Previously on Murder on Ice...

The video that you helped Sofia to recover from Nathan's mother's house revealed several key pieces of information about the plot to rig the tournament: that Marcus was involved, that he was working with an unknown partner, and that Marcus and his partner were both motivated by the desire to get some sort of revenge on Nathan.

This revelation cleared Nathan's name as a potential participant in the scheme. Sofia sent the video to Kingston, who retracted the pieces where he denounced Nathan as a cheater.

While this turn of events brought Sofia a measure of closure, many questions still remain as to the circumstances of Nathan's death. Who was Marcus working with? What were the motivations of this mysterious accomplice?

Hints

Hidden Camera Footage Timing

• Try to figure out which suspects would be in particular places throughout the day by using context clues.
• You can interact with the various controls in the light booth online to change the lights in the rink. Try to figure out which settings correspond to which dials and routines saved in the light booth presets using this method.

Journal Page Code

• You can figure out the methodology of this code by cross-referencing two of the documents in the episode. Pay attention to mentions of color and shape in particular.
• Does the visual shorthand referenced in the team morale assessment resemble any imagery used elsewhere in the box?
• Pay close attention to the first letters of the words used in Nathan's rubric in the team morale assessment.

Light Booth Occupant

• The light booth contains some remnants of a particular suspect's presence. Which suspect could this be?
• Based on the meetings that specific suspects had throughout the day, who could have been in the light booth at the time of the meeting?

Logging On

• Check Sofia's letter for the specific task Sofia assigns you. She asks you to figure out the time when the hidden camera footage was taken. Head to threepinescase.com and log in using the password FLIP. When you're ready to tell Sofia what you've found, you can communicate with her through the site's messenger.

Pitch Folder Code

• Pay close attention to the final line of the code. It is a hint to the note's intended recipient as to how to go about decoding the message.
• What is the animal depicted on the pin?

Reveals

Hidden Camera Footage Timing

• If you watch the hidden camera footage closely, the rink lights change color in a particular order. Cross-referencing the order in which the lights change in the video with the light programs saved into the light booth presets will reveal when this particular sequence of lights was most recently enacted and, therefore, when the meeting took place.
• Once you know the names of each dial in the light booth and the order those dials were pressed during the time of the video, you can cross-reference that information with the saved inputs in the booth. Only one input will match the light pattern shown in the hidden camera footage.
• Marcus's meeting with his co-conspirator took place at 5:30 AM. Send this time to Sofia through the messenger at threepinescase.com in order to advance the story and receive the next objective.

Journal Page Code

• This code can be solved by cross-referencing the encoded phrases first with the sticker sheet and then with the team morale assessment.
• Take the first encoded phrase, B7raD4ty, for example. There are two sets of coordinates in this word: B7 and D4.

• The perimeters of the stickers contain a series of letters and numbers that correspond to the locations of certain stickers. For example:

  • B7 = Orange Heart
  • D4 = Yellow Rectangle

• Now, on the team morale assessment:

  • Orange Heart = Maneuvering Outstanding
  • Yellow Rectangle = Loop Improvement needed
• The first letters of these evaluations are MO and LI.
• By replacing the coordinates with these letters, the encoded word B7raD4ty becomes Morality.

• Decoded, the text reads:

  • Morality
  • Liability
  • Indemnity
  • Non Compete
  • Confidentiality

Light Booth Occupant

• Once decoded, the coded words in the journal page will match the clauses in the contract, making it clear that Lillian met with the mint company. In her journal page, Lillian mentions showing up to the rink over three hours early to hang out before an important meeting and that she thankfully didn't run into Harrison during that time. Because the rink room reservation schedule lists the meeting occurring at 8:30 AM and Lillian says that Harrison was not at the rink, it can be concluded that Lillian was the person in the light booth at 5:30 AM. The stickers on the sticker sheet will also match several stickers placed on the console of the booth in the lightroom booth feed, further confirming that Lillian was the booth's occupant.
• Lillian Varma was inside the light booth during Marcus's 5:30 AM meeting with his co-conspirator. Open the messenger at threepinescase.com and send Sofia a message with the name "Lillian Varma" in order to complete the episode.

Pitch Folder Code

• This code can be solved by using the clue given in the last handwritten note on the pitch folder as a jumping-off point: "I'll give you a hint: your pin is a 2dc+1qq+3b+4p".
• The pin is the image of a ferret.
• Since the word "ferret" is six letters and there are six letters shown in the encoded phrase, we can assume that the number in front of each letter or block of letters is modifying the position of the letter it precedes, and we can check that work.
• Take "2dc" for example: "d" is two letters before the letter "f" in the alphabet and "c" is two letters before "e" in the alphabet. Therefore, we can assume that the code can be decoded by moving a letter down the alphabet by the number of spaces of the number preceding it.

