text: [Themes: Mystery, murder]
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a tape measure
  a pistol
  a scrap of paper
  a broken branch
  your notebook
  
  > ask the deb about the twisty Passages
  "Twisty Passages is one of Alex's better scripts, if I do say so myself. Elinor's providing the music, and Uncle Fred's money was supposed to actually get it onto the stage. Investing in the theatre was something of a hobby with Uncle Fred, you know: he didn't always get a good return, but he did love feeling like a great patron of the arts. Naturally, when Alex and Elinor started talking about producing something, I went straight to Uncle Fred and arranged it all with him."
  
  > ask deb about the funding
  She closes her eyes momentarily. "I was ... disappointed ... in Uncle Fred. Very disappointed."
  
  > ask Ben about the musical
  "I don't pretend to pay it all too much attention. I know it's called Twisty Passages and that Frederic Sheppard was supposed to finance it. My sister Elinor, who is writing the music for it, could probably tell you more; as could Alex, who is writing the script."
  
  > ask Ben about funding
  "So you heard that Fred Sheppard was cutting the funding. Hmph. Elinor nearly had a relapse."
  
  > ask Ben about Elinor
  "My sister has had a very unfortunate life: first the accident that put her in the wheelchair, then her ... her health issues, and now this. She can't possibly have anything to do with this, believe me. As a matter of fact, I happen to have her latest medical report in one of my coat pockets. Go ahead and see for yourself; my coat's the green zimarra in the cloak room."
  
  > ask Ben about the health issues
  "Elinor's always been rather delicate. Then there was the accident that put her in a wheelchair, and when that happened they discovered she was already --" Benedict clears his throat and fidgets. "Well, you did get around to looking at that medical report, didn't you? It explains things better than I ever could."
  
  > go to the north
  Theatrical bills on the walls give this otherwise sterile entry hall the appearance of a theatrical lobby. The front doors are to the north, and the central hall is to the south. The cloak room is to the east.
  
  > go east
  A fancy name for a what is essentially a walk-in closet, with a powder room attached. The clutter gives it a more lived-in appearance than the entrance foyer back to the west.
  
  Half hidden by the green overcoat is a tall umbrella stand in the shape of an elephant's foot.
  
  You can also see five coats (a green overcoat, a leather jacket, a tan trenchcoat, a Burberry jacket and a brown blazer) here.
  
  > search the overcoat
  You spend a few seconds searching -- no, excavating -- through the pockets of the green overcoat and finally emerge into daylight (figuratively speaking) with issue no. 2 of The Incredible Hulk. As it is quite useless to you, you return it to the pockets of the green overcoat. You also find and take a medical report, but then you knew that would be there.
  
  > examine the report
  This sheaf of documents sets out in excruciating detail the circumstances of Elinor Lamb's health. Tucked between the pages is the following note: "Mr Lamb, your sister has not much longer to live. While it is true that the completion of this magnum opus you describe will be a very great thing by which to remember your sister after she is gone, and that this is what she most certainly wants, is not her comfort now, while she is alive, more important? Why must you insist on encouraging her in this foolhardy project?"
  
  > look at notebook
  Flipping through your admittedly untidy shorthand, you pick up the following points:
  broken branch
  broken window
  annotated ledger
  tide table
  telephone call
  Cedric Crane's alibi
  Benedict Lamb's alibi
  Deborah Wolf's alibi
  Elinor Lamb's alibi
  Elinor Lamb's statement
  body position
  Deborah Wolf's statement
  Alexander Wolf's alibi
  Alexander Wolf's statement
  guest arrivals
  Cedric Crane's statement
  musical
  medical report
  
  > read about the medical report in the notebook
  EL's med report found in green overcoat. Note from Dr: BL sees musical as memorial, insists on EL's continued involvement.
  
  > ask Ben about the doctor's note
  Benedict seems to have entirely too much to say about that.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a medical report
  a tape measure
  a pistol
  a scrap of paper
  a broken branch
  your notebook
  
  > ask Alex about the elinor's health
  "It's too complicated for my tiny little brain. Why don't you ask her? Or better yet, talk to that nursemaid brother of hers. He'll fill you in on the details you want and some that you don't."
  
  > examine the branch
  This small sprig of cliffside greenery was found clutched in the dead man's hand.
  
  > Search jacket
  Which do you mean, the leather jacket or the Burberry jacket?
  
  > Leather
  You quickly rummage through the pockets of the leather jacket, discovering an appointment book, which you take.
  
  > look at appointment book
  The name on the inside cover identifies this as belonging to Alexander Wolf. Paging through to yesterday's date, you find that Alexander Wolf had an appointment, which he apparently kept, with Frederic Sheppard's lawyer just that afternoon.
  
