Episode 3

Previously on Royal Street...

Thanks to your discovery of a hidden werewolf in one of Celestine's art pieces, Sylvia is able to log in to the VuMail Drive folder with the password: rougarou. There, she finds more evidence relating to Celestine's ongoing conflicts with Cyril, Ines, Nonah, Mason, Dillon, and Jay, as well as Cel's premonitions about her own death. With your help, she also discovers Celestine's last known location on the night of the murder: a French Quarter conjure shop run by a mysterious proprietor named Zee.

Hints

Good Fences

  • Do you see any clickable links on any of the posts?

Innocent Suspect

  • To track some of the suspects on the night of the murder, check the social media screenshots, Good Fences posts, the new parade Good Fences post, and the crime blotter from Episode 2.
  • Do any of the nicknames on the back of the pharmacy inventory ring a bell?
  • As you're tracking suspects, there should be two that you can connect to an activity but not a time or place. Another can be linked to a location but no time frame. The remaining three can be pinpointed to an exact place and time; and one of them makes a second appearance.
  • Velma McSorley's post in Good Fences mentions that the good Samaritan had a specific item of jewelry. Have you seen this somewhere else?
  • The parade Good Fences post from Sylvia's email places the good Samaritan on a float. Which krewe does this float belong to?
  • Does the description of the float in the parade Good Fences post match any of the items you received in this episode?
  • The parade schedule will tell you which krewes were parading on the night of the murder. Is there another document that might help you match the float with its krewe?
  • Cross-reference the parade map from Episode 1 and the parade schedule for each krewe's theme and route!
  • Remember that Sylvia says each float moves one block every two minutes. Where and when would the good Samaritan have jumped off?

  • Once you know where the good Samaritan got off the float, do you think they could have made it to the cemetery in time? Remember that pedestrians also move one block every two minutes in parade traffic!

Logging On

  • Check Sylvia's letter for the specific task Sylvia assigns you: identify Celestine's time of death window. Navigate in your web browser to royalstreetcase.com and log in to Michelle Gray's website with the password ARMSTRONG.

Time of Death

  • Check out the coroner assistant's notes. Is there information there that could help you find the time of death?
  • If you see something odd in the notes, think about the place where the body was found. Have you read the cemetery guide to learn more?
  • Does the textbook page have any instructions on how to calculate time of death using the information you just discovered?
  • Once you have an hour-long window, check for more information about Celestine's whereabouts that night. When was the last time she was seen? Remember that someone might refer to her by a different name!

Reveals

Good Fences

  • If you click on the hyperlink to email GoodFindzGuy59, you'll get something interesting in return.

Innocent Suspect

  • Cyril places himself at "the pharmacy" (Zee's conjure shop) at 11:16 PM, right before Celestine arrives, and the pharmacy inventory (using the name "Pickins" for Cyril after his restaurant slogan) backs up this claim. Judging by the parade map, Cyril could have easily followed Celestine and killed her. Therefore, he is still a suspect.
  • Ines places herself in Jackson Square at 11:15 PM. Judging by the parade map, she could have made it to the cemetery in time to confront and kill Celestine. She is still a suspect.
  • Mason and Dillon state that they are having a bar crawl that night. However, their exact whereabouts are unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to rule them out.
  • Good Fences reveals that Nonah was setting up a search for a lost dog named Enzo at Canal and Rampart. However, her exact movements are unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to rule her out.
  • Jay wears the claw necklace in the social media screenshots, making him the good Samaritan that Velma McSorely describes in the Good Fences posts (and who is also mentioned in the crime blotter from Episode 2).
  • The parade Good Fences post says that the good Samaritan had a place of honor on the float "by the old bearded tree god". If you look at the three float toys, only one has a tree god on it.
  • The parade schedule states that three krewes were parading the night of the murder (February 16): Tous less Bouffons, Krewe of Antonius and Kleopatra, and Krewe of Avalon. Each krewe's theme is listed in the parade map, but only the Krewe of Avalon's (enchanted forest) fits the design of the float. Therefore, Jay must have ridden with the Krewe of Avalon, which used Route C on the night of the murder.
  • If the floats move one block every two minutes, Jay would have jumped off at Chartres and Esplanade at 11:50 PM. Given the amount of traffic, it would have been impossible for him to make it to the cemetery by the end of the window at 12:10, especially given that he was on foot, according to the social media screenshots. Once you've identified Jay as innocent, send Sylvia an email with the words "Jay Harris" in the body of the message to complete the episode.

