Locked In... To Die!

Location: North Whitechapel

During this crime scene investigation you must solve the perplexing locked-room murder. Artie and Henry Raymond (1) stand in a backyard in The Strand. This is where you start the mystery.

Objective: Inspect Byron Cashan’s body

Investigation Area: Cashan’s Room

Clues: 10

Cashan’s Room – Cashan’s Body: Byron Cashan’s body (2) is located on a bed in his room on the third floor of the apartment building. Pivot northeast from Doyle and Raymond with Eagle Vision on and you see his glowing body in the building beside you. Climb the window and enter the third floor window. Inspect the body to find no signs of a struggle and no wounds.

Cashan’s Room – Editor’s Letter: This letter is on the desk beside Cashan’s bed. It’s a congratulatory letter from his editor about how much readers love his music reviews and how the ensembles in town live in fear of his harsh criticism.

Cashan’s Room – Candles: The yellow candle on the bedpost at the foot of the bed is burned down to the nub. The gas lamps in the building went out last night and everyone used candles for light.

Cashan’s Room – Gas Lamp: The gas lamp is on the wall beside the desk with the letter. It’s a common fixture but the light won’t turn on. This is a common clue found throughout the apartment building.

Cashan’s Room – Air Vent: the vent is on the wall below the chair rail. This could allow communication between neighboring apartments.

Cashan’s Room – Review: Bryon’s review is on the desk behind the open door in the room. It’s a crushing review to the Aldwych Chamber Orchestra with a focus on the first violin solo, which he said was a disaster.

Cashan’s Room – Window: The window in Byron’s room is shut and locked from the inside. No sign of a break-in.

Cashan’s Room – Anonymous Letter: The letter is on the desk near the window. It’s written with a feminine hand. A lady is asking for another adventure with Byron and it is signed, “Florence.”

Cashan’s Room – Concert Program: The program is stuck on the filing cabinet near the doorway. It’s a ticket for a chamber orchestra that performed a series of Mendelssohn pieces a few nights ago.

Cashan’s Room – Door: The door into Byron’s room is a standard door with lock and hinges in a normal state.

Suspect: 1

Mrs. Henman: Speak to Mrs. Henman (3) the housekeeper who stands out in the hallway outside of Byron Cashan’s room. Talk to her about Cashan, Last Night, and the Concert Program. She says he was a dear friend and each morning she brings him coffee. His door was locked shut this morning. Her husband is the caretaker; they live upstairs. They have the keys to all the apartments. She let herself in and found Byron dead. The lights weren’t working last night and she and her husband retired early as not to waste anymore candles. She confirms Cashan was a music critic.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Bloomfield’s Room

Clues: 6

Bloomfield’s Room – Key: This key (4) is located on the edge of the desk just inside the Bloomfield’s room, which is adjacent to Cashan’s apartment. The key is labeled “Basement.”

Bloomfield’s Room – Gas Lamp: The gas lamp is on the wall beside the desk with the key. It’s a common fixture but the light won’t turn on. Mrs. Henman confirmed that, starting last night, the lights were not working.

Bloomfield’s Room – Air Vent: the vent is on the wall below the chair rail between the chalkboard and the gas lamp on the wall. Allows communication with Cashan’s flat.

Bloomfield’s Room – Sheet Music: The sheet music is on the edge of the mail-sorting desk in the back of the room near the chalkboard. It’s Andante for Violin and piano in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn. Could the violinist who plays this be the same one Byron crushed in his review?

Bloomfield’s Room – Newspaper: The newspaper is on the mail sorter in the back of the room. One of the three articles in it is about the Aldwych Chamber Orchestra, which has disbanded for lack of funds. Byron’s reviews crushed all hope of attracting an audience. If someone were involved with that orchestra, they would have a motive to kill.

Bloomfield’s Room – Candelabra: The candelabra between the windows on the east wall has partially burned candles.

Suspect: 2

Mrs. Bloomfield: Speak to Mrs. Bloomfield (5) in the back of her apartment. She is Cashan’s neighbor. Talk to her about Cashan, Last Night, and Candles. She’s surprised he’s dead, stating he was in the peak of health yesterday but paid too much attention to the caretaker’s wife, Mrs. Henman, seeing her nearly every day. Mrs. Bloomfield was knitting last night and started feeling sickly so she opened the window. When the lights went out Mr. Golden handed out candles to everyone.

