Now this is a puppet show!
Worried about The Puppeteer's message, Chief Marquez sends Frank and the player to patrol the carnival parade in hopes of stopping them before they can start killing again. Unfortunately, this ends up being futile when you find the body of cabaret dancer Dinah Cooper inside a storage room, chopped into pieces and strung up by chains like a marionette.
Tropes:
- I Am the Noun: Freddie declares himself the embodiment of freedom during his trial, claiming that he liberated children from their abusive parents with his murders.
- Back for the Finale: Madeleine Deville, Stanley Bullock, and Freddie Alonzo return as suspects in this case, which is the last one set in Jazz Town.
- The Charmer: Russell suggests Madeleine taking her out on a date so he can get vital information about her during the investigation, which ends up working.
- The Climax: For Jazz Town and The Puppeteer Story Arc.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Dinah was cut up to pieces while still alive with a saw, then transformed into a flesh puppet with the use of chains.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Russell gets to be your partner during the second half of the case, since Chief Marquez thinks his expertise on criminal minds would be an useful tool in catching a Serial Killer.
- Roxie also gets far more focus here than in previous cases, as she's forced to perform all the lab samples apart from the autopsy after Yann becomes a suspect.
- Dead Guy Puppet: Dinah was cut up into pieces, then The Puppeteer linked back together those pieces to make a morbid puppet out of her.
- False Friend: Considering he murdered his parents, Freddie is this for Yann, who even accuses Freddie of ruining his life during his trial.
- Frame-Up: Yann becomes a suspect after being framed up by The Puppeteer.Yann: Don't you see, I'm being framed?! I've spent too many years trying to catch the Puppeteer and now they're playing with me: making me a suspect is what the killer wants!
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: The case takes place during the annual Jazz Town Carnival.
- I Have No Daughter!: Blake towards his daughter Dinah, since she ran away from home after getting pregnant, refused to let him see his grandson, and called him a bad father for years, refusing to make amends with him before her death.Blake: I gave up on my daughter long ago: she was uncontrollable! If only she could have been more like my puppets... Just one pull of the strings and they'd obey.
- Irony: Frank finds ironic that Stanley, a Confederate lover, was friends with Dinah, a black woman.
- It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: The case takes place during the annual carnival of Jazz Town, which is heavily inspired by New Orleans. Russell even calls it "Mardi Gras" at one point.
- I Just Want to Be Free: This was Freddie's justification for killing his parents when he was just a teenager, finding them too controlling. He also believes every child should be free, hence why he murders parents he sees as "unworthy".Freddie: That's not why I kill! My parents never let me do anything... kids are meant to be free, but it felt like prison: so I decided to show my parents what it was like to be controlled...They didn't like it much, but I never felt so alive! I felt sorry for the other kids: I wanted them to be free too. I wanted to share their joy!
- Last Episode, New Character: Blake Cooper, Dinah's father, is introduced in this case as a suspect.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Puppeteer decided to kill again after reading a letter from Yann challenging to come out, though this helped you bring justice to their previous victims in the end.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Madeleine decides to publish a book about The Puppeteer since she finds them brilliant and fascinating.
- One of Our Own: Yann becomes a suspect in this case when The Puppeteer leaves one of Dinah's shoes in his house.
- Parting-Words Regret: Louie laments that he mistreated his mother before she was murdered, since it led to The Puppeteer targeting her.
- Psychopathic Manchild: The Puppeteer believes that children should be free and that parents who hinder their freedom only get their joy from restricting their children and therefore must be killed.
- Pun: Roxie says the victim must have really been hung up about something before she died.
- Raised by Grandparents: Louie, Dinah's son, gets adopted by his grandfather Blake in at the end of the case.
- Red Herring: Blake Cooper, Dinah's father, might as well be one the biggest red herrings the franchise has ever had. He's old enough to be The Puppeteer, had problems with his daughter who refused to let him see his grandson, comes out of nowhere when the killer of the previous district finale did the same, and his job is being a puppeteer. Even Russell thinks it's a little too obvious.
- Running Gag: Roxie complaining about having to do Yann's job each time you send a lab sample for her to analyze.Roxie: This better be the last lab you make me do, <Player's Name>. I'll need a week off to get back on my feet!
- Self-Made Orphan: Freddie killed his own parents when he was a teenager, which kickstarted his murder spree in the first place.
- Serial Killer: Freddie is revealed to be The Puppeteer, a serial killer who terrorized Jazz Town for decades and murdered parents he saw as too controlling towards their children, including Yann's.
- Shout-Out:
- In the Storage Room scene, there is a puppet resembling Pinocchio, and a face stand-in of a blond Ariel.
- In the Wooden Shelves scene, there is a crushed Coca-Cola can.
- A book called The Adventurous Puppet can be found on one crime scene.
- During Freddie's trial, Judge Dante remarks that he thought the Puppeteer was some toy that came alive at night and killed people, but turned back into a doll by day.
- Stalker with a Crush: Stanley had been stalking Dinah since he mistook her good will for being flirty, which led to her putting a restraining order against him. Understandably, this makes him a strong suspect.
- Theme Serial Killer: The victims of The Puppeteer are transformed into Dead Guy Puppets after being killed.
- The Unapologetic: Once being discovered and forced to drop the facade, Freddy refuses to accept that what he did was wrong, even showing a creepy smile during his arrest photo.
- You Are Too Late: By the time you arrive to the carnival, The Puppeteer has already killed someone.
- You Didn't Ask: When Russell asks Madeleine why she didn't mention Dinah was her patient, she responds that nobody asked her.
