Mark Steven Waraftig was a tenant at 1101 Prospect Gardens until his untimely death under mysterious circumstances. He lived in apartment 536, where building manager Lloyd Marr suddenly found him hanging over his salon table. It is ruled a suicide and Lassiter decides to take advantage of the situation by making arrangements to rent the apartment and even take over Mark's furniture. When the gang hears that the previous tenant of apartment 536, Raymond Brauer, also died as a result of a mysterious suicide, they start investigating Ray's and Mark's deaths, now fully aware of the rumors that the apartment is cursed.
One important piece of evidence is the "surprising amount" of amyl nitrite, a substance with a psychoactive effect when inhaled, that is found inside Mark's body. Gus knows that poppers, a recreational drug, have amyl nitrite in them but Shawn doesn't believe Mark is a drug user since his healthy snacks clearly indicate he is "some sort of health nut". Since building manager Lloyd Marr has amyl nitrite in his room, he is briefly suspected until he also falls victim to the real killer. In the end, it turns out that Amy Alleris is behind Mark's death. She had fallen in love with him and couldn't handle it when he rejected her, so she drove him crazy by placing a bottle of amyl nitrite in his air vent and "haunting" his apartment before hanging him. The same happened with Ray, whom she pushed out of his bedroom window. As Amy would tell everyone these supposed suicides were the result of a curse placed on the apartment after the murder-suicide of the building's architect, no one ever suspected foul play.
Trivia[]
- Lassiter respects Mark for keeping a "tidy living space".