#Welcome to the Gala Murder Mystery.
##### (text-colour:grey)[ You are an ace detective at the NYPD. It's a regular day, with regular work]
You're called into your CO's office. Your CO, Capt. Holden, tells you that Mr. Sandler, a prominent politician, who's hosting a gala with a lot of high profile guests, has recieved a death threat this morning. Mr. Sandler is adamant on not cancelling the party, therefore, police protection has been increased, and you're being sent as a guest, incognito.
[[Take the order]]
[[Decline the order]] You arrive at the gala, where there's a lot of people talking about. You spot quite a few famous faces in there. You see
- **Armina Boyle**, 38, a famous novelist,
- **Mike Baller**, 59, owner of a pro baseball team,
- **Thomas Schiller**, 32, millionaire music producer,
- **Rei Nakamura**, 26, a famous japanese actress,
- **Dr. Lucas Roth**, 50, a university professor and
- **Nikola Knight**, 71, President of the Nikola car company
Mr. Sandler has police all around him. You're content. The lights dim as a slideshow starts. You ...
[[Look at the presentation]]
[[Look around]]You tell your CO that you have a lot of important cases you need to get to, and you cannot go babysit at a gala that already has a lot of police protection. Your CO is pissed at you, and decides to send another detective, Det. Hitchcock, to the gala instead. Hitchcock was out grabbing a hot dog when Mr. Sandler is murdered. The murderer gets away, since you were busy with "actual work".
The police commissioner fires you instead.
"You should have gone to the party, dum dum".
(link: "Restart")[(reload:)]
It's a fun presentation on Mr. Sandler. You see a bunch of old photos and yawn. Someone nudges you on the side. You look around. Mr. Sandler is no longer at the centerstage. No one noticed in between all the laughs. The nudge was from one of the police officers, who are now looking for Mr. Sandler in the dark, quietly. You see a shadow in the far left, same as Sandler's build.
[[Go left, follow the shadow | Look for Sandler]]
[[Follow the police officer | Follow Popo or Stand]]You look around. Mr. Sandler is no longer at the centerstage. No one noticed in between all the laughs. The police CO quietly asks the officers to start searching.
[[You join the effort | Follow Popo or Stand]]
[[Go the other way. | Look for Sandler]]You go after the shadow, through the crowd. People block your way left and right. You hustle through to a corner, and reach a small empty spot. Mr. Sandler is nowhere to be seen.
You suddenly hear a swooshing sound, and as you turn around, a hankerchief falls on your face. Suddenly there's a large crashing noise, and the lights come on. Many people shriek and a woman screams loudly.
[[Go look]]You go after the police office, through the crowd. People block your way left and right. You hustle through to a corner, and reach a small empty spot. Mr. Sandler is not here. You look at the police officer, who shrugs.
You suddenly hear a swooshing sound, and as you turn around, a hankerchief falls on your face. Suddenly there's a large crashing noise, and the lights come on. Many people shriek and a woman screams loudly.
[[Go look]]You rush towards the center of the hall, where the chandelier has fallen down, and Mr. Sandler is crushed underneath it. The people are surprised and talking loudly. Dr. Roth is on the floor, clutching his arm.
You call out that you're here, and identify yourself as a Detective in the force.
You call out a couple of officers to remove the chandelier and check on Mr. Sandler. The officer reports that Sandler is dead. A guest calls out that you're here very quickly. You tell the guests that Mr. Sandler had recieved a death threat, that's why you're here.
Your work begins now.
(set: $chandelier_piece to $chandelier_piece)
[[Check the body]](set: $phone_checked to $phone_checked)
[[Interview Roth]](set: $roth_interview to $roth_interview)
[[Interview Rei]](set: $rei_interview to $rei_interview)
[[Interview Schiller]](set: $schiller_interview to $schiller_interview)
[[Interview Knight]](set: $knight_interview to $knight_interview)
[[Interview Baller]](set: $baller_interview to $baller_interview)
[[Interview Boyle]](set: $boyle_interview to $boyle_interview)
(if: ($roth_interview is true) and ($rei_interview is true) and ($schiller_interview is true) and ($knight_interview is true) and ($baller_interview is true) and ($boyle_interview is true) and ($phone_checked is true))[
[[Finish Interviews]]
]Sandler is very much dead. The lab techs clean up the body. The Forensic specialist tell you he suffered a blunt force trauma, almost everywhere on his body from the chandelier getting crushed. He has his ID on him, and his phone.
