friend. He said the reasoning was to make it not seem like he had not killed himself and put his family in grief.