Jones: I can't believe we're stuck in night shift again! I thought your flawless record would spare us from it, <Player's Name>, but King cannot be swayed!
The body of teenager Simon Armstrong is reported inside of an old crypt, lying dead in his own blood with occult symbols carved into his chest.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: Ophelia didn't mean to kill Simon in the first place, but her ilness made her blackout and hallucinate him as a demon, so she killed him with a dagger. Due to this, Judge Hall only sentences her to a three-year stay in a psychiatric hospital.
- Amnesiacs are Innocent: Ophelia murdered Simon during one of her ilness-induced blackouts then forgot about it thanks to her medication.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: How Constance Bell is introduced.Jones: Brr, this library always made me feel uncomfortable, ever since I was a kid! Be really careful, don't speak too loudly, or she will—Constance: DAVID JONES! SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY!Jones: Oh, for the love of...
- Berserk Button Do not, under any circumstances, eat food over any of Constance's books, or even worse, LEAVE FOOD STAINS ON THEM, if you want to keep her from going ballistic.Constance: KETCHUP!? WHO DARED? NO ONE EATS OVER MY BOOKS!! I'LL CURSE THEM! I'LL CURSE THEM AND THEIR CHILDREN! THEIR WHOLE FAMILY! KETCHUP ON MY BOOK! I CAN'T LET THIS GO UNPUNISHED!
- Continuity Nod: Jones mentions the events of Case 20 when you find Simon's body, thinking that he had already seen the worst of it in the torture room.
- Creepy Cemetery: The victim is found in a crypt within Grimsborough Cemetery.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Elvira Milton, the Gothic girl you meet here, dresses entirely in black whilst also being the friendliest and most cooperative suspect in this case. She's also appreciative on Alex Turner's fanboying her grandfather.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Steven insists on being called "Langelus".
- Enmity with an Object: Jones has this reaction after he encounters a book with the words "Screw you" inscribed on it.Jones: Are you kidding me, did that book just insult us? Okay, that's it, I'm fed up with all this supernatural crap!
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Both Elvira and Ophelia, being a pair of Nightmare Fetishists who like to hang around the local Creepy Cemetery. Ophelia even ends up being the killer.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Ramirez gains these during the case, which makes Jones mistake him for a zombie.
- Foreshadowing: Ophelia tells you that she's under a medication whose side effects include partial memory loss, which leads her to do things without remembering them afterwards. Guess who the killer is and doesn't even remember?
- Full-Name Basis: Constance always calls Jones by his full name.
- Genuine Human Hide: The Necromicon you and Jones encounter is bound with this.
- Hollywood Voodoo: Constance tried to curse Simon with this for stealing her book. She firmly believes it worked by putting him in the path of his killer.
- Innocuously Important Episode: Despite its irrelevance to the plot of the district, this case ends up being of great importance for the Old Town (AKA the Historical Center) Story Arc in The Conspiracy five years later, since Steven Crowe returns as a very important character there.
- Kill It with Fire: Jones' reaction after you encounter The Necromicon.Jones: OH MY GOD IT OPENED ITS EYE! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!
- Nightmare Fetishist: Steven, Elvira, and Ophelia are obsessed with the occult and rituals.
- One Degree of Separation: You meet radio host Alcott Milton to ask for an explanation of the occult before encountering his granddaughter Elvira Milton, who just happened to be friends with the victim and another suspect you also encountered before.
- The Ophelia: Ophelia Lincoln, who is mentally ill and needs to take medications whose side effects include amnesia. It's the reason why she ended up killing Simon, as she hallucinated him as a demon.
- Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: After Jones believes Ramirez has turned into a zombie, he yells you to do this.
- Ritual Magic: The victim was killed during one of these. Obviously, it didn't work.
- Running Gag: Like the previous case, Ramirez fully believes that the case is linked to ghosts.Ramirez: We've got someone on the phone talking about the murder, I've checked the caller's ID, it's definitely coming from the cemetery! Oh my God, can ghosts even handle phones?Jones: No they can't, Ramirez!
- Scary Librarian: Jones is absolutely scared of Constance Bell ever since he was a child.Jones: And there's also Constance, the librarian, that we should talk to... No one knows more about books than her, but she scares me to death!
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: No, the victim didn't actually die because the Ritual Magic succeeded and a demon came to kill him, despite what you're led to believe for most of the case.
- Seen It All: After you speak with the Creepy Loner Girls in the cemetery, Jones says that nothing in the district can surprise him anymore.
- Shout-Out:
- The victim resembles Gerard Way.
- In the Grimsborough Cemetery, Jason's mask is one of the hidden objects, while a Michael Jackson-lookalike can be seen dancing among the tombs in his famous Thriller outfit (one of the tombs is even for a J. Michael. There is also an angel statue covering it's face with visible tears.
- The Necronomicon plays a role in the case.
- Show Within a Show: Beyond the Void, an occultism radio show which Alex is a fan of and whose host appears as one of the suspects.
- Skewed Priorities: Constance seems more concerned about her stolen book than the thief who snatched it being dead.
- Spooky Silent Library: Constance's library is so spooky it holds an occult section from where the killer obtained the ritual used to sacrifice the victim.
- Standalone Episode: This is the only case in the Historical Center where neither the Dog Pageant or any of its contestants are brought up before Case 31, making it non-relevant to the overall plot of the district. It makes up for it by being an Innocuously Important Episode, though.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Elvira is prone to doing this. Lampshaded by Jones.Elvira: Hello!Jones: WAH! Where did you come from? You really enjoy sneaking up on people, don't you?
- Tempting Fate: Surprisingly, it doesn't have to do with the murder this time.Jones: Who could have known so many people here took all these supernatural things so seriously?! They're all starting to give me the creeps!Jones: Next thing you know, people are gonna turn into zombies or something—Ramirez: [With Exhausted Eye Bags] Jooooooooones...Jones: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: The player encounters The Necromicon, which is the book that was used to perform the ritual that killed Simon.
- Vampire Vannabe: Steven Crowe claims to be a vampire whose real name is Langelus Appleton.
