"Dear <Player's Name>. You're the only one I can trust. Come to the set of "Murder by Moonlight" at once! Someone wants me dead!"
Frank and the player receive a note from socialite Lindsay Bannister, asking to meet them on a crime film set since someone wants her dead. Unfortunately, the officers only find her stabbed body once they arrive to their meeting spot.
Tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Frank momentarily quits the job when Velma seduces him, though he returns in the Additional Investigation.
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Velma and her step-daughter Lindsay were around the same age, which made Lindsay resent her.
- The Alcoholic: Lindsay was known in Ivywood for two things: her wealth and just how much she drank.Roxie: Poor Lindsay. I saw her in a bar once, you know. She drank a whole bottle of bourbon and got thrown out by the bouncers... My hero.
- Answer Cut: At the end of the case, Amy wonders what is Frank doing now that Velma left him, with the scene switching to Frank lamenting himself in a bar.
- Attack on the Heart: The victim was killed by being stabbed through the heart.
- The Bartender: Walter Fellows, the bartender from the hotel Lindsay was staying in and who heard all of her troubles whenever she spent the night drinking there.
- Brainwashed: During the Additional Investigation, Dick gets brainwashed the same way Gaston was before, with Russell finally finding a link between the brainwashing and the Utopian cult.
- The Confidant: Exploited by Walter, the killer, who took advantage of being Lindsay's crying shoulder so he could learn all her secrets, steal her money, and then murder her and try to Frame-Up everyone else with what he had learned about them thanks to Lindsay.
- Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Frank wears one of these during the case since he saw a detective movie last night and wants to copy their style.
- Continuity Nod: Amy bitterly recalls how the last time she helped you arrest someone it was her own brother.
- Curse Cut Short: Roxie interrupts Chief Marquez when she reads Frank's note where he says he's leaving the force to be with Velma.Chief Marquez: Oh. That little, sniveling, pipsqueak of a-Roxie: What does the letter say? What's happened?!
- Daydream Surprise: Frank has a lot of Imagine Spots in this case, which appear to be real scenes of him being a detective on a Film Noir setting until someone comes and interrupts them.Frank: [In black and white] "On an empty street stands a cop. The best Goddamn cop in town.""With a loaded six-hooter and a slug of bourbon. He is just one man up against the night's creeps and hoodlums. He is Frank Knight in..."Chief Marquez: [In color] Frank! What's all this nonsense about?!
- Deliberately Monochrome: Frank's Imagine Spots are shot in the style of Film Noirs.
- The End: The investigation finishes with another of Frank's Imagine Spots and an intertitle card reading "The End."
- Fauxreigner: Rico Damascus pretends to be an European count so he can sell his antiquities easier.
- Femme Fatale: Velma Bannister, the victim's step-mother, literally has "Femme Fatale" as her title in the suspect's list. Halfway through the case, she uses her good looks to manipulate Frank into escaping with her so he can protect her from the police, though Velma dumps him when she discovers he quit the force in the process.
- Funetik Aksent: Rico Damascus, the Fauxreigner "European Count" you meet, speaks with Vampire Vords.
- He's Back!: Amy returns and becomes your partner halfway through the case after Frank resigns to escape with Velma.
- I Have No Daughter!: Hubert disowned his daughter Lindsay after she left the Utopian cult and became a drunkard, even signing a "death warrant" towards her, which basically equals to being shunned Amish-style within the Utopians.
- In Vino Veritas: Rico accidentally revealed to Lindsay that he wasn't actually an European count while drunk, which would've ruined his business if she exposed his secret.
- Love at First Sight: As expected, Frank falls for Velma as soon as he lays an eye on her, which makes it easy for Velma to manipulate him into giving her protection from the police.Frank: Is there a train nearby, <Player's Name>? Or is that my heart beating? That dame's got me dizzy. If looks could kill, she's certainly the murderer.
- May–December Romance:
- Lindsay, who was about 27, fell in love and even had a one-night stand with Dick Shakespeare, who is 51.
- There´s also Velma and Hubert, who are 27 and 72, respectively, though she's just rather a Trophy Wife to him.
- Mysterious Backer: During the case, you receive anonymous calls and messages leading you to clues, though this later proves to be Subverted when you learn said calls and messages were left by the killer, who was trying to Frame-Up other suspects by deliberately leaving said clues on your path.
- Noir Episode: The case as a whole parodies the Film Noir genre, with its crime movie setting and many scenes being shot entirely in black and white.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Hubert outlived his daughter Lindsay, though he doesn't care that much about it.Frank: Aren't you even a little bit sad she's dead?!Hubert: Lindsay was a pretty useless child. Not particularly pretty. Academically inadequate.
- Phony Degree: According to Frank, he's got a doctorate in "bartender psychology".
- The Reveal: This case reveals that the Utopians are brainwashing people to do their dirty work, raising the stakes of the district with their credible threat.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Russell improvises one to mock Frank while trying to solve a riddled poem left by the killer.Russell: "So Frank is a moron, we know this is true. It's always <Player's Name> who unravels each clue."
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: During the Additional Investigation, Velma manages to avoid going to jail for stealing a diamond since her husband is a rich and important man.
- Shout-Out: The victim, Lindsay Bannister, is a parody of Lindsay Lohan.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Once she makes her return to the police department, Amy has become noticeably more demanding, impatient and rude in contrasts to her sweet and naive self before White Peaks.
- Trophy Wife: Velma is this to Hubert Bannister, a crippled but rich old man.Frank: That woman is too good for you!Hubert: Oh, I know. Isn't it wonderful what money can get you?
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Walter cries rivers whenever you interrogate him about Lindsay, since he loved her as a daughter and was always there for her. He's also the killer.
- You Are Too Late: By the time you arrive to meet with Lindsay, she's been already murdered.
- You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: Hubert threatens Russell and the player with this during the Additional Investigation, telling them that the Utopians are too powerful to be stopped.
