The Summation

The journal is officially complete. The detective has all the answers they need to reveal the truth to the world and put an end to our story.

The suspect that the killer rests on is the culprit. They committed the grisly crime that our story revolves around, and their attempts to hide the truth have been for naught.

The time for vague narrative beats is over. Decide together how the detective breaks the truth. Do they trick the killer into revealing themselves? Do they summon all involved to a parlor room to reveal all secrets? Do they swoop in right as the wrong person is to be accused by the police? Or do they stage an experiment to recreate every step of the murder, thus proving once and for all the truth?

This is the scene where we learn the details and confront the hard truths. Each player should take one turn to state some cold hard facts about the case, incorporating at least one answer from the journal. Turn order doesn’t matter here, just make sure everyone gets a chance to contribute.

We’ll operate much like a writers’ room in this stage, bouncing ideas back and forth to connect all of the dots and reveal the final truth of how the murder happened and what the rot at the core of it all really is.

The game is over when everyone is satisfied with the conclusion to the mystery.

Designer Note

This is the most difficult part of the game to structure from a rules perspective. The stories being played out in each individual game are so varied at this stage, so keep it loose and drive your story to its own satisfying conclusion!