Maddie and the player attend another of the World Exhibition's presentations, this time of a steam-powered flying backpack made by inventor Orville West. Unfortunately, Orville doesn't manage to get far with his invention before he crashes onto a hot air balloon flying nearby after getting shot from the ground, killing him and gravely injuring the balloon's pilot.
Tropes:
- Balloon-Bursting Bird: Or more like Balloon-Bursting Human, as Orville crashing into the hot air balloon makes it explode and nearly kill its pilot Walter Cumberbatch, who fortunately manages to make a full recovery.
- Bribe Backfire: Orville tried to bribe Leopold, the World Exhibition sponsor and judge, with a bottle of expensive cognac, something that greatly angered Leopold due to not wanting to be seen as just another corrupt or above-the-law Rochester.
- Call-Back: Commissioner Baldwin makes a return as a suspect.
- The Champion: Greta Gundwood, the previous year's World Exhibition winner and Charlie's role model, appears here as a suspect.
- Cliffhanger: The case ends with Chief Wright informing you that a giant ape has escaped from its containment into the city.
- Continuity Nod: During the autopsy report, Dick is taking his daily dose of arsenic to build up poison immunity like how he claimed to do back in Case 1.
- Cool Old Guy: Leopold Rochester, the World Exhibition sponsor, is shown to be a genuinely good man with no ulterior intentions like the rest of his family. He even refused to accept a bribe from the victim, claiming it to be unethical.
- Cynicism Catalyst: During the Additional Investigation, you discover that Justin Lawson's fiancee was killed during a mugging gone wrong days before their wedding, and the fact that the culprits got a light sentence made him reconsider his sense of justice and become a lawyer and eventual District Attorney for this reason.
- Dark and Troubled Past: As described in Cynicism Catalyst above, Justin losing his wife at the hands of some muggers is this for him, something that torments him years later and it's the main reason why he chose to become a lawyer.
- Evil Luddite: Abe Mullins, although he's more of a crazy Luddite, considering how he murdered Orville due to believing that people flying with technology would equal to the end of the world.
- Faint in Shock: Lady Hyacinth Pendergast is introduced by falling and knocking over many other inventions due to this after the victim's death.
- Flawed Prototype: After the case is solved, Charlie builds his own prototype of Orville's Steampack to test it, which malfunctions due to his blueprints not being accurate enough.
- Foreshadowing: Once again, one of the inventions malfunctions due to a missing piece product of sabotage, this time being Orville's Steampack and a disconnected tube.
- Gratuitous German: Greta Gundwood.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: One of the killer's traits is that they're a good shooter, since they managed to nail Orville with a shotgun while he was in constant movement while in the air.
- Jet Pack: The victim's invention is the Steampack, a 19th century version of a jetpack fueled by (duh) steam.
- Job-Stealing Robot: One of the Luddites' arguments for hating machines and new technology is that they feel these inventions will replace them in no time, such as the victim's Steampack becoming a replacement for cabs and trains.
- The Lost Lenore: Abigail Baines, Justin's fiancée that was killed days before their wedding and inspired him to become a lawyer after her killers got a light sentence.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Rose seems to change the reason why she lost her arm every time she decides to tell the story.Rose: <Player's Name>, did I ever tell you the story about how I lost my arm?Maddie: Well, you told me it was a street fight... but you mentioned to Viola it was ripped off by a dog...Rose: A street fight? A dog? No... no. I was testing this new top secret weapon for the military.
- New Technology Is Evil: This case introduces the Luddites, a group of protesters against the World Exhibition and new technology being invented due to seeing it as either people playing God (which prompted Abe to kill Orville) or because they believe machines will take over their jobs.
- The Perfectionist: Greta constantly criticizes Orville during her interrogations because of this, claiming that his inventions weren't just perfect enough for the World Exhibition.
- Rich Bitch: Lady Hyacinth is a huge snob who let her dog chew on the victim's goggles after his death and disrespects him just because he wasn't part of the Concordian elite, even claiming that he had fleas.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: The victim was killed with a steam-powered shotgun that managed to hit him from the ground while he was flying.
- Shout-Out:
- The victim, Orville West, is a parody of Orville Wright.
- Hyacinth Pendergast is a parody of Hyacinth Bucket.
- One of the killer's traits is that they read Jules Verne.
- Ship Tease: Two of them.
- Another one occurs regarding Charlie and Maddie, as Charlie timidly asks her if she doesn't have anyone "special" to her after she recalls how Justin's loved one was killed.
- There's also a minor one between Evie and Katherine, as Evie shows you that Katherine has gifted her a notebook for no reason and asks what could it mean, which prompts Maddie to recall how Katherine also gave a gift to another woman she liked romantically. Evie's only response to this is blushing.
- Signs of the End Times: Abe, the killer, saw Orville flying as a sign that the world would end due to trying to play God, which makes Judge Takakura assume he's crazy and sentence him to a psychiatric penitentiary.Abe: I AM NOT CRAZY! You don't see! The world will end when humans fly!
- Technophobia: Combined with New Technology Is Evil, this is one of the Luddites' main reasons to protest against the World Exhibition, fearing that the new machines will steal their jobs.
- Tragic Keepsake: Justin keeps the obituary of his deceased fiancée inside of his wallet, which is how you find about her when you find it during the Additional Investigation.
- We Used to Be Friends: Commissioner Baldwin and the victim used to be friends until they drifted apart, and it's later revealed that the reason for this was Orville and Baldwin's wife having an affair.
- White Sheep: Leopold is this regarding the Rochester family, who mostly believe themselves to be above the law just because of their wealth, like what happened with Archie.Leopold: Regardless of what you may have heard about my family, I am a man of dignity and ethics!
