The Most Hated Man In London

Location: City of London

In this murder mystery you must deduce which of all the potential murderers actually killed Ashton. You meet Artie and Henry Raymond (1) outside an open industrial yard in southeast City of London. They discuss how a crate just crushed the most hated man in London. Raymond says something almost so off key that it had to be damning…but quickly changes the subject.

Objective: Inspect John Ashton’s body

Investigation Area: Street

Clues: 5

Street - Mr. Wilkins’ Body: Find Mr. Wilkins’ body (2) on the sidewalk a block east from your starting position. Upon inspection you find the body is definitely crushed under a crate. But there’s also a puncture wound in the back and the victim’s skin has an odd, green pallor along with yellowing around the eyes. Inspection of the bullet wound indicates that such a wound would have caused death in 12 minutes. This one will test your math skills.

Street – Ashton’s Agenda: The agenda (3) on the sidewalk beside Mr. Wilkins’ body lists his daily activities: Pharmacy 1:00pm; Pub 1:05pm; Apple 1:09pm; Household acct: 1:10pm.

Street – Watch: The pocket watch (4) on the sidewalk beside the agenda is broken. It’s inscribed: “John Ashton.” It stopped at 1:17 precisely (when the crate hit it).

Street – Crate: The crate (2) on the sidewalk on top of Mr. Wilkins’ body appears to have fallen from the overhead crane.

Street – Tracks: The tracks (5) on the sidewalk near the victim’s feet appear to be the victim’s own footprints. The track can be followed into multiple investigation zones.

Suspect: 1

Dr. Chester: Talk to the concerned doctor (6) who was just walking by. He’s on the corner near the footprints. Talk to him about Ashton, the Puncture, and his Pallor. Chester says he was stabbed with some kind of spike or something, but six minutes would pass before he died from the wound. He also says there’s at least one deadly toxin in his system.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Applestand

Clues: 1

Applestand - Apple: Find this apple (7) on the sidewalk while following Ashton’s footprints toward the applestand. It has a single bite out of it. The inside of the apple is oddly pink. Looking at the time on his footprints here with Eagle Vision, he took a bite and dropped it at 1:12pm.

Suspect: 2

Mrs. Ashton: Mrs. Ashton, (8) wife of the victim, is on the street around 1:10pm in the footprints. She had an argument with her husband, which is why she is still standing here apparently. Her hair is held by a knitting needle. Talk to her about Ashton and Hair. Each day she brings him the household expenses just after he eats his apple. She also brought him his invitation to the knighthood ceremony—the one with the special scepter. She’s convinced he was not taking her along. She says she often ties her hair with a knitting needle.

Apple Seller: This lady (9) sells apples daily in this street. Ask her about Ashton. She says he stopped to buy an apple every day at the exact same time. He tries to cheat her out of tuppence.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Pub

Clues: 2

On your way north to the pub following Ashton’s footprints from the applestand you can see that the footprints lead into a pub. The footprint time of entry is 1:05pm and the exit time is 1:07pm.

Pub - Newspaper: Find the paper (10) on a table on the left as you enter the pub.

Pub - Revolver: Find a Webley Boxer revolver (11) in a wastebasket on the floor, just past the newspaper on the left near a piano. One chamber is empty. Mr. Hendricks admits to being a gun owner.

Suspect: 1

Mr. Hendricks: Mr. Hendricks (12) stands facing the door at the pub—a prime target for questioning. Ask him about Ashton, Sabotage, and the Gun. He said Ashton stopped in every day to check on business rumors. Hendricks tells you Ashton had “a little jam on the side.” Interpret that how you wish. The wife didn’t know about it but now the jam wants out of the relationship and he won’t let her. When asked about Sabotage, he says Ashton paid workers to wreck his machines. “As long as Ashton was around I’d never prosper,” he ends with. He also admits to carrying a revolver with him at all times when pressed about the gun.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Pharmacy

Clues: 3

Pharmacy – Medicine Box: While following Ashton’s footprint path from the pub to the pharmacy, you can find this medicine box (13) on the sidewalk just before you reach the entrance to the pharmacy. There’s proof by prescription that these are Ashton’s blue pills. There’s only a few left in the bottle when it was dropped at 1:03pm.

