Recap / Criminal Case: Grimsborough - Case 37: The Reaper and the Geek

Jones: What a sight, you and me and hundreds of geeks! Come on, it will be fun, it's never too late to discover new things!

The body of cosplayer Joe Turner is found impaled on a statue in the Sci-fi Fantasy Festival.

Tropes: ​

• Accidental Murder: Peri accidentally killed Joe after they began to struggle near a rail during an argument and she ended up pushing him to the floor below. Unfortunately for Peri, not giving herself up immediately and allowing Joe's corpse to be displayed to the entire festival makes Judge Hall give her a ten-year sentence anyway.
• A Day in the Limelight: Alex gets a Justified one in this case, when Chief King has him become your partner from chapter 2 onwards thanks to his 'knowledge of all things geek', and Jones doesn't mind it happening.
• Asshole Victim: Joe had been trying to destroy the Sci-fi Fantasy Festival just because he couldn't get hold of its organization, believing that he would do a better job than Peri while harassing her. For this, he made articles criticizing it that made the festival lose thousands of dollars and instigated fights among its participants. After his death, absolutely no one you meet has a good thing to say about him throughout the case.
  Kevin: The thing I can tell you is that you'll have some trouble finding someone who won't be relieved Joe's dead. They might feel guilty about it and all, but they're all cheering inside.
  Tess: He was a patronizing, misogynist assh*le who was looking for fights all day long. He was just a pain in the ass, plain and simple. Always wanted me to prove that I was a real geek.
  Peri: I'll be honest with you straight away, I won't cry over Joe's death. Nor do I think anyone will.
  He was trying to take over the organization of the Festival for years! He wanted my job, that's for sure.
  Irma: If you're here to ask me about Joe, I'll tell you right away, I won't hide my dislike for this guy. He's been banished from the Diner for causing fights between customers.
• B-Movie: You meet Bruce Anderson in this case, a famous B-Movie actor making an appearance at the Sci-fi festival. Some of his works include Attack of the Mutated Broccolis and Aliens of the Machu Picchu.
• Busman's Holiday: You and Jones discover the body during your day off at the Sci-fi Fantasy Festival.
• Call-Back: Tess Goodwin, Kevin Parker, and Irma Anderson return as suspects. The latter's diner also reappears as a crime scene.
• A Day in the Limelight: Alex gets to be your partner for most of the case by Chief King's orders, since his knowledge in geek culture would be of more help than Jones' old-fashioned manners.
• Dead Guy on Display: The victim is found impaled on a statue for everyone to see. It's the reason why Judge Hall gives Peri a harsh sentence despite killing Joe by accident.
  Judge Hall: You attacked Joe Turner in self-defense, and his death has been ruled by the Court as an accident, it is true.
  However, lying to the police, allowing his body to be displayed and opening the Festival while you knew his body was there!
  You let people walk around that Festival floor! You let children see that corpse, and you did nothing! Do you realize what you've done?!
• Fan Boy / Fangirl: Both Alex and Tess are this towards Bruce Anderson.
  Alex: Okay, and now we've got to meet BRUCE! Do I look good, <Player's Name>? Do I need a breath-mint? Oh my God, I'm so excited!
  Tess: Oh my God. I just saw Bruce Anderson. I breathed the same air as him. Life was worth living for this moment.
• Foreshadowing: An humorous example. When examining the glue left behind the killer, Grace tells you that it's the same kind of glue used to attach plastic prosthesis like ears, noses, and even chins. Then later during the case, you find out that Bruce Anderson's famous chin is actually a prosthesis.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Joe died falling from over a rail and landing on the scythe of one of the displays.
• Kid Sidekick: Alex acts like this towards you during the case, even having his own costume and calling himself your sidekick.
• Odd Friendship: As your learn in this case, Alex and Tess have one due to their shared geek interests and being in the same role playing table together, despite Alex being a friendly Keet and Tess a cold Nightmare Fetishist.
• Shout-Out: This case contains a ton of pop culture references, which makes sense since it takes place on a Sci-fi Fantasy Festival.
