CSI-Gamer

NOTES:

1) For questioning, I assume Auto Evidence Questions is on: Otherwise, it will be necessary to drag 'n' drop evidence onto characters to ask the necessary questions
2) All evidence should, of course, be passed to Valera for initial processing
3) Familiarity with equipment and processing techniques is taken as read
4) I also assume all DNA and prints are subjected to a search plus a cross-comparison with other samples
5) If you've got Evidence Tagging on, some evidence, such as DNA samples, may not be tagged as complete until you have subjected it to a search (and, possibly, matched it with one of the result set) AND cross-matched it with (an) other sample(s)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTRO
A man has been found dead on his sunlounger at the beach.

Crime Scene (beach):
Meet up with Yelina (She's plaing a dual role in this case)

Talk to witness (Hugo Jackson):

(QUERY: He says the vic is turning red as a lobster: Would reddening of the skin, under the action of sunlight, continue to occur post mortem? )

1) The dead man is his boss
2) Hugo works at the Diamond Estate as chef (chief cook and bottle washer)
3) The vic is Roy Diamond, retired real-estate magnate
4) Vic has been out 5 or 6 hours. Hugo reckons he must've died of a heart attack or something 'cause of heat ("his heart wasn't what it used to be")
5) Hugo will stick around a while but will be heading to the beach house shortly (new location)

Time for us to take a look around:

1) Click on the body: We can't examine it any closer here: We need to get it to the Morgue, pronto.
2) Click on dead dog to the left of the chair: Two sudden deaths together raises suspicions!
3) Back out to body view, then click on glass (or notepad) on the table to close in: Collect glass (If you try to dust, Alexx says no. You can try dusting it, after collection, in the evidence popup, but there doesn't seem to be anything on it)
4) Click on note pad: Page is missing: Collect pad
5) We now see some torn paper fragments on the table (they were hidden? under the pad): Collect them
6) Click out of table close up and close in on the sunscreen bottle
6-a) Use the scope to zoom in on the cap: See anything? Dust the print
6-b) Pull out to full view of bottle then use the scope to close in on the label: Dust another print,to the right of the sun symbol
6-c) Don't forget to collect the bottle
7) Pull out to full body close up (You might notice some marks behind and to the right of the chair, by the group of rocks,
but we can't access them from this view)
7-b) Pull right out to main view and then click on those marks to close in: Take a cast of the rightmost impression

(Hugo's still there but he has nothing to add)

Beach House:
Pan round to find the aquarium: Close in on it:
1) Yelina alludes to a death in the fish tank: There are 2 dead creatures on the bottom:
1-a) Click on the octopus, under the arch of the rock (Yelina comments): (That's all on that - for now)
1-b) Click on and collect the dead fish, to the left of the octopus (It's a red herring)
NOTE: It doesn't seem to have a navigation hotspot
2) Back out then locate the fingerprint, near the edge of the front glass, to the right of the top of the rock: Close in and dust it

Back to the Beach:
Ask Hugo about the dead cephalopod (that octopus, you know?) in his fishtank: That was the BOSS's fishtank, not HIS!

Let's get those bodies (don't forget the dog) in out of the heat and process the evidence.
NOTE: If you've forgotten to collect anything from the crime scene, Alexx won't be able to bring the bodies in

Morgue
Get Alexx to retrieve the bodies:

1) Did the vic die of natural causes?: Again, the double death raises doubts
2) How does she think he might've died?: Since there are no marks, posion is a likely possibility
3) We can't get a blood sample now (no permission for autopsy yet), but we can have DNA
4) Can Alexx examine the dog?: Not right away: Try to solve the case without the dog autopsy

Lab:
1) Print (sunscreen cap): AFIS match: Martin Fordham ("Let's track him down")
2) Print (sunscreen label): AFIS match: Denise Diamond (Suspect in suspicious death of husband; charges dropped)
3) Print (fish tank): No match on AFIS (and no match to other samples)
4) Shoeprint (beach): No match found
5) DNA (vic): No match on CODIS
6) Notepad: Nothing useful
7) Torn paper: Piece together on Assembly Table: Some kind of "scorecard" (Yelina hints that we need to clarify the names)
7-b) Give the reassembled paper to Valera: She can't figure it out
8) Drink (beach table): No specific toxin detected
9) Sunscreen bottle: Contents seem to be regular sunscreen: Not a murder weapon
10) Dead dog: Nothing
11) Red Herring: Guess what?

