text: [Themes: Mystery, noir]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  A wood-panelled hallway, with the front door to the south next to which is a dark polished roll-top desk. Stairs in the northeast corner of the room lead to the upstairs landing where the bedrooms are, and a passage northwest runs through to the kitchen and blue wallpapered living room, which you can't quite see from here.
  
  In the lefthand corner is a hat stand. Hanging off the stand are your wide-brimmed hat and Jack's hat.
  
  > examine the desk
  No doubt an antique or something, that'd explain why it's missing a handle on one drawer and the varnish on top is scratched and covered in coffee-rings. Probably worth a few bucks; that would fit with the household just right. The lid is rollback like a bread-bin.
  
  Currently the lid is shut.
  
  > open the lid
  You open the roll-top desk, revealing the closet key and a blank sheet of paper.
  
  > take the paper
  (the blank sheet of paper)
  Taken.
  
  > take the key
  (the closet key)
  Taken.
  
  > look at the jack's hat
  It's Jack's hat, he only had the one, a light brown number. Kind he'd wear to parties but remember not to leave on.
  
  > Search hat
  -- What do you want to search: your wide-brimmed hat or Jack's hat?
  
  > Go upwards
  You make your way upstairs around the curve of the staircase.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  > go to master
  Bed, mirrored dresser, window. Door. Yucca. Blood, lots of it.
  
  On the dresser is a green-shaded table lamp with bulb lit.
  
  > put the blank paper on the dresser
  You put the blank sheet of paper on the marks in the varnish.
  
  > rub the pencil on paper
  (the scrap of pink paper)
  Don't go scribbling over that.
  
  > rub the pencil on the blank paper
  You start rubbing at the surface but can't get any detail - the dresser top is covered with some sticky stuff that makes the surface rough and uneven. You pick the paper back up to see what it is. You pick at it with a fingernail, but you could do with something to help clean it.
  
  > go east
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, South End
  Corridor back north. Maid's bedroom to the east. Bathroom opposite, handy. South is the study.
  
  In one corner is a stumpy rubber tree in a brown pot.
  
  Maid's room. Sofa, wardrobe, standing lamp, bed. Door to the corridor.
  
  By the crummy-view window is screwed a small silver hook.
  
  On the low chest is a jar of face-cream.
  
  Thrown in one corner of the sofa is a pile of men's clothing: someone changing in a hurry and flinging what they had on away.
  
  > Go north
  Upstairs Hallway, South End
  Corridor back north. Maid's bedroom to the east. Bathroom opposite, handy. South is the study.
  
  In one corner is a stumpy rubber tree in a brown pot.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  Bed, mirrored dresser, window. Door. Yucca. Blood, lots of it.
  
  On the dresser is a green-shaded table lamp with bulb lit.
  
  > open jar
  The jar's about half-full.
  
  > close jar
  You close the jar of face-cream.
  
  > Keep going
  (the black chevy door)
  
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  Joe appears from downstairs. "I'm sorry I took so long. But it's not from the dead guy. So I checked the blood type with some people; local doctors, the hospital, that sort of thing. It matches someone in the household, though. One Anthony Carpenter; the maid's boyfriend? And he's still not come back yet?" Joe raises an eyebrow, hands you the blood test report.
  
  The policeman heads off downstairs.
  (the black chevy)
  You descend the half-circle of the stairs, into the hallway.
  
  Stairs up, passage northwest, front door behind. Desk one side, hat-stand on the other.
  (the black chevy)
  (drawing back the latch first and opening the door)
  
  Front door, front gate. Small diamond of glass in the door.
  
  A hanging basket with a couple of petunias in is attached just to the left of the door.
  (the black chevy)
  
  Broken Top Boulevard, Outside No. 15
  Your car. Front gate, leading up to the porch of the house.
  
  A police squad car is parked outside No. 11, a little to the west of here.
  
  > Enter
  You step into the porch.
  
  Front door, front gate. Small diamond of glass in the door.
  
  A hanging basket with a couple of petunias in is attached just to the left of the door.
  