Time of Death

  • Celestine's body temperature when found by emergency responders is listed on the coroner assistant's notes: 106.1℉.
  • The cemetery guide states that brick tombs collect heat. Therefore, the temperatures inside are much higher than the surrounding air.
  • Find the post-mortem interval (time that has passed since death) by inputting Celestine's body temperature into the standard equation from the textbook page. Then, add thirty minutes on either side.
  • 106.1 - 98.6 = 7.5
  • 7.5/1.5 = 5 hours
  • Since Celestine's body's temperature was taken at 4:40 AM, that means the center of the window is 11:40. If you add 30 minutes on either side, you get 11:10 - 12:10. However, there's one more step...
  • According to the pharmacy inventory, Celestine (referred to as "hodie", a Latin word meaning "today" that is linked to St. Expedite) was last seen at Zee's shop at 11:25 PM. That narrows the window to 11:25 - 12:10. Once you've determined these times, open the Contact shortcut and send Sylvia an email with the time frame "11:25 - 12:10" in the body of the message.

Transcripts

Chemical Analysis

  • DATURA??

Coroner Assistant's Notes

Page 1

  • Patient identified as Ms. Celestine Broussard
  • Autopsy Notes | 2/17 - 8:47 AM
  • Body recovered from wall vault in St. Louis Cemetery #1 with a body temperature of 106.1℉ at 4:40 AM according to emergency responders.
  • Clothing/valuables found at the scene:

  • Dark brown handbag, opened

    • Museum tickets
    • No. 2 pencil, broken
    • 3 receipts
    • 4 keys on keyring with plastic alligator keychain
    • 1 package of pocket tissues

    • Plastic shopping bag, tied closed

      • Vial of unlabeled ink
      • 2 vials of assorted herbs
      • Parchment paper
      • Spool of thread with a needle
      • 3 candles

  • Velcro wallet containing

    • 4 loose $20 bills
    • 2 credit cards
    • Medical insurance card
    • Laminated "Friends & Family Lifetime Discount" card, Fortier Foods
  • 2 gold hoop earrings
  • 2 rings on the right hand
  • 1 beaded anklet on left ankle
  • Blouse
  • Skirt
  • Underwear
  • Brassiere

  • Ankle socks

 

Page 2

  • Leather loafers
  • Bicycle was chained to the cemetery gate, likely belonged to Ms. Broussard

  • External:

    • Fixed rigor mortis & postmortem lividity
    • Perimortem gunshot wound to left temple, roughly .2 in. diameter (see recording)
    • Body found with foreign liquid residue still present in the mouth and pooled in the upper esophagus. Most likely ingested right before death.
    • Liquid collected and sent for analysis
    • Postmortem abrasions on right anterior thigh ~ 1.79 cm x 2.46 cm

  • Internal:

    • All organs are usual in size and location, no internal lacerations found

    • Weights

      • Heart - 279 grams
      • Brain - 1341 grams, isodense
      • Spleen - 166 grams
      • Kidneys - (L) 129 grams (R) 121 grams
  • Decedent not pregnant at time of death. No perimortem or postmortem injuries to genitals present.

  • Evidence collected

    • Blood, urine, bile, tissue of the heart, lung, brain, spleen, and liver
    • Gunpowder near the entry wound sent to lab
    • Postmortem CT scan ordered
    • Chemical analysis ordered of substance collected from patient's teeth, gums, tongue, and upper esophagus

Letter from Sylvia

  • Also uploaded screengrabs of my texts with Ines from the other day that got me twisted. You'll see why...

Parade Schedule

  • Apparently, these floats are all pretty slow and move about 1 block every 2 min give/take

Pharmacy Inventory

Back

  • 2/16
  • cowrie shells - picket, 9 am
  • cedar smudge
    said I might be getting some inquiries soon - charmer, again, 10:15 am
  • money gris gris - boss, 1:40 pm
  • comfort doll - tourist, 2:45 pm
  • spiritual spa box
    free reading, she needed it, didn't have the heart to tell her she had finger paint in her hair - tired teacher, 3:15 pm
  • love & loss candle
    requited love oil
    lavender
    said he had a big night tonight, seemed excited but kinda on edge - claw, 3:55 pm
  • money candle
    told him to spend it wisely this time - legere, 6:15 pm
  • rosebud petals
    worried about her opening night tomorrow. left two tix at the box office as a thank you - primadonna, 9 pm
  • red brick dust
    insisted he needed protection since he was a "public figure". I guess that's one way of looking at it. tried to give me an autograph as payment. told him I had no time for nonsense and he paid up - mudbug man, 9:25 pm
  • riches oil x2
    escort oil x2
    "premium" candles x7
    rude as ever, left just in time - pickin's, 11:19 pm
  • dragon's blood
    parchment paper
    protection herb mix
    blessing herb mix
    silver thread and needle
    white candles x3
    worried enough to make her own gris-gris but refused further help. took one look at the card and said she was gonna go "guarantee her tomorrow". I told her to go straight home but she said she had to visit Marie. some people think they got it all figured out - hodie, 11:25 pm
  • coltsfoot - angel, 1:45 am

