You're the Detective: The Case of the Taxi

Taxi


"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
-- Oscar Wilde
It was an early Saturday morning in October when Detective Marcia stepped into her office building. Thelma, her secretary handed her a new manila folder. She immediately went to the crime scene.

Mr. Smith answered the door in his bathrobe.
He immediately took her to the crime scene.

“Mr. Smith, I need you to answer some questions,” stated Detective Marcia.
"Anything to find my wife's murderer,” said Mr. Smith.
“What were you doing around the time your wife was murdered?” said Marcia.
“I was watching Oprah live.” he said. “Then I heard a terrifying screech from downstairs. I ran downstairs and saw a man running away as fast as he could, trying not to be seen.”
“Okay, that’s all for now. Could I possibly look around your house?”said Marcia.
“Sure, but I don’t think you will be able to find anything,” Mr. Smith said.
  Marcia was walking around the kitchen when she dropped her pen.    While bending to pick it up she found a crumpled up piece of paper under the kitchen table. She opened the piece of paper with a number circled on it. It was for the taxi cab company.
She folded the paper and stuck it into her pocket.
  She entered the living room next. She saw the shades were all dirty and taped shut.
  Then Mr. Smith walked over nervously and stepped in between Marcia and the shades.
“Do you ever open these shades?” asked Marcia.
“No, my wife can’t be exposed to a lot of sunlight,” said Mr. Smith.
“Thanks. Maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow,” said Marcia.
She climbed back into her yellow Hummer. She decided to call the number she found underneath the table back at the Smith’s house.
“Hi, this is the Mini Yellow bus service. How may I help you?” the lady on the other line said.
“This is Detective Marcia. I was wondering if you could tell me who the driver was last night. They dropped a woman off at 224 Monet Drive,” she said.
“One moment, please,” said the lady on the other line. On came the waiting music, with her favorite song from her childhood. The music suddenly quit and the lady came back on the line. “The driver last night was Mr. Allen. He is not on shift right now but you may call him at home. The number is 555-3553,” the lady said.
  Detective Marcia said, “Thank you.”
  Marcia, turned her phone off and called the number.
“Hello,” a man said in a deep voice, “this is Allen.”
“This is Detective Marcia,” she said. “Have you heard of the murder of Mrs. Smith?”
“No,” he said.
“Can you please come down to my office in about ten minutes?” Marcia said.
“Sure thing,” said Mr. Allen.
When Marcia arrived at the office she saw that her secretary had already taken Mr. Allen into the interrogation room.
“What happened last night?” asked Mr. Allen.
“I don’t know. That’s why you’re here.”
“First, tell what time you dropped her off.”
“I don’t know, a little after sunset. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes.”
“One more question, did you see anyone outside?”
“No, but the house was pretty dark. I had to leave quickly to pick up my next customer.”
“Thanks, that’s all I needed.”
Silently to herself she added, ”I’ve got it.”


    (Try to solve the case before going on.)
   Who is the murderer?
   








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Who is the Murderer?
Mr. Smith. He said he was watching Oprah live. Oprah is on before sunset. Also he couldn’t have seen anyone running, because the windows were taped shut.