Ruthie Samson was the killer of tourist writer Paula Mahler in Into the Woods (Case #27 of Pacific Bay).
Profile
Ruthie is the director of the White Peaks tourism office. At 62 years of age, she has blue eyes and sports long and messy gray hair. She dons a white shirt and a red jacket over it. On the right side, she wears a mountain badge and a pine tree badge. On the other side, she sports an ID card that reads "DIRECTOR OF TOURISM". For makeup, she wears blue eyeshadow, fake eyelashes, and black eye lining as well as pink lipstick. Besides that, she wears a red beaded necklace and sustains a bruise on the right side of her forehead. It is known that Ruthie knows knot making, has contact with wood mushrooms and wears hiking boots.
| Height | 5'8" |
|---|---|
| Age | 62 |
| Weight | 190 lbs |
| Eyes | blue |
| Blood | A- |
Events of Criminal Case
Ruthie, a then-director of tourism in Logan's Pass, found herself in trouble after authorities found a business card in the timber mill. Ruthie was kind enough to identify the victim as Paula Mahler, claiming that she knew Paula did not make it to an intended rendezvous. Ruthie took some time to describe Paula to the team of Frank and the player—Paula was a travel guide who was the author of the "Pretty Planet" tour guidebook. Part of Paula's job was to camp in the wilderness of Logan's Pass according to Ruthie, so Frank and the player (in spite of Ruthie's plea to keep the investigation discreet) headed to Paula's campsite in Logan's Pass to carry on with the investigation.
Ruthie told Frank and the player about a Night Walker (a notorious "masked creature") sighting at the Stone Circle, suggesting that she knew something about the Night Walker fiasco that plagued White Peaks for years. Frank and the player opted to continue their investigation at the Stone Circle. Ruthie was under fire for a second time shortly after the report she gave as Frank and the player found a free stay voucher during the player's second investigation of Paula's campsite.
Ruthie told Frank and the player that she offered Paula a free stay in a five-star hotel in Logan's Pass, but the tourist writer preferred to camp out since she preferred nature over modern-day living. Ruthie wanted coverage of the five-star hotels in Logan's Pass so she told Paula about a rendezvous discussing the importance of including those five-star hotels in the "Pretty Planet" guidebook. What Ruthie told the team throughout the investigation matched the killer's description accurately.
Ruthie told Frank and the player at the moment of her arrest that Paula and herself were friends, but when Frank countered that she matched the description of Paula's killer, she admitted to the murder. Ruthie was disappointed in Paula's lackluster coverage of Logan's Pass in the "Pretty Planet" tour guidebook and insisted on Paula's unconditional help to make Logan's Pass the next Aspen. Paula opted to remove Logan's Pass from her guidebook, which went against Ruthie's orders all the way through.
Ruthie felt that Paula's insubordination was more than she could take, so she had to resort to bloodlust to punish Paula for such. Ruthie suckered her into the timber mill by pretending to be Judd Tucker, the lumberjack who had saved Paula's life not-so-long ago. Ruthie cornered Paula albeit the victim climbed onto the saw table to get away from her. Paula lost traction, allowing Ruthie to tie her into submission, igniting the arbor saw, and slicing her like butter. Frank heard enough so the player shipped Ruthie to court.
Ruthie told Judge Dante that Paula should have worked with her instead of against her during the tour guide creation as a justification for the murder, but Judge Dante made it clear that there were non-violent ways to deal with Paula's wanton insubordination, and made clear that homicide was not a valid decision to deal with insubordination. As a result, Judge Dante issued a 25-year jail sentence (without parole) to Ruthie.
Trivia
- Ruthie closely resembles American celebrity chef and cooking show television host Paula Deen.
Case appearances
- Into the Woods (Case #27 of Pacific Bay)
Gallery
