Aubrey Miller née Cromwell was the victim in The Witching Hour (Case #43 of Mysteries of the Past).
Profile
Aubrey was a herbalist and a midwife. She had curly red hair and green eyes. At the time of her death, she wore a cream blouse and a long navy blue skirt. She also sported multiple amulets around her neck.
Murder details
Aubrey was found tied to a dunking bar and submerged in a pond, with the word "WITCH" written on her chest with blood. Maddie and the player immediatly deduced that she was forcibly drowned. Per Dick, the victim died from immersion in the water. He added that the killer knocked Aubrey out by hitting her head with a stone to easily tie her to the wooden plank and drown her, also writing on her chest with blood from the head wound. By looking at the rope, the coroner deduced that the killer knew how to tie knots.
Relationship with suspects
Aubrey was married to William Miller, but found out that he had cheated on her with her apprentice, Abigail Walcott. When Aubrey threatened to leave William and tell the town about his affair, Abigail planned to discredit her first, spreading the rumor that she was a witch in order to save her reputation. The plan worked, and Aubrey gained the reputation of a witch around town, with passerby Hope Woodford even approaching Aubrey to ask her to use magic to find her sister, much to Aubrey's irritation. Aubrey accused historian George Okamoto of "ruining Grim Chapel" due to his common embellishment of facts to attract tourists after he had asked her to wear a witch hat. Cordelia Putnam sought Aubrey's fertility treatments but she still kept miscarrying. Aubrey recently refused to give Cordelia more medication, saying that it was dangerous for her to try to keep conceiving, angering Cordelia.
Killer and motives
The killer turned out to be Cordelia.
Cordelia eventually admitted to the murder. When she heard of the rumor of Aubrey being a witch, she then believed that she had cursed her, causing her many miscarriages. Enraged, Cordelia confronted Aubrey, bashed her head with a stone, tied her to a dunking bar, drowned her, and wrote "WITCH" on her chest with blood from Aubrey's head wound. Judge Lawson sentenced her to 25 years in prison.
Case appearances
- The Witching Hour (Case #43 of Mysteries of the Past)
- Turn for the Worse (Case #46 of Mysteries of the Past; mentioned)
- Doom Service (Case #47 of Mysteries of the Past; mentioned)