  > examine the stnad
  In the elephant's foot umbrella stand is an ebony walking stick.
  
  > examine the stick
  It's shiny and black, with a gold inlay ring about six inches down from a gold knob handle. It seems a little heavy, but is otherwise completely ordinary.
  
  > Search stand
  In the elephant's foot umbrella stand is an ebony walking stick.
  
  > take the stick
  Taken.
  
  > ask Alex about the appointment
  Alexander Wolf grimaces. "I suppose it'll all come out sooner or later. All right. Fred told me a couple of days back that he was thinking of pulling out of the project. He hadn't actually made up his mind about it, but I figured I'd see what my options were. So I made an appointment to find out exactly what sort of control Fred had over the Sheppard Trust. I waited all afternoon and the bastards still didn't have time for me. At least they left me a copy of Zack Sheppard's will. Here, I haven't looked at it yet, thanks to all this mess, but I'm guessing you'll want a look at it."
  
  Alexander Wolf takes a plain legal envelope out of an inside pocket and hands it to you.
  
  > ask Alex about the zach
  "Deb's father. He died when she was very young, before I ever met her. So no, I never knew the man, and have nothing to say about him."
  
  > open the envelope
  You open the legal envelope, revealing a copy of Zachary Sheppard's will.
  
  > Examine will
  The main part of the will concerns the Sheppard Trust, the main purpose of which is to fund deserving theatrical projects, the secondary purpose of which is to provide Mr Zachary Sheppard's heirs with a steady income. Frederic Sheppard is named as a manager of the Trust. Thanks to some clumsiness in the wording, it seems that the Trust is to exist only for the duration of Frederic Sheppard's life, after which the capital is to be divided among various charities. Stapled to the back of the document is a list of figures detailing large chunks of money being shifted out of the Trust and into what appears to be Deborah Wolf's bank account.
  
  > ask Deb about the will
  Deborah Wolf pauses, then says, "Have you looked at the terms of my father's will, Inspector? My father meant the Trust to support struggling theatrical projects, yes, but he never meant for it to die with Uncle Fred. What we were doing was only practical, to ensure that the Trust lived on. Of course, now that Uncle Fred's gone ... I wish we hadn't left this so very late."
  
  > ask Cedric about the will
  Cedric Crane chuckles and says, "Oh, those money transfers? That was Mr Sheppard and Mrs Wolf trying to get around the setup of the Sheppard Trust. The Trust's supposed to die with Mr Sheppard, leaving Mrs Wolf with nothing, so the two of them decided to engage in a spot of embezzling and shift the money into her bank account. It was rather slow going, but give them a couple more years, and I think they might even have succeeded." He shrugs. "Well, it's a victimless crime. Can it still be embezzling if you're stealing from yourself, and if you let all the lawyers and accountants know what you're up to? I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know: I just like calling it that."
  
  > call Chief
  You get Chief Inspector Duffy after a couple of rings. "Good man. I'll be there in five minutes."
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  > call Chief
  It's a few rings before you get one of the junior policemen at the station. "The Chief Inspector is already on his way," he says. "No need to get in a twist about it."
  
  > Go north
  Are you sure you want to quit?
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes.
  
  The door swings open, admitting Chief Inspector Duffy. He looks more put-upon than ever. "I hope you have something for me, Inspector. I want to be home and in bed some reasonable amount of time before having to get up and head back to the station."
  
  He sighs. "At the moment, as far as I know, everybody had the means and opportunity, and nobody had any motive. Tell me about anything you've found that will change this."
  
  > tell Chief about the ledger
  Chief Inspector Duffy nods thoughtfully as you fill him in on what you've learnt so far.
  
  "That's a very serious accusation on Mrs Wolf's part. If Mr Crane were afraid of Mr Sheppard finding out about his little sideline, it might have been a very good reason to want him dead.
  
  Hugh Dunnett
  
  The following story is set up with a great deal of randomisation, and is different each time you start or restart. It would therefore be highly advisable to save the game before you even begin your investigation.
  
  The story uses the basic "ask X about Y" format of speaking to other characters. For the most part, "tell X about Y" will be unimportant: it is generally (though not always!) assumed that your questions about something will include asking about any new discoveries you have made elsewhere about the topic. The main exception to this rule is when laying out your case before Chief Inspector Duffy: in that event, you will have to depend exclusively on "tell..." instead.
  