  > Continue
  (the black chevy)
  
  Broken Top Boulevard, Outside No. 15
  Your car. Front gate, leading up to the porch of the house.
  
  A police squad car is parked outside No. 11, a little to the west of here.
  (the black chevy)
  You slide into the front seat.
  
  Broken Top Boulevard, Outside No. 15 (in the black chevy)
  The boulevard through the windscreen is lined with ash trees, thick trunks casting shadows and gnarled roots mangling up the sidewalk. You're sat in your car, parked too high up the kerb; just outside the gate to No. 15. Just an ordinary house.
  
  The glove compartment is closed. Sat on the passenger seat is a whiskey bottle.
  
  A police squad car is parked outside No. 11, a little to the west of here.
  
  > take the bottle
  Your fingers shiver on the glass as you lift it.
  
  > open the bottle
  Shaky fingers unscrew the cap. Oh, yeah.
  
  > pry the glove compartment
  (--> pray glove compartment)
  -- I only got as far as wanting to pray.
  
  > Open glove
  (unlocking it first - with the car key)
  You pull open the compartment, and it catches after only opening a tiny crack. Stupid thing.
  
  Up the road, a dog drifts in and out from between the trees.
  
  > hit the glove
  Leaning up in the seat, you give the thing a smack with both feet and it clicks shut.
  
  > Unlock glove with car key
  You unlock the glove compartment.
  
  > Open glove
  You pull open the compartment, and it catches again.
  
  Sunlight gleams through the windshield.
  
  > pry the compartment with the badge
  (--> pray compartment with badge)
  -- I only got as far as wanting to pray.
  
  > put the cream on the compartment
  The glove compartment isn't exactly wrinkled.
  
  From the high street comes the rumble of cars.
  
  > examine crack
  The glove compartment is built under the dashboard and has a lock on it. It's open a crack, the damn thing's caught again.
  
  > put the badge in the crack
  You drop the badge through the crack into the glove compartment. Nice going.
  
  > open the compartment with the opener
  You flip the catch with the blade and the whole thing flaps open. The glove compartment has got a handwritten note in it.
  
  Some little mutt is yammering away in the distance.
  
  > read handwritten
  The note you received, what, yesterday? Crabby handwriting, like the skink was scared or something. It reads:
  
  Dear "Colin",
  
  Let's get straight to business, shall we? I know who you
  are, I know your name, so I'm not going to mess around with
  this stupid arrangement of yours any more. I've already paid
  you far too much.
  Let me dictate terms for once: if we can't finish this for
  good then I'm going to tell her. I'm going to tell
  her that
  you know, and that you've been blackmailing me. I may as
  well; I don't have anything to lose. You do, as it's that - or
  
  disappear from my life and Angela never knows.
  It's time we spoke face to face and stopped all this silly
  business with notes-under-doors. Meet me, here, tomorrow.
  Tuesday. I will leave a key to the front door in the petunia
  basket.
  
  J. D.
  
  > look at Colin
  (--> x coin)
  On closer inspection it's not a quarter, it's not even currency. It's a French franc, dated seven years ago.
  
  > read the badge
  Your police badge - oh yeah, this proves you're an upstanding, honest, officer of the goddamn law. It has a small pin on the back.
  
  Sunlight gleams through the windshield.
  
  > go to the master
  You clamber out of the driving seat.
  
  Broken Top Boulevard, Outside No. 15
  The boulevard is lined with ash trees, thick trunks casting shadows and gnarled roots mangling up the sidewalk. Your car is parked too high up the kerb; just outside the gate to No. 15. Just an ordinary house.
  
  A police squad car is parked outside No. 11, a little to the west of here.
  
  You step into the porch.
  
  Front door, front gate. Small diamond of glass in the door.
  
  A hanging basket with a couple of petunias in is attached just to the left of the door.
  
  > keep going
  Stairs up, passage northwest, front door behind. Desk one side, hat-stand on the other.
  
