What better way to end an Story Arc set on an University than a High-School Dance?
It's Prom Night at Grimsborough's university, and the entire Police Department has been invited due to their hard work during the school year. Everyone is partying, having fun, and cheering for Madison Springer, the recently crowned Queen of the Ball! Everything seems to be going well.
Then Madison's tiara explodes, killing her instantly.
Tropes:
- Antagonist Title: The Rorschach Reaper is the Serial Killer that has been causing deaths across the University, and now it's up to you to catch them in this case.
- Back for the Finale: Tess Goodwin, Chad Baker, Donna Walker, Cathy King/The @rtist, and Caroline Fitzgerald all return as suspects in this case, which is the final one set in the University district. Riley Davies, Luke Harris, and Michael Fletcher also make small cameos in Chapter 3, providing you with involuntary information regarding your suspects. Penelope Rivera also makes a cameo in Chapter 1.
- Big Bad Friend: Even if she's a crazy Serial Killer who tried to kill you, Tess' admiration for you seems to be entirely genuine by the end.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ramirez saves you from an hypnotized Jones by smacking him with a Frying Pan of Doom, ruining Tess' plans.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: Poor Chad has to spend the rest of the case covered with Madison's blood since he was the one closest to her during her death.
- Boring, but Practical: Ramirez finds a simple but extremely effective way of breaking The Rorschach Reaper's hypnosis: smacking the victim upside the head with a frying pan. Whatever works!
- Calling Card: Jones and the player quickly discover that The Rorschach Reaper was the one who killed Madison after they found one of their inkblot tests near her body.
- The Climax: For the University district.
- Call-Back:
- The events of Case 32, Case 35, and Case 38 are brought up again as a way of identifying The Rorschach Reaper's M.O. Penelope Rivera, the killer of Case 35, also makes an appearance.
- Mayor Howard Johnson appears again at the end of the case to congratulate you for your work at the University and promote you to Maple Heights.
- Captured on Purpose: Tess gives you leads to discover her identity since the final part of her plan needed her to be at the police station, where she would hypnotize Jones and make him kill you.
- Continuity Nod:
- The school stadium reappears as a crime scene.
- Donna's office and the gymnasium, previously seen in Case 39, return as crime scenes. Caroline and Jones also mention the events that transpired during said case.
- Madison's Amish past is brought up again, with Tess revealing that she had been blackmailing her with it.
- The Corrupter: Tess' M.O. involves hypnotizing people who saw a certain result in inkblot tests, delivering speeches to them that concern their grudge against certain people, and encouraging them to "do the right thing". She claimed that those killers had weak minds, and all she did was "give them a little push". She even attempts to do this on Jones against the player.
- Dance of Romance: Alex and Cathy share one during the Additional Investigation.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Tess tells you The Rorschach Reaper sounds unoriginal, but since it was the press that chose that name there's nothing she could do about it anyway.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Tess, Madison's killer, says that this night has been quite a show and that's what she calls going out with a bang.
- Foreshadowing:
- While visiting Penelope in jail, she calls the Rorschach Reaper "that freak". Back in Case 35, she called Tess Goodwin the exact same thing.
- At the end of the case, Mayor Howard Johnson invites you to a party as part of his re-election campaign.
- Frying Pan of Doom: Ramirez manages to knock out an hypnotized Jones before he kills you.
- Genius Bruiser: Chad is revealed to be pretty good with electronics despite being a huge jock.
- High-School Dance: Where Madison was killed, right after being crowned Queen of the Ball no less.
- Humans Are Bastards: Implied by Tess during her trial, claiming that this is what her thesis was about.Tess: Their minds were so weak, I bet I could have done it even without hypnotizing them. A murderer sleeps in everyone of us, your Honor! That's what my thesis is all about.
- Hypno Pendulum: This is how Tess has been hypnotizing previous murderers to give them "the little push" needed to kill, and does the same with Jones in an attempt to make him kill you.
- Killed Mid-Sentence:Madison: I can't believe it, it's the happiest day of my lif- [BOOM]
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Jones getting a Tap on the Head from Ramirez caused him to forget what happened, allowing Ramirez to convince him that he fell down the stairs on the way to the arrest.
- Life Saving Misfortune: Alex is extremely glad that Cathy didn't win the Queen of the Ball contest, since she would've been the one dead instead of Madison.
