Clockwork Conundrum

Detective Miller stood bewildered in the cluttered workshop. The victim, Alistair Clockmaker, lay sprawled on the floor, a single, gleaming gear clutched in his hand. The room was a cacophony of ticking, whirring clocks of all shapes and sizes. A half-finished automaton, a mechanical bird with intricate gears, stood frozen mid-assembly on the workbench.
Here are the clues:
The window was open, but there were no signs of forced entry.
A cup of untouched tea sat cold on the desk next to a pocket watch with the hands stopped at precisely 3:17 pm.
A single set of fresh footprints, other than the victim's, led from the window to the workbench and then back out the window.
Scrawled on a nearby notepad were cryptic symbols resembling gears.
Can you crack the case? Who killed Alistair Clockmaker and why?

Solution: The killer is the unfinished automaton itself. The fresh footprints were made by the automaton's bird-like legs. The stopped pocket watch was a clue left by the killer. The gears on the notepad were a message - a blueprint for the automaton to attack Alistair at 3:17 pm, the time the tea would be untouched and Alistair would be examining the automaton. The motive? A malfunction or a deliberate programming error, causing the automaton to see Alistair as a threat.