Part 2: The Murder Scene

Part 1: The Murder Scene

The game opens up with a bunch of police sirens. That is the most you’ll hear from this game, since there’s no music.


Well, nothing left for it, I suppose. Time to solve a murder.

You cannot convince me that is not a pixelated Jackie Chan.


: “We’re now in Hanakuma, the suburb of Kobe City where the incident took place. How shall we get started on the investigation?”

Kobe is in this?

: “With a donut and a cup of coffee, preferably. But anyways…”


We’re going to see this menu for the rest of the game. Like Phoenix Wright, we have a multiple array of options to choose from, some minor, some major. From top to bottom, we have…

Move: Move to another location.
Ask: Interrogate someone or nearby populace.
Investigate Someone: Look up the profile/alibi of possible suspects.
Show item: Present evidence to a suspect.
Look for someone: Search the area for a missing suspect.
Call out: Used mainly in the Police Interrogation Room. Brings in a suspect for interrogation.
Arrest: Take a wild guess.
Order a pizza: You order a pizza.


Pressing B on the controller nets up Menu: Part 2 - The Revenge of the Menu. Unlike Menu: Part 1 - The Menu Strikes Back, we have a few noteworthy items here.

Investigate Thing: Examine objects from a list, or manually.
Evidence: List of evidence we’ve taken over the course of the investigation.
Hit: Dislocate a suspect’s jaw. Perfect for getting information.

So this dude is essentially the opposite of good-cop/bad-cop.

Take: Take evidence.
Theorize: Theories about the culprit, and whether or not a suspect could have done the deed.
Dial Phone: I’m sure you can figure this one out.
Close Case: Not a viable option right now, but doing so at an “appropriate” time only re-opens the case later and labels us as an idiot.


First, let’s investigate the possible suspects in the murder, starting with the victim, Kouzou.

Can we hit the nearby people? That would make this game 1000x better.


From there, we can choose to read up on his job, personal life, and alibi. Of course, since the guy’s dead, he doesn’t really have an alibi.

: “Give me the details.”

Job
He was the president of Yamakin Loans. Though he didn’t have a wife or any children, he did have a nephew named Toshiyaki, or [Toshi] for short.

With that, we can read up on Toshi’s profile, since he could have a possible motive for murdering his uncle.

Personal Life
He hadn’t quite earned a criminal record yet, but he seems to have been involved with some very vicious activity. Many people felt bitter towards him.

: “Okay...what about his alibi?”
: “Kouzou is the murder victim in this case. He probably doesn’t need an alibi. Especially considering the fact that he’s dead.”


: “Alright, Kouzou is the victim. Now, who’s this “Fumie” person? Sounds like some kind of marshmallow brand.”
: “We’re Japanese.”
: "Oh...right. So who is she?”

Job
She was Kouzou’s personal assistant for his business. She discovered the body along with Mr. Komiya.

: “She’s the culprit.”
: “Let me finish, boss.”

Personal Life
After graduating from junior college, she started working for Kouzou. It’s been two years since then.

Since we don’t have the time of death, we can’t ask Fumie for her Alibi. In order to do that, we need to investigate the crime scene first.


But first...Mr. Komiya’s profile.


Job
He’s the security guard at Kouzou’s mansion. In addition, he was one of the primary discoverers of the dead body.
If only he had the Cannibalism perk from Fallout.

Personal Life
He’s been the security guard since about five years ago. He has no relatives, and is a live-in at the mansion.

: "He's the culprit!”
: “Boss, we’ve barely started the investigation.”

We’ll save Toshi’s profile for later. He isn’t that important.


For now, let’s interrogate the nearby populace.

: “Boss! I’ve learned that a man named [Mr. Hirata] has not been seen since the very day of the murder.
: “...Who’s he?”

Job
He runs a store.

Personal Life
He’s been a greengrocer forever, but competing with the supermarket can be quite difficult these days.

: "He's the culprit"
: "..."


We can try to find Mr. Hirata, but it’s a futile effort. He won’t appear until later in the game.

He ded


We can also hit Yasu. What? He didn’t bring our coffee in the allotted time, dammit!

I like he how doesn’t care you’re smacking him. He’s just sending you on a guilt trip.


Amusingly enough, we can try to take the suburb.


As you can surmise, trying to take an entire suburb can be a tiny bit problematic.

Believe to achieve, yo.

We’ll save the theories and phone dialing for later. For now, we have a crime scene to investigate.


Yamakawa Mansion’s study is the scene of the crime, so let’s go there.


Nice 8-bit mansion you have here, Kouzou. The hedges are looking well-spruced.

...I think I made this on MS Paint once.


Huh...there’s no blood. Despite the fact that the guy was stabbed in the neck. Maybe the forensics guy cleaned it up?

Aren’t they supposed to use WHITE chalk outlines?


Kouzou, with the last of his strength, cleaned up his blood because he’s too damn manly to die.

: "Anyways..."


: “The body’s been turned over for autopsy. The report puts the time of death at about 9 P. M. on the night of the 17th."

Now we can start getting alibis from the suspects. Kind of pointless, as we’ll discover at the end, but it’ll still aids us in eliminating/arresting suspects.


: “Tell me about the cause of death.”
: “One stab to the neck with a knife. Death was nearly instantaneous. ...Poor bastard.”

A suicide would be a classic closure to a murder mystery. But I’ll tell you right now that it isn’t the solution.

Yes, because stabbing yourself in the neck is one of the leading suicides in this country.


: "I’m assuming that the murder weapon was a katana?”
: “The weapon was found gripped by the corpse’s right hand. It’s also possible he took a stab at it himself, so to say.”

Van Dine’s Rule #12: There must be but one culprit, no matter how many murders are committed. The culprit may, of course, have a minor helper or co-plotter; but the entire onus must rest on one pair of shoulders: the entire indignation of the reader must be permitted to concentrate on a single black nature.

How do you know this stuff.

I’m a mystery buff?

Who reads books anymore?

The books section of the forum? Yeah, that’s what nerds are for, symbolic.

Anyways, for next time, vote for a name and portrait for our nameless detective.