| Chapter | The basic unit of play; a scene dictated by a player on their turn to drive the story forward |
| Journal | The grid of dry erase cards containing all of the suspects and clues important to the case |
| Suspect | A character with a card in the journal. Each suspect can turn out to be the culprit and/or the victim |
| Clue | A piece of evidence on a card in the journal. Can be physical evidence, a conversation someone had, the weather, or anything else that pertains to the case |
| Question | The space in the journal between a suspect and a clue; the Sleuth moves between questions |
| Answer | A link between a suspect and a clue, written in the answer pad and marked with a numbered answer token in the journal. |
| Killer | The game piece in the journal that represents the influence of the murderer |
| Sleuth | The game piece in the journal that represents the influence of the detective once the investigation begins |
| Culprit | The murderer, as determined at the end of the Investigation and proven during the Summation |
| Victim | The murdered character, discovered at the end of The Lead-Up |
| Tableau | Playing cards already drawn this round. These should be arranged by rank for easy reference. |
| Rot | The twisted secret at the heart of the case |
| Peril | A token placed on suspects and answers by the killer during the investigation |
| Plot | An attempted murder that may happen when adding peril to a suspect |
| Case File | A playset that includes a character table, causes of death, and crime scene clues |
