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Part 7 Bonus Questions
Click through these answers once you have your own answer in mind
Q1: What is the significance of the text message that begins with "Tuesday if that works" (1 point)
The text message shows Ezra asking Luna to take down his photo from the Still Rock website. This is consistent with Ezra hiding something (like being a fraud/having a new identity you're trying to keep hidden).( 1 point)
Q2: What is the significance of the patient complaint form? (3 points)
The patient complaint form shows a patient lodged a complaint against Ezra, alleging that Ezra made serious medical mistakes. This complaint is consistent with Ezra being a fraud, and thus lacking medical expertise. (2 points)
Additionally, in the "Digital Extraction of Luna Brooks' Computer", Luna notes "Speak w/ E about new patient complaint (not Johanna Taylor — another patient) - should we hire a lawyer?" 1 point if you noticed this and connected it to Ezra being a fraud.
Q3: What is the significance of Summer's "4th of July" blog post? (3 points)
It's significant because Summer mentions that Ezra leaves early during the fireworks. This is consistent with Ezra having PTSD (although it obviously does not prove he has PTSD, it's one small piece of evidence that is consistent with him being Nolan McPherson). (1 point for making the connection between Ezra leaving early due to fireworks and potential PTSD)
Additionally, Ethan Barrett describes witnessing an explosion with Nolan McPherson that was very distressing. Because of the explosion, Ethan has PTSD and is seeing Summer to treat it. Nolan McPherson is Ezra. If Ethan has PTSD from witnessing the explosion, it's very possible Ezra would have PTSD too. Did you make the connection between Ethan's PTSD (from an incident where Ezra is present) and Ezra possibly having PTSD? (1 point)
Additionally, quillmaster8 (who has many connections to Ezra – see previous bonus questions) makes a post on a PTSD forum and mentions struggling with PTSD. Did you make a connection between Ezra having PTSD and quillmaster8's post about PTSD? (1 point)
In summer's blog post titled "4th of July", she writes: "At least Ezra came solo, too. It's weird, he's actually never had a serious girlfriend/partner in the time I've known him. He says he dates pretty actively - Jessica and I were actually helping him out with his his dating profile the other day."
This is consistent with Ezra living a double life (not wanting to let anyone get to close, because they could expose him).
Q4: The "New Policy" email says that somebody suggested to Luna that everyone in the office share their schedules. Who likely made this suggestion and why? (3 points)
Ezra likely made the suggestion (1 point).
The "New Policy" email was sent out shortly after the case conference. During the case conference, Ezra discovered that Summer's new patient was Ethan Barrett. To avoid running into Ethan at Still Rock, Ezra would likely want to know when Ethan's sessions were and either book time off or leave the office at those times. (2 points if you hypothesized that Ezra made this suggestion to avoid running into Ethan). Messages Ezra sent on the dating app corroborate this hypothesis. He sent messages (in which he indicated he was not at work) during one of Summer and Ethan's appointments.
Q5: Who is quillmaster8 (poster on "Resilience Rise" forum) and how do you know? (3 points)
Ezra. (1 point)
One connection between quillmaster8 and Ezra is that on the Still Rock website Ezra says his favourite animals are hedgehogs (1 point). Quillmaster8's profile picture is a hedgehog. There are also similarities between quillmaster8's description of his family and what we know about Ezra's family (discussed in a previous bonus question - see the second question in the "Pill Bottle" Questions section).
Also, quillmaster8 mentions wanting to help others in the mental health field but being unwilling to go back to school for four years (he says he tried to become a doctor but failed). Ezra achieved quillmaster8's goal — as a psychiatrist, he helps others in the mental health field, but he didn't have to go back to school (because he isn't a real doctor). Did you make the connection between quillmaster8's goals and what Ezra ended up doing? (1 point)
Q6: How can we link Summer's killer to the Gordon's Trinkets receipt? (i.e. how do we know they bought the necklace that was left at the crime scene)?
We can link Summer's killer (Ezra) to the Gordon's Trinkets receipt by showing he was at or near 29 Melrose Street (where Gordon's Trinkets is located), on 09/09/2019, at 2:16PM (when the necklace was purchased).
The dating app evidence shows that on 09/09/2019 at 2:17PM Ezra matches with a woman named Marisa, who is less than 0.1 miles away from him. Marisa tells Ezra she works across the street from Giovanni's, which is located* at 27 Melrose Street.
Ezra was near 27 Melrose Street at 2:17PM on 09/09/2019. This places Ezra near Gordon's Trinkets (29 Melrose Street) a minute after the necklace was purchased (2:16PM) and links him to the receipt.
*We know Giovanni's address because there's an ad for Giovanni's in the Seattle Times.
If we ignore everything that was found in the dog bag (the pill bottle and the bottle opener), what evidence points towards this bag being Ezra's? (1 point)
The Gordon's Trinkets receipt shows the necklace was purchased on 09/09/2019 at 2:16PM. The receipt shows Gordon's Trinkets is located at 29 Melrose Street.
The dating app evidence shows that on 09/09/2019 at 2:17PM Ezra matched with a woman named Marisa. They match less than 0.1 miles away. Marisa tells Ezra that she works across the street from Giovanni's. The Seattle Times Magazine has an ad for Giovanni's. Giovanni's is located at 27 Melrose Street (says so in the ad). From this, we can infer that Ezra is located near 27 Melrose Street at 2:17PM on 09/09/2019. 27 Melrose Street is near Gordon's Trinkets (29 Melrose Street). We can infer that Ezra was at Gordon's Trinkets, purchasing the necklace, on 09/09/2019 at 2:16PM.
