Recap / Criminal Case: The Conspiracy - Case 31: Domesday

Jones: A murder under the dome? This is our chance to get in there, <Player's Name>! DreamLife can't deny us entry to the dome if we have a warrant to investigate a murder!

Three days have passed since Rupert infiltrated DreamLife under the guise of Mortimer Pickering, and the police department finally hears from him when he contacts them to report that a murder has occurred under the dome. Seeing this as an opportunity to finally investigate DreamLife's business with the meteorite, Jones and the player rush to the dome with the excuse of solving the crime, where they find the body of DreamLife manager Fred Drucker electrocuted to death.

Tropes:

• Accent Interest: During his second interrogation, Rupert tells you he butted heads with Fred after he constantly imitated and mocked his British accent.
• Admiring the Abomination: Despite pertaining to the sketchy and possibly illegal company of DreamLife, Jones, Martine, and Cathy can't help but find the dome awe-inspiring due to its structural marvel.
• Alliterative Name: Barb Bellamy.
• Big "NO!": Kai screams this as his last line when he freaks out at the prospect of you working for Rozetta, since he considers her The Dreaded and fears she's going to kill him.
• Call-Back: Rozetta Pierre and Barb Bellamy reappear as suspects.
• City in a Bottle: DreamLife's dome could be described as one of these, which makes sense considering the massive amount of scientists and other staff members that need accommodation.
  Jones: It looks like there's a little city here under the dome! Look at all these buildings and science-y structures!
• Classified Information: Throughout the case, DreamLife's employees that become suspects refuse to tell you anything regarding the meteorite or what's being done with it, citing that they're only allowed to speak with you about the murder and nothing else.
  Jones: Yes, speaking of geology, does your research by any chance involve the meteori-
  Ernesto: I have to stop you there. I know I must cooperate with the police about the murder, but I'm not authorized to discuss anything else.
  We have strict instructions here about what information we share! And unless you want to detain me for a crime, you can't make me talk!
• Cliffhanger: The case ends with the police department rushing back to the dome after losing connection with Rupert's Hidden Wire while he's speaking with them and someone catches him in the act, leaving his fate unknown.
• Companion Cube: Kai Gruber has one in the form of a lava lamp called Benny Lava, which according to Dr. Kelly was the only thing keeping him somewhat sane before his Freak Out.
• Construction Is Awesome: Dan Scruffinsky, the architect behind the dome project, certainly thinks this about his creation, to the point he often refers to the dome as his baby and even murdered Fred when he tried to seize it away from him.
  Dan: Officers, isn't my dome beautiful? And, what's more, it's highly functional! I'm so glad outsiders can marvel at my creation!
• Continuity Nod: Amir recalls how you found a bunch of radioactive mushrooms before while investigating the samples of radioactive material sent to him.
• Control Freak: Fred was apparently this towards DreamLife's employees working under him, such as scolding Dr. Vega for leaving his multivitamin powder in his lab and threatening to relocate his assistants yet still expecting him to comply with deadlines, or trying to manage the dome structure despite that being Dan's job. It's one of the reasons why Dan murdered him.
  Dan: One day, that loser just shows up in MY dome like he owns the place! He had to be seen everywhere! He had to look like he was in charge of everything or the dome would crumble!
• The Dreaded: Rozetta is this for Kai Gruber, a former DreamLife scientist who went insane and is now admitted into a mental hospital.
  Gloria: That poor man! He's clearly terrified of Rozetta Pierre. We know she could be a task master, but he thinks she can track him down and hurt him or something!
• Fire Alarm Distraction: During the investigation, an emergency drill leads to Barb ordering Jones and the player move somewhere else until it's done, something Jones finds a little too convenient and assumes Barb deliberately activated the drill to distract you from snooping inside the dome.
• Forbidden Zone: The dome apparently has many of these (with an obvious one being the meteorite room), where not even high-ranking staff members such as Fred are allowed to enter. Didn't stop him from still trying, though, which greatly annoyed Barb.
• Freak Out: You meet Kai Gruber during the Additional Investigation, an Austrian scientist who went insane while working under the dome and is now admitted into a psychiatric ward. The reasons for him going crazy aren't left very clear, but his dialogue implies it has something to do with Rozetta.
