Jones and the player rush to the animal control facility where the Demon Fish are being held after hearing of Mayor Price's assassination from Benjamin Fletcher. There, they find Martha's body floating in one of the Demon Fish water tanks, half-eaten alive by the aquatic creatures after being pushed in.
Tropes:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Not that she was very humble to being with, but Lola has really been embracing the fact she got rid of the Demon Fish in the previous case, letting everyone about it at the start.
- Apathetic Citizens: While this isn't that rare in the franchise, this case deserves a special mention due to the fact the victim is the city mayor herself, as none of the suspects (and even the press) mourn for her death due to her having a beef with every single one of them.
- Back for the Finale: Ernest Emerson, Patricia P. Harris, Benjamin Fletcher, Lola Vallez, and Ray Parker all reappear as suspects in this case, which is the last one set in Maple Heights. Mortimer Pickering also makes another appearance during the Additional Investigation.
- Beardness Protection Program: As part of his Mortimer disguise, Rupert is required to sport a fake beard.
- Blame Game: Benjamin had been blaming Martha for Penny's death due to filling her head with ideas of civil duty, which led to Penny investigating the dognapper and ultimately being murdered for it. As a result, this gets him marked as a strong suspect.
- Book Burning: Despite Patricia being one of her biggest supporters and financiers in her political campaign, Martha still decided to ban her books from public libraries due to "corrupting the mind of the young" due to their raunchy nature, something that didn't sit well with Patricia, who made a piñata of Martha's head to let off steam. She later attempts to revert this decision by stealing the mayoral seal from her body, but she's caught.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: Lola seems to have a very low alcohol tolerance, since she gets absolutely plastered on champagne to the point she can barely speak and even vomits all over Jones' shoes.
- The Climax: For Maple Heights.
- Connected All Along: Martha, the mayoral candidate you met in Season 1, and Ernest, the Antarctica scientist with a minor appearance back in Season 3, are actually cousins. Who would've thought?
- Continuity Nod:
- This isn't the first time Patricia has been caught stealing because of her novels. She's even confronted and fined during the Additional Investigation just like the aforementioned instance.
- Jones' love for celebrity gossip magazines is brought up again when he tells you one of them reported Lola buying the entire stock of her favorite perfume after it got discontinued.
- Martine recalls this isn't the first City Hall member you've sent to her.
- Devoured by the Horde: Martha's body is found half-eaten by the Demon Fish, with chunks of her legs, arms, torso, and even a cheek already devoured by them. Thankfully, it seems she died pretty quickly because of the neurotoxin according to Martine.
- Didn't Think This Through: As Judge Powell points during his trial, Ernest freeing the Demon Fish from the underwater cave actually did more harm than good in his quest to preserve the species, as they could've keep living peacefully among the Xerdan ruins with no one to bother them.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: What Jones thinks of Ernest being the one responsible from freeing the Demon Fish into the Grimsborough waters and murdering the mayor.Jones: Dr. Emerson always struck me as eccentric, but I never thought he'd be capable of killing someone!
And not only that, we've discovered he was the one who blew a hole in the underwater cavern and released the Demon Fish in the first place!
Who would've thought it? Especially after he helped us save Martine when she was bitten! - Early-Bird Cameo: Barb Bellamy, the head of security of DreamLife's dome, makes an unnamed cameo picking up Rupert disguised as Mortimer to take him under the dome before being properly introduced in the next case.
- Endangered Species: Martha actually intended to exterminate the Demon Fish after giving the press a tour around the animal control facilities, which put him at odds with her cousin Ernest and ultimately led to him killing her when she caught Ernest trying to free them back into the river.
- For Science!: Ernest is revealed to be the one who unleashed the Demon Fish into the river in the first place all to prove their existence, not caring about the consequences or how dangerous they could be, which ultimately led to multiple deaths because of their poisonous bite.Jones: So you found an ancient species that you knew nothing about, and you thought it'd be a good idea to release them into the city's water supply?!
Ernest: It was for science! But then you had to get involved and capture them, <Player's Name>!
Jones: Yes, because they were killing people! - Foreshadowing: Coupled with a dose of Tempting Fate, Cathy warns Rupert to not let anyone see him talking to the police department through the Hidden Wire she's installed in his watch, or else he could get in trouble with DreamLife. Come Case 32, and this is exactly what happens.
- Gadget Watches: During the Additional Investigation, Cathy modifies Rupert's watch with a Hidden Wire so he'll be able to communicate with the team while inside the dome.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Lola accuses the mayor of being this because she rejected Lola's proposal of building a stature commemorating her, although it's clear Lola is just making stuff up.
