Case of Murder, A

A CASE OF MURDER!
by Edward P. Toovey
Taskmaster Software 2022

NOTES
There seems to be a bug in the location connection table concerning the
connection between Robert's bedroom and bathroom: going NW from the bathroom 
leads to the bedroom; going SE from the bedroom leads to the kitchen instead of 
back to the bathroom. This can be fixed by POKE 56530,35 (48k) or 49707,35 
(128k).

The differences between the difficulty levels are marginal; I've played level A 
and level D. On level D some more or less helpful clues are missing and you can 
carry less objects, so that you have to drop the bottle before you can pick up 
the recording device in the Professor's flat.


SOLUTION (Spectrum 48k/128k DAAD version, difficulty level A - note that the 
times given only apply to this solution; when you make additional moves or when 
you don't do anything for too long the times will vary because each turn takes 
10 minutes)

(it is June 1st 1968; you start in your new office) X DESK, UNPACK BOX, HANG 
CERTIFICATE, N, X TABLE, UNPACK BOX, HANG CALENDAR, N (someone is knocking at 
your door), X TABLE, GET PERMIT, W, X CUPBOARDS, GET TORCH, S, X HANDBASIN, GET 
WATCH, N, E, S, S, OPEN DOOR (you see a lady standing in your doorway; it is 
Jane Delare who tells you that her dog has been murdered and that she's 
convinced the murderer lives around here), WEAR WATCH, X WATCH (about 11:00), 
X NOTEBOOK, X NOTEBOOK JANE.

S, E, D, W, W, X SIGN (Delare Enterprises, opening hours 9-5), W (John Delare is 
here), SAY JOHN "HELLO", SHOW JOHN PERMIT, SAY JOHN "TELL [ME ABOUT] JANE"
("I 
can't believe you need to ask about her in context to this case. She loved that 
dog like it was her own child".), SAY JOHN "TELL DOG" ("FruFru was a fun little 
thing."), SAY JOHN "TELL KITCHEN" ("Jane and I went in and out of the kitchen 
several times during the meal", said John, "The professor help carry some dishes 
out with Jane. Other than that the only other person I can think of was Robert. 
He wandered in while the rest of us were chatting in the lounge. He apologised 
when he came out that he thought the bathroom was that way as the layout of his 
apartment was reversed."), SAY JOHN "TELL PROFESSOR" ("The Professor pretty much

keeps himself to himself. If you want to talk to him you'll need to be aware 
that he is out between 8-6 each day teaching at a local college. Other than that 
I know he is working on some project, but he is very secretive about it".), SAY 
JOHN "TELL ROBERT" (he has nothing useful to tell you), W, W, X DRESSING TABLE, 
OPEN SPECTACLES, X EYEGLASSES (the lenses are very thick), X BEDSIDE TABLES (you 
find a small key), GET KEY, E, X DESK, UNLOCK DESK, DROP KEY, X DESK (you find a 
life insurance policy), X POLICY (made out to benefit Jane in the event of 
John's death), S, X CUPBOARDS, GET BOTTLE, X BOTTLE (appears to be a mini brandy 
bottle, but with a poison label on it), X DOG (it's the dead FruFru), N, SAY 
JANE "TELL POLICY" ("I don't know anything about policies, best to talk to John 
about such things."), SAY JANE "TELL JOHN" ("John is a wonderful husband"
she 
says, "However he has been a bit distant lately like sometime is troubling 
him.") SHOW JANE BOTTLE ("It's a mini spirits bottle", she says. She looks 
shocked when you point out the hand-drawn poison label on it.), SAY JANE "TELL 
POISON" ("I guess anyone could have access to poison. I'm pretty sure that all 
chemists sell it. Come to think of it Frank mentioned he had been to the chemist 
for something to help him sleep".), SAY JANE "TELL FRANK" ("I think he hated 
poor FruFru. He always used to complain if she made the slightest of sounds or 
happened to get out once in a while."), SAY JANE "TELL ROBERT" ("What can I tell

