The Lead-Up

In this phase of the game, we’ll take turns writing chapters to narrate the lead-up to the murder. Place the Lead-Up reference board at the top of the journal. Shuffle the deck and place it on the board.

Cause of Death & Detective’s Arrival

Draw a card to determine the cause of death by finding the corresponding entry on the case file’s cause of death table. Write it on the clue card at the center of the journal.

Draw another card to determine how and when the detective arrives using the corresponding tables on the case file. The rank of the card indicates how the detective hears about the case; the suit indicates when they arrive. Then, resume turn order as described below.

Steps of a Turn

1. Draw a card from the deck and add it to the tableau. If the tableau now has a full house, i.e. at least 3 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another, immediately advance to the Locked Room Murder phase. Otherwise, move the killer following the rules](/rules/) the card that was just drawn.

2. Then, write a chapter where the suspect the killer just moved to is the focus character.

3. End the chapter when you know which clue you will add to the journal. Your clue can be just about anything– physical evidence, a conversation someone had, the weather, or even an intent that was shown. Write what you described on the chosen clue card.

4. The next player will then take their turn.