Recap / Criminal Case: Grimsborough - Case 36: The Devil's Playground

Ezekiel: Do you know what we Amish call your outside world? We call it the Devil's Playground!

The body of student Tom Blackwater is found tied up like a scarecrow in the Amish community of Grimsborough.

Tropes:

• Alliterative Name: Hannah Hersberger.
• Becoming the Mask: Tom was sent to the Amish community by Dylan as a spy to convince them of giving up their land, but eventually became too attached to the Amish that he tried to stop the land buyer.
• Bungled Suicide: Hannah Hersberger drinks poison due to being too heartbroken about Tom's death, but you manage to save her before she dies.
• Call-Back: Madison Springer returns as a suspect.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: This was Ezekiel's Rage Breaking Point, after finding out that Tom had infiltrated the Amish community to steal their lands and was also dating his daughter.
• Dead Guy on Display: Tom's body was tied up like a scarecrow and left for everyone to see as a form of warning from Ezekiel, his killer.
  Ezekiel: That is what I asked myself as I turned Tom into a scarecrow. I did it as a warning to all you crows, you scavengers, to stay away from our land!
• Driven to Suicide: Hannah, after not being able to cope with Tom's death, decides to poison herself. The attempt is stopped, when she was rushed to the hospital and given the antidote.
• Foreshadowing: After the case is solved, Jones tells you they should go check out the Sci-fi Fantasy Festival.
• The Fundamentalist: Ezekiel Hersberger, an Amish farmer who believes the world would be a better place if everyone followed the Amish ideals.
• Harmful to Minors: Isaac Hersberger, who is eight-years old, witnessed the whole murder by himself. Even worse when it's revealed the murderer is his own father.
• Helicopter Parents: Ezekiel towards Hannah and Isaac, believing that outsider cops shouldn't be talking to them due to being too pure.
• Hypocrite: Ezekiel, the killer, tells you this when you speak to him for the first time:
  Ezekiel: We Amish are not killers. We strongly believe in nonviolence: we would rather be killed than even defend ourselves. That is Gott's will!
• Innocently Insensitive: King accuses Jones of being "as subtle as a train wreck" when asking him to handle this case very carefully, since they're dealing with Amish people.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Right after promising Chief King that he'll try his best not to be insensitive towards Amish people, Jones asks you if you're ready to go back to the 18th century.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The victim was killed by being stabbed multiple times with a pitchfork.
• Jerkass: Dylan Cobbs, the land buyer who wants to destroy the Amish community so he can build a railroad line through their lands.
• Living a Double Life: Madison Springer, since she has to hide her party-loving and cheerleading self from her Amish community whilst at the same time hiding the fact that she's an Amish to her friends.
  Madison: It may seem crazy to you, but I know you would understand me if only you knew how badly the outside word mocks us Amish!
  And on the other hand, my Amish community would never accept me living my life like this. They would say it goes against God's will and shun me...
• Love at First Sight: According to Hannah, she and Tom fell in love the moment they saw each other.
• Make-Out Point: The Kissing Spot, the most romantic place in all of Grimsborough according to Ramirez, is where the victim and his Amish girlfriend spent time and where she also tries to commit suicide.
• Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Isaac drew a picture of "the monster" killing Tom, up to including his blood spilling out. Fortunately, he also bothered to put a hat on "the monster", which helps you with identifying the killer.
• Parting-Words Regret: The day before he died, Tom confessed to Hannah that he had originally infiltrated the Amish community to buy their lands, but ended up becoming too attached to them and her. However, she felt so betrayed he rejected his apology, and latter shows to regret it.
  Hannah: I told him to leave and never come back, that our love was over...
  ... but the day he died, he must have sneaked back on Amish land to come and see me... I killed him, I killed my one true love all because I refused to believe him!
• Pun: Chief King of all people makes one, claiming that this case was quite shocking despite the Amish not using electricity. Perhaps Jones' sense of humor has started seeping through him?
• Rebellious Spirit: As you learn in this case, Madison Springer is part of the Amish community, but prefers to live among "the English" people.
  Madison: Alright, alright! Just please don't tell ANYONE! It's true, I'm Amish. I was born and grew up there, and I was always told what I could and could not do...
  ... and then when I was of age, Rumspringa came along and it freed me: it is a time in an Amish teenager's life where they can leave the community to live among you people, the "English".
• Shout-Out:
  • In the Amish Farm scene, there is a cyclone, a hot air balloon, and a rainbow.
  • In the Cart Lane scene, there is a warp pipe.
  • In the Jumbled Room, there is an orange portal and a blue portal.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Grace dresses in Amish clothes for most of the case as a way to blend in with the community, since she needed to talk with the Amish kid that witnessed the murder.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Tom and Hannah, since the latter was a member of the Amish community.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Isaac, the little Amish boy you meet, witnessed the entire murder by himself, but the trauma made him forget most of it and only remember how "a monster with razor sharp claws" (in reality a pitchfork) is the one that killed Tom. Grace stays with him during the case to extract more information as he recovers his memory.
• Tragic Keepsake: The hairpin Tom bought for Hannah. In the Additional Investigation, you help her recover it.
• Tempting Fate: Near the end of Chapter 2, Jones says that he has the horrible feeling something bad is about to happen seconds before Madison tells you Hannah is about to commit suicide.
• Title Drop: During his arrest, Ezekiel tells you that the Amish community calls the outside world "the Devil's Playground."
• Too Dumb to Live: For Tom, it probably wasn't a good idea to mock an Amish father about dating his daughter in the first place, especially after he found out you were originally sent to buy their lands.