Title: Spur ins Nicht (German), Evil Games (English)
Book: #120
Radio Play: #121
Author: André Marx
Summary
Official SummaryJupiter is trapped! Disoriented and missing his memories, he wakes up in a cold, dark, and locked room. Has the First Investigator been kidnapped and taken to a secret hideout? And who is the young man trapped with him? Can he really not remember anything? Or does he know more than he lets on?
The Three Investigators become embroiled in a mysterious case in which they have to use their wits to track down the perpetrator. And not shy away from anything…
Tropes:
- Adaptation Deviation: In the radio play, Pete gets his injury when the pipe recoils onto his arm when he tries to open the door (Jupe didn't help him open it). As a result, Leah didn't try to sabotage the elevator (though instead stealthily called it) and Jupe didn't realize that someone was a mole.
- And You Thought It Was Real: Both Jupiter and Pete thought the whole ordeal of missing memories and being locked in a room were real, but it turns out it was a convoluted plot by Jonathan Thorndike to check to see if the memory solution had worked after Pete and Jupiter discovered that he and Leah were tampering with the lights.
- Mrs. Boyde was practicing her lines for her new role which involved being murdered by someone. Bob and Jelena both thought she was actually being attacked.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Shawn's perceived character is this, where he seems to be skeptical and distrustful of anyone. Shawn the person is actually pretty nice.
- Call-Back: How both Jupiter and Pete lost their memory. In a previous case, Tal des Schreckens, the victims has been administered a drug that erased their memories. It turns out Thorndike had the same connections and used enough of a dosage to erase their memories for the last twenty four hours, but he wasn't sure if it worked, hence the Saws-like setup. It was the only way he could think of to check if they had really forgotten everything. And just like the victims of Tal des Schrekens, both Jupe and Pete never recover their memories.
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Completely Different Title: In the American release of the book, it is retitled to 'Evil Games' (Spur ins Nicht means 'Nowhere to go'). - Everyone Knows Morse: Jupe and Pete use an extensive amount of Morse to communicate with each other by knocking on the water pipes connecting their rooms.
- I Will Find You: It's Bob's turn to try find his missing friends after he returns home from Idaho to find that they have been both missing.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Thorndike used a memory solution to erase the past twenty four hours for both Jupe and Pete.
- Locked in a Room: Jupe and Pete, along with three other people, are mysteriously locked underground at what seems to be a warehouse.
- Master Actor: Both Shawn and Jolene had pretty believable personalities and acting skills despite still being in school, enough for Jupiter and Pete to believe their situation was real. Leah was decent at acting, but simply tried to keep to herself.
- Master of Unlocking: Pete manages to use a Improvised Lockpick by salvaging pieces from a broken camera to open the door.
- Method Acting: There's even a whole school dedicated to method acting. Both Jelena and Shawn are ones too.
- The Mole: After Pete falls from the elevator shaft, Jupiter determines that someone must have activated the elevator to startle him into falling. It turns out to be Leah, though she didn't mean for Pete to get hurt.
- Mysterious Note: Jupe remembers writing a note and hiding it in his shoe when his memory got erased. The note was for his future self, which had his memories erased: "Don't trust Jonathan Thorndike."
- Nice Girl: Jolene's character seems to be the kind, empathetic one. It's not too far from her original personality, as she was the one who wanted to call off the production when Pete got injured.
- Perspective Flip: Swaps two stories being told: Jupe and Pete trying to find a way out and Bob and Jelena trying to find them.
- The Reveal: Jupe and Pete realizing that the whole scene they had been trapped in was apparently an experimental film project by Jonathan Thorndike and that nothing about their situation was real.
- Spanner in the Works: Pete. Thorndike hadn't counted on him to be so good at lockpicking. Leah was supposed to be the one who let everyone out, but because of Pete's skills, everyone got out of the rooms early and ended up derailing what Thorndike and Leah had planned.
