| ◄ |  Transcript
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General |  Reviews
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| Breaking News | |
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| General Information | |
| Season | 4 (A World Forgotten) |
| Location | Ravenedge |
| Region | Crown Plaza |
| Case # | 34 |
| Initial release date | 3rd November 2020 |
| Partner(s) | Isabella Sinclaire (All Chapters) |
| Case Chronology | |
| ← Preceded by | Succeeded by → |
| Name Your Poison | Beauty is Only Skin Deep |
| “ | Breaking news! An attack is imminent as we race to the Crown Plaza publication offices, but a dead body on the fire escape awaits us! With a murder hot off the press, can you catch the killer and make headlines? | „ |
| —Case Teaser |
Breaking News is a case featured in Criminal Case, it appears as the thirty-fourth case in A World Forgotten and the two hundred and twenty-third overall. It takes place as the fourth case in the Crown Plaza district of Ravenedge.
Plot[]
Sirens echoed across the streets of Ravenedge as the team hurriedly rushed to the Crown Plaza publication offices, after discovering the news that the Fearmonger had pressured an unknown citizen into placing a bomb to kill Beaufort Devereaux. Charity and the bomb disposal division entered, as the team spread out to search for a bomb. A few minutes in, the player and Isabella - partnered with the player for field knowledge - were alerted to a body on the fire escape by Tobias. Entering out, they then came across the heart-breaking sight of paper boy Alfie Harwell's body at the foot of the steps. As Isabella clutched her mouth in shock, Tobias sadly closed young Alfie's eyes. When the body was brought in, Draco shakily admitted he couldn't bring himself to do it and fled the morgue, leaving Moira to reluctantly carry out the task. Continuing to search for the bomb, they questioned journalist Beaufort Devereaux, Osborne heir Owen Osborne, and ex-convict Howard Strong, whose exposé was being publicised by the press. Isabella ran behind the player as they recapped and frantically wrote in her notebook, hoping to avenge Alfie and prove her worth to the department. Suddenly, the pair heard ticking from nearby.
Quickly, they followed the sound to the storage room, where the rapidly ticking time bomb was buried amongst loose fill. With only a few seconds left on the timer, Isabella and the player tried to disarm it, and eventually, with the player's guidance, Isabella's trembling hands entered the deactivation code. Breathing a sigh of relief, they let bomb disposal take over, before questioning Antonio's adoptive daughter Savannah Richter, who was helping Alfie adjust to homelessness, and baker Alfred Mahler, who had offered Alfie free bread. They also discovered Beaufort had offered to tutor Alfie, but when Alfie refused to spy on City Hall, he abnegated his proposal. Owen had also assisted Alfie when he was starving, which resulted in him being despised by Mayoral supporters, leaving Isabella to wonder if Owen killed Alfie to reclaim his reputation. Back at the foyer, Hope wondered how Sienna would've reacted to Alfie's death, before Pedro ran in. He then exclaimed somebody was searching through Alfie's shack.
They rushed back to the shack, discovering Savannah emerge with a photo of her and Alfie - and a bottle of brandy. Savannah insisted Alfie was her friend, and before his shack was demolished, she wanted a reminder of her time with him. Admitting her guilt for not being able to protect him, Antonio hugged her and threw the bottle away. Per Hope, they found adoption papers revealing Alfred planned to give Alfie a home shortly before his death. Alfie had also been investigating Howard's connections to past murders and hoped to be the one to send him back to jail. Eventually, as the dust settled, they arrested Alfred.
Angered that Alfred killed his future adoptive son, they confronted the man at his bakery. In the kitchen, Isabella wiped beads of sweat from her forehead as she searched for Alfred, eventually finding the perfidious man by the scorching oven. Alfred asked if the killer had been apprehended, to which Isabella replied soon, before taking a photo of Alfie and holding it up high, demanding to know why Alfred had killed the sweet and young child. The baker chewed his bottom lip as his eyes began welling up with glassy and broken tears. He muttered a few words of innocence, before cracking like a walnut - tears rolling down his face as he desperately sought an answer to what he had done. Alfred admitted he had minded his own business and refused to take a side in Ravenedge, before one night, a letter was left on his cottage porch. The note told Alfred how they would expose his marital affair with prostitutes if he didn't comply, finishing the letter with the Fearmonger's signature phrase: 'you are mine'. Nervously, Alfred followed his commands dutifully, believing that once he had finished a simple task, it'd be over. It started off slow with simple instructions like stealing from the sweet store, but as the days went by, the orders became more extreme. Alfred became increasingly dangerous as the blackmail increased and increased - seemingly neverendingly - forcing him to attack multiple movement supporters. A few days ago, Alfred then received the order - place a bomb inside the publication offices. Knowing all of his crimes would be exposed if he did, Alfred shakily took the supplied bomb and, using the fire escape, hid the explosive in the storage room. However, as he went to flee, Alfie spotted him. The inquisitive young boy began asking questions - too many - and wouldn't let him leave. Panicked, Alfred went to grab him, but they tussled, causing the baker to push the young boy down the stairs and kill him almost instantaneously. Alfred then tried to grab a blanket to cover Alfie, but the sound of approaching sirens freaked him out and he escaped.
