Dick: I knew people weren't particularly fond of Deputy Mayor Hwang, but this is was a truly heartless murder, pardon the pun...
After being informed that Deputy Mayor Sandra Hwang had been murdered, Chief Wright urges Isaac and the player rush to the crime scene and solve this high-profile case as soon as possible. Obeying his orders, both officers quickly go to Sandra's home, where they see her strangled body with her heart cut out.
Tropes:
- Admiring the Abomination: Charlie does this with Sandra's heart and the mechanical contraption you find it in.Charles: What is clear is that the killer knows clockwork mechanisms well enough to have either devised or followed instructions to create this fascinating system.Isaac: You say fascinating, I say horrifying...
- Awful Wedded Life: Steven, Sandra's husband, tells how she always neglected their marriage in favor of attending high-class social events to advance her political career, to the point she spent more time working and being among the elite than home. It even drove him to throw his wedding anniversary gift for her in the trash.
- Back for the Finale: Horatio, Larry, and Archie Rochester all return as suspects in this case, which is the last one set in Wolf Street. Beatrice Pemberton, Lady Highmore, and Mayor Castletown also appear during the Additional Investigation.
- Beat Still, My Heart: Subverted. According to Dick's autopsy, the killer first strangled Sandra before cutting off her heart. The same applies when you find Sandra's heart "beating" inside of a box, as it's actually being powered by a mechanism rather than on its own.
- Call-Back: Elisa Melody returns as a suspect after her last appearance in Case 10.
- The Climax: For Wolf Street.
- Complaining About Complaining: According to Elisa, Sandra repeatedly complained about everything during the masked ball she organized, which led to Elisa also complaining about her in return.
- Corrupt Politician: During his arrest, Larry reveals that the Deputy Mayor was in cahoots with the Rochesters this whole time, accepting bribes from them so she would divert the police's attention away from the family and their illegal activities. Unfortunately, this statement doesn't hold enough weight to arrest any other member of the Rochesters, although it's enough for Chief Wright to authorize an investigation in Grim Chapel, which is apparently where the Rochesters "dispose" of their enemies.
- Deal with the Devil: During the Additional Investigation, Steven and even Lady Highmore tell you about the rumors claiming that the Rochesters have pacts with "the devil" in Grim Chapel, with Lady Highmore recalling that the family's enemies always conveniently die in freaky accidents at said district. Naturally, Isaac and Chief Wright have their doubts about this, but is still enough for the Flying Squad to travel to Grim Chapel and investigate what's going on with this "devil".Steven: I KNEW that family was pure evil! They're in league with the devil, I tell you! Everyone says so!
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Larry Rochester, the Lazy Bum who wouldn't ever lift a finger to work in his entire life, is revealed to be the true mastermind behind the fake Concordia Telephone Company bonds, using his father Leopold as The Scapegoat for his actions
- Double Take: Horatio does this when Viola informs him that, in addition to being his daughter, she's also a member of the Flying Squad, something that seemingly catches his attention.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even though she's revealed to be corrupt and in league with the Rochesters, Sandra refused to let an innocent man rot in jail, and she threatened to arrest Larry for allowing his own father Leopold to take the fall for his crime as the mastermind behind the telephone bonds. Unfortunately, this leads to Larry murdering her.
- Every Man Has His Price: Larry says this to Judge Lawson during his trial after he sentences Larry to 50 years in prison.Larry: We may not be able to buy you, Judge Lawson, but everyone else in Concordia has a price... And no one walks out on my family once they've been paid for. NO ONE!
- Evil All Along: Deputy Mayor Sandra Hwang, a woman who always urged you to do the right thing for Concordia's safety and reputation, is revealed to be a corrupt politician that was aiding the Rochesters in their schemes for who knows how long, something that greatly shocks Mayor Castletown.
- The Exile: As you find out during the Additional Investigation, the Rochesters threatened Viola's mother with exiling her from Concordia if she revealed that Horatio was Viola's father, which is one of the reasons why she was so decided to keep it a secret.
- Family Extermination: Horatio accuses you of trying to do this with the Rochesters when you interrogate him for the first time, since not only you arrested Leopold recently, but are also apparently trying to pin the blame for Sandra's murder on him.
- Faux Horrific: Larry is such a Lazy Bum that the mere idea of being offered a job is enough to make him angry and vandalize Sandra's portrait.Larry: Sandra Hwang offered me a job! A MUNICIPAL job! It was such a horrific prospect that I thought I was trapped in a short story by Edgar Allan Poe!
