The Evergreen Hollow Misfire
The annual Independence Day celebration in Evergreen Hollow concludes with a firework misfire that strikes a prominent citizen. What appears to be a mechanical failure begins to reveal a network of personal secrets and social pressures. The investigation centers on the town's Fourth of July Committee and the circumstances surrounding the event's preparation and execution.
Initial Crime Scene
The evening air carries the sharp scent of spent gunpowder and damp, crushed grass. From the town green, the steady hiss of a still-smoldering fuse is audible against the backdrop of distant, anxious murmurs. Your gaze falls first to the churned earth near the pavilion, then to the sagging red, white, and blue bunting, and finally to the scattered personal effects—a beaded purse, a folded ledger—littering the scene.
Crime Scene Environment
The sandbox is bathed in the flat, grey light of dusk, with humidity clinging heavily to the air after the earlier pyrotechnics. Acoustic density is high, filled with the overlapping sounds of hushed voices, distant traffic, and the occasional crackle of cooling debris.
Investigation Constraints
Manual single-action firework launch systems with percussion caps and timed fuses; hand-wound mechanical clocks; local post office and telephone switchboard; handwritten ledgers, diaries, and invitations; carbon-copy receipts; church donation rolls; silver-polishing cloths; wind-up phonographs.
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