you about Robert? Have you seen his apartment yet? He's always saying he is 
going to be a great adventurer and has a load of empty glass cases ready to fill 
with treasures from his future exploits. Maybe once he gets a publisher for his 
manuscript he'll start adventuring".), SAY JANE "TELL PROFESSOR" (she has 
nothing useful to tell you), SAY JANE "TELL KITCHEN" ("I think only John and I 
went into the kitchen during the meal". Jane pauses, "Wait a minute, the 
Professor very kindly helped carry out some of the dirty plates for me".) E, SAY 
JOHN "TELL POLICY" ("I expect you have worked it out by now, but I'm almost 
bankrupt. I thought if I did away with myself at least Jane would have a good 
life. I beg you not to tell her."), SAY JOHN "TELL POISON" (John seems unable to 
meet your eyes when you mention the poison. Without using the word poison he 
mentions that he saw Jane putting a bottle in the cupboard you found the poison 
in. It was during the meal and he suspected she was pouring herself a sneaky 
drink to calm her nerves.), SAY JOHN "TELL FRANK" ("I rarely see Frank" he says,

"It is almost like he avoids me."), W, SAY JANE "TELL POLICY" ("I'm so
glad you 
told me about this" said Jane "I couldn't bear to lose John on top of FruFru, 
I'll talk to him.").

E, E, E, X WATCH (about 15:00), WAIT 4 times, X WATCH (about 19:30), N (the 
Professor is here), SAY PROFESSOR "HELLO", SHOW PROF PERMIT, SAY PROF "TELL 
KITCHEN" ("John and Jane were in and out of the kitchen of course. I gave Jane a 
hand with dirty plates. Someone else went in while we were all chatting after 
the meal, I couldn't swear who it was, maybe Frank?"), SAY PROF "TELL DOG" 
("Have we met somewhere in the future?", he catches himself, "In the past, I 
mean".), SAY PROF "TELL FRANK" (he has nothing useful to tell you), SAY PROF 
"TELL ROB" (he has nothing useful to tell you), SAY PROF "TELL JOHN" (he has 
nothing useful to tell you), SAY PROF "TELL JANE" ("I'll say this, if she 
invites you for a meal find an excuse not to go."), SAY PROF "TELL POISON" (You 
show the Professor the Poison bottle. "It looks like one of mine, I tend to 
reuse old bottles" he said, "Wait one moment while I check". He disappears into 
another room for a couple of minutes before coming back. "Yes, it's one of mine" 
he confirms "I can't explain how it got from my apartment to Jane's though".).

S, E, X WATCH (about 21:00), S (Robert Powell is here), SAY ROBERT "HELLO", SHOW 
ROB PERMIT, SAY ROB "TELL KITCHEN" ("I know who didn't go in the kitchen"
said 
Robert, "and that would be JP. He seemed to be scared of the dog being in there. 
It scratched at the door to get out at one point in the meal and I swear JP's 
knuckles went white he was gripping his cutlery so hard".), SAY ROB "TELL DOG 
("If you ask me who would want to kill the dog" said Robert eagerly, "I would 
put my money on the Professor. He was talking the other day about Laika and how 
he wished he could have a dog as a test subject for his experiments. Mind you he 
did say that unlike the Russians he would have made sure she made it back".), 
SAY ROB "TELL JP" ("I'm pretty sure JP didn't do it, I don't think he
went near 
the kitchen. In fact you might want to ask around who did go in the kitchen."), 
SAY ROB "TELL FRANK" ("I can tell you one thing about Frank" says Robert,
"He is 
a creature of habit, he goes to see JP every evening for a chat and a drink 7-9 
regular as clockwork".), SAY ROB "TELL PROF" (he has nothing useful to tell 
you), SAY ROB "TELL JOHN" ("You know I always tried to avoid John to stop him 
trying to sell me things, but he's a decent guy. He really tried to make things 
right after his dog chewed up something important to me."), SAY ROB "TELL JANE" 
("Lovely lady, but a terrible cook!"), SAY ROB "TELL POISON" ("I know
nothing 
about poison" said Robert sounding excited, "Not unless you want to know about 
tribal poisons. However and this might be totally unrelated I do know I saw John 
coming out of the Professor's apartment during the day. He looked extremely 
furtive, but I don't think he noticed me".), WAIT until night falls, TURN TORCH 
ON, W, S, WAIT until day breaks, NW, X TABLE, X MANUSCRIPT (looks like it has 
been used as a chew toy), SE, S (or N with bugfix), E, N.

