Recap / Criminal Case: Mysteries of the Past - Case 13: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Maddie: Anyhow, I'm as excited as a frog in a sock about the World Exhibition. It's due to open in just a few days' time!

Upon arriving to Century Mile, Maddie and the player decide to take a stroll around the district, which soon will be holding the famous, technology and science-focused World Exhibition in a few days. However, their stroll gets promptly interrupted when, while passing by the unfinished Crystal Palace, a crash sound alerts them of the murder of leading architect and teacher Norah Barnlow, dead after being crushed by a glass pane.

Tropes

• Call-Back: Eleanor Halsted, Cornelius Castletown, and Katherine Woolf reappear as suspects.
• Coordinated Clothes: Evie◊ and her twin brother Nicholas◊ dress almost the same, the only difference being the style of brown vests they wear over their white shirts.
• Cutting Corners: Gus Smiffel, one of the workers aiding with the Crystal Palace, claims that, since Norah was under so much pressure about finishing the project in time, she had started doing this, including forcing her workers to perform "shoddy work" that put their lives in danger.
• Death from Above: The victim was killed by having a glass pane dropped onto her after the killer cut off the rope holding it.
• Door Slam of Rage: Mayor Castletown does this after his reunion with Chief Wright, angry at the fact that no one informed him about the murder of the Crystal Palace's leading architect and how the reputation of the World Exhibition is now in danger.
• Dramatic Shattering: Maddie and the player are alerted of the murder after hearing the loud crash of the glass pane falling.
• Driven to Suicide: Henrietta's father committed suicide after he was relegated from the Crystal Palace project in favor of Norah, something that made Henrietta perform worse in her studies and put her at odds against Norah.
• Guest-Star Party Member:
  • Once again, Diego performs an analysis for the Flying Squad without being an official member.
  • Justin Lawson and Evie's brother Nicholas join you during the Additional Investigation to help finish the Crystal Palace project so Justin can gain the Mayor's approbation to become the new judge.
• Hidden Weapons: You find an umbrella concealing a blade on the tip that Chief Halsted gifted the victim as a security measure for her preoccupations of being in danger.
• Incompatible Orientation: Katherine was in love with the victim, and even tried to flirt with her after mistaking her for a lesbian, which Norah found to be appalling.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Maddie gets hit with this after trying to claim that, fortunately, the Norah's death hasn't reached the ears of the people in charge of the World Exhibition.
  Maddie: We're lucky the news hasn't gotten out yet. Perhaps we can solve this murder without putting a dampener on the World Exhibition open-
  Evie: Uh, <Player's Name>? I hate to interrupt, but Mayor Castletown is here. He's in the Chief's office... and he doesn't look too pleased.
• Lampshade Hanging: Maddie has two in this case: first she claims that the Squad doesn't need to buy a copy of the Concordian Gazette since you keep finding them scattered as clues, and later that your attraction to trash cans "is beyond her" when you pick up one as a clue too.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Katherine is revealed to be one when you find she tried to court the victim with an expensive gift.
• Malevolent Architecture: Gus Smiffel, one of the laborers working in the Crystal Palace, claims that Norah's vision of the building eventually became this, and that the structure was so dangerous and unstable that he and the other workers went on a strike demanding the Crystal Palace to be taken down. However, he has a change of mind after Evie's brother Nicholas (also an architect) takes over the project and adds some modifications to make it safer.
• Mistaken for Thief: Charlie gets mistaken for one by Viola after she assumes someone boarded the Squad's airship and stole some of her samples, which he was actually using to test his DNA machine for the World Exhibition.
• Never My Fault: Despite being in charge of the World Exhibition security, Chief Halsted refuses to take blame for Norah's murder, which is even more jarring due to the fact that Norah had alerted Halsted that she was in danger of being murdered.
• Oh, Crap!: Henrietta has this reaction when she lets slip information that confirms she's the killer.
  Maddie: Let us cease this charade! We found the threat you left in Norah's planner, in which you accidentally revealed your fear of heights!
  Henrietta: Now you're just plain lying! My note didn't even mention my fear of-
  Oops...
• Police Are Useless: What Maddie thinks of Chief Halsted's less-than-stellar work regarding the security of the World Exhibition, which is so lackluster and apathetic it led to the victim's death.
  Maddie: Our victim clearly felt threatened, but when she approached Chief Inspector Halsted for help, all she got was an umbrella!
• Pulled from Your Day Off: Maddie and the player are enjoying their day off taking a stroll around the district before they stumble onto the murder.
• Self-Harm: Dick does this by cutting his own face with a glass pane to reenact how the victim was murdered, harming himself but managing to find a lead about the killer.
• Ship Tease: A minor one between Charlie and Maddie, as Charlie appears to be jealous of Maddie going out to have tea and cake with a friend until she clarifies it was with a lady friend.
• Shout-Out:
  • Gus Smiffel is named after Gustave Eiffel.
  • Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream are mentioned.
• Slave to PR:
  • Chief Halsted becomes mortified when you inform her about Norah's death, since that means she failed her job as the one in charge of the World Exhibition's security and fears that Mayor Castletown "is going to have her guts".
  • Mayor Castletown also becomes agitated due to Norah's death, since that means the Crystal Palace, which is supposed to be done by the time the World Exhibition starts in two days, is being delayed until further notice.
• Someone Has to Do It: After Judge Takakura announces his imminent retirement, Justin Lawson steps in as a candidate for new judge, claiming that the whole Mr. Alastor fiasco has made him reassess his priorities and wants to make a difference in the community.
• Stern Teacher: The victim was also an architecture teacher who, if Henrietta's testimony is to be believed, was harsh enough she didn't care about her father's death taking a toll on her studies, which made her fail a test.
• Strike Episode: Gus and the other laborers working on the Crystal Palace going on a strike due to their poor work conditions and the Crystal Palace's instability posing a danger to everyone, and only manage to be convinced of continuing their job after Evie's brother takes care of the project.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Judge Takakura gives this as his reason for retiring, claiming that he's not the bright-eyed, optimistic idealist he was when he started the job, especially since rich people seem to be able to evade justice like what happened with Archie Rochester/Mr. Alastor.
• Waving Signs Around: The workers on strike appear holding signs in protest against the Crystal Palace.
• Wham Line: Judge Takakura delivers one, since this is the first time in the franchise that a judge has decided to retire in the middle of the game.
  Judge Takakura: Nowadays, the spoiled offspring of millionaires get a tap on the wrist rather than the gallows... and I'm not even consulted!
  And so I'm retiring!
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: One of the killer's traits is that they're afraid of heights.
• You Killed My Father: Henrietta Vanderbilt's reason for killing Norah, since she blames Norah for her father's suicide because she "stole" the job as the main architect of the Crystal Palace from him.