Recap / Criminal Case: Mysteries of the Past - Case 10: Let Her Eat Cake

Chief Wright: I have no choice but to send you to this picnic. Try to mingle, keep a close eye on things, and learn everything you can about Mr Alastor! But please be mindful not to alarm the guests. Also, keep Madeline away from the champagne.

Chief Wright sends Maddie and the player to the fourth of Mr. Alastor's parties, a picnic in Prospect Gardens, to investigate about Alastor's identity and prevent more premeditates murders from happening in his events. Of course, things don't go that well when, upon arriving to the party, Maddie and the player stumble upon the poisoned body of countess Georgina Upperton resting on a picnic blanket.

Tropes:

• Amateur Sleuth: Samuel Waldorf-Ridgewood likes to act like a mighty detective on par with the real ones working for the Flying Squad, but he falls short at most of his deductions.
• Call-Back: Lady Highmore reappears as a suspect, while Justin Lawson appears during the Additional Investigation to inquire the Flying Squad about Mr. Alastor.
• Confirmed Bachelor: Lady Highmore claims that the victim refused to marry anyone since her status as a Rich Bitch made her see everyone as unworthy of her.
• Connected All Along: After the case is solved, Evie, Maddie, and the player finally manage to find the common link between all the guests that have died during Mr. Alastor's parties: they've displeased Giulietta Capecchi, the Mafia Princess you met in Case 7.
  Maddie: We've discovered that Mr Alastor's victims all have something in common: they have harmed Giulietta Capecchi in some way!
  Her little sister fell to her death... A childhood friend turned foe had her throat slit at a séance...
  ...An impostor who took her money drowned in chocolate, and a society lady who snubbed her was poisoned!
• Continuity Nod: Lady Highmore mentions Dr. Ezekiel Jones as the one prescribing cyanide crystals to her.
• Crocodile Tears: Lady Highmore sheds some of these on the phone with Chief Wright so he sends you to speak with her.
  Lady Highmore: <Player's Name>, I'm glad it only took a few fake tears to have Chief Wright grant my wish to see you!
• Disproportionate Retribution: As this case reveals, the victims of Mr. Alastor's predicted murders all posses in common the fact that they have "harmed" Giulietta Capecchi in some way. However, said harm is in no way justification for them being killed.
• Fiery Cover-Up: The killer attempted to burn the victim's ring in the mansion's chimney, but it proved to be resistant to the fire, leaving conclusive evidence to be found by the player.
• High-School Sweethearts: Ernest and Georgina had a relationship while they were still young (Ernest, who is 38, claims that "he waited 20 years for her"), but broke up after Georgina saw him as unfitting for her.
• I Will Wait for You: Ernest waited 20 years to be with Georgina, who told him they could only be together after Ernest got as rich as her, which he accomplished by becoming a famous poet. Of course, Georgina didn't actually mean to fulfill her promise, and a heartbroken Ernest murdered her for it.
• Karmic Death: Ernest claims that the reason why he poisoned Georgina with a frog-shaped cake was because Georgina told him she'd rather kiss a frog than him.
• Large and in Charge: This case introduces Cornelius Castletown, a rather large man who is also the Mayor of Concordia.
• No Social Skills: Despite being the Mayor of Concordia, Castletown shows shades of being socially inept when his idea for starting a conversation with someone like Georgina is showing her a gun of all things.
• Not Good with Rejection: Ernest murdered Georgina after she rejected him when he had been waiting to be with her for 20 years, since Georgina told him they'd only be together when he got as rich as her.
• Picky Eater: Lady Highmore claims the victim was this, both regarding food and men to marry.
• Picnic Episode: The case takes place during a fancy picnic that serves as another of Mr. Alastor's parties.
• Purple Prose: Ernest Swanswaddle, a poet, speaks mostly with these in a very melodramatic way.
  Ernest: But I'm afraid I cannot help. I have not had the honor of conversing with Lady Georgina today. Instead, I sought solitude under the big oak tree.
  A poet writes not what he sees, but what the muses whisper in his ears! Foretell a Lady's death, I did not! I merely expressed the melancholy of the soul.
• Quintessential British Gentleman: Despite not being explicitly British, Samuel Waldorf-Ridgewood is a parody of the very British Sherlock Holmes, and he behaves like an old gentleman who speaks with Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness.
• Race Against the Clock: Chapter 3 becomes this, as Mr. Alastor has requested the party to end and everything to be cleaned up, giving the team limited time to investigate and solve the murder.
• Revenge: The reason why Mr. Alastor has been organizing parties where people murder each other is because he wants to take revenge on behalf of Giulietta Capecchi, as every victim had harmed her in some way while they were still alive.
• Rich Bitch: Lady Georgina might be one of the biggest examples in the franchise, and that's only taking into account what the suspects say about her, considering you didn't get to meet her alive: she refused to get married because "no one was on the same level as her", harshly criticized Elisa's party planning skills despite being chosen by Alastor himself, told Ernest they could only be together when he was as rich as her then rejected and insulted him when he accomplished it, and tried to get Mayor Castletown to cancel the World Exhibition just because she didn't like it, which would've spelled trouble for his political campaign and the monetary revenue gained from the event.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Samuel managed to deduce Lady Georgina would die at the party not because he was aware of Mr. Alastor's plans, but because he predicted it "with some phrenology and the shape of her skull."
• Shout-Out:
  • The case's title comes from the quote "Let them eat cake", which is frequently and incorrectly attributed to Marie-Antoinette.
  • Samuel Waldorf-Ridgewood is a parody of Sherlock Holmes.
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau is mentioned.
  • In the Salon crime scene, there's a portrait of Louis XIV.
• Slave to PR:
  • Elisa Melody, the party planner put in charge of organizing the soirée by Mr. Alastor, is mortified at the thought of her reputation being tarnished due to a murder occurring during her event and even fears Mr. Alastor will be mad at her, not knowing that a murder happening at the party was exactly his plan.
  • Mayor Castletown is also shown to be this, as you find a newspaper article detailing how he had to fight against Lady Georgina so the World Exhibition would be made since it said event will bring investment, publicity and progress to Concordia, which is what he promised during his campaign.
• So Proud of You: Mayor Castletown congratulates you during the investigation and even says Chief Wright should be proud of your hard work.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: The victim was killed by being fed a cake tampered with cyanide, whose smell was camouflaged due to the cake being made of almonds.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Maddie recalls how "Lady Georgina was a countess, the eldest daughter of the youngest son of the Esquire of-" before giving up.
• Upper-Class Twit: What Maddie thinks of the guests at the party regarding the victim's death.
  Maddie: <Player's Name>, is everyone in the upper classes self-involved and eccentric? Lady Georgina was poisoned at Mr Alastor's picnic, but many of the guests seem curiously unconcerned.
• You Are Too Late: By the time Maddie and the player arrive to the party to prevent another person dying, the murder has already happened.