The Patrician Frequency
A radio magnate is found dead in his soundproof study during a live broadcast. The guests at his estate are bound by overlapping personal and professional obligations, each guarding secrets that complicate the evidence. The investigation centers on the house's intricate mechanical routines and the social performances of its inhabitants.
Initial Crime Scene
The air is thick with the scent of stale cigar smoke and heated vacuum tubes. A mechanical, drum-like time-stamp clunks on the central studio clock, marking each half-hour with a resonant thud. The green-shaded incandescent lamp on the massive desk casts a pool of yellow light onto polished mahogany. Damask curtains are drawn tight against the night, their heavy fabric absorbing sound.
Crime Scene Environment
Lighting is a series of isolated, warm pools from incandescent lamps and sconces, leaving pockets of deep shadow. The air is cool and dry, carrying the faint, cloying scent of perfume and old paper. Acoustic density is low, dominated by the constant, low hum of vacuum tube amplifiers and the rhythmic tick of synchronized mantel clocks.
Investigation Constraints
Wireless radio sets (AM band), crystal sets, vacuum tube amplifiers, party-line telephones, manual typewriters, mechanical adding machines, clockwork timers, mechanical door locks, leather-bound guest ledgers, hand-cranked gramophones, fountain pens with carbon copy paper, incandescent lighting, mechanical fireplaces.
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