Currently on Renfaire Regicide...

After Hank's murder and Sam's arrest, Art became insistent on finding the real killer. With your help, she's rounded up a list of suspects, including local farm owner Mogan, school teacher Vivian, Hank's wife Lynn, Danny the jester, Cameron the bard, and Chester, the faire's writer.

Hints

Logging On

• Check Art's letter for the specific task she assigns you: clear someone from the suspect pool using the new information she sent you. Go to michellegrayinvestigations.com and enter the password PORTER. Then, click on the RENFAIRE folder and enter the password REHEARSALS to access this episode's digital evidence and communicate with Art.

Scene of the Crime

• What new information have you learned about the murder in this episode?
• Are there any documents that give proper names for specific locations around the faire?
• Is there anything that possibly mentions where the body could have been, even if that is not the scene of the murder?

Suspect Elimination

• What new official documents are available that may be more objective than what you've seen thus far?
• There are some nosy neighbors in Tall Oaks. Where might they gossip about what they've seen or heard around town?
• Is there any text in this episode that seems like it would be an obvious code? This text may appear across multiple documents.
• The spell instructions mention quitting some bad habits". Are there any characters with known vices that one of these spells might address?

Reveals

Scene of the Crime

• Hank's autopsy reveals new information about the scene and the condition of Hank's body.
• Hank's autopsy reveals that Hank was intoxicated at the time of the murder, he was still wearing his Renaissance faire costume, there was a strange amount of sand found on and in his clothes, and his body suffered sand abrasions after he died.
• The renfaire handbook in Episode 1 and the map on the White Hilt website both give explicit names for the various fairground locations.
• With the revelation of postmortem sand abrasions on Hank's body found in Hank's autopsy, you can conclude his body was moved through the jousting pit and into the forge. The true scene of the crime must be somewhere by the jousting pit where Hank was drinking in his final hours.
• The White Hilt faire email printout notes that the Baroque Rebirth Tavern was Hank's favorite tavern in the faire. He was there when he was killed.
• To complete the final objective and advance the story, open the messaging client on the desktop and send Art a message with the phrase "Baroque Rebirth Tavern". She'll respond with a video that will provide the conclusion for this episode.

Suspect Elimination

• The suspect interviews on the digital desktop and Hank's autopsy provide a more detailed timeline of events for the night of the murder.
• One of the Good Fences posts from the previous episode depicts a shrouded figure with a horn, and a comment on one of the Good Fences posts in this episode mentions a horn blaring at midnight the night of the murder.
• The philosopher's stone, spell instructions, and tarot card all bear the same mysterious symbols. Cross-referencing them will help to solve the encoded text.
• The alchemical language on the spell instructions features the name of each symbol, and the Roman numeral beside each symbol on the philosopher's stone indicates which letter of the symbol name is used in the cipher. For example, the Roman numeral next to the symbol for mercury is I, which means that the first letter of mercury is what the symbol represents in the cipher. So in the encoded text, the symbol for mercury means "M".
• In the spell instructions, the message at the top mentions "bad habits" and the first spell is about how to quit smoking. In the meeting minutes on the digital desktop, Morgan mentions wanting a teammate-only smoking area. The spell instructions were given to Morgan.
• The spell instructions for the enlightenment spell instruct the user to, among other things, play an instrument precisely at midnight.
• This means the figure with the horn seen in the Good Fences posts picture is Morgan.
• To complete the first objective and advance the story, open the messaging client on the desktop and send Art a message with the name "Morgan". She'll respond with your next task for this episode.

Transcripts

Bloody Costume Video

[Art is taking this video from her phone, and she has the camera pointed at her face. Behind her, we can see the door, the entrance to the tavern.]

Art (strained, but trying to sound upbeat): Hey, Detective. I'm in the tavern, and there's something here. Let me retrace my steps and show you exactly what I found.

[Art flips the camera so that it's facing away from her. We can see the rest of the empty tavern.]

Art (off-screen): See that?

[Art points the camera at something beneath a table. She gets closer, and we can see it's a bloody scrap of costume on the floor. The costume scrap is too dark with blood to get too much detail out of it, even at a close distance.]

Art (somber, serious): It's a bloody piece of costume. I - I can't tell what set it's from, but... it has to be from the scene of the crime, right?

