Well, things seem to have turned. It looks like some past characters from The Case of the Golden Idol have made a name for themselves and implemented themselves as a new ruling class. The past few cases were all about this monumental rise to power.

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There is another death in this case, though it looks less like a murder and more like a government-sanctioned execution. Still, it's your task to figure out the circumstances around this person's death, and in addition to that, take a closer look at this new organization that seems to have so much power.

Exploring Mode: All Term Locations

This case has the most terms out of any at a staggering 46, but 12 of those are provided to you at the start - the plus and minus symbols along with the numbers zero through nine. It looks like there will be some math to contend with here.

Term

Location

Courtroom Floor

Fashion

Examine the dialogue of the man in the red coat.

Lies

Examine the dialogue of the man in the mustard waistcoat.

Lust

Art

Bones

Examine the dialogue of the man with the armband.

Souls

Beauty

Examine the seated man's dialogue.

Diligence

Examine the seated man's letter.

Mistakes

Examine the helmeted man's dialogue.

Francs

Examine the note in the helmeted man's pockets.

Merit

Examine the sheet of paper on the desk.

Courtroom Upper Level

Music

Examine the dialogue of the man on the left.

Emotions

Untidiness

Examine the note in the pocket of the man on the left.

Secrets

Examine the dialogue of the man on the right.

Fangor

Examine the booklets on the table in the middle, and then read each one.

Quinn

Walter

Keene

Lothar

Richards

Josh

Bailey

Years

Horace

Webb

Gideon

Bell

Back Room

Idol

Examine the idol held by the man on the left.

Truth

Examine the dialogue of the boy on the left.

Moderation

Examine the newspaper in the pockets of the boy on the left.

Sloth

Examine the dialogues of the two seated persons.

Indulgence

Literature

Thinking Mode: The Four Virtues

After an examination of all the evidence before you, it's clear that the four virtues are very important to the Order Party and how they run things. Each virtue has three actions or items that are forbidden.

  • There are very few references naming virtues by their numbers outright, but all are spoken of.
  • The four boxes in the back room provide hints as to what the virtues are.
  • Once you've worked out the identity of one of the virtues, working out the forbidden items underneath is largely a task of logic - not many pieces of evidence state exactly which virtues are being punished when they reference the forbidden items.
  • The qualifiers (excessive, at work, vulgar, and all) might also serve as sufficient hints for some answers.

Solution

The table below lists each virtue and what it goes against.

Virtue

Punished:

Moderation

Indulgence

Lust

Emotions

Diligence

Untidiness

Mistakes

Sloth

Beauty

Music

Art

Fashion

Truth

Secrets

Literature

Lies

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Thinking Mode: Merit Point Values

It's clear that infractions against the four virtues incur merit point deductions, which lead to significant repercussions, as we can see by the corpse. We need to work out how severe these infractions are.

  • We have access to ten different merit books - six of them must be worked out to complete the case, and the other four are there to help us work out how many points are taken off for infractions.
  • Each of the four merit books that we can use (i.e., those not on the table) has two listed merit point deductions. What is the only way we can be sure of a deduction's value if there are only two of them per person?
  • Once you've identified one virtue's value, you can start working out the others based on that value - as long as they have committed the same type of infraction.

Solution

The table below lists the merit point values and how to come to those conclusions.

Virtue

Value

How to figure that out:

Secrets

-1

David Goran had 10 points, but committed two infractions against Secrets. Since he only has 8 points now, those infractions must have cost him 1 point each.

Diligence

-3

Nicolas Maker had 10 points but committed two infractions against Diligence. Since he only has 4 points now, those infractions must have got 3 points each.

Moderation

-7

James Turner had 20 points and committed an infraction against Secrets, reducing him to 19. Since the other infraction againstModeration reduced him to 12, it must have been worth 7 points.

Beauty

-2

Alistair Koch also had 20 points and committed an infraction against Moderation, reducing him to 13. Since the other infraction againstBeauty reduced him to 11, it must have been worth 2 points.

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Only when you've figured out the value of each virtue can you start working out the total merit scores of the six people whose merit books are on the table.

  • Not all the scores end up negative.
  • Multiple infractions can be listed in the same sentence - each infraction equals a deduction in merit points.
  • If a number is a single figure, you will need to put a zero before it - fill every slot!
  • Work things out on a calculator or a sheet of paper if it helps!

Solution

The table below lists the merit point values and how to come to those conclusions.

Person

Merit Points

How to figure that out:

Fangor Quinn

-17

One count of lies (-1), one count of art (-2), one count of emotions (-7), and one count of lust (-7)

Walter Keene

-32

Three counts of lust (-21), five counts of fashion (-10), one count of lies (-1)

Lothar Richards

-01

One count of indulgence (-7), one count of emotions (-7), one asset (+15)

Josh Bailey

-28

One count of sloth (-3), two counts of indulgence (-14), one count of lust (-7), four counts of lies (-4)

Horace Webb

+4

Sixty counts of sloth (-180), one count of lies (-1), fifteen counts of literature (-15), plus one asset (+200)

Gideon Bell

-88

One count of fashion (-2), ten counts of emotion (-70), five counts of sloth (-15), one count of secrets (-1)

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Thinking Mode: The Series Of Events

There aren't many things to fill in for this case; the majority of the work is figuring out the merit point system. That said, there's yet more legwork to carry out.

  • You need to work out how long the party has been in power. What sort of item would have that information on it?
  • The effort taken to work out the merit point values has to mean something.
  • Most of the characters at the tribunal are recognizable faces from previous cases. The corpse isn't recognizable - why might that be?
  • The settings on the idol might be a clue. Refer back to the case that takes place in the woodlands cabin if you can't remember what those symbols mean - your progress is always saved, so don't worry about that.
    • How might this setting be used to execute a person?

Solution

​​​​​​​

3 years have passed since Order Party has seized power. During a tribunal Gideon Bell is judged to have the largest merit dedication in all tribunal history. To execute his punishment idol was used on him and he lost 88 years and died.

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