Mr. Bloomfield: Speak to Mr. Bloomfield (6) in the middle of his apartment. Talk to him about Cashan, Bon Vivant, Last Night, and Sheet Music. He said Byron would come home late from his concerts drunk and singing at the top of his lungs—drove his wife nearly crazy. Mr. Bloomfield says he’s an amateur chemist and was fiddling with his experiments in the cellar last night. The sheet music is Mr. Golden’s, he rehearses in their apartment during the day while they are out. This connects Golden to playing violin and to the sheet music by Felix Mendelssohn for the violin, which received a bad review by Byron.

Speak to Mrs. Henman (3) the housekeeper after talking to Mrs. Bloomfield. She admits that she and Byron were having an affair.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Golden’s Room

Clues: 7

Golden’s Room – Sheet Music: The sheet music (7) is on the edge of the desk to the left as you enter Golden’s Room on the second floor. Written on it are a couple of pieces for Violin.

Golden’s Room – Clothing: This clothing is on the coat stand to your right as you enter Golden’s room. Men’s clothes, dirty with soot, are hanging on it.

Golden’s Room – Gas Lamp: The gas lamp is on the wall behind the coat rack. It’s a common fixture but the light won’t turn on.

Golden’s Room – Candle: The candle is above the fireplace mantel. This candle is white and comes from the nearby box.

Golden’s Room – Shavings: The shavings are on the desk in the back of the room. They appear to be white candle wax shavings. Looks like someone was carving a candle.

Golden’s Room – Box of candles: The box of candles is on the floor below the open window. Almost all are gone.

Golden’s Room – Violin string box: The box of violin strings are on the mail-sorting desk behind the suspect. There are also some string trimming tools inside.

Suspect: 2

David Golden: The musician, David Golden (8) is standing in his room on the second floor. Speak to him about Cashan, Last Night, and the Box of Candles. He claims he works late like Cashan so only met him a couple times over the two years he’s lived there. Last night he was out late giving a benefit recital for unemployed musicians. And the candles are for ambience during private recitals, he says.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Basement

Clues: 3

Basement – Gas Tank: This gas tank (9) is on the first floor near the open north doorway. It’s a coal gas tank that supplies gas to all the rooms in the building. It is covered in dirt and soot—like the men’s clothing on the coat rack in Golden’s room.

Basement – Chemical: A small beaker of yellow liquid, half full, sits on a table near the chemist worktable. It could be poison used inside a candle that is activated when burned.

Basement – Chemistry Experiment: Beakers, funnels, a mortar and pestle, and various chemical compounds are scattered around a worktable in the basement.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Henman’s Room

Clues: 4

Henman’s Room – Gas Lamp: The gas lamp is on the wall to the right as you enter Henman’s room on the first floor. It’s a common fixture but the light won’t turn on.

Henman’s Room – Key Holder: The key holder is on the opposite side of the entrance from the gas lamp. Keys to all the apartments, as well as the basement, are located here.

Henman’s Room – Screwdriver: A screwdriver is on the right side of the long desk in Henman’s room. It’s just a standard screwdriver. It could have been used to tamper with the gas supply to the apartment lamps.

Henman’s Room – Candles: Unused white candles are on the left side of Henman’s desk.

Suspect: 1

Mr. Henman: Mr. Henman is the caretaker; he is located in his room on the first floor behind his desk (10). Ask him about Cashan, Clothes, and the Screwdriver. He says he didn’t know Cashan died. Says he’s a lonely man and that his wife helped him as much as she could. He says the screwdriver wasn’t put away after he fixed Mr. Golden’s music stand the other morning. He left it there and he came to get it back. This means Golden could have used the screwdriver. Talk to him about Gasoline after the screwdriver. He says the gas quit working yesterday and he doesn’t know enough about it to fix it himself. He says his clothes were dirty from working in the basement.

Investigation Area: Golden’s Room

Accuse:

David Golden: The musician, David Golden (8) is the murderer. Accuse him. Cashan destroyed his career with his music reviews. He was the violinist for the Aldwych Chamber Orchestra. He poisoned the candle given to Cashan and made it so the gaslights would not come on to force the use of candles for light.

Motive

So wicked was the pen of Byron Cashan that it brought down an entire orchestra! Scathing review upon scathing review eventually led to the demise of the Aldwych Chamber Orchestra. Perhaps Mr. Cashan was distracted by his irregular friendship with his caretaker’s wife, and did not realize that one of his neighbors was the first violinist with the ensemble that his reviews had destroyed. That very same Mr. Golden constructed his revenge with care. Taking advantage of his access to a screwdriver and a key, Golden fashioned a poisoned candle using an unusual chemical found in the basement. He turned off the gas at the mains and handed candles to his neighbors, insuring that his enemy Mr. Cashan received the Candle of Death! Critics beware!