- Finger in the Mail: Or rather heart in a box; during the investigation, you find Sandra's heart connected to a strange device that makes it look like it's still beating, and Isaac theorizes the killer purposefully left it for you to find, something that Larry confirms during his arrest as he thought it would delay the investigation.
- Forgotten Anniversary: Sandra decided to attend Horatio's party rather than spend her 20th anniversary at home with her husband Steven, which made him so angry he threw his anniversary gift in the trash.
- Gadgeteer Genius: One of the killer's traits is that they know about clockworks and engineering, as they managed to make a complicated device that made it appear Sandra's heart was still beating.
- Gene Hunting: Viola's hunt for her real father finally comes to an end in this case when she accidentally discovers that Horatio's DNA matches his the cup she found in Case 38, confirming his identity as Viola's illegitimate dad.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: During his arrest, Larry explains how his father Leopold insisted he had to find a job and do something with his life instead of being an Idle Rich, and also that telephones were the future and investing on them was a good thing. Larry's idea? Create a fake telephone company to scam people out of their money while using his father as The Scapegoat for his actions.
- Good All Along: After being seemingly exposed as a fraud and a Con Man in the previous case, Leopold is revealed to be the kindhearted man he always appeared to be, as he was just being used as The Scapegoat by his son for the fraudulent telephone bonds.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Downplayed. While it's never implied she was going to stop being a corrupt person aiding the Rochesters, Sandra still decided to confront Larry and told him to confess the fact he was the one behind the fraudulent telephone bonds instead of his father or else she would do it. Of course, Larry decided he would have none of that, so he murdered her instead.
- Last Episode, New Character: Steven Hwang, Sandra's husband, is introduced in this case as a suspect.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Viola confronts Horatio by revealing that she's her illegitimate daughter. At first, Horatio appears distraught and even angry that Beatrice apparently spilled the beans, but then he hears Viola is part of the Flying Squad...
- Married to the Job: Sandra was so focused on maintaining her reputation among the Concordian elite she was almost never home and even neglected her 20th anniversary with Steven, which led to their marriage falling apart.
- Masquerade Ball: The case takes place in the aftermath of a masked party hosted by Horatio and organized by Elisa that Sandra attended.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: When you ask Lady Highmore about the supposed "devil" aiding the Rochesters in Grim Chapel, she tells you that their enemies always die in freaky and inexplicable accidents in the district, and that many people have started to spread rumors that these deaths are the work of a Deal with the Devil the Rochesters have. Of course, there's also a group of people who thinks these accidents have a more mundane explanation.
- Mustache Vandalism: Larry did this with a portrait of Sandra as a retaliation for offering him a job, drawing devil horns on her.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Larry may be a useless moocher most of the time, but it's revealed he is actually devious enough to fool the entire nation of Concordia into investing for a fake company, and manipulated his own father to take the fall. Then he murdered the Deputy Mayor when she tried to stand against his evil schemes.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Elisa has this reaction when you inform her yet another murder has happened at one of her parties.Isaac: Miss Melody, we assume you acted as party planner for this masked ball?Elisa: I did... And I cannot believe it happened AGAIN!The major event of the season for Concordia's best and brightest, and someone ends up DEAD!
- Parental Abandonment: Horatio fired Bernadine from her job as a maid for the Rochester family and threatened with exiling her from Concordia just to hide the fact he was actually Viola's father.
- Pie in the Face: Isaac accidentally receives a cake in the face when Elisa attempts to hit Archie with it, as Archie had insulted her party with ensued into a fight you barely manage to stop.
- Shout-Out: One of the killer's traits is reading Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven are also directly mentioned.
- Shrine to Self: Archie wanted to build a giant cuckoo clock with an effigy of him appearing out of the clock every hour as a "welcome back" gift to Concordia, but Sandra very obviously refused, which enraged Archie.
- Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb: Subverted. Constable Ramirez mistakes a box found at a crime scene for a bomb, but it turns out to be a mechanical device ticking while making Sandra's heart "beat".
- Talk to the Fist: Elisa interrupts Archie with a punch to the face after she fails to attack him with a cake and he continues insulting her party
- Taking the Heat: It's revealed that Leopold did this to protect Larry after finding out the telephone bonds were a sham, which he apologizes for when you release him from prison after arresting Larry.Larry: The doddering fool had no idea it was a scam until it was too late. Then he took the blame for me, as I knew any good father would...
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: When you interrogate Larry for the first time, he says he needed a moment of relaxation and fun after you arrested his father Leopold, fully knowing he's the very reason Leopold is in prison as a result of Taking the Heat for him.
