The Champagne Toast
The annual New Year's Eve gala at the Ainsworth Estate is interrupted when the host collapses during the midnight champagne toast. The player, an independent forensic specialist, is summoned to investigate the circumstances within the household.
Initial Crime Scene
The scent of beeswax polish and cut flowers hangs heavy in the chilled air. A grand, ticking mantel clock with visible brass gears dominates the silence. Your gaze settles on a polished mahogany champagne cabinet, its etched glass doors reflecting the dim gaslight, a heavy wax seal covering its lock.
Crime Scene Environment
The environment is defined by formal, restrained elegance. Lighting is provided by gas lamps and candelabras, casting long, sharp shadows and creating areas of deep gloom. The air carries a persistent chill and low humidity, typical of a large, stone-built house in winter. Acoustic density is high; sounds are absorbed by thick carpets and heavy velvet drapes, making individual movements and distant ticks disproportionately clear.
Investigation Constraints
Early 20th-century technology: mechanical pocket watches, handwritten ledgers, wax-sealed documents, rotary telephones, carbon-copy paperwork, brass door locks with unique keys, manual camera photography, and early audio gramophone recordings.
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