• Decoded, the text reads:

  • Harrison's contractor
  • Kill his deal
  • Changed your mind
  • Ferret

Transcripts

Finale Audio Recording

Lillian: Oh, hey, Sofia. Good job out there today.

Sofia: You were in the light booth a couple days before Nathan's murder, right?

Lillian: Oh. Uh. I don't know. That was like forever ago. Why?

Sofia: It wasn't that long ago.

Lillian: Okay? Well, I don't remember.

Sofia: It was a Monday, around 5:30 AM. I know you keep track of everything you do in your journal, so... maybe you could check? It could jog your memory.

[There's an awkward pause as Lillian doesn't respond.]

Sofia: Marcus was talking to someone in the rink at the same time you were in that booth. I'm just wondering if you saw that or overheard anything while you were up there.

Lillian: Well, I didn't. I hang out in the booth to be alone. I mess around with the lights and listen to music. It's like the one place I don't have to think about anyone else. So no, I wouldn't have noticed Coach Lourdes.

Sofia: I didn't realize that. I thought you'd be looking out into the rink, setting up the scene for Nationals. I know you've been really focused on your routine and landing the quad.

Lillian: Oh, my god. Shut up! You don't know anything about me.

Sofia: I know you didn't kill Nathan.

Lillian: Oh, yeah? Good for you. Me too.

Sofia: I'm trying to find out who did, and if you saw something, it could help me figure that out. You have to tell me.

Lillian: (scoffs) Oh, I have to? Great, another thing I have to do that I can't do. That's just freaking fantastic. First, I make Coach Lourdes hate me by trying to expand my horizons, and then that turns out to be totally pointless because my new coach quits on me because I'm such a failure, and now what? It's, like, my fault that Coach LaPalma's murder isn't being solved? Well, I'm sorry I'm such a huge massive useless failure, Sofia.

Sofia: Hey, that's not what I meant. You're not a failure. You're maybe the best skater I've ever seen. I'm just trying to get through some life or death stuff right now.

[Lillian is too upset to respond.]

Sofia: No offense, I can see why you might have needed these to chill out a little.

[Sofia takes out the weed gummy wrapper seen in the light booth photo.]

Lillian: Oh, my god, are you going to blackmail me? As, like, revenge for not helping you? Sofia, I'll be kicked out of the ASA if you tell anyone. My career would be over. You can't do that to me.

Sofia: What'? I wouldn't tell anyone. I cannot emphasize enough how little I care about your recreational drug use. I just want to figure out what happened to Nathan and why.

Lillian: Right... Thanks. I - I'm sorry I can't help you with that. And for freaking out on you.

Sofia: I get it. I know what it's like to feel like you're not measuring up.

Lillian: Yeah. Thanks. I gotta go.

[Lillian quickly begins walking away. Sofia pulls out her phone to stop recording.]

Journal Page

Front → Lillian's Handwriting

• Thursday

  • O Practice 6:00 AM
  • X Drop donation clothes off

  • X Email Qs to contract lawyer about:

    • B7raD4ty
    • D4aD6D4ty
    • inC9mD8ty
    • B8n B1mC5C2
    • B1nD3C9nD2aD4ty

  • X Order Mom's present!!!

    • > New skates migrated to next month

  • O Doctor's appt 4:45 PM

    • - Checked out, all's fine. Now he has to agree to the quad!

• Friday

  • T minus 6 days!!

  • X PIck up Rx

  • *O 8 AM contract meeting

    • - omg H has a contract meeting scheduled too. same time as mine. awk!

    • !̵ ̵C̵o̵m̵p̵a̵r̵e̵ ̵n̵o̵t̵e̵s̵ ̵w̵i̵t̵h̵ ̵h̵i̵m̵ ̵a̵f̵t̵e̵r̵?̵

  • ! O - get in 3hrs early for Chill Zone time

  • ⋅ Pick up new deodorant, diff scent (lilac?)

Back → Lillian's Handwriting

• Saturday

  • T minus 5!!
  • O Practice 6:00 AM
  • O Gym time 9:00 AM

  • X Sign contract

    • - H acting super-toxic re: Nathan. Is he throwing a fit so he doesn't have to skate with me?
    • - H needs to move out, OMG didn't realize how much his mom was leeching off him!

  • O Clikclak live stream 7:30 PM

• Sunday

  • 4 days to go!

  • O 7:00 AM Coffee with Nathan

    • - Talked about routine & old man joint stuff?
    • - The doctor cleared it but that's not enough. S̵T̵O̵P̵ ̵t̵r̵e̵a̵t̵i̵n̵g̵ ̵m̵e̵ ̵l̵i̵k̵e̵ ̵a̵ ̵C̵H̵I̵L̵D̵!̵!̵

  • > Look for new coach (again ugh)

  • O Volunteering 12:30 PM

  • X Email UCTP administrators for course reqs

    • ⋅ Help Harrison research manager rates

Photo of Locker Note

I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU, SOFIA.

YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON YOUR SKATING. NOT OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS.

I CAN END YOUR CAREER OR WORSE.

BACK OFF.

Pitch Deck

Final Page

• Carol: I haven't changed my mind. Frankly I would appreciate some gratitude, considering how much you stand to benefit from this. Linford would never have agreed to this meeting without my input.
• Marcus: I'm hardly the only one benefitting. That little nonprofit of yours won't be forgotten.
• Carol: I'd certainly hope not. By the way, why so much interest in working with HC?
• Marcus: Mutual benefit.
• Carol: The child is a menace. He's been ruining my mornings lately with his ghastly choice of warmup music. Making the rink sound like a discotheque full of malfunctioning machinery.

Pitch Folder

Interior

• Marcus: Carol: Sorry to rush the approval, I had to move this meeting because 2Fy+R+4NE+5NJi+'s 1BNmSq+3xZ+toR pushed us back by an hour. I'm sure that's not a problem for you. After all, I could always 5FdGg 2FgQ 6Xy+7Te if you've C+2FyLe+1Dc 5Tj+1Tq 2K+3Fk+D.
• Carol: ??????
• Marcus: I'll give you a hint: your pin is a 2dc+1qq+3b+4p

Team Morale Assessment

Front → Nathan's Handwriting

Harrison and Lillian:

With the ASA Nationals hot on our heels, I can see the pressure building in you both. I can see you aren't vibing off each other the way you need to be to win this thing. I'm not saying this to be critical. Carol and I struggled with the same thing early on, and this silly little thing really helped us, so I want to share it with you.

The other day I was in my office wracking my brain about how to help you two improve. A few of Coach Yantz's sticker sheets fell out of an old souvenir book, and I thought, "Welp, that seems like fate." Old Yantz came up with this self-rating system that he called "sticker talk", which I'm realizing now is a terrible, awful, stupid name. But it worked for me and Carol. So this is how sticker talk works:

Each shape represents different elements of your performance and each color is how you rate that individual performance element. (arrow indicating that the page should be turned)

Back → Nathan's Handwriting

• In Column 1

  • Circle = Circles
  • Square = Toework
  • Triangle = Flip
  • Rectangle = Loop
  • Star = Presentation
  • Rhombus = Blocks
  • Heart = Maneuvering
  • Moon = Neatness
  • Oval = Determination

• In Column 2

  • Green = Awesome
  • Red = Excellent
  • Purple = Underperforming
  • Orange = Outstanding
  • Yellow = Improvement needed

This way you combine a shape and color to rate yourself. For example, a star would mean "presentation" and the color orange would set it as outstanding. A purple square would mean the toework is underperforming. You get the point.

What I want you both to do is rate yourselves after each practice. Eventually you'll rate each other too. It's going to break down your performance into pieces you can improve individually so the whole thing gets better faster.

I know it feels unnatural, but give it a shot. You know I'm rooting for you both!

Coach N.

Solution

To Find the Time at Which the Hidden Camera Footage Was Taken

• In the hidden camera footage, the rink lights change color in a particular order. Cross-referencing the order in which the lights change in the video with the light programs saved into the light booth presets will reveal when this particular sequence of lights was most recently enacted and, therefore, when the meeting took place.
• Once you know the names of each dial in the light booth and the order those dials were pressed during the time of the video, you can cross-reference that information with the saved inputs to the booth. Only one input will match the light pattern shown in the hidden camera footage: an input saved at 5:30 AM.
• Marcus's meeting with his co-conspirator took place at 5:30 AM. Open the messenger on threepinescase.com and send this time to Sofia in order to advance the story and receive the next objective.

To Find the Booth Occupant

• Once decoded, the coded words in the journal page will match the clauses in the contract, making it clear that Lillian met with the mint company. In her journal page, Lillian mentions showing up to the rink over three hours early to hang out before an important meeting and that she thankfully didn't run into Harrison during that time. Because the rink room reservation schedule lists the meeting occurring at 8:30 AM and Lillian says that Harrison was not at the rink, it can be concluded that Lillian was the person in the light booth at 5:30 AM.
• The stickers on the sticker sheet will also match several stickers placed on the console of the booth in the lightroom booth feed, further confirming that Lillian was the booth's occupant.
• Lillian Varma was inside the light booth during Marcus's 5:30 AM meeting with his co-conspirator.
• To complete the episode, open the messenger on threepinescase.com and send Sofia a message with the name "Lillian Varma".