In court, Alfred pled guilty repeatedly and wailed his apology. Judge Haddid sighed and divulged she felt wrong issuing a sentence to a bereaved man, but laws were laws, and justice for Alfie had to be served. Alfred nodded before Misbah asked if Alfred could share any pertinent information to help stop more children like Alfie succumbing to a similar fate. However, Alfred simply sighed and stated everything he knew was that his life was over the moment he opened the letter. The judge then sentenced Alfred to twenty years in prison, to which he simply replied that he was finally free.
Post-trial, a nervous Isabella gratefully thanked the player for partnering with her, understanding the weight Sienna’s coma had placed upon the team. Believing Rosana Vianello to be the Fearmonger, the trainee officer suggested they rummage through Alfie’s belongings for information on her gang, assuming the late child would’ve had street connections. Shortly after opening Alfie’s hidden tin, they found documents pertaining to Howard’s inauguration into the Vianello gang. Armed with new evidence, they confronted the released serial-killer-turned-gangster, who sneered with a harrowing grin. Isabella pushed on through Howard’s comments about her ‘fair and supple skin’, angrily declaring Howard answered her questions immediately. Howard shrugged and lit a cigar, puffing a circle of smoke as he confessed his involvement in the gang - however, exclaiming his connections were no crime, and he’d hate to see charges against him dropped again. Knowing Howard was right, the pair turned to leave, before Howard coarsely shouted to ask Antonio about Evaldo D’Ascoli.
Returning to the precinct, Hope commented that Antonio was still in the medical wing and praying next to Sienna’s bedside. They quietly pushed the creaking door open and approached their friend and weapons expert, Isabella touching his shoulder gently. After he finished his prayer, they asked him about Evaldo.
Antonio quickly began to shake as his eyes welled up with glassy tears, but he shook his head, confessing under his breath that he should’ve prepared himself for the day his past caught up to him. Clutching his chest, Antonio explained the Vianello mafia commonly recruited teenagers from the street, as they could steal with less suspicion. They trained these teenagers to be machines, loyal only to the leader. Whilst working as an informant within the gang, Antonio successfully informed the police about a weapons exchange - however, one of the teenagers - Evaldo - refused to go down without a fight. He fought back, firing shots at Antonio and the Venetian police. Gunfire ensued as chaos erupted, and before Antonio knew it, he’d fired a deadly shot into Evaldo to protect the others, leaving the youngster dead. Despite being cleared of all charges, Antonio was racked with guilt and self-hatred, vowing that he’d only ever fire a gun to protect others - explaining why his hands always shook upon pulling the trigger. Tears trickled down the expert’s face as he divulged he had to flee Venice afterwards, only to find Ravenedge, and eventually Savannah, who he adopted from the streets to save from a similar fate to Evaldo. Sighing, Antonio accepted it was better they knew the truth, before asking to be left alone with Sienna to think.
Afterwards, Amethyst ran into the foyer and bellowed that they had a problem. Amethyst elaborated that a demonstration by Marianne Rose and the movement supporters had turned violent, with rocks being hurled by either side. Reconvening with Gabriel Rose - Marianne’s son and critic -, the team hurried down the streets to find Marianne hiding behind a food stand. Lawrence fired two shots into the air to disperse the crowd, with Gabriel and Amethyst soon helping Marianne up. An angered Gabriel insisted Marianne stop her movement as it would only end in tears, to which Marianne scoffed and crossed her arms - declaring the work wasn’t over until Ravenedge did better. Marianne continued to vehemently state that she wasn’t doing her work for herself, but for her only remaining child Gabriel, so he and his children could live in a better city. She asked them to look around and recounted the story of her daughter - how she was abused and controlled by the elite. Believing Ravenedge was at a tipping point between good and evil, Marianne tightened her fist and demanded they fight to transform Ravenedge from the top down, and if they refused to change, then they’d force them to. She sighed heavily, closing her eyes and reaching out for her son’s hand. Apologizing for her outburst, she confessed it was her duty to avenge Celine and others like her, whether they liked it or not.
Afterwards, the team regrouped to discuss their findings. Tobias admitted he felt for Marianne as, underneath it all, she was truly a grieving mother looking for justice, to which Lawrence reminded him that she had inspired a movement which had left many dead. They then relayed their discoveries about the Fearmonger - confirming their demands were increasing, from first attacks, to murder, and now to bombings. Hope then held up a flyer and revealed that - in light of recent events - the Osborne family had arranged a fashion show by the late Carolyn Deville’s boutique as a stand against the uprising. Agreeing the Fearmonger wouldn’t resist the opportunity to attend a mayoral event, they rushed to the show.
Summary[]
Victim[]
- Alfie Harwell (pushed down the fire escape staircase)
Murder Weapon[]
- Staircase
Killer[]
- Alfred Mahler
Suspects[]
Quasi-Suspect(s)[]
Killer's Profile[]
- The killer uses toothpicks.
- The killer eats jellied eels.
- The killer drinks brandy.
- The killer has a coal stain.
- The killer is over fifty.
Crime Scenes[]
| Fire Escape | Alfie's Shack | Fire Escape Bonus |
| Publication Office | Rotating Globe | Publication Office Bonus |
| Storage Room | Cardboard Boxes | Storage Room Bonus |