Beach House
Hey, who's that on the couch? Donny Bronson? Talk to him:
1) The vic was his client (His heart is heavy at the loss! Aaah!)
2) So what's he doing here?: The vic was going to update his will
3) Can we have the will?: Nope! We'll have to follow the correct procedure (ie get a court order)
4) When did he last update his will?: Two weeks ago: He updated it regularly, about every month
5) Why update earlier this time?: Roy (the vic) left an urgent message he was going to make alterations that would "change everything"
6) What changes?: He doesn't know; He didn't speak directly with Roy: Anyway we're out of line (attorney/client privilege and all that)

Back in the main view, pan around to find Hugo: Go and talk to him:
("Humorous" exchange between Hugo and Donny)
1) Could the vic have eaten poisonous food?: He never ate breakfast and, in any case, Hugo always had to taste evrything
in front of Roy before he would eat it
2) Was he afraid of being poisoned?: Hugo thinks it was just part of an ego trip ("Big men make big enemies", the vic liked to say)
3) Could the dog have been poisoned?: Well, Roy didn't allow the dog table scraps, which supports the idea that poisoned food was not involved

At this point, Yelina suggests the autopsy will give us a definite answer. But Donny B interjects that
Roy's religious beliefs rule out the possibility of an autopsy (oops, that could be a problem! We'll have to see what the Law has to say about it)

Back to Hugo:
4) Does he know Denise Diamond?: Sure, she works on the estate: Almost as PA/slave to the deceased
5) And Martin Fordham?: Yeah, he's the vic's personal valet/butler around the place
6) Ask him to get them in here:

They enter: Dialogue ensues in which, Donny has to put in his 2 cents worth (of course)

Before interviewing the newcomers, let's just conclude the interview with Hugo:
7) Does he recognise the "scorecard"?: It's the vic's score of who inherits what
8) Is Hugo = Profit in the list?: No, it's the dog
8-a) The vic loved the "pooch", maybe more than anyone else
8-b) He liked to mess with peoples heads, play them off against each other
8-c) The note indicates that Roy was planning to leave everything to the dog
9) Get Hugo's fingerprints

Let's turn now to Denise:
1) Where was she when the vic died?: Says she was doing her "chores", in her room
2) Does she have an alibi?: Why does she need one?: Yelina explains it could be murder:
Denise says she doesn't know who'd want to kill him
3) Ask about her husband's death?: It was a terrible boating accident: She tries not to think about it too much
4) Where can we find her, if we need her?: Here on the estate (new location)

Martin Fordham's turn:
Pan around (anti-clockwise) to find him, by the dining table:
1) Has he been with Roy this morning:? Yes, on the beach. He was in a good mood, when he left him
(Apparently he was "full of prunes". Maybe the prunes killed him? Only joking!)
2) Then where did he go?: To his room for a nap!: He'd had anoher sleepless night: He suffers from insomnia
3) Ask about the aquarium, before letting him go: It's Roy's but he looks after it: He's kind of an expert
4) Where can we find him later? His room, on the estate (new location)

Denise's Room:
(You might want to note anything that might be of interest if we come back to search later: That open drawer, for example)

