Chapter 21: The Occupied Alibi

And how to break it

At last we arrive at the Occupied Alibi—the kind of alibi most people are thinking of when they hear the word “alibi.” In this kind of alibi, the Villain tries to establish that he was elsewhere during the time the crime occurred.

Time-Shifted Murder

There are plenty of ways to break the Occupied Alibi, and the first is one we’ve already discussed: time-shifting.

In an episode of Monk called “Mr. Monk Visits a Farm,” our Villain, Jimmy Belmont, learns that his neighbor, Harvey Disher, is about to turn him in for his illegal marijuana farm. He shoots Harvey, then positions the body in Harvey’s truck, gun in hand, as though Harvey had shot himself. Belmont props the truck’s rear end up on a pair of salt licks so the wheels aren’t in contact with the ground, and puts the transmission in drive. Then he goes to attend a community dance.

The farm’s sprinkler system is on an automatic timer, and when it goes off later that evening, the salt licks begin to melt. Eventually, the truck’s back wheels come into contact with the ground, and the vehicle speeds off—directly into an electric fence. This provokes a power grid hiccup that causes the lights at the dance hall to flicker. When this happens, Belmont knows that his plan has worked. He claims to have heard a distant gunshot—and though he’s the only person who seems to have heard it, the local sheriff dutifully goes off to investigate. When she finds Harvey, it seems clear to everyone what happened—Harvey crashed into the electric fence, then shot himself. And it all seems to have happened while Belmont was at the dance.

Time Delay Murder

Time-Shifted Murders aren’t the only ways the Villain can muck about with the Sleuth’s understanding of what happened when. They can also use a tactic that actually relies upon the police accurately pinpointing the time of death. This tactic is called the Time Delay Murder, and when using it the Villain puts the Victim in a situation that will lead to their death, then walks away to establish their Occupied Alibi somewhere else.