• Gadgeteer Genius: One of the killer's traits is that they know electronics, since they built the stun gun used to kill the victim seemingly from various other electronic tools.
• Get Out!: Rozetta orders you get out of the dome during the Additional Investigation, as the murder has been solved and thus you have no more warrant to stay inside.
• Gift-Giving Gaffe: Barb mockingly gifted Fred a pacifier as a way of calling him a big baby, since she caught him video chatting with his mother despite personal communication with people outside the dome being restricted.
• Healing Factor: During the Additional Investigation, Amir accidentally discovers that the radiation emitted by the meteorite apparently has healing properties, as a potted plant with root rot in his lab suddenly turned greener and healthier after spending some time near the samples you sent to him.
• High-Voltage Death: Fred died after being electrocuted with a homemade stun gun.
• Imported Alien Phlebotinum: The radioactivity emitted by the meteorite apparently has healing properties, which seems to be what DreamLife is investigating and exploiting under the dome.
• It's All My Fault: Surprisingly, Barb accepts the responsibility for allowing a murder to occur under the dome, since she's DreamLife's chief of security and thus it's her job to prevent those from happening.
• Malicious Slander: Dan ultimately killed Fred when he discovered he was planning on badmouthing him to Rozetta, as Fred wanted her to fire Dan to seize control of the dome's infrastructure.
• Mean Boss: Rozetta seems to have quite the reputation among the dome inhabitants, a clear example being the victim himself, since Rozetta considered asking for evenings off to be a very big request from him
  Cathy: Not quite that bad, but the emails read like they were written by a Marine drill sergeant. Very exacting!
  Ms. Pierre even threatened to fire him if he stirred her vitamin powder drinks counterclockwise!
• Meddlesome Patrolman: Barb Bellamy, the chief of security at DreamLife, constantly follows you around throughout the case to make sure you don't enter into any of the dome's Forbidden Zones, and even attempts you get you kicked out at first before Jones shuts her off.
• Momma's Boy: Barb called Fred this, since she caught him video chatting with his mother despite dome protocols restricting communication with people outside of it. It's the reason why she "gifted" him a pacifier.
• Not Proven: Rozetta manages to get you off her tail and kick you out of the dome with this, claiming there's not proof of DreamLife doing anything illegal and thus there's no reason for you to keep snooping around after the murder is solved.
  Rozetta: Demand all you like! There's no crime here, so you don't have a warrant to touch any research, and I'm not about to place groundbreaking discoveries in police hands!
• One of Our Own: Rupert (under the guise of Dr. Pickering) becomes a suspect in this case, although he's not actually treated as a serious one since his interrogations are mostly for Jones and the player to speak with him without raising suspicion.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: A variation. When Jones threatens to arrest Rozetta for misleading the public by lying about what's under the dome, she taunts and dares him to try take DreamLife, a company that pays tons of taxes to the city, to court.
• Shaped Like Itself: When Martine asks you what is like under the dome, Jones responds it's like "being under a glass dome full of mysteries."
• Shout-Out:
  • Dan Scruffinsky resembles Walter White.
  • In the Billiard Table scene, there is a poster of a mushroom resembling the one in Super Mario World.
  • The psychiatric hospital visited in the case is called Bromden.
  • Blue Star is a parody of Playstation.
• Stealing the Credit: Fred attempted to take seize of the control from its architect Dan and claim it was all his work, which led to Dan murdering him.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. You speak with Dr. Catherine Kelly during the Additional Investigation, a therapist currently working for DreamLife who Rozetta hired after Kai suffered a Freak Out and went insane. According to Dr. Kelly, no other scientist has suffered the same since she arrived.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: During his first interrogation, Ernesto corrects Jones when he calls him Mr. Vega, insisting on being called Dr. Vega.
• We Do Not Know Each Other: Rupert and the player pretend to not know each other to avoid raising suspicion during his interrogations.
• Your Magic's No Good Here: Barb attempts to kick Jones and the player out of the dome at the start of the case by claiming she can take care of the case and this is not their jurisdiction. Jones quickly shuts her off by reminding her that Misty Grove, the district where the dome is located, is still part of Grimsborough and so the police is allowed to investigate if they want.