Talk to Denise:
1) So, the vic was her father-in-law?: Yes. After her husband died, Roy let her stay on here: He wanted something in
return though, so she became his assistant (or dog's body)
2) Who would want him dead?: Well "big shots make big enemies"
3) Did the vic show her the "running score" for his inheritance?: She doesn't know what you're talking about
4) Did he tell her the dog was getting everything?: Sounds like one of his sick jokes: He was always changing his will

Does Mr Fordham have anything more to tell us? Let's go to his room:
(Take note of things here too, for later)

Talk to Martin:
1) Who would've wanted Roy dead?: He might have made enemies when he was active, but they wouldn't care about him now.
Since retiring, he wouldn't have made new enemies.
2) Did he know about the scorecard?; Just Roy's way of keeping them on their toes, dancing to his tune
3) Why was he getting more than Denise?: He works harder? He tells us that the vic was trying to get his daughter-in-law into bed and didn't like it when she stood up to him
4) Did he know about the dog's inheritance?: He didn't take it seriously (will changed so often etc)

(You could go and see if we can question Denise about her relationship with Roy, but, it turns out, we can't)

We've finished here, for now. But, remember, we want to get the legal position on the autopsy ban and see the will.
Time for Yelina to put her other hat on.

Yelina's Office:
1) Religious beliefs are not a legitimate reason to block the autopsy (in a murder case)
2) Get the court order for the will: Now we'll have to serve it on Donny boy

Beach House:
Get the will off Donny: Sadly, he leaves us for now (irony)

Morgue:
1) Tell Alexx we now have permission to do the autopsy: She preps the body
2) If you ask if the poison could've been ingested, Alexx says to check the stomach contents
3) Examine the stomach and swab the exposed innards
4) Get a sample of the dog's blood

Lab:
1) Fingerprint (Hugo Jackson): Cross-match to the print fom the fish tank
2) Stomach contents (victim): No toxin detected, but there are means, other than ingestion, for poison to enter the body
3) Blood (dog): Valera warns that, because of dog's metabolic rate etc, we may not get a definite result:
3-b) Search result confirms poisoning but shows several possible toxins

Let's go and see what Hugo has to say about his print on the aquarium

Beach House:
Hugo:
1) Why did he lie about the fish tank?: He didn't want Martin to know: He could've had Roy fire him
2) Does Martin have that kind of power?: He explains that rumour has it Martin is Roy's "love child"
3) Would Denise benefit from Roy's death?: If not financially, at least she won't have him harrassing her sexually any more

(QUERY Did Hugo actually lie? Didn't he only say that the fish tank wasn't his but Roy's? And that's true.)

Denise's Room:
Denise:
1) Did the vic make advances?: Yes, but she can take care of herself
2) Ask if we can look around her room: Go ahead

Look around:
1) Let's look in that drawer we noticed earlier:
1-a) Close in on and collect the glass vial (whitish tube with black top) (No prints on it)
2) Click on the top surface of the small bedside table, near Yelina
2-a) Close in on the syringe (It looks like it has a print on it, but you can't get it here): Collect it (Why does Denise have a syringe?)
2-b) Bring up the syringe in the evidence popup and get that print now

(You might want to ask Denise about that syringe. Sorry, you can't!)

While we're in the neighbourhood, let's question Martin some more

Martin's Room:
Martin:
1) Was Roy his father?: Yes. Not the best of father/son relationship, but as good as they knew how
2) Ask for DNA: He won't give it without legal requirement: He doesn't want his parentage on public record
3) OK. Can we look around (his bathroom)?: Nix on that as well!

Call in at the Morgue on the way to the Lab:
Get a sample of the vic's blood off Alexx

Lab:
Let's see what the latest evidence has to offer us:
1) Syringe (Denise's table): Valera informs us that it's empty and not worth processing
1-b) If you didn't get the print off it earlier, do so now
1-c) Print (syringe): Match to Denise
2) Blood sample (victim): Search link reveals traces of rare toxin: Tetrodotoxin
3) Glass vial: (Denise's drawer): Also contains Tetrodotoxin: Poison found in puffer fish (and other MARINE creatures?)