U, W, W, W (Frank Securit is here), SAY FRANK "HELLO", SHOW FRANK PERMIT (he 
offers to teach you how to pick locks), SAY FRANK "TEACH LOCKPICKING" (he gives 
you a set of lock picks), SAY FRANK "TELL JP" ("He's a good friend.") (you
start 
yawning), SAY FRANK "TELL ROB" ("If you are ever visiting Robert be aware he 
goes shopping most days between 1 and 4 in the afternoon."), SAY FRANK "TELL 
PROF" (he has nothing useful to tell you), SAY FRANK "TELL JOHN" ("He's a
rotten 
salesman." said Frank, "but he is always interested in learning new things. Only 
the other day he asked me to teach him how to pick locks."), SAY FRANK "TELL 
JANE" ("You want to know about Jane?" asked Frank, "She's nice enough
though we 
haven't always seen eye to eye over her dog. She hides it well but she is really 
short-sighted and too vain to wear glasses. The dinner party was a disaster as 
she clearly couldn't read the recipe properly."), SAY FRANK "TELL POISON" 
("Poisons?" said Frank looking blank, "I can't really help you with that. You 
might want to ask JP or Robert I overheard the two of them discussing poison at 
the dinner party".), SAY FRANK "TELL DOG" ("I shouldn't speak ill of the
dead, 
but that dog was a nightmare!", said Frank, clearly about to speak ill. "It used 
to yap all day long and regularly would escape and run around the halls. The day 
before the meal it had got it's teeth on Robert's manuscript. He was raging 
about it".), SAY FRANK "TELL KITCHEN" ("I couldn't really say. I know John 
carried some plates out to the kitchen. I only really noticed him because he 
seemed to have something on his mind all evening".), E, E, N, N, N, SLEEP (you 
sleep 8 hours and feel refreshed), X WATCH (about 18:00), S, S, S. 

W, WAIT, PICK LOCK, W, X BOOKCASE, OPEN BOOK, X NEWSPAPER (The article is 
headlined 'Man risks life to save dog'. It is about Frank and recounts how he 
ran into a fire to save a dog's life. The article lays it on thick that he is 
a true animal lover.), E, E, E, E, S (Frank is here), if necessary LOOK until JP 
Morgan appears; they are talking but stop whenever you approach), (when JP 
starts moving between his office and his lounge, follow him; sometimes he'll 
return right away without showing this, so you can continue questioning him in 
the same place), SAY JP "HELLO", SHOW JP PERMIT, SAY JP "TELL FRANK" ("I
know he 
has back facial scarring from something to do with a dog."), when you currently 
are in his lounge: X TABLE, X LETTER (it's to JP's doctor asking for help with 
his phobia of dogs), SAY JP "TELL ROB" (he has nothing useful to tell you), SAY 
JP "TELL PROF" ("This is probably no use whatsoever but I can tell you his 
birthday is the 15th of next month."), SAY JP "TELL JOHN ("I really shouldn't 
talk about this, but young John is having major money issues", said JP, "He 
isn't really cut out to be a salesman always jumping onto the next greatest 
thing. He worried me recently by talking about Life Insurance policies and how 
much they would pay out if someone died".), SAY JP "TELL JANE" (he has nothing 
useful to tell you), SAY JP "TELL POISON" ("If you want to talk about poisons", 
laughed JP, "Robert is your man! He talks to me about them a lot. He is writing 
a book about the poisons used by Amazonian tribes. Not sure what it is based on 
as he has never been out of the country".), SAY JP "TELL DOG" (he has nothing 
useful to tell you), SAY JP "TELL KITCHEN" ("Jane went in and out of the kitchen 
a lot during the meal. At one point she must have knocked a glass over, we heard 
it smash on the floor."), (from JP's office) N.

D, W, X WATCH (about 22:00), WAIT, PICK LOCK, N, X BOOKCASE, X THICK BOOK (it is 
titled "A history of experiments with dogs"), X WORKBENCH, GET RECORDING, X 
RECORDING (it looks like you could STICK it UNDER a DESK to capture 
conversations), X SAFE, TURN DIAL 1, TURN DIAL 5, TURN DIAL 7 (1-5-7 is the 
Professor's birthday next month according to JP's advice), X SAFE, X DOCUMENT 
(It is the Professor's thesis, he writes how it was wrong to send Laika into 
space with no way home. He concludes that no animals should be harmed in 
experiments.), S, S, W, X WATCH (about 0:30), WAIT until day breaks, WAIT, WAIT, 
W, SAY JOHN "TELL JP" ("JP is a brilliant accountant"), W, SAY JANE "TELL
JP" 
(she has nothing useful to tell you), E, E, E, X WATCH (about 10:00), WAIT 9 
times, X WATCH (about 20:00), N, SAY PROF "TELL JP" ("What do I know about JP?" 
mused the Professor, "To be truthful I don't see much of any of the neighbours, 
but I do know JP is an amazing accountant. He could turn straw into gold, he is 
going to go far".), S, E.