- The Man Behind the Man: Tess reveals herself as the mastermind behind the murders of Case 32, Case 35, and Case 38, hypnotizing the killers so they could receive the little push they needed to kill their friends.
- Mind-Control Eyes: Jones gains them after Tess hypnotizes him.
- More than Mind Control: According to Tess, her hypnotism didn't force previous murderers to kill, but rather just gave them a confidence boost to do it.Tess: Manipulate? Misha, Penelope, Taylor... They all wanted to kill, they had it in them! They barely needed the little push I gave them!
- Mysterious Note: The Rorschach Reaper keeps sending these to you throughout the investigation, even warning you to stop interrogating people or else they'll kill someone else.
- Nervous Wreck: Jones becomes one in the final leg of the case, since The Rorschach Reaper has put a time limit onto their arrest before they decide to kill more people.Jones: We have to stay calm, <Player's Name>! WE HAVE TO STAY CALM!
- Never My Fault: Tess says during her trial that she never laid a finger on the victims from previous cases and such she isn't responsible for their deaths.
- Race Against the Clock: The Rorschach Reaper gives you until dawn to catch them or else they'll kill someone else.
- The Resenter: While hypnotizing Jones, Tess implies this in her breaking speech.Tess: But you wouldn't know about being brilliant, would you, Officer Jones? <Player's Name>'s dog, always following, always praising, always failing...It's unbearable, isn't it? Living in <Player's Name>'s shadow, being endlessly scolded for failing to meet their standards... So much frustration, Officer Jones...It has to stop, hasn't it? It can't go on forever, it has to stop now. Now and forever. And there's only one thing to do. The right thing.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Ramirez and the Player, for the fact that Ramirez had to whack Jones on the head with a frying pan to stop him from shooting the player while under Tess's mind control. Jones assumes his injury is from falling down some stairs, and neither you nor Ramirez bothers to correct him.
- Serial Killer: Tess Goodwin finally reveals herself as The Rorschach Reaper, killer of Madison Springer and the mastermind behind at least three previous murders.
- Shipper on Deck: Jones becomes this towards Alex and Cathy.Alex: A-a dance? With me? But- But there's no music! And no lig-Jones: Of course this idiot would love to dance with you, Cathy! Go on, have fun!
- Shout-Out: This case contains a handful of allusions to Carrie:
- The case starts during the King and Queen of the Prom crowning, with one of them dying due to foul play effectuated by a student.
- Madison Springer, who has just been crowned Queen of the Prom, is wearing a dress that strongly resembles the one used by Carrie during the prom in the 1976 adaption.
- In the Prom Ball scene, a plastic cup with the name of the eponymous girl can be seen.
- Spanner in the Works: After The Rorschach Reaper calls to warn you that they'll kill your suspects if they see you interrogating them, Riley, Luke, and Michael (who weren't suspects in this case) drop by to speak with you and tell you random information regarding the people you can't talk to, allowing you to solve the murder thanks to them.
- Tap on the Head: Jones takes one courtesy of Ramirez and his frying pan, as he was hypnotized and about to kill the player.
- Tragic Keepsake: Chad's photo with Madison becomes this after her death.
- Villainous Breakdown: Tess gets a short but pretty epic one after Ramirez knocks out an hypnotized Jones.Tess: WHAT DID YOU DO?! You ruined everything! <Player's Name>'s death was going to be my masterpiece! YOU DESTROYED MY WORK!
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: After the case is solved, you learn that Caroline's school security plan involves weapon detectors at the entrances, a patrolling helicopter, students wearing GPS trackers, cameras on the bathrooms, and circulation permits. Even the usually paranoid Jones thinks this is a little too much, and Donna fortunately manages to talk her out of it.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Just when Chad and Madison were getting together in a lovely relationship, she's killed right in front of him. Ouch.
- Xanatos Gambit: As we learn during her arrest, Tess' plan was one. Either you fail to catch her, allowing her to be free and continue killing people, or you arrest her, giving her the opportunity to hypnotize Jones and make him kill you.
- You Do Not Want To Know: During Tess' trial.Judge Hall: And you, Miss Goodwin? What did you see in those Rorschach tests?Tess: Believe me, your Honor: you don't want to know.
- Your Head A-Splode: How Madison is killed due to a rigged tiara, which blows off the top of her head.
