Take a look at the hints below for guidance!
Clue 1
Penelope Mudds is mentioned in two pieces of evidence from part 1, and both reference Trudy. Please see:
– ANN news (Part 1 Envelope)
– Brisbane Chronicler (Part 1 Envelope – Dated 25th March)
Penelope owns an “alterntative health” clinic that uses a controversial jellyfish cure, of which Trudy is campaigning against. This evidence gives us a strong background on the relationship she has with Trudy. Now familiarise yourself with evidence relating to Penelope Mudds from part 2.
Clue 2
Read the News Sauce article from part 2 and familiarise yourself with the dates mentioned in the article.
Clue 3
In the News Sauce article, we read: “Her clinic was forced to close at the end of business hours on the 12th”. Penelope is then referenced saying “on the dot precisely a week after my clinic was closed, Petey and I were on the road….when asked who Petey was, she said my car, the name comes from the letters on the licence plate”. What piece of evidence details a vehicle licence plate?
Clue 4
The Toowoomba bypass toll receipt (found in part 2), shows a vehicle registration of “435 PTY” – a close resemblance to the numberplate Penelope mentions in the News Sauce article. Take note of the area, and direction of travel. Where is Toowoomba bypass in relation to Brisbane and where is Penelope travelling to?
Clue 5
For those unfamiliar with the geography of Australia, Brisbane is on the east coast, and Penelope says that she is travelling to Darwin to reopen her clinic (in the north). There is a helpful advert in the newspaper article (dated 25th March – part 1) for the ‘Botanical Gardens in Toowoomba’. It states their attraction is located 1.5 hours west of Brisbane -10 minutes north of the Toowoomba bypass. What is the date and time shown on the Toowoomba bypass toll receipt?
Answer (spoiler alert)
The toll booth receipt states the date as 19/04/2019, which backs the claims made in the News Sauce article (a week after the 12th when Penelope’s business was forced to close). The time on the toll booth receipt was 18:57 and we know that Toowoomba is a 1.5-hour drive west of Brisbane. Therefore Penelope was not in Brisbane at the time and date of the murder.
The final piece of evidence that supports the claim that the toll receipt belongs to Penelope, and that the vehicle registration number isn’t just a tenuous link is an email from the Bank’s fraud team. The email is found in the online evidence, and it states that the transaction auth code and card number found on the toll receipt match information from an account held in the name of P.Mudds.