Recap / Criminal Case: The Conspiracy - Case 28: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...

Martine, Jones, and the player decide to go diving into the flooded streets of Maple Heights to look for clues regarding the person responsible for releasing the Demon Fish from an underground cavern into the Grimsborough waters. However, they get stopped in their tracks when they find the floating body of landlord Joshua Gibson with a bullet wound to the heart.

Tropes:

• Accidental Pun: When you find a pirate flag altered to look like the victim's head, Jones has this to say:
  Jones: Apparently, someone had a bone to pick with Joshua Gibson, no pun intended.
• Ambiguously Evil: After Martine gets cured, she tells the team she saw Chief Parker's husband Ray swimming near the Demon Fish cave, and even claims Ray swam away from her after seeing her. According to Ray, he only did so to investigate who released the fish in the first place, but it's left unclear if he had anything to do with it.
• Asshole Victim: You learn throughout the case that Joshua was an extremely selfish, unpleasant, and outright disgusting person, which gave every suspect in this case a solid motivation to kill him.
• Attack on the Heart: Joshua died after being shot in the heart with an antique gun.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!:
  • Jones has two in quick succession: first when Glen offers him a discount car during his interrogation, and later when you go investigate the boardwalks and see the Black Sparrow bar/ship.
  • Benjamin reveals the Demon Fish are very attracted to shiny things, to the point they lay their eggs on shiny objects found in the water, which is how you manage to recover some for the antidote.
• The Bartender: Carl Rossa, owner of the Black Sparrow pirate bar.
• Big Damn Heroes: Ernest and Benjamin come to the department's rescue during the Additional Investigation to help you create an antidote for the Demon Fish neurotoxin and save Martine, with Ernest giving you his unfinished serum and Benjamin telling you where to find Demon Fish eggs to complete it.
• Blackmail Backfire: Joshua tried to blackmail Carl into cutting him in on his rum sales, as if he didn't, Joshua would use an ancient maritime law to take the Black Sparrow. Carl decided a bullet to the heart would be the better solution.
• The Bully: Joshua was this for Ernest when they attended elementary school together. Age didn't seem to make things better between them, though, as Joshua continued mocking Ernest and his research after he returned to Grimsborough.
• The Bus Came Back: Patricia P. Harris and Dr. Ernest Emerson return from Cases 43 of Season 1 and Season 3, respectively.
• Call-Back: Ray Parker and Benjamin Fletcher reappear during the Additional Investigation.
• Contrived Coincidence: Ernest Emerson, the scientist you met back in Antarctica for a seemingly a single unimportant appearance, is revealed to hail from Grimsborough and have extensive knowledge regarding the Demon Fish.
• Cool Boat: The Black Sparrow, Carl Rossa's pirate ship that also doubles as a bar.
• Cranky Landlord: The victim was the owner of Doreo Drive, a portion of Maple Heights that he rented to other business such as Glen's luxury cars and Carl's bar. However, he was also neglectful and outright abusive with his deals, as he failed to insurance Glen's lot and thus made him lose almost everything when the flood hit and tried to take Carl's ship away from him.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Turns out, Ernest's fear about prehistoric animals returning wasn't that far-fetched after all.
  Ernest: Remember what I feared in Antarctica, <Player's Name>! That prehistoric beasts would return from the past? Well, this time I'm right!
  The Demon Fish are back! And in my hometown to boot! As soon as I heard, I returned to Grimsborough to investigate!
• Damsel in Distress: Starting from Chapter 3, Martine gets poisoned by the Demon Fish neurotoxing and thus in danger of dying until Rupert manages to create an antidote in the Additional Investigation.
• A Day in the Limelight: Rupert gets the spotlight in the second half of the case after Martine gets poisoned by the Demon Fish, leaving him to try and find a cure for her.
• Didn't See That Coming: Mortimer Pickering arriving earlier to Grimsborough is this for both the police department and DreamLife; the former because they now have even less time for Rupert to prepare and formulate a plan to intercept Mortimer, and the latter because Mortimer didn't notify DreamLife of his premature arrival and thus the department now has the upper hand against them since they're the only ones to know about it.
• Everyone Went to School Together: Joshua and Ernest were classmates back in elementary school, where Joshua often bullied and mocked him.
• Facepalm: Carl gives one of these after Will the parrot gives him away as the murderer. So does Will.
• Fanboy: Joshua was this for Patricia, although his admiration soon crossed into stalkerish levels.
• Find the Cure!: Martine gets bit by a Demon Fish at the end of Chapter 2, prompting Rupert to spend most of Chapter 3 and the Additional Investigation creating a cure to save her. He succeeds.
• Friendly Pirate: Carl Rossa is pretty polite and amicable, although this didn't stop him from killing Joshua after he tried to blackmail him.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: Chief Parker calls her husband by his full name (Ray Cornelius Parker) when he confirms he went swimming in the flood waters to look for clues regarding the Demon Fish.
• The Illegal: Ruth Matuszak, the waitress at the Black Sparrow, is an illegal immigrant from the Caribbean, which made Joshua attempt to report her to the authorities so she'd be deported. Ruth claims she's just waiting for her approval hearing for a permanent visa, but it's not made clear if she's telling the truth in the end.
• Improbable Antidote: In a way. Rupert ends up using eggs from the Demon Fish as an activating agent for the antidote against their neurotoxin.
• Insane Troll Logic: Before she's cured, Rita says that, if Martine dies from the Demon Fish, she'll set the river on fire.
• Instant Death Bullet: During the autopsy, Martine says there wasn't any water in Joshua's lungs, meaning he died from the bullet before falling into the flooded street.
• Loony Laws: Joshua attempted to use an obscure maritime law that gave him the right to seize Carl's pirate ship since it was on his property (and apparently was his property as soon as Carl dropped anchor), which led to Carl murdering him.
• Missed Him by That Much: When you discover Mortimer has prematurely arrived to Grimsborough, you track him all the way to the Black Sparrow only to miss him by mere moments, although you stumble onto his lost phone that allows you to discover what hotel he's staying at.
• Not in Front of the Parrot!: While denying having committed the murder during his arrest, Carl's pet parrot ends up outing him as the murderer, which means he most likely killed Joshua with the bird present.
  Parrot: Carl shot Gibson! Carl shot Gibson! Squawk!
  Carl: Quiet, you stupid bird!
  