[Art flips the camera to her face again.]

Art (holding back emotion): It's really weird. To be standing right where... it happened. The last place that Hank was every alive...

[She looks away from the camera and takes a deep breath, composing herself.]

Art: This is still a huge piece of evidence. I mean with this, we might finally be able to get the police to listen to us. I hope... at least. But we'll still continue the investigation on our own because we can't stop now. I'm going to do some research on costumes, see where this might have come from. Keep an eye out for another package from me, okay?

[The video ends.]

Bonfire Concept Art

Below the Sketch of the Bonfire → Chester's Handwriting

• Where we forge the sword.

Cameron Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Cameron is seen casually leaning back against the bar as he drinks a beer.]

Cameron (casual and relaxed): Danny and I just went back to my place after the whole sword thing. We really just needed a break from all the drama. After all that stuff went down, Hank gave Sam the whole "we'll talk about this in private" thing he does when he doesn't wanna be the bad guy in front of the group.

[Cameron looks away and pauses for a moment.]

Cameron: Danny and I just hung around and played video games, drank, and watched movies all night. I didn't want him to go home so he crashed with me. Uh, we got food at six or seven, right after leaving here, and just hung out all night. We were a bit hungover, so we were a little late to work, but by the time we got here, all this shit had already started going down. Who found him?

[The video ends.]

Chester Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Chester is seen sitting at a desk. As he talks, he frequently breaks eye contact and looks off to the side.]

Chester (curt): I'm guessing you've heard about the fight already? I'm sure somebody told you about it. Well, I - I had to break that whole thing up. And after that, everything pretty much ended for the day. Yeah, some people went home, other people who have rooms at the faire stayed behind. So did I... I - I saw Vivian going into the room above her shop, but I had to lock up all the valuables. You know, it's not officially my job, but I get all the registered at the end of the day. Gotta have cash for change. My responsibilities include a bunch of other stuff, too, including missing medical supplies, apparently. Some EMT told me he was missing a scalpel, so that's something else I have to figure out how to do now. Anyway, after that, I locked up all the taverns and the weapon stalls. We - we had to for the past couple of years, because we caught some kids sneaking in and stealing booze. It - It's not like there's a fence around this place or anything. I keep a trailer here because it's closer than my place in town. Well, because there's so much work to do here. And after that, you know, I got back around 11:30. Whenever I was done with the lockup, of course. I spent the rest of the night working on the script for the play that I wrote.

[The video ends.]

Danny Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Danny is seen standing beside a post, nervously shifting his weight.]

Danny (a little nervous): Uh, last night I spent the night with Cameron. We usually go to each other's house after a long shift. Um, last night was about the same. We drank beer, played some darts, and just kinda passed out, I guess. (laughs nervously) Um. We did talk about the fight between Sam and Hank. Which seems kinda weird now... you know, with what happened...

[Danny awkwardly looks away for a moment, not knowing what to say or what to do with his hands.]

Danny: B- but by the time we got here this morning, everybody was already here, so they'd already seen, um, what had happened.

[The video ends.]

Forge Instructions

Sam's Handwriting

• The temperature will rise quick! Keep an eye on it.
• Don't forget to clean out the ash, Harper

Jousting Practice Notes

Danny's Handwriting

• Watch weight on back left foot!
• Lidie keeps trying to buck me. See if I can partner with a new horse.
• Lighter armor for more swift movements?
• Lighter shield to take the pressure off the arm?
• Some kind of lighter lance for the other guy?
• Make sure to make sure the sand is level beforehand.
• The rake is in the shed.

Lynn Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Lynn is seen sitting on a bench with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She's in obvious shock.]

Lynn: I'm sorry. I uh...

[Lynn takes a deep breath and tries to compose herself.]

Lynn (haltingly): Okay. So after the faire, I just went home. Like usual. Hank, he didn't go with me. He stayed here. I think... I - I think he just wanted to blow off steam after what happened. When I woke up he wasn't there. I - I just thought he got up early or something. But anyway, the night before, we all just went home like usual. The only people who stayed behind were Hank, Chester, and Vivian. But they live here. At the faire. When it's in season.

[Lynn trails off and the video ends.]

