Meet the Suspects
The player who last read a detective novel goes first. Players will take turns drawing cards and updating suspects until all 20 cards of the deck have been drawn.
Place the Meet the Suspects tableau at the top of the journal. Make sure everyone has access to the suspect table of the chosen case file.
Draw a Card and Update a Suspect
Draw a card from the top of the deck. Find that card’s corresponding row in the case file’s Meet the Suspects tableu (the reference board labeled Meet the Suspects) and read the three options aloud.
Choose either the trait, description, or relationship and write it on an available space in the journal. Each suspect can have one trait and one description. Suspects share relationships with diagonally adjacent suspects, which means suspects can have up to four relationships depending on their position in the journal. You can collaborate with the other players, but you have final say on what gets chosen when it’s your turn.
Relationships are written on the diagonally adjacent corners of two cards. For example, if the relationship is “Parent and Child” write “Parent Of” on the corner of one card and “Child of” on the other.
If there are still cards in the deck, the next player takes their turn. When the deck is empty, name the suspects.
Name the Suspects
Continue in turn order. Each turn, add a name to any unnamed suspect with at least one detail written on them. Give a brief description of them and introduce them to the story by showing how they are involved with the starting situation and any suspects that have already been named. Once all suspect cards with at least one detail have been named and introduced, move on to The Lead-Up. Read the rules for the Journal before beginning.