  Time in the story proceeds at 15 seconds a turn, allowing you ample time (one hopes) to complete your investigation. However, there is in fact a time limit: Chief Inspector Duffy will arrive to speak to you at 2:00 am; and, whatever time he arrives, he will eventually lose patience if you don't manage to make an arrest within a certain time of his arrival.
  
  And that's all that's new. Good luck, Inspector! Your public awaits!
  
  "Frederic Sheppard." Chief Inspector Duffy pulls at his moustache mournfully and stares up at the house through the windshield. "Theatrical sort, usually has a finger in some play or other. He bought up Gull Point about ten years ago. Never any complaints from the neighbours, never any scandals." He pulls at his moustache again. "He was found dead in the cove at the foot of the cliff behind the house about half an hour ago. Caller said it looked as though he fell from his study window."
  
  "Think he might have jumped?"
  
  "She's your investigation: you tell me. We're treating this as a murder unless you can find anything to prove otherwise."
  
  You nod. As you get out of the car, the Chief Inspector yawns and says, "All right. I'm heading back to HQ. I'll be back in a couple of hours. The investigation's all yours. And if at any time you think you're ready to make an arrest, give me a call first, got it?"
  
  "Got it."
  
  What a wonderful way to spend the night. As Chief Inspector Duffy drives off into the darkness, you check your watch to see just how late it really is -- only to find that your watch has stopped.
  
  You are standing on the front drive of Gull Point, residence of noted theatrical patron Frederic Sheppard. The house, a rambling old place, stands to the south.
  
  Beside the front doors, the large doorbell button gleams amber in the moonlight.
  
  You can also see a red Triumph Roadster, a blue Austin and a green Morris Saloon here.
  
  > tell Chief about the will
  Chief Inspector Duffy nods thoughtfully as you fill him in on what you've learnt so far.
  
  "Interesting. So Mrs Wolf knew the provisions of her father's will, and, what is more, she knew she had a lot to lose by her uncle dying when he did. I can't say I can picture her as our murderess, in that case."
  
  > tell Chief about the phone call
  Chief Inspector Duffy nods thoughtfully as you fill him in on what you've learnt so far.
  
  "Financial worries? That's rather vague ... but at least we know Mr Sheppard was still alive at 8:20 pm."
  
  > tell Chief about the window
  Chief Inspector Duffy nods thoughtfully as you fill him in on what you've learnt so far.
  
  When you finish, he strokes his moustache and says, "I imagine that pushing a full-grown man up against a window, and then through it when it breaks open, would entail quite a bit of physical exertion -- especially given the height of the window sill."
  
  > tell Chief about the body position
  Chief Inspector Duffy nods thoughtfully as you fill him in on what you've learnt so far.
  
  Chief Inspector Duffy reaches for his notebook and begins jotting down calculations. "That suggests that the murder probably occurred some time before 9:15 pm ... give it another ten minutes; I'd say 9:25 pm would be the very latest that the body could have gone into the water."
  
  Chief Inspector Duffy compares his notes. "Well, that clears two of our suspects, at least: Benedict Lamb and Alexander Wolf appear to have alibis for the small window of opportunity in between Frederic Sheppard's telephone call, when he was last known to be alive, and the time at which he must have gone into the water. And if they're eliminated, then that leaves just one possibility among our suspects. Which means, I think, that we can make an arrest and go home."
  
  > Arrest cedric
  "Very well," says Chief Inspector Duffy. "Let's get on with it...
  
  Cedric Crane is still playing pool with Alexander Wolf when you find him, leaning across the table for a difficult shot. He looks up as you approach. "I was wondering when you'd come for me," he says.
  
  You read out the charges and are about to cuff him when Alexander suddenly roars, "Murder AND embezzlement? You bastard! You're the reason Fred wanted to bail on us!" Alexander vaults over the table -- a surprising feat for a man his size -- and it is all you and Chief Inspector Duffy can do to keep him from tearing Cedric Crane apart right there.
  
  The commotion draws the attention of all the other former suspects. Deborah, looking triumphant in the doorway of the library, says, "I told you he was a dishonest man."
  
  Cedric glares at her. "Damn you. It's your own fault -- if you hadn't tipped the old man off, we might have gone on for years. As it was, engineering this little farce was the last chance I had, given the short notice. Shoving the old bastard out the window was child's play; and Mr Lamb played right into my hands when he suggested we walk out towards the rocks.... I would have gotten rid of that confounded ledger, too, but I couldn't find it. I suppose you had it all along and left it lying conveniently on Mr Sheppard's desk for the police to find."
  
  Deborah says, "Of course I did. When I saw the state of the study, I guessed what had happened, and took steps accordingly." She turns to you. "Take him away, Inspector. I hope you put him away for a very, very long time."