"I assume you have gathered us here for a reason, Monsieur Saint Germain?" says Shane Pearson.
"Is it not obvious?" says the doctor. "The detective has worked out who killed the colonel and intends to explain to us how he did it."
You twirl your moustache. "The good doctor is correct, Mademoiselle Pearson. I have indeed solved the case. The murderer was clever, but he proved no match for my grey matter." You tap your forehead to illustrate the point.
They all stare at you expectantly, like children waiting for you to tell them a bedtime story. Who can blame them? You are, after all, Antoine Saint Germain, the great French detective. No criminal has ever been a match for you, and everybody is looking forward to a description of your brilliant deductions.
There is just one small problem. One tiny detail that makes it different this time. A mere trifle, really. This time you have no idea who did it. An entire day of investigation has turned up nothing. No one even seems to have a proper motive. You are almost tempted to confess to the murder yourself.
No big deal. Most of the time when you do this the murderer breaks down and confesses half way through your speech anyway. All you have to do is stall and wait for the guilty party to slip up. People love talking about themselves. If you wait long enough, they always end up revealing something you can use.
It is going to be fine.
[Picture number 8 here.]
An Interactive Fiction by Simon Christiansen
Release 7 / Serial number 130930 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib 6/12N)
The hotel lounge is small, but comfortable. A large couch stands near one wall, with a mahogany couch table in front of it. Beside it is an old-fashioned reclining chair. In the corner of the room, an old grandfather clock is steadily ticking away, lending a dignified air to the proceedings.
James Garfield, owner of the Seafront Hotel, is standing by the clock, watching you expectantly.
Jonathan Allington stands next to his employer. His face reveals no emotion.
Shane Pearson is sitting on the couch with her legs crossed.
Doctor Elias Mole is sitting next to Shane on the couch, leaning forward with an inquisitive look in his eyes.
Count Heinrich Von Carstein is leaning backwards in the reclining chair, sipping a glass of wine.
Constable Goodfellow is standing behind you, eagerly waiting to assist you in arresting the murderer.
Welcome to Death off the Cuff! This is the tutorial. I will be with you for just a little while, to familiarize you a bit with interacting with the story. If you grow tired with me at any time, type at any prompt and I'll go away. If you don't care for tutorials, you can get a list of everything you need to know by typing . Typing will list the credits for the game.
Notice the cursor following the > prompt at the bottom of the window? (If you can't see it, just tap the spacebar to scroll the window.) This is where you will interact with the story. In this game, you will spend most of the time talking about things, in an attempt to trick the murderer into revealing him- or herself. You can talk about any topic by simply entering it at the prompt and pressing enter.
Now, you are trying to solve a murder, so let's start with the most obvious topic. Type and press enter.
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