A Lovely Way to Die/Dialogues

Chapter 1
Chief Roger Hamilton: Welcome to Geheimnisburg, . I’m Roger Hamilton, Chief of the Geheimnisburg Police Department. We’re glad to have you here. This is Detective Eric Bergstrom. He’ll be one of your partners.

Eric: Hello, . Good to meet you.

Roger: You’ll be working in the Edgewood district. We just received a report about a body that was found in the woods, not far from the hiking trail.

Eric: Let’s head over and check it out!

Investigate Woods
Eric: What the hell? His fly is undone, and there’s something in his pants.

Eric: Something else! You check. I’m not touching that.

Eric: And you found a torn picture. Can you piece it back together?

Brooke: Officers! I’m glad you’re here!

Examine Victim’s Body
Eric: Frogs? Who puts frogs in someone’s pants?

Eric: They don’t look like they’re native to the area. We’d better bring them to the lab.

Examine Torn Photo
Eric: That’s the victim’s wedding photo! We’d better locate his wife and break the news to her.

Talk to Brooke Willoughby about the victim
Brooke: I was taking a walk with my dog, and he started pulling away from me. He headed into the woods, and then stopped. And then…I found him! Dead!

Eric: Did you know the victim?

Brooke: Yes, his name is Gary McPherson. I would sometimes see him taking walks around here. I didn’t know him that well, though.

Eric: If you can think of anything else that might help us, please let us know. We may need to ask you more questions.

Brooke: I will. I’m in shock! I may need to take one of my sleeping pills tonight.

Tell Suzanne McPherson about her husband’s death
Eric: Hello, I’m Detective Eric Bergstrom, and this is . Is Gary McPherson your husband?

Suzanne: Yes. Is he in some kind of trouble?

Eric: We’re sorry to have to tell you this, but your husband has been murdered.

Suzanne: No! (sobbing) No, that can’t be!

Eric: When did you last see your husband?

Suzanne: Yesterday morning. He was working late, and I went to bed before he got home. I took one of my sleeping pills, and it must have really knocked me out, because I slept late. He had already left for work by the time I woke up.

Eric: Where does your husband work?

Suzanne: Biospherica Pharmaceuticals. He’s a researcher in their lab.

Eric: Did he have any enemies?

Suzanne: Not that I know of. I can’t believe this! How can he be dead? (sobbing)

Eric: We’re sorry for your loss, ma’am. We’ll be in touch.

Analyze Frogs
Marisol: Hi, I’m Marisol Flores. I do the forensic analyses. It’s nice to meet you.

Marisol: The frogs you found are lovely poison frogs. They’re a type of poison dart frog. They’re found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. My uncle lives in Panama, and I’ve seen them when I’ve visited him.

Marisol: They’re only dangerous in the wild, though. Their toxicity may come from what they eat. Captive-bred ones aren’t toxic, and wild ones lose their toxicity after a while. So these frogs must have been recently imported.

Marisol: I looked into it and found out that Biospherica Pharmaceuticals has been importing lovely poison frogs. They must have come from there.

Eric: You’re right, , we should head over to Biospherica’s lab!

Investigate Laboratory
Eric: The frogs must have been kept in that vivarium. Let’s send it to the lab.

Eric: And what does that note say?

Examine Note
Eric: “There was a malfunction in the vivarium. The frogs all died. Research is suspended until a new supply of frogs arrives.” The signature is just a scribble.

Eric: Let’s get this to Kelly, our profiler. She should be able to tell us more.

Analyze Note
Kelly: Hello. You must be  . It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kelly Murphy, the profiler.

Kelly: As you probably suspected, this note is a forgery. The heavy pressure shows that the writer’s emotions are intense. The lines are separated and evenly spaced. That shows organization.

Eric: So we know that this note was written by the killer, and that the killer is organized.

Analyze Vivarium
Marisol: I found DNA from the lovely poison frogs in the vivarium. They were definitely kept there. And I couldn’t find any signs of malfunction.

Talk to Lucy Wong
Eric: Hello, this is , and I’m Detective Eric Bergstrom. We’re investigating the murder of Gary McPherson.

Lucy: He’s been murdered?

Eric: Yes, we found his body this morning. Did you work with him?

Lucy: Yes, I’m his assistant. We’re studying the toxins produced by lovely poison frogs.

Eric: Is anyone else working with you?

Lucy: A student from Geheimnisburg University is doing an internship here. Her name is Julie Hoffmann.

Eric: Is she here right now?

Lucy: No, not at the moment, but she should be in later.

Eric: How did you and Gary get along? Was he difficult to work with?

Lucy: We got along fine.

Eric: So there’s no reason you would want to kill him?

Lucy: No, of course not!

Autopsy Victim’s Body
Lee: It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lee Chang, the coroner.

Lee: Your victim was killed by pumiliotoxins. They’re toxins found in the skin of poison dart frogs. They block muscle contractions. That can lead to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. The frogs are your murder weapon!

Lee: I also found sleeping pills in the victim’s system. The killer must have used them to sedate the victim before placing the frogs in his pants.

Eric: So we know the killer has access to sleeping pills!