  • The victim is dressed as a Star Trek ensign, and after his autopsy Nathan jokingly says "He's dead, Jim."
  • Tess is seen cosplaying as a Na'vi from Avatar while Kevin is seen dressed as Legolas from The Lord of the Rings. Jones also cosplays as Miss Wonders, a parody of Wonder Woman.
  • The crime scenes have many, many references too. Starting from the Festival Main Hall scene:
    • A mannequin resembling Master Chief
    • A green fist is seen punching through a wall
    • In the background there is a poster which says "The God of the Rings", which is an obvious parody of The Lord of the Rings
    • The parodied Captain America shield from earlier appears
    • A red cape with a "Z"
    • A Green Lantern.
    • A Joker card and gag gun flag
    • A smiling Creeper head
    • The TARDIS
    • A climbing gorilla
    • A hammer resembling Mjölnir
    • Grumpy Cat
  • In the Festival Stands scene, there are
    • A familiar red-and-black spider-web pattern on the stomach of the Ripper Jade statue
    • Batman's mask(albeit with mouse-ears instead of the traditional pointy ears)
    • Pixel art of a Space Invader
    • The symbol of Corona
    • The aforementioned The God of the Rings poster
  • In the Bus Interior scene:
    • A white version of Batman's mask
    • The aforementioned red cape, with boots this time
    • Another version of Mjölnir
    • Another version of Captain America's shield, with the star this time
    • A book called NECRO
  • In the Driver's Seat scene:
    • The Frankenstein monster's head
    • A lightsaber and an invitation to join the Dark Side
    • Bender's head
    • A Buster Sword
    • Canned spinach
    • The aforementioned red cape, with a W this time
    • A mask resembling the monster from Creature from the Black Lagoon.
    • Mario's cap, albeit with an upside-down T instead of an M
  • The Diner scene:
    • A black T-shirt with the yellow Bat-logo, only with mouse-ears
    • Ghostface's mask shows up again. Okay, are we sure Grimsborough isn't an alternate-universe version of a Gotham City where Batman changes his mask-fashion daily and is hunting Ghostface?
    • Aladdin's golden lamp
  • The Diner Tables scene:
    • Yet another version of Mjölnir
    • A miniature TARDIS
    • A glowing green stone resembling Kryptonite
    • An image of a child's hand and an alien's hand touching
    • A red Triforce
  • When you repair the torn poster in Chapter 1, on the bottom right is a logo marked "Remval" which is a parody of the logo of "Marvel Entertainment".
  • Bruce Anderson resembles Autolycus as portrayed by Bruce Campbell.
  • Tess acts like Gollum about her photos of Bruce Anderson.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Even if she genuinely killed Joe in self-defense, the fact that Peri lied to the police, didn't turn herself up, and left his body to be displayed in a convention full of people (including children) means she didn't feel guiltiness about it, and due to this Judge Hall gives her a hefty sentence without chance of parole even if it was an accident.
• Too Much Information: After Jones says Bruce Anderson isn't that special.
  Alex: Careful, Jones! It's not just any actor, it's Bruce Anderson. He's so talented, and so strong, and so handsome, and so manly—
  Jones: Ok, ok, let's forget I ever said anything!
• Unabashed B-Movie Fan: Alex, Tess, and Kevin are all big fans of Bruce Anderson and his movies, with Tess going as far as paying an overpriced ticket to meet him.
• Unplanned Crossdressing: Jones buys a Miss Wonders cosplay◊ believing it to be a male superhero costume in an attempt to "fit" with geek people. Everyone has... mixed reactions about it.
  Tess: Oh, I hadn't recognized you, Officer Jones! That's an... original choice of costume! Surprisingly, it kind of suits you.
  Alex: It brings out your...hum...eyes? Especially the tights...
  Grace: Jones? I hadn't seen you! What's with the weird costume? Is this some kind of kinky game? Not that your legs aren't nice or anything, but aren't you on duty right now?
• Unusual Euphemism: Alex is very fond of these throughout the case, saying things like "Holy llama on a stick" or "Holy dolphin on rollerskates" whenever he gets surprised.
• Who Murdered the Asshole: This is the second time since Case 11 where every suspect hated the victim in one form of another, and due to this, pin-pointing the killer becomes notoriously difficult for the Department.