Recap / Criminal Case: The Conspiracy - Case 02: Hell is Other People

Gloria: Dear God, <Player's Name>! This woman was nailed to her white picket fence! This is one gruesome murder for a fancy suburb like Fairview!

Gloria and the player are assigned their first case together after being informed about the murder of Elaine Seabrook, a housewife who was killed by being shot in the head with a nail gun and nailed to her fence.

Tropes

• Alliterative Name: Family doctor Greg Gibbs.
• Ambiguous Situation: During the Additional Investigation, you discover that a man named David O'Connell drank from a can of Rocket Cow mixed with amlodipine, which amplified the medicine's effects and gave him a heart attack. However, you don't manage to discover whether he willingly did this (which would rule it as either a suicide or an accident) or someone else murdered him with it.
• Annoying Patient: Dr. Gibbs described the victim as this, as she was constantly bothering him even for the smallest things (such as asking if her husband needed treatment for ordering his steak medium-rare instead of well-done) and was a hypochondriac.
• Awful Wedded Life: Aaron, the victim's wife, claims their marriage has gone sour due to Elaine constantly asking him to buy things for her and the house, and so was planning to divorce her.
• Bad Date: When Gabriel catches Rita in a dating site, she claims the only reason why she has resorted to it is because her dates tend to end badly because she scares men away.
• Big Fancy House: The victim lived in one of these, which seems to be the norm in Fairview.
  Gloria: Well, this place sure is nice, <Player's Name>! I wonder what house prices are like in the neighborhood...
• Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: The victim called Principal Wilcox "poophead" after she asked Elaine to admit she defamed her years ago.
• Boom, Headshot!: The victim was killed by being shot with a nail in the head.
• Brits Love Tea: Rupert, who hails from Great Britain, asks Amir to put the kettle to boil while he gives you the results of some analysis.
• The Bus Came Back: Alex Turner, your previous teammate and tech expert you worked with in Season 1, makes his official return here during Jones' surprise party for the player.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Cynthia claims that Elaine drank all her wine during the party she invited her to, which prompted Elaine to puke all over Cynthia's prized flower beds, which made them die.
• Chekhov's Gun: Amlodipine, the experimental drug mentioned in the previous case, is brought up again when you discover the victim at the steakhouse died by ingesting a large dose of it.
• Contrived Coincidence: When you find a bunch of photos of the victim cheating on her husband with other men, you send them to Ramirez for analysis before he tells you he's the one who took them in the first place, as the victim's husband asked Ramirez to investigate if she was having an affair so he could file divorce.
• Dance Party Ending: The case ends with Jones organizing a surprise party to celebrate the player's return, which the rest of the Police Department attends.
• Determined Doctor: Dr. Greg Gibbs is introduced by telling you he has no time to talk as there are three patients awaiting for him in the treatment room.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Cynthia murdered Elaine because... she puked all over her flower bed (or as she calls them, her prized peonies), which killed them and made Cynthia lose the annual gardening contest. Both Gloria and Judge Powell are understandably bewildered at such ridiculous motive.
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet: After finishing the case, Chief Parker tells you that the day isn't over when Martine requests your assistance with a new body.
• Entitled to Have You: Tyler was pretty damn ticked when Elaine refused his offer of a motel. Gloria rightfully calls him on it.
  Tyler: But I know for a fact that she was sleeping with half the neighborhood! So why did she reject ME?! I was humiliated!
  Gloria: Regardless of how many people Elaine slept with, young man, you weren't entitled to expect anything from her!
  And if her rejection led you to commit murder, you can expect a hefty prison sentence!
• Excrement Statement: Cynthia sent a cake decorated with dog poop to the victim as a revenge for puking over her flower beds.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The man dying from a Rocket Cow can laced with amlodipine should be your first clue that there's a Serial Killer on the loose murdering people by giving them these adulterated drinks, which you don't fully discover until the next case.
  • During one of their analysis together, Amir convinces Rupert to try a VR headset, who seems to be hesitant at first but finally succumbs to the temptation. This later comes around when Rupert's eventual affinity for VR turns out to be a huge plot point The Greens arc.
• Former Friends Photo: You discover Elaine was friends with Principal Wilcox when you find a photo of them together during their university years.
• Gold Digger: Aaron, the victim's husband, accusing her of being this by spending all of his money ever since they arrived to Fairview, which is why he was planning to fill in for divorce.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Jasper Everett, Amir's boyfriend, is introduced when he accompanies you to the forests of Grimsborough to investigate about the satellite that fell from the sky a year ago.
• Henpecked Husband: The victim was forcing her husband to spend great amounts of money in any whim she may had, such as making him to buy a SUV and hire a gardener for them, which is why he wanted to fill divorce.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: Tyler Schultz, who is 18, spent weeks' worth of his salary to rent a motel room for him and the victim, as he had heard she was sleeping with everyone in Fairview and he wanted his chance with her. However, Elaine rejected him and laughed in his face when he made his offer.