  Jones: But why? Just because he wanted a cut of your profit?
  Parrot: Legal papers! Legal papers!
  Carl: Shut up, Will! Or so help me, I'll wring your neck!
• Photo Montage: Cathy finds one inside the victim's tablet with edited pictures of Patricia's head in nude bodies, letting you discover his admiration for her went beyond being a simple fan.
• Pirate Parrot: Carl has one named Will, which repeats most of what he says. He latter outs him as the killer during his arrest.
• Race Against the Clock: Martine has only a few hours left to live before she dies from the Demon Fish neurtoxin, leaving Rupert scrambling to find the cure.
• Stalker with a Crush: Joshua had one of these with Patricia. A very bad one with Patricia.
• Shout-Out:
  • More than a few to Pirates of the Caribbean.
    • The case's title comes from the franchise's film of the same name.
    • The victim, Joshua Gibson, is a parody of Joshamee Gibbs.
    • Glen Coleman resembles Johnny Depp, who portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow. He also bears a resemblance to Sanji.
    • Carl Rossa is a parody of Hector Barbossa. He runs a ship called the Black Sparrow, named after the Black Pearl and Jack Sparrow, and owns a parrot named Will, referencing Will Turner.
    • Ruth Matuszak is a parody of Angelica.
    • Davy Jones is mentioned.
  • The returning Patricia P. Harris resembles Jessica Fletcher, and her books Thirty Tones of Blue and Thirty Tones Lighter are parodies of Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker respectively. She also mentions another author named K. J. Howling.
  • Doreo Drive is a parody of Rodeo Drive.
  • Purrari is a parody of Ferrari.
  • Weston Smith is a parody of Smith & Wesson.
• Unishment: Carl considers his prison sentence this, claiming during his trial that killing Joshua was Worth It and that he and the Black Sparrow will return after getting out of prison.
• Wham Line: At the end of Chapter 2/start of Chapter 3, Martine delivers one that kickstarts the Find the Cure! plot of the second half of the case.
  Martine: I... went back diving underwater. To explore the cavern entrance and find out who released the Demon Fish...
  But I... I got bit.
• Who Murdered the Asshole: Joshua was a Cranky Landlord who didn't properly insure Glen's property and thus made him lose millions after the flood washed away all his cars then told him to deal with it himself, bullied Dr. Emerson throughout elementary school then kept mocking him after he returned to Grimsborough despite being full-fledged adults, constantly sexually harassed Patricia by sending her suggestive photo montages of her naked and saying he wanted to do the things in her books with her, wanted to deport Ruth back to the Caribbean even after she told him she was waiting for her visa, and attempted to seize Carl's ship citing an obscure law just because Carl wouldn't let himself be blackmailed by him.