Tools of the Trade

While on cases, Investigators must do more than just interview neighbors and potential wrongdoers related to the assignment.

They must perform a number of activities, often detailed in each specific step of the case. (All cases—and steps—are detailed at the end of this section.)

Breaking In

When you must get inside a suspect's house to look for clues, you must take a risk by breaking into the house (unless you've been invited inside or you are a friend with house privileges).

To perform this act, click on a door and choose it. Your Sim bends down and works the lock with some picks. After a few moments, the lock pops and your Sim can enter the house.

If any Sims are home, you can get bounced from the premises and leave with seriously hit LTRs. It is better to wait for the residents to go to work, leave for errands, or whatever.

Rummaging in the Trash

Sometimes, suspects are careless enough to toss evidence in the trash right outside their homes or in public places. When a case step tells you to search the trash, go to the designated lot and click on the trash can.

Your Sim creeps up to it, looks around, and then dives right in. After a few moments, your Sim comes up with a clue and the case continues.

If the lot owner catches you looking through the trash, you get kicked off the property and must start over later. An Evil or Mean Sim may even fight you over this invasion of privacy.

Inspect Mail

Sometimes, you need to rifle through a suspect's mail to gather information. This is like rummaging through the trash.

When you click on the mailbox designated by a case step, your Sim slides up to it and starts flipping through envelopes. Like breaking in or rummaging through trash, you can get caught doing this and then be ejected—or worse.

Hack Computer

When a suspect might have evidence on a computer network, you must hack into it. Click on any computer and choose the Hack interaction to do some data-diving. After a few moments, you find what you are looking for.

Snoop for Clues

On the second level of this career, your Sim receives a magnifying glass. Now your Sim can Snoop for Clues on lots.

Whether just looking around a community lot in hopes of starting a case or peeking around a lot designated by the current step in an active case, your Sim tiptoes about while peering through the glass.

After a few moments, the Investigator will either find the necessary evidence (during an active case or starting a new one) or come up dry.

Investigations

During some cases, you may be directed to a venue in town where your Sim disappears for several hours while seeking information or clues.

This interaction plays out just as if you were eating out or going to a movie. You cannot control your Sim inside the venue. When your Sim emerges, though, the case moves on to the next step.

Dust for Prints

When you reach level 4 and receive the fingerprint kit, you can start dusting for prints at locations such as houses or community lots.

You cannot dust anything and everything, though, Use the magnifying glass icon to spot objects that should be dusted in hopes of finding usable prints.

After a few moments of dusting the object with some powder and brushing it around (and sneezing), the Investigator either finds fingerprints or is told to dust a different object on the lot.

Once usable prints have been found, they must be verified at the police station (via an interaction with the station or by clicking the new step on the tracker). Then the case advances to the next step.