• Hypochondria: Dr. Gibbs accuses the victim of being this, which is part of what made her an Annoying Patient for him.
• Insufferable Imbecile: While not at the level of being an Asshole Victim, Elaine was still a quite unpleasant person who didn't care about humiliating others, cheating on her husband, and defaming Principal Wilcox with no proof of any wrongdoing.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: When Gabriel catches a glimpse of a dating site in Rita's laptop, she tells him, Gloria, and the player to forget the subject before going out with a Door Slam of Rage.
• Love Forgives All but Lust: Inverted. Aaron, the victim's husband, was willing to forgive Elaine cheating on him by claiming that everyone makes those kind of mistakes, but he couldn't stand her Gold Digger tendencies, which is why he intended to use her cheating to divorce her.
• Malicious Slander: The victim accused Principal Wilcox of plagiarizing her coursework during their university years without any solid proof, which led to a black mark in Wilcox's record that made her lose a prestigious job and relegated her to work at the local high school.
• Mrs. Robinson: Subverted. The victim, who was around her mid-30s, is initially suspected of having sex with Tyler, who is 18, but you later discover she rejected him after he made his advances on her.
• Nail 'Em: The victim was killed with a nail gun.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Gloria attempts to do this before breaking down and admitting that the victim was a horrible person.
• No Name Given: The security guard that stops you and Jasper for venturing deeper into the forest is simply called "Security Guard."
• Nosy Neighbor: As the self-proclaimed representative of the neighborhood of Fairview, Cynthia Lane seems to be in everyone's affairs.
• Not Helping Your Case: Cynthia during her Motive Rant for killing Elaine.
  Gloria: Deserved it? What, all because Elaine got drunk and disrupted your little neighborhood dinner party?! That's insane!
  Cynthia: Of course not, that'd be ridiculous!
  I killed her because she threw up on my prize peonies and killed them!
  Gloria: That's... even more insane.
• Overcomplicated Menu Order: According to Tyler, the waiter at the local steakhouse, the victim always ordered "a veggie salad with no dressing, low-fat mozzarella, a quarter of an avocado, and 3 and a half stalks of asparagus."
• The Perfectionist: Cynthia Lane, the victim's neighborhood and apparent representative of the neighborhood, self-describes herself as this, which is one of the reasons why she killed Elaine after she ruined her flower beds.
  Cynthia: You have no idea of the pressure I'm under, <Player's Name>! If I'm not perfect, I'm NOTHING!
• Persona Non Grata: Dr. Gibbs banned Elaine from entering his clinic due to her Annoying Patient tendencies.
• Pun: Seems like Martine has taken a few teachings from Roxie, as shown during her analysis report.
  Martine: Well, <Player's Name>, I don't want to brag, but this autopsy? I totally nailed it!
• Putting the "Pal" in Principal: Principal Rosamund Wilcox seems to be fairly friendly and level-headed whenever you speak with her.
• Really Gets Around: Ramirez calls the victim "insatiable" when he reveals she was cheating on her husband with even multiple men at once.
• Secret Ingredient: Amir manages to discern where the killer ate the steak they contaminated the nails with after he identifies the secret sauce, which is the specialty of the Fairview Steakhouse.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: The security guard patrolling the satellite crashing site is seen carrying a shotgun.
• Shout-Out:
  • The case's title is a reference to No Exit.
  • The victim, Elaine Seabrook, is a parody of Eleanor Shellstrop, as well as Edie Britt.
  • Cynthia Lane is a parody of Bree Van de Kamp.
  • Rocket Cow is a parody of Red Bull.
  • Bucci is a parody of Gucci.
  • iPear is a parody of Apple.
  • Timber is a parody of Tinder.
• Sleeps with Everyone but You: Tyler wanted to have sex with Elaine because he had heard her affairs with multiple men at once, but she rejected and laughed in his face when he proposed to her.
• Stealing the Credit: Elaine and Rosamund got into a feud during their university years when they accused each other of stealing their coursework. While nothing was proven, this still put a permanent park on Rosamund's record that prevented her from getting a better job than being a high school principal.
• Suburbia: Fairview is described to be a fancy neighborhood full of Big Fancy Houses and other qualms.
• Surprise Party: During the Additional Investigation, Jones throws the player a surprise party celebrating their return to Grimsborough.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Rupert at first refuses to Amir's offer to put a VR headset due to not understanding what it is, although he latter agrees.
• Terrible Pick-Up Lines: Gloria thinks this of the medical joke in Martine's date's Timber bio, although Martine finds it endearing.
  Martine: It was looking so promising, too! The guy had a medical joke in his Timber bio: "Blood is red, cyanosis is blue, I get tachycardia when I think of you!"
  Gloria: Girl, THAT's your idea of a promising date?
• That Came Out Wrong: Dr. Greg Gibbs has one of these when you inform him of the murder.
  Greg: But I saw her just earlier today! She only had a case of the flu! She can't be dead!
  Gloria: Ahem, my bad, Dr Gibbs. I should clarify that Mrs Seabrook was, in fact, murdered.
  Greg: Oh, thank God!
  I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way.
• We Used to Be Friends: Elaine and Rosamund used to be friends and companions in their university cheerleading squad before they got into a feud as described in Stealing the Credit above.