Saint Expedite Card

Front

  • HODIE
  • CRAS

 

Back

  • Tomorrow is never promised. Make sure you're walking in the right direction.
  • Zee

Sylvia's Video Update

Sylvia: Hello again, I hope you're doing alright. I was just sitting here when I figured I'd give you a quick update from New Orleans: things have been... okay here, I guess? Ines texted me earlier... and things got intense. And I'll send you the screenshot later once I get... everything together, but you let me know if I'm overreacting, but it had me up all night grinding my teeth. They say you can spot someone's lie in their eyes. And I think about all the time we spent together at the Social, meaning I looked into Ines'x eyes a bunch - and the idea that I didn't sense that - like, not even for a second? It's like, what kind of people are living in this world? Have there always been monsters hiding in plain sight? So: I'm going to ghost her, for now. I mean, I kind of have to, right? Any interaction I have during the investigation... couldn't be good. So. That's where I'm at. I'll be in touch soon.

Solution

  • With official documentation finally in her hands, Sylvia feels confident that you can discover a window for the time of death. She also sends you information to help you get a sense of the city that night, including social media screenshots that reveal Cyril's relationship with his girlfriend, Breezy (formerly quoted in the Episode 2 newspaper article) and Nonah's conflict with her mother, Blanche. If you look closely, you'll discover a few odd things about Celestine's autopsy information, including the fact that she died with a mysterious purple substance in her mouth ("Datura??" the coroner assistant writes) and that her body's temperature was extremely high when it was found.
  • As you read the cemetery guide, you'll discover that tombs like the one Celestine's body was left in are usually significantly hotter than the surrounding air. This fact explains why Celestine's body was so warm when it was found and gives you a key to start discovering the time of death. Using information from the coroner assistant's notes, you'll need to input Celestine's temperature at the time of death (106.1℉), as well as the time her body was found (4:40 AM), into the standard equation from the textbook page. When you do, you'll discover that Celestine's body was found five hours after death, which occurred sometimes around 11:40. However, in order to account for the inexact nature of this equation, Sylvia asks you to add half an hour on either side to get a full window; this leaves you with 11:10 - 12:10. Finally, the entry about Celestine (called "hodie" after a Latin word associated with St. Expedite) in the pharmacy inventory states that she was last seen alive at 11:25, making the final window 11:25 - 12:10.
  • Open the Contact shortcut and send Sylvia an email with the time frame "11:25 - 12:10" in the body of the message. Wait for her response to continue.
  • Now that you have a window for the time of death, Sylvia asks you to track the suspects and rule out anyone who couldn't have made it to the cemetery in time to commit the murder. According to the social media screenshots, both Cyril and Ines were in the area around the time Celestine was killed, so they cannot be ruled out. Neither can Mason and Dillon, who were allegedly throwing a bar crawl in honor of their krewe's former mascot (an iguana named Chubs) at an unknown location - or Nonah, who is placed at Canal and Rampart at an undisclosed time by a post on Good Fences. That leaves Jay, who you identify as the good Samaritan who stopped a mugging the night of the murder by cross-referencing Velma McSorely's Good Fences post with a post in the social media screenshots. Using the parade Good Fences post, you learn that the good Samaritan was swept up on a krewe's parade float and then dropped off 25 blocks into the route. But which krewe and which route? And where exactly was he dropped off? Could Jay have still committed the murder? Using the parade schedule, float toys, and parade map, you link the float that Jay was on ("the old bearded tree god") with the Krewe of Avalon, who were parading on Route C the night of the murder. Tracing their route with the knowledge that they move roughly one block every two minutes, you discover that Jay hopped off the float at 11:50 at Chartres and Esplanade. There's no way he could have made it to the cemetery before 12:10, making him innocent of Celestine's murder.
  • Open the Contact shortcut and send Sylvia an email with the words "Jay Harris" in the body of the message. Wait for her response to complete the episode.
  • Sylvia is relieved that Jay is innocent and enlists him to help with the case. Given his job as a float builder, he must have lots of access to various krewes. Jay agrees to help, and Sylvia promises to send you the evidence he collects in the next package. Until then, Detective!

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