...and hope you die.note
It's Valentine's Day, and while discussing about The Rocket Cow Killer and who their next victim might be, Chief Parker informs Gloria and the player that the body of Kale and Fries franchise owner Brad Price has been reported at the Fairview Mall, which will be opening soon so people can buy Valentine's Day presents. With a time limit on their backs, they rush to the mall to solve the murder, where they find Brad's body with an arrow to the heart.
Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Brad was a huge Jerkass who was cheating on his fiancé Brooke with Javier while stringing him along, killed Tristan's emotional support dog and didn't so much as apologize, and was trying to bully Ace out of the mall. Oh, and he didn't just bully Megan Lucas in high school, but he also pulled an especially cruel prank on her that almost killed her and snuffed out her plans of becoming a doctor, and when he saw her again working at the mall, he didn't even recognize her. It's hard to feel sorry he was murdered.
- Attack on the Heart: Brad was killed by being shot in the heart with an arrow. Megan specifically did this because she figured people would think the murder was about love.
- The Bully: The victim was a huge one in high school, with Megan Lucas being one of his favorite victims. It's one of the main reasons why she killed him after so many years.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Brad and Megan were in high school, he invited her to a party and dared her to jump into a pool... that had been drained days ago. Megan was hospitalized for six months and couldn't go to medical school like she planned. When he saw her again years later and didn't even recognize her, she snapped and murdered him.
- Call-Back: Principal Rosamund Wilcox reappears during the Additional Investigation.
- Camp Gay: Javier Morales is openly gay, runs a flower shop, and has no problem getting into a Cat Fight with Brooke while arguing about Brad's affair with him.
- Career-Ending Injury: Megan lost her chance of getting into med school after an almost-deadly prank left her hospitalized for six months, with the culprit being none other than Brad.
- Connect the Deaths: During the Additional Investigation, Cathy and Gabriel manage to deduce that all the victims of The Rocket Cow Killer are parents whose children are attending Fairview High School, giving you an important lead to stop them.
- Continuity Nod: During the Additional Investigation, you help out Rita prepare for her date, which he got from the same dating website she was seen using in Case 2.
- Contrived Coincidence: During the main investigation, Ramirez sends you a bouquet personally delivered by Javier Morales, the owner of the flower shop who also knew and was having an affair with the victim. In addition, you also discover that Barbara Litzke, one of his former employees, was a victim of the Rocket Cow Killer.
- Depraved Bisexual: Brad was engaged to Brooke Long, but he was also cheating on her with Javier Morales (and stringing him along, to boot).
- Drowning My Sorrows: Javier says this word for word with a smoothie after he fights with Brooke and discovers Brad was cheating on him.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Megan Lucas claims Brad and his friends nicknamed her Megan Mucus during their time at high school.
- Empty Swimming Pool Dive: Brad nearly killed Megan by by tricking her into diving in an empty swimming pool when they were in their senior year of high school, which costed her the opportunity to attend medical school and ultimately led to her killing Brad years later.
- The Eeyore: Tristan Collins, the victim's former best friends, suffers from chronic depression and is always seen in a sour mood.
- Flower Motifs: The killer sent Brad a bouquet of black roses with a threatening note prior to murdering him.
- Flowers of Romance: Javier runs a flower shop that thrives during Valentine's Day, and Marcus Cannon, Rita's date, is seen holding a bouquet for her.
- Food Slap: Brooke throws a smoothie at Javier during their Cat Fight confrontation.
- Foreshadowing: Jones's inexplicably absence during the entire case might hint at the fact he's not very fond of Valentine's Day due to his girlfriend being missing.
- Good Samaritan: Marcus Cannon, Rita's date, runs the local Big Brother program and volunteers at a soup kitchen every Sunday in addition to not having criminal record and just minor traffic tickets and overdue books at the library.
- High-School Sweethearts: Brad and Brooke had been in a relationship ever since they were in high school, which makes his eventual affair with Javier all the more heartbreaking for her.
- Irony: What Gloria thinks of Ace Boome promoting his balloon sales on a popped balloon.
- Jerkass: Let's just say the victim was a huge one.Ace: Well... Brad was... how can I put this gently... a bit of a bonehead. He thought his poop didn't stink.
