text: [Themes: Mystery, humor, murder, conversation, mystery]
  
  "I assume you have gathered us here for a reason, Monsieur Saint Germain?", says Shane Pearson.
  
  "Is it not obvious?" says the Doctor. "The detective has figured out who killed the Colonel and intends to explain to us how he did it."
  
  You twirl your moustache. "The good Doctor is correct, Mademoiselle Pearson. I have indeed solved the case. The murderer was clever, but he proved no match for my gray matter." You tap a finger against the side of your head to illustrate the point.
  
  They all stare at you expectantly, like children waiting to be told a bedtime story. And who can blame them? You are, after all, Anthony Saint Germain, the great French detective. No criminal has ever been a match for you, and everybody is looking forward to a description of your brilliant deductions.
  
  There is just one small problem. One tiny detail that makes it different this time. A mere trifle, really. This time you have no idea who did it. An entire day of investigation have turned up nothing. No one even seems to have a damn motive.
  
  No matter. Most of the time when you do this the murderer breaks down and confesses half way through your speech anyway. All you have to do is stall and wait for the guilty party to slip up. People love talking about themselves. If you wait long enough, they always end up revealing something you can use.
  
  It is going to be fine.
  
  The hotel lounge is small, but comfortable. A large couch stands near one wall, with a mahogany couch table in front of it. Next to it is an old fashioned reclining chair. In the corner of the room, an old grandfather clock is steadily ticking away, lending a dignified air to the proceedings.
  
  James Garfield, the owner of Seafront Hotel, is standing by the clock, watching you expectantly.
  
  Jonathan Allington stands next to Mr. Garfield, his employer. His face reveals no emotions.
  
  Shane Pearson is sitting in the couch with her legs crossed.
  
  Doctor Elias Mole is sitting next to Shane in the couch, leaning forward with an inquisitive look in his eyes.
  
  Count Heinrich Von Carstein is leaning backwards in the reclining chair, sipping a glass of wine.
  
  Detective Goodfellow is standing behind you, eagerly waiting to assist you in arresting the murderer.
  
  "Death Off the Cuff" is a conversation based game where you need to talk about various things to move the plot forward. This is accomplished by typing "TALK ABOUT SOMETHING", or simply "T SOMETHING" for convenience. "Something" can be anything you can see in the environment. You will often have more than one thing to say about the same object.
  
  You can only talk about visible objects, not just arbitrary topics.
  
  Occasionally, talking about something or someone will bring up a menu with various options for what to say. If you don't like any of the options, you can simply change the topic by talking about something else instead.
  
  Talking doesn't solve every problem, though. You may also need to physically interact with things and people to progress.
  
  Make sure you examine your surrounding regularly. You might notice new things.
  
  If you get stuck, typing "HINT" or "HELP" will provide a hint on what to do in the current situation. There is usually more than one hint available for a given scene, so if the first one doesn't help the next one might.
  
  Typing "WALKTHRU" will provide detailed instructions on how to finish the game.
  
  Lastly, I would like thank my testers: Katzy, Brooks Reeves and John Murphy.
  
  [Author's Note: They all stare at you expectantly, like children waiting to be told a bedtime story. Who can blame them? You are, after all, Antoine Saint Germain, the great French detective. No criminal has ever been a match for you, and everybody is looking forward to a description of your brilliant deductions. There is just one small problem. One tiny detail that makes it different this time. A mere trifle, really. This time you have no idea who did it.]
  
  > About yourself
  You are as good looking as ever, but your confident demeanor hides a gnawing uncertainty. Hopefully, no one will notice. You are wearing your trademark black bowler hat, and your moustache is impeccably groomed.
  
  > talk james
  (James Garfield)
  [1] Motive
  [2] Alibi
  [3] General comments
  
  > 3
  "Mr. Garfield did not seem to have any connection to the victim. He had been running the hotel by himself since his wife died two years ago. Before starting the hotel he was a lieutenant in the british army. None of this information seemed to be of any use at first, but my investigation was not over."
  
  [1] Motive
  [2] Alibi
  
  > 1
  "I considered Monsieur Garfield. In the days before the murder several witnesses overheard the two men furiously  arguing. Monsieur Garfield insists that the Colonel was simply impossible to please. I knew that Mr. Garfield had often complained of the stress of running the hotel. Was it possible that he had simply snapped during a later argument? It seemed almost too simple."
  
  James sneers. "Of course it is. If you really think I would kill a man over a simple disagreement then your reputation has been severely exaggerated."
  
  You nod politely. "As part of my investigation, I consider every option, Monsieur."
  
  [1] Alibi
  
  > 1
  "Mr. Garfields alibi seemed to exclude him from the list of possible suspects. The Colonel's pocket watch had stopped at 02:30 when he was stabbed. Doctor Mole confirmed the time of death.
  
  At 02:35 James Garfield was awoken by his employee, Mr. Allington, who informed him that one of the guests had had a terrible nightmare and had requested some medication to help her sleep. It is highly unlikely that mister Garfield could have sprinted back to his room after commiting the murder, washed off the blood, changed into his pajamas and gotten into bed. No, if Mr. Garfield had commited the murder, the Doctor was either wrong about the time of death, or Mr. Allington was in on it."
  
  Jonathan Allington raises an eyebrow.