NOTE: It would've been easy to have been led into believing the syringe had nothing to offer: Both Valera's comment here and the fact that, if we try to dust for prints in situ Yelina suggests that's no good, give that impression. Of course it SHOULD be examined: It has Denise's print on it.

Things don't look good for Ms Diamond: Let's go and get her take on this

Denise's Room:
Denise:
1) Ask her about her print on the syringe: She tells us Martin is diabetic and she sometimes injects him: As far as it being in her room: She thinks it's a frame up
2) Ask if she knows what we found in the vial?: Nothing to say (time for a warrant, methinks)

Yelina's Office:
Get the warrant for Denise and interrogate her:
1) Did she poison the vic?: What for? Life on the estate wasn't great, but it was good enough etc
2) What about the Tetrodotoxin in her room?: What!? It's a frame up: She steers us towards Martin
3) And where would he get the poison?: Check out all the chemicals in his room, why don't you?

So, why don't we?

Yelina's Office:
Get the location warrant to search Martin's room

Martin's Room:
Get him to confirm that Denise sometimes injected him: He does

Serve the warrant and let's have a look-see:
1) On the shelves against the left wall: Second shelf down: Close up on and collect the small bottle (medical) (We need to confirm it contained only insulin)
2) Back in the main view: Against the right wall: Click on the waste paper basket: Collect the syringe (Possible DNA source) (Better forget about the toilet roll tubes!)
3) Click on, or near, the further of the two washbasins (sinks), to close in: Click on and collect the box of syringes (Poison could've been injected)
4) Move back a step and, on the shelf, close up on the spray bottle: It's insecticide: Collect it (It could be used to poison someone)

Lab:
1) Insulin bottle: Contains insulin, without any contaminants
2) DNA (used syringe from Martin's room): Show's Martin was, indeed, Roy's child (assuming it is HIS DNA)
3) Needles (box): Unused: "Pointless" (get it? Hey, it's not MY pun!) processing them
4) Insecticide:
4-a) Valera informs us that it's lethal in small quantities and can be absorbed through the skin
4-b) It doesn't contain the toxic agent we're interested in

Yelina's Office:
Request warrant for Martin:
His blood relationship to the vic, plus the fact that the proposed alteration to the will would've robbed him of his inheritance, seem to justify it

Martin (interrogation):
1) Did he stand to inherit more than Denise because he was Roy's son?: Yes. And she resented it. Also, Roy seemed to
like stirring up trouble between Martin and Denise
2) Why was Roy planning to give it all to the dog?: He did prefer the dog to anyone else but, once again, it was also part of his
penchant for playing with people: He wanted to get them to work harder and do his bidding, to try and gain favour with him
3) So, did Martin kill Roy before he could change his will in the dog's favour?: Why should he? At some stage Roy was likely to change his will again to make Martin the main beneficiary
4) He steers us towards Denise as the likely culprit, killing the dog and framing Martin to stop them inheriting
5) He tells us of the encrypted notes the vic would send to Denise and gives us one he intercepted (We'll have to decrypt it)

Lab:
Cryptogram: See Crypto, at the end of this article, for a brief discussion on solving this and a partial solution

Yelina's Office:
Re-interview Denise:
1) Was Roy sexually harrassing her?: She plays it down and says he was just an old perv
2) Confront her with the note from Martin: She says he's setting her up
3) Why would he?: Because she stands to get money
4) She now recalls that she's heard about Tetrodoxin from Martin: She says the octopus in the tank produces it (Let's go get it)

Beach House:
Close in on the aquarium then click twice on the octopus and collect it

Lab:
Octopus: Valera tells us its a deadly species: This one has been drained of it's toxin!

At this stage, you might think we could ask Martin about the octopus, but we can't.
Denise has nothing to add either.
Remember Hugo's print was on the tank! So, let's pay him a visit. No good. And we can't get a warrant for him!
So, what about Alexx?

