We Solve Murders
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 22
Overview
Amy refuses Rosie’s suggestion to run and instead focuses on getting into the dead Sheriff Scroggie’s locked computer. After fingerprint access fails, Amy and Rosie use Scroggie’s eye to trigger the computer’s iris recognition and successfully unlock it. The chapter matters because Amy chooses investigation over escape, and Rosie becomes an active partner in a brutal but effective attempt to uncover new evidence.
Summary
In Sheriff Justin Scroggie’s office, Rosie points out that Amy keeps ending up near dead bodies and suggests they should leave. Amy ignores the complaint because Amy is focused on Scroggie’s locked computer and believes the machine may contain information they need.
Amy orders Rosie to cut Scroggie down from where he is hanging and to keep Rosie’s gloves on. Rosie uses a ceremonial sword from Scroggie’s wall to cut the rope, and Amy and Rosie wrestle Scroggie’s body onto an office chair so Amy can position the corpse close to the computer.
To try to bypass the lock, Amy asks Rosie for a make-up wipe and cleans blood from Scroggie’s index finger. Amy presses the finger to the keyboard’s touch sensor, hoping Scroggie used fingerprint recognition, but the computer remains locked.
Rosie then mentions iris recognition, which gives Amy a second idea. Although Scroggie’s swollen eyelids are difficult to move, Rosie forces one eye open while Amy turns the chair so the dead sheriff faces the computer camera.
The computer unlocks with a ping, confirming that Scroggie used eye recognition rather than fingerprints. By refusing to flee and using Scroggie’s corpse to gain access, Amy shows how determined Amy is to search for answers, while Rosie proves willing to help with increasingly grim improvisation.
Who Appears
- Amydriven investigator who refuses to leave and engineers a way into Scroggie’s locked computer
- Rosie D'Antoniowry companion who protests, then helps cut down Scroggie and open his eye for the scan
- Justin Scroggiedead sheriff whose body is used to bypass his computer’s biometric security