  > Continue
  You make your way upstairs around the curve of the staircase.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  > clean the dresser with the whiskey
  You carefully splash a drop - just a drop - of the fine, fine whiskey over the top of the dresser. Another splash and the stuff starts to wipe away nicely. You use your sleeve to mop it up.
  
  > rub the pencil on the blank paper
  You shade over the paper with the pencil, and the remains of a note emerge. The fragments of the letter are patchy, some full words, some you can work out without too much staring.
  
  are,     ow your nam
  stupid arr   em  t           ny more        already paid
  you far       ch.
  Le   e d  ta     r s for onc       e can't finish this for
  od then I'm going to tell her. I'm goi    o tell her that
  you know,           ou've be            ing me. I may as
  well; I don't        ything to lose. You do
  fi       ment and                            an   ou
  p     rom my life.
  's time we spoke fa      face an           ll thi
  ith notes-under-  ors. M      , h      omor
  esd        ll le          to th        do r     he p t  ia
  et.
  
  J. D.
  
  No names, which makes it nicely suggestive, right? More useful that way.
  
  > About yourself
  As good-looking as ever. Eyes red, chin unshaved, cheek bruised. Your whole body aches like a bombsite. Oh yeah, the finest in the state.
  
  You're wearing your trenchcoat, and your scuffed black shoes.
  
  > keep going
  Upstairs Hallway, North End
  Corridor, south; guest bedroom, west; murder, north. Stairs, down.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, South End
  Corridor back north. Maid's bedroom to the east. Bathroom opposite, handy. South is the study.
  
  In one corner is a stumpy rubber tree in a brown pot.
  
  Long and thin. Big window, big bookcase, big desk, very big chair. Door to the north.
  
  On the mahogany desk are a wooden block and a telephone.
  
  Leaning against the side of the desk is Jack's briefcase.
  
  Upstairs Hallway, South End
  Corridor back north. Maid's bedroom to the east. Bathroom opposite, handy. South is the study.
  
  In one corner is a stumpy rubber tree in a brown pot.
  
  > Continue
  Long and thin. Big window, big bookcase, big desk, very big chair. Door to the north.
  
  On the mahogany desk are a wooden block and a telephone.
  
  Leaning against the side of the desk is Jack's briefcase.
  
  > dial 1488
  (on the telephone)
  You lift the receiver and dial. The phone rings, and rings, and rings, and eventually the company cuts it off for you. The phone goes dead. You replace the handset.
  
  > look at phone
  (the telephone)
  A squat little black telephone, with a receiver and a dial. You should recognise it, you're allowed to use it once every time you're kept in. On the front is a sticker with the number: 3734.
  
  > dial 3734
  (on the telephone)
  You lift the receiver and dial. Engaged. You replace the handset.
  
  > look at the book
  "The Complete Adventures of Slick Gurner." Pocket sized. Bin sized.
  
  On the back flap, in blue ink, are the numbers 43 and 41.
  
  > dial 4341
  (on the telephone)
  You lift the receiver and dial. There is no answer, unsurprisingly. You replace the handset.
  
  > dial 4143
  (on the telephone)
  You lift the receiver and dial. The phone goes dead. You replace the handset.
  
  > go to garden
  This passage runs from the hallway southeast to the kitchen at the far north end of the house. There's not much here but the closed door westwards to the frost-bite blue living room, and a small cupboard set into the east wall. With no real natural light here the ambient dinginess of the house comes through like stain.
  
  The cupboard is closed and locked.
  
  > open the cupboard
  (unlocking it first - with the closet key)
  You open the small cupboard, revealing a black box and a shoe rack.
  
  > look at the black box
  A black metal box with a small brass lock; the kind people who can't afford a safe use to store their cheque books. Back home, you use a shoe-box.
  
  > open the box
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > look at the shoe rack
  It's a rack, made from a few bits of wire in a sort of bent mesh, on which you put shoes. As if the corner of the room wasn't good enough.
  
  The shoe rack has got Jack's shoes and Emilia's shoes on it.
  
  > examine the emilia's shoes
  One of many pairs no doubt; these are functional - flat soled, soft white leather. The only decoration are slight frills to the seams, totally pointless, virtually invisible.
  