- Interspecies Romance: During the Additional Investigation, Patricia tells you her next book will be about a woman falling in love with a fish.
- Karmic Death: Whether she deserved it or not is up to debate, but the way Martha died after trying to exterminate the Demon Fish species can be seen as an example of this Trope. Ernest certainly thinks it is.Jones: So you pushed her! You let her be eaten by the Demon Fish!
Ernest: It was a fitting end for her! Killed by the very creatures she wanted to murder! - Lampshade Hanging: When you discover a series of text messages between Martha and Ernest that show they had a fight before her death, Jones says he's tired of suspects always lying to you, which is a commonplace in the series where the suspects never tell you the full relationship they had with the victim during their first interrogation.
- Last Episode, New Character: Joe Warren, Martha's vice-mayor is introduced in this case during the Additional Investigation, taking the helm as Grimsborough's interim mayor until new elections can be held.
- Media Scrum: One is held at the beginning of Chapter 2 when news about Martha's death break out, with Chief Parker forcing a very nervous Jones to take care of it.
- The Mourning After: Benjamin is still in pain after Penny's death, to the point he sent her newspaper obituary to the mayor of all people blaming her for the death.
- Murder in the Family: Martha was killed by Ernest, her own cousin.
- Noodle Incident: After Jones addresses several news reporters asking for questions about the mayor's death, he says he hasn't been this nervous since he played a donkey in his school's nativity play.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: One of the killer's traits is that they sweat a lot, and as such, many of your suspects are seen doing it.Lola: Today's the WORST! I'm sweating like... like a sinner in church! AND my s-sunscreen's run out!
- Performance Anxiety: Jones suffers from this when he's forced to address the Media Scrum regarding Martha's death.
- Picnic Episode: The case and most of the crime scenes take place during a picnic held by Martha, who organized it to celebrate the capture of the Demon Fish.
- Pyrrhic Victory: After years of work, Ernest manages to prove the world that prehistoric species are capable of still existing. However, this ends up coming at the cost of murdering his own cousin, indirectly killing the dozens of people the Demon Fish killed, getting sent to prison for life, and having the fish sent to an aquarium instead of letting them live free inside the Xerdan caves like they did for hundreds of years.
- I Should Write a Book About This: When you inform her of Martha's death, Patricia says she's always wanted to write a steamy City Hall romance novel, and is planning to name a character after the mayor in her next book.
- Shout-Out:
- Joe Warren resembles Adrien Brody.
- Brolex is a parody of Rolex.
- Patricia's next novel idea involves a woman falling in love with a fish.
- Ray's interactions with Mayor Price evoke Captain Holt and Madeline Wuntch's rivalry.
- Shrine to Self: Lola had requested Martha to build a statue of her as a commemoration, but Martha rejected the proposal due to the statue breaking height rules, which greatly upset the diva.
- Signature Scent: Lola becomes a suspect when you find traces of Diva by Bucci in Martha's hat, a perfume that got discontinued and so Lola bought the entire remaining stock for herself, pretty much making it exclusive to her.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Turns out Ray and Martha had this kind of relationship, being incapable of standing each other due to Martha finding his proposals in the City Hall reunions so tedious she started holding said reunions without inviting him.
- Skewed Priorities: When you inform Lola of Martha's murder, the first thing she worries about is whether this means the picnic will stop serving champagne, and so she rushes to get a refill.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Ernest effectively had this overall, as he was willing to let free a species of fish he didn't know much about For Science!, didn't give a rat's ass about all the people they killed, and then murdered Martha to release the Demon Fish and prevent them from being killed, even knowing now how dangerous they could be.
- Volleying Insults: You find a recording of Ray and Martha throwing these to each other, which is how you find about their status as Sitcom Archnemesis.Martha: You know I despise lilies, Ray! They reek of death!
Ray: Quite, just like your breath. And their vibrant orange color reminds me of the burning fires of hell, where you're headed for serving your guests prosecco instead of champagne!
Martha: How long did it take you to think up that insult, Ray? You're sweating with exertion!
Besides, your name would've never made it onto the guest list if I still had an assistant!
Ray: Well, I see you're still as salty as those olives they're serving. - Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Lola visibly pukes all over Jones' shoes when she appears drunk at the start of Chapter 3.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Ernest claims to be saddened about Martha's due to being cousins, when in fact he's the one who murdered her.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Benjamin says this word for word when you arrive to collect Martha's body, claiming he had nothing to do with her death.
