The Sleuth

The Sleuth

At this stage of our game, we’ve got a considerable amount of suspects and clues arranged in a grid in our journal. Each suspect may border four clues; each clue may border four suspects. We refer to these borders as questions. At its simplest, each question is, “How are these things related, and how does that help solve the mystery?”

Enter the sleuth. If the killer represents the specter of murder, the sleuth represents the pursuit of the truth. As such, the sleuth doesn’t rest on suspects like the killer does. Instead, the sleuth lives in those gaps in the narrative; that is to say that the sleuth lives in the questions, and works to turn those questions into answers. During the Investigation, the sleuth will move before each chapter.

Moving the Sleuth

Think of the questions like a grid of streets between our notecards. When moving the sleuth, you will move it through a number of intersections made by these streets, going left, right, or straight at each one. The player whose turn it is can move the sleuth up to a number of spaces equal to the rank of the drawn card.

Creating Answers

During the Investigation phase, we will write chapters in order to find an answer to the question the sleuth is now sitting on. Once you determine the answer in your chapter, write a summary of it on the topmost empty space of the answer pad and place the corresponding numbered answer token under the sleuth.