Recap / Criminal Case: Mysteries of the Past - Case 47: Doom Service

“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.”

After learning that Faith Woodford had been Wrongfully Committed to Gryphon Sanctuary, Maddie and the player decide to take a visit to Claiborne Hotel, an establishment where various members of the asylum staff take lodging and live, to interrogate said personnel and see if they can learn more about Gryphon Sanctuary's illicit activities. But before that, Maddie and the player are first tasked with solving the murder of Admiral Oliver Oak, who died after being literally frightened to death in his own room.

Tropes:

• Agent Scully: As a man of science, Charlie has his doubts when George tells him the reason he's put a electromagnetic machine in the victim's room is to look for ghost.
• Alliterative Name: Admiral Oliver Oak.
• Ambiguously Evil: When you interrogate Gregory regarding Gryphon Sanctuary's staff and their illicit activities, he swears he knows nothing about it and even seems concerned, but Isaac has his doubts about how truthfully he's being.
• Ax-Crazy: Johnny Torrents, the killer, is shown to be a remorseless bastard with a severe case of Lack of Empathy and sociopathy who murdered an innocent man just because he wanted to test if it was possible to kill someone from pure fright, and saw no problem using him as his guinea pig.
• The Bartender: One-Eyed Jill, the bartender of the Claiborne Hotel who also serves as a suspect.
• Big Friendly Dog: Coo-jo, the dog the murderer used to frighten Admiral Oak to death, is both very big and also very friendly when you interact with him.
• Broken Pedestal: After Johnny's trial, Evie has this to say about him, as he was her favorite author.
  Evie: I still can't believe my all-time literary hero turned out to be a murderous deviant! It just goes to show you can never really know a person...
• Call-Back: George Okamoto and Gregory Stravinsky reappear as suspects.
• Childhood Friends: Admiral Oak and Gregory were this according to the latter, although it didn't stop them from fighting over some money Oak owed to Gregory.
• Clandestine Chemist: One of the killer's traits is that they know about chemistry and pharmaceutical knowledge, as Dick deduces they're the ones who created the drug used to kill Admiral Oak.
• Cliffhanger: The case ends with the Flying Squad revisiting Gryphon Sanctuary to shut down its illicit operations, as they've learned an employee has been taking bribes to accept healthy individuals into the asylum.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: One-Eyed Jill is convinced that the hotel "talks" to her and tells her who is going to die next, and even claiming that she's always Hearing Voices.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Fleur Stone, a pharmacist working at Gryphon Sanctuary, claims that she's become desensitized to the horrors and grief she has to see on a daily basis at Gryphon Sanctuary, although it has also taken a toll on her sanity.
• Dirty Old Man: You discover Admiral Oak had been sexually harassing Fleur during his hotel stay, and even took a photo of her undressing without her consent.
• Electromagnetic Ghosts: During the Additional Investigation, you find an electromagnetic machine in the victim's room that George is using to supposedly capture proof of ghosts at the hotel, as their energy is detected by it.
• Eyepatch of Power: One-Eyed Jill uses one. It even serves as evidence when you find her eye scar remedy at the crime scene.
• Fangirl: Evie is a huge one to Johnny Torrents and his books, calling him her all-time hero and even stalking him during the main investigation. Of course, this becomes a Broken Pedestal after he's outed as the killer.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Post-investigation, you discover that the patients of Gryphon Sanctuary have been admitted for the smallest and most ridiculous things like laziness, jealousy, and even reading novels, and it seems like someone among the staff is accepting bribes to let this happen.
• Frame-Up: Johnny attempts to frame Evie for the murder by telling you that the killer is stalking him, as Evie had been following Johnny to get his autograph.
• Fright Deathtrap: In a rather unconventional murder method, the killer swapped General Oak's heart pills with a self-created hallucinogenic drug that made Oak see everything in a distorted motion, then released a dog painted with phosphorescent paint into his room so he would hallucinate it as a demonic beast, giving him a heart attack.
• Hearing Voices: One-Eyed Jill claims that she can hear voices telling her who's going to die at the hotel, which is why she put a funeral wreath in Admiral Oak's room before he died.
• Hedge Maze: One of the crime scenes is one, which is where you find the phosphorescent dog the killer used to frighten Admiral Oak to death.
• Hell Hotel: The case takes place in an old and decrepit hotel that is said to be haunted by ghosts, which also happens to be primarily inhabited by the staff of Gryphon Sanctuary.
• Medication Tampering: The killer got the Admiral into a state where he could be scared to death by swapping his heart medicine with a hallucinogenic drug.
• Mundane Horror: Usually, a dog painted with phosphorescent paint might seem like a funny thing. However, Admiral Oak not only had a weak heart, but he was also under the influence of a potent hallucinogenic drug that made him see said dog as a demonic beast, giving him a cardiac arrest as a result.
• Mushroom Samba: Admiral Oak died after being tricked by his killer into ingesting an hallucinogenic drug that made him see everything distorted, including a glowing dog that gave him a heart attack.
• Selective Obliviousness: When you confront Gregory with irrefutable proof that someone among the Gryphon Sanctuary staff has been accepting bribes to commit healthy individuals in the asylum, he refuses to accept said fact, claiming that his team would never do such a thing.
• Shout-Out:
  • The case contains many references to The Shining:
    • The case's main setting is a hotel that is said to be haunted by ghosts.
    • Johnny Torrents is named after Jack Torrance, and his first name comes from Jack's famous quote, "Here's Johnny!".
    • Johnny's book, Dr. Slumber, is a parody of Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining.
    • The victim is staying in Room 237.
    • The hotel's bar is named "Mad Jack's", a reference to Jack Torrance going insane.
    • The hotel has a hedge maze.
  • Coo-jo, the dog used to murder the victim, is a parody of Cujo.
  • In the Bathroom scene, there is a red tag with a yellow lightning bolt.
• Sickly Green Glow: Coo-jo appears with this when you find him, as the killer painted him with phosphorescent paint to trick Admiral Oak into believing it was a demonic beast.
  Maddie: I have to admit, I've never seen a glowing dog before!
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: George demanded Admiral Oak to be kicked out of the hotel after he refused to leave the room he was staying in, since George wanted said room for himself as it was rumored to be the one with highest paranormal activity.
• Unishment: After Judge Lawson gives Johnny a life sentence, Johnny gleefully declares he'll now get the peace and solitude he's been yearning for, showing just how Ax-Crazy he is.
• Unwitting Test Subject: Johnny used Admiral Oak as this to see if it was possible to kill someone with fright.
  Johnny: Look, I wanted one of the characters in my next book to be frightened to death. But, as all my fans know, I'm a wordsmith of integrity... I only write what is true!
  Which is why I needed to determine if it was indeed possible to die from fear, and the Admiral just happened to be a convenient guinea pig for my research!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Maddie scolds Evie when you discover she's been stalking Johnny to ask for his autograph, as Johnny is a suspect and she would compromise the investigation this way.
• Writer's Block: Johnny admits that he's been suffering from one of these, which is why he came to the hotel looking for solitude. Unfortunately, his block was so prevalent he decided killing someone was the best way to get rid of it.
• Wrongfully Committed: During the Additional Investigation, you discover the horrid truth about Gryphon Sanctuary and how healthy individuals have been committed for mundane, non-mental health things, which is why you take a trip to the asylum to stop this once and for all.