"A Murderous Retreat" is a case that appears in Criminal Case: Justice Department. It is the third case of the series and it sets in the first district – Uptown Acropolis.
Plot
Following from the previous case, Chief Fellowes ordered Lt. Kate Wong and the player to speak to revolutionary engineer Tommy Park regarding Cerebrum's plans. The two then head out to Greenstone Park's camping grounds to meet him. However, when they arrived, Tommy was in a state of shock and pleaded for help from the police after finding his assistant, Emily Lockwood, lying dead on the campsite. Two new suspects have been identified at the start of the investigation –Alexander Rey, Park Inc's head engineer and Jordan Friedman, Park Inc.'s financial officer. Tommy admired Emily for her loyalty and service, Alexander and Jordan were quite shocked about the murder, but were not close to Emily.
Coroner Dr. Graham Fraser performed the autopsy, coming up with the conclusion that Emily died of blunt force trauma after being bludgeoned in the head with a flat, board-like blunt object. Dr. Fraser also found traces of iodine on the victim's shirt, determining the fact that the killer has access to iodine. Reed Rothman analysed Emily's laptop and found an anonymous death threat in the outline of a comic sequence from the Legacy of Ad Astra comic series, proving that the killer read the Legacy of Ad Astra.
The murder investigation has been interrupted when Lt. Wong and the player encountered a grizzly bear in the forrest. After escaping from the bear, the detectives continue their investigation. They discovered two more suspects – Gwen Salt, Tommy's girlfriend and Emma Hampton, one of Park Inc.'s researchers. Gwen was close to Emily, as she was the one who introduced her to Tommy. Emma confided with Emily whenever she is overwhelmed with workload. However, despite these positive testimonies, Jordan and Emily had conflict about making a minor error in Park Inc.'s financial data. Alexander got angry towards Emily after she had accidentally broken his super-suit prototype model.
The duo also managed to find incriminating evidence left behind by the killer – Emily's necklace that was torn off by the killer after a struggle. A mysterious blue substance was smeared on the necklace. Upon being analysed by Dr. Candy Orson, The player was able to discover that the killer drank Croc-Aid.
Lt. Wong and the player continue their progress in the investigation after saving Gwen Salt from a capsized kayak. They find out that Tommy was threatening to fire Emily for her incompetence, Gwen confronted Emily for her flirtatious approach towards Tommy and Emma blamed Emily for her demotion from head researcher, after Emily reported her issues to Tommy.
Finally, the detectives found the murder weapon and Emily's camera. The murder weapon was a kayak paddle, and Dr. Orson was able to find out that the killer wears sunglasses through the cleaning fluid found on the paddle's handle. Reed was able to recover the last photo the victim took, it showed the killer's hand. Through thorough analysis, Reed was able to identify the killer's age to be below 35 years old.
With efficient amount of evidence, the police arrested Jordan Friedman for Emily's murder. Initially, the police believes that Jordan killed Emily due to her finding out his minor error in calculating the company's financial data. But Jordan denied the claim and stated that he killed Emily when she found out that he was the secret admirer of Gwen Salt. Jordan confronted Emily regarding this information. When Emily threatened to inform Tommy and have him fired, the panic-stricken Jordan grabbed a nearby kayak paddle and battered Emily to death with it to silence her. In his trial, Judge Bishop gave Jordan a thirty-year prison sentence with psychiatric counselling.
With Emily's murder solved, the police can proceed to speak to Tommy for his help in investigating Cerebrum's mysterious operation. Reed goes along with the player to meet Tommy with the blueprints. Tommy confirmed that the blueprints were of his design, confirming his suspicions that someone had been leaking his engineering ideas to outsiders. After the player investigated Emily's office, they were able to retrieve confidential files with a set of fingerprints, which belonged to Emma Hampton. Emma was confronted by the police, she admitted that she worked for Cerebrum and that Cerebrum was inspired by Park Inc.'s engineering ingenuity. When questioned about Cerebrum's experiments, Emma simply shrugged and stated that she was only transferring data to Cerebrum researchers to create robotics. Tommy was spoken to again, he claimed that he will have Emma fired for her unfaithfulness.
Meanwhile, the player has been approached by Fred Kendrick, a writer for a technological bulletin called "The New Era". Fred was seeking for information regarding the technological breakthrough that was done by Park Inc. By looking through the campsite, they were able to find a backpack that belonged to Alexander Rey, Park Inc.'s head engineer. Alexander was spoken to regarding the prototype model found in his backpack. Alexander responded that him and Tommy were working on a project that involved a one-man flight suit. With this information, Fred was given permission to interview Alexander regarding this project.
The team gathered in the station to discuss about their recent discoveries – Cerebrum stole designs from Park Inc. and used it to create equipment for their experiments. Park Inc. is also revolutionising the technological industry with their super suits. Suddenly, Chief Fellowes received a call from a woman who was interested in the police's investigation around Cerebrum's project, stating that she has information about it.
Summary
Victim
- Emily Lockwood – bludgeoned to death in the campsite.
Murder Weapon
- Kayak Paddle
Killer
- Jordan Friedman
Suspects
- Tommy Park – Victim's Employer
- Alexander Rey – Park Inc. Engineer
- Jordan Friedman – Park Inc. Financial Officer
- Emma Hampton – Park Inc. Researcher
- Gwen Salt – Tommy's Girlfriend
Quasi-Suspect
- Fred Kendrick – New Era Journalist
Killer's Profile
- The killer has access to iodine
- The killer reads Legacy Of Ad Astra
- The killer drinks Croc-Aid
- The killer wears sunglasses
- The killer is under 35-years old
Crime Scenes
| Primary Crime Scene | Secondary Crime Scene |
|---|---|
| Camping Grounds | Kayak Stand |
| Meeting Room | Coffee Area |
| Victim's Apartment | Sitting Area |
Steps
Chapter 1
[To be added]
Chapter 2
[To be added]
Chapter 3
[To be added]
Additional Investigation – "To New Beginnings (3/6)"
[To be added]