U, S (Frank is here; if necessary LOOK until JP moves West, STICK RECORDING 
UNDER DESK, LOOK until Frank and JP are talking, RETRIEVE RECORDING, N, W, N, 
PLAY RECORDING (Frank and JP talking. "So who do you think killed the dog?" 
asked Frank. "If you ask me" said JP "I would say it was an accident, we heard 
Jane drop a glass in the kitchen and her telling the dog not to lick up the 
contents. I think John poured poison in her glass, hoping to claim on their new 
Life Insurance policy"... the sound grows indistinct.),
X NOTEBOOK JANE
(Motive - 
Obviously Jane doesn't have a motive, the worst thing anyone could say about her 
is that she is shortsighted and a terrible cook as a result.
Means -
The poison was in the kitchen where she went to pour herself a drink during the 
meal.
Opportunity -
Like John, Jane had plenty of access to the kitchen, going in and out during the 
meal.
Additional notes -
I have told Jane about John's policy, she seemed shocked, hopefully they can
work the problem out together.),
X NOTEBOOK JOHN
(Motive -
John is clearly having money problems, the rumour is that he took out a life
insurance policy on his wife and intended to poison her.
Means -
It appears John stole the poison from the Professor.
Opportunity -
He had no problems accessing the kitchen as he lives there.
Additional notes -
Having discovered the life insurance policy it is made out in John's name.
X NOTEBOOK JP
(Motive -

Means -
Not obvious how he would have gotten hold of poison.
Opportunity -
Has been meeting John for financial chats. 
Additional notes -
JPs phobia of dogs is so bad he has contacted his doctor about it.)
X NOTEBOOK FRANK
(Motive -
FruFru has been a major irritation to Frank leading to him complaining more than 
once.
Means - 
It would be easy enough for Frank to use his skill to access poison.
Opportunity -
No one can place Frank in the kitchen, but as a skilled lockpicker he could
arrange access.
Additional notes -
It appears Frank is such a big animal lover he is willing to put his life in
danger to save them.)
X NOTEBOOK ROB
(Motive -
Robert was irate when FruFru chewed up his precious manuscript.
Means -
It appears Robert has a very deep interest in poisons.
Opportunity -
Strangely Robert didn't mention going in the kitchen, but it was reported he 
came out of it saying he thought it was the bathroom.
Additional notes -
The layout of Robert's house is the opposite of the Delare's.)
X NOTEBOOK PROF
(Motive - 
The professor has some mysterious experiment going on and it appears he might
have been looking for test subjects.
Means -
The poison bottle was his.
Opportunity -
The Professor carried dirty dishes into the kitchen.
Additional notes -
It appears he is very strongly in favour of animal rights.)

N, N, X WATCH (about 22:00), SLEEP, S, S, S, E, D, W, W, X WATCH (about 6:30), 
WAIT, WAIT, W, W, SAY JANE "ACCUSE JANE" (I'm afraid I believe it was a terrible 
accident, but that you are guilty. During the meal you went into the kitchen and 
poured a drink. However you dropped the glass (maybe luckily) and FruFru licked 
up the liquid. You are extremely short-sighted and mistook the bottle you found 
for brandy, but it was poison John had hidden in the cupboard. He had planned to 
do away with himself so that you could claim on his life insurance. 
Jane bursts into tears. "I know you are right" she sobs, "I knew it from the 
moment you found the bottle. I am so ashamed of myself for suspecting our 
neighbours. I will have to make it up to them, maybe I'll throw another dinner
party. As for you, I will pay double your fee."
You have scored 100%. Thank you for putting the time in to solve this case. If 
you enjoyed this game why not consider playing The Dragnet Case which is the 
prequel to this game or look out for The Mystery of Markham Manor which is the 
follow on to this game. Hope to see you in the next one.)

Solution by boldir, July 2023