Recap / Criminal Case: Pacific Bay - Case 17: Under the Skin

United at last.

Chief Marquez requests Frank and the player's assistance as security guards in the Chinese Festival of Inner City. There, they find the body of Russian community leader Nikolai Kamarov, partially skinned and tied to a parade float.

Tropes:

• Apocalyptic Log: You encounter a tape recorder that the killer used to record Nikolai's screams of pain as he was being murdered.
• Ax-Crazy: Rupert Snow, the killer, is probably one of the most deranged and unstable characters in the entire franchise, murdering his own father, almost killing his mother, and stealing organs among the district's victims so he could implant himself with them in an effort to become the "perfect" multi-ethnicity human. Even Judge Dante can't crack one of his usual jokes while hearing him in court.
• Back-Alley Doctor: Mark is revealed to be the organ thief in this case, being anonymously paid to extract them from the victims of previous cases by Rupert Snow.
• Back for the Finale: Mark McKenzie, Sergei Yablokov, Sue Xiong, and Aicha Ben Malek all return as suspects in this case, which is the last one set in the Inner City district.
• Bastard Bastard: Rupert is actually Nikolai and Sue's son, who were forced to abandon him after they were separated by their families. When he finds out his parents are now bitter enemies leading a community war, he decides to kill them and steal their skin for his plan.
• Billy Needs an Organ: The reason why Rupert has been stealing organs among various of the district's victims is because he wants to transplant them onto himself, intending to become a symbol of peace by being the perfect representation of multi-ethnicity in Inner City.
  Rupert: I hired a crooked surgeon to collect specific organs for me. I wanted them to come from different ethnicities, to represent all of Inner City.
  The heart from a young Chinese woman, full of life and hope.
  The lungs from a Serbian man, to breathe the cleansed air of Inner City.
  And the spine from an Irish priest, the backbone of society!
  I had the organs, but I was missing the final piece of the puzzle.
  My parents' skin! With it, the entire world would see my heritage! Half-Chinese, half-Russian, the embodiment of peace between the communities!
• The Climax: For the Inner City district, as well as the Community Feud and Organ Stealing Story Arcs.
• Connected All Along: Up to this point, the community feud and the organ stealing had been two separate arcs in the district with no correlation to each other. Then you find out in this case that the reason why Rupert has been stealing organs is because he wants to end the feud by implanting himself with them, becoming the "perfect" representative of the communities in Inner City.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Nikolai was killed by being slowly Flayed Alive with a scalpel by his killer. Sue almost suffers the same fate, though you manage to rescue her before it happens.
• Dead Guy on Display: The victim was strapped to a parade float during a Chinese festival to diver the attention towards them.
• Dragon Ascendant: Sergei becomes the new Russian community leader after Nikolai's death.
• Faux Affably Evil: Rupert Snow is polite, well-mannered, and even helps poor communities by donating big amounts of money to them. He's also a deranged psychopath who has been stealing organs from deceased people and ends up killing Nikolai for his skin.
• Genuine Human Hide: Rupert killed Nikolai for his skin and attempted to do the same with Sue for this reason.
• Happily Adopted: Andrew, Nikolai's son, gets adopted by Sergei in the end due to both of his parents being dead.
• Highschool Sweethearts: Nikolai and Sue were this before being forcibly separated by their families.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Aicha was helping Nikolai expel illegal Chinese immigrants from the country, but when Nikolai found out she had also expelled illegal Russians, he got her own family deported as revenge.
• Know When to Fold Them: This is pretty much Sergei's reason for the peace conferance. As much as he loves a good fight., he says that the war between the Russians and Chinese is nothing more than a waste of money and resources.
• Last Episode, New Character: This case introduces Rupert Snow as one of the suspects (and eventual killer), which is the last one set in Inner City.
• The Man Behind the Man: Rupert Snow is the one who had been paying Mark McKenzie for stealing organs among the victims of the district.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Played for Laughs. In the Additional Investigation, Sue finds Yann's son lost and crying, who proceeds to hit her in the head with his toy when she tries to help him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Judge Dante is utterly at a loss for words after he hears Rupert's Motive Rant during his trial, finding it extremely disturbing.
• Organ Theft: Mark is revealed to be the organ thief in this case, being bribed by Rupert to do so.
• Patricide: Nikolai was killed by his own son.
• Peace Conference: In the Additional Investigation, Sergei and Sue manage to put aside their differences and end the community feud between the Russian and Chinese communities, finally bringing peace to Inner City.
• Revenge: The ultimate reason for Rupert murdering Nikolai and almost killing Sue: when he discovered that the parents who had abandoned him were now bitter enemies, he couldn't stand the thought of a community feud being led by them.
• Shout-Out:
  • Rupert Snow resembles Mason Verger.
  • Chapter 2's cover image features a parody of Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci.
• Spanner in the Works: Ramirez ends up stumbling onto the operation room where Nikolai was killed and the rest of the missing organs were stored, helping you solve the case.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Nikolai and Sue were in love during high school, but were forced to split apart by their families due to coming from different ethnic backgrounds.
  Rupert: She fell in love with Nikolai in high school, and they had me. They were too young, however, and too weak to stand up to societal pressure.