Morgan Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Morgan is seen standing in front of some fairground buildings.]

Morgan (a little on edge): I went home right after we closed up, like everybody else. I mean, that fight with Hank and Sam took the wind out of everybody. So I went back to my place. I'm just down the road a couple of minutes, so I stopped at the hardware store, picked up some tools for the farm, and got back after that.

[The video ends.]

Morgan's True Story Video

[Art begins recording on her phone, pointing the camera directly at Morgan. Morgan stands in the stables, holding a pack of cigarettes and a tankard.]

Art (off-screen, cautiously assertive): Okay. Just like we talked about. Walk time through what happened.

Morgan: This is just for you.

Art (off-screen, slightly agitated): Yes, it's just for me. All I care about is getting Sam out of jail and catching whoever did this.

Morgan (sorrowful): You don't know what it's like. Okay, that was over the line and I'm sorry about that but... it's getting steamrolled... Do you know the kind of desperation that sets in from that?

Art (off-screen): It - yeah... I - I think I have some idea. Just tell me what happened that night. Walk me through it.

[Morgan huffs.]

Morgan: Vivian gave me this magic kit, she called it. It was this box full of little spells. Mostly meditation stuff, you know, calm your nerves, find your inner peace, quit smoking, love spells.

[Morgan pauses for a bit.]

Morgan: So I thought I'd do one of these little things, right? I mean, I know it's not real magic, but it's the ritual, right? It's like with smoking. I... I - I roll my own because I like rolling them more than I actually do smoking. So, uh, I'm out in the woods, I'm tromping in circles, and I'm blowing this ivory horn at midnight trying to think it's gonna do anything other than make me angrier.

Art (off-screen): Were you near the faire?

Morgan: Well, yeah. I - I figured I'd just put the horn back in Viv's booth when I was done. (pauses) It's weird to think I was right by wherever it happened.

Art (off-screen): Wh- what do you mean?

Morgan: Well, I was - walked right past the forge when I got here.

Art (off-screen, excited): When? Do you remember?

Morgan: Well, yeah, I mean, what? It was just past midnight. So, like, I'm out in the woods, I blow the horn, I get mad, I come back to Viv's. But... five after twelve? Is that important?

Art (off-screen, sincere): It's very important. Thank you, Morgan.

Morgan: Yeah.

[The video ends.]

Mysterious Letter

Front → Unknown Handwriting

• Art

Inside → Unknown Handwriting

The fallen king,

beloved yet betrayed,

his legacy brought to ash and flame;

remember him, but seek not why

lest ye lay beside

the fallen king.

Spell Instructions

Page 1

• Vivian: I hope these can help you relax, center your mind, and maybe even quit some of those bad habits.
• [7 symbols in alchemical language]
• [7 symbols in alchemical language]

Page 2

• [12 symbols in alchemical language]
• [5 symbols in alchemical language]
• [7 symbols in alchemical language]

Page 3

• [10 symbols in alchemical language]
• [5 symbols in alchemical language]
• [13 symbols in alchemical language]

Page 4

• [6 symbols in alchemical language]
• mercury
• salt
• sulfur
• air
• earth
• fire
• water
• lead
• tin
• iron
• gold
• copper
• silver
• antimony
• arsenic
• bismuth
• magnesium
• phosphorus
• platinum
• potassium
• zinc

Tarot Card

Front → Vivian's Handwriting

• [44 symbols in alchemical language]

Vivian Interview Video

[In this officer body cam footage, Vivan is seen standing in her shop.]

Vivian: When I came out this morning... I smelled it. I went to the forge following the smell and, uh, that's where I found him.

[Vivian looks away for a moment.]

Vivian: Hank let some of us stay in the rooms above our shops if we have a lot of prep work to do. I have an apartment in town, but it's just... staying here is easier. So, after we closed up, I came back to my room here. (pauses) Actually, let me go back. You know about the fight between Sam and Hank, right? Well, that sort of ended the day early for everyone and we all just went home after that. I stayed here all night, getting things ready for the faire. (sighs) Doesn't seem like that really matters now.

[Vivian looks away for a moment.]

Vivian: I - I didn't get too close. When I saw what had happened, uh, that's when I called you.

[The video ends.]