- Kids Are Cruel: Gloria says this word for word when Megan tells you her experience as a victim of Brad's bullying back in high school.
- Layman's Terms: Gloria has this to say during one of Cathy's analyses.Gloria: IP? VPN? Is there anything you've found that can be explained in simple English?
- Living Emotional Crutch / Lost Pet Grievance: Tristan had a therapeutic dog that helped him to overcome his depression, but he got killed by Brad during an accident (who didn't even apologize) which led to Tristan still grieving him to this day.
- The Mall: Most of the case takes place in the Fairview mall during Valentine's Day, and both your victim and some of your suspects had stands or worked in some of the locales there.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Martine seems to be one during her analysis.Martine: Bonjour, <Player's Name>, it's lovely to see you today. And thank you for that Valentine's "gift" you sent... You know how to treat a lady coroner.Gloria: Well, personally, I prefer chocolates over dead bodies, but to each their own!
- Noodle Incident: When you go warn Principal Wilcox about the Rocket Cow Killer murdering parents at her high school, she assumes you're there about "the school mascot and chihuahua incident," acknowledging people were upset but claiming it's already been handled.
- Only Friend: Tristan claims Brad was his only friend while he was bullied for being a nerd, although this clearly didn't last.
- Prank Gone Too Far: When they were in high school, Brad pranked Megan by daring her to jump into a pool without telling her it had been drained the day prior, which led to her almost dying and spend six months in the hospital, costing her the chances of attending medical school. It's the main reason why she murdered him.
- Predatory Business: A minor scale example occurs when you learn Brad wanted to kick Ace out of the mall to get his plot and expand his business.
- Red Herring: Throughout the case, you're led to believe that, since this case is set on Valentine's Day, the murder motive will have something to do with love, which becomes even more evident when the victim is killed with an arrow to the heart and you discover he had been cheating on Brooke with Javier, making both of them strong suspects and the most likely culprits, right? Wrong. In the end, Brad ends up killed for totally unrelated reasons to love and neither Brooke or Javier are the culprits.
- Revenge: The ultimate reason for why Megan killed Brad was to make him pay for getting her almost killed and hospitalized for six months after a Prank Gone Too Far that cost Megan her dream career.
- Romantic Wingman: During the Additional Investigation, you and Martine help Rita prepare for her date with Marcus, such as finding information about him and getting Rita dressed up.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Brad was a huge bully that made Megan's life living hell throughout high school, and he was still a huge Jerkass even after growing up.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Martine and the player help Rita accomplish this for her date during the Additional Investigation. Martine is satisfied with the results, but Rita claims to feel like a streetwalking clown.
- Shout-Out:
- Tristain Collins wears a sweater with the logo of "Weirder Stuff". He also used to own a dog named Kenobi.
- In the Store Front scene, there is a postcard with a photo of Ipanema Beach.
- Dulce & Cabanna is a parody of Dolce & Gabbana.
- The Slacker: Chief Parker accuses Jones of being this after he disappears throughout the entirety of the case, notably making it the first instance of Jones not appearing in the case of a season where he is a main character.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Megan Lucas. Yes, it was wrong of her to murder Brad, but considering he nearly killed her by playing a cruel prank on her and ruined her chances of going to medical school, who can blame her?
- Theme Serial Killer: During the Additional Investigation, you discover the Rocket Cow Killer is exclusively murdering parents that have kids in Fairview High. Despite this, Gloria decides to not take the risk and pull out Carter out of school until the killer is caught.
- Too Good to Be True: Rita says this when Cathy informs her that Marcus, her date, is nearly perfect in every aspect due to his clean record and Good Samaritan tendencies.
- Valentine's Day Episode: The case takes place in the morning of Valentine's Day.
- We Used to Be Friends: Tristan and Brad used to be friends until Brad killed his Living Emotional Crutch dog and refused to even apologize or attend its funeral, leading to a rift between them.
- Who Murdered the Asshole: Every suspect in this case had a strong reason to murder Brad: he wanted to kick Ace out of the mall to steal his plot and expand his own business, cheated on Brooke with Javier while also playing with his feelings, killed Tristan's dog and refused to even apologize to him, and bullied Megan through high school and almost killed her during a prank that cost her the opportunity to enter medical school.
