Ashton Cooper

Ashton Cooper was a suspect in the murder investigation of Chief King's old friend, Stuart Huckabee, in A Brave New World (Case #52 of Grimsborough). He later killed history novelist Rosie Gatewood in The Poisoned Truth (Case #54 of Grimsborough).

Profile
Ashton is the 44-year-old heir of the Cooper family. He has medium-length brown hair, with a full beard and mustache, and wears spectacles. He dons a brown gentleman's suit, with a white shirt and black tie underneath. He also sports a brooch of the Cooper family's coat of arms on his suit's left lapel.

In his first appearance, it is known that Ashton eats oysters, uses a metal detector and drinks tea.

In his second appearance, Ashton's black tie is replaced with a blue tie and the lenses of his glasses have become purple. It is discovered that he knows about botany, collects "KILLER CARDS" and practices fencing.

Events of Criminal Case
Ashton is the descendant of William Cooper, founder of the city of Grimsborough.

A Brave New World
Jones and the player found a warning letter with a wax seal, which upon the team's analysis, was identified as the coat of arms of the Cooper Family, this signifying that Ashton Cooper wrote the letter. The team did not hesitate to talk to Ashton at the Cooper mansion.

Ashton told the team that Stuart ignored him but the team wondered as to why this mattered to Ashton. Ashton told the team that he was the descendant of William Cooper, who built Grimsborough in 1845, but admitted that it was only the leftovers of a small Pilgrim settlement. Ashton told the team that the city had nothing to do with the pilgrims, but viewed Grimsborough as his ancestor's lifelong work, as well as his family's.

Later, Ramirez caught Ashton sneaking into the evidence room, trying to steal and destroy the Crimson Order chalice, which was vital to their investigation of said order. Ashton wanted to destroy any existence of the Crimson Order, claiming it would overshadow the history of Grimsborough. The team accused Ashton of wanting to kill Stuart to prevent the corrupt order's exposure, but the Cooper heir countered by saying that he would not throw his family's pride away by murdering anyone. Ashton was later found innocent when Susan Huckabee was indicted of Stuart's murder.

The Poisoned Truth
Ashton would be interrogated a second time when famous history novelist Rosie Gatewood was murdered. The team mentioned Rosie's dying words, "White Acres", but the bearded man felt that the case had nothing to do with him, even though his family crest was found hidden within the painting. Ashton disliked the team talking about the "White Acres" painting before him, declaring Geert De Haan a fraud, but stated that Geert became a leader thanks to the "Miracle Baby" legend. However, Ashton stated that his ancestor, William Cooper, needed no miracle to turn the Pilgrim Village into what was currently known as Grimsborough.

The team went to interrogate Ashton a second time, but before they could begin, the bearded man asked if the player had any Tess Goodwin cards, stating he would be willing to pay for them. Though by doing so, he inadvertently admitted he collected "KILLER CARDS". The team wanted to know why Ashton spent time in Geert De Haan's secret cave, pointing out they found his handprint around the cave. Ashton told the team he needed some rare herbs and felt the cave was the only place he could find them. He also told the team that like them, he is very good in keeping secrets.

The team managed to arrest Ashton after the evidence proved him to be Rosie's killer.

Rosie was about to expose the Crimson Order as insidious manipulators, and the secret society did not want that to happen. Thus they gave Ashton the order to kill Rosie so he could join them. For the Cooper heir, the Crimson Order was proud of the city his family founded, just as much as him. Using "KILLER CARDS" and his purple lens monocles to follow the execution order, Ashton hand-made a poisonous blowdart (using natural poisons from rare plants) so that he could discreetly kill Rosie, in spite of Jones and the player catching wind.

At court, Ashton once again claimed that he murdered Rosie Gatewood for the eternal glory of Grimsborough, proudly stating to Judge Hall that putting him inside prison would change nothing, since he could still act as a Crimson brother. As a result of his complete lack of remorse for his crime, he received a lifetime jail sentence. As Ashton was taken away, he notified the player that "their days are numbered" on behalf of the Crimson Order. Officer Jones furiously countered that the Crimson Order did not scare them, and that they should be afraid.

The team would interrogate Ashton in his detention space, but he refused to cooperate as he felt the Crimson Order were the heroes of Grimsborough, a feat which Jones did not buy nor accept. The team opted to continue investigating after Ashton's wanton failure to cooperate.