Physical Contents

Attic Inventory

• In her letter to us, Julia Adler suggested the weapon may still have been in the attic.

  • Could it perchance be included in this list?

• The murder weapon cannot be the metal prop sword, as although the gemstone matches, the dimensions do not.

• Aha, our murder weapon is Item #22.

  • The cane has cabochon gem inserts matching the dimensions of the one found in Viola's skull, and it is missing a solitary gem.

Cadence Theatre Notebook

• This can be used to decipher a code in the rehearsal notes.

Cufflink

• This was found by Julia Adler in the Cadence attic between some floorboards under the trunk in which she found the body of Viola Vane.
• It has some kind of insignia on the front.

• On the backside is "1:".

  • What could this mean?

• According to the old article provided by Julia on the shared desktop, Joe and Ira took the cane (murder weapon) from Viola's mother.

  • The cufflink could suggest the murderer was a man.
  • I don't see a stage manager wearing cufflinks, which leads me to believe this belonged to Ira Adler.

Forensic Report

• Mendia and Whitlock are homages to our last case - The Moon Summit Mystery.
• This report suggests that Viola Vane was struck on the left side of her head shortly before being placed on her left side in the trunk.

• 3-inch heels?!?

  • OUCH!

• The killer left her watch, which had emeralds, meaning the killer did not kill her for riches.

• The watch face was shattered, suggesting a struggle and self-defense.

  • This means the killer approached from the front and must be right-handed, given the killing blow was to the left side of Viola's skull.
  • The time read 5:57.

• She had a passport under the name of Viktoria Gaina.

  • This was her given name, Viola Vane was her stage name.

• The killer also left cash in her purse, further suggesting this was not the motive.

• Viola had a blade in her purse but did not use it.

  • This suggests that she knew, and perhaps trusted, her killer.

• She died at age 23, based on the birth date provided on the passport and the date on the newspaper found with her body.

• She had previous injuries to her right hand and forearm.

  • Was she in an abusive relationship?

• The murder weapon is most likely circular and roughly 8 cm in diameter.

• A ruby was found lodged in her skull.

  • single cabochon-cut
  • 3 cm length x 3 cm width x 2 cm height

Hector Letter

• There is a code in the postscript of this letter.

• This is a simple book cipher.

  • The first number is the line starting after "Ira".
  • The second number is the number of words in that line.

• Once deciphered, the message reads:

  • "SENDING YOU THE MONEY. ENOUGH TO COVER YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES."

• What the hell does that mean?

Julia Letter

• There is a code in the postscript of this letter.

• This is a simple book cipher.

  • The first number is the line starting after "Ira".
  • The second number is the number of words in that line.

• Once deciphered, the message reads:

  • "SENDING YOU THE MONEY. ENOUGH TO COVER YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES."

• What the hell does that mean?

PI Letter

• Michelle introduces us to our new case in this letter.
• She advises us to fact-check anything a person says.

• She informs us of our new virtual desktop.

  • Interesting, we get our own unique username this time...

Program

• Evelyn Kittridge, Viola's understudy, was bumped up for the showing on May 4th.
• We gain a little background on our suspects from this document.

Rehearsal Notes

• These notes were written by Joseph Sampson, the stage manager, on the day of the murder.
• There is a crapload of code on the backside.

• The grid on the front clues that this is a keypad cipher.

  • Starting with "ABC", continue the alphabet on the second line left-to-right and wrapping around to the top, with 3 letters per box ending with "YZ" in the last.

• Use the stage direction diagram in the Cadence Theatre notebook as the key to decode the messages.

• Once deciphered, the messages read:

  • "GEORGE, TOO HANDS ON. INTENSE. IN THE WAY."
  • "TALK TO HECTOR"

Ruth Note

• In this letter, Ruth Erikson beseeches Ira Adler to not cast Viola in future projects.

  • I wonder why.

Digital Contents

Michelle Gray Investigations Website

• Username: Your FIRST INITIAL and LAST NAME
• Password: PORTER

CADENCE

• Password: COLOSSEUM

CADENCE → STATEN → body.jpg

• HOLY SHIT! IT'S NORMAN BATES'S MOTHER!

• This is the photo Julia snapped of Viola Vane's mummified corpse before she realized it wasn't just a prop.

CADENCE → STATEN → oldarticle.jpg

• This is a news article dated February 25th, 1934, revealing that Hector and Viola had called off their engagement.

CADENCE → STATEN → newarticle.jpg

• This article reveals that Viola's own mother had allegedly attacked her and crew during a rehearsal the night of Viola's murder.

Suspects

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

• Evelyn Kittridge
• George Erikson
• Hector Roland
• Ira Adler
• Joseph Sampson
• Olga Gaina
• Ruth Erikson

Events So Far

5:57 PM

• Roughly the exact time Viola Vane was attacked and murdered with a jeweled cane belonging to her mother, Olga Gaina.

Goals