Pharmacy – Pharmaceutical Cabinet: Enter the pharmacy and turn left as you enter and look back out the window. There’s a cabinet (14) there. Search it. It contains chemicals labeled “Warning! Not to be ingested!” One of the drugs is bluish in color, causes erratic movement after 10 minutes, and death after an additional 16 minutes. It also causes jaundice about the eyes and has an extreme anesthetic effect. The second chemical is pinkish in color (like the apple) and is listed as causing erratic movement after two minutes and death after nine. It yields a green tint to the skin.

Pharmacy – Letter: This letter (15) is located in the back right corner beside the drug counter. It’s addressed to the pharmacist from his brother. It says John Ashton was responsible for the foreclosure on their family farm. This gives Mr. Reese motive to kill the victim.

Suspect: 2

Mr. Reese: Mr. Reese (16) is the neighborhood pharmacist standing behind the drug counter. Talk to him about Ashton, Mary, and the Letter. He doesn’t want to talk about the letter and says John Ashton came for his blue medication. This medication bottle was found on the sidewalk outside the pharmacy.

Mary: Mary is the pharmacist’s assistant (17) and she stands to his right behind the drug counter. Talk to her about Ashton and she says he seems a bit unpleasant but doesn’t really know him. But after talking to the apple seller about Mary, talk to Mary about the Apple. She admits to buying the apple for him but that’s all she says… nothing about poisoning him.

It’s important you go back and talk to people as more evidence comes to light. Talk to the apple seller (9) about Ashton’s Pallor. She says, “He did look strange like, eye’s all yellow then he turned pale green when he bit into the apple.” And now ask about Mary, the girl that works at the pharmacy. She says Mary bought the apple intended for Mr. Ashton that day. Talk to her after you’ve talked to Frank (the worker at the construction site). She confirms he was there when they heard the crate hit the ground.

Objective: Continue your investigation

Investigation Area: Construction Site

Clues: 2

Construction Site – Crane: Find the crane (18) in the construction site on the other side of the wall from where the victim lies. The crane did not malfunction. It requires a skilled operator.

Construction Site – Handbill: There is a small handbill (19) on the ground behind a shack. It reads: “Please contribute to the benefit fund for the man who had his arm crushed. Any help will be much appreciated.”

Suspect: 2

Edie: Talk to Eddie (20) the construction worker farthest from the crane. Talk to him about Ashton, Crane, and the Crushed Arm handbill. He calls Ashton a bastard. His best chum has been maimed for life and Ashton didn’t care a bit. He also says he’s not a crane operator.

Frank: Talk to Frank (21) the crane operator standing next to the crane. Ask him about Ashton and 1:17pm, and the Crane. He owns the site and pays the workers but always tried to find ways to cheat them out of their wages. Around 1:17 is when he is given time to eat something. Says about that time he’d be buying an apple at the stand. The apple seller (9) will confirm that he was there then.

Investigation Area: Apple Stand

Accuse:

Mrs. Ashton: Always look at relatives first, they say. Accuse John Ashton’s wife (8) for his murder. The time adds up that the puncture wound from Mrs. Ashton’s knitting needle killed her husband. She found out about his affair with the pharmacy assistant, Mary. At the end, Doyle seems to think the bit about the Knighthood ceremony was odd.

Motive

Wealthy business owner, John Ashton, was murdered not once, but five times! So hated was he that his business rival, his employee, his wife, his mistress, and his pharmacist all made attempts on his life! Poisoned, shot, stabbed, and finally crushed, Ashton came to a very gruesome end indeed!