Play the prototype · Design document · Case 1
Tone: deadpan funeral-parlour farce. Everybody is professionally sad, so tears prove nothing.
All content lives in cases/case2.js (the same data shape as Case 1). Case 2 unlocks once Case 1 is solved.
Lady Vesper’s parting hint leads Inspector Bloat and the Apprentice to Plum & Sons, Funeral Directors. Mr. Ignatius Plum, the undertaker, has been found in the showroom’s deluxe coffin. He didn’t climb in by himself.
Solution in one line: the junior partner, Mr. Fitch, spiked the sherry with embalming fluid to hide that he had embezzled the funeral fund.
| Character | Role | Hook | Secret |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Barnaby Fitch | Junior partner, culprit | Stork-tall, hums when nervous | Forged Plum’s signature on £400 of withdrawals |
| Miss Prunella Plum | Daughter | Bob, black dress, hat pins | Inherits, which makes her the obvious (wrong) suspect |
| Rev. Dolour | Vicar | Bald, spectacles, moustache | Merely likes the sherry |
| Mrs. Weep | Professional mourner | Veil | Cries on cue; has not laughed since 1998 |
| Clue | Chain (tiers) | Points to | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embalming Fluid in the Sherry | Embalming Room: Drip → Sample Jar → Test Tube → Spectrum Slide | Fitch | Only two keys open the embalming room |
| Cedar Boot Print | Showroom Floor: Sawdust → Cedar Shaving → Boot Print | Fitch | Size eleven; only Fitch trims coffin lids |
| Cooked Books | Counting House: Receipt → Invoice → Bank Slip | Fitch | Signatures in Fitch’s apprenticeship loops |
| Hearse Log vs Statement | Hearse Garage: Whisper → Rumour → Log Entry, then a contradiction merge | Fitch | “Left at six sharp” vs “signed back in at 8:05” |
| Anonymous Letter: “MISS PLUM DID IT” | Mourning Parlour: Stamp → Envelope → Poison-Pen Letter | nobody | Red herring |
| Scene | Chains | Unlocks when you have |
|---|---|---|
| Embalming Room | Embalming, Showroom Floor | (start) |
| Counting House | Ledger | Embalming Fluid |
| Hearse Garage | Hearse log | Embalming Fluid + Cooked Books |
| Mourning Parlour | Letters | Embalming Fluid |
| Fitch’s claim | Correct clue |
|---|---|
| “I have never touched the embalming room key! (hum hum hum)” | Embalming Fluid |
| “The accounts? Immaculate.” | Cooked Books |
| “I was never in the showroom. I don’t even like cedar.” | Cedar Boot Print |
| “I left at six sharp. Ask anyone! (hum)” | Hearse Log vs Statement |
The anonymous letter is an always-wrong option.