What additional evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that Ezra does not have a medical license? (2 points)
On the computer desktop screenshot (from Part 1 - Luna's computer), Luna notes that Ezra has not been participating in Still Rocks group insurance and "going solo" instead. Doctors need medical insurance. Of course, if you're not a licensed doctor you don't need medical insurance. Ezra is not on Still Rock's group insurance, because if he applied for it, they would find out he doesn't have a license.
Note that this does not prove that Ezra does not have a medical license, but it is consistent with it.
(2 points if you noticed this and connected it at some point to Ezra potentially being a fraud — It's OK if it didn't come to mind immediately when you looked at this question).
How did Summer's killer plan her murder? (i.e. where did they kill Summer, how did they know Summer would be there at that time?) (4 points)
On the "Digital Extraction of Luna Brooks' Computer" (dated Wednesday, September 4th, 2019), Luna notes that someone named "Andrea Trent" called in and booked an appointment for next Saturday (September 14th) and was "very insistent" on seeing Summer before Monday. Luna notes that she needs to make sure the intake forms are in the office for next Saturday, indicating that Andrea has not already filled out intake information.
Summer's patient schedule shows Andrea Trent was booked for an appointment from 9-10AM on September 14th. Damien Maiden (aka Medina) was booked afterwards, from 10:30-12PM. We know that Summer died at approximately 9:15AM — during "Andrea's" appointment. We also know that Medina found Summer (after Andrea's supposed appointment.)
Did you hypothesize that Ezra called and booked an appointment for "Andrea Trent" for September 14th, 2019, with the plan to murder Summer at that time? (3 points)
Did you make the connection between Andrea's insistence on having the appointment before Monday and the fact that Ezra needed to kill Summer before Monday (to prevent her from having the therapy session with Ethan on Monday that likely would have blown Ezra's cover)? (1 point)
What is the significance of the pill bottle? (1 point)
Ezra (1 point).
We know it's Ezra's because there was a small duck figurine inside of it. On the SPP 2019 website (www.spp2019.com), there is an interview with a psychiatrist named Ross McPherson. Ross McPherson is Ezra's dad (1 point for figuring this out). Ross says he is from Fredericksburg, Texas and mentions having an estanged son who gave him a small duck figurine. (1 point for noticing the duck mention on the SPP 2019 website).
Additional explanation:
We know that Ezra used to be (or is, depending on whether he legally changed his name) Nolan McPherson. We also know that Ezra's parents are health professionals and that Ezra is from Fredericksburg (information that can be found on the Still Rock website, by looking at Ezra's interview featured on the 'Blog' page). This information is corroborated by other sources, such as the post by quillmaster8 (who is believed to be Ezra) on the Resilience Rise forum (who mentions being estranged from his parents who are mental health professionals) and the fact that there was a Fredericksburg, Texas bottle opener found inside dog a bag which we assume is Ezra's (we assume it's Ezra's because the dog on the bag looks like the dog in Ezra's dating app pictures - both are Jack Russell terriers).
Who does the pill bottle belong to and how do you know? (3 points)
Ezra (1 point).
We know it's Ezra's because there was a small duck figurine inside of it. On the SPP 2019 website (www.spp2019.com), there is an interview with a psychiatrist named Ross McPherson. Ross McPherson is Ezra's dad (1 point for figuring this out). Ross says he is from Fredericksburg, Texas and mentions having an estanged son who gave him a small duck figurine. (1 point for noticing the duck mention on the SPP 2019 website).
Additional explanation:
We know that Ezra used to be (or is, depending on whether he legally changed his name) Nolan McPherson. We also know that Ezra's parents are health professionals and that Ezra is from Fredericksburg (information that can be found on the Still Rock website, by looking at Ezra's interview featured on the 'Blog' page). This information is corroborated by other sources, such as the post by quillmaster8 (who is believed to be Ezra) on the Resilience Rise forum (who mentions being estranged from his parents who are mental health professionals) and the fact that there was a Fredericksburg, Texas bottle opener found inside dog a bag which we assume is Ezra's (we assume it's Ezra's because the dog on the bag looks like the dog in Ezra's dating app pictures - both are Jack Russell terriers).
Did you notice... (2 points)
On the SPP 2019 website, in Ross McPherson's interview, he says he's from Fredericksburg, Texas. Did you figure out that Ross is Ezra son and make up connection between Ross saying he was from Fredericksburg and the bottle opener with "Fredericksburg, Texas" on it in Ezra's dog bag? (i.e. the "dog bag" that we figured out belonged to Ezra) (1 point).
Additionally, did you notice that on the Still Rock blog, in Ezra's interview, he mentions that he looks up to Admiral Chester Nimitz, who's from his (Ezra's) hometown. If you google Chester Nimitz, you'll see he was born in Fredericksburg. Did you make this connection? (1 point)
Did you notice... (2 points)
On the SPP 2019 website, in Ross McPherson's interview, he says he's from Fredericksburg, Texas. Did you figure out that Ross is Ezra son and make up connection between Ross saying he was from Fredericksburg and the bottle opener with "Fredericksburg, Texas" on it in Ezra's dog bag? (i.e. the "dog bag" that we figured out belonged to Ezra) (1 point).
Additionally, did you notice that on the Still Rock blog, in Ezra's interview, he mentions that he looks up to Admiral Chester Nimitz, who's from his (Ezra's) hometown. If you google Chester Nimitz, you'll see he was born in Fredericksburg. Did you make this connection? (1 point)
