Despite the title of the case and what his appearance might suggest, he wasn't actually killed with a knife.
Plastic surgeon Alan Cardwell is found dead behind an alley.
Tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: This is the only reason why Samantha was Alan's mistress.Samantha: Of course I was dating Alan! He was a great womanizer, and I have a weak spot for strong, confident men...
- Call-Back: Joshua Kempe and his barbershop appear after being mentioned in Case 4.
- Continuity Nod: The victim is found in the same alley Dan Broke was stabbed.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Rachel Priest can be seen on a TV screen inside the barbershop before she's properly introduced in Case 13.
- Improvised Weapon: The victim was stabbed and killed with a church candlestick.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Paul caught Alan and Samantha having sex, though he still gave Alan the opportunity to back off before he actually decided to kill him.
- Love Dodecahedron: Alan, Curtis, and Paul all loved Samantha, who in return loved them too. Then there's also Alan's wife, Sarah, thrown into the mix. Jones gets mortified when Joshua tells him he visits Samantha too (which ends up being for business reasons), thinking it could actually get worse.
- The Mistress: Samantha for Alan.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Paul killed Alan because he was seeing Samantha.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Jones tricks Paul into admitting his guilt with this:Jones: I bet you won't look so smug when we show the court the fingerprints we found on the murder weapon.
Paul: You lie! There weren't any prints on that candlestick.
Jones: But how did you know the murder weapon was a candlestick? Nobody but us knew that fact.
Paul: ... - Now You Tell Me: After Grace informs you that Joshua's scissors only contained sanitizer.Grace: I don't get it: what exactly were you looking for?
Jones: Er... lice...?
Grace: Now you're telling me?!
* Really Gets Around: Samantha. Over the course of the case, you learn about three of her lovers, and it's obvious that they aren't all of them. - Shout-Out:
- In the Backstreet scene, one of the hidden items is a shadowy bat overlooking the crime scene, which looks suspiciously like the silhouette of the Dark Knight. Makes one wonder how come Grimsborough's crime rate hasn't gone down if he's around...
- In the same scene there is a graffiti of a simplistic teal ghost.
- In the Pew scene, Grumpy Cat is seen in the church rafters.
- The Garbage Bin scene has a familiar red cape as a hidden item, as well as Aladdin's lamp.
- Sarah Cardwell resembles and shares her first name with Sarah Palin.
- Also, both her and her late husband share their first names with Sarah Whittle and Alan Parrish from Jumanji, and Alan physically resembles Robin Williams, who portrayed Parrish in Jumanji.
- Paul Oaster resembles and is named after Paul Auster.
- In the Backstreet scene, one of the hidden items is a shadowy bat overlooking the crime scene, which looks suspiciously like the silhouette of the Dark Knight. Makes one wonder how come Grimsborough's crime rate hasn't gone down if he's around...
- Standalone Episode: Despite being sandwiched between both cases that serve as the climax of the three-way Mob War between The Vipers, The Skulls, and the Italian Mafia, this case has nothing to do with the Industrial Area Story Arc and instead focuses on a stand-alone conflict of a Love Dodecahedron.
- Suddenly Shouting: Ramirez shouts to stop a fight between Joshua and Curtis after the latter accuses the former of giving him lice.
- Taking the Veil: Subverted. Samantha appears to become a nun at the end of the case in an effort to change her promiscuous lifestyle, but reveals that she was just preparing for a movie role.Samantha: Me? A nun? Ha ha, no. I'm just preparing for a small movie role, but I'm flattered you believed it,
- Women Prefer Strong Men: Apparently Samantha only has eyes for strong, violent men. That's why she was seeing Alan, Curtis, and Paul at the same time.