  > look at the jack's shoes
  These have got to be Jack's shoes - they're spit polished; they look like they haven't seen a days use but for the thin, worn down soles. The laces are an even length out of the eyelets. Got to be.
  
  > go to garden
  A plush little kitchen, with a kitchenette area full of drawers and cookers and a sink, and one long table filling the rest of the room, where they eat. A flapping swing door leads north onto the garden, and lets in a little air. The passage back to the hallway is opposite, above that door is a cheerful round clock. To the east is a pantry.
  
  There's a young dark-haired girl here. She must be the maid who phoned the station.
  
  On the worktop are a closed biscuit barrel and a ceramic water-jug.
  
  The girl looks up and notices you, and leaps to her feet, flustered. She begins speaking hurriedly. "You are from the police? You are a policeman? It is terrible, quite terrible." She has traces of a French accent, a stain like day-old mascara. "We were all here, when it happened, all of us. Like some kind of joke... I have not said who I am. Emilia Jordane. The maid, here." A useless curtsey, then she sits back down at the table and waits to get done.
  
  The maid shrieks! She has seen the knife.
  
  Emilia's eyes are on the whiskey bottle in your hand. "We do not have whiskey in the house, Inspector, not since Anthony started to live here. It is not good for him. He - used to drink a lot, Inspector." Her face darkens a little. "So did Jack."
  
  > examine maid
  French by blood, you can see that around the soft lines of her face and the redness of the lips. She's pretty - sure, she's a real young flower, with long black hair tied back, and a look of quiet respect that takes little getting used to, you'd reckon. She's wearing comfortable casual clothes, so you'd hardly pin her as a maid except for the dishcloth and her hands neatly folded in her lap; and that subservient look that fills her rich brown eyes.
  
  The maid tries not to look at the knife.
  
  > ask Maid about Anthony
  She smiles. "Anthony is my boyfriend. We met last year. He is wonderful, Inspector. He has had some problems in the past, Inspector. He was an alcoholic when I met him, it was terrible. But he is through that now, and I am very proud of him. He is staying here, with me, at the moment - you will meet him when he comes back, I suppose, Inspector. This will all be a great shock to him when he returns.
  
  "I suppose we will be leaving now, we will get a place of our own. It is not so bad, I suppose."
  
  > ask Maid about Carpenter
  "He's a wonderful man. He is very kind to me. I do not think Mrs. Draginam likes to have him stay, but Mr. Draginam allows it. I think they get - got - on well, Anthony and Jack. He has had some problems in the past, Inspector. He was an alcoholic when I met him, it was terrible. But he is through that now, and I am very proud of him. He went out just after lunch, at about half past one. He went swimming. He'll probably be back quite soon."
  
  > ask Maid about the cerestex
  "Those are Anthony's painkillers, Inspector. He has sprained his ankle."
  
  The maid avoids the letter-opener with her eyes.
  
  > ask Maid about Jenny
  Emilia has no idea who you're talking about. "Is there someone at the library like that?" she asks. You shake your head.
  
  > ask Maid about Jack
  "I should tell you what happened, yes? Please, sit down." They don't often ask, so you go ahead.
  
  "It was a little before 2pm. I was here clearing up the things from lunch. Mrs. Draginam was in the living room with her friend Mr. Matheston, I think. Anyway - I was singing to myself and I didn't know anything until there was this most awful scream. I thought Mrs. Draginam, she must have dropped something, so I went upstairs with my dustpan. And the bedroom door, it was open - I could see blood already, from the stairs I could see it. Angela was there also, with her back to me, by the window. She was closing it. She told me to call the police. She didn't turn around - she was shaking. Such a shock.
  
  "So I called the police. You. That is what happened."
  
  > ask Maid about Jack
  "He was a good employer, I suppose, Inspector. He paid my wages on time. They were good wages. And he kept me on - I know Mrs. Draginam did not think I was needed any more. Jack insisted."
  
  The maid's eyes stay fixed on you.