His phone has a message from an unknown number - "Under the chandelier, once the lights go off. You'll know where"
You ask the techs to track this number
[[Go back->Go look]] (set: $phone_checked to true)You go over to Roth, and you ask him if he's seen anyone suspicious. Roth is irritated. "I had no time for that. That chandelier almost crushed me too! My suit is ruined."
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $roth_interview to true)You go over to Rei, and you ask her if she's seen anyone suspicious. Rei tells you she saw nothing at all. No suspicious characters. Rei is shaken. She was almost under the chandelier.
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $rei_interview to true)Schiller says "It was an accident, for sure. The chandelier was very old, and the chains were weak, so it broke. Sandler just happened to be underneath it."
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $schiller_interview to true)Knight overhears Schiller and he inquires about the death threat. You tell him it was an anonymous tip. Knight tells you that Mr. Sandler was already suffering from a couple of major medical conditions.
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $knight_interview to true)Baller comes into the conversation. "The accident just happened to overlap with the threat. The heavens smited him." He says, while eating a bowl of rice. He suddenly makes a face, and spits something out. He screams out for the chef.
[[Pick up object]]
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $baller_interview to true)Boyle comes to you. "If Sandler was crushed by the chandelier, and it was a murder, then the murderer had to set a trap on the chandelier, lure him under the place, and then activate the trap. However there's no trap on the chandelier."
You look up, there is no way to access the chandelier, and there's nothing around it.
"The murder is impossible, could you please let us go now?" Boyle asks
[[Let them go]]
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $boyle_interview to true)You've finished interviewing a set of people. You ponder over Boyle's point. She's right, it is impossible to drop a chandelier on a target without a trap.
(if:visits is 1)[
(set:$hankerchief_dropped to false)
]
(if:$hankerchief_dropped is false)[You have a hankerchief.](if:$chandelier_piece is true)[You have a piece of the chandelier.]
(if:$hankerchief_dropped is false)[
[[Inspect Hankerchief]]
]
(if:$hankerchief_dropped is true)[
You hear a sudden huge uproar.
[[Go to the hall->Go back to the hall]]
]
(if:$chandelier_piece is true)[
[[Inspect Chandelier Piece]]
]
You go over and pick it up. It's a piece of the chandelier chain. Why was it in the food?
[[Go back->Go look]]
(set: $chandelier_piece to true)You let the suspects go.
The murderer has escaped. Not only did you fail to protect Mr. Sandler, you also let his murderer go.
You are demoted to a traffice cop.
"Now keep letting these go, dumb cop"
(link: "Restart")[(reload:)]You look at the hankerchief closely. It's a blue hankerchief. It's labelled in the corner - Sandler's Annual Gala. You look around. All the guests have a hankerchief - all of different colors. They were probably given it on entry. You see a total of 7 colors.
[[Find out more about the hankerchief]]
[[Probably nothing, someone dropped it.]]
[[Go back->Finish Interviews]] Nothing special that you can see right now. Slightly oily in your hands. Is that oil?
(set: $inspected_piece to true)
[[Go back->Finish Interviews]] You determine this is a probable clue, and you go up to the front desk, and ask for a list of people who recieved blue hankerchiefs. The blue hankerchiefs were given to 6 people
- Schiller
- Roth
- Rei
- Knight
- Boyle
- Baller
You hear a sudden huge uproar.
[[Go back to the hall]]You give the hankerchief to a lab tech and take a deep breath.
(set: $hankerchief_dropped to true)
[[Go back->Finish Interviews]] You see all the people rushing out. The chief of police has had to let them go. They rush out, with a flurry of press behind them.
