Part 6 Bonus Questions - Carlton Smith Investigations

Part 6 Bonus Questions
(8 points)
Read the question and think of your answer. Then, click on the question to reveal the answer.

If there's something in the solution that you noticed previously (i.e., while playing the game) but didn't think of when answering the question, give yourself full points.

You do not need to go through the evidence before answering these questions (but you can if you want).

There are no penalties for getting bonus questions wrong.
Q1: Kingston thinks "Slice" is Nolan. Why would Nolan go by the name "Slice"? (1 point)
Kingston told Summer that in the military, they gave each other nicknames based on their favorite foods. Nolan's favorite food was pineapple pizza (it's mentioned in Kingston's therapy notes), so it's fitting that his nickname was "Slice".
Q2: What connection is there between Ezra and the name "Slice" (aside from the fact that Ezra and Nolan are the same person)?
(1 point)
Ezra's favorite food is also pizza (see the "About Us" page on the Still Rock website).
Q3: What would the eliminated suspect's motive have been? (6 points)
Jessica was eliminated. She had a gambling problem*, which Dante and Luka leveraged against her. (2 points for figuring out Jessica had a gambling problem)

Jessica's motive could have been (4 points for any of the following answers):
To pay down her debt to Luka; or
To get Luka to loan her more money; or
To cover-up her involvement in Summer's harassment (i.e. if she thought Summer was on to her, or she was afraid someone would find out about what she did).
Explanation

Note: For more context, scroll down to read Luka and Dante's letters to each other and Luka's letter to Jessica.
Luka and Dante are best friends, and they blamed Summer for Dante's incarceration.
They hatched a plan to steal something from Summer's house and leave it in her office to intimidate her.
Luka executed the first part of their plan by stealing a bracelet from Summer's house. For the next part of their plan, Luka had to figure out a way to gain access to Summer's office.
Luka and Dante discussed targeting either Jessica or Ezra to help with their plan (Dante wrote in his letter to Luka: "Any success cracking J? If she's too hard we can try E instead").
Luka targeted Jessica and found a weak spot of hers he could leverage — her gambling.
Luka loaned Jessica money that Jessica couldn't pay back. The week her debt to Luka became due, Jessica lost a massive bet — she placed $25,000 on Alex Romero to win a fight, and he lost.
Luka asked Jessica to leave an envelope in Summer's office. This envelope contained Summer's stolen bracelet and an intimidating note alluding to someone stalking Summer at her high school reunion. Dante was likely stalking Summer (police found an Eaglecrest reunion sticker at his residence), which suggests Dante and Luka have been engaged in a long-term, concerted plan to harass Summer.
Because she owed Luka money, Jessica complied with his request and left the envelope in Summer's office.

Dante's Letter to Luka
How did it go last week? Any success cracking J? If she's too hard we can try E instead.

Luka's Letter to Dante (In response to Dante's letter)
Good. I got what I needed. Yes to your second question. I've found her weak spot. She is a risk taker. We don't need to bother with E because we are set now. Summer will pay for what she did to you. Nobody locks up my best friend and gets away with it.

Luka's Letter to Jessica
If you can't pay by Friday, here is what I want you to do:
- Go into SLs office
- Leave it in plain sight

*We can infer that Jessica had a gambling problem because:
On her blog, Summer says Jessica is struggling financially (see the blog post titled "Jessica"), which strikes Summer as odd because Jessica is making a lot of money at work and isn't a big spender.
On Luna's computer (see the "Digital Extraction of Luna Brooks' Computer), Luna notes that Jessica's credit card was declined and Jessica requested an advance on her salary.
Jessica owed Luka money, and Luka thought Jessica had a "weak spot" and was a "risk taker".
Jessica placed a massive bet ($25,000) with risky odds (i.e. big payout if she had won, but low probability of winning) at Reggie's Casino right before her debt to Luka was due. Placing risky bets in an attempt to "win it all back" is consistent with Jessica having a gambling problem.