Homicide Desk I
The Red Lipstick Murderer

Homicide Desk I -- The Red Lipstick Murderer

-- Special Notes for this Case --
Newspaper #5 -- On the floor in Celine Henry’s residence.

Six months pass after your promotion and then you finally catch a major Homicide case -- the Red Lipstick Murders -- which make the headlines on all the papers!  As usual you get the assignment in the daily briefing, starting with a new partner, Rusty Galloway. 

When you get outside to the curb you will see you have a new car waiting for you -- a Nash Super 600! How about that -- a new partner, a new job, new wheels, and a new case!  This day could not get any better!  If your suit is reset be sure to change it to the one you want, and then head out to your car and to the crime scene!

A body is found in horrific circumstances

-- The Crime Scene --

The scene is at the end of the dirt road just off of the highway -- park back from the crowd and you get jumped by the press - who (speaking as a member of the press) I promise are just doing their job -- and after you talk to them and they leave, chat up the uniform officer to get the details.

Right then, the first thing you want to do is find all of the evidence and clues -- which for this crime scene means some unique stuff!

First we will do this like a real cop would, working our way in from the outside, so walk along the tape line to find the first piece of evidence -- a globe-like paper weight that, when we pick it up, clearly turns out to be a puzzle.

Rotate the sections until you have lined them up to show the two American continents, at which point the top opens, revealing that it is actually a fance desk lighter!

Clue 1:  Bamba Club Lighter

Now move along the periphery to the next piece of evidence, the handbag.  Examine it to find:

Clue 2:  A new and unused Lipstick tube.

Around the front is a series of shoe prints in the dirt -- the Crime Scene Technician will tell you about them.

Clue 3: Size Eight Men's Shoe Prints

Now it is time to look at the dead naked and violated body -- so respect the dead because remember, you speak for the dead!  Talk to the Coroner as you approach the body to get his report, and then examine her.

Clue 4: Blunt Force Trauma to the right side of the victim's head

Clue 5: Writing found on the lower torso

Clue 6: A mark indicating that there is a ring missing from the victim's left hand

You discuss the writing with the Coroner at this point -- he tells you that he will test the lipstick when he gets the body back to the Morgue --

At this point you have discovered all that there is to discover here, so there is no point in not releasing the body to the Coroner so that he can take her back to the Morgue for autopsy.  Based upon the oddity of the desk lighter -- and the fact that it really is the only clue of any meaning we found, I would say it is time to pay that bar a visit, wouldn't you?

If you are curious, Bamba is the name of a folk dance from the Veracruz area of Mexico; the word does not really have a direct translation into English, but it means sort of to shake or perhaps tremor would be more accurate.  If you have ever seen the dance called La Bamba you would totally understand.

When you get into the car, set the club as your destination using the Notebook, and drive there, trying not to kill anyone on the way, right? As you drive your new partner makes it very clear that he does not think much of you -- and that he believes that you want to turn this case into something big, which he does not believe that it is.  He is wrong, but that will become obvious shortly.  There is something else we need to cover however...

-- Strategic Play Note -- Street Crime --

I am sure it has not escaped your notice that on the way to crime scenes you have been getting calls from Dispatch to assist with or go out on Street Crime cases.  If you have been playing shrewdly you have avoided responding to these -- and that is a good thing!  It was not such a big deal with the first set of cases when you were in uniform, since they do not count towards the rating system and you do not have to 5-Star them -- but all of the cases AFTER do count.  And trying to do Street Crimes during a case that counts is the quickest way to get less than 5-Stars that I can think of.

That being the case (no pun intended) you should simply not do any of the Street Crime cases for now.  It may seem like you have to do them during the particular cases -- and in fact that is how it works -- but the thing is, you do not have to do them NOW. 

There is a mechanism in the game main menu to access Free Play Mode for each case, which allows you to play during the same time period in freely roaming mode, which means that after you have completed the story mode of the game, you can go back and do those calls.

Considering the aggressive amount of DLC that is planned to expand this game, you will be doing more than a little free roam anyway, and there is also Achievements like the one that you have to drive a specified distance for that will also see you playing in roaming mode, so do not sweat this.  You can check the Appendix for the Street Crimes that includes details like the name of each, the time of day that they are available, and the details and solutions  for them.

One neat trick that I should mention is that whenever you go into Free Play to do the Street Crimes, the game automatically puts you into the right time frame for a Street Crime Mission, picking whatever the next mission is that you have not completed successfully, which means that once you finish a Street Crime and the game has saved, you only need to duck out and back in to have it line up the next one for you!  So do not worry -- you will get them all soon enough!

Identifying the Victim

-- The Bamba Club --

As you arrive at the club you will notice that the club is located in a fairly modern building -- and when you go in you meet Garrett Mason, the temporary bartender -- who is both helpful and informed because he identifies the victim for you!

Her name is Celine Henry, and she was in the club the previous night, and while he does not know much about her, he points you to the owner, who he says will be able to help us.

The owner -- Dick McColl -- not only knows Celine Henry, but he also knows her husband Jacob Henry.  It is time to properly interview the man, and if you need them, the answers are included below.  He tells you about the man that he saw with Celine and even provides you with his license plate number -- 2B8899 -- and when you ask about the missing ring McColl describes a ring that the victim wore often -- and he tells you about the ring. He is very helpful but clearly hiding something!

He claims that he tried to get Jacob Henry to pick his wife up the previous evening but that Henry refused to do that.  You get the Henry Residence address from him, and that pretty much ends the interview...

