What had seventeen hours ago seemed a clear case of homicide has since become a murky and baffling mystery. “We know there was a crime,” Detective Mark Bradley said at a press conference last night. “What we don’t know is what to make of the unfolding details.”

The Fourteenth Annual Glockenspiel Players Association of America Summit was marred yesterday morning by a gruesome discovery in the trunk of a rental car registered to the event’s keynote speaker, Oster File. A body, since identified as that of concert glockenspiel player Margaret Askins, was uncovered after hotel residents reported an odd smell in the parking deck of the Renaissance Waverly. Mr. File, 52, was subsequently arrested by city police. No charges have been filed, according to authorities, due to circumstances “demanding further consideration.”

Witnesses reported apparent mutilation, including the absence of the victim’s hands. Detectives have since confirmed these reports.

“This is not a simple case of murder, not as far as we can tell,” Bradley said, understating the mounting confusion of investigators.

Public records reveal this is not the first time the body of Ms. Askins has been discovered. The young woman in question is listed by the Coroner’s Office of Chicago as deceased since September 5, 1999. An arrest was made that year, and the suspect, Lucious Vanderclay, was found guilty in March of 2000 after only two hours of jury deliberation. Due to the violence of the crime, Vanderclay was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He is currently awaiting his final appeal.

Vanderclay, a veteran glockenspiel player and long time associate of Oster File, was arrested for Askins’ murder in November of 1999. Askins, a student of Vanderclay, had been reported missing months earlier. The case had focussed primarily on Dennis Askins, father of the missing girl, until a household employee of Vanderclay came forward with a piece of critical evidence.

“We had no body,” Chicago District Attorney Seth Attavitch said. “Once we had it, we had Vanderclay. I have no doubt that we convicted the right man.”

Now, with a body but no motive and perhaps no victim, the question remains of how authorities will proceed. For now, that question goes unanswered, but sources close to the case confirm that the DNA and dental information of the body found yesterday are a perfect match for those of Ms. Askins.

Friends of File state that he is innocent of any crime, citing both his character and the brief window of time and opportunity available to him. “He’s a busy guy,” summit attendee Phil Frank said. “Just doesn’t seem likely.”

In a telephone conversation with the apparent victim’s father, Mr. Askins said, “Isn’t it enough that she’s gone? It’s a sick joke, putting us through this again. Whoever’s responsible is sick. You’re all sick.”

The GPAA has offered no comment on the subject, answering all requests for information with their written guidelines for the submission of such requests.

Timestamp: 02.14.07 at 01:17 PM. Filed under: Fiction.