Death by Chocolate Bonus Scene

Police Report
Case number: 097215772

Date: 03/11/2020

Reporting Officer: Jacob Klimek

Date: 07/11/2020

Sworn to me on this: 1st DAY of November 2020

Notary Officer: Harry Davies

Supervisor Approval: Rich Brown

Date: 11/11/2020

This summary report covers the closing of several cases. See cases: insert case file numbers here for full details.

After rigorous investigation by both the Chiswick Police Force and a civilian contributor (see file on Ginger Burnett), the deaths of Zoe Palmer, Callum West, Simon Amberley, and Augustus Amberley were found to be linked.

The death of Zoe Palmer, which took place two years ago, was initially ruled a suicide due to substances found postmortem (see summary of original autopsy report in Appendix 1).

Additional evidence in the form of testimony from Witness 1 (see Witness Statement 1 in Appendix 2) suggests the death was accidental, or possibly manslaughter by Simon Amberley for providing the substances to an underage person.

As all but one of the people present (Witness 1) are now deceased, it is difficult to make any change to the ruling. However, additional charges are being brought against Arthur Amberley for unlawfully preventing the burial of a body. Evidence is being gathered to prove the testimony of his wife, Ivy Amberley, who claimed to have seen him carrying the unmoving form of Zoe Palmer to his car the night before she was found in Pennyman Pond (see original crime scene report in Appendix 3). The case is in progress and charges will be brought against Arthur Amberley soon.

The death of Zoe Palmer, however it occurred, served as the motive for the deaths of Simon Amberley, Augustus Amberley, and Callum West. The perpetrator was Zoe's mother, Rebecca Palmer (Rebecca Peters following her divorce). Following her arrest and confinement to Ashworth Prison in their special care unit, Rebecca provided a full confession (see Appendix 4).

She admitted to overdosing Callum West with prescription painkillers after discovering they shared the same prescription. Her motive was that he had been the cause of Zoe's friendship with Augustus Amberley, an event that Rebecca believes was a direct cause of her daughter's death.

In the case of Callum West, there are also charges being brought against Arthur Amberley for interfering with an investigation and wasting police time. Video evidence provided posthumously by Augustus Amberley (and brought to the attention of the department by Ginger Burnett and Valerian Burnett).

On page 25 of Rebecca's confession (see Appendix 4), she details how she killed Simon Amberley. Simon was known to the police as a drug dealer and Rebecca posed as a potential client. She then got him drunk to the point of unconsciousness and set fire to the house, making it appear that it was an accident caused by Simon's smoking. Her motive was that Simon had provided the drugs that killed her daughter.

The final victim of Rebecca Peters was Augustus (Gus) Amberley. His case file details his prior brushes with the Chiswick Police Department (see Appendix 5) but he had no prior convictions. His death on 21st October (see initial report and autopsy report in Appendices 6 & 7) appeared to be a suicide driven by guilt. A note found with the body strongly suggested that Gus caused the deaths of both Zoe Palmer and Callum West. However, Rebecca's confession and handwriting analysis show that Rebecca wrote the note and planted it on Gus as part of the murder.

Dr Chester outlined several potential causes of death (see autopsy report in Appendix 7) but ruled that it was most likely a combination of intense intoxication, blunt force trauma from the crash, and drowning. Rebecca confessed that she posed as a seller from Simon to give Gus a cocktail of drugs, including hallucinogens (see page 5 of the autopsy report for a detailed list). Once he was compliant, she drove him to Pennyman Pond, put Gus in the driver's seat, and convinced him to commit the final act himself.

Rebecca Peters is being assessed to ascertain whether she is fit to stand trial. In the meantime, it is being decided which charges we can bring against her. Significant evidence is being gleaned from the coded notebooks of Callum West, Augustus Amberley, and now Zoe Palmer, a resource we were made aware of by Ginger Burnett.

A brief note on Ginger Burnett: her role in this case has been controversial, and at times even placed her on my suspects list (particularly for the first arson attack on the Amberley residence – see Appendix 8 for full report). Some in the department argued that she should be charged with withholding evidence, wasting police time, and interfering with an investigation.

However, upon reflection, I limited the reprimand to a caution. This case would no doubt not have been solved without the input of Ginger Burnett, not least of all because she helped to stop Rebecca from completing her plan to cause the deaths of herself, and Arthur and Ivy Amberley in a second arson attack on the Amberley home.

Ginger Burnett is an asset to the community of Little and Greater Chiswick, as can be seen in her actions in the Arlington Manor case (see Appendix 9 for report summary) and this case.

I also commend her brother, Valerian Burnett, for his actions surrounding this case. Although currently under internal investigation, he comported himself as an officer should in all aspects of this case, including transporting me to the final crime scene. I hope my commendation might have some small bearing on the result of the internal investigation into his conduct.

To access the full copies of any of the files or cases summarised in the appendices, contact the Chiswick Police Department.