Morgue:
What can she tell us about the octopus?: She found what might be a syringe mark (to extract toxin?)

Now let's see who's talking.

Yelina's Office:
Talk to Martin again:
1) Did he use the octopus toxin to kill Roy?: He says he wouldn't harm any aquatic life to get its toxin
2) But he was the expert in the house?: True, but he'd talked about the toxin with Hugo and Denise

(If you re-interview Denise, we can't ask her anything. Besides, she did already tell us that she'd heard of the toxin from Martin)

Beach House
Hugo:
1) Did he extract the toxin?: No.
2) Why was he at the fish tank?:
2-a) He now remembers (a bit late in the day) that he saw Denise messing around there: He went to check everything was OK
2-b) It also suddenly occurs to him that he saw her later digging in the sand on the beach

Let's see if we can find what Denise was up to:
(If we ask her, she has nothing to say about it)

Beach:
1) Close in on the dark patch, between the two large rocks, to the right (You might've noticed this when talking to Hugo at the start)
2) Move in closer and you'll see something blue buried in the sand
2-a) Clear the sand away with the brush and collect the sunscreen bottle you've uncovered
3) You'll also see what looks like a small piece of paper, with a red edge: Close in on it
3-b) Use the brush again to clear away the sand and use the tweezers to collect what we now see is a finger nail (fake)
(There was no print on the bottle, so what a stroke of LUCK to find this evidence to help us "nail" the murderer)

Lab:
1) DNA (finger nail): Belongs to Denise
2) Sunscreen: Contains Tetrodotoxin (The poison was absorbed through the skin)

Yelina's Office:
Interrogate Denise:
Why did she do it? Dénouement

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRYPTO:
An approach to solving the note cryptogram:

NOTE: I use the circumflex (or caret) ^ to represent an unsolved letter

All the crptograms in the game are simple substitution ciphers - a one-to-one mapping between the
letters (or symbols) of the encrypted text and the clear text message.This is the most basic of all ciphers.

One approach to solving such a cipher is through statistical analysis of the relative frequencies of the letters (see Sherlock Holmes - The Case of the Dancing Men).
We can then make guesses about which letter is which, based on known frequencies for written English.
However, in small samples, the frequency distribution can be uncharacteristic. For example, "E" is the most common
letter but in this short sample:

How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man? (Bob Dylan)

it has a frequency of less than 4%, while "A" has a frequency of about 17.6%.

Fortunately for us, the encrypted message maintains the word boundaries and punctuation of the original (rather
than being broken into arbitrary-length chunks), so we can more easily make guesses based on the overall structure of the language.

You may notice the repeating three-letter word "SFY" (words 1 and 5 - both in sentence-initial position).
The most likely clear text is "THE", but this would make word 11 ("ZFFE") "^HH^" - clearly impossible!
The double letter, in such a short word, probably represents a repeated vowel.
Another possibility for "SFY" is the pronoun "YOU". This is likely, given that we are dealing with a personal note.
This would give "^OO^" for word 11 and, if we think of the likely subject of the note (a sexual proposition), we can guess at the word "ROOM".
This is supported by the fact that words 10 and 11 ("ES ZFFE") would then read "MY ROOM".
Now, word 8 ("EU") would be "M^" which, in the context, suggests "ME".
Furthermore, "U" has a high frequency ratio (about 12.6%) within the cryptogram, consistent with the high frequency of "E" in written English.
The following word ("NQ"), preceding "MY ROOM", suggests a preposition and "IN" seems most likely, giving the phrase "IN MY ROOM".

We now have the partial solution:

YOU ^^^E NO ^^OI^E. YOU ^I^^ ^OIN ME IN MY ROOM ^ONI^^^, OR ^^^E ^^E ^ON^E^UEN^E^.

I leave you, gentle reader, to complete the solution.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------