Correct Answers:

-- Suspect Seen with Victim: Truth

-- Ring Stolen from Victim: Doubt

-- Knowledge of Husband: Doubt

Properly answering the questions -- err... Properly asking them... Ah, you know, giving the correct prompts -- will unlock the Achievement "Round Heels" (15 GP) for obtaining the license plate number from McColl.

Armed with this new information there are several things that we need to do, starting with finding a phone in the lobby and calling Dispatch to run a check on that license plate number -- but as this is an era before computers, you are not going to get that information quickly!  She tells you that she will relay the answer to your request via Radio Dispatch, and you ring off, and head outside to the car.

Our next obvious destination is the Henry Residence, so open your Notebook and select it as the destination, and then carefully drive there!

Searching the Victim's Home

-- The Henry Residence --

Jacob and the late Celine Henry live in a dumpy little house on the outskirts of town and quite the distance from the club.  When you knock there is no answer, and your partner goes to try the back door.  Finding it locked he kicks it open and enters, telling you that the place has been broken into and perhaps searched?

We are going to carefully search the house, but first take two steps over to the newspaper that is laying on the floor and read that to get the CS of the Doctor and an unknown man who it is clear has operated as the instrument of death for the Doctor but who is now very much melting down.  Connecting the dots, the arson on the cover of the paper, and the protestations of the nut job should make a connection in your mind, yes?

Now, carefully search for and locate the following clues:

-- A woman's shoe on the dining room floor of a large size

-- Evidence of forced entry at the broken window in the kitchen

-- A note on the refrigerator that reveals that the Henry's have separated

In the bedroom you find the box for her ring from Tiffany & Co. and a photo of her in an airplane that shows the ring, so you now know what it looks like.

You suggest that it would be an idea to get Technical Services out to sweep the house, and while your partner is doing that, you go and try to interview the neighbors to see if they saw anything...  In the house on the left is a woman in the back yard near a car named Jennifer Hogan who can fill you in on the events of the previous evening.

She is understandably shocked to learn that her friend is dead -- and that she was murdered... Still you accomplished what you set out to, having verified that there were in fact marital problems, and that the husband -- far from being the victim in them -- was a violent wife-beating a-hole.  Good to know!

Now that you have confirmed all of that and you have the address of Jacob Henry's new flat from the note on the fridge, it would be an idea to head over there to see if you can interview him... 

A Visit to Jacob Henry's Flat

-- Jacob Henry's Apartment --

When you arrive your partner decides he is going to play this one heavy -- and proceeds to kick in the door and hold Jacob at gunpoint, for a forced interview.  Jacob appears to be genuinely shocked to learn that his wife is dead and was murdered -- but before you have this conversation with him, you need to check out his flat for any useful clues or leads...

In the kitchen there is a notepad that, when you use the pencil-shading trick, reveals a death threat note -- which is clue number one!

In his bedroom on the bed is an open suitcase inside of which is a pair of shoes that, when you examine them, turn out to be Size 11.  That is not really positive help, but it is clue number two.

That pretty much covers the clues for here, so go back to the living room and talk to him now...

-- Interview with Jacob Henry --

You start out by asking what he knows about his wife and her activities the previous evening.

-- Movements of Victim: Lie / Husband's Alibi

-- Last Contact with Victim: Truth

-- Motive for Murder: Lie / Death Threat Note

Your partner goads Jacob into attacking him, then you have to put the beat-down on him before slapping on the cuffs.  After everything is secured, use the phone in the kitchen to call in for transport of the prisoner, and to talk to the Coroner to learn the results of the autopsy.

You then have the operator patch you through to Dispatch to get the ID on the license plate from the bar -- and you note down that information in your Notebook.  There is another message -- the Captain wants any suspects brought in immediately.

After the prisoner is loaded on to the transport, you get back in your car and head for the new address you have for the suspect vehicle.

-- Central Police Station --

Before we head over to look into that suspect vehicle and the suspect owner, head to the station to get the question of Jacob settled!  So head into the Interrogation Room and have yourself a chat with Jacob Henry...  The answers are below if you need them:

-- Access to Murder Weapon: Lie / Husband's Alibi

-- Lipstick Markings: Truth

-- Deterioration of Marriage: Lie / Marital Problems

-- Missing Jewelry: Truth

The interview ends with no slam-dunk, and the Captain is not happy...   Well, you cannot please everyone all the time, right?  Still you get some XP and a Rank boost from this so it was not a total loss, right?  Right!

Now head back out to the car and pay Mendez a visit!

Wrapping up the case and making the right arrest?

-- Alonzo Mendez Residence --

A quick inspection of the mailboxes tells you that he lives in number 16 -- and when you go upstairs you find all of the evidence in a neat package in his bedroom!  Size 8 shoes, the lipstick, and the murder weapon still covered in blood!

Be sure to search the clues in that order -- shoes first, then murder weapon, then lipstick -- because then Mendez shows up and, when you announce that he is under arrest he takes off like a scalded doggie!

Your foot chase quickly turns into a car chase, and your partner tells you to get along side of him, so that he can shoot out the tyres!

The car is turned into a smoking wreck in no time at all, and you arrest Mendez, which gets you a very short CS of him being locked up, then another CS of the Captain, who is very happy with you (of course) so he shares drinks with you like any good Irish Police Captain would -- then you get your case summary and -- hopefully -- a 5-Star Rating!

I did almost $2k in Vehicle Damage plus $10 in City Damage and I still received a 5-Star Rating, which tells me that perfect scores on the Clues and the Questions goes a long way in this game!  Hopefully you did just as well, received your 5-Stars, and are ready for the next case!

Is it just me or do these cases seem to be getting longer and more complicated?  This one seemed to be longer than the previous case for sure...  Ah well!