Recap / Criminal Case: Pacific Bay - Case 46: Smart Money

Chief Marquez: Welcome to Innovation Valley, land of high-tech! Here, anything is possible... as long as you're an expert in computer science!

After being promoted to Innovation Valley, Chief Marquez sends Amy and the player to supervise a party being held by Meteor Systems, a famous tech company in the district. There, they find the body of Meteor Systems CEO Ernest Turing stuffed to death with money.

Tropes:

• Accidental Murder: Per-Sephone didn't want to kill Ernest, but a combination of faulty AI and being Literal-Minded led to her stuffing him with money.
  Per-Sephone: I just wanted to make my CREATOR happy. I do not UNDERSTAND. You say he is DEAD, and I do not UNDERSTAND.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Ernest got killed by Per-Sephone, a robot he created on his own. Though according to her, she didn't mean to kill him in the first place, only following his "orders" of giving him more money.
• Alliterative Name: The victim's wife, Teresa Turing.
• Androids Are People, Too: Per-Sephone is treated like a normal suspect throughout the case, even getting a trial after she's found responsible for Ernest's murder. Judge Dante even refuses to have her dismantled, since it would feel like murder, so he orders to turn her off and wipe clean her microchip.
• Asshole Victim: Ernest wasn't a pleasant fellow in general. He shut-down David's company for no reason after buying it, wanted to replace his wife and his "creation" with more advanced robots, exploited his workers with no pay, and stole all the credit of creating Meteor Systems with Bob.
  Amy: Mr Turing had no consideration for his workers! In fact, he seems to have been a pretty mean person in general!
• Big Damn Heroes: Frank comes at the last minute to gun down a drone that had started attacking Amy and the player.
• Computer Virus: One is unleashed during the case by Bob Levene, a Meteor Systems programmer who wanted to teach Ernest a lesson for enslaving his employees.
• The Cracker: Bob Levene, who tried to hack Meteor Systems and unleash a virus upon them in retaliation for the mistreatment of their employees.
• Death by Irony: The victim was a tech giant who was obsessed with wealth, and he got killed by a robot he created by being stuffed with money.
• Dumb Blonde: Teresa Turing isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, which greatly worries Amy when she becomes the inheritor and CEO of Meteor Systems.
• Fembot: Per-Sephone goes by female pronouns and has a slight feminine appearance.
• Force Feeding: The victim was killed by being forced to ingest money until he died.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: At the start of the case, Hannah shows that she's wearing high-tech glasses that allow her to browse the Internet.
• Gold Digger: Teresa.
  Teresa: Ha! Love can't buy you dinner. Love won't take you on vacation. You can keep the love. I'll take the money.
• Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Roxie when Amy tells her she'd better not be sneaking the money used to kill the victim onto her pockets.
  Roxie: Of course... not... Anyway.
• The Illegal: Zhou Li is an illegal Chinese immigrant living in Pacific Bay who Ernest was taking advantage of by making her work without pay or else he would have her deported.
• Improvised Weapon: The murder weapon is money.
• Insufferable Genius: David Rosenberg, the creator of Drone Zone.
  David: Don't fret, the bullets were just rubber. It was a "punny" gesture; the blades represented "cutting" the budget, since Turing bought out my company.... Never mind, the joke's too clever for you.
• Literal-Minded: Ernest said he wanted more money, and Per-Sephone surely complied.
  Per-Sephone: My master always said he wanted more MONEY. Always, he wanted MORE. So I put him in STANDBY and I filled his circuits with MONEY.
• Money Mauling: The victim was suffocated to death when the killer stuffed him full of cash.
• Nanomachines: In the Additional Investigation, you discover that Meteor Systems are trying to create these.
• No Sympathy: Teresa Turing regarding her husband's death.
  Teresa: I can't believe my husband is dead! This is the worst day of my life! I just can't...
  Wait, this means I should have someone pick up his convertible from the shop. It's mine now, after all.
  Amy: Your grief is touching...
• Patricide: Ernest got killed by his own creation Per-Sephone, who she saw as her father.
  Per-Sephone: I was born. MADE. A year ago. Ernest Turing is my FATHER. My creator. He is my GOD. Where is he?
• Public Secret Message: You find a message on a circuit board pleading for help, which was made by factory worker Zhou Li since she was being exploited with no pay by Ernest.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: Apart from having a bit of Robo Speak, Per-Sephone acts mostly like a child-like human being who likes to follow orders from her creator. And then you discover she can think.
  Amy: Wait. Are you telling us this robot could think for herself?! Just like a human being?!
  Hannah: Yes. I know, it sounds insane! But there's no other way to interpret this data!
• Robo Speak: Per-Sephone SPEAKS with all-cap WORDS added to her normal SPEECH.
• Robot Me:
  • Ernest wanted to replace his wife with a look-alike robot of her that wouldn't spend all of his money on luxuries.
  • There's also the Amy-bot created by Hannah in Chapter 2, who like the real Amy, loses her head when under stress... literally.
    Amy: What... what is that? Why... Is that supposed to be me?! Why am I headless?!
• Robotic Reveal: At the end of Chapter 2, it's revealed that the Amy you've been talking to was actually a robot created by Hannah
• Shout-Out:
  • The case takes inspiration from I, Robot, with Per-Sephone resembling Sonny.
  • The victim resembles Jeff Goldblum.
  • In the Company Office scene, there is a Playstation controller and a mug with a Space Invader on it.
  • In the Park scene, there is a sign of the Facebook like button.
  • In the Server Room scene, there is an Xbox controller.
• Skewed Priorities: When you inform David about Ernest's death, he asks you if the building suffered any damages.
• Stealing the Credit: Ernest stole all the credit from Bob regarding the creation of Meteor Systems.
• Trophy Wife: Teresa was clearly this for her husband Ernest.
• You No Take Candle: Zhou Li speaks like this, since she's a Chinese immigrant with little knowledge of English.
  Zhou: Please, I no want trouble with police. I work good. I pay bills. I no want trouble!
• Your Head A-Splode: The Amy-bot has her head blown up after she overworks herself.