[[Stop the suspects]]
[[Let them go]]You quickly call your CO, who sets up a barrier at the entrance, and holds the 6 people there. Your CO tells you he can hold them for an hour more, max. You step outside for some air. A news show blares on the televsion.
[[Watch the news]] You watch the news, which is showing the recap of the night. With that, and your previous interviews, you determine the approximate locations of the 7 during the murder.
An interesting photo pops up on the news, showing Schiller and Boyle embracing, in the dark.
(if:$hankerchief_dropped is true)[
A possible option strikes you. But it will be hard to prove.
[[Call the 6 people]]
]
(else:)[
Your hand rubs against the hankerchief, and there's a weird sensation. It's a burn mark. A possible option strikes you.. You take out the chandelier piece. It shines.
[[Call the 6 people]]
]
All the 6 people assemble in the foyer. They're irritated and angry.
You proclaim you've found the killer. You ...
(link: "accuse Schiller")[(set: $accused to "Schiller")(goto: "False Accusation")]
(link: "accuse Roth")[(set: $accused to "Roth")(goto: "False Accusation")]
(link: "accuse Rei")[(set: $accused to "Rei")(goto: "False Accusation")]
(link: "accuse Knight")[(set: $accused to "Knight")(goto: "Correct Accusation")]
(link: "accuse Boyle")[(set: $accused to "Boyle")(goto: "False Accusation")]
(link: "accuse Baller")[(set: $accused to "Baller")(goto: "False Accusation")]You were wrong. So wrong.
$accused was not the killer. He talks to your CO, and you're thrown off the case for accusing a famous personality of murder without evidence.
Next time, maybe actually consider some "facts"
You're a dumb detective - Now there's a fact.
(link: "Restart")[(reload:)](if: ($hankerchief_dropped is false) and ($chandelier_piece is true))[
Knight screams out.
You explain.
The Chandelier was coated with a luminiscent item. The burn mark on the hankerchief shows that a gun was fired. However the killer couldn't fire the gun in complete darkness, so he kept the hankerchief on the silencer to cover the flash. It blew away when the gun was fired.
Rei and Roth were under the chandelier; They had no shot.
Baller spit out the chandelier piece from his food.
Schiller and Boyle were embracing each other in the dark.
That leaves Knight, as the killer.
You go over to the spot where the Chandelier fell. The shiny luminiscent item is on the floor too. That was probably the bait of Sandler, who was asked by Knight to meet him under the Chandelier once the lights went out.
[[Knight makes a run for it->Knight runs]]
]
(if: ($hankerchief_dropped is true) or ($chandelier_piece is false)) [
Knight screams out.
You explain.
Rei and Roth were under the chandelier; They had no shot.
Baller spit out the chandelier piece from his food.
Schiller and Boyle were embracing each other in the dark.
That leaves Knight, as the killer.
Knight scoffs. "You have no proof, and still have the gall to accuse me of that?"
You claim it is enough to detain him for a while. He threaten to sue the city as he's arrested.
Your CO explains he'll probably be out soon, considering we don't have solid evidence. Maybe actually look around next time?
``The end``
(link: "Play again")[(reload:)]
]
Knight makes a run for it, and you run after him. He tackles a bunch of police officers, and runs out. You pursue him across the road and into a dark alley, and you can't see him anymore in the maze. A shot rings out.
[[Go back]]
[[Go towards the shot]]You come back from the alley. Police officers later comb through the alley and find Knight shot in the back of the head, execution-style.
There's a photo in his hand. It's the one from the news, of Schiller and Boyle embracing. In the corner, you can see Knight, slightly illuminated in the camera flash, pointing a gun at the chandelier.
He was probably hired by someone. But that's a mystery for another day.
``The end``
You find Knight executed under a road light, a single shot to the head from the back. There's a photo in his hand. It's the one from the news, of Schiller and Boyle embracing. In the corner, you can see Knight, slightly illuminated in the camera flash, pointing a gun at the chandelier.
He was probably hired by someone. But that's a mystery for another day.
``The end``